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Corporate jobs.
ShiftPlusOne
Veteran
I know I am making a lot of threads in this section, but I have a lot of question. Bear with me 
.
I find myself living in a place where everything revolves around businesses and corporations. I currently go to uni for the purpose of working for a corporation. It is difficult for me to care about this corporate world as it means nothing and harms us more than it helps us. Yet society offers very few alternatives. Society brands people who settle into a job which offers then enough money to satisfy their basic human needs as failures. In my mind I am very much at peace about the direction my life is heading, but when I talk to others it seems like everyone I talk to is obsessed with their marks and job interviews.
My approach seems to have impacted me in a negative way, because I can't find the motivation to study for exams or care about grades. I learn and understand the theory to the extent that interests but I don't go so far as to compete with others (which is what the grading system is based on).
So I have no doubt that there are people here who hold corporate jobs and people who want to climb their career ladder.
What motivates you?
.I find myself living in a place where everything revolves around businesses and corporations. I currently go to uni for the purpose of working for a corporation. It is difficult for me to care about this corporate world as it means nothing and harms us more than it helps us. Yet society offers very few alternatives. Society brands people who settle into a job which offers then enough money to satisfy their basic human needs as failures. In my mind I am very much at peace about the direction my life is heading, but when I talk to others it seems like everyone I talk to is obsessed with their marks and job interviews.
My approach seems to have impacted me in a negative way, because I can't find the motivation to study for exams or care about grades. I learn and understand the theory to the extent that interests but I don't go so far as to compete with others (which is what the grading system is based on).
So I have no doubt that there are people here who hold corporate jobs and people who want to climb their career ladder.
What motivates you?
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Comments
This means I'm living yet, and what's more, functioning.
Remember the Four Noble Truths, follow the Eightfold Path and adhere to the Five Precepts in all cases, as far as it is possible for you. Then you'll be ok.
one of my jobs involves working for a corporation. i find it impossible to climb the ladder because i cannot bring myself to care past working hard at the particular task assigned to me. i have turned down promotions for this very reason. i am a very hard worker, but i cannot bring myself to care about things that seem futile to me... like sales. helping the customer? of course. pushing a higher priced item to promote sales? not so much... getting customers to open high interest credit cards which will most likely put them in debt? definitely not...
i hope you find yourself in a job that you believe in, that's all i can say
Let me share with you my current career crossroads.
Generally speaking, I like my work most of the time. There's quite a bit of analytical problem solving involved, which I enjoy. There are other aspects of the job, however, that are not so fulfilling. For example, there is a heavy push from my superiors to think of career advancement and movement into management. I don't want to be a manager. I have some managerial duties right now, and they're the least likable aspect of my job. They're also big on competition, constantly comparing me with others in the organization.
I've had a lot to deal with, personally, in the past year. One thing I realized is that, while I enjoyed certain parts of my job, overall I am not happy with what I'm doing. I want to do more than just save my employer some money.
So I made a decision. I still have some issues to work out, but if all goes well I'll be quiting my job at the end of the year and going back to school full-time to become a medical technologist. This will allow me to use my analytical skills (which I enjoy using) to help doctors diagnose and treat their patients. From my research it's a good field to get into, with good opportunities and pay, so it's a good practical choice, too.
What I would suggest to you, if you don't mind me offering advice, is to try and find out what you enjoy, what you find fulfilling, and then see if you can find a way to make a living at it.
For example, you're studying business (I'm presuming, based on your post). Have you considered working in the not-for-profit field? Maybe apply your business skills and knowledge to help a charity be successful? Maybe you like music and pursuing a career in music business management might be of interest. Or maybe it's something that has nothing to do with business. Maybe you'd prefer to design graphics rather than spreadsheets.
These are just some things to think about.
unsui, that's pretty interesting. I wish you well in your career change. Also, you're right about the business thing. I am actually studying electrical engineering and business management and it's the business part that drains my motivation. I do appreciate your advice, you've given me a couple of ideas to follow through on.
Any job/career can be seen as right livelihood in some respects. Whether its because your job involves "saving the world" or if its something as simple as offering good customer care and making the customer feel good, or even something as simple as cultivating a good atmosphere in your office through your actions, since this is makes the workplace much nicer for your colleagues.
May I suggest the following book to you:
http://www.windhorsepublications.com/CartV2/Details.asp?ProductID=718
Or at amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buddhism-Tools-Living-Your-Life/dp/1899579745/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1285145676&sr=8-1
It may not be the best book out there(others can possibly recommend other books), but I found it very interesting and helpful in approaching questions such as those you are asking, i.e. how to apply principles to modern life. It doesnt delve much into Buddhist teachings, it keeps things simple (so do not build expectations of a comprehensive 'how to' dharma study) and discusses how we may look at certain fundamental techniques and teachings in everyday life.
As a side note: You should be able to find many area's in electronic and electrical engineering to fulfill your quest for right livelihood.
Good luck in working out your answer
There are alternatives - you have to look for them. I note you are studying to be an electrical engineer. This is excellent. Have you thought about working in under privileged countries - in a Buddhist community? If you are not looking to climb the corporate ladder then you have many opportunities. There are many who would jump at your qualifications.
Who is the failure. It is not helpful to compare yourself to others.
These are the 'marks' of samsara.
Then you are out of place in what you are doing.
It seems, perhaps unconsciously, you are seeking something that provides more meaning for your life.
That in some small way I might help sentient beings towards realization. I live modestly, below the poverty line but I have shelter and food and even have a car - a gift. Do not judge yourself against worldly objectives. You are on a different path now.
May your path unfold before you.
When I was in school, I didn't want to study what I was studying, I almost dropped out and it's only due to my family that I persisted. Yeah, if not for my folks, I'd probably turn into a drifter for a while, moving between places and working odd jobs.
Sometimes I regret that I hadn't gone for the adventure and hadn't "seen life". It's a heavy, piercing feeling that somehow I failed to fulfil my true destiny. Ironically, I've actually been able to travel to some pretty intersting places thanks to my job.
Now you seem to be looking for advice. Well, from what I've seen, "corporate" and "meaning" do not belong in one sentence-- a lot of the days you'll probably hate being in that cube and dispair about wasting your life. I think what it boils down to is this: how afraid are you of poverty?
I don't know where you are, but here in America you need a lot of money: to live in a safe neighborhood, to go to the doctor when you're sick, to keep a car (you need it in most places), even to eat well. My corporate salary is good by all standards and yet there isn't much left in the end of the month to save. I can imagine sacrificing a third of my paycheck and still being comfortable but even so my salary would be pretty darn good. Yet living on near minimum wage that I'd get in an unskilled occupation seems like pure misery to me. And an unskilled occupation is what you're looking at if you do not go to school or learn a trade.
As Buddhists, we should not be afraid of poverty, if anything it should be welcome. But I'm just not that strong. At least not now. Are you? If not, your alternatives to lifetime on the cube farm that do not mean poverty are as follows:
1. Healthcare: from a nurse/technician to a doctor, a huge field that at least theoretically is all about "helping people"...my friend the doctor keeps telling me, though, that it's actually all about money these days and not at all what it seems.
2. Education, teaching people things...my wife works with little kids and keeps saying how lucky I am to spend my days in a cube in peace.
3. Law-- you are the master of trickery. How do you go about Right Speech?
4. Tradesman, such as a plumber, electrician, cable guy, service person etc: humble and honest
5. Army and police-- you get to be the tough guy, no one messes with you but if they do, it's because they wanna kill you
6. Scientist-- gotta love to study.
7. Whatever isn't in the above list but is described here: http://www.bls.gov/oco/
8. A businessman doing whatever-- be your own boss but forget about time off for a while.
9. Your own unique path that no one else can tell you about-- most will fail and end up in a 2D, black & white, Mono occupation anyway, but those who succeed get the hightest possible prize. They get to become part of the tiny percentage that truly love what they do for a living. And even failure is not a total failure because unlike the rest of us, those who went for it can say on their deathbed: "At least I tried".
I'll advise you to go for 9 but only if you promise to not be angry at me if you end up poor
It's not my life's passion, but it doesn't have to be. It pays the bills, I just do my job and go home. Actually I work from home so I just shift from one thing to the other.
Also, I think it's important to note that "Right Livelihood" isn't as black and white as it seems. In the course of my job, I very occasionally deal with slaughtermen, and actually watch animals being slaughtered. Traditionally the slaughterman is seen as wrong livelihood, but knowing these men as I do, I see that a job is what you make of it.
In this case the job would exist regardless of the person in the role, luckily for the animals though these two slaughtermen are some of the kindest people I know. They kill animals, but they do so as quickly and efficiently as possible, one of them makes double sure that the animals are dead by shooting them in the head after they've been killed, something that isn't part of his job, he chooses to do it out of compassion. The other takes working holidays, last year he spent two months helping out in a sanctuary for orphaned chimpanzees.
My point is that these guys work in a horrendous industry, but they aren't monsters, they are caring, compassionate animal lovers. And that these men have chosen to do this job is most certainly the "right livelihood" as far as the animals are concerned. Almost any job can become "right livelihood" with the right attitude.
Mtns
There are many teachings about how to relate to other people. With gentleness. The mindfulness awareness (sitting meditation) shows us how foolish nasty and unskillful we ourselves are. But also connects us with our basic humanity. What people actually feel in their minds. All the difficulty and confusion. The agression. The fear. The greed. When we see it in ourselves we can understand what the cause is for other people to judge us unfairly for our success.
It also helps us relate to our own pain when we come in contact with others. We see through the thinking, the voices of lordly judgement. And come to just sit with the energy of the negative mental states. The indignation. The anger. The resentment. We see it for what it is.
Success gives you temporary fixes of pleasure and praise and so forth. But it does not provide lasting happiness. With success there is also failure. There is all the nastiness of corporate climbing. Which is not a reason to drop out of society, but it just teaches you not to look in the wrong place for something that won't truly make you happy. Money power sex and drugs do not provide lasting happiness.