What's your criteria when choosing a job?

I became a weekend counselor for my cousin who was fresh out of university, had enough of bumming around and is now looking for work. Since I've done the thinking, might as well blog about it.

For me there's no single magic solution or criteria because lets get real, when one is desperate and hungry, what job criteria is there to talk about.

If you are looking for a job, you probably fit into one of these groups:

a. You are a fresh grad willing to try anything
b. You've left a job and must now find one or starve
d. You have a job, are not complaining but open to a better opportunity
c. You have a job but hate it and desperately want out
d. You have no job, are not desperate for one (i.e. you have money) but won't mind some corporate adventure

Fresh Grads
Just like my cousin, I think one of the biggest blunders grads make is to believe that just because they have a degree in engineering, that they must become engineers. That's old school thinking. I know certified lawyers who operate very successful IT companies and an electrical engineer who manages a chain of lifestyle restaurants. And they are happy. Like my cousin, they didn't actually choose their line of study. It was made for them by overzealous parents, peer pressure, badly trained counselors, horoscopes and admission quota rules.

In my opinion, the words on your diploma is not a life sentence condemning you to one specific field forever. It just a piece of paper that says you're now ready for bigger things than exams. Search your heart for your natural calling, a long term challenge that actually has meaning to you. When you find it but still can't get a job that matches it, that's ok. Just take whatever that comes, learn and try again.

Already resigned, desperate to find a job
This is the eat-first-think-later problem, suffered by those who hastily threw in the towel and overestimated their own marketability. Well, if your bank balance can't support next week's expenses, do you still wanna talk about career paths? I didn't think so. Just grab any piece of wood that floats by before you drown. You may get caught up in a spate of nasty job-hopping before getting back on track with a real career but then, what do you expect from eat first think later.

You have a job, comfortable but don't mind a better deal
Ok now we're talking. At this point you've probably realized that money is not everything. You might even be prepared to take a small pay cut for a better work environment that provides some real career advancement. The only thing that bugs you today is that your work has become too routine and there are no promotions in sight. Because you're not thinking on a hungry stomach, you can afford to take your time to do some serious research on things like upward mobility, field of specialty, type of boss, work culture bla bla bla. The world's your oyster, follow your hunch but don't stray too far away from reason.

You hate your job and want to quit. Immediately.
You are having nightmares about your company and are 1 cm away from joining the 2nd category above. Don't do it. Not until you have a job offer letter in hand or have 1 year's worth of cash reserve to live on. You'll need that much in today's conditions. If you have to, learn meditation to take the nonsense at work while shopping for a good alternative. Resist the temptation to simply grab any offer that comes along. When you are motivated by running away from something instead of running towards something, you will end up jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Relax dude, take it easy.

You are on easy street, don't need a job but don't mind the adventure
You are every boss's nightmare because you can't be threatened or blackmailed into submission by the usual thing - money. Bosses can't stand people wearing kevlar vests in the office especially when they are junior staff. If you're not shy to hide your wealth, you'll probably want to look at smaller companies that have flat or informal management hierarchies. You might even want to consider joining a young startup. Of course you can join a big company but you may land yourself in some unwelcome adventure because a hierarchy is propped up by a reward system (money) and if money doesn't sway you, you become a threat. So like I said, smaller but faster moving companies will fit you better.

Did I miss anything? Anyway, I thought I had to say all this because I disagreed with my cousin's uni job counselor who kept insisting there's only one way to handle a career search regardless of your life's circumstances. I think he's been smoking too much of whatever they're giving away at the uni.