What do you do?
Ah, that quintessential conversation starter: “So, what do you do?”
I dread it. Here’s why: the ideal response is a succinct (i.e. couple of words or less) summary of what you do that the other person will understand, and that clearly describes what you do.
“I’m a doctor” passes that test. So does “I’m a teacher”. And – god bless MasterChef – so does “I’m a chef”. And/or “I’m a television celebrity”.
“I’m an ideas man” does not. Nor does “I turn dreams into reality”. Yes, I met someone who said this. Responses like this will generally cause most people to think you’re a bit of a dick.
You can sometimes get away with saying that you work in a particular industry – i.e. “I’m in I.T.”. Oddly, that particular example seems to satisfy most non-I.T. people. But if the person is genuinely interested in you or – worse – is actually in that industry, you will invariably be asked to be more specific.
Made-up job titles like “Pusher” (sorry Mark) are unfortunately not much better – at best, they’re like an ‘in-joke’ that only a few will be prepared to hear.
But what if what you do can’t easily or clearly be summarised in a few (acceptable) words?
Here’s what I do: I’m a director of three companies, and on the boards of two non-profit organisations. The companies and the organisations are not particularly large entities which means, in typical Kiwi fashion, that I get pulled into all aspects of running them. I manage finances (thanks Xero), including payroll (thanks SmartPayroll). I manage staff, and interview prospective new employees. I advise on everything from long-term vision and direction through to whether we should put money into that term investment or the other one. Lately, I’ve spent a fair few hours looking into the dubious activities of an ex-committee member. That person is now facing police charges, so I’ve become reasonably familiar with various new legal terms and processes. I’m preparing myself for any media scrutiny that may come. I hope it doesn’t. And then there’s the actual work I do. Which is mostly in the online space (from strategy and user research through to development) but frequently also includes brand strategy and communications. Recently, I’ve learnt a lot about bananas, banks, electricity, tax, and telecommunications and wine. I also know a thing or two about manufacturing plastic cups and other items. I’m looking forward to visiting an organic cotton factory in India in December.
See my dilemma?!
The thing is, I don’t think this is a particularly unique situation – and a quick scan of my Twitter friends list seems to validate this. As a nation, I think we Kiwis have always tended to be jacks of many trades. But, in this age of Google/hosted apps/Twitter/iPhone, it feels like many of us are wearing more hats than ever before.
All of which can make for an awkward start to a real conversation. And infrequent blog posts.
If you’re reading this, chances are you know exactly what I’m talking about.
So, what do you do?
Tags: job, job description, joy of modern life