David Brooks contemplates the decline of dignity, a discussion that translates to the realm of job searching and careers in a very poignant way. Namely: Brooks lists the reasons he believes dignity in public discourse and personal living has disappeared, the first being capitalism:
We are all encouraged to become managers of our own brand, to do self-promoting end zone dances to broadcast our own talents.
As job hunters in a competitive market and woeful economic climate, we are taught that the only way to get ahead is to do just that: create our unique personal brand and promote the shit out of it. Only then will we get noticed above the fray. But how do we do this and still maintain the reticence, self-mastery, and dignity that Brooks believes used to exist, has since been purged from society, but which we should all strive to regain?
A large step toward doing this is seeking a balance between self-interest and cause. We talk a lot in this space about “cause” as an overarching and guiding factor in the search for a career in international affairs. That is, many of the people who seek careers in these fields do so because they believe in the work, because it affects them in some way and spurs them to want to create positive change (and obviously not because it will make them rich).
But at the same time, no matter how much you believe in the cause, you must be selfish to a degree. You need a job in order to pay the bills, and you want to be a paid a salary that is comparable to your worth. There is nothing wrong with wanting adequate compensation, compensation you are comfortable with and you feel matches what you bring to the table, and you should advocate for yourself in this regard—if you don’t, no one else will. Yet you also don’t want to take this to such an extreme that you become solely self-interested.
It is finding the balance between these two competing needs where I think dignity in the job search can be found. When you are doing that self-promoting end zone dance in the hopes of getting yourself a job and begin to feel too shameless about it, remind yourself that it’s not just about the paycheck and that there is a cause you hope to serve too. At the same time, when you begin to lose heart and feel that simply focusing on the cause is not subsistence enough, remind yourself that it’s okay to be a little selfish too: you’re out there looking for a job not only to make an impact and make positive change, but also because it’s something you have to do; it’s what you need to survive and live your life the way you want to live it.
There’s dignity in this struggle to balance passionate committment and dispassionate reality. When we begin to stray too far in one direction, we risk straying from the norms that help us to, as Brooks says, “navigate the currents of own own passions.” But when we strive to find a balance between the two, there is great dignity in that struggle.
