Just Quit Your Job

Articles like this really upset me. The “advice” is captured in the title: “If You Wouldn’t Do Your Job For Free, Then Quit.”

The problem I have with articles like these is that they follow this pattern:

  1. Offer advice in a one-size-fits-all manner, with a this-is-the-one-and-only-way tone.
  2. Ignore obvious impracticalities of said advice.
  3. Write a few paragraphs that boil down to “I follow this advice, and I’m happy/rich/successful, so it will work for everyone.”

I have no problem with people offering advice. I’ve read quite a few tips online about personal finance, baking, poker, etc. that I’ve found useful. But I cannot stand it when the advice presented is far too idealistic and unrealistic, and it’s also presented in such a way that makes it seem that it’s the only right way to go about things.

This particular article seems to imply that everyone would be keen to follow his advice of “if you wouldn’t do your job for free, then quit.” The author is being far too idealistic. It’s an ideal situation that I think we would all like to be in: do something you really enjoy, and get paid for it. But the truth is, very few of us achieve that. There’s a litany of reasons people don’t have a job they’d do for free:

  • It’s impractical/difficult/impossible to find a job doing the things they enjoy.
  • Their current job, even though they wouldn’t do it for free, pays them too much for them to just walk away.
  • They have obligations (family, mortgage, etc.) that wouldn’t allow them to take a job doing what they enjoy (because it doesn’t pay enough, it’s too dangerous, etc.).

The article is dripping with the “it worked for me, it’ll work for you” attitude. The author describes how he found that growing tech companies is what he really enjoys doing. Just from the title, I had a feeling that it was written by someone in the tech industry. This attitude seems particularly prevalent in the tech industry. I think it’s because people in tech are usually paid well, so it’s easy for those people who do enjoy their jobs to have this attitude of “I’m working at a job I enjoy, so should everyone.” Would they be singing the same tune if they made, say, $20,000 a year? I don’t think so. At least not as much. It’s much easier to say that everyone should work at a job they’d do for free when that particular job for you pays you a six-figure salary.

Also, quitting your job is a dramatic step to take. But that’s what the author is saying that you should do, if you wouldn’t do your job for free. One of the commenters, who is one of the lucky ones who loves their job, sums up my feelings:

Except he’s not saying that. You’re inferring that, but he’s not saying it. He’s not saying, “you should consider a change in jobs/careers.” He’s saying “quit.”

“Quit.”

Walk away from your job. Not just consider a change in careers, and work towards that change. Quit. The theme of do what you love is all la-di-da, but most people don’t have a go to hell fund to make that a reality if they’re working to pay the rent.

Personally, I thought the author sounded arrogant in this article. It was basically, “Look at me, I’m in an ideal situation. I would do my job for free. Never mind that I get paid a buttload of money, I’d still do it for free. If you’re not in as ideal a situation as me, you should just quit your job.” Right, because that’s going to work for everyone.

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