People

people_holding_hands Every person I have spoken with who is positive about their job likes those they work with. Who you work with defines job satisfaction more clearly than any other factor. Finding a job you like, therefore, is partially a search for people you like.

I did an exercise from What Color Is My Parachute and question five from this quiz. By combining the two results I came up with a list of qualities I admire and enjoy in others. I like people who are kind, fun, friendly, smart, capable, helpful, positive, enthusiastic, imaginative, creative, problem solvers, persuasive, practical, determined, confident, and adventurous.

The list is more about me than I expected. The things you admire in others are the qualities you hope to possess. Writing about other people, strangely, is one of the most revealing things I have done for The Project.

The resulting list of traits cannot be used as a check list to assess prospective employers, but it does help you assess a workplace. Atmosphere, HR policies, supervision methods, hierarchy structures, social events, and training philosophies are some of the many things that attract people of a certain ilk.