I was just finished interviewing someone, and something struck me.
What is one’s why is not important per se. What is important, is at least to have one. We were talking work then, but this is true in general.
This one person got me an answer I was not expecting at all. ‘Why do you do SEO?’ asked I. I don’t even remember what it was, I only remember being caught wrong-footed (ps. be sure, I will ALWAYS ask that).
The thing that baffles me is not knowing why; if someone is doing something, anything, they should at least ask themselves the question. If the answer is ‘because they pay me’, fair enough: you’re probably not good for my team, but at least you know what you want – or rather what you don’t want. But to not know at all? ‘Meh, I happened there by chance’. I do not understand.
So I talked to this person, and I had a positive impression of them even though they didn’t give me the answer that I wanted to hear, or at least what I expected. Cool!
Cool because I was wrong: a person doesn’t necessarily need to answer me the way that I want – they can tell me pretty much anything, as long as they actually have a motivation. Then I might not like the answer anyway, but I’d know that that person is feeling fulfilled by what they do. I do the same, express exactly my reasons and opinions, every time I am being interviewed, and if I don’t get the job I can only call myself lucky (and yes I know this is a spawn of privilege).
I also want to spend a few words on why many do not have a why, in a work context. It is because Marx was right, it is alienation, it is social injustice – and perhaps as a society we should spend some time thinking about it.
