Corporate Job Lifestyle - Does it Fit You?

Real communities are falling apart in the 21st century, but still, everyone wants to belong somewhere, being a member of a group, following a wave, a fashion. Being social is a natural human trait. Nowadays, corporate workplaces and online communities became substitutes for traditional communities.

Corporate companies and the lifestyle that comes with them absorb a significant proportion of young intellectuals. The cohesive force of communities at corporation jobs is uniformity. As long as you behave like others at the workplace and follow the written and unwritten rules of corporation jobs, you can count on the friendship and support of colleagues and managers. Eventually, you can even get a promotion.

If you are a big-city, educated, sensible person, you have probably come across a corporate job posting. Maybe you even applied for it or even worked for a company like that. Perhaps you are still working for a company like this and reading this article on your laptop provided by your corporate workplace. Some people enjoy the lifestyle that comes with corporate workplaces, while others don't. Those who don't like them say that these workplace communities are not real ones. Individuality, own opinion, ideas, and creative solutions are often disadvantages.

At corporate jobs, there are chances that your company controls your thinking and behavior. It often becomes evident already during the application process. Applicants are screened and have to pass multiple phases of the process. In the past, a company manager or a department head selected the most suitable candidate for a vacancy. Today, this task is performed by university-trained HR professionals, who will not only check the experience of the applicant. They examine the personality of the applicant, too, to see if it will fit into the company values. But these values are not the same ones as those of society. And, if someone wants to develop personally or professionally, that opportunity is also limited there. At corporation workplaces, they distribute workflows in such a way that no employee can see the operation of the entire company. Everyone is trained to perform only subtasks. Thus, the chance of real personal development is lower.

Let us see what benefits corporations offer in addition to salary. Workers get free water or coffee from vending machines, can play on PlayStation, table football or table tennis in the relaxing room. The point is to feel comfortable and spend time with colleagues even during breaks. On weekends, there are joint programs. Colleagues can visit the gym, going to a restaurant or pub together. Corporate workplaces often provide monthly tickets to the gym and support workers to ride to work by bicycle. You can get fruit on Thursdays to feel like you have done everything you can for the health of the planet and yourself. So, you can now sit back at your table and make a profit for the company. If you get out of line, your colleagues will pull a long face.

The untold truth is that at many corporate jobs, you have to live the way your company dictates it, think the way your colleagues do. Otherwise, they will report you, and it can end in firing you. So, do not try to be unique there - that is not cool. Do not be too good at your profession, either. Do not be smart. Fit in. Use standard company terminology, their jargon. You probably already received the dictionary of abbreviations when you first had been welcomed on board. Talking to your colleagues, speak using those words. Even outside the company, for outsiders to see, you are different from the average person. You belong somewhere. And of course, the meetings are there for affirmation. Applaud and smile, imitate that you enjoy and care! At such meetings, workers will be praised or scolded. If you were the one who worked 300 hours of overtime last month, you might be the worker of the month. But if you made a human mistake, they might humiliate you.

During your annual vacation, it’s appropriate to go to motivational team-building training, play paintball, or go to an adventure park with colleagues. If you think, feel or spend your time differently, the corporate community will take it upon you.

At a corporate job, you sit at your desk, create your spreadsheets and reports. You are honored (obliged) to take home a company laptop after work, where they can follow your every move, what you browse, who you correspond with, how much time you spend in front of the machine. After all, you agreed to this when you started work there.

You are lucky if your corporation has no colleague-rating system in place. Employees at Facebook need to collect ratings about themselves from colleagues twice a year. If they get a nasty rating, they will be kicked out. So smile at everyone if you don’t want to find yourself on the street.

Fortunately, if a corporate company doesn’t want you, it’s also a clear sign to you. You do not fit into the corporation according to them, but that kind of work isn’t for you either. Find a more sympathetic job offer or think about starting an online business. If you feel you are capable of managing an enterprise on your own and make it profitable, then corporate jobs would only cause you suffering. If you are independent and creative, then making money online is a better alternative for you.

And, as for socializing, schedule your free time and build relationships according to your interests. Use the online world to find real human relationships and interactions. Build your community.

The choice is yours. Whatever the price, choose a path that harmonizes with your personality. This way, you make a big step towards your happiness and success.