How do I find a job I’ll enjoy?

Katie Thistleton

Hi there and welcome to The BBC Bitesize Careers Podcast, I'm Katie Thistleton and today we're going to find out how to find a job we'll enjoy based on what our personal motivations are. And to help me with this I'm joined by our amazing careers expert, Arit Eminue, who is an award-winning career coach and I'm also joined by the fantastic Katie King. It is double Katie today. Double the trouble. I'm afraid to say that this Katie has a much more impressive CV than mine. Katie, you are a microgravity research scientist. She runs a company that uses space technology to develop new medicines and you even did an internship at NASA, which I really need to know a lot about. Very impressive. Please could you explain to us what you actually do?

Katie King

Yeah, sure, so right now I am leading a team to build a factory to make medicines in space. At the moment, it means speaking with our engineers, speaking with our scientists and getting that design for our mini factory and then speaking with people who deal with rockets. So that we can then get our experiment launched into space.

Katie Thistleton

How come you've got to make medicines in space? For the aliens?

Katie King

Yeah, for the aliens! Actually, it's for use for the medicines on earth. But the really cool thing is that when we go into space, you haven't got gravity anymore and things start acting differently. So, science, as we know it, isn't quite the same up there. So, it is just really exciting.

Katie Thistleton

Tell us about NASA…

Katie King

It was an amazing experience. It was so cool because we were running experiments on Mars. […] just sometimes I'd go in and be like, we're running experiments on a different planet! One bit that was quite cool was that we had to pretend that we were on Mars at one point. So, we were running this experiment and these like time differences and pretending it was night time when it was the middle of the day and I just thought was amazing. It was really inspiring.

Katie Thistleton

Well, today we are going to be talking about finding your job motivation to sort of help you figure out what job you might want to do when you leave school. Arit, what actually does job motivation mean?

Arit Eminue

In simple terms, it's just about why you want to do the job that's of interest to you. People's motivations can vary from just wanting to make an impact, to wanting to work with the team, to wanting to work more on their own, so it can vary depending on who you are, your personality.

Katie Thistleton

I'm glad you said, Arit, about people being different and it being sort of different for everyone there, because that fits in very nicely with the game I want to play now. We are going to have a game of job motivation match-up. And this is how it's going to work. It's going to be quick fire. All right? I'm going to go through some job criteria, some sort of aspects of your job, your working life and I want you to very quickly answer if you consider that thing a must have or a must not have. You guys can play along too as well at home or at school. Are you ready?

Arit Eminue

Ready.

Katie King

Let’s do it

Katie Thistleton

Working in shifts, so night shifts or early mornings.

Katie King

Not have.

Arit Eminue

Not have.

Katie Thistleton

Working outside?

Arit Eminue

Must not have.

Katie King

Must have.

Katie Thistleton

Oh! Working in a team with lots of people?

Arit Eminue

Deffo must have.

Katie King

Must have.

Katie Thistleton

Oh! Making a difference?

Katie King

Must have.

Arit Eminue

Must have.

Katie Thistleton

Being creative?

Arit Eminue

Must have

Katie King

Yeah…Yeah. Must have.

Katie Thistleton

Arit, why is it so important to think about these things? To think about whether you're going to be working in early shift, whether you're going to be in a big team, whether you're going to be creative, whether you're going to travel, when thinking about your future career?

Arit Eminue

We spend, what, on average, 40 hours a week right, at work. You want to be in an environment and in a role that you enjoy. So, understanding these, these kind of motivations - and they'll evolve over time, you know - once you move from one job to the next and you learn more about yourself, your motivations are going to change, right? But at least understanding what those motivations are, can mean that you're quite focused when you start looking for jobs.

Katie Thistleton

You might be watching this right now at home or at school thinking 40 hours a week! Sorry!

Arit Eminue and Katie King

[laughing]

Katie Thistleton

But I suppose that's why it's so important to get this right. Because if you're 40 hour week outside and you hate the outdoors…

Arit Eminue

Exactly.

Katie Thistleton

… you're not going to be having a very nice time. Katie, when you look back to school

Katie King

Yeah.

Katie Thistleton

Were some of those signs there that you might get into this world you're in now?

Katie King

Yeah, I really loved maths and liked having something that was difficult and then working hard and then getting there eventually. That always gave me such a big buzz and working with people and friends, then I'd always get really excited. For me, that's when I felt my best.

Katie Thistleton

It's a good way of putting it. I think if you're watching this at school now, like when do you feel your best? There will be some subjects you don't like, there always is, but when do you feel your best? When are you like, this is me? So, just enjoy it, go with what you enjoy. However, I am going to put pressure on both of you now.

Katie King

Dun dun duuuun.

Katie Thistleton

[Katie clicked her fingers] I'm transformed into a strict interviewer type person because I'm now going to interview you, Katie.

Katie King

Oh my gosh.

Katie Thistleton

How do you usually find interviews?

Katie King

I always get very nervous.

Katie Thistleton

I'm going to ask you some big questions. What has been the scariest moment of your career so far?

Katie King

The scariest moment was probably when I thought I broke an instrument in the science lab that cost, like a lot of money.

Katie Thistleton

What advice would you give your younger self about your future career?

Katie King

Get rid of the pressure, get rid of the perfectionism. Just ditch it because it's only going to stop you from trying.

Katie Thistleton

And is there anything in your career that you’d do differently?

Katie King

No regrets, but I would worry less about what other people thought.

Katie Thistleton

One last big question. Would you say that you're doing your dream career?

Katie King

Yes and no. Yes, I'm really loving what I'm doing, but I love trying new things all the time.

Katie Thistleton

Well done.

Katie King

Thank you. Thank you. Do I get the job?

Katie Thistleton

You do! So, Arit, if people are watching or listening to this now and they don't know where to start to figure out what their job motivations are, their personal motivations, where do they begin?

Arit Eminue

Well, they can start by just thinking about the things that they really enjoy doing and the subjects they enjoy, what they’re doing in their downtime, but also don't, like, overstress stress or put too much pressure on yourself because your career is going to evolve, so focus on what you know now.

Katie Thistleton

Thank you so much, both of you, for joining us today.

Arit Eminue

Thank you.

Katie King

Oh, thank you.

Katie Thistleton

And if you want a job like Katie’s and who doesn't? Because what a fantastic job, that sounds so exciting, you can check out the Careers in Science and Technology section on the BBC Bitesize Careers website. You could do the Which career could be perfect for you? quiz on there. I love doing quizzes like that and that might tell you which kind of job you might really enjoy one day. So, get over to the website and make sure you join us next time as well on The BBC Bitesize Careers Podcast.