Liking the Tasks You Hate, and Learning while Getting Paid

Published by Presh on September 13th, 2007 in Career Development | 6 Comments

I used to fear calling random people on the phone. It was so bad that I didn't like calling for delivery pizza. It did not affect too much of my daily life until my first summer job where I had to call vendors about shipping problems. I cringed at the task. For a whole week, I hated going to work.

It was a change in attitude that improved my situation. I realized that as much as I hated my job, I was learning a valuable skill. More importantly, someone was actually paying me to do it. I began to view the task as an opportunity to improve communication skills. Not only did I do my current job better, but I carried that skill into my next job.

Since then, I've always sought to learn while being paid, even if that meant doing something I was really scared of. Since most of us change jobs every few years, learning general skills along the way help recruiters look past the job hopping.

Here are five methods I've used to gather general skills while earning a paycheck:

1. Take a reimbursable class, or find free seminars

This is the most obvious way to learn on the job: take classes your company will pay for. In some jobs, it's a stated benefit. Make sure you take advantage of it.

If tuition is not a stated benefit, ask if people have taken seminars or had classes paid for by the company. Companies may help out if you can demonstrate how it applies to your current role.

If your company won't pay for classes, consider looking to vendors for free seminars. Some data providers (like Bloomberg) give free seminars regularly as part of their marketing campaign. You can even get a free lunch out of some of these talks.

2. Write about a specific task in a self-review

It's a natural tendency for companies to staff people in their most suitable roles. For instance, since I have a technical background, I tend to get staffed in quantitative analysis. While I enjoy this role, it doesn't expand my overall skill.

To keep learning more, I specifically mentioned in my self-review that I wanted to work on qualitative skills. I outlined a specific task about working with presentation slides. My advisors took note and mentioned an opportunity when it arose.

3. Keep an eye out for unusual activities

There were times when I was both too busy to take a class and could not be staffed to learn what I wanted. One time, I wanted to improve my presentation skills. Nothing was coming, but I kept a vigil eye out for opportunities.

Soon enough, I found an opening with on-campus recruiting. "Well," I thought, "it's not a presentation to a prestigious client, but it does involve similar skills."

And it was a lot of fun. Not only did I get to work on presenting skills, but it was a chance to introduce myself to people in the recruiting department of my company.

4. Take initiative and create a task

Sometimes there really are no opportunities. In this case, be creative and take initiative.

When I have free time, I'm very tempted to read blogs and check sports. But with all my company's resources at my disposal, I'm determined to get creative.

I spent a couple of days developing a slide presentation about the kind of cases I was involved in, then got approval to present it to other employees. I was able to improve my skills and get other people trained in my line of work.

5. Learn to like the task you hate

This is my least favorite way to learn, but yes, you can view those boring tasks as learning opportunities. No matter how much you hate something, there is probably a way you can learn from it. And just keep in mind, you are getting paid all the same.