The Correct Pieces Need To Fit
My search for a job has become something much bigger than looking for a paycheck. It started with an experience I call the “pretty doctor” moment—a situation that made me stop and think about how quickly we decide whether someone belongs in a particular environment. Since then, every interview, every job description, and every conversation about work has made me question what employers are actually looking for. I have more than thirty years of experience in client relations, guest experience, scheduling, events, communication, coordination, and hospitality. I know what I bring to a business. Yet I keep encountering positions that seem to place all of that experience into the same $16–$18-an-hour bucket. At some point, I had to stop asking, “How do I convince them to hire me?” and start asking, “Is this actually an environment where I belong?”
I have also come to realize that the labor market isn't simply about whether jobs exist or whether people are willing to work. There is a matching problem happening on both sides. Employers say they want experienced, flexible, motivated people who can communicate, solve problems, take initiative, and create a great customer experience. Applicants say they want fair compensation, reasonable expectations, respect, flexibility, and an environment where their experience is actually useful. Somewhere between those two lists, something gets lost in translation. I see job postings where the responsibilities quietly expand while the pay stays in the same little box. “You can do two things for the same pay” is presented as an opportunity rather than asking whether the additional value being created is actually being recognized. I am not afraid of hard work. What I don't want is to discover that my competence simply becomes a reason to give me more work without giving me more value, voice, or agency.
That has become one of my biggest realizations: I don't necessarily need to be in charge, but I need to have some agency. I am naturally a person who notices things. I see what could be tweaked, streamlined, expanded, communicated differently, or made more welcoming. I think about the customer experience, the process, the atmosphere, and the possibilities. I don't know how to turn that part of my brain off just because my job title says something different. And I don't want to work somewhere that expects me to be enthusiastic, flexible, productive, and invested while simultaneously telling me not to question anything, suggest anything, or expect anything beyond the boundaries of the original job description. I have learned that a structure can keep a person employed while also keeping them miserable. That is not the kind of stability I am looking for.
I also know that the next position I take does not have to be my final destination. I have my own creative work, KM Designs, and a future I am continuing to build around writing, photography, teaching, products, coaching, and content. What I need from employment is an anchor—a place where I can contribute, earn predictable income, be treated with respect, and still have enough of myself left to build what comes next. The job has to fit into my life rather than consume it. That means schedule matters. Commute matters. Compensation matters. The environment matters. The people matter. Even whether I walk through the door and think, I could actually enjoy being here, matters. I am no longer willing to believe that those things are luxuries simply because I am looking for part-time work.
Maybe that is what this entire search has really been teaching me. The correct pieces have to fit. A qualified person can still be the wrong person for a particular environment, and a perfectly good job can still be the wrong job for a particular person. I don't think that means either side has failed. It means the fit matters more than we sometimes admit. I am not looking for an employer who will simply tolerate everything I bring to the table, nor am I looking for a place where I have to shrink myself to fit an outdated mold. I am looking for a place where my experience, personality, ideas, and ability to see possibilities are useful—and where the structure of the job allows me to remain myself. After thirty years of working, I think I have earned the right to look at the whole picture and say, “Does this actually fit?” Because this time, I am not just looking for a job. I am looking for the correct piece.
Kitryn Marie
http://kitryn-marie.weebly.com
http://kitryn-marie.printify.me
