The Ideal Job
I've gotten behind on posting the writing I did for my Chinese class in Shanghai earlier this year. For one thing, it takes me a long time to type Chinese. Also, I don't like these next couple of "wen zhang" as much as some of the others (the topics weren't as good to write about). And probably the biggest reason is that it has been a busy summer, and most of my Chinese writing has focused on the new articles I am trying to put together each week. It's a challenge just to keep up with those, much less to review what I did a few months ago. I am hoping to be able to keep my head above water now though, and so I'll try to get back into the habit of posting the work I did for my class.
Writing about my ideal job wouldn't probably be my first choice — I've been working too long to be too idealistic about it all anyway. But, here's what I came up with for the topic assigned.
理想的工作
找工作的时候，一般人认为最主要考虑的方面是能赚多少钱，其次是社会地位。其实，我觉得钱和地位不是最主要的问题。如果我要换工作，我会首先考虑工作的以下三个方面，然后决定我对他的满意度。
第一，我不愿意做很无聊的工作。适合我的是有创造性的工作。如果是天天都做重复性的工作，我就会觉得很没劲。有些人很喜欢朝九晚五的工作，可是他对我没有任何的吸引力。
第二，我理想的工作是对别人有价值的工作。我甚至愿意做义务的慈善性工作。我认为自己老了的时候，不会问自己，“我一生赚了多少钱”？可是一定会问，“我为别人创造了多少价值”？
第三，我喜欢做有一点空间的工作。这并不是说在办公室花的时间一定要很少。其实，我很愿意加班的，但是我不喜欢老板一直盯着我在做什么。自由一点的工作比较适合我。
因为我们要在工作上花很多时间，所以我觉得找到适合自己的工作很重要。我能接受薪水和地位不高的工作，可是我不愿意做枯燥无味的工作。如果做的是很无聊的，或不能为别人创造价值的，又或是很没空间的工作，我就很难从工作中获得满足感和乐趣。
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I've never quite been comfortable with the use of 创造价值 (and the other related phrases) in the passage, but can't figure out anything better to use. That is actually my teacher's suggestion, and I can't remember what I had originally put. Anyway, if anyone else has better ideas, I'm all ears!
