Recently, we were sitting around with a bunch of younger people and discussing jobs. I think there are four factors to consider when deciding what type of job you want to do:

  • How much you get paid – most people work to earn a living, so this is something to consider ain’t it!
  • How fun the job is to do – if you have a totally boring job, like say standing in front of Buckingham Palace, then the days are going to be really long.
  • How fulfilling the job is – which is different than how fun the job is. You could be a general and order a bunch of people to their deaths, but it could be fulfilling since you’ve saved your country.
  • How easy the job is – You can have a fun and fulfilling job, but it might be the hardest thing in the world. Like designing a NASA rocket.

For everyone, it comes down to some linear combination of these four factors. But I suspect young (Chinese?) people are invariably influenced by their parents to put pay and fulfillment (which sometimes translates into status) above all else.