by Rupert Wolfe Murray | 26 Nov, 2025 | 12Jobsin12Months, Advice for Future Travellers, Journeys, Psychology of Travel, Travel Advice & Skills
Photo: Dylan Thomas by Lee Miller.
There’s plenty of videos, articles and books about how to write a book, make a video, do any kind of art form, or even learn a trade — and this is great as it gives people enough of an insight to try things out.
But I’ve never come across anything that discusses why we should work. Maybe it’s so embedded in our culture, from our earliest years, all through school and over family meals, that it’s just taken for granted that we simply have to get a job after our educational process. Like walking or breathing, we just do it. But why?
Why do I work?
The starting point for me was when I was 9 years old, the age that I became aware that I was an independent entity and didn’t have to rely on my parents for everything. But I had a problem with school — I didn’t understand why I was there or what was going on. I felt stupid, bored and angry. I took out my frustrations on my three brothers, all of whom got on really well at school, and we fought like cat and dog most days of the week.
I knew I had to get away from the toxic family environment I had created and the first opportunity was to visit my aunt Virginia in England (we lived in Scotland). I was allowed to get the train to visit her and nobody blinked an eyelid that I was travelling alone. This, to me, was excitement and independence and when my cousin taught me how to smoke cigarettes I felt very grown up.
At around that age I realised that work (doing a job) was another means of getting away from my brothers, from boredom, and the expectation to do homework. It was also what adults spent their days doing so it had, for me, a certain allure, an attraction.
My first “job” was more like a short lived company: I would cut down Christmas trees in the local woods — we lived in deep countryside near the Scottish town of Peebles — and sell them to neighbours. It was a powerful moment as I was proving to myself that I could take a step towards independence.
My next big moment was at university in Liverpool where I realised that going to lectures, reading books in the library, and hanging out with my geeky colleagues was really boring. I met a relative at a wedding who put me in touch with a property developer who hired me as a labourer on his building site — and I was in heaven as most of the tradesmen on site were ex-cons and the banter was hilarious. Lunch break consisted of going to the pub and drinking as much beer as we could. One of them later told me, “What we like about you Rupert is that we can take the piss, but you don’t take offence. It’s like water off a duck’s back.” That was high praise from a tough scouser who’d spent three years inside for burglary.
By this stage in life I had worked out how to play the educational game — a minimal effort would see me through. The burden I’d carried through my first 10 years of school — that I’m an idiot — had been replaced with a powerful confidence that I could do anything I put my mind to — and a drive to help others get over those same barriers. The fact that I’d been able to get work easily — driving a truck for my Dad and selling books for my Mum’s publishing company were other jobs I did when a student — added to my self confidence. And confidence is a key requirement when travelling independently or getting jobs.
After university I avoided the siren call of big business and decided to hitchhike to Shanghai, and prove to myself that I’d be able to get a job without the benign influence of my parents. I never made it to Shanghai as I fell in love with Tibet where I found work as an English teacher, got kicked out by the Chinese police and ended up falling into journalism.
Since then I worked as a volunteer aid worker in Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina and, after getting married, I realised that I needed to earn some real money. I managed to worm my way into working as a consultant for EU and British government projects in Romania, Russia and the former Yugoslavia. I also worked as a PR consultant and, since lockdown, as a painter/decorator and gardener.
If I look back and ask myself why I did all those jobs, and what drove me, the main answer can be summed up in one word: independence. It’s all very well wanting to be independent but how can you survive for more than a few months on your savings? You may have rich parents but they’ll probably be worried, nagging you to come home, find a suitable wife, get a well paid job (“Daddy will arrange it!”) and settle down. You’ll soon realise that the only way to stay on the road, to maintain your independence, is to not only get a job — but learn how to get jobs quickly, anywhere.
But that’s not a complete answer; there’s something else at play here. I need to work or I get bored, lazy and depressed. The fact that work gives me motivation to get up in the morning, and provides an easy-to-follow programme for the day is what I’ve grown up with. It’s a part of my culture.
I first became aware of this problem — the sloth that comes with unemployment — when I finished running an EU project in Romania. The project had been really demanding, it required all my energy and time, and I was looking forward to a few months off when I’d be able to catch up with my sleep, hobbies, house repairs etc. But what happened? Nothing. Doing the most basic tasks seemed to take forever. All my energy, drive, and focus just evaporated. Why? Because I didn’t have anything I had to do every day; I had no reason to get up in the morning. When your intention is to do hobbies or exercises you always have a choice: shall I do it today or not? With work you don’t have that choice — you just have to show up.
In order to stay motivated, structured and focused I realised that I need a job — or an intense project — or I would enable the lazy part of my character, get nothing done and end up being miserable. I need a job of some sort to get out of bed in the morning.
Retirement is a useful concept to end this article on, but I think that it’s a trap. If I stop working in four years time, at the age of 67, as one is supposed to do, it will emotionally disable me and probably lead to an early grave. I intend to work until I drop, or have to be carried off, gibbering and dribbling, to a care home.
So, in conclusion, why work? I do it so I can live happily and longer than I would do otherwise.
Now it’s over to you: Will you leave a comment below? Most comments add to the richness of my articles. Maybe you could explain what motivates you to work? Or not; I’d also be interested in any comments that explains the rationale for not working, or describing something other than work which can provide the daily motivation we all need to go on. Or maybe you could just tell the story of your first job?
My book 12 Jobs in 12 Months will be published in February 2026, by Stone Books (Edinburgh).
Final note: the photo associated with this article is of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, by Lee Miller.
by Rupert Wolfe Murray | 6 Nov, 2025 | 12Jobsin12Months, 9 Months in Tibet, Advice for Future Travellers, Journeys, Psychology of Travel
If you're pressed for time, scroll down and see links to some really useful resources.
What does “The Psychology of Travel” mean? Is it some weird form of therapy? Am I a psychologist? The answer to these questions is NO, but I used to get mistaken for a therapist when I worked for a rehab clinic.
The psychology of travel is a means of preparing mentally for independent travel. It's valid for students about to leave education and embark on the great journey of life, as well as older people stuck in jobs or worrying about what to do in retirement.
I think the psychology of travel the most important thing to do before embarking on a long journey. It took me years and I wrote about it in my first travel book, 9 Months in Tibet.
When travelling for up to a year, or leaving home, you need to prepare psychologically. This is very different from “normal” travelling when you know exactly where you’re going and for how long. When you go on holiday, or a short trip, you don’t need to make any internal changes to the way you approach life. But when travelling properly you need to have no deadline; you may be travelling indefinitely -- or at least until you find a place that fits.
I developed the term after getting back from a trip to Thailand and India and suffering what is known as “culture shock”. Thailand had been so exotic and India so amazing that getting back to a grim and freezing homeland (Scotland) was really depressing. I also wanted to avoid what happened to me after that trip which was to become a pub bore on travelling in Asia, in fact that was why I started writing (to get the experiences out of my system and move on).
I went through a big learning curve after my first Asian trip and I really want to help people overcome the fear of travelling alone -- which held me back for many years -- share my experience of humility (which is essential for getting along with random strangers and also how to get jobs in foreign countries. My new book is called 12 Jobs in 12 Months and its aim is to help people realise that getting a job is easy if you have the right attitude.
Phases of Independent Travel
I think there are three phases of independent travel:
- Before – Mentally preparing for your journey into the unknown;
- During – The attitudes you need when you’re on the road;
- After – How to deal with the shock of coming home after a long time in somewhere totally different.
Each one of these phases is critical for the independent traveller: if you don’t learn how to “let go” of things at home you’ll never get away; if you don’t develop the right attitude towards people you’ll meet on the road you risk getting ripped off; and if you don’t prepare for the psychological shock of coming home you could end up in a depression.
If you want to travel independently you’ll need to develop a series of skills that will help you to cruise through these challenges, but like any new skills you need to practice them.
When I first wanted to travel independently I had three big problems: fear, no cash and no source of inspiration. I overcame my fear by a series of near-death experiences, all described in my Tibet book; I earned cash by driving a truck (and realised that earning money was the easiest problem to overcome); and I found inspiration by reading Bruce Chatwin and Ryszard Kapuscinski.
If you need inspiration to get up and go you might like the following articles, all of which have been written for people who want to start travelling independently (or escape from home):
Sources of Inspiration for future travellers
Get in Touch
I set up this blog to inspire people to travel independently, find work and get into their creative groove. That's what I've been doing for the last 40 years -- travelling, working and writing. I’m keen to write more articles about the psychological issues around travel, so I’d be very grateful if you would suggest a topic you’d like to learn more about. You can suggest a new topic, and experience or insight, by leaving a comment below this article.
First published in 2021, revised and updated in 2025.
#thepsychologyoftravel
by Rupert Wolfe Murray | 30 Oct, 2025 | 12Jobsin12Months, Advice for Future Travellers, Travel Advice & Skills
When someone asks me “How did you get 12 Jobs in 12 Months? (the title of my forthcoming book) I go into a rant about the usual approach to getting a job: someone does a CV with the help of AI; it goes to the employer who, with the help of AI, assesses the CV and … ignores it. My friend Steve Harvey calls it “AI tennis!” The result: rejection, anxiety and despair.
But it doesn’t have to be like that.
When I was leaving university, in Liverpool, I decided to avoid the big companies that were hoovering up my friends. I saw a fixed career as a trap, with mortgages and marriage as the manacles. I wanted independence, variety, risk and excitement. My plan was to learn to be an English teacher and hitchhike to Shanghai. I never made it there but I did spend 9 Months in Tibet, 17 years in Romania and I always found work.
I know this life isn’t for everyone and I respect anyone who is happy in their work. But I think it’s important that everyone knows that going freelance, or working for yourself, is a respectable choice. The purpose of this article is to analyse my approach and assure you that a stable, even stellar, income is possible. You don’t have to hit the road, sleep rough and hope for the best. You also don’t need AI to follow this advice/lifestyle.
For this article I worked out the ingredients that enabled me to get job after job over the last 40 years.
Be Positive
This sounds a bit flaky, hippy and new age-ish but I think it’s the most important ingredient of all. There are so many negatives about getting a job that a lot of positive thinking, or self confidence, is needed. It’s comparable to Harry Potter who uses the Patronus Charm, based on a happy memory, to stand up to the Dementors — which represent “the overwhelming feeling caused by depression.”
I can’t offer any advice about how to go from a negative to a positive state of mind; it’s really hard and the usual suggestions seem glib and useless. What I can do is describe how I made that transition.
I still remember clearly the feelings of despair and hopelessness I felt during the first 10 years of my schooling (from the age of 5 to 15). I didn’t understand why I was there or what was going on, and concluded that I must be stupid. I became sullen and aggressive and it was only at the age of 15 did I see a point in school (getting qualifications). When I realised “I can do this,” the following thought was: “I can do anything I put my mind to!” That was the birth of my self-confidence — a realisation that the last 10 years had been hellish because of my negative frame of mind — and I’ve never looked back, or lost that rocket fuel of confidence. Since then I have made a living as a freelance journalist, aid worker, PR consultant and, since lockdown, painter and decorator.
Help People
Working for someone because you want to help them is so much more motivating than doing a job just to make money. Why is this? If you’re just doing a job for money you’ll soon see the defective way the organisation is run, the boss may get on your nerves, you’ll probably join in the bitching and moaning that goes on in most workplaces and you might end up feeling depressed about your own role in it all.
My motivation in life is to help people and if I look back over my career I did journalism, writing and PR consultancy (informing people), aid work (helping the most disadvantaged) and, recently, painting and decorating (helping people transform their homes).
One of the reasons I suggest people should learn a trade is because you can work for real people, individual home-owners, not managers of big building companies who often don’t really believe in what they’re doing. The owner of a house knows exactly what they want — for example painting a bedroom — and they’ll probably show a lot more gratitude than you’d get from a big company. I always feel a great sense of satisfaction after jobs for real people.
Build Reputation
People often ask me “How did you get that job?” and the answer is based on my reputation, in other words the last person I worked for said I was a hard worker.
If you work your guts out on whatever job you’ve got, not only will it help the time pass quicker but your efforts will be noticed — and the boss may recommend you to another employer. This is how I’ve gone from job to job over the last 40 years. Marketing experts say that “word of mouth” is the best marketing method ever..
But reputation is useless when it comes to applying for jobs online, as you’re up against hundreds of competitors and the HR (Human Resources) people learn to be sceptical as so many applicants lie in their CVs. Recommendations, by someone who has actually worked with you, are far more reliable. AI is also useless at helping you build a reputation for reliability, cheeriness and hard work.
Networking
For me, networking is simply telling people that I’m looking for a job. This works incredibly well for two reasons: people are kind and they want to help; and also because it’s unusual — very few people ask others to help them find work. How many people do you know who have asked for your help in finding a job? None? It seems that looking for work is a solitary, lonely process, not one that should be shared with friends. This turns a potentially exciting task into a stretch in solitary confinement.
I’ve been to a few “networking events” and they were a nightmare, as everyone in the room was looking for a job. To me, these formal events aren’t real networking — they’re just an opportunity for someone to make money from us gullible job seekers paying an entrance fee. Real networking is free and, in my experience, highly effective.
One of the main things I do when looking for work is to avoid competition and the bureaucracy of HR departments. I’ve never got a job — or even a simple answer — by applying formally. The closest I came was when I was invited to join consultancy teams for EU-funded projects in Eastern Europe, and I would then have to get my CV into a particular format and prove that everything written there was true.
There’s so much opportunity when you speak (network) with people individually. There’s so much work to be done and every boss seems to complain about how hard it is to find good staff. Clearly, the oh-so-clever-AI-enabled HR systems aren’t working. They just create more bureaucracy, confusion and depression.
Not sure what to do? Just tell someone you’re looking for a job, or ask me! You can write a comment below, telling me what sort of job you want and maybe I can offer some advice.
Some more key words: flexibility and follow-up. Although you should have an idea of what work you’re looking for, you need to be flexible when networking. If a slightly different opportunity comes up — grab it with both hands. Especially if it sounds good and will burnish your reputation — even if it’s a crappy job you should do it as you’ll learn something and most bosses want to hire people who are currently working somewhere. Every job is a precious step towards your ideal job. And follow people up. So many times I’ve heard people recommend a job, an opportunity, a contact and the person I’m with nods or shrugs but doesn’t take down the all important contact details. Get a small notebook and always have it on you. Without follow-up, networking is useless.
Be Humble
For me, this is the secret sauce. I went from advising the Romanian government, being paid big bucks by the EU, getting invited to embassy parties in Bucharest and Moscow, to clearing gardens, painting houses and dressing like a tramp. If it wasn’t for my humility I would have felt like a failure as conventional wisdom says that you shouldn’t get work that is “below your station”.
In fact the transition from consultancy to manual labour, which happened during lockdown, has been a joy. I’ve long been aware that the high-flying-well-paid consultancy work I used to do came with a risk of vanity and arrogance, and so I worked on my humility: be grateful for what I have, appreciate simple things like camping (or helping people), be aware that some people have nothing — we have so much compared to people in Gaza or Sudan. The result: I’m grateful when I get offered the simplest, dirtiest job and I do them all with a spring in my step and a smile on my face. It’s also a joy to work outside even if it’s cold and wet — if you’re working hard you won’t feel the cold, and if you’re gardening you’ll appreciate the rain.
Finally, a note about my latest book: 12 Jobs in 12 Months. If you read the book’s initial introduction you’ll see that it came about through networking, flexibility, blind faith and relentless follow up. It has nothing to do with AI.
Now it’s over to you. I’d love to hear your story. What was your first job? Have you found it hard to get hired? What has been the most challenging aspect of getting a job as a student? And if you have ever felt stuck in your job, what helped you get unstuck? Do you have any advice for people looking for a job? Please add a comment below.
by Rupert Wolfe Murray | 21 Oct, 2025 | 12Jobsin12Months, Opinions
One of the reasons I wrote a book called 12 Jobs in 12 Months was to show people that getting a job is easy.
Why is this important?
So many people I know feel stuck in their jobs. There are many reasons for this: the familiar complaints about bosses, colleagues, pay, hours; and a more deep seated fear that no job is safe, no company is immune from the vagaries of a globalised economic system.
Some of these fears go back to the dawn of the industrial revolution when jobs had none of the legal protections we take for granted today, and workers could be fired on a whim. Other worries are new, like the threat of AI taking over office jobs.
As I've managed to overcome these fears, it would be easy for me to dismiss them. But that would be arrogant and my aim in life is to help people -- to change jobs, overcome fear and travel independently. I spent the last 40 years working freelance, from project to project, in many different countries, and having built a reputation for honesty and hard work I went easily from one short term job (or project) to the next. All this gave me a sense of job security.
I know what it's like to feel trapped by a mortgage, I have experienced the way that HR departments treat applicants (like cattle), and I sympathise with anyone who just can't face these demons.
My message isn't for everyone. It's for students who need to know the lay of the land before throwing themselves on the mercy of the job market. It's also for retired people who are wondering what they can do with the tremendous skills and energy they built up over 40 years; and I want to offer a lifeline for anyone who can't stand their job and is ready to jump.
Two Approaches to Getting a Job
It's clear to me there are two approaches to getting a job: the formal, traditional way of approaching big organisations, joining thousands of others, filling in endless forms, being evaluated by an algorithm and probably getting rejected.
The other approach, my way, is to simply ask people if they need any help with their house. Many people complain they can't find anyone to paint rooms, fix walls, clear gardens, garages and attics. It may start out at just a few hours work and a good way to learn is to do the first few jobs unpaid -- treat it as a training session.
I charge a low fee of £15 an hour, plus expenses, and can make enough to get by. I find that one job leads to another, one happy client becomes an advocate and people contact me out of the blue asking me to fix this, clear that, or paint their house. In my book I squeezed 12 jobs into a year and there's a certain amount of comedy involved -- constantly hustling for work, getting fired, and doing some quite bizarre jobs -- as well as moments of doubt ("will I be able to get a job next month?")
Doing building work is only one option: a retired person could do consultancy; anyone can do creative work, or casual work; all that's needed is courage and determination. The main thing to know is that there's plenty of work out there and by taking a job you will be doing the employer a favour. Another option is to write a book, and if you'd like to find out how to do it check out this article: 5 Reasons to Publish an Ebook.
For me, the key to getting work like this is humility, in other words I need to come off my high horse about being a successful project manager and EU consultant in the past, and embrace a future as a simple labourer. This results in a great feeling of satisfaction. In fact, this whole experience results in a general feeling of liberation.
I'm sure many of you reading this article are not convinced; those short term jobs sound flaky, you may be worried about a lack of experience and qualifications, and I doubt you'll believe that you can learn most of these skills "on the job."
A more secure and profitable way into a new job is to learn a trade. The market is crying out for joiners, plumbers, electricians, plasterers and brickies -- look at how we've soaked up so many tradesmen from abroad -- and courses are available everywhere. Once you've learned the trade you can charge up to £350 a day, and that's enough to sustain the most expensive lifestyle. I looked for an article about this in the media but couldn't find anything useful in what Trump calls "The Lamestream Media", but I did find this article from a training agency which is worth looking at: How Learning a Trade is Helping Disillusioned Young People Get Back on Track.
If you want to move on but you feel a lack of courage, just get in touch and I'll try to help you. I love talking to people who want to change their life. It's something we can all do, it's never too late and I'm inspired by helping people bridge that gap.
Contact me via this article -- just leave a comment below and I'll get back to you
#
In case you're wondering: none of this article is written with AI. Also, you may be wondering who's in the photo: it's my son Luca and his cousin Rares Boboc.
by Rupert Wolfe Murray | 23 Apr, 2024 | 12Jobsin12Months, My books, Opinions
I'd love to know what you think of the draft introduction to my new book "12 Jobs in 12 Months", below. It explains how the idea came together. Would you buy a book with mad stories of chasing jobs, and the blind faith that sustained me? I'd be so grateful if you would add a comment below the article.
*
The Dog Days Between Christmas and New Year
I want to explain how this book came about. On the 22nd of December 2022 I was walking across Edinburgh and I called an old contact called Alan Calcott. Alan runs a company called Carbon Plan Engineering, which offers energy efficiency solutions for commercial properties -- in other words, how to save money by insulating buildings and using whatever renewable energy technologies are most appropriate. One of his early jobs was helping Bristol Zoo turn manure into energy.
I told Alan that since lockdown in 2020 I’ve been getting into building work. During that year much of the economy shut down and I ended up back in my hometown -- Edinburgh -- doing up my flat. I’d been renting it out for 20 years and suddenly my tenants went back to Australia and it was empty. I was at a loose end and I ended up renovating the place with £15,000 I had inherited from my mother’s untimely death.
The surprising thing is that I really enjoyed the work -- painting and decorating, doing basic joinery, finding and motivating tradesmen, running around in an old Toyota Hiace van I’d got for £250, and crawling under the floorboards (wearing a gas mask) fitting insulation. I wore a boilersuit, drove a white van and was able to travel freely as the building trade, for reasons I still can't understand, was exempt from the Covid 19 lockdown restrictions.
For over 20 years I’d been working as a project manager and PR consultant in Romania, Russia and the former Yugoslavia. These jobs paid good money, enough to buy a flat in Edinburgh and Bucharest. But the more successful I got at doing consultancy work -- which is essentially sorting out other people’s crap -- the more stressful and lonely it became. As a PR consultant I got a direct view into the nerve centre of a company, or government agency, and even the EU (my main client) and it’s not pretty. The best word that describes a big modern organisation is neurotic, a word that Google defines as “abnormally sensitive, obsessive, or anxious”.
For years my aim was to earn enough money to support my family and although I was a rotten husband I was good to my kids and sometimes I earned a lot as a consultant. But I’m a backpacker at heart, a nomad, a gypsy, and settling down in one place just isn’t for me. Even within the marriage I would wander, go on long bicycle tours alone, and now that I’m divorced, the mortgage is paid off, and my kids have grown up, I’m free to hit the road again. The fact that I’m 59 years of age isn’t a problem as my attitude is the same as it was when I left school -- I know that something good will soon come along as I’m honest, reliable and am sustained by my good reputation. I'm also working on being more humble, which makes it easy to appreciate what most people would call "shitty jobs".
As I was saying, I was on the phone to Alan Calcott and I told him I want to learn about how to insulate buildings as this seems to be a good way to help people reduce greenhouse gases in their homes. This would be my way of "doing my bit" for the planet. Does he know any building companies that might need a labourer, driver or dogsbody?
By now I was walking on a busy road and it was hard to hear what he was saying. Our conversation went something like this:
"What’s the name of that book? I didn’t hear you properly. Did you say 12 Jobs in 12 Months? Who's the author?"
"No, it’s not been written yet. You should write it."
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"You should get 12 jobs over the next year in all the sectors that are short of labour, not just construction. Catering and hospitality are also short of workers. Then write a book about it."
"That’s an interesting idea."
"And it's timely. Brexit has cut off the supply of European labour."
"I suppose there's plenty of work out there."
"There certainly is. Send me a text that I can post on LinkedIn. But now I've got to run."
"Bye."
People often suggest I write a book about what I’m currently doing. Friends have encouraged me to write about living on a houseboat, working in Bosnia and visiting New England -- all things I’ve done over the last few years. But one needs to be inspired to write a book as it requires a massive concentration of mental energy, and the thought of writing another book about houseboats, Bosnia or New England makes me yawn.
This idea of 12 jobs in 12 months is different. It feels original, wacky and inspiring. Has anyone written anything like this before? The closest thing I can think of was an advert I saw in the New York Times, looking for someone to travel to a different location every day for a year, all over the world, and write about it. I thought such a task was impossible but I still applied (and, as with all jobs I've formally applied for, got no reply).
This book also presents a challenge: Is it possible to get 12 jobs in 12 months? Is it really so easy to get a job, to profit from the shambles of Brexit? Will I be able to sustain it over the entirety of 2023?
What I do know is that the worse the job, the more chaotic the situation, the better material I will have. It will be a book written in the present tense, or in "real time" as they say nowadays. I also know that once I get started it will form a life of its own. Books are like seeds, which are often dry and dormant, but once the growth process starts it's fast, exciting and powerful.
#12x12
by Rupert Wolfe Murray | 4 Apr, 2024 | 12Jobsin12Months, Journeys, My books, Psychology of Travel
This is a difficult question to answer. It was easy enough to make the decision to do 12 jobs in 12 months, but now that I’ve done them (I finished in December last year) and have to write up the stories, I’m faced with strong internal reluctance to get started. Part of me knows that what I did last year was unusual and people, presumably, will be interested.
I’ve just finished a decorating job and it’s always really hard to transition from “normal” work to the introspective task of writing. I feel a strong pull towards YouTube, catching up on the news, sharing silly messages on WhatsApp, organising my next journey, cleaning the house, washing up, going for long walks — doing anything other than looking into my thoughts, feelings and memories. Avoidance is the name of the game
They say that money makes the world go round but the same could be said for jobs. Without jobs people would be broke and they’d also be without a daily structure, a routine that gets them up in the morning and pulls them through life.
Most jobs last for years, some for decades, and wouldn’t it be interesting to read about someone who did 12 of them in a year? When I’ve mentioned it to people they often ask questions: What was your favourite job? (Catering). How did you get jobs? (Networking). Did these jobs take you abroad? (Yes). Were you well paid? (Sometimes). Did you get fired? (Yes). What gave you this idea? (A conversation).
Funnily enough nobody has asked me why I did 12 jobs in 12 months or why I’m writing a book about it, and that’s why I’m writing this article as I think it’s an interesting question.
I haven’t come across many books written about jobs, which is odd considering how much of our lives we dedicate to them. One of the most interesting aspects of jobs, in my view, is HR (Human Resources) — how companies recruit people. Everything I’ve seen and heard about HR professionals is appalling: their approach to recruitment is often idiotic, their value is questionable and if you ask someone who works for a big company they invariably have nothing good to say about HR. This gives me an interesting feature for each chapter — how did I get the job? The characters I worked with will be another interesting element in the book.
In terms of political context an interesting factor is A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) which is so clever that it threatens to take away many types of jobs. One of my jobs (working for the Post Office) felt like it was a role that will soon be replaced by machines; I felt like I was being trained and managed like a robot and the job itself (delivering parcels) is so micromanaged that when the machines take over they’ll know everything their human predecessors did, and do it better (at least in terms of maximising profits).
Maybe all jobs will be replaced by AI and robots soon? This doesn’t worry me as there’s enough money in the system to pay every citizen a Universal Basic Income and people could work as carers, artists/writers/musicians, community entrepreneurs, charity workers, academics, or just follow their dreams. It just needs a change of attitude that fits with new technology, and if you think about jobs they are just tasks that were developed during the industrial revolution. Their central function in our society is never questioned. The technology has changed but our attitudes haven’t: to be “normal” you must get a job.
I still haven’t answered the question about why I’m writing this book about 12 jobs? It feels rather arrogant to say “I’m writing it for people to learn about jobs!” Am I? How do I know if anyone is interested? What if they’re not? I don’t have an answer for these questions but what I can do is make it clear that I’m writing this for my own selfish purposes — because I think it’s interesting and I like to share my experiences in written form– and if nobody else agrees it won’t affect me too much. My pride, vanity and ego won’t be too bruised.
The other purpose of this book is to let people know what I’ve been up to (a nasty voice in my head says “Nobody’s interested and you’re an arrogant shit for assuming that anybody is!”) I have learned to ignore these naysayers in my head. As someone who is always on the move I like to let people know what I’ve been up to. I do this with updates on Instagram, this blog and, sometimes, books.
I find this blog a useful place to discuss ideas, some of which won’t make it into the book, and also my struggles with sloth, complacency and procrastination. You, the person reading this article, can help by writing a comment under here. Comments can help make the book better, as they sometimes challenge my thinking.
Finally, this is a good place to launch my new hashtag: #12×12
