People tend to have different expectations out of a job, like personal satisfaction, higher pay, respect, and social recognition. Some people are so dedicated to their jobs that they barely have something fun life, while others tend to seek happiness outside of their professional life. Personally, I think my job has a greater impact on my overall happiness than my social life based on the following reasons.
First off, for professionals, especially newly minted college graduates, a job can provide them a great sense of satisfaction. When holding a job, one feels that he or she assumes great responsibility and has something offer back to the community regardless of ones’ positions, be it cashier, janitor, professor or even business managers. For instance, an Executive Officer can help to create jobs that benefit lots of people; chefs can create a new dish and release his creativity, at the same time customers will be amazed by his new dish; a professor gets a great sense of accomplishment when he imparts knowledge to his students or comes up a groundbreaking finding in a certain academic field. Though the happiness and satisfaction can be subtle in a working environment, nonetheless, it can be very contagious and eventually makes someone a satisfied person in life.
Additionally, holding a job can offer someone monetary incentive and it can also be an important source of motivation and happiness. Without a decent salary one cannot afford the daily necessities like paying rent, covering living expense, like utility bills, internet bills, to say nothing about living a comfortable life. A recent study on the correlation between monetary compensation and employee satisfactions published by Harvard Business Review suggests that higher financial reward affords great happiness in a working environment. Indeed, the monetary reward from the job can make someone very happy and give them a sense of achievement. With the salary, a young adult can have some disposable income and thus be more financially independent, buy things they like or take a trip somewhere.
In conclusion, a job can provide more happiness than one’s social life since career opportunities provide people a great sense of satisfaction and the monetary incentive associated with jobs can also be an important source of motivation and happiness.