The Impossible Dream?

Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.

  Career Development  

In a still wobbly job market where job permanence is still a myth, many IT professionals still dream of finding that special job promising a secure future. This dream is actually achievable, asserts Richard A. Hagberg, president of the Hagberg Consulting Group, a Foster City, California-based company that develops training programs for the high-tech industry.

The secret to finding that job of a lifetime lies in being able to analyze yourself in order to learn what kind of corporate culture best suits your personality. Hagberg, a psychologist by training, has done some fascinating research outlining the personality traits of successful leaders and managers. This article outlines his important observations.

Job happiness, in the fullest sense of the term, rests solely on loving most aspects of your job. You can come close to finding a utopian situation, says Hagberg, by matching your individual style with a compatible corporate culture. If you're a freewheeling, independent thinker, for example, you ought to stay clear of controlling, highly structured bureaucratic organizations.

The question you must ask yourself is, how does your personality, personal rhythm, outlook and philosophy mesh with that of the organization?

A painless way to find a good fit, according to Hagberg, is by examining how you feel about a number of critical organizational factors. Which ones…

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