Your Job Means More Than You Think: Rethinking Job Descriptions
When people think about meaningful jobs that make a difference, they usually don’t think about janitors, auto mechanics, baristas, fast food workers, middle managers, and secretaries. However, when you think about these jobs, they mean a lot more than you might think. You might be familiar with people inflating job titles, but this isn’t that. Perhaps we should think about our work differently because of it, asking not “What actions do I perform?” but “What benefits do I create, and what problems do I prevent?” You might not be Steve Jobs, but you’re still contributing more than you think. What would honest job descriptions emphasize?
Blue Collar Jobs Make a Difference
Consider janitors. They’re sweeping floors and scrubbing toilets, but icky tasks like these have more to them than meets the eye. How many people haven’t gotten sick because they’ve had clean bathrooms? How many innovations weren’t derailed by disgusting bathrooms because you did your job well? How many ideas did people think up because they weren’t distracted by dirty floors and cobwebs in the corner?
Or think about auto mechanics. Michelin commercials tell you “so much is riding on your tires.” If you’re changing people’s tires regularly, you ensure that people have traction, handling, and stability, preventing skids and auto accidents–especially in nasty weather. When you’re replacing worn brake pads and rotors, you’re making driving safer (Peltzman effects notwithstanding). When changing people’s oil, you’re helping the engine run smoothly, leading to fewer people on the side of the road needing emergency assistance.
If you’re flipping burgers at a fast food joint, you’re feeding hungry people. You’re also doing more by connecting buyers and sellers. Farmers and ranchers are growing potatoes and herding cattle for the construction workers you serve during their lunch break.
White Collar Jobs Do, Too
What about office jobs? What could be more soul-crushing and pointless than moving paper from one side of a desk to another and putting cover sheets on TPS reports? But no matter what you’re doing, you’re helping get resources into the right hands. Maybe it’s not always the most glamorous stuff, but even if you’re just running revenue numbers for the sandwich bag division of Amalgamated MegaCorp, you’re still doing something important. You are helping shareholders–a group that probably includes Fidelty, Vanguard, TIAA-CREF, or another company managing your neighbor’s retirement account–provide for secure futures.
Furthermore, you ensure the company doesn’t waste valuable resources producing too many sandwich bags by getting the numbers right. You help people around the world keep their food fresh. You might not like the work, but you should never feel like you aren’t making a difference.
What if you’re “just” pouring coffee at Starbucks? You’re doing a lot more than you might think. First, you’re indirectly helping coffee farmers on the other side of the world feed their families by getting their goods into the right hands. You’re creating a space where people can build communities and concentrate on ideas because they know the coffee and the snacks will be good: lots of great work gets done in coffee shops. Some people visit coffee shops as part of their routines or for special treats.
You might not think your job cleaning toilets, changing oil, flipping burgers, manipulating spreadsheets, pouring coffee, and making pencils is meaningless. It isn’t. Even if your job description doesn’t explicitly connect what you do and others’ benefits, it’s there nonetheless.
This article originally appeared at Forbes.com on March 3, 2025. Emily Andrews‘s remarks at Samford University’s 2023 Faith and Learning Summit inspired this article and made me think about meaningful job descriptions.