[Pryde]

Do you, as a manager at least, have any ideas on how to address that inequality? Obviously the ideal measure would be at least to improve education among those populations, but given that at least some portion of that damage is done by the time an individual enters the workplace, is there any way to mitigate those factors at that point?

[supernova87a]

The one area I have found useful is employing a junior group in operational roles where they are tasked with repetitive but skill-requiring tasks get to show that they are:

-- conscientious

-- innovative

-- communicative

-- ambitious

You can almost immediately tell who has ideas, is interested in the work, and stands out from the rest.

A responsible corporate leader then offers the opportunity to advance from this beginning having proven their adaptability. Honestly, it is too dangerous / risky to hire people from "unusual" backgrounds into much higher responsibility roles.

This is the old type training environment that companies used to have, especially in manufacturing for example. But with the decline of that, and the offloading of expensive training and apprenticeship to a contractor-run world, this gateway for people to prove themselves is becoming rarer and rarer. And it is a failing of our society to take up that slack with enlightened public policy that realizes this is happening. All we seem to want now is to have someone else grow the crop, and we pick and cut the most attractive.

[Pryde]

So this sort of program would weed out individuals that couldn't hack it in the corporate environment, thereby mitigating the negative effects of those traits listed earlier to the business, which is obviously a good idea. But from personal experience as a person who would probably score fairly low on conscientiousness, I've found that such programs don't encourage that trait in me. At the risk of trying to turn this into an advice thread, what would you recommend for an individual in that circumstance?

[supernova87a]

What's an example of low conscientiousness? What type of work do you enjoy / are you successful at?

[Pryde]

In my case at least, I'm often just not motivated to meet a given standard of excellence in my work, at least when doing work that I'd be paid for. Frankly, I'm often content with "works well enough and without breaking issues" at work. At 22 I'm just starting my career, and I'd like to find a way to mitigate that trait in the future.

As far as what type of work I enjoy and/or am successful at, I'm honestly not sure. I haven't enjoyed any work to a high degree since leaving university. So far at least, I've been fairly successful in my work as a software developer for an insurance tech company.

[supernova87a]

One idea that comes to mind is to try working on a project where incremental improvement in performance of some process or algorithm actually produces financial or time value for yourself or some group who depend on the outcome. Get closer to the user, get to know the user rather than receiving some task remotely, and learn how something better can save them time, money, or headache.

Tie your personal gratification to the result, and (in the 2nd case) tangibly through someone else's recognition of your work. That may be how you learn to value and feel good about performing more than is just necessary. Look to work on or create a project where the recipient of the work is not looking for just good enough.

Also, find a small team whose people can push you to see and value the extra effort, and the aspect of not letting them down. You probably would benefit from finding a mentor who could hook you up with some receptive team willing to give you a shot.

Good luck!

[Pryde]

I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to provide that advice, and I'll start implementing it immediately. Thanks so much!