Should you take any old available job?

Michael Melvin, that most genial of can-do personnel currently employed at Cleary Electrical Mullingar, tells a story at my expense – which I have heard back a few time from different sources.
Mick worked for me as manager of one of our pubs; the ‘sub-office’, as retired Mullingar bank manager, ‘Big Tom’ O’Mahony christened ‘The Well’.
I only vaguely remember the incident, so I’ll let Melvin tell it in his own words.
‘We were interviewing one of these whizz-kid barmen who was applying for a job. The lad was the greatest know-all of all time and it was as if he was interviewing us. He had sheaves of references, certificates and degrees spread out on the table and he knew how we could do everything better and the changes he would like to see in the business.
‘Eventually he paused for breath at the height of his pontificating and at last Bernie could get a word in and his first question was: “And how are you at cleaning toilets?”!’
From my limited experience, it is the ones who are willing to clean the toilets (same as I always did) who get to the top of wherever they are going.
‘I did not come here to wash glasses,’ I was told by a young lady we had obliged by taking in on work experience in Mullingar Squash centre. She later dropped out of college and the student who took her turn washing glasses that year is now a school vice-principal.
So, in this recession the ceist occupying many a young mind (and some not so young) is, should I take any old job that comes along?
This is a good question, not easily answered, but in the opinion of this column, you should.
The argument against taking a job that you are over-qualified for is that your full-time focus should be on getting the job for which your qualifications prepared you. Working in a non-challenging job could fool you into thinking that you now don’t have to hunt as hard for that dream position.
Or your self-esteem could be affected over a period and when things improve on the job front you might not be as inclined to get on the job search again.
But in weighing up the pros and cons, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that a job, as opposed to the ideal job, is infinitely preferable to no job at all. This is not to say that you should lower your ambitions – just don’t write off other jobs in the meantime.
I never worked at anything that didn’t teach me something useful which came in handy later and you always have a better chance of getting a job when you have a job.
The worst option of all is idleness and it should not be an option at all. Do nixers or volunteer work, because as St Benedict said; ‘idleness is the enemy of the soul’.  It is also the enemy of the mind and body. Idleness means you have no particular goal in mind and are just drifting aimlessly nowhere.
You can have several jobs until you land a job in your chosen career, but don’t lose sight of your future goal. Regard lesser jobs along the way merely as stepping stones. This recession won’t last forever and you will be the one in position to be a much more experienced candidate when companies are in hiring mode again.
Once upon a time, man’s labour was a duty to all and idleness regarded as a constant sin. Edmund Burke observed that, ‘too much idleness fills up a man’s time more completely and leaves him less his own master, than any sort of employment whatsoever’.
Our mind is never a vacuum; it is naturally active and if it is not occupied through work and endeavour, it sinks into melancholy or veers towards mischief.
The greatest curse of idleness is that it can become an insidious condition, especially for a young person. You get so used to it and have difficulty in adjusting to the discipline of work – or worse, stop seeking employment.
At one time everyone had to do something in order to be able to eat.
It is the saddest fact that Ireland only succeeded in providing full employment for its citizenry for one decade since its foundation. It is a tragedy to once again see our brainiest and brightest leaving these shores to find work abroad. The best leave because they are the ones possessing drive, who really want to work, and we have to admire then for that.  The thing is that some of these graduates will work in jobs abroad that they wouldn’t take at home. It was ever thus and that’s how it was when I went to work in England in the 1960s. It is not natural for an able-bodied person to be idle and the vast majority of people don’t want to be doing nothing.
Lost time is never found again. There are some unfortunates who are temporarily idle through no fault of their own and reading this will annoy them. We are attacking idleness and idlers – and not people caught in a limbo between jobs.
‘Idleness is emptiness; the tree in which the sap is stagnant, remains fruitless.’ So said Hosea Balloo. Henry Ward Beecher spelled it out even stronger: ‘If you are idle, you are on the road to ruin; and there are few stopping places upon it. It is rather a precipice than a road.’ Thomas Carlyle claimed that ‘nine-tenths of the miseries and vices of mankind proceed from idleness’.
Yes, my friend; take any old job you can get: it will keep you sane and sound until you find what you are looking for.

Don’t Forget
You can tell a man’s character by what he turns up when offered a job – his nose or his sleeves.