I spent some time in Greece a few years ago. And, being an Australian woman, who’s not so good at talking about feelings but very good at talking about career choices, my first question when meeting new people was the default… “So, what do you do?”
The response? A very, very bland expression of incomprehension mixed with pity… Is that the most important thing you have to talk about?
Apparently, there are other ways to open a conversation.
Because of their utter refusal to talk about work, I got to know the personal journeys, love lives and family lives of my Greek friends; as well as their opinions on big issues like the economy and refugee crisis. I found out about their personalities, favourite memories, most endeared sporting teams… and I still don’t have any idea where they were employed.
But, back in Australia, that question is unavoidable. One of the key ways we take measure of a person, in meeting them for the fist time, is to ask what they do for a living.
Why do we ask it?
At best, we’re looking to find common ground and encourage the individual to open up. At worst, we’re trying to form a judgement around the person we’re talking to, and perhaps avoid more difficult, more personal topics.
Maybe job descriptions act as our theoretical short-cut to getting to know the person in front of us. Librarian? You must be a quiet, nice, educated, etc. Defence lawyer? You must be ruthless, savvy, heartless, etc. It’s a short hand way of categorising people.
“When someone asks ‘What do you do?’ they are often really asking a different question: ‘Who are you?’ And that’s the one most people tend to answer,” author Lisa Owens wrote for The Pool. “‘I’m a doctor’, a doctor will say, rather than, ‘I diagnose health issues and administer medicine’. We attribute characteristics to people based on their jobs. Doctors are compassionate and good under pressure. Accountants are level-headed and organised. PR officers are sociable and enthusiastic.”