No matter how original you are, no matter how much you try to avoid the question, it will come up almost every time. Instead of avoiding it embrace the question and learn to give an original interesting answer regardless of how dull your job is.
The secret to answering this question (or any personal question really) is to understand how what you do relates to the person you are talking to. The facts of anyone’s job are pretty boring. A test pilot talking about his 141 point check before flight is going to bore someone to death. It doesn’t matter what you do; if you help someone understand more of the “why” you enjoy it, or explain it in a way they can understand and relate to, it will be interesting to them.
Technique #1 – The Job Effect
Start thinking about how your job relates to her life. In what way does what you do affect her world?
Job: Internet Security Specialist
Effect: Prevents Identity Theft
Her: What do you do?
Me: I battle the evildoers out there that are looking to buy pink Cadillacs with your money.
Her: How do you do that?
Me: I figure out ways to beat hackers at their own game so they don’t steal your identity.
Her: Oh! You are like an internet super hero! That is cool.
Job: Ball Bearing Sales
Effect: Without Bearings Wheels wouldn’t work
Her: What do you do?
Me: Without the product that I sell we would go back to the stone age.
Her: What do you sell?
Me: It’s not the wheel, but I make wheels go faster.
Her: You sell tires? Maybe rims?
Me: Even more important, I sell the ball bearings that are in every wheel on the planet. Just don’t tell my competitors, they may tell you I’m exaggerating just a bit.
Don’t play it out too long or she just won’t care but make it a bit interesting by making her ask a bit more about it. Even something as boring as ball bearings can be made into something interesting. The point is not to try to impress her; it is just to make it so she can relate to the job a bit.
Technique #2 – Why I like what I do
Don’t explain the facts, just tell them about why you enjoy what you do
Job: Accountant
Her: What do you do?
Me: I’m an accountant. The thing I love about my job is that I can make everything make sense. I get to solve problems that I know always have an answer. It’s not always the answer that my clients want to hear but they can never argue with me either. Overall it’s nice because I know that I am doing the best to help people be more effective in their financial lives.
Job: Medical Research
Her: What do you do?
Me: I’m in medical research. I get to spend my time figuring out the secrets to eternal life, ok maybe just a better more healthy life. It is the puzzle that I know no one has ever answered that really keeps me excited about my work. I get to explore the mysteries of what makes us alive and how that happens.
We may love what we do and get excited about it, but we often think others might not see it the same way. When we think about our job, the boring parts are what come to mind first. Instead of explaining your job as a whole including those boring parts, just focus on the positives and what you like about it or why you do it.
Your job doesn’t define you but your attitude towards it can. Be someone who can express their personality even when talking about something you might find boring. Find a way to share in a relatable interesting way and you will stand out from everyone else.
Tags: Conversation, Dating, job, relating, what do you do
