Dear potential employer,
you might be browsing my website and notice that I have quite some interest in the concept of "Financial Independence, Retire Early" or 'FIRE'. Almost all my favourite blogs are about that concept, and also one of my favourite books is about early retirement.
You might also be wondering: Well, if this guy wants to retire quickly, will he be a good employee? Can we invest time and resources in educating him while getting something for it in return?
And will he even be motivated to work? If his goal is to be free from the income stream that a job provides by being able to live off the dividends of his investments, does that mean that he hates to work?
To answer each point:
I am very conscious about the way I structure my time, how I structure my work and how I plan my day. This makes me an effective and efficient worker. I can think on a deep level without needing distraction from email or a youtube video, since I have trained my brain to focus. This allows me to work well, once I understand what I'm doing.
Furthermore, I invested quite some time in improving my communication and teamwork skills, which means that I know how to operate in a team, I know how to communicate on multiple levels and how to clearly get my message across. I also know how to listen well, which is arguably even more important.
Add on top of that a solid educational foundation, a year of satellite team leadership and plenty of extracurricular experience and you have someone that I would indeed describe as: 'A good employee'.
Allowing me to further develop myself will not only yield a more skilled employee after the development program finishes, but it also makes me a happier (and more motivated) employee during the program because I like to learn! Thus, part of the payoff already happens during the time that you invest time and resources in me.
Furthermore, I don't like job hopping. While I won't promise that I'll spend all my life at one job, I like stability and familiarity in a work environment. Because of this, I won't be contracted for a few months and then run away, chasing another job. I like to get to know my colleagues and build some kind of a relationship.
I work best when I don't have to worry about learning the implicit rules and customs of a certain work environment but can just focus on the job. If I were to hop between jobs every few months, I would be almost constantly busy with 'getting to know the company'. This would hinder my job satisfaction, since I become happy by producing valuable results and helping the company achieve its goals, not by learning how to brew a coffee in some overly complicated machine.
YES! I am very motivated to work hard and improve myself and my quality of work for the benefit of the company. This is for the following reason;
I gain the most happiness and satisfaction from my work:
This is what I learned from the insights from the How to Love your Job page. These two combined make me very motivated to work hard and try to produce my best work for the benefit of the company.
When I reach financial indepence, I'll probably just keep working! If I apply the strategies from the How to Love your Job page well, my job is a source of joy, something I want to be doing because I like it! I might slightly decrease the number of hours that I work, or shift to a slightly different position, but I am quickly bored, so I want some puzzles to solve!
The main reason I pursue Financial Indepence is because (once it is achieved) it allows me to do my work purely because I am intrinsically motivated by the job, instead of being (partly or mostly) motivated by the money. Like Pete Adeney nicely explains in this talk, work is better when you don't need the money.
When I solve the money part of life, I get to focus purely on doing the best work I can, without having to worry about mortage, rent, paychecks and coupons. I can live my life the way I want to, and focus on creating the most value for society.
This freedom is what I want. Not the freedom to sit on the beach all day. That is nice for a weekend at most. Any longer than that will make me very unhappy.
God gave me a unique set of talents, and I am eager to use them to make the world - and your company - a better place!
So: Feel free to hire me. You won't regret it.
If you have any questions related to any of this (or just want to get in touch), feel free to send me an email!