Best and the Brightest

I’ve been applying for a lot of jobs lately and I have noticed two patterns:
1. Everyone is looking for people who have a lot of experience
2. Everyone only hires ‘the best and the brightest’

Seriously, if you owned a company and were trying to hire people, would you claim to hire ‘the so-so’?

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want out of a job. Some days I feel like taking any job so I can have the money to pay for my rent. Other days, I feel like holding out. I try to remind myself that life is too short and that I deserve a job I love, a job that I would actually enjoy doing.

My requirements aren’t that complicated: I want to work with people who’re happy to be there and I want to be learning about something new often. The something new doesn’t have to be technical. I could work in a new industry and learn about that or I could work with a new programming language and learn that but if I’m not learning, I will quickly get bored and disillusioned.

You’ll notice money isn’t in my list of requirements. Assuming I did get a job I loved, I am willing to work for much less money than the guy next door. I don’t really care if I can’t afford a yearly vacation to Maui if it means I get up every morning and am thrilled to go to work.

Maybe I’m asking for too much?