the underachiever

Have you ever experienced a co-worker, acquaintance, stranger, etc. say something to you like "You really could be doing something better with yourself"? I purposely did not include friends and family members in the above list for reasons that will shortly become clear. The impetus for this thought goes back to my post a couple of days ago entitled “The interview”. I was recently interviewed for the school newspaper where I work, and one of the questions regarded my education (I have attained a Master’s degree from a well-respected school). Now, given that when I applied for my current job, the listed educational requirement was a 1-year college diploma, I am certainly qualified for the position. However, since the interview was published, I have been approached by two co-workers, both of whom suggested (in not so many words) that I am working below my capabilities. One came right out and said “Do you ever feel like you are wasting your time?”

These are not the only two instances; even before the interview was published, at least two or three other people had raised the same notion. In every instance, I was left feeling rather awkward; while on one hand it is a compliment, on the other, it feels like a judgement. Not one has asked what it is that I want to do, or why I took this particular job; they have all assumed that since I am over-qualified for the position, I must feel unhappy, unfulfilled and perhaps even somewhat worthless. Projection maybe? Whatever it is, it bugs me. It is a situation completely different from a close friend or family member who knows you intimately and can therefore provide informed advice or support based on their relationship with you.

I remember reading a personal essay few years back that was published in the Globe and Mail (one of Canada’s two national newspapers). It was written by a man who had a Ph.D., and had done the academic thing for a few years before exchanging his keys to an ivory tower for those to a city bus. I remember him describing how he enjoyed the feeling of being out amongst people all day, earning a living, and then at the end of the day having the freedom (temporally and intellectually) to pursue other interests. I am starting to understand what he was getting at.