Once in awhile there comes a time when a person suddenly lacks motivation in one’s work. This can be due to a myriad of reasons like – a horrible boss, unfair company policies, catty coworkers or just the plain old “stuck in a rut” syndrome, but one should never let such negativity cloud their enthusiasm to work hard and become successful. In case you’re one of those unfortunate few who are stuck in career limbo and are completely clueless on what to do, relax, sit back and check out these movies. Hopefully these will give you ideas on how to make your job seem more enjoyable and worthwhile.
If you feel your resume doesn’t look impressive:
The Pursuit of Happyness – Believing in one’s self can change your whole life for the better. This movie is based on the true story of Chris Gardner, a single father and bone density scanner salesman whose incredible determination to succeed against all odds made him the Wall Street legend he is now.
The Story: Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a simple man, living a very hard life. He chooses to raise his 5-year-old son by himself when his wife suddenly leaves him and desperately tries to make ends meet by selling bone density scanners that he’s invested his life savings in. By and by, Chris is scrambling to get money to pay the bills and he and his son eventually have to rely on homeless shelters just to have a place to stay in for the night. He finds his saving grace in a possible internship at a stock brokerage firm where he does his best to land one of the much coveted slots. As luck would have it, the company is only offering an internship and a job to the best intern of the batch. But in spite of the odds, Chris chooses to stick with the internship and performs to the best of his abilities. Through pure dedication and his incredible skills in sales and marketing, Chris lands the job that he wants in spite of being only a high school graduate.
If you feel your boss doesn’t appreciate your hard work:
The Devil Wears Prada – So the book version wasn’t so good, this movie adaptation starring Anne Hathaway as the extremely overworked Andy Sachs and Merryl Streep as the infamous boss from hell, Miranda Priestly, is actually a fun, feel good movie. Aside from all the fun fashions, this movie inspires greenhorns that dedication and hard work does pay off in the end.
The Story: Fresh out of college, Andy lands an interview at Runway – a hip fashion magazine for women. In spite of her lack of interest in the topic and being completely clueless about the fashion industry, editor in chief Miranda Priestly surprisingly hires her. She then becomes the second assistant to the EIC who works 24/7 with a low salary and zero respect from her boss – until she starts to prove her capabilities. From being able to memorize all the names of the who’s who in New York high society to being able to produce a copy of an unpublished manuscript of the latest Harry Potter book, Andy has gone to great lengths to give anything that Miranda asks for. By and by she gets sucked in the fashion industry and starts to realize that in spite of all the glitz and glamour that it promises, her sense of self and integrity are still way more important. She leaves Runway not just with an expansive experience in the fashion industry but also with Miranda Priestly’s work recommendation – that assures of guaranteed acceptance in any job she applies for in the future.
If you’re still confused on what you really want to do:
The Nanny Diaries – Another chick flick, this is best for those who are still not sure of what career they really want to focus on and extremely pressured by his or her parents to do well. Scarlett Johansson plays Annie Braddock, another fresh graduate with a seemingly bright future until she suddenly gets a nervous breakdown and loses her focus.
The Story: Right after college, Annie is scheduled for an interview with one of the top companies in New York City. As one of the brightest in her class, Annie is confident that the job is in the bag until she gets a nervous breakdown during the interview and ends up working as a nanny for a rich Uptown family. She reassures her best friend, that her nanny gig is just temporary until she finds what she truly wants. Annie eventually finds herself loving her job in spite of the many hardships she encounters and basically just being a big pain in the a**. But before she gets sucked in to being a nanny forever, her experiences with the “X” family helped her realize that what she really wants to do is to go back to school and take up a graduate program in anthropology. It might have took her some time to pursue what she really wants but what’s more important is that she’s now happy with the career path that she’s taking.
If you feel your life’s totally hopeless:
Waitress – This movie inspires people to not let themselves be forever bound to the unpleasant situations that they’re in and to always be nice to others – who knows, your connections might just be your ticket to “salvation”.
The Story: As a waitress in a small town diner, Jenna (Keri Russell) devotes her time to coming up with incredible pie concoctions and being a battered wife to her loser of a husband (Jeremy Sisto). While she gets along with everybody at work, Jenna still desperately wants to leave town just to get away from her husband and start a new life. Unfortunately, being always incredibly suspicious of her, Earl finds out about the money she stashed away as well as her being pregnant. Completely hopeless about her future, Jenna is resigned to continue living her hell of a life until she meets a quirky doctor whom she has an affair with. While he might seem to be the knight in shining armor that she so desperately needs, Jenna realizes that she can leave Earl, raise the baby, and make a living – all on her own. As luck would have it, one the diner’s regular customers whom Jenna has always be patient with, leaves her with a hefty check – more than enough for her to start a new life, and own a diner of her own.
If you slept with your boss – and regret it:
Bridget Jones’s Diary - While there are a lot of office rules that one must be able to adhere to even if it sounds totally silly, there are of course some that are completely out of the question. Having a crush on your boss is one thing but taking it to the next level is tricky, very tricky especially when you break up. So before you start thinking of engaging in a crazy shenanigan with your boss watch how Renee Zellweger’s Bridget Jones dealt with this sticky ordeal.
The Story: Bridget Jones works as an assistant at a publishing house led by the irresistible ladies’ man Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant). After flirting through the office IM, Bridget and Daniel end up doing the big nasty – over and over again. While Bridget seems to be in relationship bliss, she’s too much of a lovesick fool to realize that Daniel’s not serious about her. After all hell breaks loose, she decides to quit her job and sets her sights on the broadcasting industry where she lands a job for her candidness. In spite of an awkward and incredibly humiliating start, she finally gets her groove on with the help of her friend Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). Realizing that it’s in gaining your confidence back and truly loving your job, you will get rewarded, Bridget finally gets her act together.
(This article by Abby Rebong first appeared in The Philippine STAR's CAREER GUIDE, a weekly jobs section powered by JobStreet.com)
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