What does it take to be good at a job? Is it dedication? Creativity? Organisation? It’s a hard question to answer because so often it is dependent on an individual’s personality, circumstances and expectations. Perhaps a better question for the modern work environment is what does it take to look like you’re good at your job? Artwork: Marija Ercegovac Credit: Marija Ercegovac This is a question I can answer with some authority. Generally, it involves turning up a few minutes early, making small talk with colleagues, sending emails containing open-ended questions.
Nodding in agreement during meetings. Groaning something like “What a day”, when clocking off 15 minutes after the official end-of-day time. I’m not the first person to exist in this state.
Corporate drones have existed for as long as corporations have. But this kind of dissociated effort is having a moment. The mission in these roles, which have been christened “fake email jobs”, is to suggest that you’re burdened by responsibilities, even if no one can say what they actually are.
If you were to share your job title to someone at a party, for example, they’d probably have follow-up questions about what your role entails because the title of the job itself is so opaque, but walk away still fundamentally unclear about what it is you do during working hours. Loading To many, this kind of career existence might sound awful: the kind of drudgery that causes an eight-hour workday to drag on like a mill.