Working Until the Job is Done

I believe in working until the job is done. I do not believe in working eight hours a day or taking exactly one hour for lunch, just to meet a recommended forty hour work-week. I refuse to submit inferior work just because I am supposed to complete the assignment in a designated time slot. Of course I respect the guidelines set forth for examinations in an academic setting, but in the work place to do my best, I work until the job is done. I adhere to submission deadlines on projects and fully understand the need for them to be submitted on a timely basis. However, just because it is 6:00pm does not mean I’m going home, not if there’s work that needs to be done.

If there is a deadline, I choose to work late or come in early to complete the job. I think it is important for employers to realize that it takes people different amounts of time to complete the same assignment. People simply work at different speeds and produce varied qualities of work. Time limitations, such as “you can only work 8 hours per day” just don’t sit well with me. To understand why these constraints are disturbing to my work ethic, requires a brief family history.

Both of my parents are professions who run their own business and have cultivated them from the ground up. My mother, a radiologist, and my father, a CPA, have developed very successful practices. Growing up, my parents worked very hard, often long hours, and sometimes weekends. Although this is the nature of any true accountant, my parents have shown me what dedication and ownership truly are. They have showed me what it means to run a business. I do not know what it is like to just have a job, because I get involved.

In high school I worked in a small children’s clothing boutique. If a customer came in as we were preparing to close for the night, we stayed and we helped that customer to get what she came in for. It was not about me making that extra eight dollars, or the store making another sale, but about serving the customer’s needs. It was about ensuring that she knew we were there to help her, and that she could rely on us. Developing that relationship required the extra effort that we put into each customers experience. Whether it be waiting until 3pm to each lunch because the store was busy or staying past closing to help someone who desperately needed a last-minute birthday gift, we all pitched in.

I love the collaborative team effort that takes place when a major deadline exists, when all other priorities are thrown out the window, late nights, weekends, exhaustion, and then finally, the immense satisfaction of completion. That celebration of achievement is what I strive for in every day. The high energy that develops through the execution of a challenging project is what drives me to work harder ever day.

And that’s why I believe in working until the job is done.