Who the heck answers the help wanted ads in The Economist?
The Economist may be the greatest magazine of all time.
Easy to read.
Sometimes even fun in the way it’s written. And always interesting.
Seems like it is written for the uber-smart people of the world <the quasi liberal ones I imagine>.
I would imagine I am a pretty run-of-the-mill reader of the magazine (kind of an everyday businessperson). I am not a billionaire, nor a millionaire nor a CEO and speak only one language (and I am sure not that well either).
But.
I admit.
I would love to feel qualified to respond to a help wanted ad in The Economist. They are frickin’ awesome. Folks … this ain’t the help wanted ads you see in the back of your local newspaper.
And, honestly, who the heck answers these ads?
Chief Trade Advisor – Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
Senior Technology Transfer Officer – Global Environment Facility
Head, Supply Management Services in Budapest Hungary – United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees
Regional Director Asia – Micronutrient Initiative
Director General – International Food Policy Research Institute
Junior Scientific Officer – European Chemicals Agency
Project Complaint Mechanism Officer – European Bank for Reconstruction & Development
Advisor to the Minister of Economy on Intellectual Property rights – European Union Advisory Group to the government of Armenia
Head of Finance and Accounts – Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Chief Economist – Telecommunications Regulatory Commission British Virgin Islands
Senior Project Manager – Open Society Justice Initiative
Editor – international Seabed Authority
Secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland – The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health
Senior Economist – Bank for International Settlements
Director Latin America – World Economic Forum
Manager Statistical Capacity Building – the African Development Bank
Chairperson of Utility Regulatory Authority – Republic of Mauritius
Executive Director Kingdom of Bahrain – the International Institute for Strategic Studies
Senior Infrastructure Finance Specialist – the World Bank
Secretary to the Commission – International Whaling Commission
Advisor Social Sector Strategy and Policy – UAE government entity
I admit.
These look like really cool jobs.
(although I am a little unclear what some of them really are…which I would imagine is part of the issue for me responding to some of these. I also admit I am not a big regret guy (kind of feel like growing up is learning how to leave regret behind)
But every time I flip through an Economist and see these help wanted ads I do have a twinge of regret.
Maybe a little regret that maybe I should have applied myself better early on in life.
It gets a little worse (looking back) when you consider that even then I probably had an inkling I may want to be able to respond to one of these help wanted ads (even though I am relatively sure I had never cracked open a magazine beyond Sports Illustrated).
Well.
I certainly won’t be able to respond now (although that won’t stop me from looking at them).
But.
Sometimes looking into your past helps shape things you do in the future. I won’t give credit to The Economist specifically but maybe it contributed to something I try and do every year – donate a day, or two, of my time to my graduating high school. And I like to teach college classes too when I have a chance. Sure I teach marketing and business stuff, but most importantly I hope to kick start some kid’s motivation to learn.
I don’t talk about regrets.
I try and talk about opportunities and hope. Because regardless of whether I am qualified to respond to an Economist help wanted ad or not, I feel very fortunate with the opportunities I have had and the things I have been able to do.
And maybe my message to kids is that you may aim for an Economist career ad or you may aim for something else but give it a shot. Cause whatever I did in my youth, good or bad, I never gave myself a shot at being able to answer an Economist help wanted advertisement.
And, in the end, who the heck answers these ads anyway?