Picture this: You’re fresh from graduation and you’re in a job earning money. Great! You’re very passionate about your work and landing this job is the start of a fantastic step in your life. However, you feel that you are being undervalued as an employee. Your daily tasks are typical of an entry job and your skillset wishes to be tested. You may want to take that brand new project that the mid-level employees seem to be fighting over, but believe it will come down to nothing but rejection. You now start to wonder about your role in this company, and whether you’re getting paid and respected as much as the rest. Perhaps management see your job as low-level grunt work.

Why are people getting paid more? Do they have more experience? Are they more skilled than me?

I am a university student, but I occasionally work within Software and on the Web, sometimes dabbling with marketing. Due to the nature of my previous education I have a instilled respect for those in high educational positions, such as lecturers and authors of the books I read. I might not necessarily enjoy their methods of lecturing but these people command my respect for the knowledge and position they hold within my fields of interest.

When working within a field you love, you tend to define those who hold greater knowledge and power as experts. However, the term expert is entirely subjective and is rarely used by those who hold such titles. Why then, are many of these ‘office experts’ earning so much more than you? It must be experience, or could it be skill?

The Democratic Nominations have circled around the news worldwide for the past couple of months now, with both remaining sides building up a staggering amount of momentum. Hillary Clinton claims experience and ability whilst Barack Obama fights for change and unity within the United States of America. Easily the most powerful drive has come from the Obama camp, where hundreds of thousands flock to hear his messages online, as well as those lucky enough to see the man. What people like about him is that he is incredibly down-to-earth for a Politician, and the charisma he outputs is second-to-none.

After watching his speeches from YouTube and on the TV I’ve come to the realisation that through my logic he qualifies as an expert in his field, Politics. In doing so, perhaps we can all learn from public figures and celebrities on how to better ourselves in our own lines of work.

Take Software for instance, how have developers like Mike Davidson, Jeff Atwood, Steve Yegge and Joel Spolsky are so widely recognised as experts in the fields? Where do their ideas come from?!

I’ll tell you where. It’s a little something called PASSION.

To the person in the first example I gave, I now pose a question to him/her:

• Should be ask for a raise? As well as more responsibility, how about a promotion?

OR

• Should he look elsewhere for a new job, where he/she will be respected for their ability and love for the job

If this person were passionate about their job, they would do both.

At the end of the day, passion is a major underlying factor of success in the workplace, as well as life in general. It’s a stepping stone through a career, as well as a decider for your future. Find yourself constantly reading about famous Architects, studying building plans, and reading up on beautiful buildings? Go become an architect! Spend countless hours reading the musings of your favourite developers, read countless old papers and new journals on HCI? Go study Computer Science!

This is something I’ve already realised with my work and it’s quite a painful realisation, until you start to see the alternative picture. The ‘experts’ in a field exist in many companies as their skills have become important to the company. Every expert I have come across in areas are those that will get the job done, and get it done well with little fuss. They are also extremely passionate about their work and will work to the greater good of their profession, even if it means helping those out around them. They are needed by the company and without their presence productivity will be down. Is that not an expert?

This article stems from an idea I have stuck in my head that’s trying to stop me from heading to bed, but also because passion is something that is going to become a much-needed ingredient to peoples lives in the future. With a recession looming, job cuts, unemployment, and jobs heading overseas perhaps we all need to gain some passion in what we do. I know enough people that lack it, and they’re the ones that lack happiness. Who knows? Perhaps passion is what the world needs to rebuild itself from gloom and doom to happier times?