Fools in love

Love and careers. They're very similar. Very similar. Uncannily similar. Do you follow your heart when it comes to matters of the heart? Or make a sensible choice? Use a matchmaker, take advice from your friends, or just fall head over heels in love no matter what anyone else says? Do you approach that guy (slash girl) directly or do you use a friend to tell them you like 'em? Do you fall for the jock that every girl (pretend you're a girl for a minute here)(or think of a cheerleader if that's your thing) fancies and chases? Or do you go for the geek in the back no one looks at twice that turns out to be a great guy (or if you're so inclined: girl) and the love of your life? Do you like speeddating, blind-dating or do you go out with guys (slash girls) that have been referred by friends? Is it foolish to want to marry someone after 3 months since after all that's just the hormones speaking and should you wait a bit and see if you truly love someone? Do you play the field and date around before you settle down or just take whatever you can get? Or do you play the field or just throw yourself at what you think is your big love? What do you do when the sparkle goes? Hang on in there or leave and find another?

All these questions I'm now struggling with to a greater or lesser extent. Not so much in my love life (although maybe I should worry more about that too ;-), but very much so when it comes to my internship, my first job post-MBA and well, to be honest, to the rest of my career. I have a fairly good idea of the things that excite me (ideas, art, people, feel like I can do my own thing) and things that don't make my heart sing (strict hierarchies, large organisations that feel like large organisations, and being in the same place day in day out), but that is not getting me any nearer to a answer to some burning questions.

Call me romantic, but I want to fall in love. Head over heels in love. Swept off my feet in love. No more 'I kinda like this' but 'I want THIS! I can't bear to live without it!'. So today I went to the BP presentation (a.k.a. the speeddating events a.k.a. Milkround) and I actually kinda liked it. Toyed with the thought of applying. Then thought 'NO! Stop! I don't really want to work at BP, their core business is not the love of my life. I don't want to do something I kinda like. I wanna do something I love!'. Then a thought crossed my mind. Am I just being foolishly romantic in holding out for my one true job-love? Maybe I should play the job-field for a bit, see what's out there before I settle down and say yes to my one true job and tie the knot. Take a few more of these speeddating things (i.e. Milkround). Chase that jock-company that everyone wants, get my heart broken a few times before I settle down with a geek. Use the matchmaking service called Career Services and find a suitable job (notice the word 'suitable', which can or cannot be the job of my life). Maybe just take a blind-date with a company and hope for the best.

There is so much conflicting advice that I get from different people (both when it comes to love and careers!). Go for a big company job to get the name on my cv and then move on to a job I really want to do. Go follow my heart and do the job you really want to do. Take a job that will fill a gap I have in my skillset and then move on to my love-job. Start up your own company now or you'll never do it. I'm so confused... I don't what to do anymore. I can't figure out what the best strategy is, and the more I ask people, the more confused I get, because the more conflicting advice I get. The one thing that is sticking in my head is something that two people have told me that sounds like good advice: do something that you wouldn't have done without your LBS MBA. But that still doesn't rule out all the options mentioned above! Maybe I should just marry a blind-date and pray for the best....

PS Thanks to a certain classmate, who will remain anonymous, but you know who you are when you read this, for being my sparringpartner on this one!

[Edit 1. Just now checked the messages on LBS's intranet, and found this link to a great post on just the topic I'm talking/ranting about in this post]