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I Regret Not Working in Corporate During My 20s
It‘s hell to so many, but I would have thrived in it
Water cooler gossip. Small talk at the coffee machine. Meetings about meetings. The office hierarchy. The one obnoxiously loud co-worker. The separate cubicles. The pressure to arrive at the office earlier than you should because everyone else does. The offensively smelly lunches eaten at desks near you. The constant jostling for visibility. Workplace jargon like “drill down.” Work “socials” with workplace-proximity associates.
Those words may be describing your idea of literal hell on earth — the office workplace. It certainly gets a bad reputation, and off the back of the pandemic, many hope never to return again. It has always been divisive. For some, it’s a necessary evil that must be endured in return for a stable paycheck and some benefits. For others, it’s the only way to work and the ticket to the top, where you’ll be presented with your very own mahogany desk in a fancy corner office overlooking the city and those you crushed along the way.
My work life has been the opposite of the nine-to-five corporate career. I actively avoided it, aside from a couple job applications in moments of desperation. I ran my own business with one other person for four years before transitioning into writing and editorial roles. I’ve…
