celineid wants to give this talk

Meaningful jobs aside from NGOs?

Being a techie you can choose where to work. Being the target of many headhunters around the world you're looking at a global playground with tons of swings, slides and sandboxes. And everywhere seems to be a free spot for you. Nice! Or Overwhelming? Where do you choose to play? Which parameter helps you narrow down your choices?

If you look at the time you spend in a job it's quite an important question. What do you want to invest your lifetime in? With all the options available, an obvious choice people often take: maximizing your bank account, contracting yourself to the highest bidder. And if you feel doing something good and purposeful is important to you, too, you engage in volunteering in the rare hours after work. Is this the only way to go? Could a job not be more than something to make money with but also be the thing you want to invest your time and energy in because you truly believe it does good (and still bring enough money to cover your expenses well)?

I'm on the quest of finding purpose in work for 2 years now in different roles: working in the startup SwitchUp, as a coach for workhacks consulting companies on team collaboration and simply as the millennial that I am in conversations with people around me. Talking to a tech colleague I realized that especially in the tech space this question is not addressed very often although it moves so many people - therefore I'd love to talk about this and discuss with you, whether it's possible to find a purpose in work apart from NGOs and what this looks like for you.