Candidate Candor on Work / Life Balance

My congressman is in a tough race this year in a district that is considered a toss up.  As one who neither watches television nor listens to commercial radio, I do not receive the full brunt of campaign advertising (except for a mountain of junk mail from Senate candidate Linda McMahon's supporters targeting the unenrolled voter in my household). 

Yesterday, I listened to my congressman on WNPR's Where We Live, a long format question and answer session in which he held forth on a wide range of topics.  I appreciate his candor, but I suspect his staff wishes he would keep his answers brief and focused.  His response to one question in particular and the follow up gave me pause. It starts at 21:22 in a response to the effects of negative ads on his effectiveness as a Congressman.

"Does it make me think about whether I want to do this in the long run as my kids get older and have to watch this drivel on television?  Absolutely, but, for the here and now, it makes me more committed than ever to moving forward with reforms that benefit middle class Americans."

Follow up:  "But you do want to do this for the long term, don't you?  I mean, you got into this, and people have talked about you as a possible candidate for Senate at some point.  You seem to be ambitious and driven to do something politically. Is this something you are going to do long term?"

"I don't know.  I don't know, I mean, to be completely honest with you, John, the culture's gotta change in order for me to do this, you know, it is draining at some level to be constantly up against this barrage of partisanship, and I also see what this job does to families in the long run.  I think, you know, I've got a two-year-old son, now, and that's my priority.  My priority is my family, and I'm going to be monitoring this job, and the time it takes away from my family very closely in order to decide whether I do this in the long run or not..."

I admire his courage for saying this.  Work / Life balance is a struggle for all working people, and politicians are at the beck and call of the public more than any of us.  I admire him greatly as a person and will vote for him in November.  But if a candidate gave this answer to me at a job interview, I would thank him for his time and look elsewhere.  This does not sound like someone who is confident and is going to stay and deliver in this position.  This is not what the voting public wants to hear from a politician in a dead heat for reelection.  Hope I'm wrong.

Comments

[Talya Leodari]

I don't really think the issue is the myth of the permanent employee. It's one thing to see yourself having moved on / moved up in five years. It's another thing entirely to inform a potential employer that you have no longstanding interest in the field itself. If you know now that in five years you want to be doing nothing related to the post you are applying for that casts fairly strong doubt on how committed you are in the present. It may be an honest answer to an interview question, but then you have to be prepared for the potential employer's honest response - which is to question why you have even applied in the first place.

[Jim]

Yeah, the mythical permanent employee. We all seek the few to be found. Lie, lie, lie your way to wealth and happiness (or at least employment).

[Tim Abbott]

Awful, ain't it. But Jim, I have been in interviews, and I am sure you have as well, where the dreaded question has been asked "what do you see yourself doing in five years?" Candidates who do not wax enthusiastic about the very job they are applying for, or growing with the company, do not advance in the interview process. One candidate in particular this summer who was applying for a GIS position answered by saying she did not see herself doing GIS. Honest. But blew the interview.

[Jim]

"...if a candidate gave this answer to me at a job interview, I would thank him for his time and look elsewhere."

Meaning, I suppose, that there is no end for America's search for the ultimate productivity figure: a worker who never eats, sleeps, shits or tires. A single person - preferably a man - with no responsibilities other than crushing, endless debt, thus ensuring his complete capture by the job at hand.