If He’s The Right Guy, Your Killer Career Will Be Inspiring, Not Intimidating

We gotta give ourselves props, ladies. We’re starting to take over some big roles in the workforce role because people are realizing that we’re more than fragile figures hiding behind business suits and invoice books. With that in mind, it’s vital to have the right kind of guy in your life who will encourage you as you kill it in your career.

1. He’ll be your networking ninja. Your guy will bring your LinkedIn account to life. When he’s at a dinner party or some other work function all his own, he won’t mind throwing your name out to the big shots, telling them about your mad career skills and determined work ethic. In fact, he’ll genuinely enjoy being your networking ninja because he’ll be proud of showing off how driven, motivated and hardworking you are.
2. You won’t be his “Sit Still Look Pretty” Lady. Your life’s job won’t be to wear preppy pencil skirts, pretty pearls and quietly pass out hors d’oeuvres while he sports Calvin Klein and brags about his latest stock market move to his hotshot colleagues. No, the right guy wants you to speak your mind about the working world and he wants others to hear what you have to say too.
3. Your career will be considered before a big move. My boyfriend’s career requires lots of big city moves but before he puts out an application anywhere, he stops and asks me if I’d be able to find work that I’d enjoy in that location. While he has his own career ambitions, he cares enough about mine to stop and weigh the price of moving. This is where the whole “I need a guy who will put me first,” comes into play big time.
4. College degrees won’t be a competition. He’s working on his Bachelor’s degree and I’m finishing up my Master’s but there’s no competition. In fact, he encourages me each semester to take as many classes as I can (without overloading myself, of course) but nobody ever throws out a “my degree is better than your degree” kinda vibe. If your guy wants you to pursue your career goals, that requires him to sit back and watch you take on as many graduate degrees or certifications as you need. It’s a package deal.
5. “You could just stay at home with the kids” won’t ever come out of his mouth. If your heart is set on rocking the CEO title or traveling the world and selling your photography to National Geographic, the right guy won’t put the pressure on you to stay at home with the kids. Though I think stay-at-home moms have one of the toughest, stressful jobs out there, if you belong in the working world, he’ll understand that and never pressure you to clock-in and out at home.
6. He’ll constantly brag about your promotions, awards, etc. Whenever I meet a new family member or friend of my boyfriends, I can’t ever explain what I do for a living because he always interjects and tells them all about my publications, titles, and awards. That would bother me if it weren’t so cute. He honestly loves bragging on me, just like your guy should.
7. Your long weekends will become his long weekends. When it’s your turn to work on Saturday, he’s the one who makes sure he doesn’t keep you out too late on Friday nights and that you have a nice dinner waiting on you when your shift ends. While people should always take priority over a job, it’s nice when the right kinda guy doesn’t make you feel like you have to choose between him and making a paycheck.
8. He won’t let you bring work stress home. Whether you’re sitting in a ritzy office in New York City or dog sitting for your neighbor two doors down, you end up dealing with people, and people have a way of driving each other crazy. So when you want to come home and run your head into a wall, he’ll do this really cool balancing act where he lets you vent but also hands you a piece of cheesecake to soften the stress.
9. Pulling paychecks will be a team effort. He’ll work hard to pay the electric bill and you’ll pull your own to pay off that stupid credit card, but either way, it’ll be a team effort. In my relationship, it doesn’t matter who brings home more money as long as we both enjoy our jobs and give them 100 percent then the bills and fees and random payments will fall into place. It’s just important to us that we both wake up at seven in the morning to a job that we enjoy, whether that brings home six-digit figures or not.
10. He’ll motivate you to move forward in the workforce. The right dude won’t let you grow comfortable at your job if he knows you’re capable of more. I freelance write as a side job but my boyfriend has mentioned time and time again that I should build up a resume for a lead editing job somewhere. He praises my talent, recognizes my potential, and pushes me to reach it. And that’s the kind of guy who won’t only support and challenge me in the career world but in everything else in life.