I wrote earlier about how your spouse, or partner, can affect your career. Yet, is the reverse true? When picking a partner, or considering to date, or even marry someone, how does your career affect your choices, if at all?
While some, like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, argue carefully choosing who you’ll have children with is the most important decision you can make as a woman, others will simply tell you to go with your heart. I’ve met women for whom their careers were pivotal to their lives, and as a result chose life partners based on the demands of their work. I’ve also met other career women who married or got in relationships with their total opposites, not considering their career as a factor in their relationship choices.
In both groups, I’ve witnessed some women rising to the top of their fields, and others stagnating miserably. So, really, how much can you influence your career by who you choose to marry?
My $0.05: It depends. No one can predict the future, yet what we can do is sit down and have a good old, face to face, conversation about what we consider important. And if work and career happen to be a cornerstone of who we are, we need to make sure we agree on some basic things, like schedules, kids and most importantly, acceptance. And preferably, have the talk before the ring, the house or the kids….Just sayin’…
The Corporate Sis.
