打開她的履歷時，我心頭一驚。
公司最近在招人，上週我面試了一個新加坡女生，這場對話讓我對職涯的意義有了再次反思。
她有著十年的產品經理經驗，目前在知名公司擔任資深產品經理，卻應徵了我們公司一個普遍會被視為「降級」的職位。我問她為什麼，她看起來早有準備，對這個提問毫不意外。
「我們都知道職涯不是線性的。我真的不在乎職稱，只在乎我做的事情：我是不是真的在解決問題？我是不是能在喜歡的產業有所發揮？」
先不論她的回答是發自內心，還是為了面試，這段話卻意外地讓我產生強烈的共鳴。
我也常被問到從營運轉向產品的過程，以及未來想往哪個方向走。我也總說我不在乎頭銜，無論是營運還是產品，本質上往往都在解決同樣的問題，只是切入的方式不同罷了。
當你已經累積了一定的資歷，從經理升遷到資深經理，下一步一定是追求 Head、VP 甚至 C-level 嗎？
還是，我們應該追求工作是否真的解決了問題？是否享受工作的環境與朝夕相處的夥伴？甚至，是否能透過工作去達成人生的其他目標 - 例如搬到嚮往的城市生活？
這或許才是工作的意義：「工作是達成人生目標的載體。」
她說，目前的遠距工作讓她遊牧過許多地方；如果錄取了，她打算搬到英國或葡萄牙。
職稱會隨著合約結束而消失，但你解決問題的能力、你因此走過的世界、你與同伴並肩作戰的溫度，以及因工作相遇相識而帶走的友情，才是工作讓你活出世界的樣子。
Are We Working for Our Résumé, or Working for Our Life?
I held my breath upon opening up her CV.
My team is currently hiring. I interviewed a girl from Singapore last week, and that conversation made me rethink, once again, what a career is actually for.
She had ten years of product management experience, currently a senior PM at a well-known tech company. And yet she had applied for a role at ours that most people would consider a step down. I asked her why. She looked unsurprised by the question, as if she'd been waiting for it.
"We all know careers aren't linear. I genuinely don't care about titles. What I care about is what I'm actually doing: Am I solving real problems? Am I making a difference in an industry I love?"
Whether or not she meant every word - whether it was sincere or simply well-rehearsed for the interview - something in me resonated deeply.
I'm often asked about my own transition from Operations to Product, and where I see myself going. My answer has always been the same: titles don't matter to me. Whether you call it operations or product, you're fundamentally solving the same kinds of problems, just from a different angle.
Once you've reached a certain point in your career - promoted from manager to senior manager - is the next step always supposed to be Head, VP, C-suite?
Or should we be asking something else entirely: Is the work actually solving something meaningful? Do I enjoy the people I spend my days with? Can this job carry me toward other things I want from life, like moving to a city I've always dreamed of?
Maybe that's what work is really for: a vehicle that carries you toward the life you actually want.
She mentioned that remote work had allowed her to work from many places. If she got the offer, she planned to move to the UK or Portugal.
Job titles disappear when the employment contracts end. But the ability to solve problems, the parts of the world you've walked through because of work, the camaraderie you've built with people you fight alongside with, the friendships that began in a meeting room and followed you out into life - those are what lasts. That is how work lets you live out in your life.
