Power Couple: Why You Should Date Someone With Different Career Goals

Anyone who has met me in college appears to be semi-surprised when they find out what my boyfriend does for a living. While it’s true that car gurus and communication majors don’t always go hand in hand, I wouldn’t trade our dynamic for any other scenario.

It is not always immediately apparent, but working in differing industries from your significant other is beneficial for upward mobility and well-roundedness as an individual.

I know most college students, especially freshman and sophomores, find terms like “well-rounded” to be vomit-inducing fluff words that are only used on résumés.

However, becoming a well-rounded person entails much more than beefing up your internship résumé with every activity you have participated in throughout your academic career.

Becoming this spherical persona demands your attention to multiple aspects of your life: career, interests and the company you keep.

The perfection of the trifecta is where your opposite comes in because you cannot achieve your roundedness without some type of balance in your life.

Now, I am more of an advocate of embracing the chaos, being a high-strung caffeinated bulldozer who is always on to the next conquest.

I like the speed and the chase. However, passion manifests itself in many ways. While your significant other may not display his passion for work and life in exactly the same ways as you, that does not mean he or she doesn’t share it.

Just as different people utilize different parts of their brains more than others, many of us have different strengths than our partners.

Some of us are more visual, while others are more cerebral; some more mathematical, while others are more artistic. That's the beauty of each person being created differently.

We all have the opportunity to bring something new to every relationship we're in.

While there is nothing wrong with being a “power couple” within your industry, I’ll play the devil’s advocate and point out what could be better about dating someone outside of that network.

There’s Less Competition

While I’m sure you kick ass at your job and don’t need to worry about being shown up, the fastest way to unravel a relationship is jealousy.

If you can be supportive to your partner's needs and vice versa while still pursuing your dream career, then more power to you. But, most people need some room to grow on their own without coming home to the competition.

Less Repetitive Conversation

There’s nothing like not having to hear the same conversation at home as you do at work to keep you sane, which is exactly what dating and/or marrying outside of your industry will do.

Because, honestly, who wants to talk about the facts and figures at the dinner table?

A Broader Network

Whether it concerns professional or personal networks, nothing beats having the opportunity to increase your net worth by getting to know a variety of people.

While having similar interests always helps break the ice, you never know the connections you can form by getting outside of your circle and exposing yourself to a new group of people.

The point is, don’t limit yourself or your growth opportunities by staying within your social comfort zone. A person is not simply determined by his or her career path, but rather, by his or her character.

Instead of judging the bank account, company car or how “compatible” your careers are, look at what you can learn from that person.

When we open up to people from different situations in life, we open ourselves up to more awareness and the ability to even learn about ourselves.

You may find that the person you thought you were destined to be or that dream job you just had to have is a dream that is denied in order for an even better one to come into your life.