How to Geek Your Job 101

For some jobs this may be easier than for others. I have found though, that by incorporating geekiness into my work it has helped me establish stronger relationships with co-workers and build a much better customer service.

I’ll use myself has an example first. At present I work in education and one of the things I do is work with international students. My school also gives us the freedom to decorate our offices as long as the items are considered “work appropriate”. I have learned that not only having U.S. pop culture items are great, but I have also brought in some Japanese anime ones as well. Having these items in my office has helped me start up conversations with normally quiet international students, because they see something that is familiar to them that we both like. The above pictures show a few in my office. I have even had students from Africa start talking to me about anime. Some pop culture industries are global and can help break the ‘international’ ice.

Having these anime items up also helped me build a stronger relationship with a co-worker. One of the local community colleges had a new employee who needed a crash course in the programing code we use on the backend of our degree audit system. When she came to my office she saw my anime figures and it started a conversation about Japan. It actually turned out that she would be going to Japan within a few weeks. When she got back she had brought me the Kirby (pictured above) as a thank you gift. That sharing of pop culture helped us develop a strong working relationship where I feel comfortable to reach out to each other.

Another way I have included geekiness into my work is through cosplay. Yes, I did just say cosplay. Besides showing off cool costumes at Halloween there may be ways to sneak it in. My school has a mascot that until I showed up no one liked doing. I saw it as a fun way to cosplay a character and would volunteer to be the mascot where ever it was needed. Now all the staff know who to go to when they need the mascot. It has allowed me to also be in print ads and even on 9 news. It has allowed me to embody a character and work on my physical acting skills. Just by me twisting a job that no one else liked, I have been able to blind my geekiness into a new avenue.

Other jobs, where you do not have your own space can be more of a challenge, but it can be done. The simplest way to do this is by just looking at what people are wearing or carrying with them. Someone may have a nerdy shirt on or a girl may have geeky key chains on their purse. You can use these to start up conversations. Also, if you have to wear a lanyard at work you can check with your company to see if you have to use the one issued or if you can use a personal one. I have found great lanyards at both Hot Topic and Spencer’s, not to mention that most cons sell them in the dealers’ room.

One of my friends, Eric, up in Fort Collins even managed to geek his Walmart job during Halloween (see picture below). When I first saw the pictures he posted they made me smile. Just think about being a geek and having to go to Walmart after having a bad day. Having a pirate greet you may put a small smile on our face. This smile may help improve the rest of your day. The pirate may not mean anything to a non-geek, but to a geek this could be something. Psychologists think that even the smallest smile can improve your mood, so think of the impact that a pirate greater could have on Walmart’s customers.

For true geeks, geekiness is a part of life and not something that happens every once in a while. We actually get more joy out of life when we get to include our geekiness in all aspects of our lives. We all spend a lot of time at work so we can pay our bills and keep our addictions going, but just remember that there are ways to include geekiness in your work.