If you work outside the home - job satisfaction clicky

[redwino]

I said 7. The commute and hours are great. I like most of my coworkers and I enjoy my actual work 70% of the time. However, the pay could be better, our overall system is dysfunctional and inefficient, paperwork is overwhelming, and I have enough dumb and or lazy coworkers to irk me at least once a week. Right now I can't think of anything else I'd rather do.

[aurora]

I said 5 right now. I make a decent salary (would make more in private industry), have fabulous job security, and believe in what I do. But I am so incredibly burned out by overwork and a ridiculous amount of stupid politics that it's hard to enjoy it.

[msmerymac]

I put a 5. I love my boss and my team. I work from home, so that's great, because I have 0 commute and a lot of flexibility.

My work is okay. My boss is good at getting my involved in things I like, but my industry/company doesn't have a great mission/purpose/interesting work, IMO. I'm not overloaded, though.

I have no benefits, because I'm a contractor, so no vacation per se, no retirement, etc. I can kind of take time off, but since I work from home, my coworkers still send me stuff to get done, and I just have to get it done when I can. Usually "vacation" still consists of checking in at least one day, or a few hours per day. I'm on my husband's health insurance policy and qualify for a Roth IRA and SEP IRA, though. My company does not do 401k matching anyway.

Pay is kind of laughable, but it's my own damn fault. I've been at this company in several positions for a long time, and knew nothing about negotiating salary when I started. I think originally I was cheap and could do what they needed, so that's why they hired me anyway.

I would like to move on for the right opportunity: doing more interesting work, higher pay, and perhaps managing people. But working from home is pretty sweet, and like I said, my coworkers are great, so I'm okay until I find my next place.

[boiler717]

I would say a 9.
I love the work that I do. I work from home with an extremely flexible schedule. I have a fantastic boss. I feel that I am well-compensated, with excellent soft perks. Health insurance could be better! I could do more in my current and kinda resent my lack of a director title but it's not enough to rock the boat.

[zoidberg]

8

[LoveTrains]

Apr 17, 2015 12:22:31 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I said a 5. I feel like my job is important, but I also have to deal with a lot of shit like a cavernous, windowless office that is next to the boiler so it is literally above 80 degrees every damn day. I also realllllllllllly miss having a budget to grow my program and more built in staff support and resources. I have great autonomy and flexibility and time off and my boss is great. My compensation is ok--worse than my previous job though.

Interesting. I am SO nervous about changing schools because of stuff like this.

[jerseyjaybird]

7, I think. I LOVE my work. I don't always love my job---my boss is an insufferable misogynist, as is his boss, and the whole culture is pretty screwed up. But I LOVE what I do. 

ETA: another factor is how insanely fortunate I feel to have a stable job with good benefits and a decent salary in my field, which in general is contracting, not growing. 

[LoveTrains]

Apr 17, 2015 20:39:10 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Apr 17, 2015 20:34:17 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Interesting. I am SO nervous about changing schools because of stuff like this.

I was just thinking about your job search! I am actually starting to casually look again because I am not sure about the long term financial viability of my position. It's been a good experience for me, but I'm not going to lie, I miss a more cushy environment. :-0

I think I want to get out of k-12 ed, though. I am hoping my next job will be at a university or a larger nonprofit. 

Stalled for a while as I was hoping something would come through at major university. But I don't think that's going to work out so I'm just starting to explore some new options.

[dellabear]

I chose 8.

I have a short commute, I live 2 km from work. 10 min bus ride or 25 min walk. I've been walking all week in the nice weather and it's been glorious.

I work for the (Canadian) government - decent pay, with great benefits, leave and pension. I do work that is important in society and challenging and a good fit for my skills. My boss is supportive when I need her and not in my face when I don't.

I knocked off points because as much as it's decent pay, it's not at all comparable to private sector pay in my field. And there's pretty much no professional development budget, or other fun perks like travel, car, parties, bonuses etc. we even have to chip in if we want filtered water.

[purpleminion]

I really love my job. I work in special education with kids who have emotional issues. I love the kids and most of the staff I work with. I voted a 9. It would be a 10, but the pay sucks (obviously, since it's education), and the insurance benefits REALLY suck. I'm on DH's benefits though, so I don't need them through my school. If I did, my paycheck would be almost nonexistent. They do have an okay retirement match though. Also, it can be really stressful at times. But in general, I'm very satisfied. A few times I've thought about changing fields to make more money, but I get anxiety thinking about doing anything else.

[irishbride2]

Apr 17, 2015 7:59:33 GMT -5 @starry said:

What is your current level of satisfaction at your job? Include all the factors that go into how you feel about your work (the purpose of your job, how busy you are, your pay, your benefits, your commute, your hours, your level of interest, etc.)

1-10 scale, 10 is the highest satisfaction. 

It's a ten in August.

It's generally a 6 in March and then starts to creep back up as we head towards June March and early April are rough but I'm heading back up now.

[Doggy Mommy]

I'm a teacher and said 7. I'd give my school a 9 because I love it and love my co-workers and I'm only a lot of leadership committees which I enjoy, but I have some tough kids this year and it's April so I'm burned out. What I don't like about the profession as a whole is the lack of opportunity for advancement and the pay.

The last school I was at would have gotten a 3. I was miserable.

[idahome]

I'm at a 5. I like some of my coworkers and the special projects I do are interesting. Other than that: I'm bored, my pay is not where it should be based on my education and qualifications, I strongly dislike the behind-the-scenes cattiness that's involved working in a private school, and my boss is not one I would choose as my boss.

I'm looking for something else, but am currently batting zero there. The ideas of spending another school year doing HR for my employer makes me feel like I'm having an anxiety attack.

[sarapocalypse]

I'd say 7. Good benefits, good hours with some flexibility to WFH when I need to. Great co-workers for the most part (my boss and her boss are both really great). Passionate enough about some aspects of my job, but not always as a whole. Points are knocked off for no clear path for growth. Growth potential is there but it is not a clear cut path. I could definitely see how it would be easy to get stuck at my current level. Great job security though and some days I feel like as long as I have a job that I reasonably enjoy, with decent pay, and is not too taxing, then that is fine with me.

[mswax]

I voted 9. I've been at my job for 14 years, and have been "80%" (aka 4 "8-hour" days) for 6.5 years. The work is awesome, my coworkers are great, and I'm always busy. The pay is decent, the benefits are AMAZING (401k match AND a pension, 4+ weeks vacation, etc.). The reason I didn't vote 10 is because the expectations from me are the same as if I was 100%, but the compensation is not.

[wanderlustmom]

9, I love being a counselor, it's all clinical, all different ages, interesting. I don't have a boss and work three days a week. Five minute commute and pay is finally getting decent. But it's not a ten because it is very stressful when a client is suicidal and the pay does not deserve a ten.

[kellygreen]

Apr 17, 2015 11:57:10 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

I went with 9 - I think I really have the best possible job ever, for me. Perfect fit.

It's not a 10 bc I could use a shorter commute (26 miles each way) and bc being pregnant right now I'm just kind of lazy and burned out.  Need to get over that though.

Just wanted to say my son Noah was born exactly 5 years before yours and my 2nd was born exactly 5 years before your #2 due date.  

[estrellita]

I said 6. I love the company I work for. There is a great atmosphere, and I really enjoy the benefits. I also love my hours and the fact that I don't work weekends anymore. However, I wish I got paid more (it's good for the area but still not great), I hate living in this area, and I was bored before ML. Part of it was that it was pointless to train me on anything new at that point, but still. I like to be busy! My ideal situation would be to pick up my job and move it to a different area. I'm hoping I can find something similar in the general area we prefer to live!

[kdubs923]

I voted 5.

The company I work for is great - great benefits, nice work-life balance, generous PTO & retirement match along with random perks (going to the movies during work hours, 4 hour volunteer opportunities each month, onsite employee store which offers products at deep discount).

I do not like my actual department. My manager has been here 25+ years and is burnt out. She has a very antiquated management style which differs from the direction the company is moving towards. (For example: The company offers WFH and flex schedule options, but my manager makes it difficult and talks badly of employees that take advantage of these options, implying they don't work as hard as she does). The work I do is mostly boring and not particularly meaningful.

Best case scenario is new manager or internal transfer to a new department, same company. I'll explore my options more when I return from ML early 2016.