S/O Job satisfaction

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2015 16:55:34 GMT -5 @soudesafinado said:

If I had known I would not always be happy doing this, I would have pursued something that made me more money out of the gate like big law.

Amen. I went to school for 7 years and worked in a job I was passionate about for 8 after that. I hate theatre now (as does DH). I ended up in a more facilities based job in an art department and while I'm not thrilled with it all the time, I'm much happier than i was working in theatre. My personal creative hobbies fun again.

I kind of wish I'd gotten an engineering degree like my dad wanted and just gone straight into facilities work. Sorry dad!

[winecat]

I hear fairly regularly that people are jealous that I do what I do, jealous that I'm following my passion, blah, blah, blah. It is a ton of work and not at all what it seems. It's not bad, but definitely not what was expected.

[zelda25]

Jun 4, 2015 18:37:33 GMT -5 winecat said:

I hear fairly regularly that people are jealous that I do what I do, jealous that I'm following my passion, blah, blah, blah. It is a ton of work and not at all what it seems. It's not bad, but definitely not what was expected.

So, what do you do?

[winecat]

Jun 4, 2015 18:40:58 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

Jun 4, 2015 18:37:33 GMT -5 winecat said:

I hear fairly regularly that people are jealous that I do what I do, jealous that I'm following my passion, blah, blah, blah. It is a ton of work and not at all what it seems. It's not bad, but definitely not what was expected.

So, what do you do?

I make cupcakes. 

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2015 18:53:02 GMT -5 winecat said:

Jun 4, 2015 18:40:58 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

So, what do you do?

I make cupcakes LIKE A BOSS. 

FTFY.

This reminds me of a call I had with my dad earlier this week. I was pontificating to him that, if I'm going to work 50+ hours per week anyway, it might as well be at a business that's for me, narrowed down to what I like/want to do, vs. cowtowing to managers and molds which don't fit me anymore.

His response: "Well, if you go out on your own, you'll have to pay your own health insurance. There's something to be said for getting a regular paycheck."

He worked for the same employer for his entire life, college grad right up through when he retired. I've job-hopped about every 2-5 years, and have just found my career love in the last 5. So yeah.

[erbear]

I think there is some truth to that, but I work at a job I feel is more of a calling (teaching) and one I love. My husband works because he needs a job (lawyer). One of us is a million times happier on the regular.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

I don't love my work right now, but I love where I work and (most of) the people there. That's good enough for me at the moment. Hopefully when my new position starts next month I'll love my job again like I did in my previous position.

DH loves his job day in and day out. I get really jealous of that. I think that's unrealistic for most of us, though. If you have more good days at work than bad days, you're probably doing OK.

[mrspez07]

Had this conversation with some girlfriends a few weeks ago. I'm in the middle if a job search/contract work limbo right now. A friend noted the very same thing, and it's true, there is this idea that was set up for gen Xers and onward that they were going to find a dream job. Ithough bring unhappy about the environment you are in, the commute, the type of work are all valid reasons to change it up. As pp noted, you can't have work sucking the life out of you either.

I love the profession in in, but it's fairly specialized, and I also feel like I need a new challenge, so I find myself restless. After being in the same profession for 17 years, I'm now experienced but no one wants to hire experience, it cost too much. I am seriously considering changing professions to get my foot in the door for less somewhere, it sucks. Plus I'm hesitating walking away, I won't be able to come back.

I am also realizing that I am reliable and work hard but I don't want to climb the ladder. I'm good with that, why can't that be ok? Pay me a good wage for my work and experience and let me plug away at getting shit done and leave on-time most days.

[summer]

Jun 4, 2015 15:11:03 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I come from a very poor, working class family. I was told "get a job that pays well and can support you and your family." There was never this expectation that I would LOVE what I do and have a calling. So when I get jobs, I stick around for a very very long time unless something happens (such as losing funding). This is my job, this is what I do, it puts food on my table.

So, is this a class thing?

I feel like it has to do with this notion that your job is your identity. I HATE that. My friends are entrepreneurs and TED speaker types and they are all constantly changing the world. If you hang around them enough, you feel like a total failure. I was a social worker and a kindergarten teacher. At every dinner party whenever I was asked what I do, people would blank stare and run off to find someone more interesting who was doing a startup or something. I didn't always luuurve my jobs because they stressed me out and I felt bad about that for a long time. "Why am I not founding a company that collects rainwater for xyz and helping babies survive famine and saving llamas??!"

But I don't care anymore. I like what I do and it pays. Lots of people do jobs they don't likr at all to get paid. I've done some jobs that were so repetitious I wanted to cry: bagging groceries, fit modeling.... But they gave me money. There is no shame in that. I really feel like that pressure to have a calling and love your job is one of those American things that we put upon ourselves. Television and movies sold us the narrative and now we think it's the norm.

[boiler717]

I 100% agree. When I was in pharmacy school, every single guest speaker would tell students about how lucky they are, they absolutely love going to work every single day, their job is all sunshine and roses. I usually go speak 1-2 times a semester now and tell students that it's okay if you don't love your job every day. That at some point in your career, your not going to like some of your duties, your coworkers, your boss. And that's okay, work on discovering your essential job factors, work to meet those, and you can deal with the downsides. I drives me insane how no one gives an accurate picture of the real world to students. I usually get emails after thanking me for a more real life picture of life outside of school.

[Deleted]

I think it's a privilege thing too. I didn't grow up that way at all but I went to an expensive private school on a partial scholarship and was indoctrinated by the idea on day one. Actually, it really was literally day one now that I think back on it, lol. At orientation, they gave us a big speech about how it's easy to do well when you love what you do, find your passion, major in religion if that is what moves you, don't worry about finding a job, it'll all work out in the end, etc. etc. This was back in 1999 before the first recession and before there was widespread acknowledgement about how badly over saturated the job market was for humanities phds and lawyers. The university was accustomed to patting themselves on the back for sending a high percentage of students on to grad school, which I suppose looks good in a way but in reality is a failure IMO if your students are only going because they have NO IDEA what else to do with their lives and had been guided to take very few, if any, steps to pursue a practical career path by a school that was charging 30-35k a year at the time. They actually prided themselves on the fact that they did not offer undergraduate teaching or business degrees (they've since added both). Do I sound bitter? Maybe a tad, lol. I do often wonder what has changed there since the economy has been so dramatically altered. Majoring in anthropology and then easily finding a job in HR or PR because you "know how people work" doesn't happen too often anymore, I'm sure. lol

[Deleted]

I grew up in a family where checks bounced, bill collectors called and vehicles were repossessed out of the driveway in the middle of the night. My parents never talked to me about college or a career. I started at a state college and after one semester was hit with a huge stroke of luck and I ended up at a really great private college with 100% free tuition. I majored in accounting because that was the major that had the most companies recruiting on campus. I ended up moving to marketing a few years after graduation. I like my job and most of my co-workers, I make it rain and they pay me very well. I've never struggled financially and I think because that was how I grew up, that's always been my number 1 goal is to take care of myself financially.

[crazycakes]

Jun 5, 2015 6:49:34 GMT -5 CheeringCharm said:

I think it's a privilege thing too. I didn't grow up that way at all but I went to an expensive private school on a partial scholarship and was indoctrinated by the idea on day one. Actually, it really was literally day one now that I think back on it, lol. At orientation, they gave us a big speech about how it's easy to do well when you love what you do, find your passion, major in religion if that is what moves you, don't worry about finding a job, it'll all work out in the end, etc. etc. This was back in 1999 before the first recession and before there was widespread acknowledgement about how badly over saturated the job market was for humanities phds and lawyers. The university was accustomed to patting themselves on the back for sending a high percentage of students on to grad school, which I suppose looks good in a way but in reality is a failure IMO if your students are only going because they have NO IDEA what else to do with their lives and had been guided to take very few, if any, steps to pursue a practical career path by a school that was charging 30-35k a year at the time. They actually prided themselves on the fact that they did not offer undergraduate teaching or business degrees (they've since added both). Do I sound bitter? Maybe a tad, lol. I do often wonder what has changed there since the economy has been so dramatically altered. Majoring in anthropology and then easily finding a job in HR or PR because you "know how people work" doesn't happen too often anymore, I'm sure. lol

I don't know, I'm an Anthropology grad who now works in advertising. I kind of fell into my position, which has a large focus on social media, because of my experience studying communities, how people communicate, etc. I graduated in 2008, so right when the economy was spiraling downward. I still think it's all about spin.

But I don't love my job. If I could have gone into more traditional anthropology, traveling and researching and writing, I would have done it in a heartbeat. But I realized I couldn't make any money going that route, so I sold out to corporate America. I'm certainly not passionate about my job, but it pays well and I have a great work-life balance so whatever. I have my own hobbies outside of work and am able to spend lots of time with my family so it's all good. I'm content.