What's your job? Do you love it?

[halfpint]

I'm feeling stuck in a rut after 15 years in HR. I want a new job, but nothing in HR is exciting to me. 

Maybe you have inspiration? 

If you don't love your job, what do you wish you were doing? Or could be doing? 

[greysgirl]

I'm an office manager, I don't love it. If I had to do it over again I would have become a dental hygienist. It just seems like something I would enjoy weirdly enough.

ETA before this I was a paralegal, I hated that.

[pixy0stix]

Meh, but I'm good at what I do. My goal is to become this:

[W.T.Faulkner]

I'm the director of college counseling and a U.S. History teacher at a little high school in a big city. I've been here for five years.

While I do like my job a lot, I don't think I'll be here in another five years. I'm not sure specifically what I'd like to do next, but I'd like to stay in education somehow. This job is great for now, though, and with a new baby that's what I'm focusing on.

[hermione]

I'm a a children's librarian. Yes, I love it. I left a career in PR and went back for a 2nd master's to do this.

[madringal]

I am VP of Business Development for a small credit union and its my dream job. After being a robot for the big banks for 20 years, I now get to design, plan, and implement all the sales, product, and training initiatives for my company. It feels so good to develop a program or product and launch it to the employees or members. Seriously, dream job.

[IrishBelle]

I’m 17 years in HR and feel the same way. There are aspects of what I do that I like but others that I don’t. I would like to change organizations but there isn’t a lot of job opportunities where I live.

I told DH the other day that I would leave HR and my current company if I found something else but I don’t know what that something else will be.

[lexxasaurus]

I issue public assistance to low income families. I love the rewarding days. I get frustrated, and it can be emotionally trying and you have to learn to not take on people's struggles but I'm happy to be part of something that really helps those who need it.
I just kind of accidentally got into it but I see it as my career now.

[TR]

I do aptitude testing and career/college counseling. It’s ok, but repetitive and kind of boring. And teenagers can be annoying. I’m going back to school for my MBA in August, though, in the hopes of doing something I do enjoy, or at least am challenged intellectually by.

[carmenere]

I do fundraising for an educational nonprofit. I love having a sense of purpose in my work. I really believe in the mission of our organization, but I don't love the org itself because our program staff is a hot mess. I also don't love my job because it's mostly behind the scenes and I'd rather be more donor-facing. If I could have my boss's job (all donor-facing and none of the grunt work) that would be awesome. If I had a total career do-over, I would be a florist.

FWIW, a lot of people I know in the fundraising world went into it as a second career, and I imagine someone with a background in HR would have a lot of transferable skills.

[cville]

I'm a lawyer and I like it. I think eventually I'll move on from where I am because I'm already tapped out on promotion opportunities (as in, I'm head of the department, but it's small) and I like new challenges. But I like what I do, the mission of the work, and who I work with. And my lifestyle is great because I'm in house and not billing (pay is lower, but still plenty of money).

I felt like you at my firm. I just was burned out entirely. For me, work in the same general genre but for a different employer and without billable hours did the trick.

My dream job is Article III judge with lifetime tenure. But that's never going to happen. And I'd rather die than be a Trump appointee. I have no idea what else I'd do if I wasn't a lawyer type. None. I used to think I'd like teaching, but who knows?

[seeyalater52]

I LOVE my job. The highs are so high. And the lows are so low... but we think less about those.

I work in public health care policy advocacy (mainly Medicaid) at the state and federal level, providing support to groups in key states working on expanding and defending the Medicaid program legislatively and administratively. It's all the glory and fun of working on the ground in issue campaigns with much less work and way better hours, kind of like consulting. Everyone should do this, it's the absolute best thing ever. It's mission-driven so I get a lot of satisfaction with what I do, but I am also pretty well-compensated and have a great work environment. 

[glw]

I'm a data analyst and I do love it. It's low-stress, I don't have to talk to any humans if I don't want to, and it's satisfying and challenging work. And because I work at an urban community college I get to contribute to a good cause without, you know, having to actually interact with college students.

[sunnysally]

I'm a research scientist at a pharmaceutical company. I don't love it, but I have a lot of freedom and flexibility and the benefits and pay are good.

If I could do it all over. I'd be a nurse anesthetist. I wanted to be in a medical field, but I don't think prolonged patient care would be a good fit. If I'd known there was another path I would have taken it.

[halfpint]

Apr 17, 2019 11:00:19 GMT -5 glw said:

I'm a data analyst and I do love it. It's low-stress, I don't have to talk to any humans if I don't want to, and it's satisfying and challenging work. And because I work at an urban community college I get to contribute to a good cause without, you know, having to actually interact with college students.

This, right here, is so damn appealing. 

[Deleted]

I do very boring but necessary government legal work. It’s a very isolating job that does not fit my extroverted nature and definitely doesn’t use all of my skills and talents. But it pays well and has amazing flexibility. I do some things outside of work that provide me more fulfillment, and I plan to ramp that stuff up in my 40s, once I’m out of the small child years.

I may be able to transition to a second career later, when my student loans are paid off and childcare costs aren’t a concern. But for now, I’m just going to keep doing my boring job well and find other ways to find intellectual stimulation and personal fulfillment.

[shauni27]

I manage our client accounts for a small tech company. I like that I am challenged and learning a lot, but it is not my dream job.

My dream job would revolve around pregnancy and birth some how. I would love to be a doula and have started looking into that a bit, but I want to offer support and services to women struggling with infertility and loss specifically. Like, provide guidance and support while couples go through that. And then help with birth and delivery and then provide support and guidance FOR THE MOM during the 4th tri.

[Beagle]

I’m a hospital social worker. I love what I do, I love who I work with. I have a pretty decent schedule. The downsides are 1) dealing with insurance companies and 2) social workers are undervalued in my agency.

I don’t know if I see myself here for a long-time. Part of me wants to move into advocacy/policy. Part of me wants to move up in my agency and work on making the system better for patients, but it’s unlikely that there’s upward mobility for me (see #2)

[BaliHai]

I'm a claims analyst in a specialized call center for an insurance company. I, surprisingly, really enjoy what I do. My time here is coming to an end, however, and when my girls are a bit older I think I am going to look into a career in copy editing. It's what I should have always done, I think, and I'm just going to grab onto the "better late than never" motto and run with it.

[jamaicam]

I run the unit which provides policy advice to our version of the white house. It's interesting because we are multi-disciplinary. I like being close to the centre of everything and yet very much behind the scenes. It can be frustrating though, especially when you feel like your sound advice is being ignored!

Also due to security issues, we aren't allowed to take work home and we have to leave in an evening when the security people lock up the offices which helps with my work life balance

[oregonpachey]

Associate Director of Service Delivery for a large tech company.

I like it.  It is very challenging and I get yelled at by clients a lot but that's fine. It pays well.

[pooh8402]

labor and delivery nurse. honestly, I don't love it anymore, but that's more about bedside nursing and hospital politics, rather than the actual patient care. I LOVE this patient population. I'm working on my NP though, to get out of bedside and into the clinic, and hope to get a job in an infertility clinic (my RE has already tentatively offered me a job, if she can increase her profit margin to afford me). if I can't do infertility I'd like work in an OB/GYN office.

[olive]

I do bookkeeping and tax preparation. I actually really enjoy it despite most people thinking it’s incredibly boring. I’m detail oriented and like organization and math so it’s a good fit. I’m self employed and work out of my home office so I can take on as much or as little work as I want and it works with my family’s lifestyle/schedules. Working with people concerning their taxes and finances can sometimes be annoying; everyone thinks their particular situation or problem needs my immediate attention but I think a lot of jobs are like that.

[Tacocat]

I’m in HR too. I’m ready for the next step in my career but not sure what that is either. I think my dream job would be like an HR consultant so I could choose my own hours and work from home. I have also realized that every company, no matter the size, has limitations to what changes or policies they would allow. I’d rather be on the other side advising companies on best HR practices.

[jlt19]

I work in fund accounting and I do love it most of the time. I'll have my MBA next January and hope to become Asst Controller here within 5 years. Not sure what I'll do if that doesn't happen. But I'm more "worried" about the work environment being good versus the actual work so I'm open to anything.

[Deleted]

I'm a financial reporting manager for a large, global, property and casualty (i.e. insurance) company. I've been here 13 years and I like the work; there's always a new project popping up. I manage a team of 4, who are pretty great, and my boss is awesome. I have a ton of flexibility and the salary/benefits are good, so I want to ride it out until retirement in the next 5-10 years.

[Velar Fricative]

Librarian but currently a library administrator. I love it. But I also don’t feel I need to looooove my career, I just need to like it, it needs to pay the bills and it needs to work with my life outside of work. If I ever get tired of it I can use my skills in some other industries.

[joy]

I’m a scientist in pharma. As long as I can be creative, innovative, and solve important puzzles then I’m happy in my job.

[carmenere]

Apr 17, 2019 11:00:19 GMT -5 glw said:

I'm a data analyst and I do love it. It's low-stress, I don't have to talk to any humans if I don't want to, and it's satisfying and challenging work. And because I work at an urban community college I get to contribute to a good cause without, you know, having to actually interact with college students.

This is what I love about my job in an educational nonprofit, too. In theory I love helping kids - I am just really terrible at interacting with them. But it turns out I am good at asking adults for money, so I do that instead.

[Jalapeñomel]

I'm a chemistry teacher in the Bronx, but I'm moving out of the city and will get a chance to teach AP chem finally!

I love my job.