Post by lilypad1126 on Apr 17, 2019 11:45:36 GMT -5
I work in enrollment and administration at a large public university. I really like my job. I've been slowly moving from a student facing role to a senior administration, non-student facing role, and I really like that as well.
Part of what I like about my current job is the university I work for. There's still some room for growth and they do believe in promoting from within. I'm hopeful to be here for awhile yet. The next year will determine this.
Post by farmvillelover on Apr 17, 2019 11:50:34 GMT -5
Estate planning attorney, so mostly probate, trust and EP law. But I also practice tax law which is exciting for me. It comes easy to me, I enjoy meeting with clients, and it is incredibly lucrative. Thankful that I'm busy. I work for a firm but have recently renegotiated the structure under which I'm paid so I get a base for my work here plus am additionally comped on my clients. I've kind of reached the point where I do not even advertise or do much networking, somehow the calls and clients just continue to roll in steadily. I will never leave on my own accord. I come and go as I please, am now up to 4 weeks in paid vacation, my hours are generally 9/930-330/4, and I take 1-2 hours midday for lunch and the gym.
I *LOVE* my work most of the time and truly don't even have a retirement date in mind. I'll go until I can't.
I am a research coordinator working in a pediatric subspecialty.
I wouldn't say I love it exactly but I probably enjoy it as much as I could any job. There is a lot of variability in my day to day that keeps me from getting bored and I've been here long enough that I have a lot of freedom. I enjoy working with the patients and their families but I am also grateful that I only have to do so a few days a month. I am an introvert and need quiet time in my office!
I am a behavior therapist for children on the autism spectrum. The pay is low, the work is hard, but the rewards are so high. My friend made more than I do working at a sports store.
I love my job most days. I work in business operations for a software company. I manage the systems and processes that our sales, support, and account management teams use. I don't have to interact with our customers/prospects; just internal. My only complaint is that as our company has expanded so has my workload. I am always busy and can't get everything done that I need to do in a timely manner. I'm the only person in my exact role at my company. My boss is great, my coworkers are great, my company is great (good benefits/perks, socially conscious company).
I work in leadership in digital marketing. Since most marketing is digital today, that covers pretty much every aspect you can think of from video concepting and production to social media, websites, user studies/focus groups. Sometimes I still just write things.
It's not what I started out doing - I was a journalist for 10 years - but I like it a lot more than 22-year-old me would have thought. My H also works in digital/UX and was a writer first, so it's a point of connection for us, as well.
ETA: Marketing pays pays much better too, sooo..LOL.
Well, I just went back to HR. I'm in training and development and so far so good, but I've only been there 2 months. I did enjoy the same area in the past, though. I probably don't LOVE it, but I think it's probably the best fit for my skills and experiences and it's likely where I'll stay, at least in the immediate future. Eventually I think I'd enjoy doing more work with career planning and development, and organizational development related to those areas. I think employee relations would be interesting too, but I imagine it gets old quick and can be frustrating. I feel like I'm in the lucky area of HR because I don't have to fire or discipline anyone, I don't make decisions about their pay or employment, and generally don't deal with ongoing issues. Sometimes I have to be super extroverted (delivering training) but some days I can step back and not really even talk to many people.
All of the other things I can think of that I'd like to do (or even love) require advanced education in areas that I'm not educated in. For example, I'd love to be a counselor but it would require a degree and a lot of training (and being married to one going through training, I'm less inclined to pursue that anyway). I've also though about doing something in the legal world related to criminal justice reform. And I'd also probably enjoy something like being a physical therapist - I think I'd like working with patient in medicine, but I can't deal with blood and snot and other gross stuff. And I sometimes think I missed my calling becoming a veterinarian, but I'd basically have to get another undergraduate degree before even thinking about pursuing that.
So, I will probably stay in HR. Which I realize as I type this isn't helpful to you at all haha. Do you think changing the type of organization would help? I really have liked working for universities and find the environment very different from at a private organization. It also seems to me that culture is a big influence on whether being in HR sucks or is a decent place to be. I've been fortunate now to work in 2 organizations that were really forward thinking and going through a lot of positive change when I joined. I don't know if I would have liked my current department as much before it's recent restructure/new leadership.
I'm a fed in a contracting office, but I'm in management now. I basically serve in a business advisor capacity to both internal and external customers and serve as the deputy director. I used to be in operations, but was getting really burnt out, so this promotion came at a good time. I've been in this role for a year.
I really enjoy this aspect of the job. I have a great team and enjoy the more "PR" side of the house with regard to our external customers. I hope to stay in this role for several more years.
I’m a high school science teacher. I love the students, but the job is really tiring. The pay is low and what money I do make I put back into my classroom for labs and the science club. It’s not sustainable.
It’s also really exhausting because my mind is constantly having to think about what’s next. Do I have the papers printed for tomorrow, are my lesson plans done for next period, shit did I buy strawberries for my lab tomorrow, etc etc etc. It’s just never ending. My brain never rests. I plan to finish my 5th year and explore other options.
I'm an accounting manager at a small privately held company. I manage processes (AP, equipment related cost accounting, fixed assets) more than I do people. The company has gone through a lot of growth in the past 5 years, and 8 years ago they started transitioning from being family owned to having a Board of Directors and outside C-suite members. There's only one family member that works here now, and he's in engineering.
I love that there are constant projects regarding process improvement. It keeps things from getting stale and stuck in the day to day monotony of regular accounting. I'm also not pigeon-holed into a few specific areas of accounting. I pitch in with all of it based on our need. I am someone who NEEDS to see the big picture/the full story, so this is much better than having a small subset in a big firm.
I enjoy working for my boss - we get along well and understand each other's work styles. The CFO can have crazy high expectations, but he can also be reasoned with. Busy season is a bear with only a few of us, but the summer is when work chills out and we can take off/recuperate.
Post by georgeharrison on Apr 17, 2019 12:25:00 GMT -5
I work in Quality Assurance for biotech/pharma. I am IN LOVE with my job. I feel like I work for a company that is making a difference and the actual work is right up my alley.
I’m an ICU nurse. I absolutely love it. It makes me so happy and confident. I am really good at it. I have great coworkers and rapport with all the different physicians that I work with. However, like pooh8402 I do not like the hospital politics. We are having so many problems with our management. So I’m done. I’m leaving. I’m going to rural ER mgmt. it will be a good new challenge.
wildrice, do you have any advice for getting into training & development?
I work in higher education and have had a goal to move over to training (whether in higher ed or not), so I got a graduate certificate in Human Resources Management with a training focus, but then when I started looking at jobs almost all of them required Instructional Design education or experience. So now I'm working on *another* graduate certificate, in eLearning. Trying to figure out how to start using my eLearning stuff in my current role so that I can get the experience to go along with the education.
I came of age in my career during the recession, so only now do i feel solid, knowledgeable, and secure in my path. There wasn't a great opportunity for growth at first and i actually went into higher ed for a few years because jobs were so scarce where I lived.
Post by jellymankelly on Apr 17, 2019 12:49:18 GMT -5
I am the Treasurer and Student Information Manager for a small high school. The pay is low. I made a lot more when I worked in banking, but I make sacrifices to stay here because I can’t wait to get to work every morning. When I worked in Trusts and Estates, I was so depressed that I’d sit in my car and cry before work every morning. Then I’d come home from work and sit on the couch for the rest of the night. I was a shell of a person. It was sucking the life out of me. So, for me, making crap money for a job I truly love is a valid choice. We live modestly and in a LCOL area, so we can swing it and still be comfortable. Plus, the benefits are actually really good. My husband is a teacher, so a lot of our days off line up as well.
What I’d really love to do is be a school media specialist. That’s actually what I intended to go back to school for when I found this job. I love working in a school, so I want to continue doing that.
wildrice , do you have any advice for getting into training & development?
I work in higher education and have had a goal to move over to training (whether in higher ed or not), so I got a graduate certificate in Human Resources Management with a training focus, but then when I started looking at jobs almost all of them required Instructional Design education or experience. So now I'm working on *another* graduate certificate, in eLearning. Trying to figure out how to start using my eLearning stuff in my current role so that I can get the experience to go along with the education.
Oh gosh... I think what you are doing sounds like you're in the right direction! I think having experience designing and delivering training is the biggest thing, so as much hands on experience as you can get in your current job will help. I personally broke into the field when there was an opening in the company I already worked for, so I had a foot in the door already. I had done some training in my previous role there, but not enough that I probably would have been considered by an outside organization to be honest. I also do have a master's degree in organizational psychology, which has a lot of HR research and theory involved, so I'm sure that helped.
I got laid off of that job about 5 years ago, and took a job outside of HR but where I did a lot of job specific training for the next 3 years. I think the combination of those two jobs is what got my noticed by a new organization when I found my new job. It honestly hasn't been easy. My career has been a little disjointed due to the layoff and then being a trailing spouse, so hopefully it won't take you as long to get on the right path!
I think elearning for figuring out how to do even basic tasks is getting really popular. If you ever have to show anyone how to do something, maybe create a webinar or a web recording that they can watch later? eLearning is honestly an area where I lack enough knowledge.
I've been a real estate broker for 20 years. I love the actual work. I dislike always having to prospect for new business. Before that, I was an attorney. I hated it. I may look for something else soon. I'm tired of being self employed.
I am an admin assistant and love my job. Mainly because I only have 1 co worker and a boss and then three people I oversee. It pays well and I don't have to speak to anyone usually besides those 5 other people.
Edit to add: this is why I stay. If my boss or co worker ever leaves and I have to speak to more people, I would not enjoy it.
Post by lightbulbsun on Apr 17, 2019 13:02:20 GMT -5
I'm an architectural lighting designer. I like what I do for the most part. My degree is architectural engineering, so at this point I'm kind of committed to this career. I've won some awards for my work, so I guess I'm good at it.
I am on the board of a charity which raises money for the local animal shelter. We just started up a dog foster/adoption program which I am heading, and I think if money wasn't an issue I would want to do animal rescue full time.
Post by onomatopoeia on Apr 17, 2019 13:05:37 GMT -5
I'm a program director for the state education department. It's an administrative position which is a good fit for introverted me. I truly believe in the mission of our program and think that we really make a difference in the lives of the state's most vulnerable students. I never wake up dreading work, and I often find it very rewarding emotionally and mentally. I could see myself doing this job for the rest of my working life.
A big part of what I like about my job is that I have a great staff, a lot of autonomy, and I'm good at what I do and people recognize that. The autonomy also means I have some scheduling flexibility which is great.
That being said, I'm counting down the days (uh, decades lol) until I retire.
Post by redheadbaker on Apr 17, 2019 13:21:05 GMT -5
I'm a graphic designer in the marketing department of a financial services company. I like it. It's not the most cutting edge design work, but I get to work on print, digital and video/animation projects, and it's a stable job in a growing company.
I am a Payroll Director for a govt contractor. The day to day work can be pretty monotonous, but we also outsource our Accounting dept to other govt contractors who do not want to hire their own staff, or who are upgrading to new software. So I get to train new customers on software every now and then, or help them reconcile their books that are a giant mess so that helps break up the day to day.
I also love my boss and get along with my coworkers. The commute sucks (DC area) but my boss is very flexible with setting your work hours that work best for you. The pay is amazing but the hours are long. I am single no kids so it works for now but I'm on the verge of burnout. Been here 10 years, in the field 22 years. Waiting for them to sell, get my payout and find something low stress until retirement.
I’m a CPA & I don’t like it. It fit my personality in college which is very different from who I am today. If I could do it over, I would have gone to medical school but I was so convinced that I was a dummy at math and science. Turned out I just had really shitty teachers I’m a SAHM mom now but when I do go back, I don’t want it to be in accounting
I’m an educational consultant, specifically elementary science. I moved into it after I left teaching to stay home with my dd. I only take on projects that fit into my schedule. Some of the things I do include test writing (district-wise unit tests), custom science labs (I work directly with the students), and professional development sessions for teachers. I really enjoy it! It’s mostly the best parts of what I used to do and I have control over my schedule.
I’m a CPA & I don’t like it. It fit my personality in college which is very different from who I am today. If I could do it over, I would have gone to medical school but I was so convinced that I was a dummy at math and science. Turned out I just had really shitty teachers I’m a SAHM mom now but when I do go back, I don’t want it to be in accounting
This is one of the main reasons I love teaching elementary science. I did not have a good experience in school so I’m passionate about making sure science is accessible and enjoyable, especially for girls.
I am a college professor. I love my job, but it's not something you would just happen upon when considering a career change (unless there's a particular area of academia that you're already passionate about).
I am an admin assistant and love my job. Mainly because I only have 1 co worker and a boss and then three people I oversee. It pays well and I don't have to speak to anyone usually besides those 5 other people.
Edit to add: this is why I stay. If my boss or co worker ever leaves and I have to speak to more people, I would not enjoy it.
I have 48 people I'm responsible for. Forty-eight. I want your job.
I'm a MS Humanities teacher. I love it on most days. Even when I don't love it, though, it's easy to think of 500 reasons to keep doing it.
If I quit teaching, I'd work at the family company that I co-own with my brother, who runs it. I really-- REALLY-- don't want to do that, though. Nope.
(If money was not an issue, I'd work at a bookstore.)