If you love what you do, please come in

[underwaterrhymes]

I’m having an employment identity crisis.

I’ve been in the nonprofit sector for 15 years and have a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. I’ve been a member of senior leadership for 10 of those years, largely focusing on operations.

I’m realizing I don’t love what I do for a lot of reasons. Obviously making a move right now is inadvisable, but if you love your job, tell me about it. I’m thinking I might want to make a career change when things settle down.

[HRH Queen Dick I, Orphan]

Have you looked into being an underachiever? It doesn't pay well but it affords plenty of time to stalk your exes on social media.

[sproctopus]

I'm a scientist in academia. I also teach at a state university part-time. I really love what I do-- I've done the first for almost 15 years and the 2nd for 10.

ETA: I really hope you find something you love. It is really super hard to go to work when you don't like it. Could a different organization help? There have been times for me where the place wasn't amazing, but at its core, I still loved what I did.

[crystald528]

I am interested so see what people suggest to you!  I am 15 years in the workforce, mostly for non-profits with an MPA and senior leadership experience as well.  I don't enjoy what I do.  Want to start a club? 

[underwaterrhymes]

Jun 23, 2020 16:36:24 GMT -5 HRH Queen Dick I, Orphan said:

Have you looked into being an underachiever? It doesn't pay well but it affords plenty of time to stalk your exes on social media.

HA! I’m currently underachieving at keeping my house clean. Does that count?

[ksun]

I'm an occupational therapist, but that's at least 5 years of schooling and probably a pay cut, but I do truly love what I do. I work in home health primarily with seniors.

I am also an underachiever at keeping my house clean.

[pixy0stix]

I'm an admin, and I'm damn good at my job. I've recently been moved (by necessity) into a project manager role. I love what I do, but I'm severely under-valued and under-paid, and always will be unless I change my profession completely.

[TR]

I'm so sorry you're feeling this way, I know you were really excited about this latest job! I'm currently in school because I didn't love my work. I don't know that I'm going to LOVE whatever I do next, but I'm hoping to at least find it more intellectually challenging/stimulating. My absolute dream jobs would be a child life specialist (saturated market, would be investing in a degree and very little chance of getting a good job) or a photographer (also little chance of actually making good money here). So I've realized I probably won't have a dream job in my life, but I'll settle for not being bored and making money, haha.

[milehighmama12]

I have my MPA and am a budget analyst for our county. I love it! I have also been a budget analyst for a non-profit and before that I was an evaluation coordinator for the non-profit, which was basically making sure programs were meeting their benchmarks for their grant funding.

[TR]

I would try to make a list of the activities you do and don't like doing at your current and past jobs. Try to identify common themes, you might even have someone else take a look at them because they may notice commonalities that you don't.

Doing aptitude testing was eye opening for me. My old company does have a location in Chicago, I don't know if they've reopened yet and it's not cheap, but it was helpful for me to know what my brain actually wanted to do.

[erbear]

I teach middle school and aside from the constant bitching of parents right now about remote learning, I love it

[jinkies]

I worked in nonprofit communications for 19 years. I was super burnt out on nonprofits and looking to change.

I did more of a pivot-- one of my previous jobs included working on a peer review scientific journal.

I used that to shift into journal management and production. Ive only been doing it for about 8 months but I LOVE it. I feel very fulfilled and respected for one of the first times in my career, and I have a much higher earning potential.

I would never have made the shift without the encouragement of my former boss. I am so grateful to her.

[audry80]

I’m in retail operations. I love it because I mostly improve processes, solve problems and my day is not repetitive. I support the sales team and spend most of my day helping people. It’s great.

[Patsy Baloney]

Public service is soul sucking.

If there was more groveling or bowing in my presence for my public service, I’d probably feel a little better about life.

[nsl]

I'm a high school English teacher, and while I love what I do I'm on the verge of burning out. I knew this point was likely coming a few years ago, and started an MLIS program to become a school librarian so that I'd have an exit strategy when the time came. I still want to work with students and school faculty, just not in a capacity where I'm constantly under the gun for test scores. I'll finish my program next month, and will probably start looking for school library jobs next spring.

[jamaicam]

I work in public policy and find it rewarding most of the time! My area is pretty interesting because my team reviews policies and programmes across all sectors of society and advises politicians on their pros and cons. I like the variety that we get because we aren't jsut focused on one area and the advise we can give because we have a broad picture view.

[jenny1223]

Me! I'm a Salesforce system admin for a software company. I highly recommend Salesforce administrator as a career. It is in high demand, they offer an amazing free online learning platform, and the skills can translate to hundreds of industries across the world. Even pre-Covid, I worked remote. I fell into it by accident. I was working as an account manager and hating my job when my small (at the time) company decided to purchase Salesforce and needed an internal admin and my boss asked me to step in. My salary has increased by ~3x in the last 8 years.

Reason I love this career: problem solving, fixing inefficiencies in our internal processes, I don't have to work with customers, it's tech based, constantly working on something new/different and learning, lots of cross functional work so I get to work with various departments and people

[underwaterrhymes]

Jun 23, 2020 16:46:29 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I'm an admin, and I'm damn good at my job. I've recently been moved (by necessity) into a project manager role. I love what I do, but I'm severely under-valued and under-paid, and always will be unless I change my profession completely.

This, I think, is my challenge. My role is administrative and I keep all the wheels turning behind the scene. I supervise an administrative team that I advocate hard for, and I know my boss appreciates me, but I’m still undervalued and underpaid. It’s so frustrating.

[Monica Geller]

Jun 23, 2020 16:54:51 GMT -5 erbear said:

I teach middle school and aside from the constant bitching of parents right now about remote learning, I love it

Same! Teaching has its downsides for sure. And next year is going to kick my ass no matter what just because it will not be a “normal” year. But I love the job itself.

Good luck exploring your options. You never know what might be a path you love.

[W.T.Faulkner]

I love what I do, most days, but also sometimes fantasize about not loving what I do and making a shitton of money. lol

[just]

I love the core of my job (Instructional Design) though I've moved into a director role and don't do much of it any more.

I always recommend people look into working in academia staff positions - the pace, atmosphere, and benefits are awesome and I think make up for the lack of a high-end salary.

...though probably not for the next 18 months or so.

[krystee]

I lead the communications team for a global association and mostly love it! Have you looked at switching from nonprofit to association? Still nonprofit, obviously, but a little different and less of a focus on fundraising. And Chicago has the second most associations in the US, after DC (if you already work for an association, ignore me!).

[underwaterrhymes]

I’ll reply more to everyone tonight. Thanks for all the input. ❤️

[stephm0188]

School librarian. I do love it, but positions are fewer and fewer as more schools decided to cut the program to save money.

[SwimDeep]

I'm a technical writer/editor. I feel like I'm good at what I do, and I enjoy it well enough. I'm pretty good at taking hard technical concepts and framing them in more approachable ways.

I have an advanced degree in library science and information management, which has helped with content curation, but it's definitely not necessary for the bulk of what I do.

There's a huge need for good writers and editors with niche experience. It's a competitive field, but pretty sweet if you can break in.

[notsopicky]

(MS) School librarian checking in! I LOVE IT! I was a teacher for 23 years, but knew I couldn't go another 23, so I got my MLIS to become a librarian (I love kids, and books, and information, and tech, and being creative, and now that's what I do every day at work). It's the best job in the whole school, IMO.

[fivechickens]

Jun 23, 2020 16:39:35 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Jun 23, 2020 16:36:24 GMT -5 HRH Queen Dick I, Orphan said:

Have you looked into being an underachiever? It doesn't pay well but it affords plenty of time to stalk your exes on social media.

HA! I’m currently underachieving at keeping my house clean. Does that count?

It does in my house!

[suzubell]

I am a consultant in education. I advise districts/teachers/admin on issues related to special education and data-driven instruction and intervention. I also lead professional development. I burnt out as a public school teacher and then administrator, but love what I do now.

[Roc A Bee]

I’m guessing you felt this way pre-Covid? Just asking because I have all the pieces of an enjoyable job. I’m good at it, I’ve done it for 4 years, I’m paid ok, lots of time off, a boss and coworkers I like, but I’m just over it. I think it’s Covid related and really not wanting to go back since I’ve been home 3 months. I wish I could afford to not work, I’d be super happy.

[goldengirlz]

Jun 23, 2020 18:18:25 GMT -5 Roc A Bee said:

I’m guessing you felt this way pre-Covid? Just asking because I have all the pieces of an enjoyable job. I’m good at it, I’ve done it for 4 years, I’m paid ok, lots of time off, a boss and coworkers I like, but I’m just over it. I think it’s Covid related and really not wanting to go back since I’ve been home 3 months. I wish I could afford to not work, I’d be super happy.

This too. There was a thread on here recently about how many of us are feeling like the joy has been sucked out of our jobs. I’m sure there are exceptions but most companies/organizations are trying so hard to stay afloat that the day-to-day has become a really bad mix of uncertainty, heightened pressure and disconnectedness. Plus, a lot of things that might have brought us joy in the past have been put on hold while we go through the motions PLUS juggle all the macro “current events” stuff in the background.