Do you like your job?

[@Brian 2,987]

Really comes down to who you're working with. Right now I'm pretty much working on my own and that's fine. The cultural differences when working with Americans can make it annoying.

[inf` 132]

Boring as shit now since a fair bit of my clients are partially or fully closed so not much to do for me.

[Encore 202]

First 2 years of my previous job was really enjoyable. Colleagues made the work fun whom I still keep in touch with. Final year of the job was super stressful. Too much office politics, forced changes around the office and then changing products which impacted customers along with being almost always understaffed and expected to complete the work.

 

13 hours ago, Carolina said:

 

Right now I don’t mind my job, but it definitely doesn’t excite me. I just work for the paycheck and to be financially secure. Do you work hard in a job you don’t necessarily love in order to play hard, or go out of your way to make sure you’re genuinely happy, content, and maybe even excited with your role even at the cost of less compensation? 
 

Initially, worked my ass off. It was fun and thought it was worth it. Even volunteered for extra hours outside of my contracted hours.

 

Then everything turned to a shit show starting from management, QA, product changes and being understaffed which led unhappy customers increasing contacts which in turn impacted our KPI which is connected to our quarterly bonus.

[Xero 69]

I graduated college in 2009 and the job market was awful.  I wound up taking the first full time job I could find after 6 months of applying.  I worked in Tech Support for 5 years.  It was miserable.  I pushed reset on my career and moved into manufacturing and aerospace.  Best choice I ever made.  I currently work in defense and I love my job and what I do.  

 

If you don't love your job you're going to be miserable.  Life is too short not to find something that you enjoy.  If you feel like you're lucky to get paid to do what you do then you've got it made.  You alone control what you do and if you don't like it, you can change your situation.  

Edited April 8, 2021 by Xero

[Scumpr 310]

Am I the most ecstatic about my job? - No

Do I dread getting up in the morning to go to work like I have other jobs? - Also no

 

My career also allows me the financial stability to do what I want to do, for the most part. Love what I do for a job, but some of the changes since covid haven't been purely positive in my department to say the least. 

[Howl 962]

I love the people I work with, which usually makes up for the times when I dislike the work. I liked it better before WFH though.

[Dickus 795]

I fuckin hate my job but at least it’s not customer facing

[poopkid 225]

fluctuates depending on the day... if reddit is going ham bashing, then 😰 or if my manager is deciding to play favorites 😥

[Go Leafs 12]

Been working 4 years in the accounting field and no i dont like it. Hopefully this year I break into the web dev sector of my bank...

[Flytan 42]

Yeah, if I lost it, I'd probably just retire.

[Kenny 121]

Don't worry too much @Carolina, if you hate something now it doesn't mean you should/need to stick to it for the rest of your life. Like @Krystal and others have done you are more than capable of finding a new career path. If a job is making you miserable to a point that it is affecting your mental health I don't think that's a good thing & should consider either taking a break or stopping completely; the other side of it would be earnings like if you are in an investment bank working 15+ hours a day but earning 6 figures it would depend on what you value more health or earnings. I know alot of people that go into Investment Banking somewhere like Goldman for a couple of years then stop to do what they want after they've made a fair amount of money. 

 

My point is that you shouldn't worry about where you are now but have a plan of what you would like to do and where you want to be in X years time. I'm currently working but also doing a professional qualification on the side; which should open up more doors and opportunities should I wish to change careers in the future. 

 

Also it is true that if you find something you love doing it wouldn't feel like actual 'work' but that doesn't always work out for everyone. I'm sure others here have wanted to be professional sports/esports players or getting paid to travel and live an influencers lifestyle but not everyone is able to make that happen. I think you should just focus on what you would like to do & where you want to be and try to make it work.

 

I've been building my own finance company for 6+ years now but with the qualifications & learning on the side I have the opportunities to do things if I ever wanted to leave.  I've also been learning Spanish in my spare time for the ability to work abroad. I should also mention that I do think it's important to have multiple sources of income (investments/side hustles) so you don't always have to rely on your main source of income (working) if you ever wanted to change or try something out.

[Wise Counsel 86]

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Edited May 25, 2021 by Wise Counsel

[Applerune 121]

On 4/8/2021 at 4:04 AM, Brian said:

Really comes down to who you're working with. Right now I'm pretty much working on my own and that's fine. The cultural differences when working with Americans can make it annoying.

 

Would love for you to elaborate - always super interested to hear things like this.

 

I love the work I do. I've never worked a day in my life

[Applerune 121]

On 4/7/2021 at 4:05 PM, Carolina said:

I’m curious how many people genuinely enjoy the work that they do. Idk if it’s because I’m still “young” in my career (about 1-2 years out of college), but I still daydream about how nice it would be to be excited every morning to go to my job and do the work that I do. It’s crazy to me how much of our lives we will spend “working” and seems pretty dreadful if we don’t enjoy what we do.

 

I heard from some older and wiser friends that this just isn’t very realistic most of the time. The idea that you work to earn, and use the money to spend time doing activities you enjoy outside of work seems to be the prevalent thought for most people I discuss with.

 

Right now I don’t mind my job, but it definitely doesn’t excite me. I just work for the paycheck and to be financially secure. Do you work hard in a job you don’t necessarily love in order to play hard, or go out of your way to make sure you’re genuinely happy, content, and maybe even excited with your role even at the cost of less compensation? 
 

 

 

I'm not saying you are, but most people are.

 

Learn to not let your work define you. This is hard for a lot of people. Most of our self-worth comes from the jobs and money we make. You will be infinitely happier if you realize that your job is like an arcade - some allot you the power to have more credit/coins than others - but the games are always the same, and available. How hard you work & what amount of luck that comes your way will decide how good of a time you have at the arcade. Some have a better time than others and, my friend, that's just life.

 

The work I do requires long hours, nights, weekends, missed holidays in some cases. I feel like I've never worked a day in my life. I became happier when I gave up the idea of work-life balance. IMO, it doesn't exist. 

 

The reason so many people are unhappy, apprehensive, and uneasy about their situations is because they don't know what type of life they want to live,  so they put an incredible amount of energy & focus on making as much money as possible because that'll always scratch their itch, no matter. While true, start with trying to define the kind of life you want to live and work towards that. For some people that's all the luxuries and anything you could want. For others it just means enough to be comfortable. Whatever it is - start there and I promise you'll be happier as you grow older.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Applerune

[@Brian 2,987]

38 minutes ago, Applerune said:

 

Would love for you to elaborate - always super interested to hear things like this.

 

Maybe it's just in my industry (software) but on calls I'd always hear American people saying they worked on stuff over the weekend, late last night etc. That kind of attitude towards work isn't healthy. It always seems like for a lot of them their job is their life. Taking time off etc is rare. It's annoying to work with that because the expectation to prioritize getting stuff done over your life outside of work is always there.