I see two different questions here. The OP asks “So my questions is do you love your job?” The common definition of “job” means your specific employer, location, coworkers, wages, etc.
But the rest of the OP appears to be about career choices or skill sets, and most folks are responding on that basis. Ultimately I think the OP is looking for advice delivered as anecdote. Nothing wrong with that.
I’ve had several career skill sets I’ve enjoyed a lot. And in each case I’ve done them at jobs I liked and jobs I loathed.
So my anecdotal advice is that almost any skill set can be used in both good and bad jobs. When you are considering a move, take the time to understand which thing you want / need to change: the job or the career skill set. The latter is a harder change to pull off, but is more likely to avoid a change that results in just more of the same.
At the same time, there are shit jobs someplace in almost every career skill set. There are crappy Doctor (MD) jobs, crappy lawyer jobs, and crappy Indian chief jobs. And also some very happy Doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs.
If you’re looking to change to a completely new career skill set, it can be easy to convince yourself that there aren’t shitty jobs in that career. Or for many / most of the jobs to be shitty in a way you’ve never thought of and hence ignore.
How did you discover what you wished to do?
I scored high in spatial reasoning on an aptitude test when I took it in high school. Partly because of that, and partly because my Daddy had a good career in it, I went into Civil Engineering.
At what stage in life were you when you found it?
I originally entered university directly out of high school, got burned out and quit for two years, went back and completed my bachelors’ and masters’ degrees. So I’m not sure how to answer that question. I was 17 when I first went to Uni and 29 when I got my first “real” engineering job.
** Did you make a big change and regret it later?**
No.
Was money more of a deciding factor than everyday enjoyment?
No. Engineering is no way to get rich.
To speak to your implied question there, it is impossible for someone else to tell you whether you should stay where the money and stability are, or reach out for something new. I personally don’t miss having a high income but some people are more comfortable with it. I’d rather be happy but some people would rather be secure, and that’s okay too.
**So my questions is do you love your job? **
I think so. I bitch and moan about aspects of it but I’ve never had dreams of leaving it or even looked around for something else.
How did you discover what you wished to do?
I went to college for journalism and it helped me realize I didn’t like journalism. At the tail end of my college career I hooked up with a guy who wanted to start a Web design business…and we did. I am all self-taught when it comes to my job.
At what stage in life were you when you found it?
I think when I was exactly 20.
Did you make a big change and regret it later? **
Almost. I promised myself I would look elsewhere if I didn’t make $20k my first year with the company. I made $21k so I stuck with it. The next 2 or 3 years I made just barely over $10k. Oops! I lucked out and was able to live just fine, so I stuck it out.
**
Was money more of a deciding factor than everyday enjoyment?
Absolutely not. We worked our asses off for little money. We still work our asses off but now finally make decent money. I have had no sense of “making tons of money doing this.” More like making enough to still be able to have the company and be comfortable.
BTW…seeing people being excited about being their own boss sort of makes me cringe. I’m my own boss and it has a lot of downsides. Namely, your customers all individually become your new bosses. You write your own paychecks (after everyone else gets paid). There’s no one up the ladder to blame for anything. You’re ultimately responsible for everything. It sounds fun until you learn the realities of it, and it still does end up being great for some people but it’s not for everyone.
If you do go into business for yourself - make sure you understand exactly what “being my own boss” entails!
Eh, I got a degree in Chemical Engineering. In school, I was bright eyed and imagining a future where I wore a long lab-coat and pushed the envelope of physical laws.
Then I took an 8-month co-op at a huge corporation and was miserable. Turns out a lot of corporations use chemical engineers as process engineers. Which means - simple chemical process, dirty plant, lots of surly teamsters. I was unsuited for this and quite miserable.
Out of college I found my current job which is a nice hybrid. I do a bit of manufacturing support, a bit of R&D, a bit of business, a bit of customer interaction.
It isn’t my dream job, but it’s never dull. I enjoy it most of the time. The economic clusterfuck has certainly put a damper on everything as I’ve watched friends and colleagues get laid off and plants closed down, but it’s still challenging and interesting. I’m happy but not ecstatic with it.
I’ve had three of them. I don’t know what your financial situation is like, but I find it very stressful to take what I think will be a stable job, only to have it arbitrarily eliminated.
I was laid off from a consulting firm I had been pretty successful at for about 4 years in 2008.
I managed to get two offers in about 2 months - some piece of shit consulting firm and a Fortune 500 company. I wasn’t crazy about either job, but figured the big company would be a bit more stable.
Wll the guy who hired me quit my first day leaving us with his boss, an abusive bipolar crazy bitch as the head of our group. Fortunately after six months of being alternately neglected and yelled at for no reason, she was “retired” in one of the ongoing rounds of layoffs. Things were better after that, but then six months later my position was eliminated (although I did get a pretty good severence package).
Six months later found a job with a Big-4 accounting / consulting firm, but turns out they overestimated their hiring needs. After about a year of bouncing around trying to get staffed on projects, they came to the conclusion the “just can’t find a place for me to operate at a manager level (IOW manager’s bill rate)”.
So while getting paid is nice, I’m sick of these bullshit “do nothing” jobs which basically amounts to floating around some giant company with no clear direction, guidance, or idea what, if anything, I’m being evaluated on or by who. Because those are jobs that are very easy to eliminate.
It’s a bit of a two-part answer, for me. I’ve got my job, which is…okay. I’m a switchboard operator/general office drone. I actually like it fine, but it’s not something I still see myself doing ten years from now.
However, I’m also a writer (few bits and pieces published, working on getting an agent). That, I absolutely and unreservedly love, and the fact that my day job allows me to work on my writing without starving makes the day job a little shinier too.
I never intended to teach - I got my degree to do clinical work. Did that for a while, then took the opportunity to do some research with the same population. Got asked by a former colleague who was teaching at a local community college to guest lecture a PSY 101 course on research design and statistical analysis. Did so, and the next week he called and said “the kids LOVED you and want you back. Wanna team teach next semester?”
Did that, started getting more and more adjunct gigs, now have a full-time job as a psychology professor at a community college (focus on teaching, no research requirements).
I tell my students “I get to talk about psychology ALL DAY, you HAVE to listen, and I get paid. What’s not to love?”
I was working in the clinical trials office of a cancer research hospital and a data manager from a biotech came for a visit and after talking to him I decided that was the job for me.
I was 34, I think, unmarried but in a committed relationship (she’s now my wife). I was playing drums in a band but long before then had determined that my future didn’t lie in doing that. I still think I have a ‘day job’ attitude towards work though and while I like the work and the field I’m in I have no desire to climb the ladder. That’s one stage of life I’m wondering if I’ll ever enter (I’m 48 now).
Big change? Yes. Regret it later? Not in the least.
I had ceased to enjoy my work at the hospital and was in fact miserable, and eventually quit. My wife was employed at the time, and we had little financial obligation, so money wasn’t a big problem. Eventually I landed a job at a quarter of the stress and twice the pay.
I started here 16 years ago :eek: doing Help Desk support-type stuff. Got various promotions upwards and laterally along the way and now I am doing project management along with 3rd level support, and the resident subject matter expert on various applications/systems. After 16 years it pays well and I have plenty of vacation time. I work from home once a week or more as needed. My boss is great. And yet, I hate it. There are good days and working from home is a real help but I would gladly give it up if something better came along. In this economy I am glad to still be able to support my family and save money for a rainy day, and so on but yeah, hate it.
