This. I accidently got into the corporate part of my field thinking it would me more money and I could go into the other side of my field at will. While I was slightly right about the money, the crossing over part is hard. :o I find myself mind numbingly bored most of the time.
For the first 18 months or so, I loved my job. Then my boss and his boss left / got fired, and with the new VP and managers, the job went way downhill- my role changed for the worse, I get micromanaged a lot more, and what I’m doing is pretty boring, dull and annoying.
Plus, our health insurance changed from something normal, to a rather atrocious high deductible plan about 6 months ago.
Still, it’s close to home so my commute’s short, it’s near a good bar and where my friends work, and there are a lot of lunch options.
So I said “I thoroughly dislike it but I get though my days here somehow”
I picked “I like my job and it is often rewarding”, but really it’s more “I like my job okay and sometimes it’s rewarding.” I’m grateful that I have a job that I’m good at, that isn’t too boring or stressful (at least right now), and that I can leave work at work 99% of the time. But “often rewarding” is pushing it.
I’d check out the minute someone hands me a winning lottery ticket. And I wouldn’t look back. But otherwise, I want to keep my job until I retire. I’m not on the hunt for something better. I’m fine where I am.
I find whether my job is boring or not is more a product of the work environment and the overall success of the company than the actual work I do.
People think it’s sort of funny that the things I look for in a job are:
-Salary/benefits
-Convenient Manhattan commute
-Nice office space, ideally with a view
-People don’t look like jerks or idiots
-Ability to work from home
The actual work ends up being some variation of managing people who make spreadsheets or write computer code. It’s all pretty much the same to me.
I am thisclose to being a registered veterinary technician. I love my job - it’s my life’s work. I don’t want to be at the same clinic forever, and I’d like to get more experience in the equine aspect of it down the line, but right now it’s fabulous!
I don’t agree at all. I’m a software developer. There are so many ways that can make a job good or bad that have nothing to do with money:
– Are your co-workers good to be with or not? Helpful or not?
– Is your boss just looking out for himself/herself or does he/she see the bigger picture in terms of the company’s goals and your own career aspirations?
– Is the work itself interesting or not? In software development this is crucial, because it can run the gamut from writing mind-numbing code to produce billing statements, to writing code used for launching satellites into orbit. Of course it depends on what you, the deveoper is interested in.
I am fortunate in that where I work I have a great boss, great co-workers, and the work is practically my dream software projects. So another company would have to offer a LOT more money to induce me to leave.
And that’s where you and I are very, very different. I can see how what you say may be true for consulting, but not for corporate leadership.
I have a deep appreciation for the unique features of my job.
I agree with you for the most part. Corporate jobs all the same to me except for the superficial details. I actually like what I do in general. Some variations on it are my hobbies as well. When it comes to work though, it is just
1 Show up
2 Say something intelligent to decision makers
3 Do a bunch of paperwork
4 Deal with the problems of the day.
I work in consulting too. It is a job broken down to its most level. Look like you are contributing something or get out. No matter how much you are contributing right now, you still have to leave at some point because your job is to fix things and, if you do that well enough, you won’t be needed anymore. Make yourself at home for now but make sure all your personal belongings can fit in a big box in case of an emergency or something.
People talk about careers and career development all the time. I don’t really get that. I guess I have a career and there is a bunch of stuff I have learned to do over the long-term that few other people can but I am not sure it is worth it when you get bounced around so much along with most coworkers you have ever had. The money is good though and that is all that really counts in my book. I would take plenty of other jobs if they paid as much. My job in the local supermarket when I was 15 was about the same overall as my job now with just a few skills added but it pays a whole lot more. Reverse those pay scales, and I would check put customers with a wink and a smile every time.
I was unemployed for two years. I frickin’ LOVE my job!!
I voted ‘other’, since I’m in-between jobs right now. I start the new one in a week, left the old one a week ago. I’d been there 8 years, and while the people were great I wasn’t doing the type of work I wanted to, so I was frustrated a lot. I have a feeling I’m going to be much happier at the new one.
I always love any job when it’s new, but once I master it I get bored. I enjoyed the first couple months working at Joann Fabrics. I enjoyed the first month working at Blockbuster. I enjoyed the first week of working at Lane Bryant. I enjoyed the first 12 months of my current job (been there for for 2.75 years in total now).
But over time, every single job I’ve ever had becomes tedious and repetitive, no matter how interesting it seems on the surface at first. I hate knowing exactly what’s going to happen every day, and never being challenged. I feel like a cog in an assembly line, no matter what I’m doing.
I have no idea how to break into the “written-word-editing” industry, which is the only thing I can think of that I’d enjoy. I’m just not well-suited to most jobs, but I have to keep doing what I’m doing to pay the bills. It’s a living.
I love my job, but it just doesn’t pay the bills these days. Plus, I’d like to start saving for the future, and buying more comprehensive health insurance, and even the Union doesn’t offer anything remotely comparable to what I could get by working 30 hours a week or FT at a straight, white-collar job. Besides, students are a bunch a bitches. You work your life out for them, not guilty, but why do I spend a week preparing a lesson for twenty bucks (IF you show up), just to get some nonsense about how they didn’t want to do that one in the first place? Fair enough, but I’m putting in the time outside our lessons to help you, you peer-aged hipster douche, so at least make it cash and not a check.
My co-workers are nice people, I like the sort of work that I do, location is good, pay is good, but I’d like a change. Lately I’ve been thinking I’d rather be doing something else. The training budget got cut, too, so that’s not happening.
I’ve had some terrible jobs, so I’m not really complaining, just not finding the current 925 all that rewarding. I feel that I’ve solved all the major problems associated with my portfolio (the ones that can be solved, anyway) and that the minor ones aren’t worth fixing. It also seems tricky to get recognition in this job role.
It’s soul-suckingly awful. I hate it.
Yep. I completely agree with this. I wasn’t unemployed (in the usual sense of the word) but my carer responsibilities meant that I wasn’t able to work for a few years. When I was finally able to go back to work, I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve.
I will be going back to work soon after many weeks of short term disability, The nature of my injury means I will not be doing my regular gig, rather I will be doing indoor work for a couple months.
All in all I have no complaints, the job is different every day, and I feel blessed to do what I do.I think there is a lot of room for legitimate complaints, but every time I think of the alternatives (different jobs, unemployment, etc.) I can’t bring myself to whine about it.
I’ve got a good gig going. I work from home two weeks in three even though I then have to fly off to London but then I get to see my old mum and catch up with my old friends.
The job is so-so, the sort of ‘writing emails’ sort of job many folk have who work in finance.
I seem to be respected by my co-workers, and my boss (and importantly his boss) seem to value me and trust me plus the pay is good.
I really have no reason to complain. However I do feel a bit trapped, the roles I can do remotely are limited so probably I am stuck where I am. That said where I am is really not so bad.
I voted “I like my job and often find it rewarding”, but that overstates it a bit. I like my job, and feel it helps to benefit mankind, which is important to me, but I don’t often find it as rewarding as I used to.
I voted for “I like my job and often find it rewarding” but there are some clear drawbacks that I wish I could find a way to overcome.
In general I work with a good group of people, I only rarely get to post to the workplace rants thread, but the commute is soul killing. 3 hours a day of commuting time is way too much and if I don’t have a solution by the end of the 6 month extension I signed I’m going to have to look for another position.
One of the great things about my job is that it cannot ever get tedious or repetitive. Every week is a new software challenge to solve a new problem. Sometimes a new feature is wanted, sometimes a whole new platform.