Okay, this has been done on here, but every time would yield different answers from new posters.
My wife and I were talking about careers today, which prompted this thought.
What is your job?
Why is it rewarding (assuming it is…)?
My job is an Assistant Manager of a retail store - a small one, but one that is part of a large nationwide chain. The reason I show up to work every day is purely money. I need to pay bills so my little boy can have his home, food, and care. I do not feel this job is rewarding at this point in my life, but that could always change. What about you?
My job is tax lawyerin’. It is rewarding because I make lots of money. Also, it is challenging both intellectually (i.e., I always have difficult problems to think about) and in other ways (e.g., I have to figure out the best way to approach people and juggle deadlines, etc.).
My job is foreign aid worker: I find it rewarding because it is challenging, the work is varied and doesn’t get boring, I have a sense of accomplishment about my work, and I like to travel.
What I don’t like about it: HQ people are across the board morons.
I develop software for a living. In general the reward comes from doing something I enjoy. It can be challenging from a technology side and from a creative side.
Just the other day we tested my current project with two different types of hardware at the same time. It is designed to work with nearly any hardware that allows itself to be queried - but design and reality are often different. It was cool to see it working.
The current project is with some people in Europe and when it is over, I will own 10% of the company. That is another type of reward.
The job is rewarding from both a creative and intellectual standpoint. Also the flexibility of the position and the salary are nice too. Another bonus is that it’s not a field specific job, I’ve worked in the financial, insurance, cable television and advertising industries. Although I do wish it involved more travel.
I love my job. I would do this for free, but don’t tell my boss. I maintain 4 seprate networks, and each one has it’s own special challenges. If I want to make changes to the network I do it. So far I have upgraded the backbone on one network to 10G, added redundant links that also run at 10G, standardized switch configuration, setup SNMP to send traps to a reporting server that then emails us any problems. I am in the progress of requesting the equipment needed to upgrade another network to a 1G backbone, with redundancy. Also currently installing a massive wireless network that will cover 30 buildings, and supports 1500 to 2000 systems. This network is currently running in 5 buildings as a test, and while we wait for the rest of the equipment we ordered to arrive.
I get all the time I want to study to better myself. I just finished my MCSE 2003 the other week after working with 2003 for many years. Now working on MCITP, then going to upgrade my CCNA to CCNP. I should have all that done by the end of the year. Then I don’t know what I will work on. Probably the other Cisco certs (CCVP, CCSP, etc).
Also my wife works upstairs at the help desk. Get to see her most days for lunch. Sometimes she is busy. She is currently working on MCSA, and then will move to project management certs, and finish her degree. She gets to cover my butt with the users when I am doing one of my upgrades and accidently shut down something I didn’t mean too.
Downsides are I am doing all this in an old soviet republic, and not the US. Also I work 60 hour weeks. Other than that this is my dream job.
I guess the short of it is that I find it rewarding because I get to learn something new everyday, and spend time with my wife.
I teach English, Economics, and coach an Academic Decathlon team. It’s tremendously rewarding personally–I get to tell the same joke 5 times a day AND children are easily impressed–and the pay isn’t really that bad. It’s enough to live a solid middle class life.
I work in retail. Every shift I get to help people out with their small problems - how do I share internet to my laptop? Will this mouse work on my system? Do you know anything about virus scanners? How much do I have to spend to get a new computer that will suit my needs? I love talking to people, I love feeling like I’ve been helpful, and I love technology so I find it a pleasure to do that part of my job. Even when I’m just on the registers and I ring up a purchase and wish them a pleasant day, those that return my smile with a genuine smile of their own give me a little lift and make me feel like I’m making a tiny difference to their day for the better.
It’s not a career, it’s not life-changing and it’s not a big picture job, but for now it pays my bills and offers me a chance to find satisfaction in small things.
Rewarding aspects:
[ul]
[li]I am decently compensated.[/li][li]Many of the people I work with are often very smart and focused on intellectual things – now this one can be feast or famine as I also interact with some real dingbats, but overall, the climate is one that explicitly values the life of the mind (in other words, it’s okay to be a big geek).[/li][li]There’s a lot of variety in what I do, both day-to-day as well as long term rotation of work.[/li][li]Overall, it’s pretty fun, although again, that can be a mixed bag because in some ways, it’s like I never left college. A lot of the activities are enjoyable, but some of them are unbelievably tedious if you are not 18 years old.[/li][/ul]
I manage the rental properties my husband and I own.
It’s rewarding when someone who is this close to being homeless can find a little apartment or trailer in one of our properties, and I can work with them on such things as security deposit, etc. The profit margin is good, too.
The downside is, the places where the rental properties are, there’s not a single tenant who wouldn’t be right at home on The Jerry Springer Show, which means they bicker like 3YO kids, and often expect me to ‘mediate’. I don’t get into that much, but it is a PITA when the phone rings at 10:30 at night, and it’s some tenant griping because another tenant “got in her face”.
All in all, I think I do the job pretty well, and take a lot of satisfaction in the way I handle people pretty skillfully. It’s also satisfying around the 2nd or 3rd of each month when money orders start showing up in our mail!
Working from home, I transcribe audio recordings, mostly of market research focus groups, but also other things.
It’s rewarding because I can choose how much work I take on, I can work from home in my PJs, and I find a lot of the market research topics and people’s responses interesting.
I do CG modeling, animation and visual effects for broadcast and film; Both commercial and entertainment.
I love it because it can be intensely creative and challenging, both on an artistic and technical level. I also do it from home, so no commute and super flexibility! Decent money too, and it gives me legitimate excuses to purchase some awesome equipment and software.
I am a mama. I stay at home with my youngest, but I’ll probably look for something part time after she starts pre-k next week.
It’s a very rewarding job.
The only problem I have with it is when people belittle my work. “Oh you just stay at home! That must be nice!” as if I’ve been on vacation for the past five years.
It’s also a bit of a struggle financially but it’s worth it.
I’m as ISO 9001 auditor. It’s actually a good job; you get to work with different people all the time and learn new things, and I help businesses all the time.
It’s weird hours and a lot of holiday and weekend shifts, with far less pay and general recognition than I think we in the profession deserve, but I do it because I love it. With what I do, a doctor can diagnose a patient and monitor therapy - without the blood glucose result, or the platelet count and description of what the white cells look like, or the antibiotic sensitivities of the bacteria infecting that wound, the doctor’s job is made nearly impossible. I feel like my job is key in helping diagnose and treat people who come into the hospital, and I take the job seriously. I love my work. I just wish that more people knew who we med techs are and what we do, and that we were paid a little bit better.
