I’m an ISO 9001 auditor. It’s a great job, as jobs go.
I get to work in two to four different companies every week.
Money vs. time+labor. That’s it. The ideal job would be the one where you are paid an infinite amount of money instantaneously, in exchange for no work. The closer you can get to that formula, the better off you are.
No matter how good a job is, you are still following someone else’s rules in exchange for money. If left to your own devices you would not do the things you currently do at your employer’s behest.
Money buys liberty & security, which are the fountain from which all good things flow. If you can make enough money to behave in exactly the way you want, every single day, you have won the race, congratulations, please stop working so the rest of us can get a bite at the apple. Get rich or die trying.
If pay is equal, then the best choice is the job that put the least restrictions on your life: shorter hours, more vacation, no dress code, no forced socialization, no forced contributions, telecommuting/short commute, no ‘on call’, less mental involvement, less physical labor, fewer meetings, a better part of the country to live in.
Provided of course that you don’t violate your own moral principles or hurt other people. Otherwise I’d found my own religion tomorrow, start up a pyramid scheme next week, and have bigfoot/alien/Loch Ness monster press conferences alternate Tuesdays.
My boss’ office is located about 10 miles away. He stops in about once a month. It’s just a quick chit-chat. “How are things going? Blaa blaa blaa.” I humor him and send him on his way.
Keeping your boss 10 miles away is always a good thing.
I have a job that 99 % of people wouldn’t want, yet I love it.
I have a shop where I custom fabricate, repair and refinish marine craft.
I make really good money these days.
But what satisfies me is the customer appreciation and respect I get in my community. And while I’m working or supervising my single employee I’m all wrapped up in the progress of my projects. Creativity abounds. Innovative solutions are often required. I wake up raring to go, only sparing a few minutes to check out the SDMB
But, it can be itchy, smelly, sticky, dusty and messy. Seems like I spend a quarter of my time cleaning up.
I don’t know about all that, now. If I were independently wealthy I believe I’d still pursue this science. It’s so fascinating to me.
If I had access to the equipment, then yeah I would be doing the things I currently do at my employers behest. Put it this way, if I won several million dollars, I’d keep doing my job. I like it. That’s not to say I’d do it for free, when I do my job well, my employer makes a LOT of money and I’d like a slice of that pie thanks.
But “on call” is fun, it adds variety. No dress code can be a pain for some people because they don’t want to have to think about their clothes each day. Mental involvement is good, it keeps the brain stimulated and is what makes the day interesting. You’d think more vacation would be great, but I have ridiculous amounts of vacation owing to me because I haven’t felt the need to take it. I can totally understand people who would like to have all the money they need and no job but there are also many people who continue doing volunteer work long after they retire.
Your “ideal job” is apparently winning the lottery (which really doesn’t count).
I would rather work longer hours at a place doing something I actually like doing with smart people I actually respect and like hanging out with socially and where I am respected by my boss and my peers instead of working in some dump with a jerk of a boss and a bunch of lazy fucks who only care about doing the minimum for 8 hours a day.
The thing is, you will never make enough money to “behave in exactly the way you want” working any job with fewer hours, minimal socializing, no mental involvement and no going to meetings. The jobs that pay the type of money you are talking about are highly competetive, results oriented and often very risky.
Ideally you want the type of job you would do if you had won the lottery and didn’t need to work. Of course not everyone can do that which is why most people work in a cubicle or do other crap they hate for a living.
Well, I wouldn’t wear the kind of clothes Sheboss insists we have to wear M-Th, and I’d rather have taken the whole project in a completely different direction…
But the first isn’t anything that bad (I find it silly, but at least the clothes we have to wear are “normal” enough that I wasn’t required to buy a whole new wardrobe, as would have been the case if suits were required, plus I look like shite in pencil skirts and refuse to take jobs involving them); as for the second, in order to have done that I’d need to be the President of my client… and frankly, he’s welcome to his job!
I’d still do 99% of the stuff I do, and while the project’s direction isn’t my favorite I still get to do it very much my way 
I couldn’t disagree with you more. Left to my own devices, I sit on my ass and surf the Internet all day. It’s not healthy, useful, or even all that enjoyable. I despise telecommuting- I just end up spending all day in my bathrobe alone staring at my computer. Thats not a good day at all!
A good job pushes me to do great things. And it puts me in contact with people who have complementary interests and abilities (even if they aren’t people who would normally be my friends), which means that together we can achieve a lot more than we would have on our own. And a good job puts in in contact with the resources and training I need to do what I want to do the best way possible.
When I have a good job, I get a lot out of the structure and a lot out of my co-workers and clients. I have a lot more on my mind than just maximizing my leisure time. I want to help people, make a mark on the world, see new things and get to know knew cultures. I’ve found some jobs have been an excellent way to do that.
Good job? Hmmm…there are a few components that stand out. You have to make enough money have at least a little something left over at the end of the month. You have to like the people you work with. The job has to allow work/life balance. You don’t have to love the work, but it helps. You have to at least not HATE the work.
On the four-star scale, I’d rate mine THREE STARS.
Funny thing, after using that formula for 30 years I finally discarded it, and work has never been more satisfying. I used to have buckets of money, now I don’t. But I LOVE what I do and my decisions about what kind of work I do pretty much ignore all three of those parameters.
But we’re all different.