I work because I believe it is what makes me a man. Please don’t take that the wrong way as I believe everyone has a purpose here on this world and working is mine. It allows me to make a living , support my family and do what I can to help others on this earth. Obviously I’m not Bill Gates but I do what I can . From giving to feed the children to giving a ten spot to a homeless guy I do whatever I can to help those in this world. I will never be wealthy even if I made more money I would give more of it away .
I work at my current job because it’s the only thing that pays enough to cover the student loans that enabled me to get the job in the first place.
I work because unemployment makes me physically ill.
No, really! If I don’t have to get up in the morning, I tend to sleep in. And I have acid reflux. All that extra time spent recumbent makes it flare up again after a couple weeks or so, and I get, essentially, morning sickness. Which is not fun.
Also, I’m a big fan of food and shelter, so that factors into things as well. Plus, I kind of like my job, and it’s putting me on track for a job that I really want, so there’s that angle, too.
I work so I don’t bring shame to my parents for them having raised a bum.
But they are both dead now.
I need to rethink this.
I’ll have to try and dig the story up - A visitor to some caribbean island, he’s on vacation and starts talking to an unemployed fisherman or something laying in a hammock taking a snooze. Mr. Vacation takes it upon himself to explain how our friend in the hammock could better himself. The punch line (I’m terrible at telling jokes) is something like after all that work, he’d only be happy when he was laying in a hammock taking a snooze.
“I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go…” The trick in life is to find something you like to do, and then figure out a way to get paid for it.
Right now I’m working because a) it’s the only way I can afford to go to school and b) I will eventually need to pay back some extremely large student loans. I do enjoy the job I’m currently working, which is a plus.
Eventually, I hope to work because I enjoy it, and that it pays the bills and whatnot will just be a perk.
I work because I need to pay the bills.
I work my particular job because the pay is good, some of the people are fun to hang out with, I have a lot of autonomy and I’ve enjoyed some success at it.
[QUOTE=AudreyK]
My current job has nothing to do with my psychology major-- I work on DVD subtitle files for non-English languages. (Which is fun, because I’m a monolingual American. ;))
Generally, I work to pay my bills and to do something with my time. But specific to my current job, I stay mostly because the work is cool. We have all the big-name studios as clients, and almost all our projects are TV shows or movies are highly-recognizable. I’m exposed to foreign languages and cultures in a concentration I’d never see in any other company. I get to nitpick details. And I never know what I’ll be working on next. There are a lot of crazy days, but there are also a lot of fun days.
It’s not a perfect job or my dream job, but I like what I do and I know I’m good at it. I’ll probably only leave if I’m pressured to take a position I don’t want.
[/QUOTE]
This sounds cool-- what exactly do you do and what are the qualifications for such a job, if you don’t mind me asking?
I guess my main motive is money. I make enough money at my job to pay all my bills and enjoy some luxuries.
But I also get other things from my job. I don’t love my job but it’s interesting and I enjoy its challenges. I also like the fact that I know I do it well.
[QUOTE=carterba]
I suspect most people, even most educated people, never get a chance to do their dream job. But I’d like to know why you do your job. Is it:
[ul]
[li]just to earn money to pay the bills?[/li][li]to earn money to do the things you would rather do than work?[/li][li]to keep from getting bored?[/li][li]to do something you enjoy doing?[/li][li]to do something you love doing?[/li][/ul] Or some other reason?
[/QUOTE]
My early jobs were to:
[ul]
[li]pay the bills[/li][li]buy things I wanted[/li][li]save for a house[/li][/ul]
I have books, DVDs, chess and computer games to avert boredom. 
However I now have saved enough money to retire. 
I thought about it a lot and decided nevertheless to continue working part-time. :eek:
This is because my headmaster has agreed I can just teach things I love:
[ul]
[li]chess[/li][li]roleplaying[/li][li]computer games[/li][li]logic puzzles[/li][li]help with one-off special events / trips[/li][/ul]
My full time job is strictly for the money, although it’s a marketable skill that I’ve gotten good at.
My part time job is something I enjoy doing. It’s become the way that I relax after spending the week at the full time one. If they stopped paying me, I’d be doing it a lot less and with a lot less travel, but I’d still do it.
As for “why keep doing the full-time job if it’s only for the money?” Because it happens to be for very good money.
Sublight, you have perfectly summed up my work situation, too.
[QUOTE=carterba]
But you spent over a decade of your life (grad school + postdoc(s) + 7-year professorship) doing your dream job. How many people can say that?"
[/QUOTE]
Leave academia. Come to the dark side. It pays better and everything is catered!
I work because I need to, but if I didn’t need to, I’d be doing something. I don’t think idleness is good for you. International playboys (and girls) just seem dull to me. I think time must be spent with some sort of purpose, whether its volunteering, creating, fixing, or what have you. A 45-year-long party just seems boring to me.
[QUOTE=glee]
… my headmaster has agreed I can just teach things I love:
[ul]
[li]chess[/li][li]roleplaying[/li][li]computer games[/li][li]logic puzzles[/li][li]help with one-off special events / trips[/li][/ul]
[/QUOTE]
Jesus, glee , where and what do you teach?
I’m also a teacher. I like it most of the time, but I do it for the money. I’m not really cut out for the world of work.
[QUOTE=The Mighty Boosh]
Jesus, glee , where and what do you teach?
I’m also a teacher. I like it most of the time, but I do it for the money. I’m not really cut out for the world of work.
[/QUOTE]
I got lucky.
I was the first-ever Head of Chess at an English school.
That was fine, but then they asked if I’d like to teach an Activity as well. “Something you have enthusiasm for”. So I picked Strategy Computer Games (Civilisation and Heroes of Might and Magic.)
Since we’re a boarding school, I also offered a roleplaying club at weekends. This (AD+D edition 1) was accepted.
Afer that, offering a weekly logic club was easy.
P.S. I hope you don’t mind me saying that teaching is best as a vocation, not a way to earn money. Those pupils can sometimes really bug you…
I’m in clinical trials research. I help with all the paperwork and data of new cancer drug development. Right now I work for money and because they’re paying for my schooling. Eventually I’ll be a nurse practitioner.
At that point, I’ll work as part of a happy life. I know the chance of never having to work are very slim, even if my husband’s books become best-sellers, so I might as well pick something that makes for a good lifestyle. An NP makes good money. It’s a challenging job. I’ll be useful to my community and useful to my family. I feel like I get smarter every day, with the education I’m getting. And it won’t end as long as I keep doing it. And, as cheesy as it is, one of my big points of pride is that it’s an ignorance-fighting job. Good nurses are educators as well as healers.
[QUOTE=Fiveyearlurker]
Leave academia. Come to the dark side. It pays better and everything is catered!
[/QUOTE]
But do you have cookies?
Who cares about the money when you can work with something you find interesting? I guess I’m staying with my seaslugs.
[QUOTE=carterba]
I suspect most people, even most educated people, never get a chance to do their dream job. But I’d like to know why you do your job. Is it:
[ul]
[li]just to earn money to pay the bills?[/li][li]to earn money to do the things you would rather do than work?[/li][li]to keep from getting bored?[/li][li]to do something you enjoy doing?[/li][li]to do something you love doing?[/li][/ul] Or some other reason?
If it’s the first, second, or third reason, why are you in your current job? Why haven’t you found a different one?
[/QUOTE]
This job is somewhere in the middle of the continuum of Just to Pay the Bills::Doing It For Love.
I’m in a job that’s in my chosen career, doing something that’s kind of enjoyable. It’s a desk job that’s low-stress, with good benefits and good pay, and gives me the flexibility I need to deal with the stresses in the rest of my life. But I’ve also been at it for long enough that it’s boring.
If I didn’t need the security, I would definitely be looking for another job in the same field. The industry is not a “dream” job, but it’s an interesting field and a growth area, so I should be able to keep finding interesting stuff to do in related areas for the next forty years.
However, if I had NO need for money (or health insurance) whatsoever, my career choices would be completely different - maybe I’d be a travel book writer, or I’d own and operate an organic farm, or I’d write that Great American Novel… or maybe I’d skip it all and just bop around the world going backpacking.
[QUOTE=Kotick]
But do you have cookies?
Who cares about the money when you can work with something you find interesting? I guess I’m staying with my seaslugs.
[/QUOTE]
Don’t believe your professors. I work on fantastic and exciting science in industry and have all of the resources in the world.
And all of the cookies I could ever eat.