Chit Chat

Do you like your job?

I don't post much (I'm not engaged/married, I just like the community), but I've mentioned before how bored/unhappy I am at work. I spend a lot of time with people who love what they do (especially my SO, who is a middle school band director). I'm not sure if this has set me up to be massively disappointed/dissatisfied, or whether it is reasonable for me to want a job that I enjoy.

I'm not really looking for advice because I feel obligated to stick it out here for at least a year, I just want to hear from you all what you do and how you feel about it.
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Re: Do you like your job?

  • I think every job will have you up and down at some point. When I describe mine out loud I should love it but some days I can hardly drag myself to the computer. I work from home, hours are flexible, I have unheard of vacation time, great benefits, and a matching 401K. On the flip side I get sick of being in my house and on a computer but I'm sure if I had to get ready for work every day like I used to I would get tired of that too.

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  • I don't hate my job, but I don't love it too much. I find myself with a lot of down time, and I don't care for the politics of the institution. I know that all schools come with politics, but the ones here just seem extra bad and insular. But I do like that I get freedom to run my area the way I think is best, and my coworkers are cool people. My boss is also really flexible and pretty easy to talk to.

    I don't see myself here forever, but I do feel like I make a difference and it works for me for now.

    I'm of the opinion that there's never really a bad time to look for a job, but I've also noticed that new jobs aren't always a good thing. My mom gets a new job pretty much every year, and there's always a cycle where she's really excited, then gradually starts to dislike it. I don't know that there's such thing as a "dream job" for most people, and I worry that the idea of a dream job can get in the way of finding fulfillment.
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  • I like my job, yes. But it's the first one I've ever had that made me feel that way, because it took me ten years to learn that I'm not into dealing with tons of people every day and I'm not a "salesperson" type.

    I don't LOVE my job and I'm not passionate about it, but I can go to work every day without dreading it and I feel pretty good while I'm here and I like my coworkers and the day-to-day tasks I do are moderately interesting. It's absolutely enough for me. I'm a work-to-live kind of person and I'm content to stay in a job like this, where I can leave it at the office and not think about it about home, that's not stressing me out, where I'm well-treated and am appropriately paid and provided with benefits.

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  • I feel kind of stuck in my job. I took the first job I could find after graduation because I was desperate to move back to Atlanta, and I regret it now. I think I could have done a lot better if I had been patient and held out for another opportunity. It a decent job at a great company, but I feel like I'm wasting my education, and now I've pigeon-holed myself into entry level client service rather than what I actually want to do.

    I've been (unsuccessfully) job searching on and off for two years now. FI's job situation has been up in the air, so we decided that I would stay where I'm at until we get married and his situation gets settled. So this summer I'll start searching again.
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  • redoryxredoryx member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    edited April 2015
    I love what I do, I just don't love where I'm currently doing it. I had been at another location and was very, very happy but then there was a merge and a transfer and blah.

    Luckily, the current facility and job is structured in such a way to give me lots of down time to work on personal projects. Those are the only things that keep me sane. The first year, before I started working on outside stuff, I was so bored and miserable and crying all the time. Now I feel a little more balanced. 
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  • No, I don't like my job.  I do like that I have a crazy amount of flexibility with my schedule (ie; coming in late/leaving early, working from home, SDOs, etc) and it pays pretty well in regards to what I actually do.  But do I like what I do?  No.  I don't find what I do to have any real purpose or huge impact to the world.  For me, I work because I need to make a living.  Would I love to have a job that I loved going to each and every day?  Hell yes, but paying for my home and the food in my cabinets is priority number one.

  • ElcaBElcaB member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I work in PR & marketing, which is a great fit for me. Most days, I do love my job. I have about a million different responsibilities, so what I do changes day in and day out. It's always different, which I love because I tend to get bored easily. One day I'm designing ads or writing radio spots, another I'm organizing events. It's fun!

    Of course, there bad days, but overall I'm so happy to be in the position I'm in with my company. 

    I'm sorry to hear you're unhappy with your job. My best advice is to think about what kind of job would make you happy & start researching.  
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  • I dislike my current job mostly because I am no longer interested in continuing to work in the logistics field. I took my current job because of the growth potential but I'm having a hard time because the company is still in the early phases of establishing themselves. I've been looking for a new job but deciding what I want to do is so difficult, I don't find myself particularly passionate about anything which makes me a bit sad. My closest friends are on very specific career trajectories and I'm still trying to figure things out.
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  • I work in molecular research and if I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, I'd get a degree in engineering.

    I like my job but I don't particularly love it because there is no real path towards advancement in my particular situation.  I work in a core service lab that supports itself via the fee for service work we do for other investigators.  My lab is not supported by an R01, so there's really no way for me to get a raise beyond the yearly cost of living adjustments.

    And having worked with a large number of other investigators and departments on campus, I'm not really interested in moving to another lab because, frankly, many of them are run by assholes I'd never in a million years choose to work directly under unless I was desperate for employment; research is my job, not my life.  I'm not a grad student or fellow- I have no interest in being in the lab 12-16 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, 365 days a year, and many of the PI's expect everyone in the lab to have that mentality.

    The pros, however, are that I really like my boss and co-workers, I get 20 PTO days a year plus 2 personal days, plus I get university holidays off, which includes the week between Christmas and New Years, and all of these PTO days are a separate pool from my sick days.  I also have a pretty flexible schedule and the actual work that I do is very interesting and hopefully meaningful in the long run.

    Fuck cancer.

    "Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."


  • amelisha said:


    I don't LOVE my job and I'm not passionate about it, but I can go to work every day without dreading it and I feel pretty good while I'm here and I like my coworkers and the day-to-day tasks I do are moderately interesting. It's absolutely enough for me. I'm a work-to-live kind of person and I'm content to stay in a job like this, where I can leave it at the office and not think about it about home, that's not stressing me out, where I'm well-treated and am appropriately paid and provided with benefits.
    Ditto this exactly.
    I'll also add that I've gotten new challenges and training opportunities, so while the day to day is just moderately interesting, I've managed to grow a lot here over the years. The day I think this place can't teach me any more is the day I'll start looking for a new job. But after 10 years, it'll be hard to give up 5 weeks of vacation so.... 
    Also, I like the field I'm in. I believe in it. I'm glad to work for a place where I'm on board with the mission, because if I had to take just any job, I couldn't be excited to work for a company where I personally think the mission is kind of pointless or at least not meaningful enough. 
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  • I love the company I work for and most days I really do love my job. I think everyone has days where they are unhappy or something is not going quite right. 

    I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect job. FI has a hard time with this. He spends a lot of time stressing about what other people do/don't do at work and whether he's making an impact in the world, etc. It's a lot of extra/unnecessary stress IMO. I think you have be content to some extent. Not to say don't strive for goals or improvement, but I think finding a way to be happy is important. 

    Is is your career you hate or this specific job? Or the company? I think that makes a big difference. 
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  • I will also add that I have never seen myself as a career person.  I have never had aspirations to move up in the ranks of any company.  I don't see myself as a manager.  I don't see myself as a division leader.  I don't see myself as a CEO.  I don't like nor want that kind of responsibility.  I work to live, not live to work.  I like checking out at 4 or 5pm and not worrying about anything until I walk in the door at 8am.  I see people at my company and they are hear from like 6:30am to 6:30pm.  They are constantly checking their email and are on their blackberries.  They work over the weekends.  Sorry but to me, nothing is that important.  I enjoy spending my down time with my H and my pup, watching bad tv and sleeping in.  Work is not at the top of my list, as it may be with many others.  I work because I have to, not because I want to.

  • I will also add that I have never seen myself as a career person.  I have never had aspirations to move up in the ranks of any company.  I don't see myself as a manager.  I don't see myself as a division leader.  I don't see myself as a CEO.  I don't like nor want that kind of responsibility.  I work to live, not live to work.  I like checking out at 4 or 5pm and not worrying about anything until I walk in the door at 8am.  I see people at my company and they are hear from like 6:30am to 6:30pm.  They are constantly checking their email and are on their blackberries.  They work over the weekends.  Sorry but to me, nothing is that important.  I enjoy spending my down time with my H and my pup, watching bad tv and sleeping in.  Work is not at the top of my list, as it may be with many others.  I work because I have to, not because I want to.

    This is me. H has the opportunity to be a partner (and eventually sole owner) of the company he works for. On one hand, this could be a great opportunity and we have the potential to make a lot of money but on the other hand, it's a ton of work and even more stress. We're passing it up. 

    But to OP's question of do I like my job? Nope. Not even a little bit. I'm counting down the days until we can move and I can be done here.
    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
  • I go back and forth. There are days when I'm super energized by my job and feel I'm making a difference. And then there are days when I feel like no one gives a shit, including me. 

    Mostly, my boss is what makes me unhappy at the moment. There's some very basic stuff that she doesn't know/understand and it's making me question what other padding she did on her resume in order to "qualify". Simultaneously, she's trying to hold me back from moving up in the company "I know you're qualified for this, but if I promote you, there's no where else for you to go after that (except her job) and you'll leave the company." Well no shit. But she'll lose me now if she doesn't foster my career development, so......
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  • I will also add that I have never seen myself as a career person.  I have never had aspirations to move up in the ranks of any company.  I don't see myself as a manager.  I don't see myself as a division leader.  I don't see myself as a CEO.  I don't like nor want that kind of responsibility.  I work to live, not live to work.  I like checking out at 4 or 5pm and not worrying about anything until I walk in the door at 8am.  I see people at my company and they are hear from like 6:30am to 6:30pm.  They are constantly checking their email and are on their blackberries.  They work over the weekends.  Sorry but to me, nothing is that important.  I enjoy spending my down time with my H and my pup, watching bad tv and sleeping in.  Work is not at the top of my list, as it may be with many others.  I work because I have to, not because I want to.

    This is me too. I make enough money to feed, clothe, and shelter myself comfortably while putting something away for retirement and taking a couple modest vacations a year, and that's absolutely all I need from a career. My job is just a source of money, I'm not ambitious or passionate about it. I just want to be home to cook dinner with FI every evening and hit the ski slopes on the weekend and not feel like I'm striving for something all the time. I'm lacking "drive" pretty much entirely and I'm okay with that because I'm happy.

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  • I don't love my job. I generally love my boss, and I generally enjoy coming in (once I actually wake up and get out of bed), but I don't have the wherewithal to deal with family law for the rest of my life. It's depressing to constantly be dealing with divorces and custody battles. Plus... I'm afraid to ask for time off, or a raise, or anything, because while my boss is a fantastic person to work for, he is also notorious for not really liking employees that take too much time off, and I don't want to piss him off asking for more money. Once he retires (1-2 years, based on his estimate when I was hired), I'm not going to work for another lawyer.

    I really want to be back in childcare. I miss working with kids. I've told FI multiple times that when I leave here, I'm going to try and get a job full-time at a daycare. I'll probably make comparable amounts of money to what I'm making now, and I'll be much happier. 
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  • I do not like my job. I work at a tech company doing sales/marketing, and I could write a 5-page paper on my issues, but I will boil them down to a total lack of respect toward A ) women and B ) anyone who is not in a technical role.

    On the second month at this job my boss off-handedly mentioned IN FRONT OF ME that he thought people who did marketing just weren't as smart as developers.

    So yeah, I really do not like my job, but I have been looking for a new position for almost a year with little luck. I'm just crossing my fingers that I can find something soon.
  • Most days I like my job. Do I love it? No, not all aspects. But I do love my field. I'm in municipal recreation and it is my passion. Right now I work in a town that's over an hour from home with seniors and special events. It's not that I don't like seniors, but I always wanted to do youth programs or athletics. The special event aspect is fun but not what I want to always do. 

  • edited April 2015
    I absolutely hate mine. I joined an organization that placed me in a position in an underserved area, which I thought would bring a lot of fulfillment, but the organization that trained me works off of a lot of fear and shame tactics for not doing well, and the district that hired me doesn't treat its workers well. My boss is abusive, I'm 3 hours away from FI, and I barely make enough money to get bills paid at the end of the month. The only reason I'm still in the job is out of a feeling of commitment to see it through the end of the academic year, at the very least. I've talked with a few people here on this boards and they've helped me see that a feeling of commitment or "seeing it through" is not worth mental agony or stress. I'm YEARNING for these jobs that I'm hearing about where you have bad days...

    But I'm not honoring the organization that placed me by coming back for a second year. I made that decision this weekend. This career is not for me at all, and I had to learn that by doing. I'm applying to grad programs in Atlanta so I can be at home near my family, friends, and FI. 

    If your job is causing you depression or anxiety (like mine) then get out if your situation allows you to do so. That great big question mark on the other side is better than suffering out of some kind of feeling like you should stick it out.

    ETF words... ugh. I'm fried.

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  • This is kind of a random question, but I've seen it mentioned a few times on various job-related topics:

    What's a "cost of living adjustment"? Do you get, like, a 1-2% raise every year? Is that what it is?

  • This is kind of a random question, but I've seen it mentioned a few times on various job-related topics:

    What's a "cost of living adjustment"? Do you get, like, a 1-2% raise every year? Is that what it is?

    That's what it is for me, yes.

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  • JennyColadaJennyColada member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited April 2015
    amelisha said:

    This is kind of a random question, but I've seen it mentioned a few times on various job-related topics:

    What's a "cost of living adjustment"? Do you get, like, a 1-2% raise every year? Is that what it is?

    That's what it is for me, yes.


    That's just so crazy to me. I mean, I've always just considered that a "raise", not a non-raise cost-of-living-adjustment.

    So generally people get both a COL raise AND a "regular" raise? That seems crazy to me!
  • Cost of living adjustments and bonuses, for me, are both located in the lost city of Atlantis.  They seem so amazing and wonderful, but alas, they just aren't real.

  • esstee33esstee33 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    edited July 2015
    No, not at all. The best I can hope for most days is to come home and say "Well, it wasn't terrible today." There were days (especially in the beginning, before I started channeling apathy) that I came home and just wanted to collapse on the floor and cry. Thankfully, lately, it's been more "that wasn't so bad" and fewer days of wanting to cry. But there's no use leaving now, because we have no idea how long we're going to be here. I could quit and find a new job, and FI's job could transfer us next month. Why bother? 

    I'm also in the same boat of never really having had any real career aspirations. I've toyed with the idea of several different paths, and I'm pretty well-educated and experienced in ways that make me marketable for just about anything I want to do, so I have the flexibility of looking for jobs in whatever industry strikes me as interesting at the time and having a pretty good shot of at least getting an interview. I have yet to find something that really makes me excited, but I've found a decent amount of work that was interesting and paid moderately well to very well for what it actually was, for companies that treated me well, and that's mostly all I want. Like others have said, I work to live, not live to work.  


  • amelisha said:

    This is kind of a random question, but I've seen it mentioned a few times on various job-related topics:

    What's a "cost of living adjustment"? Do you get, like, a 1-2% raise every year? Is that what it is?

    That's what it is for me, yes.


    That's just so crazy to me. I mean, I've always just considered that a "raise", not a non-raise cost-of-living-adjustment.

    So generally people get both a COL raise AND a "regular" raise? That seems crazy to me!
    I'm not sure about generally, but my organization provides the COL raises as a matter of course and then also offers "regular" raises based on performance. What that means in a practical sense is that I'm guaranteed at least 1% but it can of course be higher if I'm getting a raise based on my performance review,

    This year, we're merging and it's all very complicated so everyone is only getting their COL on April 1st, but they'll be readjusting us once they've figured out structure and the new pay bands moving forward, so I'll probably get a little bump later in the year.

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  • JennyColadaJennyColada member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited April 2015

    Cost of living adjustments and bonuses, for me, are both located in the lost city of Atlantis.  They seem so amazing and wonderful, but alas, they just aren't real.




    I'm just used to retail wages with, if I'm lucky (meaning if I meet all of my sales, payroll, and inventory quotas) are $0.10/hour (this ends up being about .5% of my income). That's a whole $208 a year!

    Most years the DMs are happy to nitpick and find that you missed a sales goal (that wasn't posted) by like $100, so that means you get no raise. Yay!

    So I have to admit, I'm a little bitter of people who get all these extra bonuses and raises and act like it's NBD.

  • amelisha said:

    This is kind of a random question, but I've seen it mentioned a few times on various job-related topics:

    What's a "cost of living adjustment"? Do you get, like, a 1-2% raise every year? Is that what it is?

    That's what it is for me, yes.


    That's just so crazy to me. I mean, I've always just considered that a "raise", not a non-raise cost-of-living-adjustment.

    So generally people get both a COL raise AND a "regular" raise? That seems crazy to me!
    We typically get a COL adjustment and possibly a raise on top of that. We're a small company so our salaries aren't fantastic (work/life balance, OTOH, is amazing), so it's nice to get another percent or two on top of the COL. And we get a year-end bonus as voted in by our board of directors.
    ~*~*~*~*~

  • Most days I love my job. Like other PPs, I work to live, so I do not have any interest in moving up. But I do have a passion for my work and I love making other people's vacations better. Moving up would mean getting less one on one time with guests, which is what I enjoy about the most. 
    H is the same way; not really wanting to become a manager or supervisor anytime soon. He's an IT field tech, so his focus is on being the best ranking (there are 3 and right now he is at level 2). 

    This is kind of a random question, but I've seen it mentioned a few times on various job-related topics:

    What's a "cost of living adjustment"? Do you get, like, a 1-2% raise every year? Is that what it is?

    Because I work off commission, I do not get raises, but I do get moved to better, more high volume desks the better we are. H does get a raise based off his performance; last year he also got that promotion from Level 1 tech to Level 2 though and his wages increased a good 10%.


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  • Nope, I work with a bunch of chauvinistic assholes who think a woman belongs in the kitchen.  In general, I enjoy my work responsibilities and my boss and our clients.  I just really don't like the environment.  Now that I'm in my own department though...much better.
  • Cost of living adjustments and bonuses, for me, are both located in the lost city of Atlantis.  They seem so amazing and wonderful, but alas, they just aren't real.




    I'm just used to retail wages with, if I'm lucky (meaning if I meet all of my sales, payroll, and inventory quotas) are $0.10/hour (this ends up being about .5% of my income). That's a whole $208 a year! I once got a $0.25 raise, which is totally unheard of! $520/year! Thanks guys!

    So I have to admit, I'm a little bitter of people who get all these extra bonuses and raises and act like it's NBD.

    Last year I was one of the lucky few that got a raise (probably .5%), after performance reviews were done. Many people didn't get anything.  When that time of year rolls around we all set our expectations exceedingly low so that if we do get anything we will be happy.

    So like you when people talk about receiving nice size bonuses/raises and such I just tend to grumble a lot in my head.

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