Your job, the Poll

I like my job, it's interesting and I feel like I'm performing a valuable function, which doesn't mean I'm not often bored.

i love my job!

<3<3<3<3<3

Nabisco's right, etc

stevo was that love directed toward me or your job?

I love what I do, and I now really really like the place I work. Previously I loved what I did, but hated the place where I did it.

I love my job, I'm always learning new stuff, and what I do is valuable (and valued). Some of it's incredibly nitpicky and boring, but even that's okay because there's always something new on the horizon.

re-posting from other thread:

Shakey, lots of people find ways to see the value in their work and find it rewarding and meaningful and do it well, but let's not go all naive about this. I mean, if you weren't getting paid to, say, work at a store, you would not sit home worrying that someone couldn't find the item they wanted, or that the store's service was bad. (Even a teacher or nurse might not spend 40 hours a week super-invested in everyone else's health or education!) That doesn't mean you can't care or feel good or be non-sad about what you do, just that it doesn't have to be the #1 thing in the world you would care about otherwise. If I won the lottery I would not really stress about typos on pharmaceutical websites, but because someone hired me to, I can feel fine, productive, and not-sad about sitting down and correcting them.

I didn't mean that you were implying that everyone hates your job, just picking up on the implication that the actual content of what people do doesn't matter, for the most part? One thing my parents hammered into me (and my brother) as children was that it was more important and rewarding to find a job doing something you loved and/or believed in than it was to just do whatever came along strictly for the money. this has served me pretty well in life - I might not be doing the exact job I am now if I wasn't getting paid for it, but I would be doing something like it, because it's just what I'm interested in and it makes me feel like I'm contributing to the common good.

everyone hates THEIR job

argh

that being said, back to work I have to draw some tiny solar panel arrays in AutoCAD

I like my job, it's interesting and I feel like I'm performing a valuable function, which doesn't mean I'm not often bored.

^ this.

When I'm nagging at my grade 6 students about paying attention, or really getting on their case about unfinished homework, I know there are a lot of "Geez, this guy hates his job" thought bubbles floating around the room. Truth is, most of the time I like it, some of the time I love it, and, yes, sometimes I'm bored. Yesterday, on John Coltrane's birthday, I played a YouTube clip of "My Favorite Things" for them; today, in advance of Glenn Gould's birthday, I played one of him. That's when I really, really love it. On balance, easily the third checkbox, and even that's understating it.

Unsurprisingly with Alfred and Nicole here.

i'm with alfred, nicole and ned. but my job can be wearing, too. angry clients, even when you succeed; impossible constraints on your work; constant worry and pressure about whether you've done everything you need to do, etc., etc. <end of whining self-pitying rant/>

my job is too tiring and i have to talk to too many people, i sometimes feel like this outweighs my interest in the work. i don't want to have any job.

i love my job even tho it can be stressful. at the same time, if i didn't have to work i wouldn't. but that's not because my job doesn't mean anything to me but because i'm incredibly lazy and would allow myself to stop doing something rewarding and positive in favor of eating ice cream and watching tyra talk about hair all day.

I don't technically "like my job" as I am lazy there is too much politics and stress and peeves I have with coworkers etc

but, I have learnt interesting things at it and I like the people I work for and feel that basically we are attempting to do good things

but yeah, I would not volunteer to come in if I were not being paid, and there are plenty of other jobs and workplaces that are just as interesting or would score more highly on said "good things" scale for me - I lucked into this and I am glad of it, but it is not my one true calling

hating it lately. you know its gone sour when it feels like a dysfunctional relationship. passive aggressive? check! not communicating? check! carrying grudges? check!

I loved my job for 2 or 3 years (been herea lmost 6). Now I tolerate it, but the pay/benefits is enough to make it worthwhile. In optimal conditions, though, it's exactly what I want to do right now. Execution is off.

Probably closer to "nabisco otm" than "h8 this shit", but i wish i were strong enough to jack it in and go for something i really would find worthwhile. Oh well that's not strictly true, what i really wish is that it were easier to jack it in and etc. In reality if I did it I'd probably end up being poor and miserable /lolpessimism

Also, been doing this shit for about 10 years now and I like to think that if I'd been doing my ideal job of snowboarding on the moon for 10 years, i'd probably be bored even of that.

have multiple jobs that i care about to varying degrees

like my job(s)

I love my job, but I wish there were more hours in the day so I could get more done there.

I drive a school bus. I like kids, and I know I'm a good influence on them, if only at the margins, so it's fair to say I like my job and I think I perform a valuable function. However, if I had my druthers, I'd be on permanent vacation.

You're a legitimate hero (and way underpaid). Knowing what some of my school's kids put bus drivers through, I don't know how you don't snap.

Most of my kids are fairly happy, well-cared-for kids from families that have some money and education. It makes the job about 1000% easier. But, yeah, I am way underpaid.

I just started my latest job at a coffee place (this is to pay bills while I do a lot of film/video work for free), and 3 weeks in I really like it. My latent corny indie fuck totally gets all excited when people ask me what music I'm playing.

Also dorking out about espresso and latte art is A+ fun.

I still don't have a job and it sorta feels like I'm never going to have one ever again right now. bah.

nabsico otm

I like a lot of my job, it's reasonably interesting and I feel like I'm performing a vaguely valuable function. Wd quit tomorrow if something else came along.

^^ I'm in it for the paycheck, but I do enjoy it. It's challenging, sometimes fun, and the work is well suited to my personality. I'm just not passionate about it the way I am about other things.

the rule of average says the 2nd option is the winner of the poll.

have multiple jobs that i care about to varying degrees

― sarahel, Friday, September 24, 2010 11:04 PM (Yesterday)

this.

I drive a school bus. I like kids, and I know I'm a good influence on them, if only at the margins, so it's fair to say I like my job and I think I perform a valuable function. However, if I had my druthers, I'd be on permanent vacation.

― Aimless, Saturday, September 25, 2010 1:04 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

amazing. seriously, i still think about my bus driver from 8th grade. this makes such sense for you!

I want to be good at what I do, and what I do is a technical skill. If I were in the business of analyzing what I do in terms of its larger cultural and worldwide human impact, then I would have a different job.

That said, when I get a small assignment to make a flyer that is to go on windshields and is clearly intended to fleece people, I really wonder how badly I need $60. (Usually enough to do it anyway.)

I love a subset of my job and I tolerate the rest.

The way this came up, incidentally, was that we were talking about people who get on your case about your employer -- you say you work for X, so they start telling you everything they don't like about X's product. I've always found this weird; you don't own the place, you just work there.

And in that sense I was trying to suggest that ... I mean, say you're an accountant, because you actually really enjoy the work of accounting. It's pleasant and fulfilling to you. But you're doing it for clients because they pay you, you know? You do not worry about the books or taxes of people who aren't your clients. You can love cars and get into your dream field of working on automotive design team, but if someone's paying you to design an SUV, you will care about that SUV being good -- even if, ideally, you don't like SUVs and would rather be designing sports cars. Etc.

It's just that level on which a job means someone is paying you to care about their objectives, not your own personal ones. The closer together those are, the better, but for most people it isn't some dream match. And there's the difference between, like ... the guy who made my lunch yesterday might love cooking for a living, but he only cares about that particular deli and my particular stir-fry cuz he was hired to.

Like basically I think it's great to be in a FIELD you care about, but not that many people work on a PRODUCT that's perfectly ideal to them. If you love to do CGI effects on films, you'll happily do your best working on any film that hires you, even if you'd rather be at Pixar.

where is the option for i have my dream job and life is great

word

Hate.

so much hate

Where is the option for i wish i had a job and would be grateful for anything?

That answer was declared redundant and let go.

ouch!

there isn't a job in this world w/t stress or some sort of BS that you have to put up with.

everyone hates THEIR job

argh

― Gene Shalit in a Child's Sailor Hat (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, September 24, 2010 10:35 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

otm.

i have found that what CAN help is if you have some sort of say as to either the work assignments you get or the kind of clients that you can bring in (and, just as importantly, the type of work/clients you can turn AWAY). being in such a position takes work and no small amount of luck, as well as the ability to sniff out crap work/clientele. and i'm by no means a master at THAT skill, not yet anyway.

I still don't have a job and it sorta feels like I'm never going to have one ever again right now. bah.

― master of retardment (ENBB), Friday, September 24, 2010 8:43 PM (2 days ago)

This is OTMFM for me.

me too ;_;

The best option, for the first time in my life.

Doesn't mean there aren't days when I don't want to go in, of course.

i work terrible hours in a shitty disposable retail position with racists, weirdos and adorable indians who my years of destroying my ears has made their second language speaking too hard to understand.

i work in local authority housing which is at turns hellish, hilarious and helpful, and has prob given me a good two series worth of sitcom episodes and several recurring characters.

i wouldn't be doing it voluntarily if i didn't need a wage, but i've had worse gigs- the hours and internal respect for staff alone put it #1, but in terms of personal development/fulfilment/creativity- that stuff is for better looking people than me, usually as side detail for characters in romantic comedies ime.

My job is ok and I'm good at what I do but I def would not be doing this if I had no need for the income - I'd be writing books.

oh yeah- i'm not good at what i do because it's mainly producing paperwork and answering phones to abusive/moaning/dodgy landlords/tenants and i don't try particularly hard, but whenever something actually interesting/different comes up i am 100% office viking which seems to be enough to keep me there.

Hahah I know that feeling :D

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

since i posted my role has expanded to dealing with firebomb attacks on one of our properties O_o

Job = good
Coworkers = mostly good, but occasionally shitty
Boss = fucking fuckwad
Pay = negative balance 2x a month
Friends = have good paying jobs, still expect me to pay sometimes.
Pillow = tear stained

i'm a data analyst.

at best, the work itself is 'OK'. mostly programming. the biggest problem is that my manager is a 100% hands off dude, so I'm quite free to spend several hours a day on the internet, downloading music, etc., which can be OK on the right day, but it also tends to leave me with next to no appetite for work.

so i think i hate my job.

but the money is good, casual dress, great location.... and i have no idea what else i'd do.

i like my job

its interesting

sometimes, though not particularly often, i feel as though im performing a valuable function

My job kind of fulfills a useful function in society, not that anyone thinks this if I tell them what I do, but I would not do it if I was not being paid for it.

I guess there's always that whole other level of doing a job, the level where someone is just drawn to a useful purpose and routine to keep him/herself busy. Plumbers, for instance, do something useful for the world. And I'm guessing most of them, if they suddenly inherited 8 billion dollars, would not be like "GREAT, now I can devote all my time to pro-bono toilet-snaking." But I'm sure some would think ... you know, plumbing is what I do all day, it's what I know, how I keep busy and feel useful, so I'm going to continue doing that per usual.

Yeah that feeling is why I miss having a job.
Also: the money.

love my job, too bad my boss is a slacker no talent cunt tho

(in seriousness, re the doing something worthwhile, i think that peeps that work in independent legit small business retail are doing just that, owner or no. i think sometimes that gets forgotten in the mire of arrrrgggh retail woes, but selling someone stuff that does what they need esp when that stuff is not planned obselescent landfill fodder is kinda virtuous these days imo)

I want to learn how to be a good lawyer. This office has several good lawyers with or for which I work. The money isn't bad, the amount of experience is pretty sustainable, if not consistently demanding (read: I'm never bored). Also, lots and lots of young lawyers are out of jobs right now. Like, lots.

If I won the lottery, I would probably continue to work here, at least for another couple of years. I want to get to the point where I make decisions instead of just executing on things. Once I do that, then I'll feel like I've made a full assessment of whether this litigation thing is right for me.

lots and lots of young lawyers are out of jobs right now. Like, lots.

just gonna moan about this in every thread from hereon in tbqfh

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

huh interesting

job satisfaction higher for ilxors than is the norm out there i'd say, all u creative types skewin the figures

- Nabisco's right, my job is okay but I basically wouldn't care about it if I wasn't getting paid to do it
- I like my job, it's interesting and I feel like I'm performing a valuable function

The thing is, I would say BOTH of these about my current job! I like it, it's interesting, and I feel like I'm doing something useful. But if they stopped paying me, I would find something else interesting and useful to do, and if I didn't need money and could do anything on earth, it would probably not involve copyediting advertisements.

oh cmon thats crazy talk