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I thought I'd start a thread so we can compare how much we hate our jobs and how bad we have it.
I'll start with mine.
Technically I am self employed as this allows the company not to give me benefits of any kind, to be able to fire me with 1 phone call, and some agency that does nothing but cut checks to take 1/2 my pay.
I do what I am told but am not motivated at all. There is no reward to be had for working harder or going above and beyond. The company makes a point of excluding me from any fun employee activities. I'd leave my job but the only other offers I've gotten are even worse. I have grown to hate my entire profession beyond belief. I can't even bring myself to read scientific literature any more. I go to meetings where people present what they are doing and I pretend to be interested but in my mind I am screaming I don't give a F_k. I get daily PR emails from the CEO stating what an ethical company they are, how they were voted one of the most ethical, and how committed they are to their employees and I think about beating him/her with a crowbar. I wonder if I can just add the CEO to the spam filter. I have had people ask me for advice about a career in science and I tell them basically heck no and don't sugar coat it at all.
Hey MSchemist80, I know my crappy job doesn't in the least compare to yours and hell, I don't even know if it counts because I never even made into the field I spent 4 years studying for (Criminology), but it sucks ass nonetheless. Anyway, I work for the biggest big box retailer in the country who is well known for using and abusing their entry level associates. Pay is terrible, benefits are non-existent, and you get bitched at for the most stupid things, while other people both in your department and others get away with half-assing their jobs, but nothing happens to them because they've been there for decades and are buddy buddy with the upper management. I wish to hell I could get something better, but I live in a dead end, blue collar, crap town with 10% unemployment where there is zero demand for anyone who has more than a high school diploma and the field I studied for is dead in the water and has no hope of coming back for years.
On a seperate note, following your point of telling people not to go into science, I'm also going to implore people to avoid law enforcement or any other government job like the plague as well. Police departments, sheriff's departments, and other agencies are absolutely BROKE. As a result, they're on hiring freezes, laying people off, or in the unlikely event that they are hiring, they may have one or two positions open and literally HUNDREDS of people apply. Granted, lots of people were applying for these positions before the economy collapsed, but the differences were: 1. the agencies hiring actually had jobs open and 2. more people than ever are applying for these jobs now. See, thanks to factually inaccurate movies and tv shows, people nowdays think that being a cop is "the cool thing to do." In addition, all those new college grads and laid off workers who can't find work are now running to the government jobs, even if they never in their lives wanted to be a cop, firefighter, or join the military. To add insult to injury, to get these jobs, you have to jump through a ton of hoops (written tests, physical agility tests, multiple interviews, background investigations, polygraphs, etc etc etc) and it can take up to a year to get a job as a police officer. With more people applying than ever, police departments have been using interviews as their meat grinders to weed out applicants and when you do inevitably get rejected, you receive nothing more than a canned, copy and paste "sorry, better luck next time" rejection letter. After going through three years of this crap, I'm going back to school to do something else with my life.
Hey MSchemist80, I know my crappy job doesn't in the least compare to yours and hell, I don't even know if it counts because I never even made into the field I spent 4 years studying for (Criminology), but it sucks ass nonetheless. Anyway, I work for the biggest big box retailer in the country who is well known for using and abusing their entry level associates. Pay is terrible, benefits are non-existent, and you get bitched at for the most stupid things, while other people both in your department and others get away with half-assing their jobs, but nothing happens to them because they've been there for decades and are buddy buddy with the upper management. I wish to hell I could get something better, but I live in a dead end, blue collar, crap town with 10% unemployment where there is zero demand for anyone who has more than a high school diploma and the field I studied for is dead in the water and has no hope of coming back for years.
On a seperate note, following your point of telling people not to go into science, I'm also going to implore people to avoid law enforcement or any other government job like the plague as well. Police departments, sheriff's departments, and other agencies are absolutely BROKE. As a result, they're on hiring freezes, laying people off, or in the unlikely event that they are hiring, they may have one or two positions open and literally HUNDREDS of people apply. Granted, lots of people were applying for these positions before the economy collapsed, but the differences were: 1. the agencies hiring actually had jobs open and 2. more people than ever are applying for these jobs now. See, thanks to factually inaccurate movies and tv shows, people nowdays think that being a cop is "the cool thing to do." In addition, all those new college grads and laid off workers who can't find work are now running to the government jobs, even if they never in their lives wanted to be a cop, firefighter, or join the military. To add insult to injury, to get these jobs, you have to jump through a ton of hoops (written tests, physical agility tests, multiple interviews, background investigations, polygraphs, etc etc etc) and it can take up to a year to get a job as a police officer. With more people applying than ever, police departments have been using interviews as their meat grinders to weed out applicants and when you do inevitably get rejected, you receive nothing more than a canned, copy and paste "sorry, better luck next time" rejection letter. After going through three years of this crap, I'm going back to school to do something else with my life.
Exactly what are you going back to school for? I think any degree right now is foolish unless you go back to get a certificate or go to trade school for plumber, electrician, etc.
Right now, I'm unemployed and don't really know what to do with my life. I guess I'll have to forget about the medical billing industry because it sucks big time to get such low wages and then seriously asking you to bring in millions of dollars a month on your accounts. F that. Not going to do that anymore. I'm not working as a slave and have to know all these insurance rules and deal with insurance companies all day and then you want to give me what..$10 an hour. No thanks.
For $10, I'll work in a craft store, bakery or whatever that I find enjoyable.
I have my degree but it can only be used to wipe myself at this point.
Exactly what are you going back to school for? I think any degree right now is foolish unless you go back to get a certificate or go to trade school for plumber, electrician, etc..
I'm a firm believer that it's not the job (because in the end, that's what it is, a job) but it's the people you work with and for. If you do not like them and have no respect for them, you will hate the job and the company. I didn't dislike my job, I HATED my manager so I quit.
Honestly? I'm not really reading anything that sounds like a 'nightmare' to me. Nightmare to me suggests there's a physically dangerous aspect of the job, or abyssmally low pay. Street cop in the murder capitol of the world. Skyscraper window washer in the wintertime. Ice road truck driver. That kind of thing. Having a boss whose two-faced about their ethics is hardly 'nightmarish' IMO. Unpleasant, sure. But in the big scheme of things, not really that bad.
About an hour ago, an elderly gentleman accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes, and drove into the lobby of my office building. Pinned our housekeeping lady against a wall. She was screaming in agony until the ambulance arrived. You could see her legs were broken in multiple places. The man's insurance will pay for her medical bills, of course, but it won't cover her lost wages, and housekeeping is not exactly an occupation renowned for rich benefits like short and long term disability. And she is going to be out of work for a very long time.
Worst job ever for me was carrying. Wait for hours to get out, then when you do it's carrying bags for hours. Since graduation, my worst was at an office where the bosses started pushing me around, made promises they never kept and generally made it horrible. I was glad to get out. Luckily jobs weren't that hard to find. I later found out from others it was a horrible place to work, from several colleagues.
Honestly? I'm not really reading anything that sounds like a 'nightmare' to me. Nightmare to me suggests there's a physically dangerous aspect of the job, or abyssmally low pay. Street cop in the murder capitol of the world. Skyscraper window washer in the wintertime. Ice road truck driver. That kind of thing. Having a boss whose two-faced about their ethics is hardly 'nightmarish' IMO. Unpleasant, sure. But in the big scheme of things, not really that bad.
About an hour ago, an elderly gentleman accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes, and drove into the lobby of my office building. Pinned our housekeeping lady against a wall. She was screaming in agony until the ambulance arrived. You could see her legs were broken in multiple places. The man's insurance will pay for her medical bills, of course, but it won't cover her lost wages, and housekeeping is not exactly an occupation renowned for rich benefits like short and long term disability. And she is going to be out of work for a very long time.
Kinda puts perspective on things.
I think that some people here are describing the worst jobs that they've actually had and not the worst jobs that they can imagine....which seems to be what the OP was asking about.
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