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I am 35 y.o and have been in the work force for close to 15 years. I work in finance/accounting. I have a stressful job with lots of demands, tight deadlines and reporting to executives. I am well compensated. However, I don't have much control over my day-to-day job. I do financial analysis for multiple executives and catered to their whimps and egos. I also get data requests from other external offices that can happen at any time and need immediate turnaround. On top of that, I can also get data requests from project managers. A lot of my analysis relies on the inputs from other people. I own the final product but my inputs are from external sources. I have my core day-to-day duties. On top of that, I also have incoming requests from multiple directions. On any given day, it could be something different and unexpected.
I am starting to think work happiness is not related to compensation. I am willing to take less money for a job that has a more "predictable" nature. I get stress and anxiety from the lack of control I have. I work at the whimps of others. I also do not have complete control of the data inputs.
I am a socialable person but I realized that I don't like working with others. There are variances levels of competency. When I get back inputs, the quality varies from person to person. As they say, junk in....junk out. For my next job, I am looking for something more autonomous where I don't have to rely on others. More of a case load function where I can start on a case, work on it and completed without much collaboration from my colleagues.
Does anyone else have the same feeling with their job?
Yep. I do. You hit the nail on the head. For me it's that I'm overqualified for my job. I have more education than my management, and more skill, not to mention I make more money than the CIO even though I'm just a worker bee.
My issue is I'm more competent than them as I am left fixing the bad outcomes of their poor decisions which I emailed them months ago predicting, warning and recommending other strategies. But the dynamic is such that in order to keep my job, I have to fix the mistakes of the incompetent people I work with, thus protecting their jobs, and no matter how many times I point out I've been right, with emails, reports, etc., the cycle continues.
As such I've decided to go back into a management role. Even if I have to take a pay cut. Being in charge and being the decision maker was way better. And luckily I didn't squander the money and am well off now, so I don't NEED to work at all. I could take a 33% pay cut for an easier job, readily available and still be making six figures, even though I don't need to work at all. See my dilemma? Most of my colleagues don't have two thousand dollars to rub together they are so inept. Yet these are the people I work for...
This is my first full-time job since graduating from university 18 months ago; and as a consequence I am very enthusiastic with my job role and the demands placed upon it.
The money is good for a person of my age and limited experience; and even though the demands from management can be quite overbearing and excessive, even unreasonable at times, it keeps me on my toes and my wits. My brain is working in all directions, and it is learning how to multitask and prioritise requirements to the point that by the time I get home of an early evening I am mentally drained!
I know perhaps I am being exploited, and that I am incredibly naive. But I really don't care at present. I am young, enthusiastic and desperate to learn and expand my experience while the opportunities are available.
I don't have a great deal of autonomy in what I do in my job other than figuring out the best way to plan & execute a requirement. And therefore am not too keen on having more control if it means having more money; I have only been employed for 16 months, so I think being kept on a tight reign is good for me to focus on the demands of others. Perhaps in 2 or 3 years time this may change.
There's a lot of happiness found in a cool boss with good colleagues. I'm not too much older than you, but was Controller for just under a decade. There's nowhere else for work to slide too and no end of where it could originate from. In hindsight I should almost be fine with some of the more pugnacious bosses I've had, as I'd hit my point where it wasn't worth it and then move on giving a wider range of skills.
Now I consult. When you consult you get to operate largely outside of the internal rat race and focus on your project. Your boss will still overcorrect things, but someone wasting time over perfecting font types or colors isn't so bad when you're being paid to do it, and it only, as opposed to making changes at the expense of doing 20 things that actually need to get done that day, and knowing that working late will coincide with no additional pay being salaried.
Beyond that, you have options. Once you complete your deliverable, there's often a new assignment. If you don't like the place you're at, you can sign for another engagement to coincide with your deliverable completion. Just make sure you get your deliverable completed. Get the gold star. That's it.
To me, it was amazingly therapeutic, and surprisingly profitable as well. Before you jump, talk with some that have been doing it with agencies that are reputable in your market that take decent business. They get a cut, but they've got the contacts to get you started on your first assignments. It's your time/money so go for really solid assignments with solid companies...that will hopefully yield the right contacts for you. Avoid places that will take anything that walks through the door or grinder operations like Robert Half or pop-up search places that don't absolutely have a great presentation.
I agree totally but sometimes when things get really skinny you have to position yourself well so that you are getting assignment in a pool that is starting to shrink. It usually never drys up but things can get pretty skinny and contractors are not immune to lay offs.
I'm nearing retirement and I care more about control. I get to work at home and work the hours I want to from day to day. I log in and work and log out when I'm done. I have to go to quarterly meetings, but other than that I am at home. I have plenty of vacation and I take plenty of time off.
I have often asked myself if I would take it if I were offered TWICE the money for a job with more responsibility and where I had to go into work. And my answer is always "no."
OP, I understand what you are going through. For a few years I had a job in IT where most days were not predictable and not in a good way. I would start the day thinking that if the workload was light in the morning (usually was) I could work on this research/upgrade project that I really wanted to do and maybe, just maybe I could get home before 6PM so I could cook a really great dinner Then the fires would start up..pulled in ten different directions at once and my project time would disappear. Next thing I know its 3:30PM, the fires are out, and I never ate lunch. I would come back to my desk with voicemails and tons of emails while shoving food in my face. "Low hanging fruit" emails and voicemails would be addressed first. The rest I hoped I could stomach tomorrow. By time I did that and some other maintenance stuff it would beclose to 6PM and I left work for the day. Overtime ( I was paid hourly then) work on non-critical things was frowned upon so I had to give up my fight for that day, trudge home mentally exhausted and stressed, eat some cheap crappy dinner and pass out. Then the next day starts the same.. Next thing I know a week had gone by and I wasn't much further on my project and then my boss wanted a status update. Somehow I stayed there almost three year but I won't get that time back. So glad I left there at least.
I am 35 y.o and have been in the work force for close to 15 years. I work in finance/accounting. I have a stressful job with lots of demands, tight deadlines and reporting to executives. I am well compensated. However, I don't have much control over my day-to-day job. I do financial analysis for multiple executives and catered to their whimps and egos. I also get data requests from other external offices that can happen at any time and need immediate turnaround. On top of that, I can also get data requests from project managers. A lot of my analysis relies on the inputs from other people. I own the final product but my inputs are from external sources. I have my core day-to-day duties. On top of that, I also have incoming requests from multiple directions. On any given day, it could be something different and unexpected.
I am starting to think work happiness is not related to compensation. I am willing to take less money for a job that has a more "predictable" nature. I get stress and anxiety from the lack of control I have. I work at the whimps of others. I also do not have complete control of the data inputs.
I am a socialable person but I realized that I don't like working with others. There are variances levels of competency. When I get back inputs, the quality varies from person to person. As they say, junk in....junk out. For my next job, I am looking for something more autonomous where I don't have to rely on others. More of a case load function where I can start on a case, work on it and completed without much collaboration from my colleagues.
Does anyone else have the same feeling with their job?
I was a manager at a high tech company for 23 years, now retired.
My observation: The happiest people were the ones who loved what they were doing. They were very competent and they mostly enjoyed working with equally competent people. As a result, they earned a high degree of autonomy. Their bosses were smart enough to not micromanage; instead, they managed to project milestones. If you got your work done on time you earn the right to maintain your autonomy and control.
Finally, those people received many rewards and recognition. Pay for results.
More Control. Who cares about the money if you're too busy or miserable to enjoy life!
If you've lived with someone like my mother for years, the LAST thing you want to do when you leave home is be VERY controlled at work and be yelled at a lot.
I am 33. I have a job in retail. I don't have any control over my day-to-day job. I have multiple managers telling me what I need to do for them, each one of them a different task. I have customers, non-stop, asking questions, which 90% of the time is right in front of them. I have to listen to a 16 y.o. tell me how I'm doing something the wrong way. I am poorly compensated. My point is that I have no idea what you are talking about, due to my situation (no control and no money). The only thing that I know is that I hate my job and I hate my life.
^ THIS is why I'd rather DIE than go into retail for the rest of my life, given the choice of retail for the rest of my life or death. (And it doesn't even matter if it's a painful death, I'd still choose it.)
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