Do you like your job? Please tell me your story (find a job, companies)

[mike2014]

Scgali thank you for that post very inspiring.

I don't need to find my life's calling. As scGali said a job where you can make the most and work the least.
Please keep your stories coming they've been great!

[gizmo980]

I love my job, but it requires a Master's Degree (MLIS) - so if you're looking to "step into something" with your current education, it wouldn't be an option unfortunately. But if you're asking WHY I love my job, there are many reasons! It's challenging without being high-stress, rarely monotonous or repetitive, my colleagues are great, and I enjoy the social interactions of working directly with the public. I also like the hours, since it's mostly later shifts (e.g. 12:30-9pm) and weekends; but that's just a personal preference, while many prefer a more standard 9-5 kind of schedule. Anyway, I hope you find something that you enjoy! I've had jobs I hated in the past, and it's really an awful way to live. That's why I pursued the MLIS, knowing it was a solid career I'd actually like. And being a third-generation librarian, I already knew what to expect going into it.

[norman_w]

The secret is to live around the block from where you work. Even if you don't want to face work today, 5 minutes before you're supposed to be there you'll think you want to go in for just a minute. You can't do that if you have a commute time.

[jobaba]

Originally Posted by Rusty Avocado

Sure I will try to get it all down for you. I can honestly say that if I made the same salary as before I would still be an NP though.

State job pros/cons-
State job (I worked for Dept of Public Welfare), excellent benefits, great pension which I could have retired with at age 53. I worked there 15 years and knew the job inside and out so I guess you would say I had mastery over the material (very good for self-esteem). I supervised caseworkers which was sometimes fun, oftentimes stressful, and other times downright aggravating. I served a population who seemed very ungrateful. I would only feel that about 1/20 cases were "deserving" and appreciative about their benefits. The rest seemed very entitled, would yell at my caseworkers and me and just, in general, were the type of people who you do not expect are ever going to improve "their lot in life"...everything is someone else's problem. I was able to do my job and do it well for way fewer hours than I was scheduled to work. This left LOADS of downtime which I used to study, take other classes and work on my plan to leave there forever!!! Also had loads of time to walk during breaks and get fit, LOOOONG lunches, socialize with peers, lots of downtime. Very boring until I figured out what to do with my time though.

NP pros/cons-
I am working in a field that absolutely fascinates me. Every day has been interesting to me even while I was a psych nurse and still in NP school. I made less doing that than I did at the state job and I still loved every day. EVERY DAY! As an NP if I made less than the state job I would still be happier. It is just an awesome bonus that I make double what I did before. Blows my mind honestly. I'd do it for half. Patients are appreciative (non-psychotic ones anyway). I don't have to supervise people but work in a team of people including physicians, nurses, patient care associates, case managers etc. NO DOWN TIME AT ALL but I don't even mind. I am happy to be busy. No-hour 2 hour lunches...I am happy if I get a 10 minute lunch. lol. Still happier! Yes, I like the extra money but I have not even changed my life. I still live in the same house and drive the same car. I didn't change my lifstyle at all. I just upped my retirement and savings rates so I can be self-sufficient sooner. It is scary having so much responsibility but I think it better suits me than being bored and constantly trying to think up ways to occupy my downtime before at the old job.

I really hope someone benefits from this post and decides to follow their own dream despite the long path and the challenges to get here.

Your first job actually doesn't sound bad at all, lol.

Low stress, down-time, doing 'something' to help people (social worker?) and excellent benefit plan and retirement.

Of course, something that lights a fire under you is always preferable.

I think you've been lucky. I'm sure you created a lot of that luck. Happy for you.

[Scott SW Ohio]

I am having a good time reading the stories here. It is nice to hear about people's journeys, and their successes.


I like my job, but it took me a long time to get here. I dropped out of college in 1979 after two years as an engineering major to start a business. At the time working as an engineer seemed beyond me (did I really want to be responsible for a bridge or aircraft engine design that the lives of others would depend on?). And I liked the idea of being able to build something of my own, rather than just working for someone else. The business was fun, but in a year I had lost all my money and closed it and I realized I was not much of an entrepreneur after all.


At that time I could not afford to return to college, but was able to find work in semi-professional technical jobs. I worked five years doing drafting and then pipe stress analysis. The work was interesting to me, but it was plain that the engineers I worked alongside were not any smarter than I was, though they made more than twice as much money. I saved diligently and returned to school full-time at 25, graduating two years later.


I began my professional career at a large consumer products manufacturer, and for five years gained experience and progressively more responsibility doing process design and project management. I was making good money and had excellent benefits and job security but felt lost in the bureaucratic corporate culture. I stuck it out until my retirement account was fully vested and then found a contract job working for the American Samoa Power Authority, way out in the Pacific. It was a great adventure, but after a year I was homesick and returned home to work for a similar public utility for about another year, when I found out my job (Power Plant Engineer) would be eliminated. But I welcomed the chance to do something else, having gotten tired of the politics and inefficiencies I found in government work.


At this point I was 35, with money in the bank and a rather a patchy work history. I also had a young family and began to think more about stability. Following a short job search, this time with a clear idea of the kind of job I wanted (private sector, not a very big or very small company, decent long-term prospects) I was hired by a medium-sized scrap metal company and I still work for them 24 years later. There are a lot of benefits to being a long-time employee, I have found, and the company is prosperous and treats its people well. After about ten years my job had advanced and I spent most of my time managing staff, which I did not enjoy and found stressful. But rather than leave, I was able to change tracks internally and become a technical resource person with no direct reports, which suits me perfectly. I am really glad I stayed and expect to retire from here in a year or two.


There are lots of things I could have done differently in my career, but I don't regret the changes in direction or the times I took jobs just for the money or in spite of the money or simply because I was impulsive. And, I recognize that things could have come out much worse for me except for luck. It all worked out, somehow. But I wouldn't think of giving someone else career advice. My experience would make a poor model for others! In the end you make decisions, and what you learn from them helps to guide you in making future decisions. There is no one right or best way to go.

[unixfed]

I don't think any job will ever be perfect -- there's always something that you dislike or could change. And if a job is completely perfect, it probably won't stay that way forever.

The key is finding a job that's stimulating, where you feel valued, are paid fairly, and work with good people.

My current job is pretty great. I am paid well, I make my own schedule, I can work remotely, get to travel training and conferences, feel respected, and have amazing benefits. On the downside, I have to put up with a lot of office politics and unnecessary deadlines. It can be stressful, but is more than worth it overall.

[michael917]

OP, I feel your pain. I was in exactly the same situation at one point and truly felt like I'd be suffering forever. Despite this, it took me a long time to become proactive. First, I got my resume professionally redone. Then, I began actively reading job postings and responding to anything that looked suitable. Responses were very few, but I kept at it. I also told people I was looking and eventually made a few contacts that way. Finally in the spring of 2016, I was hired at a much better company. It's not a very exciting job, but the knowledge that I don't have to deal with that agony anymore still makes me smile on a regular basis.

[whateverblahblah]

I hate my job and I've hated every other job I've had as well. I do make good money, but I can't stand the work itself (accounting) or most of the people that I work with.

That's why early retirement is my main career goal.

[mike2014]

Thanks to all who have responded so far. If you do like your job please post what it is you actually do

This has given me some great ideas that I've started researching!

[nicet4]

A good job is in the eye of the beholder.

I design fire sprinkler systems in one of the most highly regulated fields in the construction industry. 80% of my time is spent at a desk using CAD to design and layout the system. The other 20% is spent at job meetings or doing field survey's for retrofit work.

In my work I play with puzzles and puzzles get more complex with every passing year. How many different types of sprinkler heads are approved and on the market? There's over 1,000 different types so there's a lot of different parts to this puzzle. Right now I am working up a proposal for an older 520,000 sq ft storage facility and the insurance people are getting worried that the existing 50 year old system won't do the job in the event of a fire given the amount of plastics in products these days. 520,000 sq ft is not a small building and I could care less about what the floor looks like because, for me, I am interested in what the roof looks like. So I spent three days there measuring things like structural elements, lights and obstructions. Poking my head into every nook and cranny because that is the nature of my job. Lucky for me I had a golf cart I could ride around in.

As far as job security goes I don't believe it gets better than this.

The requirements for most states mirror Illinois as an example:

(225 ILCS 317/20)
Sec. 20. Designated certified person requirements.
(a) A designated certified person must either be a current Illinois licensed professional engineer or hold a valid NICET level 3 or higher certification in "fire protection technology, automatic sprinkler system layout".
(b) At least one member of every firm, association, or partnership and at least one corporate officer of every corporation engaged in the installation and repair of fire sprinkler systems must be a designated certified person.
(c) A designated certified person must be employed by the licensee at a business location with a valid license.
(d) A designated certified person must perform his or her normal duties at a business location with a valid license.
(e) A designated certified person may only be the designated certified person for one business location and one business entity.
(f) A designated certified person must be directly involved in supervision. The designated certified person does not, however, have to be at the site of the installation or repair of the fire sprinkler system at all times.

I guess that makes me a supervisor.

Pretty good job security because when the company gets a license for a location that certified individuals name is on the license as the license holder. Last time I checked there's approximately 74 Level III's and 46 Level IV's living in Illinois so it isn't like a help wanted ad will bring more than 2 or 3 qualified applicants to the business. Always been nice job security in the field to the point if their is a downsize the company will let people from HR go before they get rid of a license holder.

In most offices there's only one or two certified people so I guess you can say we really don't have any supervisors in the normal sense. Nobody ever tells me what to do because I have building codes and standards that must be followed as a matter of law so I am really left alone.

Age discrimination is a joke because the median age of certificate holders in the United States is 56 years old. If a company puts an ad out looking they best not be expecting anyone under 40 because they probably won't get anyone that young because they don't exist.

I will be 70 years old in a few months, I get a good retirement, I'm on Medicare so I don't need company health insurance and the only reason I am still working is I want to. I like it, to me what I do is fun and the moment isn't fun anymore I will simply walk away because I don't need to work.

As far as working I see myself working for another 3 to 5 years as long as my health holds out.

Perfect job for me but maybe not for everyone.