Who enjoys their job?
Discussion
I enjoy my job. Plenty of variety, challenging in the good sense, scope for development, and don't feel I'm in over my head with responsibility. Pay is average but overtime is plentiful and well paid when needed. I get along with the people I work with and my bosses are excellent compared to other places I've been. And I never have to take the work home with me, I leave it all behind as soon as I walk out the door. It's rare that I wake up and dread going in.
I enjoy my job in the sense that 90% of the time I'm left alone to get on with things, I enjoy that, I've always been quite happy in my own company.
Plus when you're left alone to do your job you have more time to do non job related things (99% of my research for my house refurb have been done at work)
Plus when you're left alone to do your job you have more time to do non job related things (99% of my research for my house refurb have been done at work)
I love my job.
The salary is OK-ish, the pension is one of the best still around in the private sector and the car scheme is good.
I set my own diary, get to play around with some project stuff outside the day job that will improve my future potential, work from home 2 days a week and don't have a fixed budget for travel and hotels.
Over the last 12 months I've had VIP hospitality at several motorsport events, home and abroad, including being in the pits for a 'full service' driver change at Le Mans in the middle of the night
This is in addition to business conferences in far-flung locations, to which I can take a partner once a year for a big celebration.
Most days pose a new challenge, but it's rarely dull.
I have no plans to move company - but always have an eye on a new role - there are plenty of them, as we are one of the biggest companies in the world.
The salary is OK-ish, the pension is one of the best still around in the private sector and the car scheme is good.
I set my own diary, get to play around with some project stuff outside the day job that will improve my future potential, work from home 2 days a week and don't have a fixed budget for travel and hotels.
Over the last 12 months I've had VIP hospitality at several motorsport events, home and abroad, including being in the pits for a 'full service' driver change at Le Mans in the middle of the night
This is in addition to business conferences in far-flung locations, to which I can take a partner once a year for a big celebration.
Most days pose a new challenge, but it's rarely dull.
I have no plans to move company - but always have an eye on a new role - there are plenty of them, as we are one of the biggest companies in the world.
10 years previously in a similar job (Field Service Engineer) had me bored stupid.
I'd seen two birth to legacy product cycles and the arse ripped out of the industry in the 2008 crash .
Installs dragging on for months, away from home Monday to Friday.
Got out and in to a parallel industry, love the work, asked for and been given more responsibility after just 12 months, now spend 1 month in 3 at home on phone support to customers and other engineers. Great team spirit with really helpful coworkers ( no knowledge hogging or white knight behaviour)
More dosh, decent expenses and a growing industry in a dynamic company who's main issues are they're struggling to keep up with demand and growth.
Home most nights when I am in the field too.
I'd seen two birth to legacy product cycles and the arse ripped out of the industry in the 2008 crash .
Installs dragging on for months, away from home Monday to Friday.
Got out and in to a parallel industry, love the work, asked for and been given more responsibility after just 12 months, now spend 1 month in 3 at home on phone support to customers and other engineers. Great team spirit with really helpful coworkers ( no knowledge hogging or white knight behaviour)
More dosh, decent expenses and a growing industry in a dynamic company who's main issues are they're struggling to keep up with demand and growth.
Home most nights when I am in the field too.
I used to love teaching and everyday my adrenaline was pumping away. That's not the case now.
Every Sunday night i rarely sleep knowing that for the next 5 days i'll have to set the alarm clock for 5.45am and drive 1h15 each morning along A roads choked with lorries, see my colleagues who teach average lessons, get poor results (but play golf with the boss and get pay rises!), teach my lessons well knowing it won't prevent another annual pay cut,( despite my students receiving a 100% pass rate every year, )and with the knowledge that my monthly salary won't cover food/petrol costs for the whole month. By the 3rd week i'll either have to stop eating/driving or dip into my savings!
The positive side is that i get to see my children growing up and they receive a fantastic education.
I suppose you can't have a job that pays the bills/ puts food on the table and allows you to enjoy being with your children.
From a divorced ex pat in France!
Every Sunday night i rarely sleep knowing that for the next 5 days i'll have to set the alarm clock for 5.45am and drive 1h15 each morning along A roads choked with lorries, see my colleagues who teach average lessons, get poor results (but play golf with the boss and get pay rises!), teach my lessons well knowing it won't prevent another annual pay cut,( despite my students receiving a 100% pass rate every year, )and with the knowledge that my monthly salary won't cover food/petrol costs for the whole month. By the 3rd week i'll either have to stop eating/driving or dip into my savings!
The positive side is that i get to see my children growing up and they receive a fantastic education.
I suppose you can't have a job that pays the bills/ puts food on the table and allows you to enjoy being with your children.
From a divorced ex pat in France!
Edited by rosbif77 on Friday 12th August 08:50
I'm a train driver....I love my job I'm always on strike (joke)
No seriously I do love my job. I get to fly around at crazy speeds and don't have to speak to anyone or interact with any managers for weeks on end normally. Suits me. Paid relatively well but it's certainly not easy money by any stretch of the imagination.
No seriously I do love my job. I get to fly around at crazy speeds and don't have to speak to anyone or interact with any managers for weeks on end normally. Suits me. Paid relatively well but it's certainly not easy money by any stretch of the imagination.
crofty1984 said:
I don't. A lot of the people I work with are nice, but my job description is so vague I end up feeling like I've not achieved anything and wondering when "proving you can do the job above your level" turns into "doing job above your level for your own job title and salary" You could say it's varied and that's a good .thing, but often I struggle to see it that way.
In my last 2 annual appraisals I've asked about promotion. There are noises being made about maybe a half-step this year and maybe an actual promotion next year but i think there's only a 50% chance of that actually happening, knowing my immediate boss.
I'm in the middle really. It's not awful but it's not great either.
Am I being melodramatic and that's just what life is like, or should i expect to enjoy it?
Very much the same where I am. Very varied and I have done lots of different stuff from project managing, patents right down to writing code for ECUs and doing engine and chassis dyno testing and sorting all the data out afterwards. At larger companies they probably have a team of engineers to just do one of those things.In my last 2 annual appraisals I've asked about promotion. There are noises being made about maybe a half-step this year and maybe an actual promotion next year but i think there's only a 50% chance of that actually happening, knowing my immediate boss.
I'm in the middle really. It's not awful but it's not great either.
Am I being melodramatic and that's just what life is like, or should i expect to enjoy it?
Thing is I feel so thinly spread that I feel like I can't really stand in front of someone and say yes I am an expert or pro at such and such. I can't do it without feeling like I am lying. lots of varied stuff done but it feels like I've only really paid lip service to it before having to rush off to do the next thing. Which today is producing requirement specs for control hardware (of which I haven't a scooby, just making it up as I go).
I think I'd like to go work somewhere where I am going to do just one or two of these tasks and get right into them and understand them and do them well.
I like varied but here is frustrating because they don't pay for things (or take ages) and you're left having to bodge or bring in your own kit or spend your own money to get work done. Lots of management guys who have lots of meetings about nothing and don't really listen (I mean they had one the other day about timesheets!... when so many other parts of the business are in dire need, having a meeting about those makes you wonder what goes on in their heads. We told them when got taken over that facilities like the test cells need a lot of money upfront to get them into a state where you can rent out time on them and they need a lot of money to keep running. As it stands, people are bringing in kit from home to ensure things keep working!).
That and they're plowing on with expensive to produce and vastly under-developed products that quite frankly are a scary prospect given their intended usage and for which there are few customers. They seem unable to stop good staff leaving which means more for everyone else. And like I say money flow is a big issue, there isn't any to actually get the bits made to fulfill the job sometimes.
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Friday 12th August 11:17
I've enjoyed my last 2 jobs particularly, for various reasons (they've given me flexibility, I've had the ability to run my own schedule, and I've enjoyed the tasks). More than anything about the role responsibilities has been the people I work with and the people I work for. They've made it each a really good job that I enjoy doing.
I've had really s
t jobs (got inadvertently involved in a boiler room scam) and the main thing that's made them worse than they already were was the managers and heads of the company. It's taught me a lot in interviews what to look out for. An overly stern and unapproachable interview technique, I'll try and break down a bit and see if there's any smiles there. If there isnt, and it's a bit Command and Control - I know that's not the job for me.
I try and treat interviews as a two way street, I'm interested to learn more about them, their company and the work they do. And how I can add to it. If I cant see myself enjoying the time, it doesnt really matter if it's double the money I'm on, even if I havent got a job - it's just not worth it
The old style ways of management do still exist and I largely put that onto people being promoted beyond their capabilities. I'm a really good Sals guy. I'm not great at managing people and it's not a skill I want to develop because it'll slow me down.
I've had really s
t jobs (got inadvertently involved in a boiler room scam) and the main thing that's made them worse than they already were was the managers and heads of the company. It's taught me a lot in interviews what to look out for. An overly stern and unapproachable interview technique, I'll try and break down a bit and see if there's any smiles there. If there isnt, and it's a bit Command and Control - I know that's not the job for me. I try and treat interviews as a two way street, I'm interested to learn more about them, their company and the work they do. And how I can add to it. If I cant see myself enjoying the time, it doesnt really matter if it's double the money I'm on, even if I havent got a job - it's just not worth it
The old style ways of management do still exist and I largely put that onto people being promoted beyond their capabilities. I'm a really good Sals guy. I'm not great at managing people and it's not a skill I want to develop because it'll slow me down.
andy-xr said:
I've enjoyed my last 2 jobs particularly, for various reasons (they've given me flexibility, I've had the ability to run my own schedule, and I've enjoyed the tasks). More than anything about the role responsibilities has been the people I work with and the people I work for. They've made it each a really good job that I enjoy doing.
I've had really st jobs (got inadvertently involved in a boiler room scam) and the main thing that's made them worse than they already were was the managers and heads of the company. It's taught me a lot in interviews what to look out for. An overly stern and unapproachable interview technique, I'll try and break down a bit and see if there's any smiles there. If there isnt, and it's a bit Command and Control - I know that's not the job for me.
I try and treat interviews as a two way street, I'm interested to learn more about them, their company and the work they do. And how I can add to it. If I cant see myself enjoying the time, it doesnt really matter if it's double the money I'm on, even if I havent got a job - it's just not worth it
The old style ways of management do still exist and I largely put that onto people being promoted beyond their capabilities. I'm a really good Sals guy. I'm not great at managing people and it's not a skill I want to develop because it'll slow me down.
Characterises a lot of managers I think.I've had really s
t jobs (got inadvertently involved in a boiler room scam) and the main thing that's made them worse than they already were was the managers and heads of the company. It's taught me a lot in interviews what to look out for. An overly stern and unapproachable interview technique, I'll try and break down a bit and see if there's any smiles there. If there isnt, and it's a bit Command and Control - I know that's not the job for me. I try and treat interviews as a two way street, I'm interested to learn more about them, their company and the work they do. And how I can add to it. If I cant see myself enjoying the time, it doesnt really matter if it's double the money I'm on, even if I havent got a job - it's just not worth it
The old style ways of management do still exist and I largely put that onto people being promoted beyond their capabilities. I'm a really good Sals guy. I'm not great at managing people and it's not a skill I want to develop because it'll slow me down.
RemyMartin said:
I'm a train driver....I love my job I'm always on strike (joke)
No seriously I do love my job. I get to fly around at crazy speeds and don't have to speak to anyone or interact with any managers for weeks on end normally. Suits me. Paid relatively well but it's certainly not easy money by any stretch of the imagination.
Something wrong with managers on the railway...??? LolNo seriously I do love my job. I get to fly around at crazy speeds and don't have to speak to anyone or interact with any managers for weeks on end normally. Suits me. Paid relatively well but it's certainly not easy money by any stretch of the imagination.
I am one and I love it. I love the industry, the people and the ever so small way I can perhaps make the industry better. I used to work in an industry I hated and it was soul destroying. I got out, took a risk and now I am in a job I love.
As others have said, life is too short to be doing something you hate. Granted not everyone has a choice but think what your 65 year old self will think about what you've done all your life. Proud or despondent? If it's despondent then make the change.
Yes i do.
I work in a dangerous environment, work closely with the US mil and make a difference occasionaly on how they carry out what they do. Everyday is different and i can plan out what i do each day with no direct boss to tell me
Example of a typical day.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36230668
This raid was launched from where i work. There were issues with the helicopters that took them there a few hours before hand. Spending most of my day underneath helping fixing them, they all took off at the required time
Last week i went to the old British Camp Bastion which is still there but more or less abandoned to help do some setup work there.
But it works because i can give 100% to the job because i work away for long periods. The missus is a wonderful woman to let me do it this way but we reap the benefits which outweigh the negative aspects.
I work in a dangerous environment, work closely with the US mil and make a difference occasionaly on how they carry out what they do. Everyday is different and i can plan out what i do each day with no direct boss to tell me
Example of a typical day.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36230668
This raid was launched from where i work. There were issues with the helicopters that took them there a few hours before hand. Spending most of my day underneath helping fixing them, they all took off at the required time
Last week i went to the old British Camp Bastion which is still there but more or less abandoned to help do some setup work there.
But it works because i can give 100% to the job because i work away for long periods. The missus is a wonderful woman to let me do it this way but we reap the benefits which outweigh the negative aspects.
Love it. Huge responsibility and a lot of pressure at times but I thrive on that, training was brutal but worth the sacrifice. Most of the people I work with are great fun and the atmosphere is good. Unless I volunteer for anything there's no work to take home, I get to sleep for a bit on night shifts, I get 4 days off at a time, I'm paid well and I have a fairly generous leave allowance meaning I'm only at work for ~180 days a years, I will retire before the age of 57 on a good DB scheme. Sure management mess around with things that should be left alone but we just crack on.
Just to expand on what I do, I was a 'manufacturing engineer'. But this was too broad, and slowly moved to a mostly admit job, updating technical documents, work packages etc, so I went more specialised, now I'm a CMM programmer. Highly sought after job, plenty of contracting opportunities (if I wanted them), but in truth my job is cushty. Above average industry pay, shift & overtime pay, 26 holidays/yr, I'm also on a final salary pension, which makes me the envy of anyone who joined the company after me, we were the last apprentice intake year to qualify for it.
Plus, I'm working overtime today, yet I'm browsing PH forums.
Plus, I'm working overtime today, yet I'm browsing PH forums.
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff