Does it matter what your employer does?
Discussion
I haven't been enjoying work for a while. Partly this is because I have a very small team and despite a GP over £4M per annum am constantly told I cannot have more staff.
The main reason I think though is that I could give the tiniest s
t about the end product of what my company does. I just think its crap and pointless. I wonder if I worked for somewhere that had a product or service that interested me would I enjoy it more? I work in IT and IT will always be IT but IT is generally there to support an end product.
When I first started my career I worked for a police force as a developer. Whilst the pay was poor I felt like my job was in someway achieving something.
Do you care what you employer does? Should I actively seek out companies who have a product that interests me?
The main reason I think though is that I could give the tiniest s
t about the end product of what my company does. I just think its crap and pointless. I wonder if I worked for somewhere that had a product or service that interested me would I enjoy it more? I work in IT and IT will always be IT but IT is generally there to support an end product.When I first started my career I worked for a police force as a developer. Whilst the pay was poor I felt like my job was in someway achieving something.
Do you care what you employer does? Should I actively seek out companies who have a product that interests me?
I suppose I'm lucky in a way in my IT Role. I work for a Small to Medium sized Family run business as their IT & Communications Manager. Basically desktop support for around 70 PC's and 40 something staff, while simultaneously doing development for various internal process apps, writing reports for our ERP system. I also install and manage our phone systems, and physical networks. Oh and practically anything electrical is my responsibility also!
The different facets of job satisfaction is always an interesting discussion. There are theoretical models galore out there. It might be worth looking at a couple and using the framework to help evaluate what is important to you in a job.
I have worked for a handful of companies and each has been in a different sector and industry providing product or services. The usefulness of the end product or service is of less importance, the users and consumers can be the judge of that, than a belief in the people, the organisation, the brand and quaility.
I have worked for a handful of companies and each has been in a different sector and industry providing product or services. The usefulness of the end product or service is of less importance, the users and consumers can be the judge of that, than a belief in the people, the organisation, the brand and quaility.
Cyberprog said:
I suppose I'm lucky in a way in my IT Role. I work for a Small to Medium sized Family run business as their IT & Communications Manager. Basically desktop support for around 70 PC's and 40 something staff, while simultaneously doing development for various internal process apps, writing reports for our ERP system. I also install and manage our phone systems, and physical networks. Oh and practically anything electrical is my responsibility also!
Great, but - what's the end product / output of this Small to Medium sized Family run business. Does it do anything worthwhile? That's the OPs question.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I think so. I am not sure I necessarily need to do something worthy, although that would be even better.The problem with my current company is our clients think the world will end if their system stops working, whereas the vast majority of people wouldn't even notice. We actually had a site go down for over a week before anyone noticed. It just so pointless.
I think if the goal or end product of the company did something that I was interested in then that would help a lot. I like cars, sports (especially athletics, swimming), F1 (red bull's factory is 5 minutes form my house, but have been turned down by them in the past). I like science.
Anyone know of a sports company in Milton Keynes needing an IT Development Manager?
It's no big deal for me. I'm in IT/telecoms.
I've worked for a flower company, a credit card issuer, a telco, a systems integrator and currently a software vendor. I've work for end customer doing everything from government work(various) to banking and retail.
As long as the work is reasonably interesting and I feel like I'm achieving something I'm good.
That said I'd have to think twice about working for certain companies.
I've worked for a flower company, a credit card issuer, a telco, a systems integrator and currently a software vendor. I've work for end customer doing everything from government work(various) to banking and retail.
As long as the work is reasonably interesting and I feel like I'm achieving something I'm good.
That said I'd have to think twice about working for certain companies.
This is me at the moment. My company provides a useful service but my personal link in the chain seems so unimportant lately it feels a real drag to bring myself in each morning.
I keep thinking about some of my happiest jobs and for some reason I always seem to think of customer service roles. The only problem is for the most part the pay cut would be quite severe.
I keep thinking about some of my happiest jobs and for some reason I always seem to think of customer service roles. The only problem is for the most part the pay cut would be quite severe.
I work in IT for premium motor manufacturer. Configuring/ordering the cars from factory systems, then handling the distribution of them to dealers in the UK in conjunction with third party delivery partners is my bread and butter. Dull as IT can be, the subject matter keeps me interested as a PH'er.
I had a mate with this conundrum, worked in technical pre-sales for a blue chip co. He thought he was not doing 'good' during his time on earth, so his 'life coach'
encouraged him to give that up and apply his skills in the NHS, doing some management non-job to do with coronary care on 60% of the money but, as it later transpired, twice the workload and stress. Funnily enough he gave it up after two years and went back to what he used to do. Grass/greener.
I had a mate with this conundrum, worked in technical pre-sales for a blue chip co. He thought he was not doing 'good' during his time on earth, so his 'life coach'
encouraged him to give that up and apply his skills in the NHS, doing some management non-job to do with coronary care on 60% of the money but, as it later transpired, twice the workload and stress. Funnily enough he gave it up after two years and went back to what he used to do. Grass/greener. People seem to care more about this these days. I worked for a couple of health care companies earlier in my career. At times I did appreciate the fact that what we were doing was of benefit to people particularly when we introduced new products that helped improve treatments. I did not have the same sense of well-being when working other sectors.
Sheepshanks said:
Cyberprog said:
I suppose I'm lucky in a way in my IT Role. I work for a Small to Medium sized Family run business as their IT & Communications Manager. Basically desktop support for around 70 PC's and 40 something staff, while simultaneously doing development for various internal process apps, writing reports for our ERP system. I also install and manage our phone systems, and physical networks. Oh and practically anything electrical is my responsibility also!
Great, but - what's the end product / output of this Small to Medium sized Family run business. Does it do anything worthwhile? That's the OPs question.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff