Is anyone else not ambitious

[Snubs]

Petrolsmasher said:

but i may die before pension age, and rather than adding on 10 to 15 years in stress to retire 5 years earlier.

I'd say another thing to remember on the pro-promotion side of the argument is that whilst you might not enjoy it, you may be able to take that job title and salary to another employer that would be willing to maintain the higher salary in a job you enjoy.

After 15 years in the workplace I've found the more important factor to be who you're working to directly above you, be them line managers / technical managers etc. If you're working to good people life tends to be a lot easier and whatever responsibilities you have easy to deal with. Work to a royal tt though and is doesn't matter if you're at the top or the bottom of the company, working life is going to be a chore.

[chunder27]

I am not ambitious in any way at all, never have been.

I was unlucky enough to put into a stressful position as a teenager working in a supermarket, and that was enough for me, took a holiday and spent the whole time worrying (rightly) about what the incompetent fool looking after my section was doing.

Decided there and then the stress and responsibility was not worth it. My Dad was the same, spent a ll his working life as a PC, tried the sarge exam but failed it three times, and thought no.

Having said that, I was not getting paid any extra, so that might in the future soften the blow, but once tainted by the awfulness I have never sought it out.

I did try in years past to get a supervisory position but was shafted internally by HR, so took that as a sign!

[TameRacingDriver]

Snubs said:

After 15 years in the workplace I've found the more important factor to be who you're working to directly above you, be them line managers / technical managers etc. If you're working to good people life tends to be a lot easier and whatever responsibilities you have easy to deal with. Work to a royal tt though and is doesn't matter if you're at the top or the bottom of the company, working life is going to be a chore.

I’ve worked for my fair share of tts in the past. It makes all the difference having a boss you get on with.

[MrGTI6]

I'm only in my early twenties, but I will admit that career-wise I have no ambitions whatsoever. I don't earn a huge amount, but it's enough to get by. I am happy with my job and get on well with my colleagues. Having said that, I won't spend a minute longer than I have to at work as my life outside of work is far more important to me.

Two of the managers at my place spring to mind, both in their 30s, one of which is earning six figures. Every day they are in early, they stay late, and work almost every weekend. They both look much older than they are and have pretty miserable lives outside of work (both divorced). One is a massive coke head (I wouldn't be surprised if the other is too) and both permanently look like they haven't slept in days.

They both earn considerably more than me, but I have a much better quality of life, which to me is far more important. I have been badgered numerous times about taking on roles with more responsibility and they come across totally bemused as to why I wouldn't want to be earning more money.

[Jimmy No Hands]

None. I do go through phases but I have never been a career man, work has always been a means to an end for my high times. I am a bit of a running joke in our extended family because I've had more jobs at my age than most, and seem to be a bit of a rogue as my life doesn't revolve around wanting to earn as much money as possible. A lackadaisical approach to my education when I was younger meant average results and poor decision making leading me to lack any real tangible work "skills." The times I have been at my happiest have probably been in low stress, low skill roles. These tend to also be lacking on the money side, but it's entirely plausible that one can be happy living within their means.

I'm surrounded by people who work jobs they hate just to ensure they can climb the housing ladder faster, pay for a newer car, or holiday twice a year. Sadly this is seen as the norm, with peoples happiness taking a back seat. I'm happy to be a rogue.

[chunder27]

Interesting that a lot of people out there are not driven by money and ambition.

it often seems that way!

[GOATever]

I’m not, I never have been. I take chances when they present themselves, but constantly jumping on people to try and ‘better’ one’s self is tttish behaviour, in my opinion. Most people who are ‘ambitious’ are total screwballs in my experience. As long as they don’t try and climb over me, I don’t really care, but I’ll be jiggered if I would behave like that to achieve some artificial goal.

[Petrolsmasher]

at the moment the management is poor where i am, however the team i work with is awesome and the jobs good enough, plus its rare we have to even speak to management they leave us to crack on with our job.

[oilslick]

jimmythingy said:

I'm like this and have left a couple of jobs due to it. First company said I'm earning too much with no responsibility (My fault!!) so gave me a team to look after which I hated so left. Second job was better but my manager was so infuriated with me at performance review time for not wanting to develop, he could never understand it. Again it was forced on me so I left.

I don't know why, I seem to have the skill, aptitude and ability to do most things but I have complete lack of ambition. I have always earned enough for myself and family, never had a problem moving or finding a job but larger companies do tend to think everyone is ambitious.

Find myself in a similar situation at the moment, company I work for is fking obsessed with personal development and having to set bullst goals each year. I'm pretty happy just doing what I'm doing and have no real desire to progress any further. Fortunately my notice period finishes in a few weeks and I'm going somewhere smaller where there isn't the same hassle.

[Dog Star]

I spent 21 years, basically straight out of Uni - as a contractor in IT. It paid very well but doesn’t offer career progression. Six years ago I went perm on my contract with a very good package, and I’m quite happy to be doing my normal lowly role because it still pays better than management but I really don’t want the management role either, the organisation, scrums etc etc. I just want to write code.

I’ll either stay where I am or if I get made redundant I’ll go contracting again til I’m 60 and see what I want to do.

[Mort7]

Retired now, but was senior management, high profile, in a technically complex role, huge amounts of stress, on call 24/7 including weekends and holidays, and a 4 hour daily commute. Hated it, but once you're there it's difficult to see just how much harm it's doing.

If I had my time again I would do something that I really enjoyed, or that was vocational. Health and happiness are far more valuable than money and kudos.

Edited to add - there's a TV programme on BBC1 at around 16:30 called 'The Repair Shop'. The craftsmen who appear on that are hugely impressive, and must get far more genuine job satisfaction than I ever did.

Edited by Mort7 on Sunday 16th June 18:22

[chunder27]

Glad also to see that people are getting out when they can, so dangerous to stay in an environment you are unhappy in!

I would love to earn more, but with that usually comes responsibility if youa re not skilled to be self employed etc. So for people like me, not much of an option!

[djc206]

I’ve no interest in progressing currently. I have a very good job that I enjoy, that pays me more than I need and gives me plenty of time off to spend it. I do the job of the next level up occasionally for a daily bung and I cannot think of anything worse than doing it permanently. The levels above that fill me with dread and the difference in pay is minimal so just not worth the extra responsibility. I can only imagine the people doing those roles do them solely because they are ambitious and feel like they’re making an impact, good for them but it’s definitely not for me. If I get bored I’ll move laterally or take on additional tasks within my grade.

[Einion Yrth]

I have my own personal ambitions, very few of them align with the HR crap fest at work. I'm supposed to come up with an annual goal this coming Wednesday, but frankly I can't be arsed, I'm inadequately valued for what I do do and as far as I can tell you only get anything approaching advancement if you're prepared to do ridiculous, unpaid, overtime. I value my personal time too much for that bks.

[T5SOR]

Interesting thread.

I enjoy managing people and getting to the top of an organisation is something I enjoy doing. Now I work for a multinational, the next level up would mean I have to manage teams across multiple countries and would need to travel to different sites every few weeks. I am now at a stage where I have children and getting promoted makes me think twice, especially as I don’t want to be away from home that much.

[soad]

Thesprucegoose said:

My brother took a new job, he's aged 5 years in a year, grey hair, pale face, but more money. It's about what your priorities are, a good balance or unbalanced lifestyle. There is nothing wrong with easy.

Doesn’t sound like it’s worth it.

[Dr Jekyll]

The trouble with being in a technical role with no management responsibilities is you lack autonomy. I was once in a role where there was a great deal of satisfaction in working out the best way to tackle whatever issue was put in front of me. But then I got a new boss with a bit of technical know how but who get the job because of their presumed 'people skills' IE preferred chatting on the phone to working.

I'd do a piece of work, solving a few issues along the way, then the boss would look at it and reject it, demanding a rewrite which put me (possibly a whole team) behind schedule and making me look bad. The rejection was simply because I hadn't done the job the way they would have done it, usually because they hadn't the experience or hadn't taken the time to check and therefore didn't realise the issues I had to solve. Once their solution didn't work I got the blame, the boss protesting 'it isn't my fault, I don't know as much about the technicalities as you'.

Lack of promotion also makes it very difficult to move, a CV which shows someone hasn't become a 'senior' or 'principal' whatever in a few years tends to go straight in the bin on the grounds that they can't be any good because they should have progressed by now.

[jimPH]

I took a manager's job, but when we got took over they busted me back to a supervisor with a 25 grand payrise. So now I'm allowed to be in overalls, working on the shop, getting my hands dirty though I still do the same desk work but I prefer being in overalls, so I might push for a downward move.

As for going up. I probably would if I was asked, but that is extremely unlikely. To much croneyism and back slapping and I'm not in those circles.

All my bosses have been great, I've never had a bad one, so that's one thing I'm thankful for.

Edited by jimPH on Monday 17th June 06:51

[soad]

Some say, professionally they do as little as possible; have no regard whatsoever for the welfare of their staff, clients or the business. Main/only concern is what time they can get out of the office to the pub to “perv” on the barmaids, and consume a few drinks.

[Monkeylegend]

Many people who are over ambitious fail to recognise the promotion that takes them to their level of incompetence.

The skill is to know when you are at a level you are happy with and stay there, or move onto something else career wise.