Jacking in your job
Discussion
I get no satisfaction from my job. It does not suit me/my personality and my current role does not make use of my strengths at all.
It pays quite well, but is soul-destroying unless you enjoy vague requirements, paperwork and endless detailed re-work
I have tried numerous times to find a different role within the company, but it is just not happening. I'm not in the clique and, to be honest, nor do I want to be.
There is very much a one size fits all / identikit employee culture. If you are a bit different to that norm, then there's nothing really for you.
Management, leadership and camaraderie is pretty much non-existent.
Projects are terrible -little more than bums on seats in reality, with glacial progress and they rarely reach completion.
Anyway, at risk of becoming Lester Burnham and buying an old muscle car, at what point does one just say b
ks to it and leave? At the moment, I'd prefer labouring for a few months to feel some sense of *doing* something.
It's obviously not sensible...
... But no mortarge or debt.
It pays quite well, but is soul-destroying unless you enjoy vague requirements, paperwork and endless detailed re-work
I have tried numerous times to find a different role within the company, but it is just not happening. I'm not in the clique and, to be honest, nor do I want to be.
There is very much a one size fits all / identikit employee culture. If you are a bit different to that norm, then there's nothing really for you.
Management, leadership and camaraderie is pretty much non-existent.
Projects are terrible -little more than bums on seats in reality, with glacial progress and they rarely reach completion.
Anyway, at risk of becoming Lester Burnham and buying an old muscle car, at what point does one just say b
ks to it and leave? At the moment, I'd prefer labouring for a few months to feel some sense of *doing* something. It's obviously not sensible...
... But no mortarge or debt.
rog007 said:
If you intend on staying in employment, one thing to do is to reflect on how you got to this point to try and prevent repeating that mistake.
Good advice.I have reflected on this a lot over the years.
And yes, I made a series of decisions that led me to this point.
I have been fortunate (a double-edged sword really) to have mostly been paid reasonably well, but now feel stuck. Had I ended up without a decent income for an extended period, I would have been forced to try something different.
As time has gone on, it has felt more difficult to sacrifice what I have/take a risk.
I don't have expensive tastes and have no money worries (although I'm not wealthy enough to live off investments) , which is better than many people. I do have young children, so I have responsibilities.
Taking a punt on earning a lot less, even if it might be more enjoyable, seems foolhardy -and my wife wouldn't be happy.
Ps. I do save money every month, although investments and savings are looking very shakey at the moment.
Edited by Woodrow Wilson on Friday 25th March 10:17
Pit Pony said:
Vso?
20 years ago I really should have done something like that. Foolishly, and for various reasons that seemed important at the time, despite knowing that I didn't like what I did for work, I just kept plodding on and have continued to work in similar roles. I can't change that now, though.
Vidarr said:
Woodrow Wilson said:
Pit Pony said:
Vso?
20 years ago I really should have done something like that. Foolishly, and for various reasons that seemed important at the time, despite knowing that I didn't like what I did for work, I just kept plodding on and have continued to work in similar roles. I can't change that now, though.
Vidarr said:
Woodrow Wilson said:
Vidarr said:
Woodrow Wilson said:
Pit Pony said:
Vso?
20 years ago I really should have done something like that. Foolishly, and for various reasons that seemed important at the time, despite knowing that I didn't like what I did for work, I just kept plodding on and have continued to work in similar roles. I can't change that now, though.
DWDarkWheels said:
I've been there and I have quit jobs that were bad for me. Being not happy at work, no matter the good pay, ends up with you being not happy outside work. It sucks the life from you.
The work is not stressful, it just seems almost entirely pointless and there is no sense of achievement or satisfaction whatsoever. It's a dull and unfulfilling rut that just sees me going through the motions, with a dose of cynicism, and is not allowing me to fulfill any sort of potential. Some people seem content to do the work (although fewer than it appears on the surface) , but I am definitely very different to almost all of my colleagues. Work has caused me to be unhappy outside of work in the past, but I have made an effort to have other things going on in my life, which has been successful.
I feel that I could be doing something far more useful, stimulating, satisfying, *taking some sense of pride in it* for 40+ hours per week -not just being paid a wage.
Pit Pony said:
That's more midlife crisis, what the fking point of my life than I'm pissed off with the job.
You know what? Gap years are wasted on the young..
Rather than put up with it, and try and squirrel money away, why not take a year off. Go back packing, walk LEJOG.
Rent out your house on Airbnb and fk off to Mexico?
It's the job/work route that I took that is the issue and always has been. I have felt very stressed in the past, but my current job/workplace is particularly unsuitable and frustrating. king point of my life than I'm pissed off with the job. You know what? Gap years are wasted on the young..
Rather than put up with it, and try and squirrel money away, why not take a year off. Go back packing, walk LEJOG.
Rent out your house on Airbnb and f
k off to Mexico? If it is a mid-life crisis, it started in my early 20s.
A gap year travelling/doing activities really isn't an option with children at junior and high school.
Mr Spoon said:
I think once a person gets passed the how much they get paid stage, job satisfaction becomes such a huge part of the job that decisions will be made irrespective of the level of pay. Being valued and feeling you are adding value in my opinion keeps employees in positions.
Exactly. Which is not the case if employees are just treated as fairly generic project time-booking resources (on almost exclusively terrible projects), rather than utilised for what they are good at.Level of pay and comparisons with friends and peers was one of the reasons that I didn't make a change when I was younger.
Nowadays, I don't care if friends or peers earn twice or three times what I do, as I have enough, and just having more doesn't make people happier.
Edited by Woodrow Wilson on Sunday 27th March 09:41
speedyguy said:
OP sounds where i was working in a national highways company.
Snails pace and regulation and bullcarp, left for the 2nd time last year, now work part time for a smallish family company any 3 days i want pottering around the peak district and surrounding areas in a little van for a bit less money and a lot more fun.
That sounds positive. Snails pace and regulation and bullcarp, left for the 2nd time last year, now work part time for a smallish family company any 3 days i want pottering around the peak district and surrounding areas in a little van for a bit less money and a lot more fun.
What sort of work were you doing and what are you doing now?
I'm most happy when I am doing something tangible, not necessarily physical, but I do enjoy being hands-on and helping/advising/teaching.
Pit Pony said:
Are you sure? Plenty of kids get home schooled, which is challenging enough with the way that local government education officials, try to thwart the good intentions of home schooling parents, and adding in travel could make it even more difficult, but nothing is impossible if you want to make it work.
I do accept though you'd have to really want to do that.
thanks, but we really don't. I do accept though you'd have to really want to do that.
Pandemic home-schooling was not a great experience.
Children seeing less of other children their own age is not a good thing either when most seem to want to spend most of their time alone staring at screens.
Pit Pony said:
Why don't we shut the house up, and go traveling for a year. I mean the global pandemic is nearly over.
Is it the fear of what I'd come back to?
I've just had a week off with covid, and I really can't be arsed with work.at all.
If you have no dependents, you can afford to do it, and can afford to do lower paid work when you return, why not?Is it the fear of what I'd come back to?
I've just had a week off with covid, and I really can't be arsed with work.at all.
The parents of a friend of mine did it.
deebs said:
RDMcG said:
We do a lot of cross referencing for a senior position; first of all we have the headhunters check everything including social media posts etc, criminal records etc. At an executive level I have often called the references personally. Very easy to determine if they are genuine people.
OF course it is easy to fake a CV, but if the hirer is too damn lazy to do a proper check then why bother?. I always look for gaps in the CV, lack of continuity and so on. In itself these are just the usual checks; the interview itself is vital and generally I can get a feel for the person quickly. If it is a very senior position there may be more than one interviewer and then we get together and share out impressions..This for executive level stuff.
I have done this at various levels, and the CV is just one piece to the process.
I care less about formal education than about recent achievements , whether the person can point out and quantify how they made a difference in their role for instance. A lost of titles is less informative.
Very standard stuff.
Im not really sure who you're trying to support here with the feedback. The thread is from someone who wants to make a change to improve their life, youre worried if they earn less it won't look good on a CV. Then there's a spiel now about how much effort you put into recruiting for executive level jobs. Most people aren't going for "executive level" and I very much doubt the OP is or will be either. OF course it is easy to fake a CV, but if the hirer is too damn lazy to do a proper check then why bother?. I always look for gaps in the CV, lack of continuity and so on. In itself these are just the usual checks; the interview itself is vital and generally I can get a feel for the person quickly. If it is a very senior position there may be more than one interviewer and then we get together and share out impressions..This for executive level stuff.
I have done this at various levels, and the CV is just one piece to the process.
I care less about formal education than about recent achievements , whether the person can point out and quantify how they made a difference in their role for instance. A lost of titles is less informative.
Very standard stuff.
You are no doubt a fantastic reader of people and get a sense of them from interviews. You also put good effort into recruiting and fact checking people for positions that come with an office with your name on the door. Just not sure how it relates to the OP
RDMcG is probably trying to help, but his experiences, aims and drivers are probably not those of mine (The OP). I'd love to be a thrusting, effective, efficient executive type who loves working to clinch deals, starting or turning companies around, maximising my net worth and having the CV of Bill Gates or Elon Musk...... But...I'm just not....
I'm an enthusiastic jack of all trades who finds his current working situation dull, often ridiculous and wholly unsuitable.
LukeBrown66 said:
So many firms are so badly run these days.
I have wondered about this. Was it always the case?, or:
Does the tough competition/buyers' market result in a drive to reduce costs that cut important overhead aspects of organisations too far? With firms just making token gestures towards them?
Does the modern trend for people to move about more result in less expertise/continuity?
Do modern financial, legal & regulatory complexity have a detrimental effect?
...It's all so fookin dull.
Edited by Woodrow Wilson on Wednesday 30th March 10:09
PositronicRay said:
This works quite well.
A friend jacked in his teaching job, and started doing voluntary stuff for a forestry trust. Liked it so applied for a special educational needs role within the organisation, not successfully but a few weeks later they offered him an alternative position. Tree nursery, works outside, gets to drive a tractor and happy as a pig in shavings
I would probably enjoy that and working with visitors, at least for a few months, to get myself feeling a bit more positive about working and doing something more tangible.A friend jacked in his teaching job, and started doing voluntary stuff for a forestry trust. Liked it so applied for a special educational needs role within the organisation, not successfully but a few weeks later they offered him an alternative position. Tree nursery, works outside, gets to drive a tractor and happy as a pig in shavings
I did work in a couple of plant nurseries when I was a teenager/student and quite enjoyed it.
Edited by Woodrow Wilson on Thursday 31st March 20:49
dibbers006 said:
Plus, to really make a life change would probably see me dip to 50% pay as my tech skills aren't transferrable out the industry, but to start something new I'm effectively a 19year old with no experience.
This is the major problem. Another is the current inflation, with some very sharp rises in fuel costs.
To go from relative comfort to a potentially marginal financial existence would seem crazy, especially to my wife....
I could probably get another job I disliked in a few months' time, but that isn't what I want to do!
Edited by Woodrow Wilson on Friday 1st April 08:27
PositronicRay said:
If you like working with the general public places like national trust, English heritage, canal and river trust, dogs trust, cat protection league, are just a few from a long list that may suit.
They're always looking for willing volunteers.
It would be good to do something like that, but it could do with paying me a bit.They're always looking for willing volunteers.
I'm feeling even more frustrated this week. Really hacked off with the situation.
I know that many people don't achieve anything of note in their working life, but I'd like to feel some sort of achievement or satisfaction at some point.
OP here.
I'm still in the same job, but finding it very frustrating and desperate for a change.
I think that my best option for me would be to re-train as something more practical, with less bullst and busy/non-work bks in the never-ending "design" process and hopefully more achievement and some satisfaction. I expect that trying to establish myself in order to make a reasonable living will be difficult.
I'm going to look seriously into the options.
Moving to a more rural, hill-country location appeals to me (and, on reflection, I should have done so at a critical juncture about 20 years ago, but didn't), but would be unfair to impose on the rest of my family.
I'm still in the same job, but finding it very frustrating and desperate for a change.
I think that my best option for me would be to re-train as something more practical, with less bulls
t and busy/non-work bks in the never-ending "design" process and hopefully more achievement and some satisfaction. I expect that trying to establish myself in order to make a reasonable living will be difficult.I'm going to look seriously into the options.
Moving to a more rural, hill-country location appeals to me (and, on reflection, I should have done so at a critical juncture about 20 years ago, but didn't), but would be unfair to impose on the rest of my family.
I'm still trying to work out what to do.
Work is becoming increasingly like something from "Catch 22".
It is amusing just how many other people just keep their heads down or actually go along with it/pretend to believe, although more people do appear to be commenting on it (quietly) .
Work is becoming increasingly like something from "Catch 22".
It is amusing just how many other people just keep their heads down or actually go along with it/pretend to believe, although more people do appear to be commenting on it (quietly) .
I'm beginning to wonder if I am part of some sort of Truman Show-esque experiment. Everywhere I turn at my workplace, there are appallingly bad projects that appear to be going nowhere, have ever-moving goalposts, pointless "reviews" and bureaucracy seemingly for the sake of it.
I am mystified by how anybody can gain any sense of satisfaction or maintain any motivation. Some are even keen to climb the corporate ladder. Are they in on it or is it just drugs?
I am mystified by how anybody can gain any sense of satisfaction or maintain any motivation. Some are even keen to climb the corporate ladder. Are they in on it or is it just drugs?
Rowe said:
My online leaving 'card' had a grand total of 7 messages. Was a bit gutted about it to be honest......... worked with 100's of people at various levels over the years. I thought i'd made some real good friends too 
To be honest, I wouldn't worry about it. It doesn't really mean much, other than having somebody (usually a woman) in the company who organises/pushes these things. You will know who you are friends with and will keep in contact with in future.Rowe said:
Oh well! The new job really is great and i'm much happier in myself.
I can't believe i left it so long before jumping ship.
It sounds as if you made the right decision. I hope it continues to go well for you.I can't believe i left it so long before jumping ship.
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