Do you love your job?

[BrittBritt]

Recently I got my first teaching job teaching English at a 4 year university. I have worked in the past doing retail in my younger days, selling clothes at JC Pennys, and then worked for 8 years doing mortgages, until the economic crisis hit and I was laid off. I went back to school, and now, for the first time in my life, I enjoy what I do for a living. It's such an amazing feeling. Part of my job entails teaching college kids (and I so enjoy them!). Since I teach at a four year, most of these kids are polite well rounded young adults who honestly care about their futures. I take great pleasure in my interactions w them during class time. The second part of my job entails researching and writing academic papers for the English discourse community. I also thoroughly enjoy that part of my job, and find it mentally stimulating and rewarding (especially when I get published). It's a brand new amazing feeling to have a job I like, and it has contributed to my overall quality of life and happiness. I wonder how many people out there have a career that they enjoy.

 

[LoveBlue]

I enjoy my job. I write in-house applications utilizing Visual Basic & Access.

 

[A Nihilist]

That's great you are finally discovering your calling!

As for me, well, it's more like a job that I can put up with and it beats flipping burgers. I'm a software developer and I'm actually looking for a job with travel and more opportunities to be creative. I like how my environment is casual and low-pressure but it gets boring with how tedious and regimented it can get.

 

[VacationGuy234]

Impressive. I'm glad you like your work.

I do like my job, but to a guy it is more of an act of providing(for family if you have one) than actual pleasure. I'm lucky I have a job I like, but if I had to weave baskets to put food on the table I would be a weaver(it's a guy thing).

 

[naisho]

First job: small business, family: disliked it because of repetitiveness and no challenge
College job: Math instructor for K-12: liked some of it, disliked repetition and clutch time.
First real job: aerospace agency: liked the microscope lab and examination of airplane materials, disliked repetition of nondestructive testing and no feeling like "I did something productive in my life"
Another job: Computers/IT: liked meeting new people and helping out, working from home, developing. disliked: repetition of same duties and no "goals of life accomplished" feeling, couldn't see myself doing this for 30 years.
Another job: Lab researcher: liked research and investigating, disliked: no interaction and "work by yourself"

After sometime around then I thought hard and long about what I wanted to accomplish in life that wouldn't be repetitive and be interesting, that's when I went/am currently getting a MS in what I think I'll like to do for the rest of my career.

I think I just want something that is not 'repetitive' where the conditions can be different each assignment, and there is a sense of feeling accomplishment at the end of the day. I like being able to help out others, it's been a common theme of most of my jobs but not enough to keep me interested in it.

 

[BrittBritt]

First job: small business, family: disliked it because of repetitiveness and no challenge
College job: Math instructor for K-12: liked some of it, disliked repetition and clutch time.
First real job: aerospace agency: liked the microscope lab and examination of airplane materials, disliked repetition of nondestructive testing and no feeling like "I did something productive in my life"
Another job: Computers/IT: liked meeting new people and helping out, working from home, developing. disliked: repetition of same duties and no "goals of life accomplished" feeling, couldn't see myself doing this for 30 years.
Another job: Lab researcher: liked research and investigating, disliked: no interaction and "work by yourself"

After sometime around then I thought hard and long about what I wanted to accomplish in life that wouldn't be repetitive and be interesting, that's when I went/am currently getting a MS in what I think I'll like to do for the rest of my career.

I think I just want something that is not 'repetitive' where the conditions can be different each assignment, and there is a sense of feeling accomplishment at the end of the day. I being able to help out others, it's been a common theme of most of my jobs but not enough to keep me interested in it.

What are you getting your MS in? I think that my job will have some repetitiveness, particularly in the composition classes I teach. But when I am allowed to start teaching Literature classes, I will be able to submit proposals for new classes on new topics. So for instance, one semester I can teach American Gothic Literature, the next semester Early American Republic texts, the next semester Puritan Literature in America, etc. And even if I taught the same "class" a few times, I could pick new texts to work with. So that should hopefully keep it interesting for me. And the research and composition I do is never repetitive. I have to agree with you, doing the same thing over and over would get boring, even if you loved it at first.

 

[BrittBritt]

That's great you are finally discovering your calling!

As for me, well, it's more like a job that I can put up with and it beats flipping burgers. I'm a software developer and I'm actually looking for a job with travel and more opportunities to be creative. I like how my environment is casual and low-pressure but it gets boring with how tedious and regimented it can get.

I would love to have some travel in my job. Once every 5 years or so, a college teacher is allowed to take a sabbatical. But I'd have to be hired full time and tenured for that. Its still far away for me. I'm very low on the totem pole right now, and this job takes a loooong time to be tenured.

 

[BrittBritt]

Impressive. I'm glad you like your work.

I do like my job, but to a guy it is more of an act of providing(for family if you have one) than actual pleasure. I'm lucky I have a job I like, but if I had to weave baskets to put food on the table I would be a weaver(it's a guy thing).

You sound like a great husband! My husband is a very hard worker also. I do love him so much for that! He put me through school, and I know that if it wasn't for his willingness to provide for me and our children, I wouldn't ever have this job! I hope your wife appreciates you the way she should. I sure make sure to let my husband know all the time how much I appreciate him.

 

[Journey]

Impressive. I'm glad you like your work.

I do like my job, but to a guy it is more of an act of providing(for family if you have one) than actual pleasure. I'm lucky I have a job I like, but if I had to weave baskets to put food on the table I would be a weaver(it's a guy thing).

Hmm how is that a 'guy thing'? I gave up a job I loved and had great passion for in order to take up a job I don't particularly care but best fit the needs of my family. It is not a 'guy thing' to do what is needed to put food on the table, it is simply a 'responsible thing'.

 

[BrittBritt]

Hmm how is that a 'guy thing'? I gave up a job I loved and had great passion for in order to take up a job I don't particularly care but best fit the needs of my family. It is not a 'guy thing' to do what is needed to put food on the table, it is simply a 'responsible thing'.

Very true! Millions of women do it every single day! I was a single mother for about two years before I met my husband. Those were some of the years I spent doing mortgages. To me, loving my job definitely wasn't the first priority. I made sure that I was providing a good life for my daughter and I. We had a happy stable life, even when it was just my daughter and I. My husband has told me many times that seeing me be a good mother and provider was one of the things that attracted him to me when we first met.

 

[cdmeggers]

nooooooooooooope. hopefully that will change when i get into radiography.

 

[VacationGuy234]

Hmm how is that a 'guy thing'? I gave up a job I loved and had great passion for in order to take up a job I don't particularly care but best fit the needs of my family. It is not a 'guy thing' to do what is needed to put food on the table, it is simply a 'responsible thing'.

It may be too broad a stroke to say all women, but I've found that women I know and have met seek out jobs they like instead of jobs for the purpose of income.

In your case, you first got a job you loved(not surprising). Circumstances then changed and you had to face reality, this does happen.

Guys are taught from an early age they are to take care of their families while women are taught they will be in a family. Life may not work out that way for either, but that is still how we are brought up. A woman's personal feelings are very important to her while men are told to put their personal feelings aside.

I'm sure there are woman who were brought up differently, but they are certainly not the majority here in the U.S.

 

[VacationGuy234]

You sound like a great husband! My husband is a very hard worker also. I do love him so much for that! He put me through school, and I know that if it wasn't for his willingness to provide for me and our children, I wouldn't ever have this job! I hope your wife appreciates you the way she should. I sure make sure to let my husband know all the time how much I appreciate him.

If I ever do get married or have a lifelong girlfriend, I'll be sure to ask her.

 

[Journey]

It may be too broad a stroke to say all women, but I've found that women I know and have met seek out jobs they like instead of jobs for the purpose of income.

In your case, you first got a job you loved(not surprising). Circumstances then changed and you had to face reality, this does happen.

Guys are taught from an early age they are to take care of their families while women are taught they will be in a family. Life may not work out that way for either, but that is still how we are brought up. A woman's personal feelings are very important to her while men are told to put their personal feelings aside.

I'm sure there are woman who were brought up differently, but they are certainly not the majority here in the U.S.

I have to disagree that women's personal feelings play more of a role than men's when it comes to job - be it their first jobs or last. I do not think it is a 'gender' thing, it is all about circumstances - does the job offer you the wages you need to survive (or live a certan lifestyle) and can you perform that job for a set length of time (physically, emotionally)?

I think, for decades now, both men and women choose jobs and work for much the same reasons - the support themselves and possibly their families and lifestyles. The time has long passed where women are raised to believe their own job choice is only temporary until a man arrives to take care of them (and that is not meant as a 'women's-lib' type comment by any means, it is simply the reality of the times).

 

[Jiro]

It may be too broad a stroke to say all women, but I've found that women I know and have met seek out jobs they like instead of jobs for the purpose of income.

In your case, you first got a job you loved(not surprising). Circumstances then changed and you had to face reality, this does happen.

Guys are taught from an early age they are to take care of their families while women are taught they will be in a family. Life may not work out that way for either, but that is still how we are brought up. A woman's personal feelings are very important to her while men are told to put their personal feelings aside.

I'm sure there are woman who were brought up differently, but they are certainly not the majority here in the U.S.

you'd be surprised...... I can imagine how many female friends I know would be insulted about your old-fashioned "men = work, women = home" thinking.

if you're looking for that kind of woman - you're not going to find any in where you live. not a chance. better move out to some farm town but then make sure you're not useless to her

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/feb2010/ca20100212_117706.htm

 

[VacationGuy234]

I have to disagree that women's personal feelings play more of a role than men's when it comes to job - be it their first jobs or last. I do not think it is a 'gender' thing, it is all about circumstances - does the job offer you the wages you need to survive (or live a certan lifestyle) and can you perform that job for a set length of time (physically, emotionally)?

I think, for decades now, both men and women choose jobs and work for much the same reasons - the support themselves and possibly their families and lifestyles. The time has long passed where women are raised to believe their own job choice is only temporary until a man arrives to take care of them (and that is not meant as a 'women's-lib' type comment by any means, it is simply the reality of the times).

It has nothing to do with temporary positions or thinking women are staying at home. It has to do with whether being happy in your job is a more important factor of one gender or another when they decide on a career. I have not seen that to be the case. And, I believe it comes from the roles we play and are expected to play, real or not.

Many women say things are equal, but try being a man and not paying for a date or having no job and see how far that gets you. By the same token, how many women get rejected for lack of work? Guys don't have the luxury of not working.

We have advanced, but, lets be clear, we are far from the point were both genders share the same role.

 

[Jiro]

First job: small business, family: disliked it because of repetitiveness and no challenge
College job: Math instructor for K-12: liked some of it, disliked repetition and clutch time.
First real job: aerospace agency: liked the microscope lab and examination of airplane materials, disliked repetition of nondestructive testing and no feeling like "I did something productive in my life"
Another job: Computers/IT: liked meeting new people and helping out, working from home, developing. disliked: repetition of same duties and no "goals of life accomplished" feeling, couldn't see myself doing this for 30 years.
Another job: Lab researcher: liked research and investigating, disliked: no interaction and "work by yourself"

After sometime around then I thought hard and long about what I wanted to accomplish in life that wouldn't be repetitive and be interesting, that's when I went/am currently getting a MS in what I think I'll like to do for the rest of my career.

I think I just want something that is not 'repetitive' where the conditions can be different each assignment, and there is a sense of feeling accomplishment at the end of the day. I like being able to help out others, it's been a common theme of most of my jobs but not enough to keep me interested in it.

yea - that's the problem. I'd say over 80-90% of the jobs are not what people would describe as "I LOVE MY JOB!!!!"

and most of people who said "I love my job" do have one big gripe - "not enough money." It's a dying shame in America that you can't be very profitable in what you love doing because of complicated tax system and "it's just the way it is" so they end up working for fat cats.

but with excellent knowledge in economic and finance, anybody can thrive well. lot of people out there are very good at what they're doing but they lack business skill.

 

[SneakerNet]

I work with IT for over 30 years, I enjoyed my job in term of rewarding and challenge due to exponential growth of this company.. you know in mid 2009, I was 222th employee to work there and now we have over 1500 employees in almost 4 years. And for the last 4 years, I gain almost 38 percents increase in my salary, due to promotions, position changed and my efforts. Almost every day there's always a new challenge due to cyber security and growth.

 

[Jiro]

I wonder how many people out there have a career that they enjoy.

I am good at what I'm doing and I fix problems. I'm a web developer/programmer/designer/consultant. I've worked for universities, small companies, and major corporation.

in my last job, I got paid fairly well for what I do plus traveling expense included. things were going fine for four years until my boss suddenly passed away from heart attack. my life changed and new management stepped in. my boss left a very big hole to fill so it was a mess. I got let go and I cannot believe that my colleague told me they just got a replacement for about $20,000 cheaper

so I've been collecting unemployment benefits for past couple months and I've been recuperating because of mental exhaustion from heavy responsibilities and I've been reanalyzing my career path. now I've been aggressively applying to dozens of jobs that involve in helping people. I can never work for corporations.

 

[NitroHonda]

I'm a small business owner and I love what I do. Could not be happier. I found a market in high demand and customer service is my niche. We've got just a year under our belt and the future could not be brighter. Life's good.