Do you find your job rewarding?

[giddykipper]

I gave up a very stressful and challenging career when DS was born, basically I wanted to spend more time with him and less time commuting. I took a backwards and sideways step and a significant paycut, but with less travelling and (I thought) better long term prospects.

Anyway, the travelling is less but still more than I want to do. And this week something has happened (too long to go into) which has made me realise that my prospects are not as good as I thought, or at least are a lot further off.

The step into this new job was the right one to take, because it's given me new skills that are far more transferable. However I'm just not finding the work rewarding and I'm increasingly conscious that DS will be starting school in a couple of years and my chances of time with him are slipping away.

Am I being unrealistic to expect work to be rewarding?

I could conceivably work for myself, but I would struggle to make enough money (in the short term at least) to cover child care costs. DS will get his free 12.5 hours next September, so that is an opportunity.

I just feel almost numb with frustration at work tonight. I want to go in tomorrow and tell them I'm leaving to spend more time with DS.

Sorry, that's really rambling without much point really. Please ignore. As you were.

[cakeywakey]

I think that the people who find their work really, truly and enduringly rewarding are very lucky indeed.

Most of the rest of us like it most of the time, make some good friends and enjoy earning.

Some poor sods have to do whatever they can keep a roof over their head and food on the table.

Does it really matter that the prospects are further off? Just think of all the years you'll still have to work when your DS is at college/gone to uni/left home. Children are only young for a short period of time, we could have nearly 50 years in our working life depending on our circumstances.

If you can afford to leave and you want to, then perhaps it's worth giving some serious consideration. Work isn't always rewarding; but sometimes less interesting work is better than no work IYSWIM

[morleylass]

No can't say that I find work rewarding tbh, I took a career break and then got a job at a lower level with a lot less money, but I suppose I didn't really find work rewarding before.
I do my current job because the pay is OK considering it is part time and reasonably flexible although i would rather find something I enjoy more. My two dcs are at school now though so it is a lot harder to justify not working.
Do you think that you would find working for yourself any more rewarding or is it possibly that you just want to be a SAHM at the current time and nothing would really fit the bill?
I hope you work it out
MLx

[cakeywakey]

I think you're lucky supersalstrawberry, there is an element of making your own luck though, and being willing to take the plunge.

A lot of people fall into their jobs - or are pushed by parents/partners etc. - and don't have the smarts, opportunity or guts to change that.

[giddykipper]

You sound like me Morleylass, in fact you all do. I think in an ideal world I would like to be a sahm while DS is pre-school and then work 9-3 when he is at school. That's just not really compatible with forging a career as an employee! So the question is whether I take the plunge and see whether I can make a career working for myself, or whether I plod on and take the wage (and the flak). I don't even feel like I'm bonding with anyone at work, it's quite narcissistic and I feel on the edge. Tough isn't it. We would struggle to manage without me bringing in some income. If I try and fail to work for myself, then I may have ruined my chances of getting back on the career track and, as you said cakeywakey, I still have nearly 30 years of working life left.

I just feel like I deserve to enjoy my working life.

[cakeywakey]

I've compromised my career for now - I work part-time in my previous career, and gave up th chance for promotion just before I had DD because I didn't want to have to go back f/t.

I'm very lucky that I've been able to go p/t but I am now just treading water careerwise. I try to see it as polishing the skills I've got before I go back to a f/t career at a later stage.

I was feeling quite down about it until I listed the things I really wanted from my ideal job - my current post ticked a lot of boxes. It's not perfect, but it could be a lot worse I can't change my job, so have tried to change the way I think about and approach it.

Could you move into another firm/post/area? Easier said than done in this climate. And you may find the same problems elsewhere too.

Sorry - this isn't much help is it!

[fruitshootsandheaves]

I'm getting to the point where I'd find any job rewarding. I have not worked for 16 years and I am currently studying the same thing as I did 20 years ago but I am finding it really stressful, I look enviously at anyone working.

[ThatVikRinA22]

ive always drifted from job to job just to make ends meet, until i decided i wanted to be a police officer. i became a special to see if its what i thought it would be, i loved it, so pursued it as a career.ive just got into SYP as a regular officer - ive not got a start date yet, but i know im going to love it. its taken me a very very long time to find something i love, and its a complete change from what i was doing...hope the bubble doesnt burst!

[giddykipper]

Boss was in a shit mood again today. I can't be arsed with treading on egg shells. Roll on the weekend...