So you know how good your spouse is at their job?

[GroundAlmonds]

A bit dark but I was reading about the Air France Flight 447 Disaster. The Co-pilot who was at the controls had his wife on board. She was a teacher so probably didn’t know much about aviation but it suddenly dawned on me that she probably felt extra safe with her DH flying. Like you do.

How accurately can you judge how good your OH is at their job?

DH does a completely different job role to me, albeit in the same industry. I don’t understand how his job is done. I couldn’t do it in a million years. It’s creative & technical. People say he is good at it so I assume they’re right but I don’t actually know that myself.

How about you?

Ah @LaurieFairyCake you sound really proud. You should be.

@SuperLoudPoppingAction I suppose it’s the contrast with how so many of us are down on ourselves or underestimate our own performance, even to the point of imposter syndrome being a common thing but we have almost universal confidence in our loved ones. It’s just love is suppose.

@doadeer

I think he's greats. He keeps getting promotions and hits crazy numbers like 150% of target. He also works at one of the top tech companies in world so high standards. He is rubbish at singing his own praises though so I think others who shout louder are sometimes heard more

Maybe we should all send loved ones to appraisals and interviews in our place? Like an agent-slash-champion? He sounds fab and you sound very proud.

Yes - he's a very popular and respected driving instructor. Over 90% of his business is now word of mouth and he has a waiting list.

I have no idea whether Dh is good at his job but he’s not been sacked yet so can’t be too awful.

We do the same job. I wouldn’t want to be his manager put it that way. He knows what he’s doing and he does it but he can be a bit difficult to deal with.

His company are desperate to keep him and have offered him more money to stay in the past as he knows lots of people in lots of different companies with many constantly asking him to go and work for them (and his bosses know this hence the pay rise). His company are pretty crap but he's been staying with them to get a bit more experience but he's finally starting to look for new jobs now and I think he will get snapped up.

Also there's a very experienced person at his company who has worked all over the world (hard to explain why without it being outing) who says he is one of the best he has worked with in 45 years. This guy is so well known that my DP has him as his reference on his CV but it's just his nickname as literally everyone knows him and wouldn't know his full name!

DH was fabulous at his job when we had our business.

The customers only ever wanted to see or speak to him. He had 40 years worth of car related knowledge and some customers who had been using him since he was 15.

I also know he's good because no one else has touched our car and it still works!

My ex boyfriend very nearly got into a commercial pilot training scheme and I said I would never get on a flight that he was flying.

I knew his silly, batman loving, smashed himself in the thumb with a hammer side too much to believe he could fly an aeroplane 😂

Not sure what he does all day, but he is good at it (has won awards and earns a shedload).

Also - he knows when to stop. He is very clear about what's his area of expertise and what isn't. Friends sometimes ask him for advice and he's not afraid to admit when he doesn't know something. I think that's a good sign of competence in any profession.

No-ones going to admit to having an underachieving DH then? :)

Years ago I came home worried about a mistake I'd made at work. I told DH about it and his response was 'is that all? I did 2 bigger howlers just this morning' he then went on to describe two pretty big mistakes! I learnt something about male insouciance about mistakes versus female over worrying that day.

That was years ago. I like to think we are both top of our game these days

Mine keeps getting promotions and pay rises so I'm pretty sure he's great! Plus he talks alot about his work and the team of people he's responsible for and you can tell he truly cares.

My DH worked in a pretty technical job that I know nothing about so I'd have no idea of how well he did it based on my understanding of the actual 'work' he performed. But I do know him and I know that he is very conscientious and takes pride in any work he does. I also know that he never caused his employer to be reported to govt regulators for any errors based on actions he took or decisions he made. Based on that I'd say he was very good at his job.

He's even better at retirement. But then again, so am I!

I know my DH is excellent at what he does.

He's been doing it since he was 14 and is constantly in demand. He's never once been short of work and is constantly turning people down because he's so busy and so much in demand.

He also does work on our house and it's excellent quality.

If he wasn't good, it's likely he'd be in Coroners court explaining himself. 15 years in the job, and not been to court once. Also, currently redeployed and not in normal role for 6+ months, yet managed to find a vein first time that an oncology nurse failed with four times - and at 6.30am. He's bloody good at his job.

DH works in retail. He gets the occasional bonus when there are store wide incentive schemes and people occasionally tell me how helpful he’s been to them

He got a letter from his regional a manger a while ago thanking him for his exceptional work, a member of staff was killed in a car accident on his way home from work. DH was in charge the day it happened and had to go in to let the members of staff who were working go home, close up the store etc.

@Rocococo
I have an underachieving ExH if that counts?!
He had (still has as far as I know) a job that he did very well, but he was qualified to do something that would have pushed him more - he just had no desire to put himself to any hard work. His job meant he could work, get paid, have no stress, leave on time and forget all about it then come home and tinker with the car.
Before you ask, it was not his lack of ambition that led to the divorce.

Well I’ve been stuck working from home with him for the last 8 months and he sounds like he knows what he’s doing from his endless phone calls 😂 he’s a total workaholic though which I’m not sure is healthy for him.

Almost exactly as @Hoppinggreen describes her DH. Except mine’s an actuary.

@Umbridge34 ah that is lovely!

Similar to Laurie, mine is a teacher (primary). He's only been qualified 4 years. He got
Offered 2 jobs in schools he did placements in and I think that says a lot.
He's set up sports teams and won an award so I assumed he was good, and kids often walk up to him and start chatting while out and about so I thought they liked him.
During lockdown while he was WFH I overheard part of a lesson - he was so relaxed, funny, engaging, the kids were enjoying talking to him and that made me proud.

Since I've WFH he's seen what I do and it's funny watching his reactions.
He's always thought I was clever (he's absolutely sure I'm smarter than him) but he's seen 'work me' and I think it's impressed him.

In the early days of the internet, if you asked the question "who is the best (DH profession) in the world?" it would come up with DH's name. So he must be quite good.

If you had no clue, would that be a bad thing? Someone who doesn't come home and talk about work is surely a good thing?

My husband is self employed, has a good customer base that come back to him time and time again, especially when something goes wrong, and if he allowed it , would be getting new customers daily, but simply can't cope with the demand.
He's not the only person in our village to offer this service, they are both run off their feet and have several customers world wide..

I don't think my husband knows what I actually do!
If asked, he would say that I worked in a school!!!

DH was promoted to exec level in his twenties and has had 3 pay rises in 4 years, more than doubling his salary. I'm confident he is outstandingly good at his job.