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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Do you enjoy your job, and why?

66 replies

BalancingActress · 17/05/2014 10:35

Having a long think about working life, and about choosing between having a job you love, that doesn't feel like work in a way, and having one you do just to afford the lifestyle you want even if the work is not how you would ideally spend your time.

What category does your job fall into? What satisfaction do you get from your job? Did it take you long to work out what you wanted to do and to get into that career?

Is it unreasonable (or perhaps just naive) to think that hopefully most people can get a job that is fulfilling, or is the reality that that's just for an elite few, and we should be grateful if we can get work that simply pays the bills?

OP posts:

Objection · 17/05/2014 14:06

IMHO I think that anything, once it becomes a job, is no longer completely enjoyable.
I think this is the case with most people.
With this in mind, I plan to work towards a career which pays highly and therefore allows me to do all the things I love in my spare time.

gordyslovesheep · 17/05/2014 15:11

love my job - it's hard work, the admin/red tape stuff is a ball ache - the young people are brilliant and I look forward to going in - even after 17+ years

I am a careers adviser with the local authority

elQuintoConyo · 17/05/2014 15:16

I can't afford the lifestyle I want - private jets, 5* hotels, not wincing at poncy £10 cocktails but I can afford the lifestyle I have, which I enjoy.

We rent, have one dc and a clapped out car needing new front suspension for the last year oops which is not everyone's cup of tea. But where I live and the culture I live in I wouldn't swap for anything.

I'm a language teacher.

elQuintoConyo · 17/05/2014 15:18

Oh, and your other questions: it took me a month to qualify, I did it at 23 so I could leave the UK and go travelling until I could work out what I wanted to do. 16 years later, obviously my career chose me!

Four countries, many homes, one DH and one DC later and it's been an absolute blast - even though eveyone thinks I'm on holiday all the flipping time!

trilbydoll · 17/05/2014 15:20

I am an accountant, I like it when everything reconciles and the ledger is tidy, it appeals to my sense of order.

I like my specific job because I like the people I work with and feel part of a team. Have just gone back after maternity leave and feel like me again, it is good.

rookiemater · 17/05/2014 15:37

I do enjoy my job at the minute - quite a lot in fact, which is a pleasant change from having hated it for a period of time. Main reason is that I have an excellent boss who really focuses on ensuring that the people in her team are working to their strengths.

Also she has DCs and used to be p/t. On Thursday I was on a rare business trip and she asked when I would be taking back the extra hours that I would be working - I could have wept with joy, first time in 7 years of being p/t that abyone has asked me that.

JamJimJam · 17/05/2014 15:48

I love my job.

I am a surveyor. I stopped working f/t when I had my first baby and went down to 2 days per week. I have only just gone back f/t (eldest is 15).

I kept up my cpd and other training while I was p/t, which helpfully, has all been paid for by my employer. It has been really easy to make the transition back to a 'career' job as a result.

I can work from home whenever I want - this makes a huge difference.

Imnotaslimjim · 17/05/2014 15:54

I love my job, but from what I'm told I'm in the minority

I get on great with my boss, which is good as we are side by side at least 7 hours of the day. She is very flexible WRT hours and childcare issues, and has even driven me straight to school when we were out and I got a phonecall to say DD was badly hurt. I couldn't imagine doing anything else now

SecretSpy · 17/05/2014 15:58

I love my job, I'm a nurse. I don't love all bits of it of course, but I love that I am quite good and useful at work. And while the pay doesn't reflect the responsibility - it's a lot better paid than any other job I could get.

And plenty of days it is actually quite fun - I am a 'picker' and a sporner, and while the bulk of the job is routine, little fiddly bits like taking stitches out or even just getting the right thing prescribed to sort my patient out is very satisfying.

QuietTiger · 17/05/2014 16:09

I love my job, but that's after many years of a shitty job with long hours and antisocial working that I hated. I jacked it in in 2002 and never looked back.

Now I am self employed, work from home and even though I work equally long hours, the job satisfaction is enormous. I have time off when I want and I get to sleep with the boss.

nicename · 17/05/2014 16:17

What do you do Quiet? I've got no idea what I want to do when I grow up (mid 40s!).

Babyroobs · 17/05/2014 16:18

I don't like my job, it's very stressful and shift work, but my colleauges are great and my boss is lovely and it fits around the kids and is 5 minutes drive away so all in all I will be sticking with it for a while longer.

Aspiringhuman · 17/05/2014 16:20

I agree with objection regarding it no longer being totally fun when it's a job.

The worst bit of my job is a clique of colleagues who love making sure the not so in crowd know what they think of them. The atmosphere is awful. Who your colleagues are can make a big difference to how happy you are at work.

steff13 · 17/05/2014 16:31

My job is not what I would have chosen, but I actually love it.

I work for the government. Here, when people are denied public assistance or their assistance is reduced or terminated, they have hearing rights. I conduct the hearings between the individual and the public assistance agency, and then I make a decision as to who was correct and what the appropriate corrective action, if any, should be.

I work from home unless I'm conducting hearings, the pay is good, the benefits are excellent, my supervisor and co-workers are amazing. I get to use a gavel, so that's fun. :)

It can be stressful; the hearing process is adversarial in nature, so people can be very angry when they come in. I spend a fair amount of time calming them down. We are on tight deadlines to get our decisions written, so I often work 15+ hours a day to get them done in time.

sarahquilt · 17/05/2014 16:33

No - don't enjoy the job that much. I care about the kids but hate the huge work load, lack of respect and being treated like crap by management. Hope to leave secondary teaching.

Pumpkinpositive · 17/05/2014 16:33

I'm freelance. I don't dislike my job - oftentimes I get a huge sense of fulfilment from it - but I loathe, hate and despise the insecurity and bureaucracy involved with self employment: never usually not being paid on time, having to chase and threaten for payment, sorting your own taxes, doing battle with HMRC, etc, etc. Grrrr.

sarahquilt · 17/05/2014 16:33

No - don't enjoy the job that much. I care about the kids but hate the huge work load, lack of respect and being treated like crap by management. Hope to leave secondary teaching.

Groovee · 17/05/2014 16:33

I'm an early years practitioner. I love my job. Usually it's the staff who are an issue, not the children and it can take a member of staff who is rude to cause an issue.

ManWithNoName · 17/05/2014 16:42

Pumpkin - I know exactly what you mean.

Until 2 years ago I was retired.

Then I got a call and someone offered me a job.

On Monday I will sit on my sofa all day waiting for a lawyer to call me. They may call. They may not. I don't know.

If they call, I will earn more in an hour than most people earn in a week. I am an expert in one field that almost no one else in the UK has. A judge may also want to ask me a question. I don't know if they will. I am not allowed to do anything but sit by the phone. If they do ask me a question my knowledge has to be accurate, my answer instant and will then be scrutinised under hours of cross-examination under oath several years from now.

If they don't call. I earn nothing. They owe me a lot of money but I haven't been paid because their contracting/payment system got messed up months ago. I may lose my job tomorrow.

I would rather be retired.

Hoppinggreen · 17/05/2014 16:45

I enjoy mine because it stimulates me mentally, I am very well paid and I make my own hours. I can do the school run almost every day ( or DH does) and I never miss a school concert etc. I also get to meet some interesting people and sometimes get to have lunch somewhere posh without having to pay for it myself.
Self employed by the way.

InMySpareTime · 17/05/2014 16:56

I love my job!
I'm a children's storyteller and author, I get to make the pretty words dance, and can call a morning reading in the library a good morning's work.
It pays well per hour, but it's taken a lot of work to build up the contacts.

QuietTiger · 17/05/2014 17:09

Nicename- I'm married to a farmer. :) Wonderful perks in summer, slightly less pleasant in winter!

ManWithNoName · 17/05/2014 17:28

QuietTiger - I used to be a farmer a long time ago. I don't quite remember the summers as 'perks'.

EyeMyrrhSlapHer · 17/05/2014 17:41

I do truly love my job. I rarely have a day where I really wish I was at home instead. I find it rewarding, motivating, interesting, challenging and no two days are the same. The bonus is that it does well (ish) - at least by my standards.

Social Worker Manager (LAC)

Chottie · 17/05/2014 17:52

I work for a LA and it's extremely stressful. I am so glad my DCs both have careers they love.

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