To think most people don't do jobs they love?

[LardLizard]

I'm sure thousands do but I'm talkingmost people

I’m sat in my car building up the courage to go in. I hate it! Like others have said I need to pay the bills, I can’t afford to retrain or leave.

I hate my job when I first get there but then I kind of get into the fuckwittery of it and hunker down and pray for 5pm without any drama.

I hate hotdesking. I hate the rota of tasks system. I hate being told I can't eat at my desk. There is so much meaningless fuckwittery that goes on that makes me tired. We use the most inefficient processes imaginable and they make my jaw drop with their stupidity. I just keep my nut down and hope no-one involves me.

It almost pays the bills (but not quite) like most people. It's life. If it wasn't a pain in the arse, it wouldn't be called work, I guess.

So this was a conversation me and my DP had fairly early on and decided to stay in jobs we really like.

DP has previously had a good office career before going into animal care. As they are good at their job they have previously been offered promotions etc but that takes them away from the specific bits of the job they like doing so turned them down. Dp also has a degree etc which arguably is "wasted" in this job and my family think it's a bit insane that DP doesn't maximise their wages and earns minimum wages.

However it's a deliberate decision. We took a massive hit in wages and our life style is limited due to it e.g. no abroad holidays, shopping has to be budgeted really closely, we live in not so great rented flat. We think the increased happiness Dp has at work is worth it. I grew up in a house in which my father was gone 6-8 everyday so felt like he missed a good deal of my childhood, and when he was home in the evenings he was grumpy from work, or simply tired. We got weekends together but he was tired then on sunday he was dreading going back to work. I really appreciate the sacrifices my dad made for us but I feel like life is too short. If I'm going to spend like 80% of my time somewhere then it should be something I dont hate! Yes we had a nicer house and those 2 days at a weekend or 2 weeks annual leave contained more luxuries etc but a majority of the time DP was somewhere that made her miserable.

As a disclaimer though I realise that we are in a privileged position where the jobs that we enjoy afford us enough of a wage to live in. I appreciate that for some people they dont have many options for employment.

I'm fairly lucky I have an "alright" paid job e.g. 25k that I feel is worthwhile. If we meet people they think that our jobs are lovely however we still have bad days. DP still has office politics, or days where she could moan for hours or days where despite her best efforts animals die. We aren't buzzing to go to our jobs everyday and have bad days like everyone else but in general are proud of what we do and made the right choice for us.

My husband loves his job. He's an area manager for a big retail company. He of course has bad days but on a whole he really looks forward to it and 9 times out of 10 only has good things to say about his work day.

I'm a SAHM now but I was a teacher before. I hated being a teacher, I taught teens and they were just so rude and disruptive and lots of the boys would make horrible sexist comments to me and I hated it. I hated working in a care home. I got so attached to residents and would be devastated when they passed, it made me sad when we had the residents that no one ever came to visit too. I really enjoyed being a barmaid after I left school though.

I don’t think it’s just finding the job you love but also colleagues and managers that make your job worthwhile. I’m very lucky in that I have a job I love, and I am good at and a manager who is amazing.

Job satisfaction is more than just the job itself imo

I was shocked when my DCs career advice at school consisted of "You should do something you love" with no thought to what that could be or how it was possible for a teenage girl who loved friends, showbiz gossip and cuddling kittens! It was the polar opposite of the rubbish we had many years ago which was "You're good at science: boy=doctor, girl=nurse, you're good at English:teacher, etc) but was equally rubbish. I think the current thing of loving your job adds a whole lot more pressure and confusion for those who don't know. Even now, at my advanced age, I still don't know what my perfect career would be

I am now within 5 years of retirement and like this job far more than any others I have had but love it? Probably not

Most people I know don’t like their job but they are on good wages which they wouldn’t get if they left or hand to retrain

I like my job, I never dread going into the office.

I've worked in a job that made me so miserable that I had suicidal thoughts, I just couldn't see a way out. I applied for hundreds of jobs to try to leave the situation but couldn't even get an interview.

The thing is, the jobs themselves were fairly similar. What made one miserable and one great was the management.

I absolutely adore my job. I would honestly keep doing it if I wasn't getting paid for it.

My job is pretty good, but there are definitely elements I strongly dislike and will procrastinate for ages.

Similarly to OP, I don't get this obsession for everyone to be "passionate" about (say) "providing exemplary customer service". You can be professional, qualified, skilled etc, but passionate?

It's crept into almost ever job spec I've seen lately.

It’s alright but I don’t particularly like my colleagues and I find the work not at all stimulating. I am completely demotivated. The good thing is that the pay is okay and I can come and go as I want. I’m working from home today.

My manager said in a recent meeting that I was secretary for “we don’t all come to work for the money you know!” They were all on over £60k. I did smirk at that. Maybe you come to work to serve your country or whatever pal but I am solely here for the momey!

I love my career choice
But not necessarily my current job

Overall I enjoy my job (professional) but in every job there will be aspects which happen the majority of the time which I don't enjoy which are administrative and repetitive and menial and not easily outsourced. Some colleagues are great but again, there will be others (hopefully minority) who get your goat.

Generally, I choose to do something I reasonably enjoy (it is analytical and intellectually challenging), am good at, suits my personality and therefore I get praise and recognition for, which improves my self-esteem and gives me satisfaction.

That is what I mean by enjoying my job. There are related roles I could do which are better paid and possibly more flexible hours but too dull, I won't focus and will probably not do a great job.

I believe at the more senior roles, you have to believe in your role to be able to project commitment in order to be able to convince other members of senior management or at least talk the talk. Slightly hateful buzz words, are 'passion' and 'energy'. It must feel like a fraud if you don't actually enjoy your work to some degree.

I love my job but I hate short term contracts, and the stress that I'm never going to get another!

I'm a big advocate of doing something you love if you can. DP and I are both passionate about our jobs and given we spend so much time doing them and put up with a lot (antisocial hours, endless travel, office politics)

... it does help.

There's this weird sorta pressure these days that you have to be perfect

Is there? Not in my experience. Nobody on earth is perfect, neither can we all be perfect. And besides, what is perfection? Its whatever YOU want it to be.

After quite a few years of shite jobs, I'm finally back in the job I've always loved. Yes I'd do it for free and yes I'd still do it if I win the lottery.

I suspect when employers (and universities and other institutions) request "passionate" what they really mean is "Please don't tell us openly that you can't be arsed about this job, because that is absolutely soul-killing to listen to. At least put up a decent pretence or don't bother. If you can't even do that in interview, heaven help the customers who have to deal with you when you're unsupervised".

I've worked at the same site for almost twenty two years, although I've had a few employers and varied jobs in that time. Eight and a half years continuous in current role. I'm in the right environment but the job isn't all that good (largely outdoors in all weathers, unsocial hours, crap pay, clueless management). Yet I know there are people on the other side of the fence, day in day out, who would give their right arm to do what I do.

I think a lot of it is generational.

THis sums it up quite well:
waitbutwhy.com/2013/09/why-generation-y-yuppies-are-unhappy.html

My career choice wasn’t the best but the job I have is great. Most of the time.

The idea of loving my job is alien to me. It is intellectually demanding and there are moments of satisfaction but it is nothing more than something I have to do to get money.

It's my third career and I've felt this about all three. That's why I'm not going to try a fourth.

I can't imagine that in all of the years of working there's been a single day when if a fairy godmother had waved a magic wand and turned a working weekday into a weekend day or a holiday, I wouldn't have been delighted.

While I don't hate my job (it seems to suit colleagues past and present), what I do at work comes a very very distant second place to spending my time how I would do if given the chance.

I'm sure I'm not in some small minority over this.

I'm sure I'm not in some small minority over this.

That’s certainly how I feel. I’m on my second career - this one is well paid, flexible and challenging. I work with nice people (mainly, the usual few nightmares but nothing too bad.) I work from home, reasonably flexible etc. It’s not a bad gig in any way.
I’d still happily give notice if I could do without work financially. I have many more things in my life that I enjoy far far more.

This why why they pay you to work

It’s great that some people love their jobs. I’ve never managed that but it must be nice to have.

I like the fact that I'm good at my job, I'm very grateful that I have flexible work hours and I think the pay is generous for what I do.

It may not be the world's most exciting job, but I'd much rather be doing this than be worried about paying the mortgage. I did a creative job I loved for a while and found it too high stress to create on demand - I now use money earned at my bog standard job to be creative as a hobby instead.