AIBU to ask what you do for work and if you enjoy it?

[Aberforthsgoat]

I have another thread running as I’m potentially looking at retraining. The only problem is I’m unsure what I’d like to retrain for.

Would you mind sharing what you do for work and if you enjoy it?

I know the fact that you enjoy it doesn’t necessarily mean I would but I’m looking for inspiration and ideas (there are many reasons why I feel the need to retrain it’s not just a frivolous whim )

Just retrained as a voiceover artist/voice actor. Fingers crossed it works out! I love it though.

I run the project management/Delivery team in a digital agency. Love my job! I have been in the industry for a decade and a half and worked my way up and can say I have enjoyed every role. Excellent pay and lots of flexibility.

I'm a duty manager in a hotel, bit more money, but it's still crap for what I do. Very physical job, not chained to one department, which is why I like it because I hate being stuck in one repetitive area. Bit rate responsibility within guidelines, and deal with fire alarms, complaints, issues that arise like Equipment breaking there and then without the overall responsibility for staff that a head of department has.
I am mainland there without any other management - so that's attractive too! Downsides apart from basic pay and conditions are I normally end up with the drunk arseholes to deal with at the end of the night and that's starting to piss me off if I'm honest. We have a wierd relationship with alcohol in this country, I see it more and more and it's the main reason I don't drink any more.

Most guests who complain have a point and I like turning situations like that round, but the drunken idiots that argue with you about licensing laws, try and help themselves and cause havoc are just ridiculous.

I am a children’s nurse and although I really enjoyed it, I burnt out very quickly due to many many night shifts and working in the acute medical ward which is never ending and constantly busy. I used to often come home after 12.5 hour shifts and realise I hadn’t peed all day and ate lunch at 5pm. I have since shifted my focus into health visiting and am currently doing the masters degree for it. I really love is so far and can’t wait to qualify

I used to be a midwife. Retrained as an accountant about 8/9 years ago now. And just again changed role for a bit of a switch up.

Now work in a pupil referral unit as the finance and exams manager. The finance part actually takes very little of my time as it’s mostky dealt with centrally by the council. I hadn’t realised how many rules and regulations are involved in entering students for any exams. Have just entered then all for the summer series ans ran the mocks.

Always a challenge as it’s a PRU rather than a school so behaviour can be an issue.

Mental Health Practitioner in complex dementia care. Absolutely love it. Challenging and upsetting at times but no two days are the same and getting to support people and their families makes it all worth while.

Part-time Senior Library Officer. Separate to that job I do schools workshops.

Library job: I love working amongst books & having access to books so easily hence I can read loads. Quiet relaxed atmosphere, stress-free, no huge workload to take home or think about.

Workshops - varied as go to different schools. I love working with children. Do my bit then go home don't need to get involved in school politics etc. Again, no workload to stress about.

It's very important to me to enjoy what I do. Life is short.

Don't you have anything you'd love to do, OP? Your question seems so general. Everyone knows what they want to do really. Just a case of whether it's feasible or not. Or whether youre super ambitious & would prefer to go for money rather than what you love, etc

Unicorn Can I be really nosey and ask why you retained after being a midwife?

*retrained

Newspaper editor. (Local news rather than national)

I love my job. Every day is different.

But in print journalism sales are falling. We are slowly making the move into online print but not as fast as we should, or need to be. I fear it's a matter of time before we fold which is a shame as our paper has been around for generations.

I am also retraining (because I want to but also as a bit of a back up) and doing different self awareness/counselling courses

University lecturer- Nursing. It’s busy. However I manage my own time pretty much.

I’m a Bid Writer. I really enjoy it, but I have to be writing about something I care about or it’s a chore. I’m now in a sector I really enjoy writing about.

It can be very busy, but does work well around family life. There’s a lot of autonomy and a chance to develop processes too, which I really enjoy.

Like Decormad38, I'm a uni lecturer in Nursing. I love teaching. Love it.

However, I'm very fortunate to teach subjects I enjoy, and have a supportive team and line manger. If that's not the case uni life can be surprisingly brutal and I've seen lots of burnout in other teams.

I do Facilities Management for a fairly large visitor attraction. I like it a lot, and I must be the only person on earth to really like health and safety.

@MistressDeeCee library officer sounds like a job I’d love to do. In my other thread I gave a bit more of a rounded new picture - I’m largely in journalism with a bit of social media but the work is really drying up (I’m freelance). I love writing and reading and always knew I wanted to write but now it no longer makes much £ it’s made me think about retraining.

@overtheborder I feel your pain. I edited a national niche magazine for a good few years, it then went digital but didn’t translate well as it was an aging audience who weren’t au fait with technology so it folded.
I then did a few social media jobs and went freelance where I kind of juggle both but the work just doesn’t seem to be there and I know a lot of other freelancers feel the same.

I work in events and love it! More or less 9-5 Mon to Fri but during the summer it's often 12 hour days in the run up to event day. And I'm paid extremely well for the events industry. I do worry about the longevity of it because it's very hands on and I'm not getting any younger! 🤨

I'm a hotel general manager, it's long hours which are mostly unsociable.. like having never spent a Christmas Day at home or a Mother's Day with my Mom. I have days where I really enjoy it and days where I've cried most if my 30 minute journey home.
I've worked In hotel’s for 20 plus years now and do feel it may be time to think of walking away.

Workforce Planning. I get to combine people development with commercial ops, so really enjoy it. Every day is different.

You don’t need any specific training/degree - I worked in recruitment for a couple of years and then got a role at a consultancy firm. Currently earning just under 40k two years in, so not bad for a job with no specific training needed

aberforth you could always give it a go. Look up jobs online. I had no experience but got in, maybe my passion for books helped. There is career progression and you're also encouraged to take librarian qualifications if you want to.

My other work is freelance so I know the feeling re those periods when work dries up. I've found that it's always best to be doing something alongside freelancing so at least you won't have money worries.

Thank you mistress I think I might!

Probation Officer. I used to love it until they privatised half of it, cut the funds across the board, and swamped us with paperwork. Now it's depressing, disheartening and I don't feel I'm helping anyone any more. We have no time or resources to help the people we see. Which means the general public are more at risk from reoffending. But of course it will be our individual fault if one of our cases commits a horrendous crime. So stress levels are through the roof. I'm looking to get out. It's sad.

@mickeydee that’s sad to hear. My daughter wants to work with young offenders and is looking into careers with the probation service (she starts year 11 next year so a long way off) so it's a shame to hear that it’s a career that’s making you unhappy.

I work for a Conservation Charity managing the Visitor Reception areas, which was a career change for me, although not a huge one as my background is retail. I started in a temporary role and progressed to the (very junior!) management position after 18 months.
I work part-time flexible hours with an amazing diverse team of people and have very good, supportive managers above me.
The pay is not as good as the private sector, but the upsides more than compensate for that and I've never looked back. I love the job, the people and the beautiful place where I work and feel very lucky and privileged to be in that position.
The organisation provides a lot of opportunities to pursue careers in different areas and a lot of training.

I always tell people to pursue their dreams and interests. I was stuck in the rat race until I made the tough decision that that life wasn't working for me and I needed to make a change. I moved to a cheaper part of the country and live a more modest life, and that works for me.

Good luck, I hope you find what you are looking for x

Worked with elderly and now I am one !