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 )

I'm another academic. For the most part I love my job. My research is my passion. I love teaching, spending time with, and learning from my students.

Of late it's the sector itself that is an increasingly unpleasant working environment. Micro-management, discrimination and bullying are rife, and jobs are so scarce they have their staff over a barrel and they know it. It's not at all an encouraging environment for newcomers (the VERY few new PhD-holders who are actually able to find academic jobs). Year-on-year there is less flexibility and autonomy as to how we carry out our work. The whole model is increasingly looking like the Further Education Sector (a hellish area of education in which to work), where front-line teaching staff are treated with contempt and considered at the bottom of the pile. It's not quite that bad yet. But it's getting there.

So yes, I love my work. The conditions under which it's done? Not so much.