Anyone else feel disillusioned about working life

[Hatefreezingweather1]

I have a degree and a PGCE but have found myself working in mainly low-paid roles since graduating. I am not posting this to receive career suggestions as I know there are various things I could apply to do, but the main suggestions seem to be teaching or social work.
I thought I had a strong work ethic but I wish I could just work 2 days a week for instance and not have to work full time.
I resent how many jobs have poor working conditions and how many people struggle to make ends meet even whilst working 45 hours a week.
I suppose I do want things easier. It's just the thought of doing this for another 35 years to achieve a modest life, it doesn't seem appealing or Inspiring.
Does anybody not feel this way ?

I’ve worked full time for 18 years and 2 nights a week for the other 15 years .....I am now 57 years and will be retiring from full time and taking my NHS pension then returning to the same job to work 2 days a week later this year.....I’ve done my time and am ready for this....if you can afford to work part time then go for it....if I had not worked full time for the last 13 years I would not be in a position now to have no debts or mortgage , savings and a decent ( ish) pension....but you may have different circumstances to me

I know few people manage to, but the key is to finding something that even if you don't love doing and always enjoy, you find rewarding so it seems worth it. I am fortunate enough to enjoy my job and have a skill which if I hate it I can go freelance and probably do okay.

Yes I feel similarly.

Recently left a toxic job and happier now but would still prefer part time work. In years to come many jobs will be taken over by ABI. I think a basic income will need to be considered at some point for this reason.

Yes, I understand what you mean and feel the same.
I agree about working conditions too.
Full time work doesn't work well for some people. It starts to affect health and productivity, but it's normalised and sometimes expressing wanting to work less can make you feel lazy compared to societal standards but I think it's normal to not want most of your life to revolve around work and have good working conditions. It's a shame though because most people don't have a choice if they want finiacial security.

Ive had a few different jobs and I always start to feel burnt out after about two years. I'm not sure if there is a job that suits me or if this is inevitable for me.

I voted YABU because why would you choose to do a PGCE if you didn’t want to teach? Surely suggestions that you use your specific teaching qualification are to be expected?

I saw a Facebook post around Christmas that rang completely true for me. It said that current working hours and conditions were based on a model of working when it was normal for a man to be working, but would come home to a wife who ran the home and would have food ready and so on. Look at period dramas like All Creatures Great and Small or The English Game and before marriage, working men lived in a house where there was a housekeeper.

I feel the same as you. For many years, I was married and either didn’t work outside the home, or worked part time. Now I am alone with my teenage son and work full time. I am permanently exhausted and my house is nowhere near as tidy and clean as I would like it to be as I don’t have the energy. I also can’t find the head space to read books, something I used to love.

The idea of living like this for the next 17 years (when I will be retirement age - can’t do it earlier as I haven’t been saving for retirement while married) appalls me. Not sure what I am going to do, but I don’t think I can carry on that long unless something changes.

YABU - you did a PGCE but don’t want to teach? What a waste of time and effort.

You sound a bit unfocused and flakey- like you are looking for the good jobs but without the work to get them. Commit to something and rise to the top - that’s how you get experience, job satisfaction and good working conditions.

I feel the same. I worked full time for 10 years and hated every minute. I am actually a hard worker, but really resent being tied down to a job. Things like medical appointments, and keeping the house in order, just seem so difficult when you're stuck at work 40 hours a week. I've now been a stay-at-home mum for 2 years and I've never been happier. I just love being in control of my own time. Several people have actually commented that I seem different these days, a lot happier and more relaxed!

@ThePrionOne

I saw a Facebook post around Christmas that rang completely true for me. It said that current working hours and conditions were based on a model of working when it was normal for a man to be working, but would come home to a wife who ran the home and would have food ready and so on. Look at period dramas like All Creatures Great and Small or The English Game and before marriage, working men lived in a house where there was a housekeeper.

I feel the same as you. For many years, I was married and either didn’t work outside the home, or worked part time. Now I am alone with my teenage son and work full time. I am permanently exhausted and my house is nowhere near as tidy and clean as I would like it to be as I don’t have the energy. I also can’t find the head space to read books, something I used to love.

The idea of living like this for the next 17 years (when I will be retirement age - can’t do it earlier as I haven’t been saving for retirement while married) appalls me. Not sure what I am going to do, but I don’t think I can carry on that long unless something changes.

Yes I've often thought about this. Equality is all well and good, but I think there is sometimes a place for gender roles... A very controversial opinion, I know! I am all for equal opportunities and women having the same choices as men, but things work better in our house when we both have our separate roles. Sorry I don't mean to turn the thread into a feminism debate, but I do think this is the reason we are all so overworked these days.

@ThePrionOne that's a fairly meaningless comparison though. In the times you are talking about, running a home was incredibly hard work. Laundry was done by soaking and scrubbing. Floors were scrubbed, swept and if you were lucky you might have a carpet sweeper. Food was purchased often daily, everything was cooked from scratch. Fireplaces had to be cleaned out and fires built if you wanted to stay warm.

So one reason the model of women working in the home existed was because there was MASSES of work. And that's why there was often a home help and people lived near family, so you could handle the childcare whilst getting heaps of physical housework done.

I do have sympathy for thinking about the decades of boring work ahead but honestly not that much sympathy. Working conditions are so much better than they ever were. I think you have to grit your teeth and buckle down, or apply for part time work and be poorer.

The other thing that strikes me is that we are frequently moaned at to be more healthy or eco friendly and told people managed these things in the past. Well yeah because there was a non-working member of the household and often some domestic help. The missing part of discussions on health and the environment is the fact that both parents often work long hours outside the home and don't have the time or energy for these changes.

@CaptainCabinets

I voted YABU because why would you choose to do a PGCE if you didn’t want to teach? Surely suggestions that you use your specific teaching qualification are to be expected?

One in three teachers drop out of the profession within five years.

It's an extremely demanding and underpaid career.

Many people go into it naively wanting to make a difference to young people's lives, only to find the realities of teaching are gruelling and nothing like what they expected.

Please do not berate someone for doing a PGCE and then changing their mind.

It’s not meaningless at all. I understand fully that there was a lot more work involved in running a house then, but the upshot was still that many men would arrive home from work to a clean house, a hot meal, and a restful evening being looked after. I’m not talking about how the women had it, I’m talking about the difference for the working man.

When I first qualified into my profession, I worked very long hours and came home to an empty house and to make my own food. I often wished I had a wife to come home to. Previously, I probably would have lived at home until I moved out.

Years ago I trained as a teacher but found I didn't actually want to teach, so I used my degree and qualifications to do other jobs instead.

At one point I worked in finance but it was as a staff trainer. Later I moved into University work as a student support officer. In recent years I was a matron at an independent school.

All those jobs allowed me to work part-time; as a matron I just did 3 days a week and I had all the holidays off without the commitment of having to do lesson planning in that time, which the teachers had to do. It meant I had an income but also got my life back. It made working feel so much easier, and I felt less "tied" to a job.

Think about what you can do with what you already have, and what sort of a life you want. For instance, some matron/housemistress jobs allow you to live in. You may get paid a smaller amount, but all your bills and living costs are paid, so you can save, plus you get long holidays in which to travel and see the world....or whatever it is you want to do. There are other options if you look which might make you feel less disillusioned.

OP - you are getting suggestions of teaching and social work because you have a PGCE. However, that was only a year of your life. If you don't want to do teaching or social work, then don't. They are both very stressful and full-on careers and will burn you out if you don't have the grit for them.

You just need to make a decision, stop feeling guilty about that decision, and commit to it. If you want to get an office/ admin job from home, or whatever job might be less stressful for you, then do it, commit to it and progress in that career.

If you want to retrain then retrain - but make sure it's in something you will actually feel OK about doing.

At the end of the day you just have to make a decision and it won't be perfect (nothing is), and most careers take years of work before you get to a place where you can have more autonomy, but you will get there if you just commit.

What a waste of time effort resource and possible government funding if you've done a PGCE and now don't want to use it.

From your post it doesn't sound like even the prospect of being a teacher is the problem - you just don't want to work full time 🤷🏻‍♀️

Newsflash that's just life and I'm surprised no one prepared you for this - it is a hard slog and if you don't want to work 45 hours to "struggle to make ends meet" then you need to put time and effort into building a career

I worked full-time for about 18 years after graduating, except for my time PGCE training. I bought a house, had a child and now can relax a little.

I now work 2 days a week as a teacher and for another 1-2 days a week I do a mix of supply and teaching sessions for visiting school groups at a outdoor centre. I love it: it's varied and interesting.

OP, the work thing is hard. But have an aim in mind and slog through for a bit. I went part-time a little before my 40th birthday. If you can make it that far and become a bit more financially secure, then you might see a way to dropping some days and having more flexibility in life.

Lot of helpful replies on here.
However there's really no need to berate somebody for doing a PGCE and not entering teaching. Do you know how many people as PP said, leave the profession after completing it ?!
How exactly are you supposed to know if it's for you or not ? Ridiculous thing to say. Have you always used your education for a job that is directly related to your degree, has everyone? Not at all

No I'm not lazy, and it's not that I 'don't want to work'. I've never been out of work, I've always worked full time.

No, it isn't 'supposed" to be a hard slog. I've just been down and feel like I've gone from post to post with poor conditions, or bullying in the workplace.

I agree, I do need to build a career, I just need to stick to something and find something that I enjoy and progress in.

If your disillusionment is about full time work, what did you expect from adult life? That you wouldn’t need to work it just work a few hours and have the same lifestyle as people working full time hours.
In terms of the degree itself, there are graduate schemes in the private sector offered to people with almost any degree. Have you applied for these?

Yes, for me it's the feeling of being tied for so much of my life. That I could pick any random weekday this year and know what I will be doing - working. I've worked full-time since I graduated more than 25 years ago; never had more than a two week break apart from 6 weeks off when I had major surgery, and my only hope of a break from it all is to be able to semi-retire in 10-15 years and take a part-time, low-stress job to top up my small pension.

The key, as already been said, is finding something you enjoy, work you value, organisation you're proud to work for etc.
I have all three and love my job.

@MichaelAndEagle

The key, as already been said, is finding something you enjoy, work you value, organisation you're proud to work for etc. I have all three and love my job.

It's OK if you can find that. I can't think of a single organisation I would be proud to work for. They are all - public and private - full of absolute nonsense, inflated egos and salaries at the top, reinventing the wheel every five years ...

Fair enough but two out of the three would probably be enough.