To not want a career?

[Holl90]

Anybody else feel the same? I’m happy as I am in my job and don’t really want to progress or want a career? I feel like I should want it though?

You need money to live well. Are you expecting someone else to have a career, and you to benefit from that? Or are you happy with less?

@PolynesianParadise, I think youve misunderstood, the OP has a job and is quite happy, they havent said anything about relying 93n someone else to provide a lifestyle.

Im with you OP, I earn a decent salary, enjoy my job and am happy to leave climbing the career ladder to someone else!

I am a teacher and I don’t want to progress any further. I have done once but I don’t like it: it inevitably involves managing people which I’m not very good at.

I’m a nurse and never got higher than a band 6. Now I’m back down to a 5 and very happy, I don’t need the stress.

Yep. I love my job, but have always resisted any progression. Happy where I am.
I can pay the bills and not get too stressed.
I think we're lucky!

Don’t see an issue with with and I am very career focused.

Mum didn’t have a career, just jobs. Dads job is one that’s perceived as a Career job. But he stayed at the same level his whole working life. He is a very happy retired 66 year old. He paid a lot into his pension and brought a good wage home and that was enough for him.

Mum did regret it a bit. But not majorly. She was also quite happy with her life until she died.

Different things suit different people.

YANBU, I am an office worker and you have to have a development plan - there is no option to say you're happy with not progressing through the ranks. It is as if that is not a valid choice - it absolute is, we'd get nowhere as a business if everyone wanted to be CEO and no one was happy doing my (and countless other) jobs...

Yanbu, as long as you are able to earn enough to live etc.

Yabu if you are choosing to do a bare minimum/turning down opportunities to progress or train to earn more because you plan to rely on someone else to maintain your lifestyle.

It's a perfectly valid approach @Holl90 there are plenty of civil servants where I work, who have been in the same role and same grade for their whole career. They are very much valued and needed as their role is an essential routine job and they don't want to do anything else

I earn less then 30k though, I would like to earn more but I have just never been career driven?

The director where I work recognises there are those happy in their current job who provide valued work, have no interest in promotion or moving to other roles, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Work is important but not the only thing, and as long as you have what people in HR call a 'work-life balance', seems fine to me.

I'm the same. To climb the ladder in my line of work would been managing people. I did that in my late 20s and hated it and wouldn't want to do it again. It's not worth the salary increase in my opinion. I'm happy as I am. We get a small pay increase every year and the pension is very good. It's fairly stable and I know that if I were to be made redundant I would get a decent amount. I only 3 work 3 days a week at the moment through choice. My husband is the higher earner and we are both fine with that. I've earnt more at some points in our long relationship and everything goes in the same pot. He works in IT but he also has no interest in climbing the ladder. He moved jobs recently and got a 20% payrises for a less stressful job it seems!
We have a nice enough house in a good area, we both have a great work life balance. We go abroad every year. We're able to save. That's enough for us
I know once my children are older I'll up my hours and that will mean more into savings

YANBU.

Finally in my 50s I understand myself and am confident enough to say what I actually want.

I like being able to do an entry level job really, really well. Every time I've been promoted I've regretted it. It always comes with loads of extra baggage and stress for a couple of extra grand.

When I applied for my current job I was asked the usual 'where do you see yourself in 5 years' question. I answered honestly, 'doing this job as an expert'. And I've stuck to that during all of my Development Reviews.

Fortunately in my workplace there is scope for 'promotion' within role, as an acceptance that you can deal efficiently with tricky and obscure cases that newer people are baffled by.

I am happy to support teammates with some of their cases but swerve doing regular training meetings. We have a team coach whose job description covers that. She is a grade higher and I have constantly avoided being persuaded to do that job. There is a lot of hassle for an extra £2k per year.

I work a 9-5 and leave my job when I switch off my computer. Nothing to bring home and worry about.

DH does a much more challenging job, because he would be bored with mine. He has periods of time when he works really long hours, evenings and weekends. I pick up the slack there with shopping, cooking etc and also proof reading his reports. We are a team. He has chosen his route and I have chosen mine.

I think it's fine to find the right level for you, so long as you can pay your way

I have had a few casual type jobs... definitely not a career. (Just got unlucky with jobs early on and now I can see the benefits of it as my work life balance is better than my peers!)
As long as you are happy and have enough money, go for it!

Saaaaaame. I have so many things I’d rather focus on:

Garden, house, family, friends, reading, writing (my actual career but I need a day job)

Annoyingly my work is very “reviews! Progress! Training! Climb the ladder!” Just fuck off and let me do my job well, earn my money for my garden and house and life, and clock off and not think about it. Zero desire to strive and take on more work, thanks.

I suppose what I mean is I am happy with it for now whilst the kids are young, I don’t really feel I can take on any more responsibility, I find it hard enough getting them out in the morning, getting nursery bags ready, after school run childcare sorted…I don’t have much left to give?

I've never had a career and likely never will. I work to have enough money to live and enjoy quite a simple life. I have never understood what's so appealing about pouring everything you have into a job. It probably helps that I worked with people at the end of their life and not one of them wished they'd been more career focused. The wishes were that they'd spent more time with family, travelling or enjoying hobbies.

Surely you will still get pay rises periodically? I really can’t abide that first comment asking if you expect someone else to earn the money for you. You earn a good wage, you don’t need to progress, there isn’t room at the top for everyone. And it’s not all it’s cut out to be anyway! Don’t be so harsh on yourself OP, there is a pressure for women to rise to the top now that we ‘can’, we ‘should.’ I am a teacher, and it is perfectly acceptable that I stay as a teacher, not a year group lead, or deputy head or anything stressful for an extra £100 a month - it’s not worth it. I just want to teach. That is all.

@TheVillageBaker I couldn’t agree more, my DH pours everything into his job…stays late etc and I just don’t think I could do that, yes he earns good money but he misses put on the kids so much, I’d rather earn less (obviously still be able to manage) he won’t get this time back

I agree. I love being a band five nurse. Have done for 18 years. I got a secondment as a band 6 and I hate it!

Oh I don’t want this to sound like I sit back and let DH do it so that I don’t have to. We would easily survive if we were both on the same amount as me, he just chooses to the other option for his ego I think.

And I'm actually financially much worse off as Im boy doing as many unsocial hours. And possibly paying more tax etc.

You must be incredibly lucky if you can easily survive on c.60K combined with the current cost of living crisis. I’m guessing that you have enough money for treats etc. And no childcare costs? Inherited money for cheap mortgage?

Most people don’t want a ‘career’. Myself included, and I’m somewhat of a high flier.However we need money to live. And nobody’s going to pay you loads more for doing the exact same job for 10 years.

Companies push progression because a lot of people don’t like to hear the above. They keep wanting more pay. … yes experience counts but there’s always a ceiling for roles.

Yes we have a cheap mortgage. I’m not saying it would be as it is now but we would absolutely manage. I honestly feel the more money you make, the more money you spend on rubbish!