To think it's impossible to love your job? If you do love going to work, what job do you do?

[PuddingLane]

I'm thinking of retraining to try to find a job I love, but wondering if maybe the grass is always greener and most people don't love their jobs and settling for something that's 'ok' and pays the bills is how it is for most people?

I love my job. I'm a foster carer and I care for 2 soon to be 3 teen boys all with learning disabilities who all love sport. I take them to play a lot of Football, Cricket and new teen loves Rugby. I love nothing more than watching them playing in a cricket pitch. I take a big picnic, plenty of sun screen and a very comfortable chair with a big cushion in.

Critical care nurse, love it. Had a bumpy ride over the last five years for obvious reasons but glad I stuck it out. After 18 years I doubt I’ll leave ever.

I love my job AND it’s well paid AND I have great colleagues AND I get to work from home all the time. I’m an educational consultant and I know that what I do helps people to qualify in a profession that will support them and their families for good. I count my blessings every day

I’m happy with my work situation at the moment but I had to go freelance to get there. I’m a writer and editor which I do flexibly around my children and I also teach yoga classes. I retrained relatively recently in the second one and what I would say as someone doing a job based on a passion is that it looks and feels very different from the ‘inside’. I thought the job was teaching (which I do love) but it’s also… admin, marketing, social media, excel spreadsheets, research, doing CPD training, holding keys for various places, booking/liaising with room owners, worrying about loads of stuff that’s outside of my control, dealing with complaints based on those things!! I’m still doing it at the moment but I do think that if you train in something you love then you lose something intangible too, it will never again be the same as when it was more mysterious to you!

I love mine! I work for a holiday company as product and purchasing manager - I'm responsible for selecting and contracting hotels in my allocated destinations, checking customer feedback, getting offers in and making sure sales are coming in against target. Each day is different, i get to travel overseas several times a year and stay in the hotels, and interact with different departments.

I've worked for a few different companies but I've been with this one for 15 years and been involved in several side projects. My colleagues are great and mainly really supportive of each other.

I’m a children’s social worker and have been for over a decade. I used to love my job. I do still love parts of it. I hate my employer.

My sister is a cm and is paid really well now x

Just want to say how lovely it is to hear teachers and nurses saying they love their jobs. I feel so grateful for the people working in these professions, making a difference to people’s lives

Most of the time I like my job but the proportion of time I dislike it is increasing so my New year's resolution is to get a different job. I work in education.

I'm a youth support worker and do 24 hour shifts in a 1-1 in their home. I help to support their transition intion leaving care, showing them life skills, cooking , budgeting and support them when they are struggling emotionally, it can be emotionally draining if a young person is having a bad day but they rely on us to give them that support. I used to be a chef 20 plus year previous to that but I have found my purpose and wouldn't change it. It also means I can do 2 shifts a week and can have 5 full days home and spend a good chunk of time with family and socialize which is also important to me.

I love being a sahm. But in terms of paid work I'm not sure it's possible for me to love anything. I feel like even if it's something I love as a hobby, the act of HAVING to do it would then make it unenjoyable if that makes sense. There are certainly things I'd hate less than others though.

It's not impossible in general though. I know many people who love their jobs.

So lovely hearing how many people enjoy their jobs! Food for thought for me 🙂 Thanks for all the replies!

I love my job. Voluntary sector. I feel like I make things better in my little patch. Pay is crap though - you cut your cloth.

I love my job. I am an administrative co-ordinator for a centre which offers assessment, therapies and research involvement opportunities to people with Parkinson's disease. We operate as part of a University because our type of service is new and heavily entrenched in the research side of things.

I was involved from the outset (in 2023) so although my job is administrative, I work alongside management and have quite a lot of involvement in how we run and are evolving. My role is quite expansive and involves working on and managing the Reception desk (therefore I know all the members well) as well as other as administrative elements and some PR stuff.

I work with a great team with excellent bosses, who are all engaged and enthusiastic about what we are doing for the local Parkinson's community and beyond and the members are great - many are very inspiring and many just need our help so it's a privilege to be able to do that.

It wouldn't suits the majority of Mners however I fear, as I am in my 50s and earning less than 30k which will probably my scandalise most of you from what I read. I know from experience however that I'd rather be happier at work and earning less than the reverse.

Public sector role and same area as I have always worked in, but currently I have a great team, great boss and two peers within office who are also great so the whole 3 teams work well together. While my commute is getting worse with traffic, I have never been happier.
But I am well aware to enjoy it as I know that when my team, boss or peers change, there could be an awkward or lazy replacement and it would change.

I think a big part of liking your job, is being very good at it, what ever it may be.

Im shite at my job because i don’t care about it at all (not that i want to be unemployed, but the industry is so boring), so I just trundle through the days which is rather depressing.

That sounds amazing. Where do you sleep when you’re on shift?

I work in a nursery and love most aspects of my job. Don’t love how low paid it is but I’d much rather do this than be miserable in a higher paid office job!

I loved my job but I was a nuclear physicist so it would take a while to train for if you are not a scientist.

As soon as you monetise the thing you love it kills it somehow

”things I once enjoyed….. just keep me employed now”

”things I’m longing for… one day I’ll be bored of”

make me think of these lyrics by Billie eilish

I love my job, but as PP have correctly said I don’t love every minute of it. In fact there’s an awful lot of stuff that pisses me right off. But I’m head of operations for an SME which I was in on the ground floor for, and there’s now 100 of us. I’m a fairly major shareholder and my hope is we can sell up soon enough that I can pay off my mortgage, stop commuting and corporate balls and then take a lower paying job doing something else that interests me. So….do I love it or do I love what I hope it will bring me? Bit of both

I love my job I work as a manger in forensic mh it’s rehabilitating our residents back into society

It’s certainly challenging at times and also very rewarding

I do not like that over the past few years more and more work has been added this is mainly administrative

and the pay is rubbish for what I do

interesting to read pp who work in hospices saying how much they love their jobs. Years ago I did some training in a hospice and I have never met/worked with such a positive team not just the medical staff but everyone there. I know a number had relatives that has died at the hospice and they wanted to give something back some voluntary. It really felt people felt honoured to work there (I feel emotional thinking about it I was so moved by the whole experience of working there)

Yikes. The commute is insane, 5 hours everyday? Does that not like you?

I love my job. I work in a library. That having been said, I echo what others have mentioned - a lot of it is dependent on one’s team, the company echoing one’s own values.
my first library was extremely stressful (very high paced, and heavy on the social work which i don’t feel I have an aptitude for.) but my team and manager were wonderful.
I moved to a different library in order to lower the stress, and my stress did go away, but my manager is a bully, to the point where I am out on sick leave and don’t want to return to that library… hoping to find a transfer before I have to go back.

there’s nothing worse than spending a good chunk of one’s life being undermined and bullied. :(

so yes, it’s possible to love a job, and at the same time, even the most lovely environment can be ruined by one bullying personality.