To think most jobs are boring and do not give people fulfilment ?

[HavefunGomadLivingInTheCity]

Perhaps day 80percent maybe even 90 ?

it’s just a way to get money and pay bills and live and maybe have a few holidays and treats etc Along the way

I just find it fake how younger generations are told they need to find something that going to make them feel so good

How fucking depressing, OP. Just because you haven't found fulfilment in your own career, doesn't mean you need to be dragging your niece down. Maybe she'll find a job she loves, maybe she won't. Your post is very 'black and white thinking', in the sense you are framing most jobs as drudgery just to pay the bills. In reality, I think a lot of people quite enjoy their jobs.

What do you do?

I run my own dog walking and pet sitting business :)

I disagree. I think plenty of jobs give fulfilment.

I absolutely love my job. From my point of view the work is interesting, stimulating and rewarding. It's also meaningful and making a difference to people's lives.

Of course there are parts of the job that are boring or a pain to complete, but I think any job is like that.

I think there is a large element of luck involved.

E.g. some people genuinely enjoy working with numbers, solving data problems, coding, etc - and they will find it a lot easier to find enjoyable and well paying work than someone who's preference is less marketable.

But there are lots of jobs in lots of different areas where you see people who have a real passion for them. I am sure most people have come across teachers, nurses, sales people and others who seem born to do their jobs. And I can think of lots of "chatty" professions - e.g. hairdressers, taxi drivers, etc - where I've met people who clearly genuinely love interacting with people all day.

I am lucky to have enjoyed my job for my entire working life, so my DF's advice of "find a job you like, and you will never work a day in your life" rings true for me.

At the end of the day most jobs are things you are paid to do and would not choose to spend your free time doing unless paid.

If they were super fun exciting things people would choose to do them for free. There's a word for these activities. Hobbies. Many people do hobbies to a high skill level that they have worked hard to achieve, but fundamentally they are activities which are enjoyable and fulfilling so people are happy to do them for free or even pay to do them.

I think a lot of young people have been given a notion that they must find something exciting and fulfilling etc to pursue a career in it and have unrealistic expectations of work.

In reality most jobs:

• have some fulfilling/rewarding moments
• have some work that is demanding/challenging/stressful
• have a lot of fairly dull work, including dealing with annoying people or frustrating systems, repetitive or unrewarding admin/process stuff

some people genuinely enjoy working with numbers, solving data problems, coding, etc - and they will find it a lot easier to find enjoyable and well paying work than someone who's preference is less marketable

This is true. In my experience some people also have a strong competitive streak and their work fulfills this - targets to beat, goals to achieve, competing to win sales or new accounts. For most people this isn't what makes them tick and you can't force yourself to care.

These are those people who tend to choose to work extra hours, miss family things etc to work. Thats great for them if they genuinely their work so rewarding but its important that they realise other people don't feel like that and its not reasonable to expect most staff to offer than level of commitment and enthusiasm to a job.

People have always moved for work or study or to make a life to suit them, though. They make new friends and support networks in their new places. And family doesn’t cease to matter when it’s geographically distant. To study for the career I wanted, I needed to leave my home country. I spent nearly two decades living in different countries outside my own. It was challenging, and wonderful, and I made friends for life and learned languages and expanded my horizons far beyond what staying in my hometown and home country could have done. .

I enjoy my job in the context of being paid to do it but its not how I'd spend time if it didn't pay well.

There are some "fulfilling" low stress jobs I'm aware of (pet sitting always seems to come up) but they are generally low paid, insecure, self employed etc with no pension and would not allow me to provide adequately for my family.

Awwww I can see how that's an enjoyable job 🐶 dogs are INFINITELY nicer to spend time with than people

I’m in a job that I can do with my eyes closed but I wouldn’t say I overly enjoy it. I get perhaps 30% job satisfaction from it. It pays the bills.

I would love not to work and have a hobby job. Or be a wealthy house wife with a couple of horses, plenty of animals and a flower farm. I would definitely find fulfilment there.

I love my job, and work with a lot of younger people also in the same role as me. I do think it’s not exactly the norm though, but you can still find jobs, you might not absolutely love but still enjoy elements of it, be that the office, or the work etc

My dc are presumably in the same age bracket as your niece, and, the two that are working are pretty fulfilled in their jobs, and have both bought houses for FAR less than £375K though nowhere near as low as £60K .

I agree with one of the first replies, pointing out that you can 'be fulfilled' in a job, and not find it boring, without "loving it" and "having a passion for it" 24/7.
I'm retired now, but look back on my working life feeling it was pretty good overall, but that doesn't mean I sprang out of bed every Monday morning, wishing I could spend even more hours working. Just it was 'worthwhile' and the way I did my job made a difference to the lives of many people over the years. Of course there were things about it that were frustrating or annoying, but that doesn't mean, taking it as a whole, it wasn't fulfilling.

My dc feel the same about their jobs.

IMO, you spend more time at work than anywhere else, or doing anything else during your working life, so it is no bad thing to encourage anyone, whatever age, to try to find something they enjoy, or are challenged by (in a good way). That doesn't mean telling them to only work in a job that is "brilliant" 100% of the time, it means looking at the whole package and asking if it is something you are glad you have done.

Yeah, I feel very lucky! I love all the dogs like they're my own and the fact that I can spend my days watching them run and play is just amazing.

I agree and so I have encouraged my DC and financially supported them when necessary so that they could secure jobs in careers they really enjoy.

I absolutely love my job, I work for a political NFP. I really do appreciate how lucky I am.

My job isn't boring but it's very stressful. Jobs I've had that I enjoyed got boring within a year and I stopped enjoying them. I think finding a balance of stimulating enough but not high stress is tough. There are people who find that job for themselves but I think you're right about it being in a minority and an unrealistic goal for most young people.

Considering how much time people spend at work, I think it is important that there is something about the job that appeals to you, even if it is not the actual work itself. It might be clients/customers, or your colleagues, the benefits, environment etc. Or just the pay

My job is mostly fine and I think that's a realistic aim 🤣 I definitely don't love it, but nor do I hate it either. I work for intelligent and reasonable directors and have a really good team working for me. Honestly the people you work for and with have a much greater impact on work happiness rather than the actual work I think.

I knew you'd get a load of criticism from all the MNers who 'adore' their job, and I'm sure that that's possible, but it's not the reality for a lot of us. The fact is that work is often boring, stressful or frustrating, and for almost all of us it takes up a lot of time, which inevitably squeezes out the many things we would rather be doing but can't get paid for. I've done a variety of things, some of which I've enjoyed more than others. I think the key is to think not so much in terms of job roles or professional sectors, but in terms of what features of your work life are more, or less, important to you. For me, I like a high degree of control over how I spend my working day, and that's more important to me than what hours I work or what I earn, so I've spent a lot of my working life being self-employed. What I've also discovered though is that almost any work is less stressful to me than having money worries. And that what gives you a feeling of fulfilment, or might constitute your legacy, doesn't have to be your work. I wish there was more appreciation of that in society.

I remember my mother scoffing at having 'careers' guidance lessons at school in the 80s. She said 'most people have jobs, not careers, they are setting kids up for disappointment'
I didn't understand at the time, but as I've got older I see what she meant.

I was one of those posters but 99% of my working life has been absolutely shit. I trained to do something and did that on and off since I left college.

I didn’t realise how much I hated it until last year and then I was offered my dream job as a result of proving myself to the relevant people and ensuring I was visible for those who make the decisions.

Or you could see her as advocating lowering children’s ambitions and limiting their horizons.

I like my job about 70-80% of the time which I think is pretty good. Some bits are boring and there are too many meetings! but generally I like what I do and it provides some decent opportunities for creative thinking. My colleagues are largely nice and I work hybrid with a lovely office to enjoy when I do go in.

it’s corporate and it isnt directly helping anyone in the way the doctors/teachers etc do but it contributes to the wider economy and keeps me purposeful! I feel quite lucky to be honest

I work to get paid.

My job is the least interesting and least important thing in my life

That’s true , it could turn a passion into a chore with deadlines