Meeee!

I have no job. Thus I have a job I love.

And I'm also wondering the best ways to encourage other bunnies how to go after jobs they'd actually like?

I've started out liking most of my jobs. After a year I tolerate them. Three, dislike them, by Year Four, it's hell and by hook or by crook I'm out. I'll try and break the cycle this time, but I have no idea how.

I don't, but I'm currently in training that will allow me to have the job I really truly want.

I do. Love is putting it strongly (I've had jobs I loved more than this one) but I have a high degree of satisfaction with my job. It presents interesting challenges, gives me some nice opportunities, and is just about right in terms of my general career trajectory. Basically, I do love my work in that it is values-based, allows me to work with smart, interesting people, and has a positive effect on people's lives.

Some days are better than others, certainly, but I could probably say I love my job. The money's terrible, but everything else is pretty good. Even when I'm feeling pessimistic, I still say that I like it better than any other job I've ever had in my life.

I like my job, but I don't think anyone in my generation is cut out for the ol 8-5. We all seem to be uniformly lazy and unproductive.

Hehe, keep telling yourself that.

Not me! Although I'm feeling a bit more positively inclined towards it than I was a couple months ago.

Jon, did you actually finally leave DumbCo? Did you finally get laid off, or quit, or get fired for peeing on Urinal Talker?

I like my job very much. That fact does not stop me from slacking off as much as humanly possible.

I get paid to do something that I would be doing in my free time anyway, along with a whole hell of a lot of nice perks, so while I may not love my job, I certainly wouldn't trade it for another one if I had the choice.

I have zero job satisfaction most days, but the needle rarely goes negative either. I don't really know what to do about employment—I'm lazy, shy, and have my doubts even about the things that I could in theory strive toward. Being Pretty Creative isn't a clear path, I guess is my problem.

I like how much time I can steal at work most days, and I like the rare moments of actual problem solving that come up. And it pays pretty good for random schlubbo job that fell into my lap, basically. Objectively, it is a good job, I just don't have any love for it.

I love my job, even with its inevitable headaches (usually involving authors who almost inevitably feel that they can't possibly be expected to conform to something as ridiculous as a deadline; for god's sake, am I MAD??!).

After so many years of being paid crap wages doing stuff I didn't give two fucks about (Marx's theory of alienation, anyone?), it's wonderful to produce work I care genuinely about, and to finally make a decent living in the process. I truly wish everyone could experience it.

We all seem to be uniformly lazy and unproductive.

You know, I used to be, but in recent years I seem to have contracted some form of the good ol' protestant work ethic. Which is tres amusing, given that I'm not a protestant...

I don't think anyone in my generation is cut out for the ol 8-5. We all seem to be uniformly lazy and unproductive.

Pet peeve time: I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate this sort of talk. Mainly because it's untrue and often used by people to excuse themselves. I work damn hard, and I'll be boss one day, and I ain't ashamed of that.

I can mumble and groan about my job, but I really do like it. I like the regular customers, I like the majority of my co-workers, it's generally the same every day, but different, if that makes any sense.

I do. It's almost like having a part-time job, doing two days a week at home. And compared with my old life as a divorce lawyer when I had 150-200 open files at any one time, my present docket of no more than 40 cases is a piece of piss.

I like my job BUT right now it's interfering with my life and also, for a variety of reasons I feel that I've been placed in an unfair situation here *cough*doing the work of the acting director without the title, power or extra $$*cough* so I'm considerably less motivated than I was about 6 months ago. Which makes me feel guilty, because I really am being a tremendously slack and bad employee lately and since I don't have a boss at this point, noone really realizes it except me. I keep giving myself stern lectures but it does no good. Oh well.

I want to work a year, have a year off, or six months on, six months off kind of thing. I get bored with working.

I really love my job. I do work that is interesting to me and nearly every day I feel like I'm improving the company in a positive way. My peers are pretty good or pretty great, and I feel like I want to retire here.

TPS - sorry, but you're not really in my generation.I'm talking about Gen Y or Gen Next or whatever they call it. Although I understand how frustrating it is to be typified by a generation. In the future, I'll say, "I'm lazy and unproductive."

Wait, Gen Y is lazy and unproductive? I thought that was Gen X. Slack.

I fucking hate my job. Hate it. I like what I do, okay, but this place is toxic. On the other hand, they pay me really well, and there are a few lifestyle benefits that keep me here for now. Hopefully, there will be changes coming this spring that will shake things up one way or another.

For the first time in my life, I am being paid at a level I think I deserve for the work I put in and I finally have access to the resources I need to do the job properly, instead of having to make do with what I can wheedle out of a boss who has no idea how his/her penny-pinching make my work almost impossible and just sucks the life out of me. While I don't like my job well enough that I wouldn't leave in a heartbeat if I won the lottery, I don't have to drag myself off every morning with a heavy heart that way I have had to in every other job I have had. I also have access to opportunities to further my "career" and, not only do I no longer have to hide the fact that I have further ambitions, I am expected to take advantage of any and all opportunities that come my way. My current boss was happy to be my referee for a job I recently applied for (one that I will have one day, because it fits perfectly with my skills, experience and ambitions) and we have had a couple of conversations about jobs we have each applied for recently.

I know that working for the government is not seen as somewhere where you should be happy and that public servants are generally sneered at by all and sundry, but I am and I don't give a flying fuck what people think. In any case, I get a lot of feedback from our "clients" that they have been pleasantly surprised at my willingness to be flexible and reasonable and to understand their perspective (having worked on their side of the industry for 14 years helps there, of course) and from my bosses that they are pleased with the rigour and consistency that I apply to my work, so I am about as happy with my job as I ever expect to be.

According to Wikipedia, I am Generation Y.

I did like my job. The ability to peruse the internet at will, great responsibility and a variety of things to do - all involving solving complicated problems, which I love.

Then (while on vacation) they took away the good part of what I did, lied to me about why they did it, lied about giving me something else to fill up my time, and have since cast me aside. Also, my commute has gone from 45 minutes to 2 hours over a span of two years. I now hate my job.

Yes, I'm looking for another job, but it's not going well.

I'm generation x and I am totally a lazy ass slacker and proud of it, too.

I am expected to take advantage of any and all opportunities that come my way. My current boss was happy to be my referee for a job I recently applied for

This kind of experience is really wild and one which I am only now even aware of. At every other point in my career, wanting to move up was considered somehow suspect. Now, my boss is urging me to pursue an advanced degree and providing access to career coaching. It's interesting to realize that once you hit a certain point, it's like you're in this career-development fraternity, where people will help you out with your ambitions.

[Of course, there probably comes another later point where people competitively work to thwart your ambitions or try push aside dinosaur you so the new blood can get in. But I'll worry about that another time.]

That's why there are other valuable things in life outside of work, too.

Someday, but probably not someday soon.

That said, if i had been at all sensible in my youth, i'd have tried to be a public library worker, as it's probably the best job you can have working in the community that doesn't involved all the truly soul sucking parts of working in a community. And libraries are the centers of community in so many ways.
But despite the fact i can be deadly pragmatic, i was not at all sensible then and i'm not sure about now.
Now if i went back to chool for anything it seems like it should be something in law or science where the school part is absolutely necessary to be accredited.
i've already ruled out law and so psychneurolinguisticoflibbertygibbettheramedical seems like the only thing that would be sufficently worth the time and energy.

Otherwise, i think i'd like to direct.
Writing and drawing is so much cheaper.

i'm generation x and i can work so hard and long far too well hung porn stars find their balls retracting back into an undropped state.
But, boy, do i know how to fully enjoy doing absolutely nothing.
And i mean being people think you are dead still and just thinking, or not thinking of anything at all.

As far as the "this generation is lazy" thing - I agree that the current crop of young-uns are not prepared to work. At least, they are not prepared to start working at the bottom of the ladder - they all want to leave school and jump into a $50k job with great benefits and have no concept of the amount of life and work experience that people doing these jobs have behind them. I don't think it's laziness as much as an inflated sense of self-importance that comes from being treated with kid gloves all their lives and never being forced to wait for anything or having to fend for themselves in any way. I am horrified when I hear from people my age and older that they have kids approaching 30 who still live at home with all the benefits and who, often, make no financial contribution to the household. Scarily, this seems to be almost the norm now - what is going to happen when they eventually have to go out on their own? They will fall on their arse, that's what. You know what else? It is the fault of us as parents for not making them learn about the realities of life. That's the most improtant job we have as parents, in my opinion - to prepare our kids for life as it really is.

Working for myself the last couple of years was isolating at first, but it enabled me to assume family roles I couldn't have any other way. The commissions on a good contract I negotiated for a foriegn business alliance in January will take care of my income needs for some time. I'd like to continue working with this alliance, but doing so means scaling up sharply, perhaps taking on employees, etc. Accordingly, I will help them find other commercial channels, and consult on specific projects of my choosing, and I'm quite happy with that.

More money means little to me. More time and choice in what I do is quite valuable.

I'd give almost anything to have a job I loved. But I'm instead stuck with one that pays well but is slowly sucking away my soul. I substitute a number of hobbies for the satisfaction I don't get on the job.

I love my job. I work in an office, but can wear whatever I want to work. No one says anything about my uncomely facial hair. I get tons of free books and have been paid to take a trip to get more free books, I get to learn one side of the "industry," and I get paid to write, and make my web design skills better.

The only downside is that I don't get paid a lot to do it.

i am a public library librarian and i agree with most of that. the pay sucks, but the actual job is most excellent.

fwiw-getting a masters is absolutely required to be a librarian in all but the tiniest libraries.

I got let go/laid off. I'm collecting unemployment for a while while I plot my next move. I should sneak back in and pee on that guys shoe, but he'd prolly enjoy it.

At the moment I've loving it - there was a teeny team managing the company's intranet: me and my boss. My boss has just started on a six month sabbatical and I'm doing his and my job. I'm as busy as hell as all of a sudden I'm having to deal with everything - there's no-one to pass anything to. But, so far, it's good, challenging and hard work. Maybe it's the novelty/nreness, we'll see. But, potentially, it's a nice step up the career ladder, assuming all goes well.

Much of the time, I like my job. I would love, love, to be retired. I could putter, garden, do crafts, read, sleep late, etc. But if I hafta work, at least I work with interesting and mostly great people, in a lively environment. And it's a very short walk from home. And I have a window.

I've never really held jobs for more than four years. Jonmc's comment earlier about the job life cycle was pretty much my outlook too. I stayed six years at my last job, but only because I couldn't find exactly what I wanted after I got my MLS. Now I really do like my job and the things I do and the students and faculty I work with. It was a bit rough at first but things are smoothing out nicely now.

"Gen X is lazy" isn't quite the whole picture. I'm GenX, and I'm pretty hardworking and driven...but only at things I want to do. I think that's the difference; not that we're lazy, but that we pick and choose where to invest our energy.

I have some career-coaching info on GenX in the workplace. Generational theory is a big part of the management course I'm taking right now. I quote from the extensive course materials here:

"Xers were not socialized with the associations of the Industrial Social Contract [the system of 'company man' employment that prevailed from about 1890-1975] and came of age in a sociological reality which was virtually the direct opposite of the Boomer experience. From the perspective of the Xers, the wheels were coming off the economy. In their formative years, economic conditions suggested diminished opportunities and expectations:

--They were coming out of college between the recession of 1980 and the crash of 1989
--43 million jobs were 'downsized' from 1979-95. Many Xers saw parents lose benefits, get laid off, or end up underemployed. Industry did not keep its promises to reward loyalty.
--Wages stagnated; the national debt soared
--Money and attention was shifting from the young to the old as an aging population was living longer and demanding more and more money to fund INdustrial Era entitlements (pension funds, etc)

Given this experience, loyalty to employer makes no sense. The message internalized by GenX: "I cannot presume economic success, at least not on the old basis. Why do what my parents did? The trade-offs did not work for them. There is no good reason to follow that path."

There's more, including the latchkey kid phenomenon and the effects of widespread divorce. Divorce doubled from 1965 to 1975; we all were aware of broken marriages, our parents' or others'. Political leaders seemed to fail us too, as the idealism of the Civil and Human Rights movements faded into corruption. Quoting:

"Government protected the elderly and the crumbling world at their expense. Feelings of disenfranchisement ensued. Faith in politics was profoundly diminished by Watergate, Iran-Contra, and other corruption scandals...

...Xers believe they are left to fend for themselves with no mentors or guideposts, left to live by their wits. As such, they

--Have a hardened, pragmatic edge
--Are very independent and entrepreneurial
--Are not easily fooled; leery; not given to sentimentality
--Nomadic suvivalists
--Will not do mindless, meaningless work for long. They expect no payoff for such work. It seems a bad investiment."

It's generational theory, and as such, subject to the criticisms that most sociological theory is. However, it describes me and a lot of people I know to a T. I'm a hardworking Xer, but I expect good things to come from my own work and self-investment, not necessarily my employer or the overall economic environment. The 'lazy' tag is one applied by outsiders, who don't see us accepting the old-school employment agreement. I don't accept being called 'lazy;' though I do like to work in a more free-form, self-scheduled way, I get a lot done.

I think the main thing that contributes to my job satisfaction is that in this job, I get taken seriously when I point out that a particular approach/solution is bullshit. Most of my previous jobs had the issue that if I said, "if we do XYZ, it will cost us this much in time/money/resources, whereas if we do IJK, it will cost us much less." and then I'd get summarily ignored and usually end up paying in my time/resources (but ultimately their money). That drives me batshiat insane.

TPS: boy is my face red. I always thought you were like, 26! In a "Man I wish I was as cosmopolitan and grown-up as TPS is" sort of way.

Now I just feel dowdy and frumpy. And like I should quit and get a job I love, instead of a job I just like.

Haha, no, I am but a wee babee. And you are not dowdy and frumpy, I do not even want to hear that kind of trash talk about my pal muddgal!

This is from the girl wearing a pink shirt with red shoes, and two pairs of pants, who didn't brush her hair this morning. So, yea.

i have to say the newest generation out there does and has concerned me, because for a bunch of them it seems like they really need to have everything outlinesd in step by step instructions. i've seen promising "potential" just get sucked off into nothing as soon as they lack any solid definite structural track to guide them anywhere and there's something really disheartening about that.
i know possible reasons and implications and it's all much more than i want to get into right now.
Me tired. Fire pretty.

Also, I like the fact that I get to travel around a bit with my job, but I am not too pleased to be currently stuck in Mount Isa after having finished the job here in record time yesterday. My flight out is not until 6pm and it is currently 8.30am. I will have to check out of my hotel shortly, meaning I will be sitting at the airport for about eight hours. I mean, what kind of city has only one flight in and one flight out every day? Oh well, at least I will be able to catch up on some work for as long as the battery in my notebook lasts or if I can find somewhere to sit close to a power point.

I'm GenX, and I'm pretty hardworking and driven...but only at things I want to do. I think that's the difference; not that we're lazy, but that we pick and choose where to invest our energy.

...speaks for me too.

Also, I like the fact that I get to travel around a bit with my job

Gah. Today my brother flew out to Uganda to see the Ugandan premier of The Last King Of Scotland and to interview Forrest Whitaker. In no way am I jealous. Nooooooo, sireeee.

jonmc: The UT's outta here. No reason given, but he's no longer at DumbCo either.

i always got the impression that if you had a government job that wasn't heavy on the beaurahcrazy and politics, it could be pretty copacetic in a lot of ways.

No sir, I don't like it.

Well, I have found that you just have to accept a certain amount of beurocratic nonsense and not let it affect the way you operate. I just do the best I can within the framework and not let it bother me.

jonmc: The UT's outta here. No reason given, but he's no longer at DumbCo either.

Are you shitting (or in this case, pissing) me? Maybe I'll run into him in a bar, and then piss on his shoe.

He was just heartbroken that you're not there anymore, honey.

I'm not working now, but I've hated all the jobs I've had.

The mister really likes being a system admin. He's lucky and he knows it.

I had a job I loved. I don't have it anymore. I have a part-time gig that I love. My full-time, every day pays the mortgage job is fine but unlike the job I loved and the part-time job I love, if I had enough money so I didn't have to go my pays the mortgage job, I would never do it again.

I get paid a shed load of cash to do something I love. (Well, "shed load" for low mortgage no car me)
nuff said.

I don't love everything about my job, but I'm lucky to have it and it's teaching me a lot. I'm a lazy person who has always worked very hard.

I would love to have a job...

If you'd asked me a month ago, I would have told you I was bored out of my mind at work and wanted a new job - I was actively looking but being picky about it. But after our team meeting yesterday explaining what our mandate for the year will be, I'm actually excited about my job again after a year of doing not very much.

I mean, I've got it pretty good - when there's actually work, it's quite interesting and each day is different depending on the project - if we're looking into new opportunities, I get to research the competitive space and learn new things and if we're building a new business case, I get to put my (ahem) accountant hat on and crunch numbers. I actually brought work home tonight and I don't even mind all that much (although I'm procrastinating as I type this.)

I don't like my job very much.

But it beats the shit out of working in a meatpacking plant. After you've put in 55-60 hours a week scraping hotdog residue with the color and texture of babyshit out of machines, in the freezing fucking cold, surrounded by rotten hunks of beef, working alongside people who just did 10-15 year sentences for manslaughter, and all of this for a buck or two above the minimum wage, every other job is just a Sunday stroll in the park.

Sing it, orbiter.

Well said, j_p. Now I want to start a 'What's the worst job you've ever had?' thread, but instead I'll try to remember all the words to 'Three is a Magic Number.'

My flight out is not until 6pm and it is currently 8.30am. I will have to check out of my hotel shortly, meaning I will be sitting at the airport for about eight hours. I mean, what kind of city has only one flight in and one flight out every day?
Yay! There was an earlier flight after all (for some reason, QANTAS' Web site didn't show it) and I am now happily back in my office at only 2.30pm. I got to the check-in counter just as they were closing, so it was lucky I didn't take five more minutes in the shower.

eth, I've done some govt work that was downright cozy because it didn't involve politics at all and govt money is oh so lovely.

That is what i am saying, kitten.
And in some situations, it's damn hard to get fired.

I love my work as a nurse. It's right livlihood. I'll never get rich or famous, but it's incredibly rewarding to be of actual help to people, and use my intellect, skills, caring and strength successfully. I measure success by having helped. I feel good about what I do. I have the power to effect positive change.

My job is fantastic. It pays a lot, it's fun, endlessly fascinating, fairly secure, and the work really matters to people.

The decade before, in which I did the training: not so great.

I love my work. Just over a year ago, I got away from being a subcontractor. I bought an existing practice, and now I love my work even more. I answer to no one but myself (and my clients). I gaze out my garden and my buddha statue & my birdbath and I listen to gentle chill out, meditative or classical music all day.
I really look forward to seeing my clients. I feel priviliged and honoured to do the work that I do with the people I work with. The real rewards are intangible, but the work does pay the bills. Many days I come home completely blissed out. Not every day is fabulous, but enough are.