Why are jobs so hard?

[Norithics]

I've worked all kinds of jobs, even management, where I've earned more than enough money to live on. But you know what my favorite job was?
Dairy Queen.

I'm a simple guy, so I like hard work and doing little things to make people's day. I'm a milkshake wizard and I can 'feel' how much is too much oreos in your ice cream. I can run a dozen burgers and baskets and all that, it's fun! But it paid $6 an hour and I got fired for taking a single day off in a month. Because of their greed, they lost the most productive worker they ever had.

And that's really the moral of the story. Any job can be fun, fulfilling or even just tolerable to be at. People fuck it up. You're never really mad to be selling clothes or flipping burgers- you get mad when customers are assholes or your boss does something dickish to you. It is almost never the actual job that's unstandable, but the morons surrounding it.

 

[lacktheknack]

At least you HAVE a job. I live in the best place on the continent for employment (Alberta, Canada in the midst of economic recovery), and I applied to literally EVERY job I could find that was offering a summer position working with electronics, and not one - NOT ONE - even called me back. I had experienced people check my resume and cover letters and everything.

In the end, my Dad decided to ask his boss if he was willing to take me in for the summer, and now I have a new job, but literally NONE of the jobs I actually applied to even looked at my resume, presumably.

And the job I got isn't even that amazing. But hey... it beats the crap out of my grocery store job.

 

[silver wolf009]

Because there are very few jobs that are entertaining/awesome enough that people WANT to go to work.

Pretty much this. Stating the obvious really.

How many people consider cleaning toilets a dream job?

As many people as there are that take pleasure in making things clean.

OT: No idea what I want to do with my life, and it's one of the major worrying factors. To that end, thanks for upsetting me guy.

 

[The Funslinger]

Join the military... you will never ***** about sitting at a computer pressing a few buttons again!

This xD

OT: I guess I've been pretty lucky in that I know what I want to do. I'd like to become an author, but I also want to serve in the Royal Marines. It's even plausible I could do those two things simultaneously.

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

I've come to the conclusion that any job is better than no job at all. It sure beats being broke. I'm sorry but I don't believe in being poor and happy/rich and miserable. Also, if you work in advertisement, surely that's an interesting area, no? In theory, I'm a product designer, but I also try my hand at graphic design whenever there's freelance work. However, my REAL, ACTUAL job is this: I work the graveyard shift in a bakery. The paycheck is alright, but it's not what I had in mind 10 years ago when I was 17. Working in a bakery is boring? Kind of, but I decided to make it interesting by treating breads, cakes and stuff like something that I'm CREATING OMG, and today I have to admit, I actually like it sometimes.

I'm currently gathering the courage to try to turn my life around, though, because all things considered, I'm not really that happy with what I have achieved. Which is to say, I've achieved nothing.

In the end, I think jobs aren't "easy" or "hard", they're just something you HAVE to do, and 99 times out of 100, you're not going to like it.

 

[Pipotchi]

After five years in crappy sales jobs I currently have a great Job, I earn over the average salary and don't have to do much of anything most days. Also lots of paid vacation and pension.

However the writings on the wall and it wont last forever but I'll be here until they force me out.

Don't need a degree to do it either though I do have one

On topic, most jobs are rubbish and you are not meant to enjoy them, there's a few golden nuggets out there but few and far between

 

[Terramax]

Because there are very few jobs that are entertaining/awesome enough that people WANT to go to work.

Pretty much this. Stating the obvious really.

How many people consider cleaning toilets a dream job?

As many people as there are that take pleasure in making things clean.

OT: No idea what I want to do with my life, and it's one of the major worrying factors. To that end, thanks for upsetting me guy.

But would they take as much pleasure cleaning things as they would any other glamorous job out there?

If you can't figure out what you want to do with your life, often, the best thing to do is to narrow things down by noting the things you don't want to do.

 

[silver wolf009]

Because there are very few jobs that are entertaining/awesome enough that people WANT to go to work.

Pretty much this. Stating the obvious really.

How many people consider cleaning toilets a dream job?

As many people as there are that take pleasure in making things clean.

OT: No idea what I want to do with my life, and it's one of the major worrying factors. To that end, thanks for upsetting me guy.

But would they take as much pleasure cleaning things as they would any other glamorous job out there?

If you can't figure out what you want to do with your life, often, the best thing to do is to narrow things down by noting the things you don't want to do.

There comes a point of almost pathological obsessiveness when it comes to cleanliness.

When you reach that point, you're happy when you're cleaning anything, situation or payment be damned.[footnote]Goddamn The Sub ad, on the middle of my fucking text box. I can see half of my post and I will NEVER watch your shitty show you obnoxious, stupid ad.[/footnote]

 

[Orga777]

Yeah... That is life, I am afraid. More often than not, people just are not going to like what they are doing.

 

[Karhukonna]

Anyway, ranting aside; how did you decide what you wanted to do with your life? Or are you in the same depressing boat as I am?

I'm currently working on preparing for my application into a military academy. It sounds rough, but it's mostly academic. I could go as far as getting a doctorate in the field of "military sience". Still, the application exam is physically quite requiring, so I have to do a lot of cardio.

Hopefully, after schoolin' I'll be working in a job I enjoy (military) for the rest of my days. I'll buy a house, marry the missus and settle down. Might also happen I won't enjoy the work at all. In which case, I'll try something else, until I get it right.

I got the spark initially during my mandatory military service. I enjoyed it quite a bit, so I figured I gotta get more of this. Tried civilian life for a while, but it just isn't the same. I like the organized nature of the military, how everything has a place and function in a greater whole. And I'd like to help that process along.

 

[Gavmando]

To quote Red Foreman from That 70's Show, "That's why it's called work. Not, happy fun time."

Nobody actually likes their job. We just get used to it and think we like it.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

I decided I didn't like my job selling insurance policies over the telephone. So, I took an evening course for three months and became certified to teach English as a foreign language. Within a month of that, I was working in a school in South Korea, which was

a) a fantastic job
b) surprisingly easy to get into.

If you want a change of scenery, but don't want quite the same danger of death that the armed forces brings, then teaching abroad is AMAZING.

I've wished my country was in the JET programme, since I study English too. I didn't want to become a teacher in Sweden either, since I didn't exactly enjoy my own time in school back then, and there's a lack of respect for teachers here too. So I don't actually study to becoming one here. However, becoming a teacher abroad or even at university level sounds pretty cool.

OT: I've been in uni for longer than it takes to get a degree. I'm still in university because I don't want to start working a depressing job or be unemployed. The thought of my future and jobs honestly makes me depressed. I could get a masters I suppose, but I don't have enough student loans left to take, so I'd have to get a job or become unemployed soon enough anyway. It's one of the few reasons I'm glad I live in Sweden, because we seem a lot better when it comes to student loans than other countries. It also doesn't cost me anything to go to university, so I could keep doing it for the rest of my life if I found a good job on the side.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

A job is something you hate that you do for money. Thats just how it is.

 

[goodman528]

That's quite normal, after a long time of not working you need some time to get used to it. My advice is this:

1) stick with the job you hate for now
2) look for another job you might like better
3) go back to step 1 and iterate until you find something you like

Generally speaking it's acceptable to change job every 2/3 years. That's what everyone does!

Edit: Don't listen to those people who say a job is something you hate but do for money. The only job you can succeed in is a job you like.

 

[Jux]

Is there anything you like doing in your spare time?

Well now, therein lies the rub. I can find interest in almost anything, but nothing stands out enough to make me think "Yes, I want to dedicate my life to this".

That's your problem. I don't look at a job as something to dedicate my life towards, I look at it as something that pays me enough that I can pursue the things I want to dedicate my life towards in my off time. Of course, I don't hate my job, I rather like it, but I certainly don't see it as my grand purpose in life.

 

[BarkBarker]

The way to your career? Find your passion, passion is its own motivator, I want a job as a game designer more than anything, I am itching to craft the magic of new worlds that I experienced as a kid, to let people relive the splendour of being a child in a new world and gawking at the amazement that is set before them, my passion is half that and half irritation with what I see coming from the industry so often, to do the job and slap all these pathetic designers in their face screaming THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A STORY! THIS IS HOW YOU DESIGN A MECHANIC! PICK UP YOUR SHIT! So yeah, the passion is half a desire of my creationist mind, and the other my utter disrespect at those that fail to do it properly, find what you adore and chase career down.

 

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

I'm almost done working my first ever job. I'm 17 and working in a government department full time for the summer. Money is good, but at the beginning it was terrifying strange intimidating and stressful. Now it's just shit, and although I'm working with my best friend I just spend the 7 hours I work every day processing taxes, listening to my ipod (music books and podcasts) and thinking about what else I could be doing. I have fun sometimes though, laughing about things we get sent in. Can't discuss that though as I signed a secrets act and would have to kill you if I told you.

 

[The Abhorrent]

Just based on what I've learned on my various bouts of working, education, and so on... I've got a few quick bits of advice:

#1 - The will always be some aspect of a job that you don't like.
Most simply, there is no such thing as "perfect job"; there will be pains to deal with no matter what you do. If you're looking for more "interesting" (and often more educationally-inclined) career paths, chances are it's going to be either paperwork (especially missing paperwork) or #2. Learn how to deal with these headaches quickly and efficiently (a bit of advice from one of my university professors) and you'll have more time to deal with the interesting parts.

#2 - You are guaranteed to work with people you don't stand at some point.
Not much else to say, get used to it. On the other side of things... if there's a chance you get in with a good crowd, make sure you keep their contact info for years down the line. Having a good reputation can be extremely useful, and staying in touch with some of your former colleagues (even if you all have moved on to other things) can make your career path all the better (and they may also receive the same benefit).

#3 - Be prepared to work your way up through the ranks to get to the good jobs.
Just as an example, my current "ideal job" leans towards being bridge designer (civil engineering specialization); and quite simply, there is NO WAY anyone is going to let a fresh graduate touch any aspect of bridge design. Well, been working for a year or so at this point; still, not happening. Most of what I do is more along the lines of inspecting bridges which are being built right now... or rather cleaning up the billion dollar mess of overpasses and a ring road which was left behind by the people who built it in the first place (which, incidentally, involves FAR too much missing paperwork). Having a degree in civil engineering means I do get something of a "head start", but there's still a long ways to go before I'll be designing bridges from the ground up. Right now I'm learning a good bit about how they're built, quite a bit about the various design (and construction) oversights which have to be dealt with, and ample about keeping your paperwork in line; all of these are invaluable down the line, but I have to say the process hasn't been the most enjoyable one. Still, I managed to get into a good team for the clean-up operation; as frustrating as it to clean up other people's mess, it's good to know the guys working on it right now won't show the same wanton disregard when finishing the job.

 

[Double A]

The problem is that in our current society we're expected to know what we want to do by the age of 17. And if you don't know what you want to do with your life, well then by god you're going to have a bad time.

It's not necessarily that it's hard to find a job that you would like to do. There is tons of interesting work out there. The problem is finding a job that you want to do, and which you are qualified for, and which you can actually earn a living on.

See, if you don't have what you want to do figured out, then you'll never get the qualifications necessary to get the job you want, because you won't know that you want it far enough in advance. Hell, even if you have all the correct qualifications, it still takes tons of luck and hard work to get the job that you really want. Getting a job ends up becoming a full time job on its own.

What kind of people came up with that stipulation? It's silly and unrealistic, and I think if you're going to be those to things, you might as well spring for awesome. Hardly any teenagers ever know what they want to do, and everyone keeps telling me you hardly age internally or whatever - in other words, it seems like no one knows what they want to do according to plenty of people, and I'm pretty damn sure that's the case.

 

[babinro]

I have a rubbish job but i get on with it because i don't want people to think ill of me, also i like to use my money supporting the video game industry.

I definately don't enjoy my job but i can't see myself enjoying any job or career, i offset that by doing just enough part time hours where i have money to spend and not working weekends, i work less than anyone i know and my life is so much better for it.

I had to respond to this because there are very few people out there who are just like me in this manor. I work part time hours in the call center industry not because I have to but because I want as few hours as possible while still being able to live and put something away for the future.

End result: I work 20 hours a week and bring home about $900.00 a month.
My life is cheap though so I can live off $700.00 and save $200.00 for the future.

The downside is I only leave myself with about $50.00 spending money a month. That goes towards all entertainment, games, and less common purchases like clothing, shoes, etc.

Life is poor but AMAZING!
I love the free time I have and cherish it.

I've been forced to work 44 hours a week at traditional jobs and earned a lot more money but found life to be miserable. What little free time feels like it's just winding down for the next workday or finally having enough free time to clean the house, lol. Full-Time is normal for people but it's misery for me.

Enough rambling...just glad to see someone who seemingly looks at life the same way.