Potential mid life crisis material ;-)….

I have been employed since I was 17 (now 33) in some sort of sales or sales management job.
These jobs have covered various industries, including fitness and various IT based roles…and on the whole ive enjoyed each one….seen a lot of the world, and worked with some great people.

But over the last 6 months ive been getting stressed more than usual and even having that “sick” feeling on a sunday evening thinking of work the next day. Granted current job see’s me doing more admin than sales and i am sure this is contributing to my lack of enthusiasm but generally the whole “target driven rat race environment” is now one i wish to leave.

The one thing that has kept me in sales all this time is simply the thrill of the chase, and i know this will be missed – but i have plans to do some online trading and generate some excitement this way (and additional funds to supplement a lower paid job).

So, my thought process is to sack off current career and look for a job that can bring a smile, doesn’t have (as much) focused pressure and offers enough of a salary to cover the standard bills (circa £18k).

Haven’t so far given it vast thought, but the one job that is seriously appealing is becoming a postie! (Love the outdoors, dont care about early starts or the weather and like the idea of finishing mid afternoon)

So STW massive, some suggestions please?…..or what do you do for a living, and do you enjoy it?

Much love x

i work in sales and i hate it.
but i reckon most people hate their job after doing it for a long time.

chin up…… 😀

What I actually do and what I actually want to do are two very different things.

I keep doing what I’m doing to pay the bills.

One day, when I figure out how, I’ll be doing what I actually want to be doing…

Until then I just sup it up.

Back on the rock’n’roll currently.

Pay’s not great, but it does allow you plenty of time to ride your bike.

Surprisingly more rewarding than a couple of my previous jobs too, now I’ve had the chance to get used to it, I’m beginning to consider staying on as a long term career choice!

😉

I used to work in sales and left before I had a complete meltdown. I hated it with a passion in the end.

I’m now ‘in between jobs’ and contemplating working in the care sector.

after a year of not being able to work I’m coding, been at it a month, hate it, less the job (which I’m ambivalent about) more the company, I had a bad feeling about this company and I was right.

I was an hgv driver for nearly twenty years, now a visiting community support worker, I had to retrain and start at the bottom in nursing homes for the required experience, and take a paycut, BUT and it’s a big BUT, it’s the best thing I ever did jobwise, I love it

I used to do defence stuff but now work in surgical equipment I distinct irony but far more gratifying.

Currently unemployed but for the past year worked in a media trading division of an accountancy firm, had loads of freedom and was near enough self employed. It was great but low paid and not enough work coming in so was pretty boring at times. I don’t think I could hack a “normal” job, working with video, photography, graphics etc is way too much fun and can just about earn enough on to get by!

Worked in sales with idiot bosses, got out and taught English for a few years while dabbling in some small businesses, returned to the UK to start my own business back in a similar sector to my previous sales job. It’s a little starnge, but I love it so far.

Used to be a buyer for IBM, had a revelation left and trained as a tree surgeon… cant even believe I used to sit in an office…

Have a good holiday and re think has Winter is on its way and draw up planes
and make your goals.
Unless its Winter season is where you want to start.

I have a brilliant job. Pay is OK, work with great people and get to use my very limited skills. Business Relationship Manager FWIW….and it’s bloody ace.

Have a good holiday and re think has Winter is on its way and draw up planes
and make your goals.
Unless its Winter season is where you want to start.

I read posts like this and, rightly or wrongly, always want to give people a smack on the back of the legs.

It seems to be a peculiarly middle class problem, not having a fulfilling job…

The vast majority of the rest of the UK and an even larger proportion of the rest of the world just has a job, which is not fulfilling, not a joy to go to, not an exciting part of their lives, but it’s what they have to do to get by, to put food on the table, to live.

If you don’t like the job you do, change it, but don’t agonise over it, don’t try to look to work to be fulfilled, to complete you, just get on with it.

I apologise in advance if I sound harsh or a knob, but I see people everyday who have never had, and never will have anything like the choices that you have, and reading it on here makes me grumpy.

I used to be a sales rep, on the road every day and living out of Premier Inns. It was easy but I realised that I was spending some of the best time of my life sitting in a Mondeo. I resigned without anything to go to. I have now been a teaching assistant in my village primary school and I absolutely love it!

Don’t waste your life doing something that you hate.

I apologise in advance if I sound harsh or a knob, but I see people everyday who have never had, and never will have anything like the choices that you have, and reading it on here makes me grumpy.

With all due respect, if they’ve been through the British schooling system, then I believe everyone has had the chance to make the same choices, accepting that there are some extreme cases to the contrary.

crikey, I agree mate. The number of people I share office space with who, when you ask how they are it’s “not too bad/stuck here/OK I suppose” etc

Here’s a thought – **** off. Leave your 35 + bank days holiday, cushy environment and decent T&Cs and **** off down the road. I hate people that moan about having a **** job. **** idiots.

It’s the whole work to live not live to work thing isn’t it. Considering how much time you spend at work, it would be a good idea to try and spend it doing something you like. I guess if you have responsibilities such as kids etc then it’s a bit different but for me I can only do a job I dislike if I know it’s only temporary.

…and if you’ve been through the British schooling system, had three children then your husband punches out all your front teeth on the night he runs away leaving you to bring them up by working 5, yes FIVE different jobs, you learn not to look to work to fulfil you.

…if you’ve been through the British schooling system but grew up in foster care, or a council care home, or had alcoholic parents, or ended up being the sole carer for your wheelchair bound mum, you learn that a job is what you do to earn money to survive.

…and so on.

These are not ‘extreme’ cases, they are just cases.

And that’s where we’ll never see eye to eye. Fortunately I’ve never seen these people who’ve come from these horrendous backgrounds do well for themselves, I guess we’ll have to give up trying and keep the poor sods down.

crikey – Member
I read posts like this and, rightly or wrongly, always want to give people a smack on the back of the legs.

It seems to be a peculiarly middle class problem, not having a fulfilling job…

The vast majority of the rest of the UK and an even larger proportion of the rest of the world just has a job, which is not fulfilling, not a joy to go to, not an exciting part of their lives, but it’s what they have to do to get by, to put food on the table, to live.

If you don’t like the job you do, change it, but don’t agonise over it, don’t try to look to work to be fulfilled, to complete you, just get on with it.

I apologise in advance if I sound harsh or a knob, but I see people everyday who have never had, and never will have anything like the choices that you have, and reading it on here makes me grumpy.

People are just getting on with it that’s the point. They are untitled still not to enjoy something and strive for something better. Are people not allowed to be unhappy if there is someone worse off than them?

Are you happy in every aspect of your life, never complain about anything?

crikey what is your point?

You’ve had and seen rough times and aren’t interested in what you consider to be a middle class concern?

I’d suggest you **** off the thread, you’re not helping anyone.

you’re not helping anyone

Neither are you.

But it is STW so all opinions are welcome.

I’ve worked in the Energy industry for the last 23 years and love it tbh. Changed roles every 2-3 years, which keeps it interesting mainly I&C / Commercial Analysis stuff. Now looking to future GB Energy Security position with growth in commercial renewable schemes etc.

There are some pretty extreme opinions on here about work and enjoyment Vs duty.

The way I see it, you spend so much of your adult life at work, or working, you may as well at least try to find something you enjoy doing rather than doing a job you hate.

Besides, life isn’t just about existing, or providing surely? There must be some element of fulfilment and happiness in it surely? Either way, the happiest and most fulfilled people I know all have jobs that they love, and those that have jobs they hate are all pretty depressed on the whole. Read into that what you will, but I for one will not be rushing into a job I hate just to earn a few quid when I know that it directly contributes to my anxiety/depression/mental ill health etc…

🙄

I’m helping those that want to discuss the topic and not hear the whining of envy.

There must be some element of fulfilment and happiness in it surely

No. Not surely, not at all surely. As I said above, the vast majority of the world works because they have to and do not have the luxury, and it is a luxury of being able to pick and choose what they do.

I also said this;

If you don’t like the job you do, change it, but don’t agonise over it, don’t try to look to work to be fulfilled, to complete you, just get on with it.

I’ve no problem with people changing jobs, but coming here and hand wringing about it strikes me as self indulgent.

I’m helping those that want to discuss the topic and not hear the whining of envy

Whose envy?

I studied for a couple of years to get extra qualifications so i could apply for the job that i thought that i wanted to do. But its still the same crap every day, Management are complete tossers, penny pinching at every opportunity, whilst missing the bigger picture. Can’t get the vehicles we work on fixed unless it’s between 9-5 Mon to Fri. Staff get no support from managers, hauled over the coals if you have a certain amount of periods of sickness in a 12 month rolling period. They expect people to do courses in their own time, up to 2 weeks a year if you want to progress. I could go on… but i won’t.
Now, a few years on, my old job doesn’t look too bad after all, none of the sh*t i have to put up with now.
So think long and hard about a change, you might not like what you eventually get.
Oh…forgot to mention, i work for the ambulance service!

I just recently took a drastic bodyswerve out of finance- which was alright, mostly fairly interesting, but sadly seems to mean largely working for total c***s. And into education (in a professional rather than academic role). It’s not the best job in the world, much of the time it’s pretty damn dull, but graduation days were ****ing awesome– I’m getting people into HE who otherwise wouldn’t, so watching people pop out the other end put a smile on my face for days. Freshers week next week for some of the ones I’ve been working with which should be cool too… And so on.

The work I did before was productive and important but it wasn’t the sort of thing that’d ever make you feel good- people missed it when it went wrong but they don’t care when it works. And it does make a difference at the end of the day to be making such a difference for people.

If that’s terribly middle class, I couldn’t give a s*** frankly. I worked damn hard so as not to have to work for a minimum wage in a job I hate so you’re damn right I’m going to make hay when I can. I didn’t, for a long time, and now I can see that for the stupidity it was. You spend so much of your life at work, why be unhappy? Why work only for the weekend if you have a choice? There’s legitimate reasons to do so but that’s a choice not a sentence.

Maybe bitterness rather than envy.

I had a series of shite jobs til I was in my late 20s. Stuck in a rut and stuck in a shithole town in the north of England. So went to Uni and studied something I enjoyed. 6 years after I had a PhD and the beginning of a career I liked. I now live in a great place and enjoy my job. Be happy you have options and take some risks. Do something you enjoy.

I completely see where crikey is coming from. This middle-class angst didn’t seem to affect our parents and grandparents and while we bemoan the fact that we are, as a nation, becoming more dependent upon the service industries, how many of us would gladly work down a coal mine or in a 1940s steelworks? For many folk, there’s still no choice. A wage is a wage and work is a means of earning enough to feed ones family.

On the other hand, we will each spend a huge amount of or lives at work. There’s nothing wrong with trying to make that as pleasant and stress-free as we can.

I like my job, pays not brilliant but work outdoors and got fairly decent T&C. Management are a bunch of cocks though, more interested in box ticking to get their PRP.

I work two days a week in a warehouse putting orders through the system. If I did it five days a week I would hate it but two days is great. I am skint big time but you live within your means and I get shite loads of time with my daughter and shite loads of time out on the bike. 😀
It won’t last forever but I am planning to go back to school next year and get a few more qualifications behind me. What I will do with them is anyone’s guess. I have absolutely no drive at all when it comes to a career. 😯

Ahhh…

It’s not bitterness or envy, I have a job that I like and am good at, it takes a lot out of me physically and emotionally but I really, really like it. It pays OK too.

I’m trying to say what druidh alludes too; that choosing or having a job like mine is a luxury, a real 100% lottery winning luxury, and one denied to so many people.

I’m all for people trying to obtain it, I’m all for the folk who want to be happy and contented in their work, but just do it, don’t come bemoaning the fact that your well paid job isn’t making you happy when the rest of the world doesn’t get the chance.

Maybe I’m not explaining it well, and therefore shall give over.

what if you’re job is not well paid and makes you unhappy, they can we bemoan? 🙂 or 🙁 or something.

Thankfully we now live in an economy which allows one to change jobs if you have the get up and go to do so.

If you don’t like your current role then explore other avenues.

I don’t see what is wrong about wanting a role which you get some sense of fulfilment out of 😕

The thing for me is that I read these posts about once a week (don’t think I’m exaggerating there…happy to be corrected) and I suspect that very few people actually bother their arses acting on the advice given. Which is why I don’t bother telling my own (not particularly exciting) story anymore. I hate hearing people whinge when I think they’re not going to make the change.

JFDI.