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I did 20 years in boring building industry jobs. Good money but 55 hour weeks.
Now I get to fix bikes all day and it still doesn't actually seem like work at all. In general I love it!
Currently finishing off a batch of 12 custom built ambulance bikes for Heathrow Airport, so soon, if you see a new looking bike being ridden round the airport, that'll be one of mine. 🙂
I've tried office work and detested it. How anyone can get anything at all out of sitting behind a desk or in a meeting all day amazes me. It's just deathly boring.
tomhoward - Member
Nope. I do, however, enjoy the things I can afford to do as a result of doing my job, so I keep doing it.
+1
I reckon I'm just a slave to a final salary pension scheme.
25 years in. Hanging in for the next 7 or 8 and hoping that it'll still be there by then.
How anyone can get anything at all out of sitting behind a desk or in a meeting all day amazes me. It's just deathly boring
The pay packet makes it all OK 🙂
Yup, gave up my proper job nearly 3 years ago and opened up an indoor climbing wall, havent looked back.
Pay's shit though ! 😀
How anyone can get anything at all out of sitting behind a desk or in a meeting all day amazes me. It's just deathly boring.
PP, how you can come on here every day and spout the same repetitive nonsense about working in an office all day amazes me. It's just deathly boring.
It sort of depends what you're doing, no?
Love it.....but then I do work as a Cycling Development Officer for CTC.
Spend a great deal of time, planning routes, leading rides, running bike related courses, advising on cycling infrastructure and legislation and generally talking about and riding bikes 5-6 days a week.
The pay is good (Enough for me), colleagues are mint, environment is great and I always look forward to going to work......there isnt a day goes by that I don't count my lucky stars for landing this job.
I used to work with young people, in a different role and when giving career advice I always said if ou can make your hobby your job, then you've cracked it......I know this isnt always acheivable or practical but if you're gonna spend that many hours doing it, try and find something you enjoy doing.
Yup, gave up my proper job nearly 3 years ago and opened up an indoor climbing wall, havent looked back.Pay's shit though !
when people ask "how it's going", do you say "looking up" ?
Yes I do, the work is interesting, I get to use my brain on occasion, and the people I work with are, for the most part, very nice and helpful...
No job is perfect, there are some less enjoyable days, and I'd like to be outside more often, but you have to take the rough with the smooth and I couldn't earn as much if I switched to a more outsidey job...
Previous job was a similar role at a much worse company, the company culture, management attitudes od matter and significantly affect how enjoyable the job is IMO.
I will say this, my general demeanour has been variously commented on as "Relaxed", "Laid Back", "Un-phased" and "Unusually positive" in the past couple of years, I think my temparement suits the job,
this is all since I decided to consciously not let work based anxiety get hold of me, Nothing is worth getting unduly stressed over IMO, it seldom resolves the issues, that might not be the attitude of a high flier but it's actually serving me OK for now.
I've seen others come in and wear themselves out with frustration/angst and worry over things they can't change/didn't cause, the one's who shout the loudest, wave their arms and vent their frustrations frequently, don't often last more than 12 months...
@turq - How did you land that role then?
Sounds like something I'd love to do.
PP, how you can come on here every day and spout the same repetitive nonsense about working in an office all day amazes me. It's just deathly boring.
Don't think I've said that before have I? Maybe. Can't recall.
Chill dude. 🙂
Or did I touch a nerve there perhaps? 😛
Yes. I get to mince about in a suit, paid for commuting to work and the work itself is varied.
That said I often work 13hour days; luckily I have no life.
Not especially, it has its moments but most of the time its like watching paint dry..
Yes, sometimes when things are going badly or it's quiet it's a drag but for the most part I enjoy it - I certainly don't get 'the dread' on Sunday nights.
It's interesting, I meet lots of people and, certainly at the moment, the industry is moving at a very quick pace.
I'm in charge of sales for an IT Support provider, but I also do hardware, software and 'solutions' sales to existing clients - I'm involved with building hardware and whatever else I can get my hands on - stops me stagnating.
Do you enjoy your job?
No.
The only thing that brings satisfaction is completing stuff, doing it well and getting it off my desk.
So, basically the only thing that I like about it is when I've finished it for the day.
Anyway, there's still the lottery.......
Do you enjoy your job and if so why?
Yes, on the whole.
I like making stuff, and fixing stuff, and taking stuff apart and putting it back together. I make stuff when I'm not a work, if I can. Getting paid to make stuff is kind of ideal.
OTOH whilst I make software for a living, I'd prefer to make stuff from wood. So not quite my utopian dream occupation. But, SW pays better than wood. C'est la vie.
Apart from re-wiring local authority housing, I've enjoyed all the jobs I've had.
The training for my current job was some of the hardest work I've had to do but was worth it in the long run. Work/life balance is great, as is the financial benefits.
Don't think I've said that before have I? Maybe. Can't recall.
Chill dude.
Or did I touch a nerve there perhaps?
Every time there's an opportunity to mention it, you do 🙂
Last time I recall was a whole week ago though...
Oh my heart bleeds for all you office bound workaholics.
No it really does, I wouldn't do it for 10 times my salary. Can't think of any place I'd rather work less. Wasting your lives in front of computers, in meetings and boring PowerPoint presentations. Nooooo thanks. Not for me.
No nerve to touch, you wouldn't catch me labouring away for peanuts, getting my hands dirty etc 😉
Use to but not much now days.
I have been writing software for 25 years now and I am feeling pretty 'burnt out'.
Fortunately I am taking voluntary redundancy at the end of the month to do something completely different.
I have enjoyed the software game, but being bought out by an Indian company and finding myself face to face with the reality of programmers prepared to work 70-80 hours a week for half my salary suggests that the end is approaching.
(Just don't talk about Indian management.)
Cookeaa
Stroke of luck or my stars aligned, whichever way you want to look at it.
I was at a conference for my previous employer and the job was advertised during the lunch break - CTC at the time were in partnership with a training organisation (Who were delivering the conference) to deliver a project.
Luckily I was listening at the time and spoke to the facilitator during the break.....long story short I completed the application, went through a rigorous assesment day, formal interview and then got offered the job......the day I got the call is still remembered with a hige smile.
The jobs come up very occaisionally but for cycling related jobs check out Bikebiz, most are mechanic based roles but others do come up.
I have two part time jobs, well there no part time more as and when, but I love them both.
One is in a sector I've wanted to work in for years and the clients seem to like me more than most in the office which is always pleasing, the downside is it's zero hours so very much as and when, if it was full time hours I'd be over the moon.
The other gets me outside in all weathers, and is hard on the body but I love it, I'd love to go solo but the cost to start up is huge, but the look on a clients face when you've just put on a cracking display is brilliant.
How anyone can get anything at all out of sitting behind a desk or in a meeting all day amazes me. It's just deathly boring.
a shit job is a shit job, regardless of whether its behind a desk, behind a wheel or in a workshop.
No. I'm sad enough that I quite like spreadsheets but I've recently come to the realisation that although I care about the spreadsheet and occasionally feel pleased with a whizzy formula I don't actually care about what the numbers [i]mean[/i]. Which makes it all feel rather pointless.
I've stuck with it for so long due to some ingrained feeling that this is what you're supposed to do. The same reason I did A-levels, the same reason I did a degree. I didn't [i]want[/i] a degree and I certainly didn't have a clue what I was going to do with it. Very little as it turns out. It just kind of happened because that's what everyone around me was doing.
I've also stuck with it for so long because it pays me money and I didn't have any better ideas of what to do. I don't get paid loads but TBH I get paid pretty well for the little work I do. That is truly and honestly the only reason I do my job.
But I'm starting to see everything that is wrong in this picture and heading into a bit of a midlife crisis. Maybe if you post this question again in 12-18 months' time I'll have a more chirpy answer 🙂
Yes, yes I do.
Last job was best job (for a single person, not with family life) as chief instructor of outdoor centre. Massive hours, physically hard work in the season, but the most rewarding job seeing folk learn, develop and enjoy being outside, a brilliant team of people and an amazing place(s) to work.
Now, toned down some, but I still get to work with teachers (who are just fabulous, creative folk), in the outdoors, inspiring people to get outside and learn while encouraging kids into a love for the outdoors. I also work with a massively motivated team, under a boss who does treating folk like responsible adults well.
Yes there are stresses, mainly due to working for ickle charity the resources and pay are somewhat slim.
[i]How anyone can get anything at all out of sitting behind a desk or in a meeting all day amazes me. It's just deathly boring. [/i]
That's pretty immature view of what 'an office job' entails. I guess if you're 'sitting behind a desk' doing a repetitive task then yes that could be boring, or in a meeting all day not contributing but generally that doesn't happen often in business unless you're doing something like processing invoices.
[quote="turq"]...for cycling related jobs check out Bikebiz, most are mechanic based roles but others do come up.
I've looked at those. Mechanics are not paid very well !
No. Not completely office based but significantly, so too inactive and soul distroying. Average pay for a full time job but above average skills requirements. Little chance of setting up on my own freelance style due to the type of industry. Somethin I never considered when I started down this road. I though any job would be easy(ish) to set up on your own.
The other gets me outside in all weathers, and is hard on the body but I love it, I'd love to go solo but the cost to start up is huge, but the look on a clients face when you've just put on a cracking display is brilliant.
Outdoors pole dancer?
It's ok.
Been here a year having moved from a large, horrendously busy ad agency in the Esat Midlands. Was there 7 years getting more and more pissed off. Had enough and moved to a much smaller place - clients dull in comparison. It's easy, the people are nice, the commute can be an arse if the M1 isn't playing, there's no pressure. But I'm bored to tears with the work I'm doing.
So much so I asked for a 'job chat' yesterday with a view to doing more engaging creative work.
I might have forced their hand a little - I think it works well for them but they know they have an unhappy-ish employee now. We shall see.
I quite enjoy mine, everyday is different and quite often you don't know what you're going to be told when you answer the phone.
(We design/build/support refrigeration/HVAC kit for Navy ships and submarines - the 'support' bit can be manic)
I've been here 8 years, and not currently looking elsewhere.
I get paid reasonably well for what I do, am part of a pretty tight team, and go to some interesting places/do cool stuff (Shock testing is cool)
I like the concept of my job in IT, I like the guys I've worked with for the past 17 years, I like that I can cycle to work (weather and on-call permitting)
I don't like the actual work or the global corporation I work for nor the numpties (I'm looking at you Senior Management) I have to deal with.
So if they could just stump up my golden handcuff redundancy I'll get my coat.
95% of the time - yes
Want to come in early, get things done and look forward to the weekend
Been doing it 13 years and it is very interesting and enjoyable
However, i'm beginning to notice an itch to take me in another direction - but when your happy 95% of the time - that might be a little foolish.....
boltonjon - you lucky barsteward 😉
I did enjoy it until a few years ago when we were restructured and merged with another organisation. Slowly I've had any free thinking/initiative and will power sucked out of me by micro management, petty bureaucracy and ludicrous levels of paperwork (why do it with 3 sheets of A4 when you can do it with 11!).
I was supposed to be re-skilled but actually I've been de-skilled which is why I'm looking for another job at the moment.
Interesting question:
My last job was stressful, full of muppets, ran by idiots, but I was in control of most things with asome manipulation and planning.
I couldn't have managed a third year with them, but it taught me a lot to take my new job,
Which is pedestrian, more responsibility but less control, hugely frustrating, and I've seen my motivation being zapped, as there is no point in driving things as hard as I was trying to.
I need to stick this out for more than the inital two year contract, so I can hopefully move onto something better in the future.
Am I unhappy, no. Frustrated, tired, but then I am getting to see my daughter everyday, and be home before midnight. Ride my bike again and lose weight. Stop drinking so much due to the stress.
So I think it is good for me, my current job.
Outdoors pole dancer?
Nope, I play with fireworks
I love working as a software type bod. I work for a little start-up with big ambitions and have a decent stake in what we are doing. All day at a desk is not so bad if you enjoy what you are doing and have a comfy chair.
Had a chat with the GF this weekend and we both have a inkling to own and run a guesthouse/small hotel. She works for a big NGO is well paid but quite fed up with the bureaucracy, my job is a bit stagnant but reasonably well paid for the stress etc. We both decided we would be happier getting up to change beds, fire up hoovers and the like than getting on a train each day to go work for someone else.
No. 6 months in and the promise (at interview) that the old days of unhappy customers and poor communications were behind them was a lie. It's possibly worse now.
2 CV on route to better companies well out of the industry I'm sick and tired of
Love the work.
Hot beverages? Check. Radio? Check. Decent people that don't talk about their self-centered "oh my God my day is ruined cuz there's no Steakbakes"? Check. No stress, anxiety or managerial ineptitude & bullying? Check
An actual wage that affords me any disposable income? Nope.
I know which I prefer. (milk & 2).
Love the job , hate the manager.
Whats not to like . Start and finish more or less when I want . Actually get to make something which is well received . I'm good at it , I like the challenge and it plays on my only skill . Seeeing the quickest and easiset way to acheive the workload in the time available.
Used to care more , and worry more about production and stock levels, lead times , wholesalers puting in random orders with little or zero notice. Now with a manager I worry not . He is a total bean counter and is destroying the business but i still get paid.
Radio on , tea whenever , almost as much free beer as I want . Car / bike wash facilities. It is 32 miles away , and does sometimes require weekend commitments
Yep can't complain at all, I got very lucky. I'd still rather not be here but I can think of much much worse jobs. I'm a video editor which I enjoy doing in my spare time occasionally anyway and everyone here is pretty chilled and easy to get on with. I also get to go out and do video shoots on location which are fun.
loddrik - MemberDo you enjoy your job and if so why?
Absolutely not. I work with zombie maggots so not good. Not good.
For the moment the alternative can lead to homelessness and starvation.
I can't wait to start my own business but is being delayed by zombie maggots affecting my PT job.
Most people have forgotten the meaning of being human.
Yep get up in van and off to customers to fix there forklifts which as they are German and a bit complex means I have to use my brain most off the time and when Iam not iam using my brawn get to drive around nice countryside in new van and as its a German company work life balance is pretty good 🙂
Yes. Yes I do.
Pretty much my own boss at the moment with a small team of staff around me who all work hard and have the best of intentions. Its a 15 minute drive/ 25 minute ride/ 40 minute run to work.
Can get a bit hectic at times and I think my current role may be relatively short lived but for now, I'm happy.
Do I enjoy my job?
In a word, 'No'.
I several words, 'I f*****g hate my job!'
Well, the job is ok in the main but the people I have to work with are 'king retarded!
Every day is a huge effort to get out of bed and go to work
I would, except weve had NO work in yet this year (its nothing to worry about, it comes in waves), but we have to come in anyway, look busy, and my boss wont accept "thumb-up-arse" on my time sheets.
It wouldnt be a problem if el capatain would just recognise the siutuation and tell us to go home for the afternoon.
im SO BORED im actually desperate for something to kick off.