I like my job but only in the last 7 years or so. I’ve always been interested in coding but the actual day jobs were always dull as hell. But since my current job I’ve enjoyed it, because as a consultant I get to go to lots of different clients to solve problems, design stuff, train and mentor and just generally be an expert. Which is far more fun than just slogging away with boring code.

Do I keep up with it outside work? Not that much, because my area is so specific there’s not much to keep up on. The new role though requires learning a ton of new stuff and I do that in my spare time often cos I’m just interested.

Account director in media, so very much top tier global advertising clients. Keeps me very interested – partly because I’m lucky to be working for a good organisation that has things in place to help me earn the money I want (the whole reason for being in sales), partly because through a new CPD programme I’m spending more time with counterparts in other divisions, so always learning.

I follow quite a lot of sales/marketing people on social – asides from everything you can learn (and there’s lots of little nuggets of info from them that really make a difference), they’re good on a mindset perspective and also tend to be pretty interesting, extrovert characters.

So yeah – interested in my job, and the people in it, as well as the methodologies to get better at it.

I work in IT security on the offensive /pen test side. I really do enjoy it. I would sooner prat about breaking into something than watching inane nonsense on TV.

I’m lucky, I mostly really enjoy my work. I can’t do it at home so as soon as the shift ends I’m out the door and that’s it. It has its moments of stress / hassle but it’s short lived and all over by the end of the shift if not before.

I do keep half an eye on relevant stuff outside of work that interests me, but it takes up very little time and doesn’t matter if I don’t.

Not a fan of my job at all and have zero interest in it. It somehow manages to be utterly tedious and stressful at the same time. Have to deal with the US so it also means answering mail at home. It pays okay and the majority of the people are great, but it intrudes in to my personal life. I would love to do something else, but I’m in my early 40’s with no qualifications and a young family to support. Therefore I can’t see a way out.

Not even a little bit. I go to work, I do work, I finish work, I go home. Work is then stricken from my mind until the next working day.

I want nothing to do with it when Friday ends. To tell the truth I want nothing to do with it when Monday starts either !

Basically this. i’m a contractor in a Head of Sales & marketing role, in a stunningly boring company. Been here 6 months, contracts just been extended another 12 months.

Part of a big group of companies, but a relatively small (sub £20m turnover) profit centre, which is hamstrung by group policy & procedure. Endlessly feels like wading through treacle.

Coupled with some very difficult team members, makes for a challenging mix.

My job was a lot more interesting and rewarding when it was **** up any chance of a normal life. Now I have a life outside work the role I have is fairly tedious.

Hmmm

Well, I worked in various network engineering and IT security roles for one of the biggest companies in the world for 12 years (an evil bank).

It paid well and was easy (usually). However, I had this overwhelming feeling that if I stayed doing that all my life I’d look back at retirement and think “wtf did you with your working life? You could have done so much more!”

So… after much deliberating, entrance exams and interviews I started a Graduate Entry Medicine accelerated med degree in September last year at the ripe old age of 38.

With a bit of luck (and so so much work) I’ll be a very, very, very, very junior doctor in 3.5 yrs.
I’ll be earning a lot less than my old salary for a further 5 yrs post graduation but *hope* that I’ll feel I’m fulfilling my potential and am doing something useful!

Eek.

I used to enjoy my job, back when it involved actually doing things, but now I hate it with a passion because I am “Management”. However, like a few others have posted, it’s too well paid for me to leave it without rethinking quite a few aspects of my life, but I’m pretty sure that once I’ve finished paying off the house in a couple of years, I’ll not hang around.

I yearn for a job where I feel like I’m actually making a difference to things, rather than just helping a rich firm get richer. Naive, perhaps, but it’s a real concern to me at the moment.

I yearn for a job where I feel like I’m actually making a difference to things, rather than just helping a rich firm get richer. Naive, perhaps, but it’s a real concern to me at the moment.

That’s exactly how I felt. I’d say look for a change sooner than later else you may convince yourself it’s too late then!
It’s not easy but it’s not impossible to go from a well paid employee to student/trainee/lower paid job. We have two small mini RRR’s , mortgage , cat, hamster , debt and so on..

We only get once chance at all this after all.

I was very interested and enjoying it until a new technical manager came on board and told me and my colleagues our 30 years of experience was worth nothing and we were no longer allowed to talk to R&D staff about what customers wanted to buy.

Project Manager for an Engineering Company that builds things to go on Navy Ships… I like the actual job role, but dislike being reliant on people who care less than i do, and can’t bare the big company corporate nonsense and the departmental politics.
I’ve travelled a bit, which is interesting, but takes me away from the wife/kids, so would be happy not to do much more of it.

I got shifted to work for an over-promoted idiot in France a year ago, which is sapping my enthusiasm.

But, as others have said, it pays well, i generally get left alone, i usually plan my own day/workload and the whole package of car/healthcare/reasonable pension/etc makes it hard to leave.

I’m definitely a “37 hours per week and not a lot more” type of person, but I’ve still got a huge mortgage to pay off, and kids to get through school/college so won’t be bailing out anytime soon.

RopeyReignRider

Member
Hmmm

Well, I worked in various network engineering and IT security roles for one of the biggest companies in the world for 12 years (an evil bank).

It paid well and was easy (usually). However, I had this overwhelming feeling that if I stayed doing that all my life I’d look back at retirement and think “wtf did you with your working life? You could have done so much more!”

So… after much deliberating, entrance exams and interviews I started a Graduate Entry Medicine accelerated med degree in September last year at the ripe old age of 38.

With a bit of luck (and so so much work) I’ll be a very, very, very, very junior doctor in 3.5 yrs.
I’ll be earning a lot less than my old salary for a further 5 yrs post graduation but *hope* that I’ll feel I’m fulfilling my potential and am doing something useful!

Eek.

Tell me more? I didn’t even know this was possible! This is almost exactly my situation and what I’ve been thinking about.

I did a geology degree and am a geologist now – I love doing geology stuff, but not necessarily my job. I’ve had three jobs in it now and one was amazing, the other two have been pretty rough. It’s been people, not the subject, that have made my job unenjoyable. I’m pretty engaged with it – I join in webinars, present at universities, that sort of thing. I’m pretty lucky really.

Tell me more? I didn’t even know this was possible! This is almost exactly my situation and what I’ve been thinking about.

PM’d you fatdaddy!

when I was a self employed musician/producer/DJ/etc – very interested. Spent all my waking hours thinking about it, ate, lived and breathed it.

Now I’m an office monkey. It’s fine, sometimes even enjoyable, but I’m not too emotionally invested. Spend all my non-office hours thinking about music, getting into my studio where possible etc etc.

I sometimes wonder whether I should care more about my job, but the pay is enough, the perks are nice (free drum practise rooms(!)), the work-life balance isn’t too bad, so….?

My job revolves around Westminster, so much as I’d like to switch off at the weekends, given I also quite like R4, I can’t really get away from it…

I don’t mind my job. 35hr week, reasonable pay and holidays. If a manager calls me after 3:31 pm though my first question is are you paying me overtime. The answers no so I hang up telling them to call at 8 A.M. the next working day.

I’d say I’m pretty interested, but I’m good at switching off evenings and weekends. I don’t have anything work related on FB, Twitter but I do follow stuff that gets shared on LinkedIn.

We are also very strong on training and development – we’re encouraged to book days out for this, we have various courses to complete (in work time) each year and lots of opportunity to focus on what we find interesting.

I’m customer facing, aligned to 5 large customers (8K – 30K people), so I’ll also spend time on what’s happening with their businesses and the industry overall. Our tech changes so quickly and customers can be very switched on, so I either have to be slightly ahead of them on announcements or very good at looking things up quickly while I’m on a call.

I tolerate my job but that’s it. Electrical engineer was ok 10 years ago when i was an intermediate but now it’s just stressful, ungratifying, hours are getting longer and I just yearn to get home and switch off.
Hate the clients we work with as well(developers mainly), bunch of wealthy arseholes.
Might go back to being a sparky once the mortgage is paid and hopefully the kids start paying keep.

I am retired.
Do nothing all week and get the weekends off.
Still miffed about the 47 years of boredom well 45 if you take out the interesting bits.

I’m a long distance coach driver.
I enjoy it, precisely because i take absolutely nothing to do with it when I’m not there.
I’ve been added to umpteen FB groups over the years, as soon as I realise that has happened i leave the group.
Works for me.
FB is for keeping in touch with my friends.
Work colleagues are not friends.

As a dolphin trainer I have a wonderful time at work with the only downside being the constant aroma of mackerel. But this doesn’t stop me from enjoying watching episodes of Flipper back to back at the week end.

As a dolphin trainer I have a wonderful time at work with the only downside being the constant aroma of mackerel. But this doesn’t stop me from enjoying watching episodes of Flipper back to back at the week end.

😆

FB is for keeping in touch with my friends.
Work colleagues are not friends.

I always find that a sad thing, the 2 are not exclusive in most places and it’s great to meet new people for me. We try and head out as a group and it’s good fun.

On the doing nothing/thinking nothing about work when the clock stops, I guess it depends on what your work is, at a point I am what I have done, the people I know through work are important and the things I have done keep me linked to future opportunities, that is part of what makes me employable and the rewards I get for that. Post conference beers and networking events have connected a lot of things and opened doors for me.

I know a few people in the same sector and we actually have plenty of interesting conversations (to us) about what we do. They made a film about part of it – the efficient processing line part