Comments on: Are You Doing What You Love?

By: J S

J S — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 02:50:42 +0000

Doing what you love is the most important thing.

I am not doing anything related to my college degree, and after being layed off, I took a job with a lot better pay. I thought this is what I wanted, but alas, not so happy. I am on the edge of being miserable, but I always make the best of everything. Make sure you are happy in life, considering that you spend a majority of your waking hours working, it has a profound effect on you and your life outside of work.
J S

By: Name

Name — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:59:09 +0000

I’m sorry, but five majors seems like an utter waste of time and money. Two would be sufficient, or even one coupled with work experience. Five is essentially overkill that employers want give a d*mn about.

By: Name

Name — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 16:57:05 +0000

Why do all of you (most) want to quit your jobs and attend graduate school?

Why not work full-time DURING graduate school with employer tuition benefits? Get a few roomies, free grad. school, and save money like there’s no tomorrow.

Quitting life and going back to school isn’t the answer. Working through it isn’t fun, but it at least doesn’t finally screw you in the butt quite as hard.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 06:02:10 +0000

I’m a college student right now so I don’t really have a real job, but I love the job that I do as a part full-time-ish (I hate how I’m called part time when I work as much as a full time employee a lot (30 usually to 40 hours when I can) and go to school. I have decided to also in addition pursue five majors (I don’t care if I’m never going to “use” all of them) and I’m actually graduating in a year (go seniors) after pursuing this five degree track and I’m graduating on time (except for a year dropping out medically/studying abroad). The reason I work so much is because I’m contributing to the max in my IRA fund saving up 2k for “future post-college costs” and…I have a crap that I love spending problem (however I don’t buy anything else other than this crap).

Sorry long answer short. I wish I could get into the fashion industry instead of what I am doing major wise. I treat fashion catologues like bibles an can recognize people’s purses and what season they came from a lot of times. I used to study art in high school and got so high up that I had taken every single course in the art department and showed my pieces in a couple of shows. However, the fashion industry is incredibly hard to get into and you need a certain “look” to get in.

By: Mandy

Mandy — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 00:24:33 +0000

I love what I do but not always my job. It varies. I’m 26 and a Production/Marketing/Permissions Coordinator at a small publishing company and the workload can be huge. Three roles in one, being paid for one and while I like to think I’m indispensable, it’s tough going sometimes.

I do enjoy the responsibility and the actual ‘work’ but sometimes I wish I had another me. (or two)

By: Jodi

Jodi — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 14:46:39 +0000

Being a super senior at 23 is cool, that was me last year. In January I grabbed the first job that came along so I could get outta the Fema trailer. I love my family, but uh yeah, not that much.
My current career? kitchen designer. My major? international business/spanish. You’re right, they don’t match up. Someone should warn you about that ahead of time while in college.
At the time, and still today, Biloxi has an abundance of jobs in the construction industry because of the storm. I never wanted to work within that industry, but I never wanted to be dirt poor either.
My last day is Friday. Being a kitchen designer for a year has not made me like it anymore than my first day. I realized the only way to like what you do is to change what you do.

By: sam

sam — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:19:38 +0000

I like my job as an engineer, but I don’t love it. It’s stable, pays well, and fits my education and experience and personality. I’m doing what I love in my non-work time – hobbies, volunteer work, and family. In about 5 years I’ll be eligible to retire and can do the things I love all the time.

You don’t nexessarily need to have a job you love if you are doing what you love outside of work. Of course you don’t want a job that you hate.

By: Lady J

Lady J — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 15:31:34 +0000

I love my job. I went to school for 4 1/2 years, and while in school I worked retail- AKA hell. I also married and divorced during this time.

So when I got this job, which I had been waiting for months for a phone call, I jumped. I’m in marketing and technical writing. My salary doubled after I got my special piece of paper.

And I bought a new car, so it all works out.

By: Cap

Cap — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 08:51:11 +0000

wow lots of great comments, even the one from masturbating bear was amusing enough.

from teachers that work w/ kids to a surprising number of people in IT (or was in IT anyway). it seems IT is a very much love it or hate it field?

I gotta agree that there’s quite a trend of career change these days, as evident by chrissy and Sharon’s post (and yes stay at home mom is a serious job too, IMO). personally I’ll hate to reach a point where I feel like it’s too late to dream of something better, etc. or get myself into a position where I dread the daily work.

Also gotta agree w/ Jennifer on grad school for others that may be reading that are considering it.. now, it’s obvious I’m not in it.. but I know a few that went back to school simply because they weren’t happy w/ their previous career path or the pay. it’s a difficult decision all-around, and the financial aspect has to be taken into account seriously.

I mean most of us knows how its like to be dirt-broke in college, w/ graduate program’s price tag, it’s like dirt-broke x 10.

don’t get me wrong, I believe it’s perfectly acceptable to pay for education, even some significantly ridiculous price for fields w/ questionable returns, its just as with all debt, if you’re going to get into it.. make sure you have a plan on getting out of it.

anyhow… appreciate the comments guys, I enjoyed reading them.. thanks. if there’s more keep them coming :P

By: Masterbating Bear

Masterbating Bear — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 06:46:20 +0000

Well I bet you can guess what my job is.. Besides the constant apperances i have to make on this Late Night red headed man boys show. I get pretty tired, but i believe ive become a workaholic. Every day i have to put in work, sometimes i work too much in a day and i pass out. Only to have to wake up and do it all over again. At the end of a completed job i both feel exhausted but yet a sense of satisfaction. Although im my own boss, i can be very hard on myself. Its manual labor and i guess i can complain on the hours. But it would be good to get a co-worker someday.

Sincerely

Masterbating Murdock Bear

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 18:34:11 +0000

I like what I do now better than what I was doing. I can’t say that I love it, because it has really awful downsides, but I can say that what I am currently doing as a programmer is much more satisfying and lucrative than tech support work.

I found myself going into programming as a natural extension of wanting to progress in the field of IT and software. I like puzzles of all kinds and programming is just another kind of problem-solving/solution finding, just as tech support is. But you get mad props for good code rather than handling a crappy customer. It’s just the way it is.

I got nudged into this field by my sibling who happens to be a programmer as well, but I was a geography major. Technology just happens to you sometimes if you let it. Oh, I take that back. I am in this field because I realized that computers were the wave of the present and future. Someone years ago told me that if I understood semiconductors, I’d always have a job, and for the most part that is true. I would also argue that if you understand people, the same also holds.

I like this work enough to keep doing it. And that’s very important. I don’t think I have to do what I love for money. I know people who do that and get burned out with their knitting and crafting businesses, etc. I will do what I love for love, and do this job for MONEY. ;-)

By: Sharon

Sharon — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 18:30:17 +0000

I was an industrial engineer–because of an uncle’s influence and college scholarships. I loved the mental challenge and getting to see the results of my work on a daily basis. The money was decent, too. But over time I did less and less technical work. I was pretty good at the other work, but it was not something I loved or even liked.

One day, doing one non-technical part of my job, I heard something I had never heard before. Someone said, in all seriousness, “I love my job.” Stuck in boring meetings all day, I started to think about the sorts of things that person did for her job. Later I went home and started doing research. Her career path contained most of the fun stuff I liked doing at work, and a more palatable mix of no-fun stuff.

I went back to school and became an accountant. I love being able to help others make sense out of data. I also love helping to keep the business “machine” running. I took a pay cut, because I went from being experienced (in engineering) to being a newbie (in accounting). But I was having fun, so I didn’t care.

I’m using the past tense because…right now I’m a stay-at-home mom. The challenges are completely different, but I still love it. The pay and hours are terrible but I’m doing important work. And I’ll go back to accounting when I’m finished with my current project ;)

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 16:22:36 +0000

I notice that a couple of the few people who hate their jobs are thinking of going back to graduate school. A word of warning: graduate school can devour your soul, too; in some ways it’s harder than any job you’ll ever have; when you’re in there, you won’t be contributing to retirement or improving your financial picture generally — instead you’ll be running up student loans, which I experience as a sickening albatross. And I say this as someone who was very, very successful in graduate school

By: rachel

rachel — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 13:51:50 +0000

I’m 25 and have 2 jobs…one as an administrative assistant for a huge corporation, and one as a journalist. I love being a journalist…but unfortunately it doesn’t pay enough to cover all my bills.

The administrative position is slowly killing my soul…and am currently looking into grad school.

By: Aku

Aku — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 09:02:19 +0000

I am 25 yrs old and currently work as an office manager at an animal hospital and I really like my job. I’d love it if there had been management in before I got there (now I’m stuck cracking the whip since the staff got lazy w/ no one in charge) and if it paid a little more. I used to work as an IT Tech a couple years back. I loved it but I have OCD really bad and it was making me crazy(ier) and causing health problems because of the stress.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 02:59:50 +0000

Yea, I do love my job. It doesn’t pay well, but I work with children (pre-school, kindergarten,first grade) and I feel I make a difference. Will Teachers ever get paid what they are worth to society? I think not. Oh, well, its a trade off. I could be digging ditches somewhere

By: Jesie

Jesie — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 19:14:27 +0000

I am another one that loves my job. I work as an IT Manager. Though it is a high stress environment, I get to learn and grow with my career. I am constantly updating my skills and working with intersting people, it is great.

I am also lucky to work with a very good company. They are flexible and offer by far the best work environment I have ever experienced. That in itself makes me extremely lucky!

By: flute2tbone

flute2tbone — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 16:03:20 +0000

I am an instrumental music teacher in an inner city K-8 school and I love it. I wanted to be a music teacher because I loved playing in band in school and have come to love teaching because the kids are so great. It is a lot of fun for me to take kids who know nothing about playing an instrument through learning how to do it and eventually to sounding pretty decent! I learn at least as much from them as they do from me.

In it for the money? Don’t go into teaching. Think there’s lots of free time? Most teachers on my staff spent at least 1.5 days over Thanksgiving weekend doing school work, and at both 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. every day, the staff parking lot is at least half full. Check it on Saturday mornings, too. The summers are nice, though, and make up for the lack of free time during the school year.

By: The Sarcasticynic

The Sarcasticynic — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 13:21:25 +0000

Well, I retired this year from the high tech, (read: high stress) industry, and have found an enjoyable, (read: low paying) job that pays the medical insurance premiums. I guess you could say I’m happier than Michael Richards having learned a new word.

By: chrissy

chrissy — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 12:36:37 +0000

I’m 25 and also a computer programmer. I love being a techie as geekiness is a huge part of who I am but can’t say that I love being an employee. I get along well with my boss and my co-workers but this whole “can be fired anytime” hangs over the head of any employee, no matter how good they are at their job or how good they are with brown-nosing to managers. Shareholders can whine over profits anytime and then bam! Company will look for ways to cut costs and employees are seen to be expendable.

I figured out that being completely financially independent and living off my investments is what I would love the most after finding out about an aunt who is a landlord and earns enough every month from rental income to do as she pleases. Another huge influence on determining my new goal is a colleague who was made redundant and is now running his own business very successfully.

From the advice of various mentors, my new game plan is to travel the world while I’m still in my twenties(while still young, single and childless), as well as continue investing. Maybe also look into whether I can handle running my own business. Of course, this means I’ll need to hold down a job to be able to afford travelling and to have funds to be able to invest. Hopefully, I’ll be able to reach the same level of financial freedom as my aunt in my thirties!

As for the job, I will do the leapfrogging thing to increase my salary as is the trend these days. The reward for company loyalty seems to be redundancy and non-existent pay rises(as was the case with many of my colleagues)! The kind of work I’ll be doing will most likely to remain in the tech sector as that is what I know and like. However, I haven’t had a chance to look into other kinds of roles or industries, so I will continue to allocate some money into studying and self-development to see if there’s other things I do to earn a living. Like maybe becoming a real estate agent(even if they seem to be on par with lawyers as the most hated kind of workers :D) or a mortgage broker, since I have a growing interest in real estate.

I would hate to lose the ability to dream and feel like that with hard work, I can do anything and be anything, as seems to be with many older colleagues who grimace at the idea of starting again but hate their jobs sooooo much.