May 19, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Does the Job Matter To You?
May 19, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Yes, it matters.
Having done other things in other industries, I find my current situation to be the more fulfilling of those in the list.
It took some time to work out what I wanted to do. Even more to work out if I am good at it.
Maybe others don't have the opportunity/support to search out their 'fit' in the world of work.
I know I owe a lot to my family for allowing me the luxury of finding out what does, and doesn't, matter.
You work to live, not live to work, but I find a minimum satisfaction level to be a definite requirement.
May 19, 2010 at 9:59 pm
The job matters to me... I will always attempt to complete tasks that are allocated to me to the best of my ability, even tasks that I don't see as core to my job role.
However I take issue when these additional tasks are deemed more important then my core role, I need to complete daily DB checks before looking at anything else.
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May 20, 2010 at 2:00 am
Depends on what your eyes are on - a job or a career. Your work defines your lifestyle and quality of life to a large extent. Better to recognise that fact and make something worthwhile of it. I can't imagine a doctor having a mindset like that and not ending up killing a few odd people everyday or for that matter a soldier, a nuclear scientist, a surgeon not being fully involved in their field of work and getting anywhere.
May 20, 2010 at 2:10 am
A few observations. When I was unemployed, the only real skills I had were I(C)T type so that limited my options. IT has always been metamorphic (five years on and the technology and the role can be very different). If I wanted to be rich, I would have to have a second career, e.g. be a part time author or similar.
May 20, 2010 at 2:11 am
I am a small cog in a large machine but insist on doing the best job I can, whatever I am asked to do. I take pride in my work and (mostly) enjoy it.
It also provides me with a decent income which allows me to support my family and enjoy my hobbies.
My hobbies could potentially provide income in themselves but I have seen several people pursue their dreams only to fall out of love with the very thing they loved to do.
I know I'm not saying anything new. Don't waste your life doing something you hate just for the money. If you need to do a job that fully fullfils you, maybe you're not taking enough time out...?
I've just read this back and it's a bit rambling but I'm gonna let it stand.
May 20, 2010 at 2:15 am
Definitely does matter to me...
If i'm not interested in the work then it's very hard to feel motivated.and I think you need to be motivated and interested in your work if you want to do it well and get paid for it well.
I've worked as an engineer building roads, a college lecturer and an IT Trainer and whilst all these jobs were fine to do...I could never see myself doing them long term or wanting to do them long term.
I'm now a Database Manager and really enjoy the work, responsibility and challenges.
Graeme 🙂
May 20, 2010 at 2:46 am
It depends on what's going on elsewhere in your life.
You can't DO a good job if you don't like doing it; having said that, if you have a family you need to support then you need to make enough money to do just that, which means pursuing a career.
You may not "live to work" but it's damned hard to get ahead if your employer doesn't think you do.
May 20, 2010 at 2:59 am
For me unfortunately although I know what I want to do, due to development of an allergy, I cannot, so I'm in the situation where anything that allows me to earn the same amount of money will do, although I would probably enjoy the IT side more if the deadlines weren't being driven by sales or marketing people who have no idea of reasonable timescales
May 20, 2010 at 3:56 am
The type of job does matter to me, but it is not that important to me either. As long as whatever I am doing I can do at my best - that is what matters. But one big pet peeve of mine is somebody saying that "isn't their job".
May 20, 2010 at 4:53 am
It used to matter but now I see a wider role as a chance to broaden my opportunities with my current(and future) employer(s) and raise my marketability and earning potential.
May 20, 2010 at 4:59 am
The type of work means quite a lot to me. If it didn't I would have taken a sales engineer job which was offered to me when I graduated. For me, and I think for a lot of others, whether or not the pay is adequate is the extent to which the job is enjoyable or tedious. If I have a job which I enjoy doing, doing something else for the same money is a step down.
May 20, 2010 at 5:33 am
Does the job matter? It does and it doesn't. Some times it is not the job itself that makes the difference, it is your attitude and the attitude of those around you.
A prime example is that I spend 40 hrs a week coding (mostly) behind a computer. Last year I felt the need to get out some. I figured the best way to do that was to get a second, temporary part-time job doing something that I wasn't doing daily.
Needless to say I overachieved on getting a job as I ended up with two, both different, which helped point to a friend of mine that the jobs are there if you are willing to do them. One job was as a grill cook in a concession stand at a local racetrack. Was it intellectually stimulating? No, but it wasn't suppose to be. But it did keep me on my feet and in motion for several hours twice a week. Plus I got to work in a close team environment where everything makes a difference on a scale you can see.
Reread that last sentence. All companies preach it, but you almost never see it in action. But if I'm at the grill and the sandwich prep person needs a hand so the fry cook slips over to help, I sidle over to the fryers and cover that, seamlessly. The customer doesn't see it, but they get their order quickly and smoothly. And the food stays cooked just right.
I know you are thinking, of course that is what is suppose to be like, but it isn't always true. And sometimes it is important for us to get back to our roots, so to speak. Step down from our lofty computer chairs and do a job that we don't think about. My second job for the summer that actually lasted for a year was at Walmart.
Again, was it intellectually stimulating? No not really. But I could see a huge difference between me and the average coworker. I was there cause I wanted to be and technically could leave at any time. They were there cause they had little to no options but to be there. And they didn't understand the effect they had on the overall process. Did I work hard? Yes. Did I make a difference? On a limited scale, with in my department, definitely.
More importantly, I got to see how a large corporate structure worked and conflicted with itself from the lower levels. I wasn't a manager. I could voice my thoughts and opinions to the managers above me and they listened and understood, but I could see their hands being tied by the corporate monster that controlled stuff. And I understood why we had to try new things, even if we could see right away that the new thing was not the right thing, we still had to take the time to work it out and prove that it didn't fit the situation.
I am now back to being just a computer jockey. I can relate to my manager a little better and have managed to open my mind further to new ideas when they are posed by my coworkers. I enjoy what I do on a daily basis, but I also know that no job is too small or trivial that it shouldn't be done, and if you are the one doing it, shouldn't be done to your best ability. Not enough people out there understand that. Which is why we complain so much about service in our daily lives.
May 20, 2010 at 5:50 am
As long as I'm busy (and making money), I'm happy. I've been a mechanical engineer, thermal systems reasearcher, electrical engineer, nurseryman, software engineer, etc. and been willing to do anything that needed to be done.
But, I don't care for jobs where you sit around waiting for something to do, someone to come into the store, etc.
May 20, 2010 at 5:55 am
Honestly, I would likely get bored if I was doing something that wasn't too challenging even for the same money. I delivered auto parts while in university and it was fun. It was challenging. But after a year or so, you've been to every shop, memorized the warehouse layout and know the best way to get everywhere. It stopped being fun a couple of months before I went on my first IT work placement. Other unskilled jobs I had were similar. Heck, even when I was a developer building Business Objects reports got too tedious. I would imagine that other types of jobs that didn't offer much of a challenge would have the same effect on me.
At the same time, I do think it's good to do something different. Like if your manager asks you to pitch in and help take care of a crisis. Whether it's something small like stuffing envelopes because the stuffer is broken or making some website changes it's a new challenge and it's fun break from the ordinary. I wouldn't want to be a professional envelope stuffer, but if there's a crisis it's a challenge to overcome... as long as it doesn't take too long.
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