Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

People start hating their jobs at 35

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 247 posts

Re: People start hating their jobs at 35

#121

Post by pc86 »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #117
pc86 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do most of these things really take 10+ years to "figure out" though? > its much more about connections and office politics than hard work Whether or not it's "much more" depends as much on your employer and your field as anything else, but nobody should reasonably expect that employment is a pure meritocracy where your work product is judged in a vacuum irrespective of how much people enjoy working with you or how m…

>> there is really no job security, and they could be one layoff wave away from unemployment >Why would there be? Nobody I know is signing employment contracts or working in Civil Service positions. Probably not true in the US, but in Europe many a 35yo has grown up under the general assumption "get a good degree, get a job at a good company, and you are set for life", simply because it was their parents' experience.…

I mean you say yourself it's an assumption. And things change, I'm not sure expecting your parents' experience to be your own is reasonable.

Re: People start hating their jobs at 35

#122

Post by TeMPOraL »

wernsey wrote: post #110
vfc1 wrote: post #24

I think its because through experience people have figured out a lot of unspoken things about what its really like being an employee. They have figured out that its much more about connections and office politics than hard work. They have figured out that there is really no job security, and they could be one layoff wave away from unemployment. They have figured out that its much more about face time and spending lon…

Funny, round about the time I turned 35 I stumbled upon Erik Dietrich's Defining The Corporate Hierarchy [1] blog. It cynically divides corporate workers into sociopaths at the top who step on other people to get where they are, idealists in the middle who don't realize they're being stepped on and think they'll eventually get to the top through hard work, and then pragmatists at the bottom who come in in the morning…

> and then pragmatists at the bottom who come in in the morning, do their work, and find meaning in their lives elsewhere, like family or hobbies.

How do those pragmatists deal with the fact that, summing job, commute and sleep, over 2/3 of their lives is not part of the purpose?

Re: People start hating their jobs at 35

#123

Post by typon »

grecy wrote: post #4

I can't stress this enough - if you're not happy with life, and you feel like you aren't moving closer to your goals and dreams, make a change!!! I realized that sitting at my desk for 30 years to pay for a house was not what I wanted to do, so I quit my job and have been driving around Africa for 2 years[1]. I dreamed for years of being a travel writer and photographer, and I am making that dream come true! I now wr…

So I should stop supporting my old parents by paying for their rent/expenses and move somewhere else because I'm currently not following my dreams?

Some people don't have the luxury of being selfish.

Re: People start hating their jobs at 35

#124

Post by Nursie »

mrhappyunhappy wrote: post #19
Nursie wrote: post #16

At the age of 34 I opted out of having 'a job', set up a company of my own and now contract and consult. I change who I'm working for every few months to a year. I don't (often) get that bored. There isn't time for the cynicism to develop, I feel like my skills are valued, I bring home a ton more cash, and if I dislike the way my client operates or tries to put controls on my working patterns, I walk. I know I am ext…

What kind of consulting if you don't mind me asking?

A lot of what I do is contracting, basically just short-term software engineering. But I have done some consulting on development processes and tooling (for god's sake use a standard build system), and have done some small amounts around embedded systems SDKs.

Most of the contracts bring me in as a 'consultant' but the work is software engineering.

Re: People start hating their jobs at 35

#125

Post by anotheryou »

waldfee wrote: post #106
EZ-E wrote: post #52

About work and happiness : the more I think about the reality of being a full time employee, the more I start to believe part-time is actually the right way to work and be happy. I see little reason to spend something like 70% of waking hours commuting and working for someone else's profits if you can afford to do less. I've become pragmatic and realized the company I'm I work in is just a tool I use to make money wh…

I recently reduced my weekly hours and am now working only 4 days a week. its so much better. People are dumbfounded when i tell them, they do not understand that free time is more important to me than money. as long as i can live comfortably and use my new free time i will trade money for time. end goal is 2 days a week - no idea if thats possible, but 3 days is a must. if you can do it financially and with your job…

I'm about to ask for the friday off, I'd even pass on the promised 5% raise if neecessary. As a rather young project/product manager I'm a bit worried about carreer prospects though.

A day doesn't sound like much, but a work-day/weekend ratio of 60/40 is so much better than 70/30 I bet.

Re: People start hating their jobs at 35

#126

Post by ttwtf »

vfc1 wrote: post #24

I think its because through experience people have figured out a lot of unspoken things about what its really like being an employee. They have figured out that its much more about connections and office politics than hard work. They have figured out that there is really no job security, and they could be one layoff wave away from unemployment. They have figured out that its much more about face time and spending lon…

I can also give you a different calculation.

1. Working hours. I know people in Europe that have 35 or 37h per week guaranteed. 40 hours is normal in the US and most of the time you work much longer. 1 hour lunch break is obligatory. It is too long, I can not eat for one hour if I bring my own lunch. It is too short to go the the gym too.

2. Travel. Sometimes I had to travel a lot. You board the plane Friday evening, you are back home Saturday at 5pm and Monday you start again at 8:30 pm

3. Commuting. It is difficult to live close to work. Basically 1 hour commute each way is guaranteed. And while this is no time on my companies clock, it is on mine.

So you easily get 60 hours a week.

Depending where you live, you pay 30-50% taxes, 20% sales tax in Europe etc.

If you move abroad and work from your laptop, the whole game can change. Working hours, commute, taxes, purchasing power...

Re: People start hating their jobs at 35

#127

Post by toomanybeersies »

grecy wrote: post #4

I can't stress this enough - if you're not happy with life, and you feel like you aren't moving closer to your goals and dreams, make a change!!! I realized that sitting at my desk for 30 years to pay for a house was not what I wanted to do, so I quit my job and have been driving around Africa for 2 years[1]. I dreamed for years of being a travel writer and photographer, and I am making that dream come true! I now wr…

If you have the privilege of being able to do this, it's a great thing to do. As others have mentioned, not everybody has the privilege. People have families, or no cash, etc. etc.

Anyway, I quit my job and moved to Australia last year, because I felt like I wasn't going anywhere with my life. Best decision I ever made. I'm aware that it's a privilege to be able to do this. I didn't have any cash, but was able to use my credit card to survive until I found a job, aware that if it all fell to pieces, I could just fly home and stay with my parents. I'm lucky that I could do this. If I didn't have that safety net, I don't think I would've made that jump.

I'm very lucky in life that I don't have to make sacrifices for the sake of others, and I'm aware that we aren't all so lucky.

Re: People start hating their jobs at 35

#129

Post by toomuchtodo »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #122
wernsey wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, round about the time I turned 35 I stumbled upon Erik Dietrich's Defining The Corporate Hierarchy [1] blog. It cynically divides corporate workers into sociopaths at the top who step on other people to get where they are, idealists in the middle who don't realize they're being stepped on and think they'll eventually get to the top through hard work, and then pragmatists at the bottom who come in in the morning…

> and then pragmatists at the bottom who come in in the morning, do their work, and find meaning in their lives elsewhere, like family or hobbies. How do those pragmatists deal with the fact that, summing job, commute and sleep, over 2/3 of their lives is not part of the purpose?

Diplomacy is the art of saying “Good dog” until you get to the rock. I save religiously (~80% of my income) to one day be financially independent. Until that day, you put on a smile and do your job to the best of your ability, not working a moment per day longer than required.

No one is coming to save you but you. Have an exit strategy. Buy your time back for yourself.

Re: People start hating their jobs at 35

#130

Post by toomanybeersies »

ggambetta wrote: post #69
grecy wrote: post #4

I can't stress this enough - if you're not happy with life, and you feel like you aren't moving closer to your goals and dreams, make a change!!! I realized that sitting at my desk for 30 years to pay for a house was not what I wanted to do, so I quit my job and have been driving around Africa for 2 years[1]. I dreamed for years of being a travel writer and photographer, and I am making that dream come true! I now wr…

> I can't stress this enough - if you're not happy with life, and you feel like you aren't moving closer to your goals and dreams, make a change!!! I generally agree with this feeling, but with some caveats. Change for the sake of change is at best a temporary solution. You get some excitement because of the new situation (new job, new country, new partner), but if you don't first identify what isn't working before c…

I discovered this when I moved countries. It sounds so cheesy, but often the problem is within you, it's not an external problem, even if it seems to manifest itself that way.

Anyway, I moved countries in an attempt to run from my problems, only to find exactly the same problems in my new home. It took me some time to realise that they were internal problems. Moving countries doesn't magically solve everything.

Post reply on HN