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Am I Happy At Work? Analyzing my entire career

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Re: Am I Happy At Work? Analyzing my entire career

#121

Post by coaxial »

erobbins wrote: post #45
plankers wrote: post #36

In my (relatively short) life, I've always been far more happy in my periods of unemployment than when I was "gainfully employed." Don't expect a single person on HN to share this view, but there it is.

I'm the same way. I took a year off once, and it was awesome. I regret not being a lucky trust fund kid.

I suspect that being a trust fund kid ruins it for you anyway. If you were born that way you'll have a harder time enjoying it because this has always been your baseline and you don't really know what life without is like. Now if you started out normal but became trust fund level rich, then I reckon there is a higher chance you'll actually appreciate it. So, don't feel bad, things feel more rewarding when you've earned them but not as much when they were given to you without effort on your part.

Re: Am I Happy At Work? Analyzing my entire career

#122

Post by bit1 »

jaegerpicker wrote: post #111
guhcampos wrote: post #10

I don't want to sound an asshole, but I will sound an assholle nevertheless. I was damn happy as one can be at 3.5 years in my career. 10 years in, I feel like my happiness and awesomeness has been slowly consumed by corporate politics, unfair promotions and layoffs, bad work ethics and the such. I still like my work. I really really enjoy it when it's productive, and I still feel amazed to see the green checkmark on…

I've had a similar experience. So much hype about each new place I've joined only to find the same levels of corporate political crap. What kills me is the lack of care about the quality of the product. "Good enough" is never actually good enough for me and when you are the only one (or at least in an extreme minority) in the entire company that cares about that, it's incredibly demotivating. I've recently joined a v…

> the quality of the product. "Good enough" is never actually good enough for me

I hear you loud and clear. One way to get a higher standard of quality may be to switch industries. In aviation, where bugs can cost lives, there tends to be a higher standard. You may still find the bar of your co-workers isn't as high as yours, but it will definitely be higher than at a consumer-products or web-facing company. I know, I've interviewed at a few of those and turned down follow-up interviews and offers because they don't care enough about quality to do QA.

"Devs push to prod; rollback and page someone if it breaks" isn't acceptable when the customer isn't able to take 300 aircraft out of service every week to load your latest release.

Re: Am I Happy At Work? Analyzing my entire career

#123

Post by JoeAltmaier »

jackgolding wrote: post #112
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I'm a private contractor.

I'm considering the same, but I recall reading something someone said while I was in uni - "Why would anyone want to be a consultant when you are mainly brought in for the 'gone to shit' situations?" Any thoughts on this? Is there any difference?

A missionary is quoted as saying

"Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell."

It takes all kinds

Re: Am I Happy At Work? Analyzing my entire career

#124

Post by erobbins »

coaxial wrote: post #121
erobbins wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm the same way. I took a year off once, and it was awesome. I regret not being a lucky trust fund kid.

I suspect that being a trust fund kid ruins it for you anyway. If you were born that way you'll have a harder time enjoying it because this has always been your baseline and you don't really know what life without is like. Now if you started out normal but became trust fund level rich, then I reckon there is a higher chance you'll actually appreciate it. So, don't feel bad, things feel more rewarding when you've earn…

This is a good point... but I'd be ok with feeling less rewarded but living a life of leisure :)

Re: Am I Happy At Work? Analyzing my entire career

#126

Post by projektir »

YinglingLight wrote: post #99
projektir wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which shows that happiness is not contingent on employment, but on bank account balance, which is not the philosophy a lot of people push when they say lack of work will ruin people.

If you're not feeling productive in a some facet of your life, the Netflix binge-ing goes numb reeeeeeal quick.

I can be productive by contributing to OSS or writing guides for a favorite video game or something, doesn't have to be work. :)

Re: Am I Happy At Work? Analyzing my entire career

#127

Post by JBlue42 »

kinkora wrote: post #44

Ctrl-f + "fire" in comments... Nothing?? The author mentioned FIRE (Financially Independent, Retired Early) which, IMHO, a big factor in your happiness at work based on my own experience being on both ends of having money and nothing. Some background context - worked for a decade+, quit job to go travel for 6 months with sizable savings in bank account, came back almost broke, now back in the workforce. So I am one o…

I kind of did the same thing though with slightly different results. I suspect it's probably down to timing as well as skill level (and what those skills are in).

Throughout my early 20's I bounced between service jobs, saving, then extended travel (usually working in youth hostels or service while abroad as well). The last big trip was 6 months in Asia and coming back to attempt to enter the working world again in 2009 which...wasn't a great time.

Through social connections, I was able to make a cross-country move, work in a new industry, and actually got decent enough to be promoted from a very low-level to actually managing a team of people on projects within 1.5 years. But those 1.5 years were lived at 70-80 hr workweeks which isn't exactly good for a person. Then the projects ended, the company moved and I was laid off.

Tried to move to a different industry. Another bout of unemployment. Moved into IT and now in my third company in five years (due to being laid off).

My intent, having moved, was to create some measure of stability in my life but it's not worked out like that in our modern work environment, especially at the less in-demand side of the economy where stagnant wages, reliance on employment for healthcare, and rising housing costs might keep you spinning your wheels at a job because at least it's what you have, a current paycheck.

To circle back to what OP said toward the end - being able to walk away (the FU money), if you're able to get in that place - is definitely worth it.

I think it's also helpful to try and assess not what makes you 'happy' at work but maybe what tips the scales for what aspects of what you're doing are enjoyable, stimulating, etc. and what you dread or dislike and, whether in your current role or future ones, try and aim toward a position that includes more of the former.

My current job isn't all green grass and puppy dogs but I'm content right now, which helps me focus more energy on other aspects of my life. And maybe that's the best we can really hope for since there are no guarantees in this life.

Re: Am I Happy At Work? Analyzing my entire career

#128

Post by guhcampos »

Aeolun wrote: post #89
ionised wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you consider bad work ethic?

Coming to work to fill the seat?

promoting friends over high achievers, nepotism, gaming performance metrics, gaming peer-reviewing systems, deny profusely blame for things you did, framing others for your mistakes, withholding key information from peers, installing hidden scripts to break things when you are not at work, closing unresolved support issues to reset SLA metrics, clock-in to work then take a stroll through the office until lunch, clock-in to work from home and go watch Netflix, take sick days off to undergo cosmetic surgeries...

just some examples from the past couple years that came up real quick =)

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