Like Your Job?

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milefile

milefile

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I mostly hate my job but it has it's pros and cons. For now it suffices, I suppose. I do basically whatever I am told. Technically I'm a "document developer" which means I write instructions for a bunch of illegal immigrant workers in a plastic injection molding plant manufacturing laboratory supplies. It is dark and rainy this morning and I am feeling particularly negative about it.

Pros:
Flexibility - I can get any time off I want. Getting paid for it is another story.
Freedom/lack of supervision - How else would I be able to post here so much? I taught myself Photoshop here, learned HTML here, conduct my business from here... etc.
Small office/no politics - This is nice. Everybody minds their own business (even the bosses, for the most part).
Quiet - Meh... for me that's nice.

I guess the freedom and lack of supervision are what is best about this job. It's not a career type job so I'm glad it affords me the opportunity to learn and do research on-the-clock. The day that pays off will be the day I truly benefit from this job.

Cons:
Small/family owned company - If you've done it you know what I mean. The owner has a hangar attached to the building where he keeps his private plane and, although he inherited the company and does absolutely nothing, he is here all the time micromanaging down to the tree trimming, between spontaneous jaunts to California and Sedona.
My boss is the owner's son - He has no skills, particularly in the management department. I never know what he's talking about and I just feel my way through all of his little projects.
Pay - I am underpaid.
Co-workers - A couple of my co-workers are the most obsequious, supremely annoying people on the planet.
Benefits - I have health coverage... if you can call it that.
No food or drink at your desk (not even water) - Period.

So as much as it sucks here I won't quit until I can find something where I won't need the lack of supervision and flexibility I enjoy and use now to learn and search for a career type job. When I check out the job listings I am pretty disappointed though. Last check there was one web design job in my area... working for the Rebublican party. I might need to move someday since I hear how the Arizona job market is expected to remain stagnant or shrink until 2010.

Well that's my crummy job. I get up at 5:30 every day for this.
 
Pro's and con's dude.

So long as you can see some gain stick at it. Once the cons outweigh the pros. Chuck it!

There was a guy here that was constantly moaning about how hard his life was then he finally blew his stack and left. I saw him about 6 months ago and all he said was "i never realised how easy i had it"

This place pays me well (very well to be honest) I have a laugh with my work mates and no-one minds if i take some time out to check GTP or surf the web. The work is pretty boring but if you just disengage personality for a while you can get through even the worst bits.
 
I do.

While it may be stressful with long hours (figure 45-50 per week), and extensive mileage (350 yesterday), the perks are very nice. I have a laptop and a desktop computer, nicely fitted with software. I also have a nice digital camera, my own office, a full size plotter, and access to 2 high speed printer, and one color high res printer. ISDN 384k connection.

And I'm responsible for buildings that children will learn in for the next 50 years. Granted, I do very little deisgn, and no drafting, but I spend loads of time on the phone with clients, and in meetings. Ahhh...the life of project manager.

I'll ditto Slip. If the Con's outweigh the Pro's "chuck it". i will say that don't run from a job, before you have a chance to talk to your boss about it. It takes them too long to retrain an employee, compared to what it would take to make you happy.

AO
 
I was due for a raise two months ago. They don't do the retroactive thing here so each day that they blow me off is money out the window. My boss is lazy.

I'm whining too much. Sorry.
 
Don't feel bad, My review was Beginning of March 2002. I have yet to hear back from my boss.

There are people here who haven't had a raise in over 2 years. But yet, they've stepped up in duties. There's another guy who was promised a raise by the boss in September of 2001.

So it takes a while, but they pay nicely. Last year, I took home a 10% bonus. We've had a rough year, so we'll see how much it is this weekend...

Whining or venting? I wouldn't consider that whining.

AO
 
Pros:

- Decent pay.
- Free food.

Cons:

- I don't have a car, and the only way I can get there is through my dad.
- Long hours.
- Traveling time once I get to work.
- Food industry sucks.
- Small company, very few workers.
- Loading the truck with caterign goods, driving to site, unloading truck, setting up food, serve food, clean up, load truck again, drive back to shop, unload food.
- Sucks.
 
I like my job as a Chef. It certainly has it's ups and downs that's for sure.

I don't do much cooking anymore now and that's something that I miss from time to time. I just tell people how to cook. It can be very pleasing when the chaos is actually controlled. But when it's not controlled and the team of monkeys that I have working for me all seem to insert there heads up there ***** at the exact same moment and I have to start cracking heads in, that makes my day a tough one.

The hours suck, but I don't really mind them to be honest with you. I work every holiday. I work approxamately 70+ hours a week, sometimes more and I'm salaried so I'm not compensated for overtime hours.
But I know that it's the means to the end though. When I take my next position and get a 30% raise due to my dedication, it will all pay off.
I have also enjoyed the opportunity to cook private dinners at the CEO's house where he has had guests such as Dick Cheaney, and many peace representatives from the middle east. We are slated to do a function for Al Gore and Tom Daschle! Should be interesting.
Currently there are some plans in the works for a weekly TV cooking show at the local TV station that will feature my boss, and I will get to participate in this as well.
Plus, I get to use my creative side in my work. Such as plate presentations and menu design.
So even through all the crap that will happen on an every day basis, there are still some great points to my job.

All in all, I like it. :)

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My job is OK. It goes in phases - sometimes I'm rushed off my feet, and sometimes I've nothing to do. I told my boss this year that my wages made my position untenable, and if he didn't want me to leave, he'd have to get me a pay rise. Which he did, which was cool!

I've had quite a good year at work this year - some clearly demonstrable results, rather than the rat-in-the-wheel feeling of never getting anywhere.

The only problem is that when my work is done it gets handed to another team, who are useless and lazy, and that reflects poorly on me, which is annoying.

I'm getting outsourced as well, so on 6th January, I'll be working for a different company. Not too bothered about that though.
 
Working in the educational supply business wasn't what I expected to do out of school. I graduated in the spring of this year and then thought that jobs would be knocking on my door. I over-estimated how much I was worth, and bought a home.

Finally, after several interviews and dozens of resumes/cover letters later, I found a job with Ace. I’m pretty much a data entry clerk/office clerk because they nobody wanted to pay much for the limited computer skills I wound up learning. I get a little more responsibility than before, but less pressure; which a nice trade-off.

Pros:
Small company size – Nice to me, because I've worked for these huge companies in the past, and although the cash flow is there for projects and supplies, it's always late-coming because twenty people have to approve it. The father and son here virtually approve any idea within a day or two, because they actually listen.

Friendly atmosphere – Sort of. I’m one of only a few guys working at the place; 4-5 in stock personnel, one in low-key management, two delivery drivers, the boss and his son, a network guy, and a programmer. The rest are all women and girls, varying in all ages from 18 to 55. It’s nice at times when all the college-aged girls are hanging all over your every word (where were they all 6-7 years ago?), but annoying because talking about last night’s game, cars, or movies is virtually out of the question with them. Not to mention, they all talk behind each other’s back; thankfully, nobody really cares to tell me any of that crap, they know I don’t bother with it.

Helping people – Yeah, I’m a sucker for this sort of stuff. Even though I’m not a teacher (I make as much as a first-year one would), I get to help customers at times (to finish out the 40hrs.) and these young teachers right outta college have no clue where to start with their classroom. It’s a nice little perk to see them smile (something I never made teachers do before). There are also parents with their kids; some are angels, others are terrors: but they need help or want to help with their kids and that’s what we do.

Getting time off – Easy enough. My work schedule is rather flexible; my manager assists me if needed; her and I hit it off because were the same ages, and went to school in the same town. (Another plus: I don’t feel like the only 28-year-old who’s completely out of depth with kids today.)

Dress code – Ridiculously simple if you’re a guy. Come as you are, as long as you don’t have a clearly visible tattoo, absurdly baggy jeans, open-toed shoes or too much jewelry you’re okay. Otherwise, you can wear shorts and a t-shirt to a suit and tie. Girls have it rougher: every fad is addressed in the employee packet; their rules are about a page long. But (sometimes thankfully) they bend the rules a little bit on the dames.

Job security – Nobody else sells educational supplies in the volumes that we do. Our closest competitor sells about 10% of what we do, if they don’t have it, they them to come to us. The Broward County School System is the largest employer in the county, new laws governing classroom size are only going to help our company; almost no chance of losing my job due to losses…

Take-it-or-leave it:
Payroll – They never seem to get the right number of hours on the check. A day always seems to go missing every other pay period. Then, they forgot to pay me my Thanksgiving holiday pay (every other full-timer got it) which wasn’t nice. Luckily, the boss is nice enough to allow his cell phone to be called any time between the hours of 8am to 8pm, even on days off. I called him; he told me to go to the store and at the register, the manager fronted me the money until the next check. (Payroll is not a difficult task, I did it on top of 20 other things in my last job for 50 people and only made one mistake in 2 years.)

Taking turns with menial tasks - Depends on how you look at it. Managers clean bathrooms; you take out your own trash, help out cleaning windows, vacuuming floors, dusting, cleaning up the odd food spill from kids (and adults)…at least nobody’s relegated exclusively to these things. So even the owner, driver, stockman, payroll, phone ladies have to clean up around this place.

Cons:
No office of my own – I shared one in my last job, now I’m more of a ronin: wherever there’s a desk with a computer (there’s always one or two, though), I’m there. The door is almost never closed; if it does, I know there’s a problem. I take my computer disks with me, at least…so I do find a little time to make a web page or some personal project on the side.

Little annoyances – Well, duh. Hearing screaming kids anywhere you go; the “break room” (really just an open area next to the warehouse and offices) and always has a TV with some annoying soap opera or judge/talk show on. (Of course, the plus of working late is a 30-minute break alone to eat and watch reruns of The Simpsons!) The overhead music is almost always “adult contemporary” unless one of the older ladies puts on the oldies station (which has grown on me).

Benefits – At least they have them, I’m told. But very pricey, and few choices. Short of an emergency hospital stay, it’s just average. No optical plan, either; they’re working on it, though (which means it will cost even more dearly).

Pay – Does anyone think they make enough money? (The prime motivator of inflation.) The Countach purchase may take some time. :lol:
 
I have a pretty good job. I am a Architectual Drafter for the largest home builder in Florida! Maronda Homes. I get paid fairly well, and I am earning great expereince for my future goals.

I can't complain to much, I have the normal stress that every office job brings, but I have learned to accept certain things, and be thankful for what I do have. :D
 
Well, which job do I start with?

-My job at the daycare is pretty much nonexistant. I'm on the payroll, but I haven't worked since July or August, because of school and now our funding was cut, so they can't use me anyway. I remain on the payroll just in case they need me.

-My stamping job would be great if I had more time to put into it.

-My restaurant job is great. I love my coworkers, for the most part, even though there's always tons of gossip flying around. I just learn to keep my business to myself so no one has gossip about me! The pay is minimal. I'd never be able to live by myself and survive. But I always get time off when I ask for it and I just got a $100 bonus yesterday for being the fastest at what I do. It's a great place to be for the time being.

Right now, I'm researching when I'll be able to leave my restaurant job and stay home selling stamps and being a Mary Kay consultant. Maybe next year :)
 
at present im sitting on a healthy sum of money from the sale of a house so i dont work at present. im looking into investing in property and renting them out to poor unsuspecting fools.
 
Pro - I make a lot more money than I should (or would, with any normal company) with my "skills;" I have a freaking office with wood stuff, a TV, and a room looking over one of the busiest streets in the midwest, not to mention the Chicago River! And I get a new company car in April.

Con - There isn't much room for promotions in Chicago (and I don't want to live where the company's headquartered), it's pretty formal, I have a lot of boring work to do, my colleagues aren't really all that smart (not that I am - but I'm not complaining about me), and the company car I'm getting in April will probably be an A4 1.8T.
 
I do also run a small web based business that makes me a little bit of money. I don't expect it would ever be a thing I could support my family on but it's a boost. My lack of supervision at work makes it possible for me to conduct business all day, answer emails, make calls, etc.

I've considered selling my domail though, maybe next year. Just have to see how it goes.
 
I like my job a lot. The pay is good. The hours are great. I work with a pretty tight knit and very dedicated group. I get to travel some but not too much. I get to see a lot of different manufacturing plants and meet a lot of good hard working people.
The only problem is work comes in waves. Sometimes it's slow so I get out and travel to different customers to see how things are going. Then comes the flood of work and projects that need to be done yesterday.

I guess if I weighed the good against the bad then the good yould outweigh the bad.

And to think a few years ago I would get physically sick on the way to my last job because I hated it so much.

What a difference a change of companies makes.
 
mmm I disagree there B Campbell, I say you've got to enjoy your work if that's where you spend the majority of your time?

Anyway I'll post in here once I get my Job as a Parts Technician (Have 2nd interview next week)

I did start College in September but I know the majority of what I'm being taught and it's sitting in a classroom all week. Now I could get a part time job, but I ain't doing something that I don't enjoy.

So I'm going to do a Modern Apprenticeship. Which has a nice balance between study and work; The reasons why I'm doing it is:

- I get Paid weekly and will be included in a department bonus scheme
- I'm guaranteed a job when I complete my NVQ's (National Vocational Qualifications)
- I will learn new things, I can learn all about car parts which I'm interested in
- I can study part time after my NVQ's to get a degree

So between sitting in a classroom and working part time for like another 5yrs or Working and Studying, then entering for a degree it's the best choice for me.

Traditionally in the UK anyway I suppose people do College then University then work. I would have done this with middle class relative handouts for funding me (Cause my parents are lower class and wouldn't be able to afford it) But I'd much rather work for my money then do the degree, it would be more of an achievement? :D
 

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