Late last year I had planned to leave my current job. I had gone as far as giving my notice, but my boss stepped in at the last moment and proposed a counter offer, which was enough to keep me around for another year or so. Even so, I had to think long and hard about the cost/benefit of changing jobs and potentially career trajectory altogether before I accepted. In the end, I decided to be loyal and accept it and hang around. The biggest benefit is I probably have the most job flexibility without having to own my own business. I work from home or at client sites. I maybe pop into my office once every 3-4 months. When I work from home, I usually start working around 7, go to the gym in the middle of the day, maybe catch a nap in the afternoon, and then work until 6:30-7 at night. Some days I work 4 hours, some days I work 14. It just depends on how much I have to do and what the deadlines look like. Either way, I never have to check in with anyone or ask permission to do anything. This is fairly unique, even within my firm. Hell, the other group in our department doesnt have that level of freedom. Our managing director just doesnt give a shit as long as we finish our work on-time and of a decent quality. The other major benefit is unlimited paid vacation. I dont accrue anything and I dont have to worry about overages. I take time off when I want, as long as its reasonable and the work doesnt suffer. Ironically, I end up taking less vacation now than when we had a limited PTO balance. The downside is the benefits are almost snake oil. From August through January, the work is fucking grueling. 12 hour days are normal, and some weeks in October-November top out at 75-80 hours. The clients themselves are a mixed bag. Some are reasonable and a pleasure to deal with (the tech companies) and some are insanely demanding (biotech or banks) and are completely unreasonable. The absolute worst part is dealing with other firms. Prestige is stupid, but for some people its very important. If they went to a top 10 business school they will let you know. If their firm is ranked higher than yours, they will let you know and treat you like shit for no reason. Some people really let their company culture go to their heads. Its bewildering. Focus: What are the upsides of your job? What are the downsides? Alt Focus: What has made you leave jobs in the past, or why have you stuck it out?
This is timely. For the first half of last year, things were insanely rocky for me. I was served papers in a real estate lawsuit the very same week (between Christmas/New Years in '14/'15) that I realized my dad was terminally ill. He had been limiting communications to his "good" days, so I was unaware just how bad bad was until I flew home for Christmas. I spent the first six months of the year torn about what to do - on the one hand, I had a great network of friends and a side business that was about to take off. On the other, the city I was living in sucked, it was so far away from my family and the lawsuit illustrated how uninterested I am in having professional liability. Then, in June, my mother's health tanked. She needed emergency surgery and ultimately she retired shortly thereafter. I'm an only child and my parents are divorced - dealing with two aging parents separately from a distance of 2500km and two plane rides was untenable. Fortunately, I have a very understanding company. They agreed to let me do the same job remotely. I sold my house (it fucked up my schedule because it was listed for roughly 12 hours before it went), packed up everything and moved back to the town I hadn't lived in since I was 13. So, now what? The Upsides - Being close to all my family is a luxury I've never enjoyed as an adult until now. My father's health has improved (for him, it's still terrible), I think mainly due to me being closer. When my mom has had other issues it's really nice to be the one who can take her to the doctor or kick her ass when she tries to do too much. - I have twice the house here I had in Winnipeg, for roughly $35,000 less. - I can set my own hours. I'm paid hourly and no one really supervises anything, so long as my work is on time and accurate. - I got to keep my benefits, including the 8% matched RRSP contributions. - For a zero commute, set-your-own-hours job, I make a decent wage. The Downsides - This is me operating at roughly 15% of my actual capacity, and even that is rounding up. Siting at home doing computer work is not my strength, my calling or of a great interest to me. It allows for stagnancy and complacency, big time. - It pays enough to survive, but not to save or eliminate debt. The house and truck and monthly living expenses are covered. Managing retirement or biting down the one credit card I have are not, and I'm so tired of thinking about money. - I did not anticipate this portion of it: holy shit, is it socially isolating. To the degree that the days bleed into each other and, were it not for my family, I would likely speak to no one. If you met me in person, you'd swear that I'm an extrovert because I tend to be outgoing and gregarious. In truth, I'm such a large introvert that it can border on a disability, because I don't mind the solitude. Like, at all. And I know it's terribly unhealthy on many levels. So where do I go from here? That's the dilemma. I don't know what I want. Is it kids? Because this is the ideal setting if I'm going to do the single parent thing, and if I am then it's gun-to-the-head time right now, given that I'm 35. Do I want to quit this and step into a career that I can thrive in? And what is that? I have a bunch of things that I want to want, which isn't quite the point. I know that I'm stuck and that as much of a blessing as this work situation is, it's a very large crutch, too. Alas, there is no user manual to sort this problem out. And I'm afraid I'll continue to coast until I blink my eyes and I'm 40 or 50.
I just got laid off from a company that I had been with for almost 5 years. Over a year ago I got a letter that I would be laid off in 60 days and then at the eleventh hour, they rescinded that letter, put me in a new position and gave me a raise. Sure, I didn’t want to leave the company but I ended up in a position that I wasn’t truly qualified for, although, within the company, I was hands down the most qualified. For a couple years I wanted to leave - the work we did made me stay. I used to wonder how the CEO had instilled this sense of loyalty - so many of us were unhappy but we didn’t leave, even when other opportunities presented themselves. In late October, my resignation letter was drafted when I heard a lay off rumor (on Friday afternoon) and Monday afternoon they laid me off. I’ll take that unemployment, thanks. The upsides: Business casual dress code We drank frequently during work hours The work was rewarding Easy to take time off - if you had PTO, take it Work from home if necessary The downsides: With several lay offs, we all ended up doing the jobs of multiple people. In the end, I was writing proposals, photo and video, marketing, PR, business development and product development. Stressful. There was a lot of short tempers and finger pointing and it wasn’t uncommon to have someone lose it during a meeting, cuss someone out and storm out of the conference room. They were really open about money, or lack thereof. Terrible pay. The last bump in pay I got was only my second in almost 5 years. And technically, I got paid less after they switched me to salary because I worked way more than the 40 hours a week I was paid for. All of that being said, I really do believe in the work they do. It’s not a bad company, just a very mismanaged one. It’s a sinking ship though - 9 key people have left since I’ve been gone and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some that I haven’t heard about.
Also timely as I just started a new job about 2 weeks ago. I left a strategy position at a Fortune 100 company to take a job with the company my Dad started 15 years ago. Culture change like you read about. Positives: -The executive team is 3-4 people and then I'm basically a rung below them. So all my opinions, thoughts, etc... are weighted heavily and often put into action. Much different than when I used to bring up ideas in meetings that, even if accepted and liked, we likely to be torpedoed shortly thereafter. - Flexibility. The company is based in Milwaukee, but I continue to live in Chicago, commuting up a few days a week when not traveling and really able to tweak based on my workload and other obligations. -I get to eat what I kill. My bonus structure previously was incredibly convaluted and often subject to a lot of things outside of my control. Now, if we have an awesome year, I'm going to get an awesome bonus. If I deserve to be promoted and/or get a raise, its going to be fair and discussed at length as opposed to some ridiculous capped figure. Last year, I received the highest percentage raise possible without a promotion for super high reviews and great work, and then later that year I actually was promoted with accompanying raise...Together my salary increased 9 percent. I have no clue how people stay there 20+ years. -Everything is much more dynamic, a lot less red tape, and a lot less political bullshit, which is refreshing. Negatives: -The fact that being in the office means being out of Chicago and if I become an exec, which is likely, it means moving to Milwaukee. Which isn't preferable at this stage in my life. -I miss some of the coworker camaraderie. I'm the youngest person in the office here, for now. Alt-Focus: I'm 30 and this is my 7th job since college. It seems crazy but I graduated in 2008 and went through some BULLSHIT early on. Fall 2008: Logistics Firm- entire training class I started with was laid off, save 2 more experienced hires. Winter 2008: Document Management Company (aka Printer sales)- Bait and Switch, realized I would be selling door to door in downtown Chicago, quit after 1 day Spring 2009: Equities Prop Trader- LOVED it. Traded fairly successfully for 6 months. Abruptly let go, firm closed its doors completely about 2 months later. Fall 2010: Diamond Wholesaler- Spent a year here before leaving for part-time grad school and a job at a media agency. Would have left to do almost anything else, miserable fuckholes that I worked for deserve to go bankrupt. Spring 2013: Left a media agency after 2+ years for more money and didn't want to be in the agency world at all. And then my current job was family related, also a bump in pay and more exciting work
I get asked a lot as does my wife why I bartend The upside The money is great, during season which is November to May if I am not making $50 an hour in tips it is a slow night, we walk with our tips in cash every night including tips on credit card receipts and every 2 weeks I get a check for the 4.90 I make per hour. The owner is very hands off and lets us run the show, she has never questioned any decision I have made regarding throwing people out, contacting law enforcement or dealing a bit harshly with rude people. We never have any staff meetings and the youngest employee is 32 so there is not a lot of 20 year old problems to deal with, all of our logoed work shirts are provided free of charge. Most people I deal with are very nice and happy with everything It is a fast paced atmosphere with live music. Easy to get time off as my shifts are easy to cover. 24 hours a week is a piece of cake Being able to tell someone who is being an asshole to go fuck themselves and then kick them out, true job satisfaction The downside I work thurs-Saturday 6pm-2am with every other Friday off, plus additional shifts when people need vacation. You start to get jaded by things that are not normal, seeing people having what may be one of the worst days of their lives is not normal, sending people to jail is one that bothers me sometimes, watching alcohol and drugs destroy someone over the course of a few years is not a highlight, being able to spot sexual predators, hookers, users and grifters just part of the gig. I could do with out the gossip that goes on in the bar, with the band, the staff, the regulars Dealing with nasty drunks and indians
Focus: My current job is with the state of Texas on the regulatory side of x-ray and radiation. Pros: I get to play with x-ray machines while no longer seeing patients. My job is relatively stress free as I get to make my own schedule and the requirements to do my job well are pretty simple and easy to follow. I get to work from home most days and only have to go into the office 1-2 days per week. The rest of the time is out on inspections and scheduling more inspections once I get home. My boss is a great lady and is highly supportive of me. I've had jobs in the past where managerial staff treated me as a threat instead of an asset. The work is very independent so no one relies on me for anything and vice versa. If I miss a day for some reason, it doesn't have any affect on anyone. The benefits are fucking awesome. Ridiculous amount of days off for various state and national holidays. A couple weeks of vacation a year. Retirement, etc. Cons: The pay is shit. Its not the worst, but I can't really save much. I don't get any overtime. The upward mobility is very limited. They always encourage people to apply for and move into better state jobs but pay increases for moving up are so small, its almost not worth it. Highest paid in my department is about $72k/year and shes been around FOREVER. If I get any sort of promotion, I will have to move to Austin. While that is not a bad thing in and of itself, it would mean a complete uprooting of my life in Houston. Austin is also ridiculously expensive for a Texas city and the pay increase would actually net me less money because of increased costs. At this point, I am strongly considering going back for my MBA or something else that will help me move into the private sector and actually pay me enough to be comfortable and then some. I think I have a very marketable skillset but very limited connections and actual credentials to prove myself. The idea of taking on loans for a masters keep me up at night. I also don't know if it will actually help me at all. Alt Focus: I've left jobs for many reasons. Most recently, it was because aggressive unprofessional behavior. My boss was a fucking cocksucker who had no idea how to run an office. He actually signed his emails with "Fucking Cocksucker, MBA". He treated his masters like it were professional credentials. 90% of emails wouldn't even get responded to. If I discussed an issue in the office that I didn't like, he would remind me of my salary and tell me I "made too much money to complain about anything". When other doctors were mistreating me and trying to get me to illegal things, his response was "we need all hands on deck." When I submitted my resignation, he didn't even acknowledge it, or show his face in the office until after I left. I gladly left that job and I've been well-received at my new job. And my first annual evaluation was as perfect as you can get in your first year.
Focus: Last June I accepted my position with a local health insurance company as an internal IT auditor. I've never been an auditor before, but at the time I was 9 months into unemployment and just about at the end of my unemployment benefits. Also, the job pays more than my previous job. Pros: It's an extremely laid back and peaceful job environment. Despite the fact I work in a cubicle as opposed to my previous job in a corner office, it still manages to be quieter. I love my team. It's culturally diverse, which is important to me, and it's pretty tight-knit. As far as I know everyone gets along and there's little office drama. The job is very structured. My projects are laid out for the entire year and I know exactly what I'll be doing every week, month. No more running around putting out fires every day. Cons: I'd still rather be in my own office instead of a cubicle. Makes internet slacking more dicey. I honestly don't have enough work to do. Like Clutch mentioned, I average about 2 hours of actual work per week, and still meet all my deadlines. No clear career path. Since the audit department is so small with 8 auditors and 2 audit supervisors, and people stay at this organization for forever, advancement down that path is unlikely. I'll have to find my own path if I want to advance at this company.
The Good: The benefits are great. For the most part, the team I'm a part of is supportive and knowledgeable. Some people have been here 7, 10, 30 years. I've learned so much from them, and I know it's rare to be in a solid group that actually mentors/invests in new blood. The experience I'm getting is invaluable. I've gotten to do all kinds of crazy things that I never thought I could do. The highs are really high. Helping people fully recover from bleak and/or serious situations is rewarding. Since it's a large organization, there are lots of facilities and departments I can transfer to/from if I get bored. My dept brings in useful continuing ed. The name is impressive, at least around here. It's silly, it's unfair, but it's true. People are impressed when they hear where I work. If I ever leave, the name along with my team will look damn good on a resume. The Bad: The complications. When things go bad, they go catastrophically bad. It is not easy to watch a trainwreck in slow-motion, especially when you have developed a relationship. There are some things that come home with me. Sometimes we feel micromanaged. It's a large organization, which leads to clunky bureaucracy. Tiny changes only occur after a committee spends a ridiculous amount of time "researching, planning and implementing". That's frustrating.
I work as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technician. I am also in my last semester of grad school, working towards a dual MBA and MSIS. I pray that I will have better job prospects come May. The Good -Laid back environment -I like everyone in my office -Flexible hours. I can work pretty much any time between 6:30 AM and 7:00 PM, as long as I get in my 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week -It is pretty structured and I can mostly work independently -Easy, mindless work The Bad -The pay is shit, and I would probably still be living at home at 30 if not for other sources of income. And if I don't find a better job within the next year, that could still happen. I also can't afford to contribute anything to a 401K plan through them -The job is project based, and I'll be lucky if I still have a job there at this time next year. That's how pretty much all jobs in the GIS field are -No room for advancement (see the last point) -We have to accrue our vacation and sick time before we have it to use, which isn't so bad for the vacation time since it rolls over from year to year, but the sick time doesn't. And we don't get a lot of either one -Sitting in front of a computer screen all day wears me down, to the point where I am usually too tired to do anything on Friday nights
Downside: lesson planning that never ends. Having to be on all the time is exhausting. I don't technically have a curriculum. The kids are awful. Upside: I don't have lessons, so I can make plans around anything I want. I am in a high need position, so I have job security. My coworkers are amazing human beings.
FOCUS + -I run my own show with minimal interference from above. There are liberal mandates in place I have to follow but as long as I stay within the lines, everyone is happy. -My staff are a healthy mix of experienced professionals and young smart people. It allows me the chance to mentor the new people and learn from the experienced people. -The cleint's representation are some of the better teams that I have dealt with. Not particularly clued in to what is happening but they listen to what I tell them and react accordingly, generally in a positive manner. -The company places a lot of value in it's people which is very refreshing for this industry. They take good care of us. -There is both upward and lateral mobility here. I am working at blowing a hole through the wall separating me from senior leadership. They are interested in paying for me to get my MBA online while I am on location. - -I'm stuck on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific. It is better than KSA but I was sold on working from home and traveling intermittently to sites for various activities, not full-time management of sites anymore. I took a pretty substantial pay cut under the understanding that I would be home-based; they gave me a substantial raise in wage and allowances to appease me but they also recognize (or say they do) that I am here to help for now and not the permanent solution for this location. -My previous firm was a bit smaller ($2-3B) in annual revenues, I was identifed as the emerging leader of the year there and expected to produce $200M in revenue annually, now I work for a firm that is approximately three times the size and my revenue expectations have actually dropped. As the new guy, I don't have quite the level of fanfare I had at my previous firm. re-establishing yourself is a process. -The senior person in my group, whom I don't report to strangely, is not very strong. I end up doing a lot of the strategic planning and analysis which is an annoyance. -The hours can be a bastard. Sometimes I work 10 hours a week, sometimes I work over 100. Right now there isn't a lot happening so it is challenging to stay in the office for 40 hours every week. There is only so much internet that you can read/watch in a day. ALT FOCUS I generally leave for one of two reasons: 1. Shitty leadership - At the previous company the President had a nasty habit of being a bully and having knee-jerk reactions. It usually worked like: Ready-Fire-Aim. Things get fucked up that are directly related to his mistakes, people get fired. His group of VPs managed scared and the company suffered for it. Consequently, the President was removed not long after I left.....believe me, thosetwo events had nothing to do with each other, I was a gnat on the company water buffalo ass. 2. Supervisory imcompetence - Supervisors who do nothing or know nothing. People who don't belong in managerial positions and are terrible with people. People who cannot diagnose problems with staff and morale or keep worthless fucks for employees around and expect everyone else to carry them.
I work half-time at an art gallery and supplement that with freelance writing/communications stuff. Pros: - I get to read, write, and talk about art all day. I've worked in the art world in a bunch of different ways before, but this is my first experience with a gallery and sometimes I'll get such a kick out of what my day-to-day life has become when I'm hanging out with an artist in their SoHo loft or casually strolling around with a $10,000 painting or getting into a heated debate about the merits of one particular movement versus another. - My position is really independent and totally free of micro-managing. There were some systems in place before I got there, but I'm the first one to have this position so I pretty much get to decide what I'm doing with it, both in the big picture and for my everyday tasks. It's exciting, but kind of intimidating, and sometimes I wish I had just a little more guidance, but I love getting to be in charge and take control of it creatively. - There are 3 other women who work there and they're all really cool. This is also the first time I have an intern, who's working much more with the other women than for me, but I am still excited I'm at the point where I can have an intern do some grunt work for me, and it's pretty fun to have someone looking up to me and asking me about career and life advice and what not. - For the freelancing aspect, it gives me an opportunity to do so many more awesome things than if I were solely working a full-time job. There are a million things I'm interested in and able to do and could do, so I like having the chance to explore them and always be working on something new. - The open and flexible schedule is great. It gives me time to work on all of my other things and have more of my own life and not feel so weighed down by monotony. Cons: -Everyone knows how much it sucks to be hunting for a job, and that's a constant for me. I'm never not in "job alert" mode where, if I'm not physically looking around freelance job sites or pitching people, I'm still always keeping an eye out for an opportunity in some way. There's always this little voice going "Ooo! Maybe that's an idea! Ooo! How about I try that?" I'm not sure if I could turn that part of me off even if I did get a full-time job, since I just have that drive in me, but I could go without that ever-present pressure I have to put on myself to find my next thing. -The financial insecurity. In December I was juggling 6 freelance projects alongside my regular job. Last month I had 1. This month it's looking like 0. The gallery pays me enough to get by when that's the only thing I have going, but I took it with the goal of always having a couple other things on the side to lighten things up a bit, money-wise. I can add on some hours where I work from home and they don't really mind, but I don't have enough to take care of to justify it all the time. There were a few months last year where I was finally making Real People money and it was staggering just how much of a difference it made on my life, even when it wasn't really THAT much more per paycheck, so it bums me out even more to have financial stress again now that I know exactly what it could be like. (That job blew their financial load early, though, and I ended up being even worse off than before which was why I eventually ended up at the gallery instead, among other reasons.) Right now I'm working on finding another half-time job instead of trying to leave the gallery. I haven't been there that long, first of all, but I'd rather stay because I love the work I do there so much and the work environment. I'm doing a good job and getting great feedback and I feel really supported there and like I'm already a big part of the team. That's important enough to me make it worth the harder route of having two jobs instead of replacing them altogether.
Let me preface this by saying I work for a telecommunications company that I've left and came back to twice and worked for, for a total of 16 years. The good: - Free cable, Internet, and various discounts on other products (phone, pay per view, etc) - The benefits are outstanding (including those mentioned above). Much better (and cheaper) than those from a much larger company I worked for previously. - (most of)The people I work with are great. Just genuinely good, dedicated people. - When I was laid off from my previous job, all I did was make a call to some old coworkers and they worked me in for an interview for an open position and I was hired not a month later. The bad...where do I begin. - my title is the same as my peers and coworkers but my duties are completely different. I am the only one person answering a phone that is linked to two different departments for all our business customers for the entire state. The rest of my coworkers process orders and generally only use the phone to make outbound calls. - since I'm the only one answering those calls I have to get someone to cover the phone if I want to go to the restroom, take a break, go to lunch, or if I get back to back calls for over an hour and need help. Related to that is that I must be ready to go for our normal working hours (8 - 5) while my coworkers can come in as late as 9:30 as long as they work 8 hours a day. - my supervisor is completely useless. I've held 7 different positions with this company and had several different supervisors and even though I've disliked other supervisors more, the current one is by far the worst ( if I come to her with something that needs to be escalated, the first thing out of her mouth is, "well, let's pretend you're the supervisor." Bitch, if I did that, I'd sit at your desk and get paid for being equally useless). - there is no mobility with this job. Due to being shuffled around from tech support, to a department that was created and then done away with a few years later, I'm pretty much stuck here until I can get a job somewhere else in the company. - fully half the people I talk to on the phone everyday are complete idiots. I am amazed on a daily basis that the person I'm talking to -to schedule their order - is the owner of a business and lacks the ability to communicate professionally over the phone. - last but not least.... A LOT of the calls I get are due to missed appointments. No surprise, we're the cable company, right? Except that I have nothing to do with that situation. That falls on our dispatchers and field techs. But the customer has my number and I answer every time they call so they call me for an explanation to something that I have either no knowledge of or I have no control over. There are so many things and other departments involved with the order that affect what happens to it AFTER I last speak to the customer and unfortunately I will get the call if it goes bad. I know it sounds horrible. And it is. I'm supposed to be training someone to take over the phones so I can assume a role more like that of my coworkers and leave this behind, but she is freaked the fuck out and has openly said she may quit if there aren't some changes made before she takes over. I do this job because I absolutely love the company I work for, they do take care of their employees and the people I work with are great. But it is a soul sucking, demoralizing grind every day. I have no desire to work late (even though I do come in early everyday) because I've had an assfull by 5 o'clock. I do it because it pays enough to cover the bills on just my income, and the kids are still on our insurance. If they weren't, I'm not sure I would stay.
I'm a teacher, so here it goes: Pros: Summers, breaks, and on occasion you can make a real, genuine impact on someone and help them. You have to be organized, efficient, and an entertainer. I basically have to find myself doing education based stand up comedy to get anyone to pay attention at all. Cons: Pay is dogshit, but I can deal with that. Hours are much worse than most people think. I teach 6 classes (2 preps, meaning I teach two different classes and need to be prepped for both). Between prep and grading, especially with an AP class, I find myself working 50 hours a week, minimum. When I was also coaching football, that shot up to 70 hours a week, including Saturday's and Sunday's. Then there is the bullshit factors. Students will lie, cheat, and steal their asses off if given even the whiff of a chance, so besides being entertaining, I also end up feeling like a fucking prison guard always on alert for someone to be trying some shit. On top of that, parents have changed. When I was in school, if I didn't turn in my work, my parents grounded my ass until my grade came up. Now, kid just says "I turned it in" and I have parent calls and emails up my ass about losing their kids' work, because their kid would never, ever lie to get out of trouble. Mind you, I never ever take grading home, for just this reason. Nothing leavers my classroom, and I am exceptionally well organized. Still, that is the basic idea: kid gets in trouble or does something stupid, parents blame the teacher or school. You might think the bottom of the barrel kids are the worst, but nope. Teaching AP has been a living nightmare. These are all kids who have never gotten lower than a B in their lives, taking a class designed to be very difficult. I told them ahead of time that some would fail, and others would get Cs and Ds like they've never had before, but they still don't get it. I've heard a kid with a B say I ruined their life, and parents of kids with C's and D's email and call and complain because their kid has never gotten that low of a grade. No shit, your kid has never been actually challenged before, and now that they are they don't know what to do. Then there are the incompetent coworkers. We have a guidance department that is fucking terrible. I had a kid in an AP history class that COULDNT FUCKING READ! This kid had failed his English exams, and got C's in English, and they still put him in my class. Why? Mom said to put him in, even though he didn't meet the pre-requisites, and counsellors were afraid to tell her no. The administration was afraid to tell her no. Her kid failed, and of course that is my fault. The counsellors and administration pressured me to find a way to pass them and to find ways to increase grades. They wouldn't outright say it, but they basically wanted me to pad the AP kids' grades to make the parents shut up and the school look better, because that is all that matters anymore. If my AP class all take the AP test and all fail, my school wouldn't give a single flying fuck as long as the kids got A's and could put AP on their college applications. So this is why this will be my last year teaching. The burn out rate is high, and I totally understand it now.
I am the union warehouse person at a container terminal Pro -Pay, it is great -Shift, Monday to Friday(8-4:30) -I like most the people I work with -My direct supervisor is pretty great, as long as my job gets down he doesn't care what else I do -I am typing this from work Cons -Even thou I like most the people I work with, most of them are lazy fucks that always complain even thou they have it great. It makes doing your job hard when no one else does theirs and always bitches about doing it. -My supervisors supervisors. They shouldn't have there jobs. They have no idea how to do them. The head guy was just a supervisor at a mill before somehow he got the job, he micromanages everything and has no fucking clue as to what he is doing. He will spend time online researching what ever and say to my boss hey look we can get this cheaper(he doesn't factor in shipping from a place we don't normally get stuff from, lead time, ex.) from this website. Another supervisor was a fisherman that got his MSCE I think or professional from some job retraining program, no experience and got the job as the only IT guy(so head IT supervisor) in the place, then he transferred over to a maintenance super. -My supervisor, doesn't know how to say no to his boss's when stuff isn't his job. They ask him to do stuff because he is actually know what he is doing and stuff gets done. -Since I actually like working and get shit done, I am get asked to do stuff that isn't my job because it will get done. I could fight it since it isn't my job, but most the time I don't mind too much. It just pisses me off that the people that it is there jobs are too lazy to do. -Maintenance dept, gets shit on by the company. edit: since this is a labour's union and we are skilled trades people we get shit on by the union.
I'm currently a marketing slave, started in sales with the company 4 1/2 years ago and changed roles last year. I got a job offer a few months ago to change careers and work in a one or two man gunmaking shop in a different state, led by a master of the trade. The offer ended up being cancelled due to circumstances out of my control, but it was something I was interested in and still think about (and fortunately we're still in contact). I don't know if I can work full time in a cubicle forever. Focus: I have a pretty long leash and can work from home pretty much when I want and nobody gets on my case about when I show up or leave as long as work gets done. I can spend my lunch hour fishing if I want for a good portion of the year, or at least just outside at a park. There's lots of variety in what I do from a day to day basis and I usually don't get bored. My current boss is awesome and most coworkers are great. It's a small company (less than 150 employees) without a big corporate feel and I work directly with the CEO and President sometimes. Downside: I am the point person on RFPs and it can be hell. There is a good 'ol boys private school network in management too- they all went to the same preppy St. Asshole college and can be heavy on favoritism. Some of the outside sales reps I used to work with act like bitchy divas instead of grown men and my old boss the sales VP is a two faced liar who does not inspire me to give a shit in any way. I know more about our product and systems than some management does too and re-training them on some of the most basic things over and over again scares me. Alt-focus: The one job I ever quit was because of the biggest asshole of a CEO ever, who had no concept of leadership and was a selfish tool who treated people like shit. The company was about 5 years old and had generated some fanfare but sales never took off like expected, and people started leaving like rats jumping ship. When I started there was over a dozen employees, and when I left six months later there were four.
I work for a website/backoffice system company that specializes in high end private clubs. Upside: It's a small 150ish people company. Unlike my last job the owner is very approachable with ideas and thoughts, he's fairly business savvy and watching him work makes for great insight. It is a pretty laid back company and there isn't any weird corporate culture thing going on. If there are changes that you think should be made in the process management is always willing to work with you. It is a young company too, 95% of new hires are straight off graduation so there is a constant stream of 22ish girls filling the ranks to keep your day interesting. The workload in my position is next to nothing and non client facing, I actually feel a little bad for project managers that have to deal with pissed of clients all the time and probably get paid the same as I do. Since I got busted surfing the web a few weeks ago Ive tried to take on more work just to make the days go faster. I feel at some point we will be able to work from home. We have a few satellite offices across the country and I'd say 80% of the people who work at these work remote. I know at least three that post up on the beach with their laptops 2-3 days of the week. I think at some point Ill try and do this. Downside: The pay would be good for someone straight out of college, it would be a great starter job for recent grads experience wise. Ive only been here six months so Ive yet to have a review. From my understanding they prefer giving changes of titles and increased workloads without any adjusted compensation. There is some office politics and gossiping but it really doesn't involve my department. alt Focus: My last job. Ive detailed it before. The owner had zero experience, or personality, to be a boss over anyone. I've heard they've gone through 2 more project directors since Ive left. I'm glad I rid my life of such a terrible person. I hope she gets anal cancer.
I'm a senior consultant at a boutique CRM consulting firm. I have a team of a couple developers and analysts and manage work for four clients--two of which are among the largest that our company serves. The upsides: A lot of faith was placed in me and I've been rewarded for proving to my superiors that their faith was not misplaced. I have a great mix of autonomy and support when needed. I like the people I work with, both within my company and at my clients. In two and a half years of working at this company, my income has doubled. For the first time, I have a solid vision of what I want to do far into the future and, more importantly, how I can achieve that. To that point, I have a company behind me that actively works to help me realize that vision. The downsides: I live in CT and our office is in Manhattan. It's a little more than 2 hours door to door, one way. I can work from home whenever I want, but as a team leader, I feel it hurts my credibility if I work remotely too much (probably more my perception than anything else, but still). With increased responsibility comes more challenges, and while I like that the type of work I'm doing is evolving, it's meant longer days, more travel, and generally more stress, so figuring out how to balance everything is still a work in progress. While the company would probably not like this description of its practices, the truth is that you're given what you can realistically handle and then a little more--like a maximum strength drug trial. You're tossed into the fire and you'll either grow a thicker skin and learn to love the heat or you'll jump out. I tend to excel in these types of situations, but I'm concerned that, long term, stress-fueled success is not going to be great for my health. My dad is very much the same way and he had a major heart attack at 40. Again, striving to find balance in the madness is a constant battle and I don't feel like having angioplasty in a decade. Overall, I love what I do, I'm good at what I do, and I'm going to continue doing it until that sentiment changes.
I'm a life insurance agent and financial adviser. Pros: - Tons to learn. I like learning and mastering new stuff and this is a bottomless well of knowledge. You can never know it all. To be what I consider competent in this field you need to understand things like life insurance planning, retirement planning, rollovers, mutual funds, and a slew of products that cut across categories. In particular I love the fun of using a product in innovative or counter-intuitive ways. - This is really meaningful work. People go to college, retire without stress, and families are protected from a shitstorm of problems because of what I do. That's an awesome feeling - Income upside. There's no actual income ceiling in what I do. Realistically, I probably won't ever hit the multimillion per year mark, but 500k? That potential is there if I can do things right and put in the work. Plus pretty good benefits, not the least of which is an actual private pension. - I basically have no boss. So, it's kind of a complicated scenario, but essentially I am my own business owner. I'm building my own financial services practice. This is immeasurable in how awesome it feels to not have to care about as much chickenshit stuff. I do have a manager, but his job is to mentor and train me. He has no part in my compensation, there isn't a traditional annual review where compensation is set, and short of regulatory/ethical violations I can't be fired as long as I produce some de minimis amount every year. The smarter/harder I work the more I make, period. - Flexibility. It's Friday a little before 11 EST and I'm writing this at home. In a little while I'm going to meet with a lawyer I network with to discuss her life insurance planning and also talk about clients we might refer back and forth. This afternoon I'll drop into an HR company to network some more, then home to do some phoning and random busywork. Probably be done around 3-4. I went to the office once this week. On Tuesday I was at my wife's ultrasound so I could be there when we found out we're going to be having a girl. Wednesday I had a client meeting in another state and then went to a casino. - Intellectually challenging. I have a lot of factors to sort and consider when designing and implementing financial plans. It can get super complicated and it feels good to solve the puzzle. - My law degree isn't entirely wasted. Aside form being a cool credential, it does bring a good chunk of useful background and knowledge to the job. - The future. So, we don't really have job titles to chase, but essentially my future has a lot of potential and options. I could build up the practice, I could go into recruiting/management, I could go corporate (unlikely), I could bounce back and forth. I can specialize in a subset (for example, I currently wind up doing a ton of rollovers and life insurance planning) and market that. I can get a d/b/a and build my own brand. And so on. Cons: - Uncertainty. Most of the cons in this career revolve around uncertainty. There's a lot that's unpredictable, especially in the first few years. It's why we have a super high attrition rate. After doing this for three years, I'm one of the few who made it this far. Luckily after three years, and particularly after five or six, it gets a lot better. - No base pay. I am entirely compensated based on production. So a great month could be truly great, but a bad month could be as bad as you think. Residuals slowly build up, but it'll be years before those are any sort of actual base income. So this is a huge source of stress. - Client acquisition. Acquiring clients is a huge part of the profession and it sucks ass like you wouldn't believe. I operate mostly on referrals of one sort or another, but even there, people are often reluctant to meet and plan. Sometimes for good, sometimes for insane, reasons. - People are sociopaths. I have booked appointments, driven huge distances, and then been left on a darkened porch without explanation. - Driving. Fuckton of driving. - The other side of flexibility. It also means sometimes I work super long hours and there isn't really an artificially imposed cutoff. - No such thing as vacation or sick time. I mean, I can take 1092830 days off if I want, but I won't get paid for any of it.