Does anyone actually enjoy their jobs??

[ObsoleteFormat92]

Fucking how and fucking why?

[madhair60]

i do because my job is to write and talk about computer games

[Kankurette]

Yes, because translating is what I've always wanted to do, even when some of the jobs are incredibly tedious (e.g. 10,000-odd words about sodding ball bearings) or, in one case, there are photos of some woman's diseased minge. It's not the nastiest work-related thing I've seen tbf, that would be the autopsy photos I saw when I was a legal secretary. We always had to warn copying companies when we sent files to them with autopsy photos.

For context: I mainly do medical translation. Consent forms, medical documents, medical journals, that sort of thing. Tourism, political/NGO work (one of the jobs I did was about terrorism in West Africa and it was boss, I love doing stuff like that), and anything food-related are my main loves, but medical is more frequent, plus I worked in a hospital for 4 years so I know a bit of medical jargon. I also really want to do sports translation but alas, it doesn't pay so I just do the odd translation in my free time for fun. Like when I translated an interview with Roberto Martinez's wife from French into English.

[gib]

been doing the recycling job for coming up to a year now. I wouldn't say it's enjoyable but it keeps me fit and i really feel like i've earned the guinness on the way home

[Mr Trumpet]

I have one of those jobs where people say "Ooh that sounds interesting" when I tell them. And it is, sometimes.

[touchingcloth]

Yes, because translating is what I've always wanted to do, even when some of the jobs are incredibly tedious (e.g. 10,000-odd words about sodding ball bearings) or, in one case, there are photos of some woman's diseased minge. It's not the nastiest work-related thing I've seen tbf, that would be the autopsy photos I saw when I was a legal secretary. We always had to warn copying companies when we sent files to them with autopsy photos.

For context: I mainly do medical translation. Consent forms, medical documents, medical journals, that sort of thing. Tourism, political/NGO work (one of the jobs I did was about terrorism in West Africa and it was boss, I love doing stuff like that), and anything food-related are my main loves, but medical is more frequent, plus I worked in a hospital for 4 years so I know a bit of medical jargon. I also really want to do sports translation but alas, it doesn't pay so I just do the odd translation in my free time for fun. Like when I translated an interview with Roberto Martinez's wife from French into English.

Are you seeing a change in this with machine translation and AI? I've heard tell that a lot of translation jobs are "check this thing which came out of Google Translate for us" as if that simplifies the job of the human as opposed to just making it complicated in a different way.

[Wonderful Butternut]

Occasionally it's intellectually stimulating enough that I enjoy it.

For the most part, it requires about 3% of my brain power, which essentially is also fine cos I really don't want to invest actual effort in the organisation I work for.

[AllisonSays]

I'm a lecturer. There's lots of shit around my job which I very much do not enjoy but I do still find the core mechanics of it - reading, writing, teaching lectures and seminars, research - mostly compelling and engaging. I do sometimes wish I did something more directly 'useful' and have almost become a social worker about five times now - and I still might! - but yeah, I mostly like my job.

[touchingcloth]

I do data stuffs, and I enjoy it. I enjoyed being able to respond to the question about what I do with "data analysis" rather than "computers", but "data analysis" is just the new "computers", at least going by the occupations of the 80% of people on Mastermind who aren't retired.

[iamcoop]

Yes, although that's mainly due to lifestyle change really.

I spent a decade running pubs which didn't really pay particularly well, had brutally long and unsociable hours, no sick pay, dealing with drunk twats etc.

I now have a job which, whilst isn't amazingly fulfilling, is Monday-Friday, flexi-timed so I can start and finish whenever I want between 7am-5pm each working day (as long as I do my weekly hours), is hybrid so I can work from home a couple of days a week if I want, and I get bank holidays, Christmas etc off as well as my usual annual leave entitlement, and it's paid reasonably enough for me to feel comfortable. It's also in a fairly stable sector so I feel relatively secure, after the absolute fuckdown that was covid in my previous industry.

I suppose that kind of rigidity is a lot of people's worst nightmare, but after a decade of uncertain shift work it became blessed relief and allows me to actually spend time with my partner and daughter and be able to plan stuff and live a relatively normal life.

I've sort of made peace with the fact I'm not going to make millions doing something I'm insanely passionate about, I just want to be comfortable enough to fill the time outside of my job with as much creatively fulfilling pursuits and time with my family as I can. A couple of gigs or films a month, time to read books and the odd holiday is enough for me now, as unadventurous as that may seem.

[ObsoleteFormat92]

Yes, although that's mainly due to lifestyle change really.

I spent a decade running pubs which didn't really pay particularly well, had brutally long and unsociable hours, no sick pay, dealing with drunk twats etc.

I now have a job which, whilst isn't amazingly fulfilling, is Monday-Friday, flexi-timed so I can start and finish whenever I want between 7am-5pm each working day (as long as I do my weekly hours), is hybrid so I can work from home a couple of days a week if I want, and I get bank holidays, Christmas etc off as well as my usual annual leave entitlement, and it's paid reasonably enough for me to feel comfortable. It's also in a fairly stable sector so I feel relatively secure, after the absolute fuckdown that was covid in my previous industry.

I suppose that kind of rigidity is a lot of people's worst nightmare, but after a decade of uncertain shift work it became blessed relief and allows me to actually spend time with my partner and daughter and be able to plan stuff and live a relatively normal life.

I've sort of made peace with the fact I'm not going to make millions doing something I'm insanely passionate about, I just want to be comfortable enough to fill the time outside of my job with as much creatively fulfilling pursuits and time with my family as I can. A couple of gigs or films a month, time to read books and the odd holiday is enough for me now, as unadventurous as that may seem.

Can you lend me some of your attitude please? My job sounds almost identical to yours in terms of structure etc but I HAAAATE it, it's so unfulfilling and boring and I resent spending any of time doing it, even when working from home. I think it doesn't help that the industry itself (supervision of the metals and minerals trade *shudder*) is fucking evil. But I've been stuck here for 8 years now and have no idea how to get out and do something else. What can I do with an English Language degree???

[touchingcloth]

I've sort of made peace with the fact I'm not going to make millions doing something I'm insanely passionate about, I just want to be comfortable enough to fill the time outside of my job with as much creatively fulfilling pursuits and time with my family as I can. A couple of gigs or films a month, time to read books and the odd holiday is enough for me now, as unadventurous as that may seem.

My partner does some freelance work that involves managing the affairs of insanely wealthy people - one of them recently spunked £30K on wifi during a single private flight, which itself was taken a day before the rest of their family came back from holiday on a different private flight so they could get back to working an 18 hour day one day early. Oh, and three weeks' accommodation for that holiday cost in the hundreds of thousands.

Nothing about having that amount of wealth sounds particularly fun, though. They share their house with staff, spend less time with their kids than the people I know who are nurses or teachers, and constantly have to invent things to spend their money on, like asking my partner to find "the perfect office chair" or "the best houseplants to oxygenate a bedroom".

I think there's a lot to be said for reducing your outgoings as much as possible so that you can enjoy the sorts of things you've put in your final paragraph. As a random example, I've recently done things like take my stored cards out of my password manager because that dampens my urge to impulse buy, and I'm trying to make sure that I take at least 24 hours between deciding to buy something and then actually buying it - 9 times out of 10 I just don't bother buying.

[Butchers Blind]

Not really because it involves dealing with people and I hate people. Which oddly makes me the right person for the job.

[Zero Gravitas]

Nah not anymore, I hate telling people what to do, I have the mechanics of the act of having to talk to people and tell them what to do, it's horrible, so horrible.

I wouldn't even enjoy doing the things I'm telling other people to do because all the fun is in the working what to do and not the doing it.

Sucks man.

[TrenterPercenter]

Fucking how and fucking why?

Yes.  Why? because I followed a career that I cared about and has a (what I think at least) important social purpose (youth mental health).  I also, unlike most folk that do my line of work, started out coal face working directly with people (something that I do still miss but it is emotionally difficult work).

Most of the people I know hate their jobs but do them because they pay well, mine doesn't (relative to them and their duties) but that is a life decision I guess.  I mean I'm not going to turn down getting paid more but I'd much rather be spending 60% of my life doing something that is interesting to me and that is making the world a better place.

What can I do with an English Language degree???

Loads of things.  Best thing to do to really think about what you want to do then backwards plan it, break it down into steps and then start doing those first steps that you need to do on that path - this could be speaking to someone that does the job you want to do and asking them how they started out etc...

[Underturd]

Love it, mate.

[Gurke and Hare]

I enjoyed it when it started, but it's changed beyond recognition now and my skills are out of date so I'm probably fucked for getting another job. Just have to motivate myself enough to start getting some work done before they notice now.

[jonnyunitus]

Feel like I've landed on my feet with my most recent role. I work in the work experience department of a midlands based (predominantly) agricultural further education college.

Pros- holiday entitlement is great, organisation seems to genuinely care about their staff, get to work two days from home, get to drive around doing health and safety assessments, during assessments I get to see loads of lovely animals, the team I work with is great

Cons- not fabulously well paid, have to deal with quite a few hooray Henry agricultural types

[Senior Baiano]

I love my job working for Boeing identifying cost efficiencies and safety workarounds which can be made in the manufacture of commercial aircraft

[thenoise]

I have to spend 8 hours a day spreading right-wing propaganda on various Internet fora. Pay is basic but prospects and benefits are good. Like the Conservative party, it might not be glamorous but it's safe, consistent and reliable. And isn't that what we all want in these uncertain times?

[shoulders]

No, which is why I asked to condense it into 4 days. If I was still doing 5 days a week I'd have been driven mad by it.

It is quite a mentally stimulating job in the sense that each new case presents a challenge, an argument that needs winning - or tactically conceding, a different set of personalities and tolerance level for xyz. The skill is in the flex, there's no one way to succeed.

However I'd give it up and walk out tomorrow if I could.

[Bartholomew J Krishna]

Jobs are shite. That's why they have to pay you to do them.

[Mr_Simnock]

Yes, pays well, work from home, hardly any contact with line manager, work isn't the same each month, I get to learn new stuff, I like the people I work with.

[Pranet]

"Enjoy" is a big word but I'd sort of made my peace with it, had some good points, felt ok about what I was actually doing, working with good people I liked.

Obviously the man found out about it so now it is going to be shit.

[Icehaven]

Mostly, although like with a lot of jobs having to deal with other staff is the worst part about it, the actual work, dealing with the customers etc. I really do enjoy and feel is usually quite worthwhile and rewarding.

One way to measure it is if you suddenly didn't need to work because you won the pools or something would you leave on the spot, phase out gradually while you were replaced or stay? Probably the second for me, so at least I feel I'm doing something I genuinely care about even if it would give me great delight to stick a finger up at certain "colleagues" as I skipped towards the exit. Plus I always laugh at lottery winners who claim they're going to keep their job on the checkouts at Tesco. No you're fucking not.

[Dex Sawash]

I am one of those boring fuckers who has liked every job ever done.

McDonald's ✅️
Dishwahing ✅️
Furniture factory upholsterererer ✅️
Sandwich Assembler ✅️
Auto Mechanic ✅️

[dontpaintyourteeth]

nooo. fuck no, dude.

[Cleveland Steamer]

One way to measure it is if you suddenly didn't need to work because you won the pools or something would you leave on the spot, phase out gradually while you were replaced or stay?

Anyone who wins the lottery and says they will still carry on doing their job should have to give the money back immediately.

[Pranet]

The lottery thing is a good point actually and something I have thought about. In the past I'd have been phase out. Now I'm out of the  door. The amount I'd have to win to be out of the door has reduced as  well.

[QDRPHNC]

I'm a graphic designer so on balance, yes. I think it's a bit like any creative endeavour, where you'll have days and weeks that feel like the worst kind of grind, because it's not mindless grind, there's no way to tune out and get through it. But then you have those moments when you know you've cracked it, when you feel absolutely certain that you've found the thing you were looking for, and it's the right thing and the best you could possibly do. It's the pursuit of those moments that get you through the rest of it.

I never went to design school, but when I look back I realize I was designing all the time as a kid, making my own video and tape covers, laying out fanzines, all with scissors and glue and creating the final product on this really janky old photocopier my dad had. So even on days when I hate my job, I still consider myself very lucky that I spend my time as an adult doing the things I instinctively loved to do as a kid.

Anyone who wins the lottery and says they will still carry on doing their job should have to give the money back immediately.

I would keep doing the parts I enjoy, because those parts are almost like a hobby. But I would love to have the money to pay the people who are much much better than me to do the parts that I hate.