Jobs

[Nina182B]

Today marks my one year anniversary of full time work. I like going to work.. I love my co-workers, and am always busy throughout the day. The one thing I'm not satisfied with is that my job doesn't really have too much meaning for me. (I work for an insurance company and we create the insurance systems they use to conduct business.) Lately, I've been thinking about going back to school. The company I work for will pay for my tuiton as long as I still work for them in the meantime. If I do that, my path will pretty much be set into staying with the work that I do + promotions or something.

But I can't bring myself to sign up for next semester classes. I keep thinking about my "realistic job" versus my "dream job" I would rather be an elementary school teacher or do social work in other countries - but I need to stay with my current job because that is what I went to college for and it is paying me good money. If I go back to school to become a teacher or social worker, my paycheck will probably be cut in half Uggghhh, I am getting stressed thinking about it.

I'm sure a lot of people are stuck doing work they don't want to do with the rest of their lives so I feel like I need to make a decision on this soon before I spend another year and having the same regrets.. I tell myself that if I stay with my current job, I can make a lot of money, and "buy" meaning for myself if I donate money to charity or something. But I really don't think that will make me happy.

Just curious to hear some of your thoughts on this, and what you are striving for job wise.

[onizuka17711]

Today marks my one year anniversary of full time work. I like going to work.. I love my co-workers, and am always busy throughout the day. The one thing I'm not satisfied with is that my job doesn't really have too much meaning for me. (I work for an insurance company and we create the insurance systems they use to conduct business.) Lately, I've been thinking about going back to school. The company I work for will pay for my tuiton as long as I still work for them in the meantime. If I do that, my path will pretty much be set into staying with the work that I do + promotions or something.

But I can't bring myself to sign up for next semester classes. I keep thinking about my "realistic job" versus my "dream job" I would rather be an elementary school teacher or do social work in other countries - but I need to stay with my current job because that is what I went to college for and it is paying me good money. If I go back to school to become a teacher or social worker, my paycheck will probably be cut in half Uggghhh, I am getting stressed thinking about it.

I'm sure a lot of people are stuck doing work they don't want to do with the rest of their lives so I feel like I need to make a decision on this soon before I spend another year and having the same regrets.. I tell myself that if I stay with my current job, I can make a lot of money, and "buy" meaning for myself if I donate money to charity or something. But I really don't think that will make me happy.

Just curious to hear some of your thoughts on this, and what you are striving for job wise.

I say go for the dream job. You only live once, and what's the point of living if you're unhappy?

[Kiruyuki]

I'd say just go for the job u have right now. Maybe it would get better. I wouldnt throw a good money making job for a job that makes less. Even if you are unhappy, you can still find ways to make it better. Don't get me wrong or anything, I still say your dream job is great, but would you rather make more money or less money, would you want to get paid more for doing a job with lesser physical labor, or being a teacher and trying your best and working really hard (for example like staying up late grading tons of paper, or staying after school to monitor kids in detention and u dont even get paid extra for that) for little pay? I apologize if I don't make sense lol. I am not very good with words when it comes to subjects like these.

[Puppet Master]

Analyze your financial situation and do some research and than make you decision that's my advice...

[Blight]

Being a teacher that actually wants to teach people is one of the best jobs I can think of. I?m sure every one has had the teacher that just didn?t give a damn; teaching was only their paycheck. But you remember those teachers that didn?t make your life hell, the ones that probably taught you more about life than their subject in school, the ones that saw you were a person and not the road block to their money, the ones that really did give a damn. That is the kinda teacher I want to be. High School English. I had so many fucking teachers that wouldn?t have helped me if I was drowning ten feet away it was ridiculous. Know one cared and even worse, to put it in feather weight terms, they made a strong effort to let me know they didn?t like me. Not all my teachers were like that, but too many were. But one teacher, in my senior year, changed my life, and made me decide the direction I wanted to take the rest of my life in. She was an English teacher. I never did that great in English, I was a bad speller, my language consisted of a lot of local dialect, and it was really boring. But then we started writing essays in English 4. And she saw potential in my writing, encouraged me like I never had been by ANY other person, and I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to have the same power she just had on me. I wanted to a person that could affect people?s live in subtle ways I would never know, but would mean the world to them.

If you didn?t read the rest, at least read this. If you can manage to live a life on the money you would make doing what you really want to do then do it or you will feel dissatisfied no matter how your money situation goes. Being dead broke may not be fun, but doing something you don?t like, with constant thoughts of doing something more, will be far worse in the long run. Go be a teacher, go be a social worker, go create the meaning for your life that you seek. If you don?t, you will concede your life to nothingness, and simply start a long unfulfilled wait for the end.

[gubi-gubi]

I had so many fucking teachers that wouldn?t have helped me if I was drowning ten feet away it was ridiculous. Know one cared and even worse, to put it in feather weight terms, they made a strong effort to let me know they didn?t like me.

I know the feeling. I really hate teachers with a passion so if I was to become one i'd be worried i'd become just like the ones I hate. Still if teaching is your real dream then you HAVE to do it. Work is horrible and I hate it. This summer i've been working at Vauxhall cleaning all the crap off their machines and stuff. It's been a nightmare but at least it's taught me that I have to do a job I want to do. Not just wanting to do it for money but enjoying what I do. Can't wait to get back to uni in September and study hard to get a job I will enjoy. Seriously you will just stress yourself to death in a boring job.

[Zagatto]

It's kind of funny to start thinking about jobs. I'm currently working in my 36th job so I have a bit of experience in this department.

The one truth I can say is that if you are happy with the work you do then the rest of your life is a LOT easier to deal with. My all time favourite job was working in collections back when I lived in London. My wife an I could only afford the one car between us but I left work every day happy with the people I worked with and happy about how management treated me and most importantly, I felt like I had actually helped people straighten out their finances rather than just harping on them. I hadn't expected that job to be as satisfying as it turned out to be.

I've tried being in business for myself and I'm sure that I would probably have enjoyed it if I were a better business man. If you go into a business for yourself then you have to be a business man (woman in Nina's case) first and whatever your job is comes second. Because I'm a lousy business man my family almost ended up going hungry.

Now I'm working a job that I really don't like but it pays better than anything else I've ever done before (at least when I'm working). I'm going to keep doing this job till I'm out of debt and have a bit of a nest egg built up. After that, I really don't have any idea where I'm going. I just know that hating my job every day I'm away from home is eating me up and I can't live like this forever no matter what the pay is like.

Don't be blinded by what you're doing right now. Look at what courses you can take through work towards earning a teaching degree or a social work degree. Use what you have to build towards your future. Every time things start to get you down just look forward and remember the goal you're working towards and if you still want that then things should be easier.

In the end, being happy with what you do is more important than how much money you make.

[Vicious]

I'd say, if you can live on a teachers salary, then go ahead and do that. But I would say at least stay at the company until you get your degree, so that your school is payed for. And then after you graduate, go be a teacher if that's what you really want. This way, your current job pays for your school, and if you later on change your mind about teaching, you'll have something on your resume and could try and get back into what you're doing now. Hope that made sense, cuz I'm kinda tired right now.

[Cidien]

Most places that pay for your school require you to sign a contract that requires you to work for them for x number of years.

[geo85]

Sniff sniff, wow what words of wisdom.

Anyway, if any of you want to be a teacher fine, just dont try being one in NY.
I agree if you have the chance to get a job doing something you love go for it.
I do something I love, systems analyst, lots o work very rewarding, decent power over some underlings, and most important, very stable position.

I know database and programming, and networking etc, but being an analyst is the most stable, you cant run a business meduim to large anyway, without analysts.

[wrxh8r]

Other than shovelling animal crap and working 90 hours a week, getting paid about $15US a day after tax.Every job ive had is just work.I go i work,I get paid, enjoy my spare time.Ive never really liked one more than the other.And ive never actually not enjoyed the work.The thing that effects me the most is the people i work with.You never have to actualy like them but if times are kept humourous it keeps things interesting.

[onizuka17711]

Just do what makes you happy.

[Elcoholic]

Just do what makes you happy.

Ha, if it was only so simple. You have to have an income. And working for someone else will never make me happy. I'm of the kind that doesn't know what kind of work would make me happy. So I went into accounting. Pays good but its boooring. I don't want to look back at my life when I retire and think 'damn I made alot of money for my boss these past 40 years'. I don't think I'll ever be happy with working for someone elses company. But I don't have many options since I have back problem cuased by weight lifting. Can't stand for more that 40 minutes or it really starts to hurt. I'd like to do something in the video game or movie industry and I'd love to work outside aslong as its not physical labour but you don't just find jobs like that (it isn't even a job, more of an interest).

In your case Nina, I envy you since you know what you want. Hell, you even have 2 options that can make you happy. I personally don't enjoy my job but I like the money. I work to live. Other people live to work and can find happiness in their job. Depends on which category you belong too.

[Nina182B]

It was fun following up on people's comments because for one day, I started to think that I really could turn my life around and start a different career. But there were very good points brought up about how it would affect my financial situation. I think at this point, I really have to stay with my job (because I need to finish paying for my school loans). When I become a teacher, it will probably be 6 or 7 years from now. I'm going to do more research on social work in the meantime. I am hoping that there's some kind of program to do social work for a couple of weeks, like if volunteers are needed or something.

Hey Geo, it's great you love being a systems analyst. I'm a systems/business analyst as well. I love what I do at work, and I love my co-workers But I know I would love being a teacher more and the work would be more rewarding for me. I'm not planning on being a teacher at NYC.. I want to teach for elemtenary school kids at the city where I grew up, Jersey City, NJ. It is a ghetto area, and the main reason I want to teach here is because half of the kids who grow up here will probably turn out to be drug addicts, criminals, rapists, or murderers. I hope I can make a difference at an early age in someone's life. Thinking about this really makes me want to be a teacher right now, but it will have to wait.

Hey Blight, I really hope you become a teacher.. sounds like you have all the right reasons to be one

[Andromeda18_]

I'm a bit late but I'll still let you know what I think.

I'd like to tell you to do whatever will make you happy and doing something you don't like for the rest of your life can indeed make you very unhappy. However, life is not that linear. Not having money can also make people quite unhappy. Just think about it. With a teacher's salary you might not have enough money to get your family out or New Jersey as you once said you wanted to, nor will you be able to travel as you'd like to. These are just two of the things you might not be able to do if you become a teacher.
Of course, we should all do something that gives us pleasure but you must really ponder about what's more important to you. There is one good thing about all this though. You can go back to school and study to become a teacher but you'll always be able to go back to doing what you do now if in some years you realise you need the extra money. In my opinion you should go ahead and do it because after all you do have an alternative if things don't go as you planned.