I enjoyed my last job, until I didn't. I decided to leave and live off my savings for a few months. It was the best decision I ever made for my mental health. More than a few months later, I'm still looking for a job, but with a better understanding of what I want in a job.

Now, do I actually think I'm going to find exactly what I'm looking for? Probably not lol. But whatever. I do know there is no reason to stay at a job you don't like, and every time I change jobs, I like to think I'm getting closer to one I can stand long-term.

Don't take my advice. I am a stranger on the internet.

Becoming self-employed was the best professional decision I ever made.

Ambivalent is the best word for me.

I'm finding that I will eventually resent anything I am compelled to do under threat of poverty, no matter how much I may otherwise enjoy it. Knowing that my life can be uprooted without warning if some grumpy asshole doesn't like my work certainly doesn't help.

All that being said, I have to admit I am more fortunate than many others with my career. At least I can do it in my pajamas with a cat on my lap. Little to no risk of permanent damage to my body from my line of work. And my salary is pretty good compared to the abysmal median pay in the US.

I drive among a dozen different schools to work with kids with disabilities. I like my team and the regular work part of my job. i hate the new leadership's micromanagement and disrespectful attitude and I'm sad and angry for the co-workers that have left because of them. I like the kids and it's pretty fun most days, but i think it's really the logistics that makes a job good or bad. I mostly set my own daily schedule; I'm off by 5 every day, every weekend, and almost all holidays; i have an office but don't have to spend much time there; i get to see the sun every day; and no one notices if i stop to run a quick personal errand between schools.

I really do enjoy my job. There are definitely stressful aspects, and the occasional jerk I work with, but by and large I like it. I work as an independent contractor nurse anesthetist at like 15 different facilities. Every day of every week is different, so rarely gets too boring. I like the variety of facilities and cases I get to do. Hours are usually not too bad. I'm at a place in my career where I rarely work nights, weekends or call unless I volunteer. I only work the days I want, and can take as much time off as I want (no paid vacation though). My bosses are really chill and great to work for.

I've recently been offered a different position that is at a single facility, only a handful of case types, steady hours, also no nights weekends, holidays or call, and it comes with a substantial pay bump and paid vacation. All of which is tempting. But it's been hard to make the decision because I really do enjoy my current job.

I'm actually lucky enough to have a job that is in line with my passion. Sure I wish I and my fellow workers had more say in the way the business was run, but it's better than most of my other options in this competitive field.

I have a job that I hired on to 30 years ago off of a want ad in the local newspaper (google it, that's how it used to work) and thought to myself - "I'll be out of here in a few months".

I like the freedom from office/meeting shit (although they try to pollute it with that), I get to spend most of my time in customer-facing engagement (which is mostly awesome). Find work that you can enjoy even if working feels toxic (which it almost always does).

My job sucks but I really love it. It's the best job I've ever had compensation wise but it is stressful as hell and I'm pretty sure it's turning my hair gray. It's also the best job in turn of meaning, I can actually make an impact for people.

I'm planning on moving up in the company, I'm missing where I started as I take more of a background role a little but I can't have worked front-line forever for many reasons.

I mean, it's a job so no, but it's the best I've ever had. Pay is bad, but i come in, do what i need to do and leave. Occasionally i get paid to hang around or go shopping while i wait for deliveries, but i mostly get off early (to the detriment of my paycheck). I'm definitely going to have to get another job eventually, but I'll hold on to this one as long as i can make it work.

No.

I used to be in the B2B tech industry and even though I liked what I did within my team for a living, it always felt like I wasn't contributing anything of substance to society. Then everyone in the tech industry was laid off so I nabbed a job in the healthcare industry. I knew going in that I might be contributing negatively to society, but I was desperate and beggars can't be choosers. I was hoping the layoffs would have blown over by now and I'd be able to start looking again, but the layoffs are STILL happening. And now that the whole UHC situation has happened, I feel like I'm walking on eggshells all the time. I still like my team and the things I do within that team, but I loath my company and will jump ship the second I'm able. It's really a shame too as I feel I've done all my best work so far at this company and have grown a lot in just 2 years. But I can't stomach contributing to evil for longer than I have to.

I like my job. I WFH, and will never go back to full time office. I know an Amazon employee that's pissed because they're forcing everyone to RTO and being shitty about it. The shittiness is the point though, because they're trying to drive wages down by getting people to voluntarily leave. I've found that toxic workplaces aren't worth the paycheck, and any workplace forcing RTO without an actually good reason is toxic.

I will say that there's some chaos and mess in pretty much every job. If anyone yells at you (or anyone) about it instead of handling it like an adult though, GTFO. I've worked for that sort of person and it's never worth it.

No, but it's more the conditions than the job itself.

Baking can be enjoyable and actually kinda meditative. On the rare days that I get to just do that, it's nice.

But my average day is spent fixing what's been forgotten/ignored, and filling in every role no one else felt like doing that day. All four morning people can be there, I'll still have their leftover work to do as they all start getting ready to leave once I come in for the afternoon, and whatever was already planned for me.

They all leave their work space worse than a kindergarten class on fingerpainting day. Yeah, of course you need to leave an hour early, again. Your table is caked in 2 feet of icing and there's a pile of dishes pouring out the sink.

My managers shouldn't be allowed to work together, they spend more time talking about their personal issues than they do actually working.

I have spent months telling them that I'm burnt, we need at least one more night person, and on weekends having two together would help. They got another morning person instead. All while telling me we're getting in "so many applications".

Our company wants to sit there and praise us for being the top preformers in our area, but it's more important that the larger, but worse preforming, stores get all the new equipment. We can just put up with equipment they don't even make parts for any more. I work with the Ovens of Theseus, it's put together with entirely refurbished parts picked out of the salvage yard at this point. They also can't hold temperature for shit.

It feels even worse, because it's not something I feel like I can talk about anymore. I know my friends are tired of hearing me bitch about work, I can't talk to my coworkers.

I mostly enjoy my job:

Good points:

• I have a very good boss who does her best to make our lives easier, and whose expectations of us are clear, consistent, and reasonable.
• I have an excellent benefits package.
• I have very good work-life balance.
• I have a very short commute.
• There’s an on-site fitness center that’s pretty nice and is open before work.
• I get along pretty well with my coworkers.
• I mostly like what I do, when I can get my brain to shut up and cooperate in actually getting some work done.

Bad points:

• I could probably get a sizable pay raise if I got a similar job in the private sector.
• Our institutional funding depends in part on the state legislature & gubernatorial executive actions so we can easily find ourselves with unstable funding.
• Because of budget crunch, we are in a hiring freeze and my department, who just lost a person to retirement, will probably be denied authorization to hire someone to fill the newly vacated spot.

Overall, it’s worth my while to stay here. At a minimum I will stay long enough to vest in the pension system, and because I hate job hunting with a passion, I’ll probably stay at least as long as my boss is here.

No, but I’ve never enjoyed any of my career paths, even though they’re ones I set out to pursue. Programmer to Designer to Video Editor, I think I just enjoyed the climb.