I've been offered a role with better pay and hours in a location I like. Sounds great but I'm not sure I want it – the role itself, while there's variety which I like, is not exciting.
In case you're wondering why I applied, I didn't give it too much thought-im currently working a zero hour contract and need something permanent.
I need to sign the contract asap and I just don't know what to do…Is liking the work itself really important when the pay and hours are better? Are you happy with the work you do?
20 comments
I was trapped in a job that made me so unhappy that I had 2 mental breakdowns in a year.
The reason I was trapped is because it was a 40 hour contract and they are like rocking horse poop these days. It was also a management position. (It was a retail job and I was assistant manager).
After my second mental breakdown, I decided enough was enough (I had already been looking around for something else) and I called a local Domiciliary Care company.
For the last 20 years people have been telling me I should be a Care Worker, and that I would be perfect for the job. Unfortunately, I didn’t believe in myself and I could never imagine me being able to do that kind of job, especially when it comes to poo. They told me to come in and have a chat (was very relaxed as I’ve known the owner for around 14 years and the Deputy manager for around 18ish, the Deputy Manager is one of the people who had been nagging me to become a Care Worker. ) the next thing I know, I’m signed up for a trial shift the next day.
Honestly, from day 1, I was hooked! I am a changed person. I’m so much happier with my life, I would go as far as to say I am a completely different person. I’ve even managed to lose just over 4 stone (I’ve been trying to lose weight for so many years) and my mental health is better than it has been in decades.
So, what I’m saying is, YES! It’s extremely important to like what you’re doing as a job. You spend so much of your life at work, it needs to be something that will make you happy, with good work/life balance.
If you’re only thinking about taking this job that you KNOW you’re not going to like, just because of money, I would say it’s a bad move.
Either way, I wish you the very best of luck.
Much love xxxx
I love my job – I work in substance abuse nursing with addicts. Not for everyone, that’s for sure, but I bounce into work every day 🙂
Yeah, mostly I really do. Not every day but in general – yes. I have a lovely manager who is incredibly supportive. I have an amazing team that I manage which has its ups and downs but is made up of good people who care about the work (I am in the NHS) and great colleagues.
I also have worked other places where this hasn’t been the case and have experienced in another job, a bully of a manager. I’ve also been in bleh jobs that I didn’t love or hate and bored me.
It makes life better when you enjoy the job and the people in the job but it isn’t the end of the world if you find yourself in a dull but functional job. Life is what we do outside work. You don’t need to enjoy it but it does make life easier given how much time we spend at work
Unless you really enjoy your current job, I’d say it’s worth it
Yes, but I’m at the top of my salary band and it looks like no room for promotion. I’ve just been asked to make a lateral move to do mat cover for someone at my level, but their job is so tedious that if I accept, it will make me hate my job. If I don’t accept, I will look like I’m not a team player and the possibility of a promotion will be even further away.
So, yes. But I guess it’s time to leave.
Look at it as a step in the right direction. Will you be better off in any way or will it be worse?
My work is eh, I go in, I do my job and hang out with my colleagues, I go home and forget it exists.
It pays fine, I can leave it at the door and allows me to me do things that I want. Other than that it’s not a big part of my life.
I’m a teacher.
No one teaches because of good hours (despite what some people say!). Holidays are a massive bonus of course but I teach because I love it and I could not do anything else.
The stability will be a bonus for you and surely that is important? Until you start doing it, do you really know what opportunities are there for you? However you do need to take some enjoyment from the work you do as you spend an awful lot of time doing it.
I am now. I work non-teaching management in a high school and it’s such a nice environment compared to the corporate IT world I floated around for the previous 25 years. Took a huge pay hit but 10 minute cycle to work and I get school holidays and local gov pension scheme. The decades of being paid pretty well before starting make it a lot easier I must admit.
I think until you give it a go you don’t really know if you’ll like it or not. By the sounds of it this offer is more secure, and pays more so guess I’m wondering why you wouldn’t give it a go? If you get there and are bored then you can ask for additional work or if you can do some professional development (like shadowing another department)
Yes. It pays the bills and lets me pursue my hobbies. I do not get my self worth from a job.
Try it? You’re not marrying it. If you hate it, move on in six months. But it’s easier to change jobs when you have one – and the stability in terms of hours/money will be very beneficial.
No, I hate it.
Got moved sideways in my current company because my ex-boss bullied me out of my position (she’s got the MD and his wife around her little fingers).
I have never, and won’t ever have belief in myself that I can do a good job because all I’ve ever done is admin/grunt work and as far as I’m aware in my working life you get shat on from a great height repeatedly.
I don’t really want to apply for other jobs because it’s just going to be the same situation, just in a different environment.
Yes I like it. Would I prefer to not have to work at all? Yes but given that is not possible it’s the best possible thing I could be doing
Im a chef, I’m happy with the work i do. Its surprisingly almost impossible to find a restaurant thats 1. Sells food you’re proud of 2. Has good management and 3. Doesn’t expect you to achieve the impossible. So the place I’m at now I’m very happy with.
Its busy enough that we can get bummed for 8 hours straight (which is usually my favourite part of the job) but without feeling like we can’t cope, then a Monday and Tuesday are quiet enough that we can prep great food.
I started working my current job last April when they had an awful head chef and awful reputation. It’s a gastro pub and they were chagrin insane prices for bought in food.
Got a new head chef in September and a new GM in January, completely changed the menu and bought all the prices down by £3 on average per dish, head chef was forced to keep some pub classics like pie, burgers, fish and chips but now we make the pies, make the burger buns etc. new GM puts on loads of events. He’s a top bloke, really cares about his team and the customers.
Feels like im part of a kitchen nightmares revamp and its so much fun and really rewarding seeing the reviews and and increase in customers compared to this time last year
I would take boring contracted work hours over unstable zero contract ones. I don’t mind my work, I like my manager and the people I work with, I’ve never had the Sunday scaries people talk about. But if I won the lottery tomorrow I’d probably only ever log again to do the proper process for handing my IT stuff back in
I don’t love my job, but I don’t hate it either – it can feel repetitive at times. What I do love are the benefits, which make it very easy to be happy with it considering I don’t really mind it.
A lot can be said for a job you don’t mind with good work/life balance.
No. What I do for work is so incredibly unimportant. Our whole department lurches from one paniced idea to the next with no measures of success.
Our work contributes nothing to the organisation and if it weren’t for all the fucking meetings no one would ever know what we did since they certainly never feel the impact of it.
However my job is easy, I’ve learned enough about playing the game to be seen as an asset. So I’m quite secure and well paid. Can’t complain too much.
I’m a secretary. Mostly it’s fucking boring but I can start at 10 and finish at 4 with a 2 hour lunch if I wanted once a week because of flexi time. We get bonuses. It’s really laid back. I spend most of my time on Reddit to be honest cos there’s bugger all to do outside of the occasional email and opening and distributing post. I’d like to go remote but I wouldn’t have the flexibility I have here I don’t think.
This is one of those questions nobody can answer for you. Having said that: your best bet IMO is to take the job, give it six months, and see how you feel. If you’re so bored you can’t bear it, look for another one.