If I asked you the question “How’s your job?” how would you respond:
A. “I hate it.”
B. “Eh, it’s okay, a job’s a job.”
C. “I love my job.”
I have yet to meet a person who answered C, though occasionally you hear celebrities and other “successful” people gush about how they have the best job in the world. Great for them, but what about the rest of us?
Whether you hate or love your job, the reasons usually fall into two categories: the content of the job and the conditions of the job. The content of the job is the meat of the work, it’s the stuff that you do to earn your paycheck. For a writer, writing is the content; for a programmer, it’s programming; for actors it’s acting, you get the picture. Within each type of work there can be many subdivisions each with its own possibilities.
The conditions of a job include: salary, physical work environment, people relations, level of responsibility and work hours, among others.
From my conversations with peers and professionals more experienced than me, I am surprised by how many people are what I would call “job indifferent.”
“I hate Mondays,” or “Today is an eh day,” are often indicators of job indifference which may turn into job hate.
Job hate can be characterized by excessive complaining and the inability to speak positively about one’s work.
One of the potential culprits of job hate is mismatched job content. For example, I’ve decided on the path of a writer, but within that path there are numerous possibilities. Presently, I am working as a news correspondent for which I write non-fiction content. But there are also writers who write only fiction, such as book authors, screenplay writers or playwrights.
Personally I find creative writing more fulfilling than the non-fiction writing I get paid for, but due to the fact that making a living off creative writing takes time and requires an arguably higher level of skill, I have to support myself in the meantime with something that is less than ideal.
Sometimes people make poor choices in job content. Oftentimes this is a result of picking something that pays well or is prestigious but would not necessarily related to one’s interests.
People who are fed up with their jobs usually need a change in content.
But there are also people who like what they do, but hate the conditions of their job. Common complaints include, I don’t get paid enough, not enough responsibility, ridiculous hours, boss is awful, co-workers are uncooperative etc.
And then there are the people who dislike both their job content and condition; these are usually people who can say with confidence, “I hate my job,” and are often on their way out.
The challenge for workers in the 21st Century, a time which boasts more diverse job opportunities than ever before, is how to maximize both areas.
If you don’t like what you’re doing then you probably need either a career shift or perhaps some shuffling in your current organization. Otherwise if it is a problem of job condition, then you can either leave your job in search of a better environment or try to improve your current one.
Either way communication is key. Whether it is with your boss or with yourself, it is important to make sure you communicate clearly what you expect from your job. If those expectations cannot be met be either a change in attitude or a change in the conditions or content of your current work then it may make sense to start looking for something new.
As for me, I would rate, on a scale from 1 - 10, job content as a 8 and condition as a 4, which gives me a combined 12/20. Ideally I would be in the upper teens, close to a perfect 20. Right now, the experience still makes up for the poor conditions, but at some point it won’t and when that happens, I’ll probably leave.
After all I believe that if I’m going to work for the majority of my life then I have a right to enjoy it.
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