That’s right, I hate your job. Well, I take that back. There’s just a really good chance that I hate your job. Because if you hate your job, then so do I. And a lot of you hate your jobs. Many more of you wouldn’t use the word “hate,” but you aren’t satisfied—and you shouldn’t be.
I’ve been there. The wrong job means you’re more tired and less effective; more stressed and less motivated. You know that you are talented, but you don’t get much of a chance to really show your strengths in your daily work. When Sunday evening rolls around, you might start to get that knot in your stomach, or maybe it never goes away at all. Another weekend over, another week upon you. If that is you, keep reading. If it’s not you, read anyway—you know someone that needs to hear this.
I want you to find a job that makes you happy. I’m not trying to be overly idealistic here—no job is perfect. You’ll never find something that has no downside, but you shouldn’t hate your job. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can do better than where you are right now, and there are thousands of people who want to help you do so.
I’m one of those people that cares, and I actually get pretty fired up just thinking about it because I’ve been there. And like you, I know a lot of people who really don’t enjoy what they are doing. I believe that we can do a much better job of matching people to the jobs at which they will do well and actually enjoy, and I believe that is an incredibly important goal. Why is it an important goal? Well, if you’re in the wrong job, you probably are pretty stressed about it (remember the Sunday evening knot I mentioned?). This stress spills out into other areas of your life. During my spin in a job I wasn’t a good fit for, I started eating more, exercising less, and ignoring a lot of the things I value the most. I felt overwhelmed from the moment I began my commute to well after I got home as I tried to unwind. There were healthier ways to have handled that stress, I realize, but I think you get the point.
You know what else happened? I was unfulfilled because my strengths weren’t being used. Naturally, if my strengths weren’t being used, my job was often dependent on my weaknesses—this meant that I had to work longer hours to get stuff done well. So I was also overworked, too. And even though I was trying hard, stuff would fall through the cracks because it wasn’t a job I could naturally be great at. That’s not to say I couldn’t be great at it—I wound up being the top employee in the department and was promoted and everything. But, I was pretty unhappy for most of my day almost every day, and it got worse with time.
Enough about my story, though. The important thing is, you hate your job, and I hate your job too. We agree there, but where I often have to persuade people is on what to do about it, if anything. Tomorrow I’ll begin a series of posts designed to persuade and empower. My position: If you hate your job, you should do something about it, and you can do something about it. Details to come.
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6 responses so far ↓
1 Andrew // Jun 28, 2007 at 8:27 am
I may be looking for a new career soon as a new comp plan could have a $10K decrease in my salary.
2 Peggy // Jun 30, 2007 at 7:52 am
My fulltime job is neverending and come with no tangible pay at all—-motherhood.
The most recent “real” job is a paycheck and nothing more.
I do agree with you that there are many, many folks who hate their jobs but money, sadly, is what makes the world go round in this day and age. They need the job they hate because if they didn’t have it, they couldn’t pay the mortgage or pay off the credit card bill. Vicious cycle.
3 Betsy // Jul 1, 2007 at 4:39 pm
You have put together some very interesting and thought provoking ideas. Hope that people find this site andyou can help them begin the process to find their best niche(s). Keep up the good work. How are you spreading the word?
4 Eric B // Jul 2, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Hating your job does not have to be a means to life and work. It took me a couple of jobs to find out what I like and wanted to do.
However, unlike many people, I had tremendous help and guidance along the way. Most do not have this luxury. I encourage people who are unsatisfied with their employment to use all available methods, people and opportunities to find the right fit for their employment.
Once I found out what career was a good fit, I worked on developing the right skill set and this helped focus in on the job.
5 Post of the Week » Blog Archive » Shortlist for week ending 20th July 2007 // Jul 21, 2007 at 8:13 am
[…] 5. I Hate Your Job: Why do I hate your job? […]
6 JP // Apr 23, 2008 at 7:02 am
The boiled frog syndrome… it’s taken me 22 years to realise I’ve climbed the ladder to a job that I hate. For those that don’t know the boiled from syndrome.. put the frog in the pot and slowly turn up the heat. He will grow used to the temperature and eventually it will boil him. Put a frog in the boiling pot and he jumps out immediately.
Organizations are a strange place. You are promoted based on your technical performance and talents until you realise your in a job that plays to areas that you are not naturally good at and don’t like to do! Instead I now manage people that get to do the things that I used to love doing, but I don’t get anywhere close to those things anymore. Instead I am tied up in leadership meetings and budgets.
So - why add my comment? Just to say ‘jump out of the pot’ if you’ve joined something that’s not right. Much easier to do it earlier vs. after 22 years invested.
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