How important is career/job happiness to you?

I would love to hear others' thoughts on this.

Obviously there are many factors at play such as commute, pay, etc. I'm especially interested in how important it is to you to enjoy what you actually do and not dread getting up in the morning.

I ask after a conversation with my husband. (It's very important to me, not as important to him.)

Also, do you think it differs for men and women?

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

It's very important to me.

I think that if you like what you do and the people you work with, it makes a world of difference and that's incredibly important to me. We spend the majority of our time at work and so I think it's important to not dread having to go in everyday or hate the people you work with - it's not healthy and it's not worth my time.

Years ago, I left a job for another position that offered me a $20K increase. I thought it was great and jumped at it, but I left after 6 months. I wasn't happy - I hated the work and I didn't like the people I was working with and hated getting up everyday to go. There were days when I was on the phone with my mom crying because I hated it so much. After 6 months, I left to go to another company. I had to take a pay cut and my commute brought me into the city, but there was a world of a difference. I found that I enjoyed going in and even if I knew it was going to be a busy day, I didn't mind it so much and I made fantastic friends. At the end of the day, the pay cut was nothing because I had found something I was happy in.

I took about a year off after having DD and when I went looking, I was very picky. If I didn't like the hiring manager or didn't like the environment after going in to interview, I crossed them off my list. I didn't want to be put in a position where I would be miserable and be forced to look again. It took me about 6 months, but found a position at a great company working for great people. Even though my days start at 5, I don't mind getting up.

I know my husband also feels like job satisfaction is a biggie, but if he wasn't happy he would still stay. Maybe it is a male/female thing.

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

It's very important to me.
At one time I loved my job, and now I hate it. Hate what I do, dislike the people I work with, hate my management.
I've been here 17 years and dread being here all day long. This feeling of unhappiness is hard to shake at the end of the day, and that feeling begins to creep up on Sunday evenings.

I'm trying to change my situation by looking for another position, but the job search is so frustrating. That makes it even harder to shake the unhappiness.

My husband hates his place of employment, not the job itself. At this stage in his life, it is not something that he can easily change, given what he does for a living.

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

For me, working in an enjoyable environment is important. Previously i worked for a horrible boss and hated coming to work and constantly was looking for a new position. now i love my supervisor and all of my coworkers so coming to work is enjoyable. My job is not rewarding by any means, nor is it in a field i ever saw my self in but since i like my work environment i enjoy my job if that makes sense.

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

I think job satisfaction is very important. For years I worked at a high stress (but high paying) legal job that required travel, long hours, and a tolerance for difficult personalities. Once I had a child and added a commute into the mix, I could no longer deny that I was unhappy, and that my unhappiness was spilling over into other areas of my life.

It took awhile for me to realize that the solution was breaking free of the career that I thought I was "supposed" to have and finding something that made me happier. I was just reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, and she talks about struggling with the decision to leave her legal career to become a writer. Being a lawyer felt like a "legitimate" career choice, but it didn't fit her. So she had to let go of her notions of what was legitimate (and prestigious and made her parents proud and made her feel accomplished, etc.) and just "be Gretchen." That was kind of the same process I went through.

Now I do something that I really enjoy (although I now work on commission and have made some financial tradeoffs to change careers). For the most part, I look forward to work instead of dreading it. And I think it's made me a better wife, mother, friend, etc. I have more time for family and friends, and I am more "present" during those times because I am not stressing over a work deadline or worrying about the emails I am getting or the business trip I need to go on. I can just enjoy. And I have time for me... to sit outside and enjoy a nice day, to go to my book club, to try a new recipe. My quality of life has gone up exponentially since I made the change.

But I think it is a bit different for men. My husband is and always has been much better than I am at separating work and home. For the most part, he can leave work at work and not let it spill over into other areas of his life. Also, he doesn't mind commuting. I think men also have a different attitude because they don't put pressure on themselves to be perfect like many women do. Many of us feel like we not only need to have successful careers but be the "perfect" mother (i.e., making homemade baby food, doing educational crafts and the like), cook like a professional chef, have a house out of a magazine, be in marthon-running shape, throw amazing parties, buy perfect gifts, etc. It's just not realistic, no matter what your job is.

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

VERY important to me. I've had quite a few jobs that I've been very successful at in the past and that have paid well, but I hated them and they were slowly killing me inside. It affected my personal life, the way i thought about myself, etc. If you're miserable for 8 hours a day, then have to bring home work on top of it, that's not a good thing. Factor in commute times and any other obligations... yuck.

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

I think it is extremely important, but the way each person defines their own job happiness is different.

You might like the specific tasks you have at work, but if you hate the environment, hours, people, etc, it won't lead to happiness.

You might like the people you work with, but not the specific work you do.

I think it's about finding the right balance of subject matter/tasks, hours, environment/people, and pay. Finding that right balance takes work itself. Not to mention courage and patience. And some luck...

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

As much as career satisfaction is important there has to be a balance within personal life. If your unhappiness at work spills into your personal life then it may be time to reevaluate your job.

I work as a nurse and there are alot of changes throughout the field making it very stressful. I was contemplating leaving my job or my field all together. But now I'm expecting a LO and my income, benefits etc are centerstage.

I can't control everything within my job but I can learn to deal with things. This is, at least, where I am right now.

Good luck ladys. I hope we all find that perfect job.

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

Very important to me, but I think your tolerance changes depending on what situation you are in in life (i.e put up with a less than perfect job if it has great benefits).

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

I think it's very important, especially if you spend a great deal of your life there each week and it's your livelihood.

For me, what gets to me sometimes is the environment I work in.

I have a few co-workers who can be very gloom and doom.

If I seperate myself from them, I find that I actually really do LOVE the work that I do ;).

You also have to really learn not to take things personally and not be negative all the time. I find that this happens quite frequently in the field I work in (health care/social work) and 99% of the time those things said co-workers freak out about, never actually end up happening ;).

More often than not, there is a solution if you stay optimisitc and keep your cool.

I am probably going off into another thread though.....

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

It's SO important to love what you do and where you do it.

I have been in the same field for 18 years now and I'm over it. I've got it down to where I work mostly from home and 2 nights a week in an office environment which I cannot stand!

I start stressing about going there the day before my 2 days even start. It's a real problem.

I wish I could just work from home FT. Bc at home, I'm still doing the kind of work I don't really care for much, but I'm doing it for myself and reaping the benefits.

Would be nice to find something I LOVE, it's just hard bc I'm really good at what I do - I wish I loved the job as much as people love the work I do.

Re: How important is career/job happiness to you?

It is very important to me. I spent years working in corp America very unhappy. I am 2 weeks away from graduating as an Xray Tech & I LOVE it. Its hard work & I'm exhausted. Its the best thing I have ever done for myself. Now I just need to find a job.