I hate my job…or maybe I hate working for others?

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by Gdjjr

I've always worked for me- I have been employed by others. Period.

I too have trouble with authority figures- who deem themselves better than when clearly they ain't. I will and have pointedly pointed out their imperfections which has cost me employment- my work was my signature- they believed it should reflect their taste. I didn't. I took pride in what I did, not what they wanted.



from my parody/rebuttal to Don't Let the Old Man In- titled, Let the Old Man In



Play the hand you were dealt, forget what their rules say, you know you win when you live life your won way-

This right here. I stand by my work, and I absolutely hate when I’m forced to lower my standards for the sake of speed, or simply because that’s how the owner wants it done. I should’ve known when one of the first things I heard from co workers is how I must do everything his way.

Originally Posted by YamaYairi

When you go on a job interview, don't be afraid to interview them as they interview you. You have to be careful how you do it. Don't be afraid to ask questions, but make them positive.

Or make a statement about yourself and see how they react: "The quality of my work is really important to me. I stand behind my work." "I take the time to do the job correctly." "If I don't find a problem, I call the customer and get more information."

Ask them how important quality is to them. Ask about how you would order parts.

Yeah I always interview them as well. Last night’s interview was very much like that. We had a good two way conversation, and answered each other’s questions. It was one of my best interviews so far.

Originally Posted by Neil K Walk

Since I'm basically a homemaker I can't give you any advice but suffice it to say that I'm happy to have been able to spend some good years with my kids when they were young. I make no apologies for walking away from a job I hated (that ended up shutting down anyway because their business model was unsustainable) and my wife's career has always been her life goal so it was a decision that went beyond dollars and sense and allowed to experience something that I didn't get as a child as my dad worked himself to an early grave. If that has made me unemployable now that I'm in my 50s then I don't accept the blame or judgment. My only regret is that we didn't have kids earlier in life; we were in our 30s by then. Life is too short.



Good luck with the interviews. If people chide you on their happiness then I submit this for the record: you can't take it with you, all you can do is leave something behind in the hope that those who receive it can appreciate it.

Those were some great words. Thank you.

Originally Posted by ruger9

This was one of the biggest reasons I started my own company. I no longer "work FOR" people, but instead they are my CLIENTS. When a client begins micromanaging, I ignore them for awhile, but I have actually walked away from a few people/jobs because they wanted me to do things a certain way, based on no experience from them whatsoever, it's just what they wanted. And they actually think "the customer is always right" LOL. I've quit jobs and turned down work because I could tell these people would not simply let me do what they hired me to do- because I have years of experience doing it.



I don't hire a car mechanic and then tell him HOW I want them to do the work- I tell them WHAT needs to be done, and I let them do it. THAT'S WHY I HIRED THEM instead of doing it myself: they have more experience than me.



I saw a good meme the other day:



"Wow, you got that done in 30 minutes? It would have taken me hours! But why are you charging me so much?"



"Because you're not paying for the 30 minutes. You're paying for the years of experience it took for me to learn how to do it in 30 minutes."

Yep I remember an old joke about a mechanic with a hammer. Customer goes to the shop and tells the mechanic if he can fix a noise coming from the front suspension. The mechanic noticed a dry ball joint and sprays some WD40, and taps it with a hammer, and checks the suspension for excessive play. The whole thing takes less than ten minutes.

He tells the customer “that’ll be $150”. The customer outraged demands an explanation, so the mechanic explains on the work order:
Troubleshooting fee: flat rate $120/hr. Minimum one hour.
Knowledge of which hammer to choose, and how hard to hit it with a hammer: $25
Knowledge of how much WD40 to apply: $5

I’m paraphrasing of course, but that’s the gist of it.

Originally Posted by rule18

Interesting responses here, from all points of view. Here's my contribution (all of the following are in the same industry albeit different sectors over the years):



1. I've worked for myself. I did it too young and got really burnt out because my boss was an absolute slave driver and a perfectionist, and never gave me time off.



2. I've worked for a company that I've disliked. The money was just ok but my coworkers were great. I took the best of it with me when I left.



3. I've worked for a company that I've (more or less) liked. The money was good, the coworkers were great. I took the best of it with me when I got headhunted by a good company into a management role. It was a stressful situation at best (unnecessarily so, caused by the owner). I learned a ton there, and took the best of it with me when I was headhunted by an industry-leading manufacturer.



4. I now work for a great company (12 years and counting) and will likely retire from this one. The money, benefits and coworkers are great. I manage an area of the country with excellent local partners and nobody's looking over my shoulder, in part because all the real-life skills that I kept learning and taking with me have served me very well over the decades.



@1neeto - the moral of my particular story is, you do what you have to do for you and your family BUT there's no reason to be miserable doing it. You go on the interviews, you put your best face/foot forward and show them who you are and what skill sets you bring to their table. You find out what they bring to your table and hopefully, you find yourselves at the same table agreeing on a start date.



Best of luck to you!

Thank you for those great words. I couldn’t agree more. Work is where we spent most of our time, it makes no sense to work at a place that makes you miserable.

Originally Posted by H165

You've stated you like what you do, but you don't like this particular job. It sounds like you are a mechanic. It sounds like you would like to be financially stable and have some decent benefits.

You might look at your local utilities. They are often large, stable corporations with fleets of vehicles and other mechanical stuff that needs to be maintained and customized to fit the job. Some of the tools and vehicles they use are weird and interesting. Might be a fun change of pace for you

Almost accepted an offer as a mobile technician for a infrastructure company. The only reason why I didn’t accept was because the pay was just too low. The door is still open, all I have to do is call the guy.

Edit: took me over six hours to respond to all you guys because I was really busy at work. Really appreciate for taking your time and tell me your stories, and words of encouragement. Today was another rough day, I got yelled for a misunderstanding, and he didn’t want to hear my explanation because his mind was made. I truly don’t know if I’m gonna finish this week there. I’m ready, and I know he isn’t ready to lose me right now.

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

...
Yep I remember an old joke about a mechanic with a hammer. Customer goes to the shop and tells the mechanic if he can fix a noise coming from the front suspension. The mechanic noticed a dry ball joint and sprays some WD40, and taps it with a hammer, and checks the suspension for excessive play. The whole thing takes less than ten minutes.

He tells the customer “that’ll be $150”. The customer outraged demands an explanation, so the mechanic explains on the work order:
Troubleshooting fee: flat rate $120/hr. Minimum one hour.
Knowledge of which hammer to choose, and how hard to hit it with a hammer: $25
Knowledge of how much WD40 to apply: $5

I’m paraphrasing of course, but that’s the gist of it.
...

Your anecdote reminds me of my dad who earned a good living as a professional artist. He was employed by a publishing company and went full-time freelance after retiring from that. He worked all day, every day, and very quickly. Sometimes clients would ask how long it took him to paint a full-sheet watercolor. His answer? "50 years and 45 minutes."

Now there was a man who loved what he did. Whether he was selling his work or not, he studied art into his late 80s, in hospice, still trying new techniques the week he died - knowing he'd be gone any day.

[Mr. Jelly]

My understanding of what a job is has always been that the employee and employer have made an agreement where the employee does what the employer requests and the employer compensates the employee. If either of you don't want to go by that then don't. The rest is just blah, blah, blah.

[1neeto]

Went to follow-up interview, and this employer seems like a good fit. Their standards align with mine and they want me to run the shop, which is exactly what I’ve always wanted. Only drawback is that it’s a contractor, but they just renewed a contract.

[YamaYairi]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

Went to follow-up interview, and this employer seems like a good fit. Their standards align with mine and they want me to run the shop, which is exactly what I’ve always wanted. Only drawback is that it’s a contractor, but they just renewed a contract.

Good luck!

[rule18]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

Went to follow-up interview, and this employer seems like a good fit. Their standards align with mine and they want me to run the shop, which is exactly what I’ve always wanted. Only drawback is that it’s a contractor, but they just renewed a contract.

Good for you, hoping for the best!

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

Went to follow-up interview, and this employer seems like a good fit. Their standards align with mine and they want me to run the shop, which is exactly what I’ve always wanted. Only drawback is that it’s a contractor, but they just renewed a contract.

That sounds like great news. Are you going to take it?

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

That sounds like great news. Are you going to take it?

Yes I accepted the offer. Now the waiting game for the background check and stuff like that. Really excited about this new opportunity. It’s a sink or swim situation, but I’m a strong swimmer. [emoji4]

[Kerbie]

Congrats! Best of luck to you.

[1neeto]

Thanks guys again for all the support!

[rule18]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

Yes I accepted the offer. Now the waiting game for the background check and stuff like that. Really excited about this new opportunity. It’s a sink or swim situation, but I’m a strong swimmer. [emoji4]

Hey that's great, congrats!

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

Yes I accepted the offer. Now the waiting game for the background check and stuff like that. Really excited about this new opportunity. It’s a sink or swim situation, but I’m a strong swimmer. [emoji4]

Excellent! So happy for you.

[Mr. Jelly]

This sounds great! Good for you. Now I'd suggest looking into and learning something about how to manage people. Having had a career in management I can tell you it isn't just something that anyone can do and do well just because they have the work skills. Leading people is a whole other skill set.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

This sounds great! Good for you. Now I'd suggest looking into and learning something about how to manage people. Having had a career in management I can tell you it isn't just something that anyone can do and do well just because they have the work skills. Leading people is a whole other skill set.

^^^^^This makes sense.

I hope the best for you!

[Dogma]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

This sounds great! Good for you. Now I'd suggest looking into and learning something about how to manage people. Having had a career in management I can tell you it isn't just something that anyone can do and do well just because they have the work skills. Leading people is a whole other skill set.

A truer word was never said and this skill is so crucial to successful teamwork. I owned a small business that employed many young people, often in their first job. It was interesting to find that some people really seem to have leadership ability from a young age. I don't know if it is innate, learned w/in family structure, or through outside experience (though I did notice that team sports seemed often to foster such awareness.) I do think it can be learned, probably at any point in life, but requires an open mind and, probably heart, in that it relies on a certain capacity for empathy. I've read many times here on AGF that being a good player does not necessarily mean someone will be a good teacher. I think there are parallels.