Do you enjoy your career?

[Vmack]

Kind of a general question I guess, but do you enjoy what you do for a living or do you do it for the money? Does doing something you're not crazy about take a huge toll on your quality of life?

I'm asking because I've been offered acceptance to 2 programs at SAIT and am considering moving to Calgary for them. They are not my number 1 choices, but its all I have been accepted to unless I wanna take a year off and try for something else.

One is Respiratory Therapy, I'm not crazy about working ICU/emerg cause of the stress and likeliness of dealing with death constantly, though the pay is great in my opinion. The other option is Nuclear Medicine, which showcases a strong lack of jobs, although it would allow me to do my MRI cert in one year, but again not a ton of jobs from my findings.

My first choice was MRT (x-ray) but SAIT changed their admission requirements so I can't get in for a while now, although I can try reapplying for next year at NAIT in edmonton.

[shakalaka]

You've got to do what you thoroughly enjoy or else you will burn out pretty fast.

[G-ZUS]

Originally posted by shakalaka
You've got to do what you thoroughly enjoy or else you will burn out pretty fast.

[woodywoodford]

Money, a good work culture and great coworkers all help you to enjoy your job, but in the end, if you aren't personally interested in your work itself you'll end up miserable. And when that happens it'll show in the quality of your work and your work ethic.

[Vmack]

Originally posted by shakalaka
You've got to do what you thoroughly enjoy or else you will burn out pretty fast.

Originally posted by woodywoodford
Money, a good work culture and great coworkers all help you to enjoy your job, but in the end, if you aren't personally interested in your work itself you'll end up miserable. And when that happens it'll show in the quality of your work and your work ethic.

Yeah that was what I was afraid of.
If I'm lucky and I find out more about the MRI job market then maybe that's still an option for this year, but you guys are right, I may just sit back and wait another year and hope I get into what I want or maybe come across something else

[A790]

Originally posted by shakalaka
You've got to do what you thoroughly enjoy or else you will burn out pretty fast.

</thread>

More to life than money. In 2008 I made 4x what I'll make this year. I greatly prefer my life/job today compared to 2008.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

It definitely has to be something you enjoy or related to what you enjoy, I know I don't love my job but its related to cars and cars are a HUGE chunk of my life so I get some enjoyment out of that.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by A790

&lt;/thread&gt;

More to life than money. In 2008 I made 4x what I'll make this year. I greatly prefer my life/job today compared to 2008.

Yes, but you can still LIVE on the money you earn.

Nobody likes being paid less than they are worth. So my argument would be that doing something you like is good, but it's not good if it doesn't afford you the lifestyle you want. I'd rather have more money than less all things considered, and money is currently a much more major stressor in my life than the work I do.

[FixedGear]

Originally posted by A790

More to life than money.

QFT.

Originally posted by HiTempguy1


Yes, but you can still LIVE on the money you earn.

Nobody likes being paid less than they are worth. So my argument would be that doing something you like is good, but it's not good if it doesn't afford you the lifestyle you want. I'd rather have more money than less all things considered, and money is currently a much more major stressor in my life than the work I do.

but for many, "lifestyle" is more than money. I know that for myself, I make about a third of what I would be making had I gone into medicine (my original plan). (I will eventually make about the same salary provided I can stay on track to the top of the field, which perhaps 5-10% of people can actually do - but I've done it so far.)

The problem is that I work a highly desirable job. Most people graduating with science PhDs want this job, so put simply, there are too many qualified people for the available positions. What this means is that to keep this job you have to 1) get paid less, 2) work all the time, 3) sacrifice personal life including friends and family for your career (including moving where the job is, cross country), and 4) have to be exceptionally good/qualified and always getting better. You can never think that you arrived somewhere, and get lazy, or you'll be replaced.

That said, I absolutely LOVE the job. I have no real boss, no real hours, I get to decide what I want to do when I want to do it, get to travel all over and do killer shit that you only see on TV, etc. etc. etc. I get to play with computers and code and numbers and graphs and writing all day long. I also get to travel to the far reaches of the world and play outside with really killer technology... and I think it's fucking awesome!

I'm much happier with this lifestyle than I would be in a job where I just work for the weekends.

[duaner]

Originally posted by A790

&lt;/thread&gt;

More to life than money.

Agreed.

I am no longer interested in the type of work I do but worse than that, I don't like the company I work for--I don't like who I work with, the products we make, or the industry I'm in. The money is okay I guess, considering my experience and education, but I just can't stand it anymore. I just got a call for another potential job but it's with more apparently shady people (know a guy who used to work with the same group at a different company) in the same industry, designing similar equipment.

In short, OP, figure out what you would love to do, or at least really enjoy doing, and try and make a living out of it. Anything less really, really sucks.

[max_boost]

First world problems. Just pick the lesser of two evils.

[bleu]

As with anything in life, careers have their ups and downs.
I enjoy my career choice for several reasons, it gives me the ability to be creative and flexible. I never have the same day twice, it offers opportunity for growth and promotion and it is extremely, intrinsically rewarding. I get paid decently and can afford all the niceties in life, however exorbitant luxuries are out of my reach. I will never have to depend on anyone to get by and what I do is respected within my community.

That being said, it can be amazingly stressful and there have been times where I've just wanted to call it quits. Thankfully I have a very strong support system.

Do I sometimes wish I had chosen a different career path? Yes, at times, but in the grand scheme of things, I have found a career that nicely balances my need to contribute to society, while earning and maintaining a quality of living that I am accustomed to.

I have heard the avg person changes careers 5 times during their working years. I'm not sure if this is entirely true...but I can imagine it is for some.

[FraserB]

I like what I'm doing, currently just about two years in and having to sacrifice a bit in order to make myself more desirable and wanted by another department. A few years of sacrifice is worth it to me if I can grow my salary and put myself in a situation where I am being sought out by more than one manager. If I didn't like what I was doing, I wouldn't be doing this.



I'll keep it short and sweet. Family, religion, friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business. When opportunity knocks, you don't want to be driving to a maternity hospital or sitting in some phony-baloney church. Or synagogue.

-C. Montgomery Burns

[max_boost]

Originally posted by bleu
As with anything in life, careers have their ups and downs.
I enjoy my career choice for several reasons, it gives me the ability to be creative and flexible. I never have the same day twice, it offers opportunity for growth and promotion and it is extremely, intrinsically rewarding. I get paid decently and can afford all the niceties in life, however exorbitant luxuries are out of my reach. I will never have to depend on anyone to get by and what I do is respected within my community.

That being said, it can be amazingly stressful and there have been times where I've just wanted to call it quits. Thankfully I have a very strong support system.

Do I sometimes wish I had chosen a different career path? Yes, at times, but in the grand scheme of things, I have found a career that nicely balances my need to contribute to society, while earning and maintaining a quality of living that I am accustomed to.

I have heard the avg person changes careers 5 times during their working years. I'm not sure if this is entirely true...but I can imagine it is for some.

Well said. Props.

[NoMoreG35]

Originally posted by A790

&lt;/thread&gt;

More to life than money. In 2008 I made 4x what I'll make this year. I greatly prefer my life/job today compared to 2008.

It depends on how much u make too IMO. Taking a pay cut from 4mil to 1mil is very different than taking a pay cut from 60000 to 15000. Just saying.

[nonofyobiz]

yeaaaah....I hate my job most days. Makes it REALLY unbearable at times, but I can't afford to switch.

So ya, do something that interests you.

[theken]

I used to, now life is kind of catching up with me, I work away from home, and am starting to realize that there is more to life than money. Can't live the same lifestyle which doesn't bother me, but having to get rid of my car would really bother me.

[shakalaka]

I am a strong believer in chase after excellence and not money. If you chase money, it is very likely that you could end up in something you don't really enjoy. But if you get into something that you're passionate about and try to be the best you can at that, chances are you'll be okay with money.

[stevelou]

I don't mind my job for now, is it the dream job I had in mind as a kid hell no but it currently allows me to live my wanted lifestyle. The company itself is awesome and my boss is rarely around which is a blessing. I am constantly thinking about what I could to do to bring in something close to my current earnings and what I would truly enjoying doing, but I don't know what I really want and really have no education in any particular field.

As I get older and my family grows the more I realize that its not about working 6 days a week 12 hrs a day to make that money. Its more about spending the time with my kid/soon to be kids and the wife.

Ideally I would love to work 3 days a week 6 hrs a day and make 100 k a year, not realistic I know but one day I will hahah

[Vmack]

Thanks a ton for the responses guys. I think I know what I'm gonna do, I know the pay will be more than what I expect to get by on, and I know I'll be doing what I want to do. I think I'm gonna take on the Nuclear Med program and relay it into MRI. I think I could get best of both worlds, and will have some opportunities to advance and change specialties.

I'll give it a couple weeks after spending some time on the lake and camping and hopefully be ready to go.