Poll: Loved your Job, or Hated It?

[euro]

While I voted "I loved my job and only quit because I had to." the last part isn't true.... I didn't have to, but I wanted to.... I just had enough $ and wanted more pb4uski time and the travel aspects of my job were a PITA at times.

I enjoyed all my jobs and the people that I worked with for the most part. There were always some times that were not enjoyable and some people who were a PITA, but overall good.

I loved my last boss. He was about 15 years younger than me but we got along well and worked well together and had a lot of fun.

While I enjoyed my work and at times got a lot of satisfaction from work, I don't see me ever saying that if I had enough to retire that I would continue working for the enjoyment of it.... there are much better things to do... even if it is just puttering around not doing much of anything.

Same here - there wasn’t an option for me to pick

 

[Dawg52]

I enjoyed working all but the last few years. Same old work got boring.

 

[scrabbler1]

I loved my job and only quit because of the commute. Did not vote.

While the commute was the main reason I ERed, when I include it in my overall satisfaction with my job, I chose the second choice in the poll. This is because my satisfaction with the job outweighed my dislike of the commute in my early years, only to see that differential erode over time to the point where, in my later years, the dislike of the commute vastly outweighed the satisfaction of the job. But it isn't like I totally hated the work; over time, it just wasn't enough to overcome how much I despised the commute, even after I eventually reduced that commute to 1, 2, or 3 days a week in the last 7 years of my career (working part-time, with some telecommuting thrown in).

 

[John Galt III]

I'm generalizing here, but I hated all my jobs, except cab driving and truck driving. No money in cab driving and I was afraid of actually becoming a truck driver (big rig) due to the horror stories. But after being laid off from one of the jobs I hated (programming) at age 50, I took a shot at long haul tractor trailer driving, and really liked it. 2/3 the salary of programming, and 1/10 of the stress. Did the truck driving for 6 years, stuffing 80% of salary into my 401k, then retired.

 

[ERObjd]

That BK is about 2 miles from where I live. those employees who quit will have no issue finding better jobs here in Lincoln Ne.. plenty of jobs that pay better without all the drama.

 

[ERObjd]

I loved all my military jobs which ranged from Infantry, Combat engineer and instructor. Most civilian jobs I had I did not like. Shortest job was working in a call center as a student loan bill collector..I walked away after 3 weeks, most dangerous was garbage collector.. always close calls with traffic morons who don't slow down and nearly run you over , plus you it literally ruins clothing garbage canisters leak and guess where the leaked liquids go. you are ouit in the cold, the rain the heat. I had to get an IV for heat stroke on 2 occasions and broke my wrist falling down an icy driveway and was ran over by a bicyclist and suffered a fractured skull at 5:00 AM I worked as a garbage collector for 2 years and it prompted me to join the military I figured any job in military would be better and it was. Glad I found the militgary or I likely would have really hated life. Military saved me.

 

[easysurfer]

I loved my job early on, but when I left hated it.

Guess at the start was like being called up from the minors to the big leagues. All wide eyed and green. At the end, the feeling was this is just a business and people are just a number.

The joy of w*rk (what? people get paid for this?) changed to can't wait til I'm able to bolt .

I always loved the problem solving part but the other parts were like going to a conference call and wondering why the heck I had to be in that call.

 

[Kwirk]

None of the choices fit. As many here are saying, I liked my job but wanted other things more.

 

[scrinch]

I liked all my jobs and almost all the people I worked with. I retired because I had a lot of things I wanted to do in my remaining life and work was taking up all my time. Plus, I had enough money.

Exactly my feelings. Plus I do occasional consulting now that keeps me in touch with many old co-workers/friends and the most interesting parts of the w*rk I used to do.

 

[ER Eddie]

Can't vote, because the poll options are too extreme. I'd guess that for most of us, we don't fall into an all-or-nothing, love-it or hate-it situation, but it's more in a grey area.

I liked my job okay. I got some satisfaction from it. I also found many things about it that I did not like, although very little that I hated.

Eventually, I left because I had enough money to retire, and I was no longer enjoying my job enough to warrant sacrificing the other things I'd rather do with the time.

I neither loved nor hated my work. I derived some satisfaction from it, but after a while, that satisfaction level dwindled to the point where continuing seemed pointless. I never got to the point where I hated or even disliked my work, though

 

[swakyaby]

50% of the time, I really enjoyed my work. 40% of the time, I felt bored, like at 2:00 am during a 3 hour surgery. 10% of the time, the stress of emergencies coupled with lack of sleep made me feel like I lost a few years off my life. So, a mixed bag.

Then the electronic health record came along. I found that there was the time-consuming (hours) at home at night reviewing charts and lab test results for the next day’s schedule, and documenting on the record that I had done so. The EHR became more information-acquiring each year, and became a treasure-trove for data analysis and lawyers to analyze. It sapped my energy to keep up with the ever-expanding documentation demands and became the final push for my early retirement.

 

[Dash man]

For the most part I enjoyed my jobs and most of the people. But it seemed at every job there was always that one person who had to make life miserable for me and others. When I left several others followed. I was tired of putting up with one member of our team and as soon as we hit our number, I retired. The funny thing is he was the first one to call me after I announced and wanted to know how I did it.

 

[6miths]

'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,...' and the rest of the passage isn't far off either. There were things I loved right up to the end and aspects which were difficult from the beginning and other things that piled on as time went by. Eventually, it didn't make sense to carry on and I was very happy to be in a position to pass the torch to other eager and capable hands.

 

[mountainsoft]

I couldn't vote. None of the options seemed appropriate.

Until I started my own business in 1993, I had only had a few mediocre jobs. None were horrible, but none were what I wanted to do as a career.

I have enjoyed running my own business. I enjoy the challenges, learning new things, and talking with people around the world. While I never got rich from it, it brought in some extra money, and gave me a lot of freedom to take care of things I would have otherwise had to pay someone else to do.

My wife is planning to retire in 2023, so I figured I would close my business at the same time. Originally I thought I might continue working part-time the first few years of retirement, as I enjoy it and it would give me something to do. Unfortunately, sales have been declining steadily for the last few years, and it's reaching a point I may end up closing the business earlier than planned. We'll see.

 

[Andre1969]

I can't really vote on this one, because it's too "all or nothing". I don't think I've ever been in love with a job, but at the same time, I never hated one, either. I just looked at a job as a means to an end, but not an identity to get wrapped up in. They'd all have their highs and lows, and I'd eventually get rid of them, when something better came along. Or, in the instance of a second job, when it was no longer needed.

As for what's going to finally do me in, and push me into retirement? I guess a combination of (in no particular order)
1) Finally getting comfortable with the fact that I'm most likely Financially Independent. Right now I'm sort of stuck in "One More Year" mode, but I have a feeling that years from now, I'll look back and realize I could have gone out earlier than I did.
2) The wakeup call that there's only so many good years left; it's later than I think. Sometimes I forget how fast the years have gone by, and forget how old I really am. I'm 51, which isn't ancient, but suddenly there's the realization that I don't have more than half my life ahead of me anymore, and the final years probably aren't going to involve frolicking and jumping for joy.
3) The BS buckets finally filling up and throwing the scales out of balance. I'll admit that sometimes, once the mountains are removed, my mind has the bad habit of turning molehills into mountains. And once I get to the point that I know I'm really ready to retire, it won't take much of an annoyance at work to make me simply yank it from my life like an engorged tick from a dog's ear, and never look back!

 

[Car-Guy]

I was afraid of actually becoming a truck driver (big rig) due to the horror stories. But after being laid off from one of the jobs I hated (programming) at age 50, I took a shot at long haul tractor trailer driving, and really liked it.

I can understand the attraction to big rig truck driving... I worked for a small company for two summers that had several 18 wheelers... I was only there a week that first summer when a drivers position opened. Since I already had a commercial drivers license, I said to myself, why not give it a try... My training to learn to hookup and drive an 18 wheeler consisted of ~two days of riding with another driver, then one day with that driver riding with me, then taking my drivers certification test the next day. Basically I went to work one Monday morning and had never sat in the cab of an 18 wheeler. By that Friday I was driving a rig by myself. Loved that summer job. Maybe that's why even today, I still would rather drive than fly anytime I travel.

 

[f35phixer]

Cant vote either with the options.... Really did love my job, Naval Flight Testing of F-18A-G, AV8B and F35B/C was really exciting and always a challenge. I got 10 hours in back seat of an F-18, first flight had to take a wire because on landing we blew a main mount and had to go around, also the low level thru Shenandoah Mountian range was GREAT . Did about 7 years doing I level maintenance on F-18 circuit cards, every card pretty much was a different problem, resister one time, maybe a IC chip next. Then came F-35 flight test! was on mission systems team from get go 2002, paper airplane. Fabulous time, Then 2019 on ~1.5 years LM just started to push us SH!T with ton of work arounds to get to required test points for the build.... Said enough and am now so so so happy!

 

[Toocold]

When I got my MBA, I told my DW I'm going on a rollercoaster and I was curious as to how high and far I can go, but I always knew I was eventually going to step off. Many parts were enjoyable, many parts were not, but I was far more successful than I thought I'd be.

At the end, there was a change in leadership and by that time, I was tired of my role. When an exit was presented, I was happy. I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish, and I'm a naturally lazy person and I embraced not doing anything.

 

[old medic]

I truly have loved my job, but quitting after 35+ years because Im not getting any younger. Although there are some nightmarish memories, there are also some truly great ones to... I have had people stop and thank me for helping them many many years ago.

 

[O2Bfree]

I liked all my jobs and almost all the people I worked with. I retired because I had a lot of things I wanted to do in my remaining life and work was taking up all my time. Plus, I had enough money.

This. Also, since I had enough money, it seemed right to give my position to someone who needed the money more, another coworker who was a single parent and looking for a step up.

 

[RobotMom]

I can't figure out how to vote. In any case, at the end, I hated my job. I think I was always bored to a certain extent. Sitting in an office and meetings all day wasn't what I envisioned with my career but pretty much spent 37 years doing just that. At the end, I was over it.

That being said, I frequently would reflect on why I hated my job. There is no rational reason I should have hated it. I made a great salary. Earned 5 weeks of PTO each year. Worked around mostly great, interesting and smart people. Worked for a caring company. Lots of flexibility.

I **could** go back as a consultant after being out for six months but the only way I'll do that is if I'm destitute. I'm not burning any bridges right now but I have so many other things I want to do. I'm able to spend more time outside and have the energy to do the things I want to do. I'm grateful for having a career that allowed me to retire at 58 but will not and do not miss anything about it.

 

[Golden sunsets]

This is a weird poll. How about I oved my job and left when I was ready to retire. Is the OP not interested in that response?

 

[W2R]

This is a weird poll. How about I oved my job and left when I was ready to retire. Is the OP not interested in that response?

Yeah, none of the choices were right for me, either, so I decided not to respond.

 

[boilerman]

I absolutely loved my job and career. I stopped working when I still loved my job and people I worked with. I went out at my peak and never looked back, even thou that was a hard decision to make.

Same here. I loved my work but always knew that when I had enough money, I would quit. I did and my only regret was that I could have FIREd 2 or 3 years earlier.

 

[ychuck46]

Enjoyed it until I didn't

I enjoyed my work at my first two large employers (whole career was in IT Sales, both as an individual contributor and a manager). But my last and final employer, one of the largest companies in the industry, was hell. The money at all was good but it got so bad that my last two years I found myself coasting since company 3 would screw you out of any larger commissions any way they could, and they had the absolute worst management in the industry. Most of their upper sales management were never in sales! Left the working world at 60 and it has been a great 7 years.