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2005-09-16 11:13 PM

Extreme Veteran
389
100100100252525
Central Wisconsin
Subject: What do you hate / love about your job?
Some things happened at work today that caused quite a few people to cancel their weekend plans. Not only did they have to cancel plans, but they will be out of town & working for 3 weeks straight. As I stayed out of sight and out of mind, I got to wondering what other people hate about their jobs. So here is a list of my loves and hates about being in the military (by NO means should this be taken as a recruitment ad):

Pro's
- LOT's of time off
- Never having to worry about lay offs
- Free health and dental (granted even free is to much sometimes)
- Free access to pools, gyms, and PT is 'mandatory' daily
- Never having to decide which outfit I am going to wear to work
- Being paid to jump out of airplanes, blow things up, and shoot guns
- The bond that forms between squads/platoons/companies
- Making a difference in someones life
- 30 days paid vacation a year
- Being paid to live in places like Hawaii
- Free college
- The people

Con's
- No matter what, you are on call 24/7
- The pay
- Personal interpration of rules and regulations (example: I hate mustaches and dont allow my soldiers to have them. They are allowed but it is a pet peeve of mine so I give them the option of shaving it off or moving to a different platoon)
- Mass punishment is a norm
- There is no such thing as a private life. Everyone knows your business.
- Not showering for 76 days
- Sleeping on the ground for 6 months
- Trying to eat / sleep / stay awake or do anything for that matter, outside in the middle of a downpour / blizzard / dust storm
- Jumping out of an airplane flying 1200 feet or lower, at night, with 150 pounds of equipment
- Carrying 90 pounds of equipment on your back for 25 miles
- Having to explain to your boss why Private Snuffy decided to drive home drunk and get a DUI when you have no idea yourself
- Having to explain to your boss why Private Snuffy is a dumbass when you have no idea yourself
- Riding in a truck with no shocks in the middle of the desert for 38 hours straight
- Being woken up by a chemical / biological alarm go off in the middle of the night and trying to put on your gas mask while pooping your pants because this time its the real thing. Then when you are given the all clear you find out the alarm was malfunctioning
- Having someone shoot at you on a daily basis while your trying to enjoy your all expense paid vacation to the 'holy land'
- Being stationed at FT Polk
- Getting on the airplane for your all expense paid vacation on the day your son is born

Edited by jase714 2005-09-16 11:17 PM


2005-09-17 8:16 AM
in reply to: #248305

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Elite
2661
20005001002525
DC Metro, slowly working my way to NC
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Wow. #1 thing I hate about my job - how really insignificant it is when I hang with my military peeps...

I do software support/help desk. I love, LOVE being able to help folks and fix things. The downsides are the clients that want me to think for them, and management trying as hard as they can to make our jobs harder than they have to be!
2005-09-17 10:10 AM
in reply to: #248305

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Master
1506
1000500
Minnesota
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Well, I just started working full time a month ago. I work quite a few hours/week (more than 40) + and am a full time graduate student. It makes for some really long days & is hard to find time to study!
2005-09-17 12:09 PM
in reply to: #248305

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Elite
3223
20001000100100
Hendersonville
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?

Love your lists Jason!  I don't have a job, so I can't make a list for that. I do some real estate investing,though, which is good and bad:

Good: Takes very little time, big profits, easy to do, meet lots of interesting people, get to pick stuff out for houses like faucets and front doors (yeah, I like that!)

Bad: only getting payouts a few times a year, mortgage paperwork, last-minute closings, no time to make decisions ( I'll be called by my realtor at 9 am and have to put money down within a few hours many times), being leveraged within an inch of your life, uncertaintly of the market.

I love it though! 

Jessica

2005-09-17 12:10 PM
in reply to: #248305

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Master
1641
100050010025
Cambridge, MA
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Good question and great Pro/Con list from jase...
I guess as a scienific consultant I like knowing that my work *can* help determine what happens to a hazardous waste site cleanup plan or a community deciding whether or not its safe to use certain pesticides. What I don't like is the fact that most of the time my work isn't really in the public interest at all and I certainly don't interact with the public or even most of our clients directly. I'm often working for law firms defending corporate environmental lawsuits in toxic tort cases. Why? Because they pay the best and my firm has a good reputation with them. But regardless of the client, my work is very analytical and dry. It's very isolationing while I'm very social. That is hard to deal with month after month.

Why keep doing it? The pay is good. Some projects are interesting. Best of all, it's flexible enough for me to train and now work part time at my gym. I'm studying to be a personal trainer. I want to help gym members train and race in running and triathlon events, everthing from 5Ks to marathons and sprints to IronMans. That's where my passion really lies! Helping people get fit. Hoo-ah!

Cheers, -Sunny
2005-09-17 10:19 PM
in reply to: #248305

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Veteran
137
10025
Citrus Heights, CA
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Life as an ER nurse (in one of the busiest ERs in the Sacramento area):

Pro:
Great group of people...the other nurses, to the docs, techs, clerks. Everyone works well
as a team and usually has a good time
You never know what you'll see in a day -- keeps everyone on their toes and keeps things
interesting
Everyone has a really really twisted sense of humor. Really twisted.
The nurses work 3 days a week as full time.
You can make huge differences in people's lives and are their support at some of the most
difficult times in their lives
Always something new to learn.
The pay is very very good.
Scrubs. They're like wearing jammies to work.
Leather restraints, foley catheters, adult diapers, Haldol (more on this later)

Con:
It's always busy. Sometimes you're running the whole shift.
12 hour shifts. Yeah it gives us 3 days a week, but sometimes 12 hours can seem like an
eternity.
Working holidays.
Triage. ick. I can spend a whole lot of time explaning to people no, I don't know when they'll
go back to a room (not like a resturant where you know approximately how long it takes to
turn over the person or people who went before you), why someone got to go to a room
before them, and/or why the belly pain they've had for 2 years is someting that'll have to
wait a while longer b/c after 2 years it's not an emergency.....and not having
ANYONE pay attention to anything you try to tell them.
The beligerent drunks. See the last 'pro' for the nurse's cure for these lovely people.
Having someone come in talking then they end up dying in less than a few hours. Yes, they
were really sick when they came in and they would've died anyways but it still is not a good
day if it happens.


Overall, I very much enjoy my job. I'm lucky enough to have a strong stomach for the ins and outs of nursing which always makes for an interesting day at work.


2005-09-19 9:19 AM
in reply to: #248305

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Expert
660
5001002525
state of denial
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
International Sales for a Sign Manufacturer

Pro's
work with good people
stable
occasional travel

Con's
Boring
Not bilingual (yet)
lack of $
1+ hour commute
watched like a hawk
less than stellar benefits
bad part of town (no good places for lunch)
2005-09-19 9:28 AM
in reply to: #248305

Member
18

Sidney, Ohio
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
I love your list Karen. I to am an ER RN. Community hosp is Sidney. 14 beds but always full others waiting in triage area - . People love heathcare, whether needed or not. ER's are more like convenient care centers. When it's convenient come and get it. Don't get me wrong it is a wonderful job when you get to care for someone who really needs to be in the ER. The ones who don't just bog the system down increase healthcare costs and make it hard to care for really sick or injured people. Sorry ER nursing can easily turn into a rant. Nice to meet a fellow ED RN. Jeff
2005-09-19 12:42 PM
in reply to: #248305

Champion
8903
500020001000500100100100100
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Pros:
Good money, probably making more than industry standard
2nd shift (3 PM - 1 AM), good for training during the mornings when energy level is high
Short enough commute to work (11 miles)
4-day work week, with OT on Fridays if I want it
Dress code (jeans and t-shirts)

Cons:
Crappy management (I swear these guys don't know what they're doing)
2nd shift (hard to commute by bike, riding home at 1 AM)
Less than clean atmosphere, lot of welding smoke can't be good for my lungs
Piss-poor benefits, have to do 100% of own 401-K with no matching or no pension plan
$50 per week of my own money for family health care (I dunno, maybe thats a Pro?)
2005-09-19 1:32 PM
in reply to: #248305

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Master
1468
10001001001001002525
Tampa, Fl
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
I do real estate development and sales.
Pros:
I can set my own scheduale
My office rarely starts going before 10:00
Cons:
Work at least 6 days a week (usually 7)
Always need to be accessable (running and bikeing with MP3 and phone) But I am excited about the new cingular phone that has an Ipod player in it that cuts off automatically when you get a call and starts again when you hang up. I really hate that I always have to answer the phone.
I really don't like being that guy on the phone but I train alone so I don't annoy anyone but myself.
2005-09-19 1:37 PM
in reply to: #248305

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Pro
4206
20002000100100
Los Angeles, CA
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Pros:
1.Work from home.
2.Because of #1, no one knows what I am doing at home. I can run errands, train, etc.
3.Because of #1, set my own schedule. You guys get my point.
4.Light workload.

Cons:
1.I don't like what I am doing so I'm going to part time graduate school at night.

Edited by auto208562 2005-09-19 1:37 PM


2005-09-19 2:43 PM
in reply to: #248305

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Pro
4612
20002000500100
MA
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?

Pro's
- Good people and good environment

- direct supervisor and my close work group are nice people
- good benifits, if you use them, that is. 

Con's
- Lower than industry standard pay
- Benefit that is of no use to me (example: child-related, school-related etc.  Unless I'm going for a Ph.D. while working full time)
- Corporate America = poor (upper) management and lots of politics/favoritism 
- Large company with too many departments = lots of unnecessary paper work/training and works getting more routine/boring. 
  
 
Starting to have the idea of changing career, but don't know what to do. 

2005-09-19 3:44 PM
in reply to: #248305

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Master
1462
10001001001001002525
Michigan
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Firefighter/Paramedic

Pro's
1. Work nine 24 hr shift a month
2. Never work two days in a row
3. Pay is nice now I have six years on
4. Helping people on a daily basis
5. On our shift we have a great time always playing pranks.
6. Did I say helping people
7. Adrenaline rush of fighting fire.
8. Surfing the BT while at work
9. Doing my homework at work.

Con's
1. When you do work a holiday it's all day.
2. If your having a bad day it's a 24 hour bad day.
3. Seeing the ugliest sides of people.
4. Have had a multitude of job related injuries.
5. I will never have a regular sleep schedule.
6. Getting up a 4 am to a bullshit call, like someone calling 911 for a runny nose.
7. Sometimes stress levels are pretty damn high.
2005-09-19 4:55 PM
in reply to: #248305

Elite Veteran
1817
1000500100100100
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?

Pro's:

My boss is not stingy with the compliments, she makes me know I am valued.  I'd probably have to kill someone to get fired.

I do a lot of different types of things in addition to accounting and HR, so it's fairly mentally stimulating.

For a high school graduate, I make a decent amount of money, and the benefits are pretty good and affordable, compared to what other people have to pay.

I don't have anyone looking over my shoulder about anything, because I have proven over the years that I don't need any real supervision to do what is required of me.  And no one around here watches the clock on you or makes you feel bad about taking time off as long as you behave like a grown up about it and don't take advantage.

For the vast majority, I do like the people I work with.

Cons:

This is not the life I imagine for myself, and before I die I must find something that brings me joy.   I will not condemn myself to a life chained to a desk because they have good benefits and I fear the unknown.  I want out of here, I just have to find my way first.



Edited by Tania 2005-09-19 4:56 PM

2005-09-19 6:37 PM
in reply to: #248305

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Veteran
317
100100100
Atlanta
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Broadcast News Promotion Writer/producer/editor. You know those little spots that pop on during primetime and say, "Do you know what's in your drinking water? Don't miss our report before you swallow another drop!" Yeah, they pay me to write that crap.

Pros
I'm paid well to write for a living
I get to work with incredibly smart people. I can be creative on occasion
It's good to be the smart ass
Sometimes I get to write good stuff.

Cons
Those incredibly smart people? They have egos the size of cruise ships
It may be news and supposed to be a public service, but make no mistake, it's all about the money.
Incredible instability
I write crap
2005-09-19 8:11 PM
in reply to: #248305

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Extreme Veteran
499
100100100100252525
Racine WI
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Probation & Parole Agent

CONS (literally)
being lied to each and every day - and knowing that next week, they're going to lie to me again.
disclosures of what got them on prob/parole in the first place (especially when it involves children)
below standard pay
repetive paperwork
"social worky" administrators

PROS
catching them in lies
flexible work schedule
good immediate supervisor
decent benefit package

Still waiting for the elusive offer from a police department for a job.......


2005-09-20 5:33 AM
in reply to: #248305

Expert
615
500100
Brisbane
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
2005-09-20 5:38 AM
in reply to: #248305

Expert
615
500100
Brisbane
Subject: RE: What do you hate / love about your job?
Education and Training policy manager

Pros
My work really matters little in the grand scheme of politics
My boss really doesn't give a shit what I do, most days
Flexible work environment
Good money with a car
superanuation
free booze...sometimes
travel

Cons
My work really matters little in the grand scheme of politics
My boss really doesn't give a shit what I do, most days
I wish people took what I do seriously and my opinion is valid
Its not what I took the job for in the first place
managed by remote control
Can't get approval instantly for the work I need approving
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