What makes a job good?
I’ve had lots of jobs, for 26, perhaps too many. Some have have been good, some have been bad, and yes, some have been downright ugly. I’ve been promoted, made redundant, worked temporary, and recently I’ve even gone a little freelance.
The best job I ever had…and you probably think I’m about to go mummy blogger mushy and say parenting, no, maybe another day. The best job I ever had was a temporary job working in an all male team. I was an administrator of sorts but it involved a lot of adhoc stuff. Each day was a bit of a challenge, something new would come up that would spark my interest, y’know gas can be very interesting. There was no office politics, no bitching, no trampling on the bitch next to you to get to the next level only to rinse and repeat. They told rude jokes. We ate sausage butties and cherry scones. I was paid a lousy £6.50 an hour and I had no benefits. It was the best job I ever had.
Your best job?
I've been blogging for four years and write about anything and everything that takes my fancy.
Above is me with my beloved Ernie in Port Aventura and left with our love child in Florida.
Themocracy
In my early 20s I temped at a local social services office. I LOVED it and was sad to leave. After that I temped at the local adoption services which was also enjoyable and rewarding. Both adminstrative roles and both jobs different every day.
I can so relate to what you say! First of all, i think it is very OK to say that although one loves the children to death, a job outside of the home gives such a different satisfaction which is also very OK to look for in life.
Although I’m very glad to have hosted my company in an incubator for female entrepreneurs; http://www.womensbusinessinitiative.net, and also totally enjoy the feeling of sisterhood there. I’ll also be honest and admit that more than once, I have also complained about not being one of the boys, sometimes I’ve absolutely had the feeling that I’ve been treated differently than the guys – and lot liked it.
I have mainly – to say almost exclusively – worked in very male-dominated jobs – and liked it! I’ve worked as an international diplomat in a setting/team where I surely was often one of the few women in the room, I am building a company now with …. basically only men on my team (thus, yep, if you have checked out my MummyMug site, beware it is also …. by and for men
But all in all, I totally agree with you that the working style of men generally is way easier if one wants to get things done. And getting things done is after all – a majot reward for working!
Not sure if it’s because I myself function better with men, and really looked for such situations, or just co-incidence that I ended up in such teams. Probably the former, as I have very much shaped my own professional choices, and could very well have gone for a female environment.
Anyway – that turned out a very long comment, seems I got inspired
Laura, sounds like both jobs involved changing people’s lives for the better
Hi Cecilia,
I think it’s interesting what you say about working with men, it’s the way I’ve always felt. If you could add a little emotionally empathy into a man’s traits then I think you’d have the perfect colleague
Hi Erin. Congrats on the top ten blog thing (how I found you)! I’m very lucky to really like my job (as a researcher), but my best loved job was as a job working in an all male team (structural engineers), as an administrator/receptionist/secretary. I didn’t have an hourly rate as such. The boss would come in after a liquid lunch on a Friday and write me a cheque, the amount of which was based on ‘how well’ I’d done that week. Probably a better hourly rate than I’m on now. In terms of a relaxed, happy atmosphere I’ve never topped it. That was years ago – thanks for reminding me
I’ve had jobs which seem quite glamorous – interviewing Russell Crowe in Berlin, for example, or flying first class to Hong Kong – but all the s**t and stress and office politics that goes with it does make you wonder if it’s all worthwhile. Some of my favourite jobs were during uni – I worked in a factory packing vitamins (and sex aids!) and we spent a lot of the time laughing, gossiping and singing along to the radio.
I once worked in an all blokes office and I loved it too, infact I went into a mail dominated industry, there were no underlying meanings to anything, just fact!
Audrey – The good old days eh
Hi Liz, Ok, Russell Crowe..wow! I get what you’re saying about the stress though.
MadHouse – Yeah, that’s what I found…and not once did I ever here “X said this, or X said that..”
I totally know where you are coming from! After years working in IT, often the only woman in my department, it was a total shock when I took a temping job in an office full of women, a horrible environment.
I think the best was way back in the mid 80s, before company mergers and take-overs, when profit wasn’t the be-all and end-all and the bosses had been there since the 1940s. I am so glad I had the opportunity to work in the Head Office Overseas Division of an international insurance company, based here in Perth, that focused on staff and customers rather than £££££££. We ran little agency offices all over the world where we knew the staff by first name because we spoke to them – on the phone. We had one Telex machine and one IBM XT PC between 50 of us, we had to use out mouths to communicate. It was another world. I’m only 42!!
“We ate sausage butties and cherry scones” – how brilliant!
I know my husband says the best job he ever had was a labourer on a building site one summer. He is now in a high powered, ego fest of a company and pines for those days when his greatest worry was whether to wear his jeans or his combats!
I’ve worked for the same company since I left uni for the last (gulp) 13 years. I’ve moved divisions so my role has changed.
I can’t say I’ve ever had a ‘best’ job. There have been times when I’ve enjoyed the challenge of a new role and I love getting my teeth into something but often the cliqeyness has spoiled the overall feel for me, especially when I went back part time after having Ethan.
I’m kinda hoping that the best is yet to come!
Great post.
My ‘favourite’ job – working in the Fire Brigade, I was a ‘Fire Prevention Clerk’! The guys went on a call out once and left their own chip pan going! – so they had to come back and put their own fire out!
Worse job? Dressed as a wench serving pitchers of wine in an ‘authentic’ Welsh restaurant – even had to dance a jig in clogs every shift, grrr!
Tracey – Dance a jig in clogs you say..I’d pay good money to see that
My best job was also working 95% with men, who were always fun, courteous and never bitchy….
Worst job – promoting Nimble light bread when I was a couple of stone overweight in a fairly ..ahem!..rough vicinity where folk didn’t mince their words, no matter how personal! Great blog!
Thanks Diney. Nimble pah…it was only ‘light’ because it was barely bigger than the palm of your hand
I think any job where you can make your own choices is the best type. I think Liz should have saved her sex aids for Russell Crowe. the absolutel best jobs are doing something that you love – whether that’s working in a shop, office or factory with people you love or overseeing a team or running a company. Like Liz, some jobs I have had that have looked great on paper haven’t been all that! I always wanted to be a journalist and sometimes wonder what other path I could have gone down. Would have loved to be a teacher and I do my best to combine the two with training work, when that goes well, for me, that’s a great job but I am lucky in that I do enjoy what I do. xx
OMG you’d make a hilarious high school teacher…chunter…chunter
You are indeed lucky Linda, I’d be very pleased to find myself in your situation when I’m older