What makes a Job good?

What makes a Job good?

I was working on an issue at work the other week when I noticed a new email pop up in the lower right-hand corner as I often do. I so happened to catch a glance of who it was from with the subject which stood out very clearly — ‘IT Restructure Consultation’ which was sent from the top dog in IT, my managers manager. As I was reading, there was a deadly silence in the office and I was consumed reading the content which discussed an upcoming restructure with an invitation to myself for a group consultation, I was one of those marked as at risk. Everyone in the office more or less at the same time shouted up “Did you just get that email about an IT restructure…?!”. Everyone in my team had got it and the speculation started en masse…

Fast forward to writing this post. I have since had that meeting and I will discuss what comes of it when its finalized which won’t be too long thankfully. Until then, I wanted to write a post on what makes a Job good? What, that in my experience of having had a very bad and a very good job has taught me personally.

The Bad Job

When I first got into the FI world as it were, I was working for a company that at first wasn’t too bad. I felt fortunate that I had got a job with the field I wanted relatively quickly and without too much hassle. I quickly however started to really dislike going to work to the point where the whole FI journey really did feel like tunneling out of a prison and moving to Mexico to show tourists around the coast. I think having a bad job really contributed to me considering a more bare bones FI and really saving as much as possible to the extent of slightly depriving myself of some things I have since loosened up on. What follows is the main reasons for disliking the job so much.

Awful Boss

This was without a doubt the worse part of the job. My boss was not a people person at all. He was so sharp and would shoot you down in an instant. The atmosphere in the room suffered as a result and no one felt like they could make suggestions or put forward ideas for fear of being bitten. He was largely responsible for the next 2 points as well.

Unmanageable work load

There was simply far too many things to be done in the day. The list of projects and tasks was too high and simply was not achievable. No matter how much work you did and whatever progress you made, there was always something you wasn’t doing which would be picked up by the boss and then criticized. This led to you never truly feeling comfortable and always expecting a telling off around the corner. You may have completed task 1 through 32, 39 and 40 but progress on task 33 would be soon be questioned.

Too Formal/Corporate (TPS Reports anyone?)

There was little banter in the office and talking for any length of time would often be looked down upon. I had experienced being timed with a stop watch when going for lunches, and we had to account for our time for every 10 minutes on a tracking system. There were discussions around whether we needed a tea making project code and that we all went to the toilet too frequently at times. There was very little banter within my team and the corporate feel was overpowering at times.

Pay/Benefits

The pay was ok for me at the time but not great for the profession and job role I had. What made it worse was that there were no benefits per se, auto enrollment for pension was set at the lowest amount allowed, and we only had no real perks. Holiday allowances was the minimum by law.

Some good stuff

Of course, it wasn’t all bad as with anything. I had some good banter with other teams and have made some long term friends as well as have gotten vast experience with my work and even using the bad negatives above as the main reason I now appreciate the good my current job provides which I will get too shortly. 

As you can probably gather, I really didn’t enjoy my old job. I had said many times as many often do, that I needed to look elsewhere and move onto something better etc and after one outburst from my manager too many (not even to me). I thought thats it…I really need to leave. So, I put together a plan to move on by the new year and to get a certification to help with my future job hunting. I remember being at the christmas meal out with my boss and team knowing that it would be my last one, it felt really good and I had no doubts at all that I wouldn’t follow through and leave the following month…. I handed in my notice 3 weeks later.

The Good Job

I left my old job just over 2 years ago. I honestly feel like in some ways I have been on holiday for the last 2 years when compared with the first. It proves the grass really can be greener (especially if your grass is mostly brown and dead :D)… All the reasons I left the old job were remedied in the new one:

• Awesome Manager (The complete opposite of my other manager, so approachable)

• Management workload (Challenging but achievable)

• Banter! (We have a good bunch of lads, and we get on well, we work hard but have a laugh in the process)

• Good Pay & Many Benefits… (Pay rise, great pension, discounts, good sick pay etc.)

There have however been a few new aspects of the job which really were unappreciated until I had experienced them. These additional things make this job feel like to me at least what really make a good job good. It wasn’t until I experienced them at this place in the absence of such strong negatives that I knew how much I now value them.

Being valued

One thing that from almost the first week in my new job I noticed was that colleagues and managers actually appreciated my work and input. I was given praise frequently and that was something that I was not at all used to. My efforts here are noticed whereas in my old job, they weren’t. People value my input at project meetings and will take my concerns seriously whereas before, I felt like people would often ask your opinion but already knew the answer and path they were going down.

Interesting varied work

I work in IT and have to work on many different projects involving vastly different technologies. We have a lot of challenges and the work itself is positively varied. It is certainly not monotonous. There are always problems to solve and new solutions to design. This helps keep work fresh enough as to not get stale.

Feels purposeful in of itself

I work in the health care sector. The work I do impacts people when they are often at their lowest and in the most need of help. The systems I help build and maintain are designed to help people get better and to treat illness. This certainly helps motivate me more than in my previous job. It feels like something I would do on a volunteering bases or part-time. I think that’s what make me feel at times like I have already pulled the FI trigger and simply choosing to do this line of work for the joy of it in and of itself. That certainly feels good.

Never perfect…

Of course, just as the old job did have good parts, there are still some negatives in my new job. The commute is slightly longer, there are some office politics higher up, system documentation is poor and some staff are very lazy to the point of affecting what you do. I am certainly not wearing rose-tinted glasses.  The difference is that all the things that really matter to me are good enough to allow me to enjoy my job, give me no dread of going to work… and that’s such a big difference!

I appreciate that not everyone can work in an environment that’s similar to mine. I know a lot of the good could change simply with new management etc. I don’t think it’s a honeymoon period as I have been there over 2 years now but I know my feelings could of course change. But for now… I really do think I have a good job. 

As always, I’d love to hear how you feel about your work, and if you have ever been in a similar situation to my first. 

Chris @ TheFIJourney