Looknsee Photography wrote:
After I graduated college, I got a great software engineering job in Silicon Valley.  At first, I was enthusiastic, and had the energy to go out & have fun in the evenings & the weekends.  But the biggest adjustment between grad school & work was the long slog on a single, never ending project.  In grad school, I was working on ~4 projects simultaneously, so I had more variety, and those "projects" ended when the semester ended..  At work -- it was 40+ hours all on the same stuff.

15 years later, in the mid-90s, I was practically an automaton -- get up in the morning, put in my hours, go home, watch TV, go to sleep, and do it again the next day.  But my father developed Alzheimer's, and my sister & I were semi-forced to buy & run Dad's business.  That was very difficult, because Dad couldn't explain the business to us.  So, I put in 40+ hours at my "real" job and another 25-30 hours on the family business.  This was simply not sustainable.

So, I decided that I would "retire" from the real job before the year 2000, and I gave my bosses 5 years notice.  They laughed at me, but then they saw that I was serious.  The family business brought in money, and I started buying rentals here in Portland.  For a few years there, I bought a rental a year.  It was kinda easy -- when I took on the family business, I didn't change my lifestyle, so the extra income was channeled into the rentals.

Here's the important part:  I had a five year objective and a five year plan for myself.  And I was executing that plan, seeing progress towards my personal goals.

Here's the interesting part:  I relaxed a lot at the "real" job.  When things blew up & scheduled started slipping, I was the guy who was calm, confident, and constructive.  I was able to solve problems and lead the team forward out of the muck.  As I relaxed, I got better at my job.  I got promoted.  I was given better assignments.  Everything got better.

So, my advice -- define your goals outside of your job, develop a plan to reach those goals, and surprising things might happen.

Thank you for the stellar advice.  Oddly, I'm up for a MUCH better job at the same place of business, just more up my alley and working for the president (not as an Executive Admin or anything like that).

I'm going to come up with a plan without a doubt.  I've been very aggressive with my job search.  The positions I apply for are a far cry from flipping burgers if you know what I mean.

On the brink of going a little crazy here not utilizing my skills. It's like having a Dodge Demon and driving it 20 miles an hour everywhere.

Lovely Day Media wrote:
While I didn't click the link (I almost never click external links), I think there is only one thing to do when one hates their job ... get another one.

My father used to say there were only two perfect jobs ..... the one you just left and the one you're going to next. For a long time I thought he was out of his mind. As time went on, I came to realize that no job is ever ideal but those where I am the boss are the most satisfying so I'm the boss now.

There are still jobs where I could make more money but none where I can have more time off, free time even if I'm still working or ones where I can take on the projects I like and skip the ones where I don't.  I think the world would be a much better place if more people were self employed.

True, true. When I master my job, I get bored. I think I'm ready for a better job with greater responsibility & better money! I'm amazed how I have to instruct people how to do the most basic things. I wonder how they keep their jobs!

Tony From Syracuse wrote:
I dont hate my job so much as I hate working in general.
I must have won the lottery in a past life cause not being able to be free every morning to just go and do what I want seems terribly...terribly wrong.

the only advice I can give thats realistic to anyone suffering in a bad workplace, is to ingratiate yourself to people with power at work. every jump in paygrade I've gotten thru my almost 30 years working at the corporation I work at was by doing that. not necessarily by deserving it lol.
sure I've suffered a few losses of dignity here and there, but I'm pretty much in a very good place because of it.

Some students complained about inconsistent profs and how they wanted different things such as using different style manuals for papers.
My atitude was that this was practice for work where what they wanted isn't laid out in a syllabus! 😊
College is a training opportunity among other things.

Positive thoughts--I can point to resources. PM me if interested.

Looknsee Photography wrote:
Y'know -- I kinda think that most people enter the work force unprepared.  In school, typically each student is on his/her own, and if she or he messes up, the student is the only one who fails.  At work, if a worker messes up, the whole organization is impacted.  Thus, at work, there are aspects & skills that are required that are just not (typically) taught in school.  These include teamwork, leadership, coaching, communication, organization, and so on.

I always thought that there are five aspects that make up job satisfaction:
...  The people you work with,
...  The people you work for,
...  The people who work for you,
...  The work itself, and
...  The work environment.
If any one of these aspects are skewed, you will hate your job.

But the key is that each individual has potentially great impact on all these aspects, and the best employees are often the ones who can make improvements in all five categories.  Often, those actions are subtle, and the methodologies are often not taught in school, but these are essential skills, if you ask me.

You hate your jobs?  It happens.  You can leave, but what are the odds that the next job will be any better?  And what exactly happens at the job to make you hate it.  Alternatively, if you hate your job, you can see if you can fix it.  If you can, you likely just became a more valuable employee.

I think the full-timers at my job make too many glib comments about contract employees, their length of time at the company, etc.  It's counter-productive and annoying.

Since I do mostly project management and data analysis (not everyone can do this kind of work), it seems bullshit that I'm not full-time.

Oh well.  I've raised my metrics way up and decided to do my craptastic job the best I can.  Getting accolades at work means nothing to me. 

MarkGerrardPhotography wrote:
I hate my supervisor and manager.

The supervisor has been a bitch since she started a year ago, thankfully he's been moved to a new position starting August 1st, and we are getting a supervisor that should never have been replaced by this bitch.

The manager is a total prick.  Talks like Trump "you know I'm always honest with you right?"  A couple of weeks ago we had a conference call.  I checked in on the call but he never acknowledged me.  After a few other checked in and he acknowledged them I checked in again.  His repsonse was I heard you several times so now I'm just going to talk over you.

There are also a few people who have more years in the company than me but still cant do the job, that irritates the hell out of me!

I'm sorry to hear that.  I can't stand people who belittle others.  It leaves you despondent and angry.

Our hours have changed at my company.  We were forced to take every other Friday off.  Cool right?  No, it's not cool.  I don't get my full 40 hours a week now.  I finally agreed to work one week 40 straight hours and the second week 36 hours, 9 hours a day.  I lose a day a month as I'm a contractor.  This all could have been avoided if they would have paid me time and a half for a lousy extra 4 hours (44 hours the first week) but hey, they're cheap bastards.

500 million in revenue this company makes.  WTF

I feel despondent and depressed every day I am here.  Oddly, they really love my work here and want me to stay... as a 'temp', but it sounds nicer saying "contractor".

I do a kickass job wherever I am at whether I absolutely hate the job or not, that's just how I roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVWkDiGxir4

Ellie-D wrote:
If you're allowed to, put on music or listen to podcasts. It really does help pass the time like whoa.

I once had a boss who was on the worst power trip I'd ever seen someone on...

I always stick to bigger companies now that give me more protection against that sort of thing.

All three for me.

I'm left to my own devices.  I manage myself and get stuff done.  I'm pure white collar corporate.  I do a lot of data analysis and project management.  The more I talk to exempt employees making big $ the more I laugh at the fact they're 'cool' with longer days.  Why?  They get paid so damn much, they're quite comfortable!

I like bigger companies for a myriad of reasons.
Thankfully the royal douchebag who I might add has NOTHING to do with my job in any way is leaving me alone.  Yay!

Everyone else is cool to me.  My boss is a selfish dick.  I don't care anymore. 
I keep being told what I good job I'm doing.  I'd rather make more money than receive the accolades.