I just started working at a fast food restaurant and am really just blown away by how much rewarding it is that my last job working at a social welfare agency “helping people.” There is almost ALWAYS something to do AND my work can be objectively measured, two things untrue of my last job.

I’m trying to figure out what I want out of life, and work, and career, and I think this is really important to me: I actually need to be DOING something, something that I have direct control over, and something that I don’t NEED to say, “Look what a good job I did” because it is transparent.

Part of the reason I think this is important to me is if these requirements are NOT met, then the job is essentially convincing OTHERS that you are good at your job and/or that they like you. If what you do is opaque, unclear, or hard to measure, you have to constantly be policing the social narrative around yourself and your work–two things I have absolutely no interest (or ability?) in doing.

What’s been your experience?

  • gigastasio@sh.itjust.works
    25·
    13 days ago

    I was a professional musician most of my adult life. I retired out of that and took a job in a lab testing metals for automotive and aerospace companies.

    I remember talking to my therapist when I first started and happened to mention that much of the work is predictable and repetitive. And he said, “Isn’t that a blessing!” And for a minute I was taken aback at that because I don’t think of myself in that way. Being a musician was chaotic, with wild hours and days on the road and exciting nights and you never knew what to expect from one week to the next because gigs just pop up out of the blue. I loved that lifestyle.

    But if I’m being honest, I’ve been at this lab job eight years now doing the same thing and I gotta admit I’m kinda happy in my little element. I’m good at it, I’m respected by my coworkers, I’m not micromanaged and I’m free to just do my job however I see fit. And like you said, there’s an objective metric to how good a job I’m doing. It’s the longest I’ve held down a “real” job and I don’t see myself leaving.

      • gigastasio@sh.itjust.works
        8·
        13 days ago

        I just wanted something as far removed from music as possible so I just shotgunned a bunch of applications and ended up here lol. I don’t have an engineering degree but I do have two music degrees that I still put to use from time to time. You don’t need a degree to be a lab rat. I just run the tests. They brought me in and trained me from the ground up. The engineers do all the reports and certifications and work with the customers.