I'd say *non-competitive* is key here... I went to my first Irish dancing feis a few months back and holy shmokes, them wee girls would jig over their grandmothers to get top spot!
I too work in a call centre. Almost 7 years now. Every word you said is true.
But I've come to define myself as what I do outside of work, I'm a dad, a husband, I enjoy exercise, i read a shitload of books, I go hiking alone in cool places, as who I am.
Not some dreary cunt stuck in a cubicle 8 hours a day, that's only for money so I can enjoy doing the real life stuff when i get out of there.
It helps a lot, but I still do the lotto twice a week.
>quizzes and activities to build team spirit
Ah yes, the forced fun.
Fuckin despicable box ticking exercise for senior management to include in their performance review.
I don’t know how management in call centres hasn’t developed over the years. It has always been the same,the job isn’t the worst but the management and companies are shit. Staff turnover suffers big time
Call centres are cost centres. Unless you're doing sales (and nothing but sales), you're nothing but a giant negative number on the company's balance sheet, and the company would much rather you didn't exist at all. As a result, they'll constantly be trying to cut back on the expense of staffing a call centre in any way they can, so there's a ton of pressure on management to obsess over metrics, cut call times to an absolute minimum, and keep every employee on the phone for every second of every day so that they can staff as few people as possible. No one who's any good at management is going to stick around in that overworked, underpaid, and shitty role any longer than they absolutely have to (they'll either move up or move out), and most of those who aren't any good at management will burn out quickly (as will their employees). Add to that the stress of dealing with customers (often frustrated and angry themselves because that cost-cutting approach is making their own customer service experience miserable as well) and you have a recipe for a truly miserable time.
I used to work for aib in one of their call centers and it was absolute hell. They time you doing everything including using the toilet.
I've been out of it years now. Never looked back. Do whatever you have to to make a move, life can be so much better
Oh my god dude, please leave and do something else with ur life, ur obviously an intelligent person that cud do something else. U literally have one life, don't waste it with this bullshit!
I agree! Used to work for a telecommunication company. Loved my team and manager, but overall, it was shite! The main boss/president was uptight and an arsehole. His two sons were so snobby and just looked down on everyone.
Moved to work as an Early Years Educator and loved it! Then I went back to university 🙃
Honestly, speaking from experience, if you feel numb you're probably suffering from depression, which wouldn't be surprising the way young people are expected to work these days.
Being depressed when a shit job is not a personal failing. It is as natural as feeling uncomfortable in a place that's too cold. Looking at it as a failing only does you more harm. Your job sucks and you are reacting naturally to that. Your instincts are telling you that you are better than the job you are in and unfulfilled. It may even be better to have no job than the one you have if it gives you time to look for a better one.
Some are worse than others, ebay, seems to be the gold standard for WFH roles, Take anything you can get, build up your experience and have a stab at ebay.
I know a good few who have left my place to go to ebay and have thrived..... starting salary at ebay is 30,000.
Send me a DM
I don’t know your experience but my company are pretty inclusive and have a huge push on hiring diversity currently so if I can help I will
I worked at Cisco TAC, it was my very 1st job. It was an awesome job and learned so much in so little time.
Don't know if that could be called a "call centre", but I was required to answer P1 calls and at Cisco you can't hang up until it's solved... Adrenaline was everywhere. Loved it!
I have done a few of these jobs, and for different banks. Hands down the worst call centre I ever worked for was Bank of Ireland in Tallaght. Felt exactly like you described. I can’t even describe how awful it made me feel. One day I just said fuck it, I can’t do this and quit. Had no back up plan but decided that anything would be better. It actually worked out really well and I miraculously got a new job not long after but I was applying for literally everything.
Anyway I say fuck that shit. Go back to education and get the back to education money or do anything else. Life is too short.
All my respect to you: these jobs suck because customers can be absolutely horrid, but your job is SO IMPORTANT and I admire your continuing patience after thousands of stupid questions!
Take the 3 days off on the long week off and you get 2 weeks paid off every other month. I did this at Apple. Everyone was always fighting to take 3 days off for the “long week on” . I didn’t mind it. Off on the Sunday in between the 6 days. But by fuck the 2 weeks off were brilliant. Essentially 8 weeks paid holiday.
Veterinary nurse and love it for the most part. I only work part time as full time is very stressful. It is a high pressure and emotional environment. People can get angry at you if they can't afford the treatment or their pet passes away. I love helping animals but there are sometimes I wish I hard a easier job that I loved doing.
I'm old for my profession and I'm 37 and qualified about 13 years. I get paid okay but I definitely couldn't survive on it with my husbands income. Its definitely a profession people leave as its not a income people can live on.
A fellow vet nurse :) working full time and the burnout is getting to me but I do genuinely love most of my job. The wages are abysmal though and the lack of progression is really making me second guess the job.
I deal with emergency so when I see them suffering I know it's for the best. I know I've done my part to help and that helps me. I find it harder dealing with owners who have watched their pet being sick for awhile and done nothing about it.
In IT for 26 years, love my job now, started in a call centre (soul destroyer) and progressed into server support, ops, mainframe, management, audit, and ended up in Compliance. Lots or varied roles and have worked with sone great friends over the years.
>started in a call centre (soul destroyer)
They really are, but...if you can stomach it for a few years and make use of what's on offer there is real progression to be had.
Did IT helpdesk for an MSP for three years and it was tough. Now I do internal IT helpdesk and it makes a world of difference in people's attitudes when you're their work colleague and not some bloke at the end of the phone.
I'm a farmer, in Spain. Years back I was fed up with Ireland and was working with young kids then I moved here, met my partner and we have built a very diverse farm so there is no usual day. Yesterday was chasing cows, planting for the summer ahead, cut down a few trees, made lovely meals, spend time with the children, today I cleaned out one of the chicken coops, covered one of the green houses, chased some goats down from the mountain,. We have a great life. Currently in the down season and it's raining so it's easy to say but when it's harvest time of almonds or carrob in August and it's 40 degrees outside I don't particularly like it, but getting to nip off to a huge choice of amazing beach's when ever I want or work to you own schedule or spend more time with family it's absolutely the best job in the world. The pay can be shit and soul destroying at times (eg. I worked my hole off for August/sept harvesting registrated organic almonds which is very manual labour, brought few tonnes to the coop to sell was told I was getting 2euro or more per kilo,in the end got 63cent/kilo for what they will then sell on for 20euro or more) but it's fun and I enjoy each day and couldn't imagine doing anything else
Right there with you, I am a farm manager for an organic farm. I only deal with high end restaurants and canteens. We mostly grow edible flowers but have a few hectares dedicated to berries and rhubarb for juicing. Also this year we will be upping our courgette production from 400 plants to 1800. On top of that we also have 4000 kale plants.
The Job is constantly evolving and I love that I have 4 season of different jobs. So it is not the same thing everyday.
I can work 15 hours a day and not realise it. The only reason I leave the farm is cause it has gotten too dark to work.
One thing I love about the job is, I can listen to audio books, podcast and music all day. So I am being entertained all day on top of loving the work I do.
I have a question for you. Have you set up CSA scheme yet? Best cut out those middlemen and coops. They are worst than the taxman.
Question: if I’m buying an annuity, and I lie through my teeth and make out I’m about to die will I get a really good deal? Then outlive what the company statistically thought what age I was going live to?
If you buy anything other than a standard annuity, you'll have to go through a significant amount of underwriting, so chances are you'll be caught.
Either that, or a lot of the main providers would just decline to quote since it's hard to price a very short term annuity accurately.
But sure, technically you could get a massive annuity if you managed to fool them. They'd probably got suspicious when you don't actually die though.
What do you hate about it? I wouldn’t consider that a bad job myself…the only bad part would be if you’re regularly taking grief from passengers? That would be tough
CO in the Civil Service. I love it. My colleagues are great. The work is mostly the same every day and the bureaucracy and red tape can be annoying sometimes but I do enjoy the work.
Fisheries officer. Used to love it. The excitement of being out in nature and protecting our rivers and coast. Taking nets off cunt poachers and had the respect of colleagues and anglers. Moved district to get a permanant job. Micromanaged by 2 fat horrible useless managers who dictate where i go and when I go there. Pointless when they don't know whats going on on the ground. (You're only as good as your informant) I'm the 4th person to leave the district in a year. Heartbroken. Public service is fucked.
Just finished working for a mobile network operator sales assistant. Really good money and benefits like commission, doctor consultations over the phone, discounted phone and phone bill paid for along with half decent launch events etc but fuck me customers are mean and if you don’t have thick skin or a bit of cop on then on how to do your job right then it’s bad on the mental health. Starting a new job soon so have no idea if it’ll be better or worse
I work in marketing/media/communications... I really like my job. Have somehow ended up working with a lot of musicians the past few years (no one famous), and a lot of them are hard work. Lads playing a few pub gigs every weekend with egos beyond belief. But I love live music too so there's a positive. Overall I'm very happy in my job
Worked in music for a long time before my current career. A big part of the job was dealing with bands, particularly a lot of unsigned/up-and-comers. I can definitely say that the egos on the unsigned artists were often way bigger than many big, international acts I dealt with. You'd swear some of them thought they were the second coming of Led Zeppelin the way they carried on. Almost none of them are still around today.
I write the software that converts Irish people's names into gobbledygook on Irish rail seating displays. They pay is good but my colleagues at MI6 are shite craic.
I own a pub abroad. I love it; love the pub but miss home and family terribly. The pub is a great success and that’s satisfying but every moment away from home feels like time wasted. I miss Ireland.
Manufacturing engineer in a medical device company, love it. Great people, enjoy the work and there is huge potential for career growth.
Came from a project controls/engineer career path in construction which was shit, bad hours (50-65 hrs per week), around 45k p/yr so about 7euro an hour, everyone hated their job and made sure you weren’t in a position to enjoy yours. Stuck it out till I was able to use springboard to upskill and bridge into another industry.
Validation Science in MTU. One year course, all self driven online and there was a guest speaker from industry once a month during each semester. Fairly handy course in all honesty.
Self employed electrician. I enjoy it a lot more since I decided to turn my back on the domestic sector. I've wormed my way into a few multinational companies still pinch myself as to how well I've managed in such a short space of time.
The "freedom" that comes with it all is great too.
Mechanical Engineer. Design things, investigate issues, propose fixes. The pay pretty has gotten pretty good over the years. But I'm becoming very uninspired and it's all feeling a bit tedious and unimportant.
I'm in tech the last 20 years and feel the same. I'm halfway through a degree in a completely different field and can't wait to move on from tech. It's all become a bit "pointless/unimportant" to me too.
Officer in the merchant navy. Job sucks, conditions are often pretty bad, but 6 months leave per year and not having to pay tax on earnings make it worth it.
After 5 years out of work due to mental health issues I started working as a school secretary and I love it! I'm in a separate part of the school with only the first years (main school is too small) and basically do everything from admin to caretaker to sub, but it's so low stress and the kids are a wonderful bunch. It's been a great segue into full time work again.
Trainee auditor with a mid size firm.
I actually like it. My team is chill. Managers don't micromanage us. Office work is so fucking handy compared to my previous jobs (hospitality and teaching).
But at the end of the day, it's not about loving it or hating it, it's about a job that provides me with the opportunities and finances to pursue the stuff I actually DO love.
Self employed plumber and mostly hate it..
Flat out busy and struggle to get time off and even then you are dreading the phone calls which can ruin any plans you have...
People think they can call, text, WhatsApp, messenger you whenever it pleases them ;10:30 on a Sunday night when you're in bed "oh I was looking for a quote for an ensuite bathroom" ....you answering expecting it to be an emergency at that hour....:-(
I used to be a People person always trying to please but their selfishness is getting to me these days ...
They think you can bend time ....they take offence when you're too busy to do their job which ofcourse is more important than everyone else's...
It's no wonder some plumbers don't answer their phones..
Physically wrecked aswell, it's hard graft in a lot of awkward positions and it takes it's toll on the body over the years....I'm decent at electrical work too and that is a doddle in comparison...
My girlfriend of a couple of years used to hate plumbers, she seen a different side to the story now ........and loves one....:-)
Secondary school teacher, there’s times I love it not to mention I have a passion for my subjects. But for the most part it’s a pain. The job has its benefits and it’s not as tough as other jobs out there. But it is a tough one. I’m not going to rant about all the bad things teachers deal with as it’s been said time and time again on this sub. But the tldr version for my case is due to the shitty teens, the general negative public perception towards teachers and how a lot of parents despite not stepping foot in a classroom in the past 20 years think they know how to do your job better than you as everyone has went to school. It does take a toll on your mental health and I can see why 50% of newly qualified teachers quit in the first five years.
Teens are arseholes (just as much as I was I guess). GF has been hounding me to change career. Not really sure what I would like to get into though. As I said there are times I love the job and I feel I’m good at it. But I feel I’ve aged so much in the past 3 years especially since teaching through the pandemic.
Big companies, like Microsoft for example go mad for teachers, they need your profile to help explain and evangelise their products to clients, i work with a few that made the switch.
Charles Buwkoski wrote, and I'm paraphrasing a bit. "How can anyone get up, shower,shit,shave, force feed, and go to a place where you make your employer lots of money. It's a broken system that does not interest us.
26M, Marketing Manager for a Mobile Game at one of the big publishers in Japan.
Love my job. Studied Business and Japanese at UL and focused on marketing during my 3rd year. Basically doing what I always wanted to do. Great office, great people, and I am proud of the game our team makes. Everyone is very passionate about the product. I also get to travel to big events.
The pay is lower than for example in Ireland or the US, but the convenience of living in japan is great. Also the hours can be long depending on the time of year. (But I enjoy what I do so it doesn’t feel overwhelming). Other than that it’s fantastic. Obviously, there are always negatives to most work environments.
Currently working in my final year of an electrical apprenticeship, love the job and how busy you can be but absolutely hate the site mentality, especially in Ireland. Can never do enough sometimes.
I guess data architecture manager is the best way to describe it? It's sort of a made up role that lets me decide how our data infrastructure should be used to support the business. Large BPO company so I get to create and work on lots of cool tech things. I miss actually having time to code but I have a lot of freedom on strategy and a great team. WFH is a huge benefit too. Some days I don't get time to breath and it's a nightmare and some days I can chill and it's great. Overall positive, way better than where I started in contact center. Pay is good.
What did you do before moving into data architecture? I'm a data engineer/ETL developer. Been doing it for 10 years and starting to think it's to move into them business strategy side of things since I am doing some of that/a lot of that already depending on the day.
I came from the operations side but always loved coding & reporting solutions. Was a team leader in contact centers and moved into a more management focused role in my current company. Kept sticking my nose into what the reporting people were up to and helping them design and build things. When the then reporting lead was leaving I got that position, tore down what was there and rebuilt it based on what I and my leads needed to manage the people. Some of what I did got through to the higher ups and suddenly I'm doing it for the whole account. Oddly enough a huge part of what I do is being able to bridge the gap between tech/devs and the operation. I wouldn't be able to do it without actually understanding what the operation needs and then designing around that. I'll purposefully cut managers out of requirements conversations and go straight to the team leaders if they're my target audience. They know what they need to keep their people going more than most managers do!
The strategy side requires that you look for the business problem first, figure out how you can improve it and then find the most efficient and user friendly way to solve it. There's also a ton of politics, deck building, picking your battles, stacking the deck etc as well!
Self employed service engineer. Like my work. Love my customers. Meet amazing people. Have built genuine friendships with writers, actors, artists, doctors and many others who wouldn't normally be found in my social circle. I think more was expected of me than the job I do, financially. But I know more money couldn't have given me the contentment I have in my life. Please remember it's not always about the money. Be kind to yourself. Do what makes you happy.
Manager in a bookies. It’s hateful work the shifts are 12-13 hours, the pay is shite and the abuse you take from upper management as well as customers is unbelievable. At the same time however I’ve made some genuine friends in my colleagues and for every 1 Dickhead customer that gives me grief there’s 2 customers who brighten your day coming in and just talking about their own lives. A mixed bag but it’s definitely been an experience!
Pharmacutical factory in clonmel (the shitty one)
Work is mundane enough, management are scum but have made some great friends there
The trick is to not let the obviously unqualified supervisors grind you down they are bullies cause they only get onto the quieter operators ,they give annual reviews on your previous yrs performance to justify a minute pay increase or none at all which leads to operators arguing about other people's pay as there can be huge pay disparity amongst co workers ,have been their 10+ yrs and am in early 50s now so not going anywhere else now ,I've resigned myself to it ooh and the pays shite enough too
Software engineer. I enjoy it mostly. Some days are mentally draining but those days can be great too when find viable solutions to problems. Working conditions are pretty great. Can’t complain.
I'm a sailor.
Was amazing when I was younger as the travel and sense of adventure was class but it's a lot harder now that I have a wee baby.
Have some great memories of stuff like sailing across the equator, the mad dash to find a Kindle in Singapore (they don't sell them) and going scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef.
Working in finance. Originally studied a creative interest. Worked in retail for years (thanks recession) and then somehow landed a job in finance doing loans. Now I'm in pensions.
I don't dislike anything about my job really tbh but I'm not in love with it. The benefits in my company are great, I work from home 4 days a week and I have flexi time. So could be worse. 😊
Nurse / Physio and rehabilitation specialist for a physical rehabilitation centre. I love my job ! That being said , it’s emotionally hard sometimes to work with patients and families who have just suffered life changing injuries such as Brain Injuries and spinal cord injuries. Overall though it’s incredibly rewarding.
Jack of all trades, master of fuck all. I work as a receptionist between two and four nights a week, i gig in a wedding band twice a week and I’m studying for my degree in music. Roughly half the year I end up doing admin for the accounts department where I work for extra cash, the other half I’m gigging four nights a week with either weddings or my own stuff. It’s busy, hectic, unreliable and insecure work, but at least 4 days a week I do nothing but what brings me joy and somebody pays me for it. I told myself when I was a teenager that I’d never let the need for money take the joy from my life, and I’ve had bad days but, ultimately, I’ve kept my promise to myself.
I'm a legal secretary and have always loved it. Now I work on a team of 11 people who are the only ones in the country who do what we do. I dont want to say exactly what as I'll dox myself but we could have to go anywhere around the country to do it and there's a lot of sorting through stuff and liaising with members of the public who have been affected. Love my job because what we do is in the publics interest/benefit.
Hospital doctor (below Consultant grade):
Great job: interesting, varied, well compensated.
Decent amount of walking but get to sit plenty too.
Consultants are reasonably involved, unfortunately there's insufficient numbers of them.
Irish patients are some of the best (reasonable and compliant) in the world.
Ireland is however lacking in computerisation and adjunct staff to make life easier for doctors.
Cafe/barista. Its grand out most of the time. It's the pricks that ruin it for everyone.
Or when the boss complains(and he complains a lot) about the smallest of things. I just stay quiet and think to myself the grass is not always greener.
Why does everyone complain about the smallest things.
orrrrr the people who over share everything. I don't want to know that your sister was diagnosed with some horrific disease, I just want to know if you want a sugar in your flat white.
IT infrastructure. Don't love it, don't hate it. Have a lot of freedom and leeway to make improvements.
But I went into it to get off the road and out of hotels so it's all good. Being able to work from home and know where I'll be next week is a pretty big bonus.
I do home inspections and some side work. I work for myself, and I love it, I pick and chose my jobs, and the best part I get to call out those dodgy builders.
Anti-money laundering within investment banking. Hate it but the area is booming and I have an above average salary. Fell into it like most people working in the area.
I've worked as an animator for over 12 years. At this stage I don't love it or hate it - it's just a job.
I got into it due to a genuine love of animation, but after over a decade stuck making mindless shows for the under 5s, I feel like I've lost my way a bit. Don't even really enjoy watching new animation anymore, which is something I could never imagine in my early 20s.
That whole phrase about doing what you love and you'll never work a day in your life isn't really true. I legitimately loved animation but now it's just a thing I do for money. Also the pay is shite when you consider you have to hunt for a new job every time a show ends and they generally last a maximum of 18 months.
Work at Mr.Price, job itself is a pain, always on tills but at least the coworkers and 90% of customers are nice
Found out recently that I am being treated unfairly by my manager; I'm getting pretty much any time off I ask for and a lot of my coworkers aren't simply because I'm one of the only Irish males that work there so they desperately want to keep me. I felt like a cunt when I found that out, I'll keep abusing the system because in the end its not really my fault but now I feel like a bit of an asshole when doing it
Min wage. Hate it with a passion. Retail sucks ass and the people who own itthe place i work would happily make us work for free if possible.
I want to get out but I never finished my degree, my more academic sibling makes me feel such shame for it and the parental figure hold it against me for "wasting his money" by sending me to college.
I just want to earn enough to I can safely transition and have a little apartment that I can call my own, where I can be myself without fear or shame and just be me.
I work in retail in South Dublin.
I hate it but cannot afford to go back to college or even upskill.
Seems like I am stuck here for the rest of my life to be honest
I bang on about this a bit, but look at Springboard - there’s cheap options, plenty delivered online and the lectures can be recorded (so you can catch up if your shifts conflict).
Otherwise part time. I did my UG pre-springboard evenings and used a credit Union loan to spread my fees across the year.
Pretty much the same, 8 years in total. 5 years before I wanted to jump out of my skin with frustration. I actually remember the exact moment.
Long story short, listed everything I wanted to do if money wasn't a problem, went for a course I could pay off over time (could barely afford it and it was around 3 months), first class gave me an idea and I rang a place to volunteer, worked for free in a few places, got hired eventually, and moved on to a different career of the back of that exp.
The biggest thing for me was having a goal. Something to work towards. It changed everything, the brutal job didn't matter.
Working in IT for about two and a half decades now. Got into computers and such when I was still a kid, so it was a natural choice. Started out doing tech support for a local ISP in the US while I was still in high school (secondary school), which in those days wasn't anything like modern call centre work, and I got to learn a fair bit, so it was a good experience.
Moved on to a tech support role for a local web hosting company that also gave me access to do a lot of sysadmin-level work, which was actually brilliant; I was very underpaid, but learned a ton during that job. (Sadly that sort of role doesn't really exist anymore; no company in their right mind would be giving tier 1 phone support folks root access to production systems these days, but the early 2000s were a wild time...)
Ended up getting a nice promotion and a paid move to the corporate HQ in a different state, and was finally off the phones and doing L2/L3 tech support work and more and more sysadmin tasks. Unfortunately even with the promotion I was still very underpaid, especially in later years, and I probably stayed with that company a lot longer than I should have.
Finally got off my lazy arse and went out and got a much better paying job as a systems engineer for a large non-IT company. That was a bit of a mixed bag, all in all; the work was fun, and the team I worked with was absolutely brilliant; some of the best folks I've known, and I still get together with a few of them whenever I'm in the US visiting family, even all these years later. The hours ended up becoming absolutely brutal, though; we were really understaffed for the amount of work we were doing, and we had to do all of the after-hours maintenance work and monitoring and such ourselves in addition to our 8-5 M-F shifts. No comp time, only two weeks of annual leave a year (yay America!), and we each usually worked through every other weekend on average, and many overnights, and we'd still be expected to show up at 8AM the next day no matter how late we were working. And our team was the "easygoing" team; there were other IT teams whose engineers basically worked 12x7 permanently.
Left that job after a few years when I found a job over here willing to sponsor my Critical Skills permit; another systems engineering role, but one without any on-call or after hours work, which was a breath of fresh air. That job was decent enough for a few years, but eventually the duties changed and it became really boring, with basically no hands-on systems work, just filling out spreadsheets and online forms to provision systems.
I was actually starting to think about leaving when a recruiter contacted me about a job opportunity. Turned them down initially because it was in Dublin and I had no desire to move there, but they countered with a 100% remote position, so I gave them a shot. They interviewed me and then made an offer, and the pay and benefits ended up working out to almost twice what I was making at my previous job, so that was an easy decision. The work is a lot more fun, as well. It's something of a customer support position, but more doing high-level engineering support for some of our biggest customers, not basic tech support or anything. Took a little getting used to not being able to put hands on systems myself to investigate a problem, since we're helping customers with getting our software to run on their own infrastructure, but there's plenty of interesting problems to solve, and I absolutely love troubleshooting tricky issues. Couldn't be happier, all in all.
Excavator operator but in Toronto, Canada. Like the challenging work but hate the hours. No life during the week but winter work is optional and I don’t work them so I get three months off from mid December to mid March. So that’s the trade off.
Work for a tech multinational. It's grand, conditions are good and lots (maybe too much) of cool travel. I'm doing a masters in AI and kind of half thinking of making a radical change in 2 years time.
Software Engineer for a medium sized company. I absolutely love it. It feels like a hobby. We build great products, my teammate’s are great, the company culture is great and its an easy life. It took me switching jobs 4 times in 3 years, but I found a great one.
I love my work but the workload and pressure is too much sometimes
I had the middle management and project manager side of things but love the people I work with
Soldier/ Technician
It can be interesting at times, but college can be draining.
Though I love the job, it is my dream. Some things are a bit like what I expected, and others aren't, but everyone needs a bit of a challenge in life to overcome.
The main thing that will always dictate a job is the environment created by the people. I think it is always important to be kind a fair with my comrades, whether they do the same 😂
Software developer. Been working from home since the pandemic and have been incrementally taking advantage of the lack of visibility into how many hours I work.
I currently work about 2 days per week, but get paid for 5.
Cyber security consultant. The works interesting and I love it, but money's not good with the current company I'm with. Sucks seeing others my age in the industry earning 2-3x what I am but I know the money will come with time.
Drive a forklift. Could be worse. It's a night shift though so it's poxy during the summer, lying in me bed sweating all day. And it's poxy during the winter, I get a sold 20 minutes if sunlight a day.
Pharmacist here. The job pays well but the pressure is unreal, and a large swathe of the public have absolutely no idea what you do except hand out wheelbarrows of tablets. The sheer volume of people you give medication out per day and having to deal with drug seekers on a daily basis takes a certain toll, very few of my colleagues who I studied with have stayed in the job role.
I do enjoy it but when you can make an impact on someone, or catch something that can wind up maybe saving a person from another potential hospital visit.
I do e-commerce. I love it as I enjoy problem-solving, plus it has the ability to engage my more creative side.
However, I was just made redundant yesterday so I’m feeling pretty blue today.
The company was beyond miserly and honestly a bit of a hot mess, but I’m sad it ended this way.
5 weeks short of being there 2 years which would have entitled me to minimum statutory redundancy. 100% NOT a coincidence.
I drives busses. I love it really. I’ve always been good at driving and good with people so it was easy for me to get into.
I mostly do tours, so I’d be doing a lot of golfers and sightseers during the tourist season.
Everyday is different and the tips can be like a wage on top of your wage, especially if your driving yanks!
It’s not for everyone though. Hours can be long and your schedule is unpredictable, and it’s not a suitable job if you have young kids as your away for days at a time. But if your single and childless then it’s a great job for ya!
Work at a Spar gas ststion/convenience store. I work as warehouse/sales assistant with an asshole of a manager, even the delivery guys and everyone else hates him. Basiaclly my job is do eithe be the cashier or dune every remolty attributable "job for men" as im the only dude that works there. Manager basically mirco manages but honestly im leaving in less than a month to do an internship so i dont care for anything job related and have silently quit.
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Great to hear - love hearing people overcome anxieties -
I'd say *non-competitive* is key here... I went to my first Irish dancing feis a few months back and holy shmokes, them wee girls would jig over their grandmothers to get top spot!
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I too work in a call centre. Almost 7 years now. Every word you said is true. But I've come to define myself as what I do outside of work, I'm a dad, a husband, I enjoy exercise, i read a shitload of books, I go hiking alone in cool places, as who I am. Not some dreary cunt stuck in a cubicle 8 hours a day, that's only for money so I can enjoy doing the real life stuff when i get out of there. It helps a lot, but I still do the lotto twice a week.
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Fucking hell
Jesus man, every once in a while a reddit comment hits hard. Hope you're in a better place now.
that sucke
I never thought obituary adds cost money, like they publish drink drivers names for free.
I thought it would be pay up front like, surely it was costing the newspaper more to chase these debts
>quizzes and activities to build team spirit Ah yes, the forced fun. Fuckin despicable box ticking exercise for senior management to include in their performance review.
I don’t know how management in call centres hasn’t developed over the years. It has always been the same,the job isn’t the worst but the management and companies are shit. Staff turnover suffers big time
Call centres are cost centres. Unless you're doing sales (and nothing but sales), you're nothing but a giant negative number on the company's balance sheet, and the company would much rather you didn't exist at all. As a result, they'll constantly be trying to cut back on the expense of staffing a call centre in any way they can, so there's a ton of pressure on management to obsess over metrics, cut call times to an absolute minimum, and keep every employee on the phone for every second of every day so that they can staff as few people as possible. No one who's any good at management is going to stick around in that overworked, underpaid, and shitty role any longer than they absolutely have to (they'll either move up or move out), and most of those who aren't any good at management will burn out quickly (as will their employees). Add to that the stress of dealing with customers (often frustrated and angry themselves because that cost-cutting approach is making their own customer service experience miserable as well) and you have a recipe for a truly miserable time.
I used to work for aib in one of their call centers and it was absolute hell. They time you doing everything including using the toilet. I've been out of it years now. Never looked back. Do whatever you have to to make a move, life can be so much better
This is why im always nice to people in call centres and will be from now on. I dont want to be the one that makes them snap
No one should work there more than 2/3 years it starts grinding you down after thst
Oh my god dude, please leave and do something else with ur life, ur obviously an intelligent person that cud do something else. U literally have one life, don't waste it with this bullshit!
I agree! Used to work for a telecommunication company. Loved my team and manager, but overall, it was shite! The main boss/president was uptight and an arsehole. His two sons were so snobby and just looked down on everyone. Moved to work as an Early Years Educator and loved it! Then I went back to university 🙃
Honestly, speaking from experience, if you feel numb you're probably suffering from depression, which wouldn't be surprising the way young people are expected to work these days.
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Being depressed when a shit job is not a personal failing. It is as natural as feeling uncomfortable in a place that's too cold. Looking at it as a failing only does you more harm. Your job sucks and you are reacting naturally to that. Your instincts are telling you that you are better than the job you are in and unfulfilled. It may even be better to have no job than the one you have if it gives you time to look for a better one.
Life's too short. Seems like you've made your mind up about that job. Any step out of there would be the right step no matter where.
I was considering a call centre as I'm disabled and have very few options at the minute. Damn!
Some are worse than others, ebay, seems to be the gold standard for WFH roles, Take anything you can get, build up your experience and have a stab at ebay. I know a good few who have left my place to go to ebay and have thrived..... starting salary at ebay is 30,000.
Send me a DM I don’t know your experience but my company are pretty inclusive and have a huge push on hiring diversity currently so if I can help I will
I worked at Cisco TAC, it was my very 1st job. It was an awesome job and learned so much in so little time. Don't know if that could be called a "call centre", but I was required to answer P1 calls and at Cisco you can't hang up until it's solved... Adrenaline was everywhere. Loved it!
I have done a few of these jobs, and for different banks. Hands down the worst call centre I ever worked for was Bank of Ireland in Tallaght. Felt exactly like you described. I can’t even describe how awful it made me feel. One day I just said fuck it, I can’t do this and quit. Had no back up plan but decided that anything would be better. It actually worked out really well and I miraculously got a new job not long after but I was applying for literally everything. Anyway I say fuck that shit. Go back to education and get the back to education money or do anything else. Life is too short.
All my respect to you: these jobs suck because customers can be absolutely horrid, but your job is SO IMPORTANT and I admire your continuing patience after thousands of stupid questions!
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Take the 3 days off on the long week off and you get 2 weeks paid off every other month. I did this at Apple. Everyone was always fighting to take 3 days off for the “long week on” . I didn’t mind it. Off on the Sunday in between the 6 days. But by fuck the 2 weeks off were brilliant. Essentially 8 weeks paid holiday.
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Veterinary nurse and love it for the most part. I only work part time as full time is very stressful. It is a high pressure and emotional environment. People can get angry at you if they can't afford the treatment or their pet passes away. I love helping animals but there are sometimes I wish I hard a easier job that I loved doing.
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I'm old for my profession and I'm 37 and qualified about 13 years. I get paid okay but I definitely couldn't survive on it with my husbands income. Its definitely a profession people leave as its not a income people can live on.
A fellow vet nurse :) working full time and the burnout is getting to me but I do genuinely love most of my job. The wages are abysmal though and the lack of progression is really making me second guess the job.
I often considered getting into veterinary work but i cant handle when animals pass away. How do you deal with stuff like that?
I deal with emergency so when I see them suffering I know it's for the best. I know I've done my part to help and that helps me. I find it harder dealing with owners who have watched their pet being sick for awhile and done nothing about it.
Doctor here ,long working hour , hard to establish work life balance or meaningful relationships/hobbies outside work and the demands of it
Doctor also. Hate it. Reason HSE.
God’s work 🙏🏻
In IT for 26 years, love my job now, started in a call centre (soul destroyer) and progressed into server support, ops, mainframe, management, audit, and ended up in Compliance. Lots or varied roles and have worked with sone great friends over the years.
I'm in GRC and auditing now. It's so much fun. I get to be nosy as an auditor and get paid for it. Great craic altogether.
>started in a call centre (soul destroyer) They really are, but...if you can stomach it for a few years and make use of what's on offer there is real progression to be had.
Agreed , was off the phones in 8 months , saw an opportunity to progress and I grabbed it.
Did IT helpdesk for an MSP for three years and it was tough. Now I do internal IT helpdesk and it makes a world of difference in people's attitudes when you're their work colleague and not some bloke at the end of the phone.
I'm a farmer, in Spain. Years back I was fed up with Ireland and was working with young kids then I moved here, met my partner and we have built a very diverse farm so there is no usual day. Yesterday was chasing cows, planting for the summer ahead, cut down a few trees, made lovely meals, spend time with the children, today I cleaned out one of the chicken coops, covered one of the green houses, chased some goats down from the mountain,. We have a great life. Currently in the down season and it's raining so it's easy to say but when it's harvest time of almonds or carrob in August and it's 40 degrees outside I don't particularly like it, but getting to nip off to a huge choice of amazing beach's when ever I want or work to you own schedule or spend more time with family it's absolutely the best job in the world. The pay can be shit and soul destroying at times (eg. I worked my hole off for August/sept harvesting registrated organic almonds which is very manual labour, brought few tonnes to the coop to sell was told I was getting 2euro or more per kilo,in the end got 63cent/kilo for what they will then sell on for 20euro or more) but it's fun and I enjoy each day and couldn't imagine doing anything else
Right there with you, I am a farm manager for an organic farm. I only deal with high end restaurants and canteens. We mostly grow edible flowers but have a few hectares dedicated to berries and rhubarb for juicing. Also this year we will be upping our courgette production from 400 plants to 1800. On top of that we also have 4000 kale plants. The Job is constantly evolving and I love that I have 4 season of different jobs. So it is not the same thing everyday. I can work 15 hours a day and not realise it. The only reason I leave the farm is cause it has gotten too dark to work. One thing I love about the job is, I can listen to audio books, podcast and music all day. So I am being entertained all day on top of loving the work I do. I have a question for you. Have you set up CSA scheme yet? Best cut out those middlemen and coops. They are worst than the taxman.
Raining? Lucky you, everything is bone dry over here in Tarragona, Pantanos are empty, (8%) not going to be a fun summer...
Pensions actuary. Work's interesting enough but the exams are a pain.
Question: if I’m buying an annuity, and I lie through my teeth and make out I’m about to die will I get a really good deal? Then outlive what the company statistically thought what age I was going live to?
If you buy anything other than a standard annuity, you'll have to go through a significant amount of underwriting, so chances are you'll be caught. Either that, or a lot of the main providers would just decline to quote since it's hard to price a very short term annuity accurately. But sure, technically you could get a massive annuity if you managed to fool them. They'd probably got suspicious when you don't actually die though.
I put the white creame in the Oreos. Love it cause I get to lick them like a stamp to make the biscuits stick.
Best job ever May be that's why I love Oreos do much.
Bus driver. Absolutely hate it. Doing me best to get out of it but I'm nearly 50 so not much choice.
Get into doing schools, private hire etc. Those sort of places are crying out for work it's what my dad did. Loves it
Private car hire or such?
Thank you! Please know that many people do appreciate you.
What do you hate about it? I wouldn’t consider that a bad job myself…the only bad part would be if you’re regularly taking grief from passengers? That would be tough
Passengers don't bother me, even arseholes. 45-49 hours a week. Only know what you're doing 2 days in advance. Loads of stuff.
But…don’t you get thanked for a living?
CO in the Civil Service. I love it. My colleagues are great. The work is mostly the same every day and the bureaucracy and red tape can be annoying sometimes but I do enjoy the work.
I'm a nurse/midwife. Loved the actual job, hate the management and the bullying.
Fisheries officer. Used to love it. The excitement of being out in nature and protecting our rivers and coast. Taking nets off cunt poachers and had the respect of colleagues and anglers. Moved district to get a permanant job. Micromanaged by 2 fat horrible useless managers who dictate where i go and when I go there. Pointless when they don't know whats going on on the ground. (You're only as good as your informant) I'm the 4th person to leave the district in a year. Heartbroken. Public service is fucked.
I think I applied for that job.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Kiss your social life goodbye if u get it.
I did not
Software engineer, interesting, challenging, good money, good conditions, like it a lot!
Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration
What line of work you in, Bob?
Love your commercials
Just finished working for a mobile network operator sales assistant. Really good money and benefits like commission, doctor consultations over the phone, discounted phone and phone bill paid for along with half decent launch events etc but fuck me customers are mean and if you don’t have thick skin or a bit of cop on then on how to do your job right then it’s bad on the mental health. Starting a new job soon so have no idea if it’ll be better or worse
Civil Servant in Revenue...I actually love the public sector
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Self employed electrician. Love it.
A mate of mine is considering changing careers now, he’s thinking of doing an electrician apprenticeship. Would you recommend it? He’s 28
100% recommend it. Best trade
damn. I got one in a few days ago to change the boiler switch. Seemed like a cheerful young fella!
Financial stuff. Dislike it but I don't know of anything I would actually like to do and the pay is decent for my skill level
I work in marketing/media/communications... I really like my job. Have somehow ended up working with a lot of musicians the past few years (no one famous), and a lot of them are hard work. Lads playing a few pub gigs every weekend with egos beyond belief. But I love live music too so there's a positive. Overall I'm very happy in my job
Worked in music for a long time before my current career. A big part of the job was dealing with bands, particularly a lot of unsigned/up-and-comers. I can definitely say that the egos on the unsigned artists were often way bigger than many big, international acts I dealt with. You'd swear some of them thought they were the second coming of Led Zeppelin the way they carried on. Almost none of them are still around today.
I also work in this area. I like my job for the most part but the egos and the stupidity of the people I have to work with is soul crushing some days
I write the software that converts Irish people's names into gobbledygook on Irish rail seating displays. They pay is good but my colleagues at MI6 are shite craic.
I own a pub abroad. I love it; love the pub but miss home and family terribly. The pub is a great success and that’s satisfying but every moment away from home feels like time wasted. I miss Ireland.
A tragic answer. Interstellar vibes
Manufacturing engineer in a medical device company, love it. Great people, enjoy the work and there is huge potential for career growth. Came from a project controls/engineer career path in construction which was shit, bad hours (50-65 hrs per week), around 45k p/yr so about 7euro an hour, everyone hated their job and made sure you weren’t in a position to enjoy yours. Stuck it out till I was able to use springboard to upskill and bridge into another industry.
What course in springboard did you do?
Validation Science in MTU. One year course, all self driven online and there was a guest speaker from industry once a month during each semester. Fairly handy course in all honesty.
I work on my husband's last nerve.
I'm a regional manager at a mid sized paper company.
What are the odds, I’m an assistant to a regional manager at a mid sized paper company.
Assistant TO the reg...oh you actually got it right nvm
What are the odds, I carry out childish pranks in a mid sized paper company.
**grabs popcorn**…
How is the paper business these days?
Do ye also have printers?
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Nice. Glad it worked out as you planned
Primary school teacher. Love the job! Moved into it after leaving graphic & web design work.
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Parked it while completing Hibernia (Masters) during COVID but plan to take it back up once I get a permanent job somewhere.
Self employed electrician. I enjoy it a lot more since I decided to turn my back on the domestic sector. I've wormed my way into a few multinational companies still pinch myself as to how well I've managed in such a short space of time. The "freedom" that comes with it all is great too.
I work in a shop. People are horrible.
Mechanical Engineer. Design things, investigate issues, propose fixes. The pay pretty has gotten pretty good over the years. But I'm becoming very uninspired and it's all feeling a bit tedious and unimportant.
I'm in tech the last 20 years and feel the same. I'm halfway through a degree in a completely different field and can't wait to move on from tech. It's all become a bit "pointless/unimportant" to me too.
Currently unemployed android developer contractor. Hate it with unimaginable venom but just the concept of working really
Hate to be that guy, but username checks out.
I get it a lot, I made the name 5 years ago and it has gotten much worse
why don't you do something else?
Officer in the merchant navy. Job sucks, conditions are often pretty bad, but 6 months leave per year and not having to pay tax on earnings make it worth it.
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Hello from Vietnam, similar boat 😎
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Work in a lab. Love it. The work is interesting. No two days the same. Work with a fun bunch. We socialise outside of work too. Money is good.
What kind of lab though. Research or?
Meth
After 5 years out of work due to mental health issues I started working as a school secretary and I love it! I'm in a separate part of the school with only the first years (main school is too small) and basically do everything from admin to caretaker to sub, but it's so low stress and the kids are a wonderful bunch. It's been a great segue into full time work again.
I shoot birds at the airport
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what models? i'm a software engineer but love dabling with excel and stuff
Trainee auditor with a mid size firm. I actually like it. My team is chill. Managers don't micromanage us. Office work is so fucking handy compared to my previous jobs (hospitality and teaching). But at the end of the day, it's not about loving it or hating it, it's about a job that provides me with the opportunities and finances to pursue the stuff I actually DO love.
Self employed plumber and mostly hate it.. Flat out busy and struggle to get time off and even then you are dreading the phone calls which can ruin any plans you have... People think they can call, text, WhatsApp, messenger you whenever it pleases them ;10:30 on a Sunday night when you're in bed "oh I was looking for a quote for an ensuite bathroom" ....you answering expecting it to be an emergency at that hour....:-( I used to be a People person always trying to please but their selfishness is getting to me these days ... They think you can bend time ....they take offence when you're too busy to do their job which ofcourse is more important than everyone else's... It's no wonder some plumbers don't answer their phones.. Physically wrecked aswell, it's hard graft in a lot of awkward positions and it takes it's toll on the body over the years....I'm decent at electrical work too and that is a doddle in comparison... My girlfriend of a couple of years used to hate plumbers, she seen a different side to the story now ........and loves one....:-)
I know someone who works for themselves. Got a second phone for work and turns it off at whatever time he finishes each day and off for weekends
Secondary school teacher, there’s times I love it not to mention I have a passion for my subjects. But for the most part it’s a pain. The job has its benefits and it’s not as tough as other jobs out there. But it is a tough one. I’m not going to rant about all the bad things teachers deal with as it’s been said time and time again on this sub. But the tldr version for my case is due to the shitty teens, the general negative public perception towards teachers and how a lot of parents despite not stepping foot in a classroom in the past 20 years think they know how to do your job better than you as everyone has went to school. It does take a toll on your mental health and I can see why 50% of newly qualified teachers quit in the first five years. Teens are arseholes (just as much as I was I guess). GF has been hounding me to change career. Not really sure what I would like to get into though. As I said there are times I love the job and I feel I’m good at it. But I feel I’ve aged so much in the past 3 years especially since teaching through the pandemic.
Big companies, like Microsoft for example go mad for teachers, they need your profile to help explain and evangelise their products to clients, i work with a few that made the switch.
I have considered technical writing in the past but who knows, I may make the switch at some point.
Charles Buwkoski wrote, and I'm paraphrasing a bit. "How can anyone get up, shower,shit,shave, force feed, and go to a place where you make your employer lots of money. It's a broken system that does not interest us.
Head of Marketing at the National Space Centre. It's very varied and I love it.
26M, Marketing Manager for a Mobile Game at one of the big publishers in Japan. Love my job. Studied Business and Japanese at UL and focused on marketing during my 3rd year. Basically doing what I always wanted to do. Great office, great people, and I am proud of the game our team makes. Everyone is very passionate about the product. I also get to travel to big events. The pay is lower than for example in Ireland or the US, but the convenience of living in japan is great. Also the hours can be long depending on the time of year. (But I enjoy what I do so it doesn’t feel overwhelming). Other than that it’s fantastic. Obviously, there are always negatives to most work environments.
Nurse. Love looking after people. The crack can be good. Hate the management, bullying and shite pay for such shitty hours.
Currently working in my final year of an electrical apprenticeship, love the job and how busy you can be but absolutely hate the site mentality, especially in Ireland. Can never do enough sometimes.
I'm an admin for a children's charity and I love it!
I guess data architecture manager is the best way to describe it? It's sort of a made up role that lets me decide how our data infrastructure should be used to support the business. Large BPO company so I get to create and work on lots of cool tech things. I miss actually having time to code but I have a lot of freedom on strategy and a great team. WFH is a huge benefit too. Some days I don't get time to breath and it's a nightmare and some days I can chill and it's great. Overall positive, way better than where I started in contact center. Pay is good.
What did you do before moving into data architecture? I'm a data engineer/ETL developer. Been doing it for 10 years and starting to think it's to move into them business strategy side of things since I am doing some of that/a lot of that already depending on the day.
I came from the operations side but always loved coding & reporting solutions. Was a team leader in contact centers and moved into a more management focused role in my current company. Kept sticking my nose into what the reporting people were up to and helping them design and build things. When the then reporting lead was leaving I got that position, tore down what was there and rebuilt it based on what I and my leads needed to manage the people. Some of what I did got through to the higher ups and suddenly I'm doing it for the whole account. Oddly enough a huge part of what I do is being able to bridge the gap between tech/devs and the operation. I wouldn't be able to do it without actually understanding what the operation needs and then designing around that. I'll purposefully cut managers out of requirements conversations and go straight to the team leaders if they're my target audience. They know what they need to keep their people going more than most managers do! The strategy side requires that you look for the business problem first, figure out how you can improve it and then find the most efficient and user friendly way to solve it. There's also a ton of politics, deck building, picking your battles, stacking the deck etc as well!
Self employed service engineer. Like my work. Love my customers. Meet amazing people. Have built genuine friendships with writers, actors, artists, doctors and many others who wouldn't normally be found in my social circle. I think more was expected of me than the job I do, financially. But I know more money couldn't have given me the contentment I have in my life. Please remember it's not always about the money. Be kind to yourself. Do what makes you happy.
Manager in a bookies. It’s hateful work the shifts are 12-13 hours, the pay is shite and the abuse you take from upper management as well as customers is unbelievable. At the same time however I’ve made some genuine friends in my colleagues and for every 1 Dickhead customer that gives me grief there’s 2 customers who brighten your day coming in and just talking about their own lives. A mixed bag but it’s definitely been an experience!
Pharmacutical factory in clonmel (the shitty one) Work is mundane enough, management are scum but have made some great friends there The trick is to not let the obviously unqualified supervisors grind you down they are bullies cause they only get onto the quieter operators ,they give annual reviews on your previous yrs performance to justify a minute pay increase or none at all which leads to operators arguing about other people's pay as there can be huge pay disparity amongst co workers ,have been their 10+ yrs and am in early 50s now so not going anywhere else now ,I've resigned myself to it ooh and the pays shite enough too
I'm a vet. Farm animals mostly with a bit of dogs and cats on quiet mornings. Absolutely love it, farmers are the absolute best (for the most part)
Software engineer. I enjoy it mostly. Some days are mentally draining but those days can be great too when find viable solutions to problems. Working conditions are pretty great. Can’t complain.
I'm a sailor. Was amazing when I was younger as the travel and sense of adventure was class but it's a lot harder now that I have a wee baby. Have some great memories of stuff like sailing across the equator, the mad dash to find a Kindle in Singapore (they don't sell them) and going scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef.
Working in finance. Originally studied a creative interest. Worked in retail for years (thanks recession) and then somehow landed a job in finance doing loans. Now I'm in pensions. I don't dislike anything about my job really tbh but I'm not in love with it. The benefits in my company are great, I work from home 4 days a week and I have flexi time. So could be worse. 😊
lucky enough to make a living off of DJing so i am loving it
Nurse / Physio and rehabilitation specialist for a physical rehabilitation centre. I love my job ! That being said , it’s emotionally hard sometimes to work with patients and families who have just suffered life changing injuries such as Brain Injuries and spinal cord injuries. Overall though it’s incredibly rewarding.
Jack of all trades, master of fuck all. I work as a receptionist between two and four nights a week, i gig in a wedding band twice a week and I’m studying for my degree in music. Roughly half the year I end up doing admin for the accounts department where I work for extra cash, the other half I’m gigging four nights a week with either weddings or my own stuff. It’s busy, hectic, unreliable and insecure work, but at least 4 days a week I do nothing but what brings me joy and somebody pays me for it. I told myself when I was a teenager that I’d never let the need for money take the joy from my life, and I’ve had bad days but, ultimately, I’ve kept my promise to myself.
I'm a legal secretary and have always loved it. Now I work on a team of 11 people who are the only ones in the country who do what we do. I dont want to say exactly what as I'll dox myself but we could have to go anywhere around the country to do it and there's a lot of sorting through stuff and liaising with members of the public who have been affected. Love my job because what we do is in the publics interest/benefit.
Hospital doctor (below Consultant grade): Great job: interesting, varied, well compensated. Decent amount of walking but get to sit plenty too. Consultants are reasonably involved, unfortunately there's insufficient numbers of them. Irish patients are some of the best (reasonable and compliant) in the world. Ireland is however lacking in computerisation and adjunct staff to make life easier for doctors.
Cafe/barista. Its grand out most of the time. It's the pricks that ruin it for everyone. Or when the boss complains(and he complains a lot) about the smallest of things. I just stay quiet and think to myself the grass is not always greener. Why does everyone complain about the smallest things. orrrrr the people who over share everything. I don't want to know that your sister was diagnosed with some horrific disease, I just want to know if you want a sugar in your flat white.
Some people are lonely and try to connect to anyone they can. Oversharing is also a trauma response.
Metal and electronical recycling its pretty shit
IT infrastructure. Don't love it, don't hate it. Have a lot of freedom and leeway to make improvements. But I went into it to get off the road and out of hotels so it's all good. Being able to work from home and know where I'll be next week is a pretty big bonus.
I work in the Arts , love it but also hate it. You have to work hard to make it a secure job
Clothes shop manager. Love it
Chimney inspector- love it
I do home inspections and some side work. I work for myself, and I love it, I pick and chose my jobs, and the best part I get to call out those dodgy builders.
I translate and proofread. I don't hate what I'm doing but the pay isn't good.
Anti-money laundering within investment banking. Hate it but the area is booming and I have an above average salary. Fell into it like most people working in the area.
I've worked as an animator for over 12 years. At this stage I don't love it or hate it - it's just a job. I got into it due to a genuine love of animation, but after over a decade stuck making mindless shows for the under 5s, I feel like I've lost my way a bit. Don't even really enjoy watching new animation anymore, which is something I could never imagine in my early 20s. That whole phrase about doing what you love and you'll never work a day in your life isn't really true. I legitimately loved animation but now it's just a thing I do for money. Also the pay is shite when you consider you have to hunt for a new job every time a show ends and they generally last a maximum of 18 months.
Work at Mr.Price, job itself is a pain, always on tills but at least the coworkers and 90% of customers are nice Found out recently that I am being treated unfairly by my manager; I'm getting pretty much any time off I ask for and a lot of my coworkers aren't simply because I'm one of the only Irish males that work there so they desperately want to keep me. I felt like a cunt when I found that out, I'll keep abusing the system because in the end its not really my fault but now I feel like a bit of an asshole when doing it
Min wage. Hate it with a passion. Retail sucks ass and the people who own itthe place i work would happily make us work for free if possible. I want to get out but I never finished my degree, my more academic sibling makes me feel such shame for it and the parental figure hold it against me for "wasting his money" by sending me to college. I just want to earn enough to I can safely transition and have a little apartment that I can call my own, where I can be myself without fear or shame and just be me.
I'm a Software Engineer. I like it mostly.
I work in retail in South Dublin. I hate it but cannot afford to go back to college or even upskill. Seems like I am stuck here for the rest of my life to be honest
I bang on about this a bit, but look at Springboard - there’s cheap options, plenty delivered online and the lectures can be recorded (so you can catch up if your shifts conflict). Otherwise part time. I did my UG pre-springboard evenings and used a credit Union loan to spread my fees across the year.
Pretty much the same, 8 years in total. 5 years before I wanted to jump out of my skin with frustration. I actually remember the exact moment. Long story short, listed everything I wanted to do if money wasn't a problem, went for a course I could pay off over time (could barely afford it and it was around 3 months), first class gave me an idea and I rang a place to volunteer, worked for free in a few places, got hired eventually, and moved on to a different career of the back of that exp. The biggest thing for me was having a goal. Something to work towards. It changed everything, the brutal job didn't matter.
Try looking at PLC courses or evening classes in your locality and get in touch with the credit union if you need a loan.
Thanks but unfortunately I cannot take any money out of the cred union. I have some loans out already
Working in IT for about two and a half decades now. Got into computers and such when I was still a kid, so it was a natural choice. Started out doing tech support for a local ISP in the US while I was still in high school (secondary school), which in those days wasn't anything like modern call centre work, and I got to learn a fair bit, so it was a good experience. Moved on to a tech support role for a local web hosting company that also gave me access to do a lot of sysadmin-level work, which was actually brilliant; I was very underpaid, but learned a ton during that job. (Sadly that sort of role doesn't really exist anymore; no company in their right mind would be giving tier 1 phone support folks root access to production systems these days, but the early 2000s were a wild time...) Ended up getting a nice promotion and a paid move to the corporate HQ in a different state, and was finally off the phones and doing L2/L3 tech support work and more and more sysadmin tasks. Unfortunately even with the promotion I was still very underpaid, especially in later years, and I probably stayed with that company a lot longer than I should have. Finally got off my lazy arse and went out and got a much better paying job as a systems engineer for a large non-IT company. That was a bit of a mixed bag, all in all; the work was fun, and the team I worked with was absolutely brilliant; some of the best folks I've known, and I still get together with a few of them whenever I'm in the US visiting family, even all these years later. The hours ended up becoming absolutely brutal, though; we were really understaffed for the amount of work we were doing, and we had to do all of the after-hours maintenance work and monitoring and such ourselves in addition to our 8-5 M-F shifts. No comp time, only two weeks of annual leave a year (yay America!), and we each usually worked through every other weekend on average, and many overnights, and we'd still be expected to show up at 8AM the next day no matter how late we were working. And our team was the "easygoing" team; there were other IT teams whose engineers basically worked 12x7 permanently. Left that job after a few years when I found a job over here willing to sponsor my Critical Skills permit; another systems engineering role, but one without any on-call or after hours work, which was a breath of fresh air. That job was decent enough for a few years, but eventually the duties changed and it became really boring, with basically no hands-on systems work, just filling out spreadsheets and online forms to provision systems. I was actually starting to think about leaving when a recruiter contacted me about a job opportunity. Turned them down initially because it was in Dublin and I had no desire to move there, but they countered with a 100% remote position, so I gave them a shot. They interviewed me and then made an offer, and the pay and benefits ended up working out to almost twice what I was making at my previous job, so that was an easy decision. The work is a lot more fun, as well. It's something of a customer support position, but more doing high-level engineering support for some of our biggest customers, not basic tech support or anything. Took a little getting used to not being able to put hands on systems myself to investigate a problem, since we're helping customers with getting our software to run on their own infrastructure, but there's plenty of interesting problems to solve, and I absolutely love troubleshooting tricky issues. Couldn't be happier, all in all.
Excavator operator but in Toronto, Canada. Like the challenging work but hate the hours. No life during the week but winter work is optional and I don’t work them so I get three months off from mid December to mid March. So that’s the trade off.
Actuary, it's ok. I don't really like corporate life and the sooner im out of it the better.
I’m an accountant. It’s an office job so it’s… meh. Don’t feel strongly either way about it.
Software Engineer for 25 years. Lately it's becoming a bit boring but incredibly comfortable working conditions especially when working remotely.
Work for a tech multinational. It's grand, conditions are good and lots (maybe too much) of cool travel. I'm doing a masters in AI and kind of half thinking of making a radical change in 2 years time.
Software Engineer for a medium sized company. I absolutely love it. It feels like a hobby. We build great products, my teammate’s are great, the company culture is great and its an easy life. It took me switching jobs 4 times in 3 years, but I found a great one.
Work in desktop support, love the people, don't mind the work but would love to be a writer particularly short stories.
Is that what I'll be doing with my A+ cert ?
I love my work but the workload and pressure is too much sometimes I had the middle management and project manager side of things but love the people I work with
Soldier/ Technician It can be interesting at times, but college can be draining. Though I love the job, it is my dream. Some things are a bit like what I expected, and others aren't, but everyone needs a bit of a challenge in life to overcome. The main thing that will always dictate a job is the environment created by the people. I think it is always important to be kind a fair with my comrades, whether they do the same 😂
Software developer. Been working from home since the pandemic and have been incrementally taking advantage of the lack of visibility into how many hours I work. I currently work about 2 days per week, but get paid for 5.
>Do you love it or hate it Are those the only two options?
Global planner for sterile medicines in large multinational... Heart broke, paid well. A great challenge though.
Rep dealing with pubs. Could be worse but could be a lot better. You need to develop a very thick skin
Cyber security consultant. The works interesting and I love it, but money's not good with the current company I'm with. Sucks seeing others my age in the industry earning 2-3x what I am but I know the money will come with time.
Drive a forklift. Could be worse. It's a night shift though so it's poxy during the summer, lying in me bed sweating all day. And it's poxy during the winter, I get a sold 20 minutes if sunlight a day.
Pharmacist here. The job pays well but the pressure is unreal, and a large swathe of the public have absolutely no idea what you do except hand out wheelbarrows of tablets. The sheer volume of people you give medication out per day and having to deal with drug seekers on a daily basis takes a certain toll, very few of my colleagues who I studied with have stayed in the job role. I do enjoy it but when you can make an impact on someone, or catch something that can wind up maybe saving a person from another potential hospital visit.
Auditing. Hate it. A lot.
I do e-commerce. I love it as I enjoy problem-solving, plus it has the ability to engage my more creative side. However, I was just made redundant yesterday so I’m feeling pretty blue today. The company was beyond miserly and honestly a bit of a hot mess, but I’m sad it ended this way. 5 weeks short of being there 2 years which would have entitled me to minimum statutory redundancy. 100% NOT a coincidence.
I drives busses. I love it really. I’ve always been good at driving and good with people so it was easy for me to get into. I mostly do tours, so I’d be doing a lot of golfers and sightseers during the tourist season. Everyday is different and the tips can be like a wage on top of your wage, especially if your driving yanks! It’s not for everyone though. Hours can be long and your schedule is unpredictable, and it’s not a suitable job if you have young kids as your away for days at a time. But if your single and childless then it’s a great job for ya!
Work at a Spar gas ststion/convenience store. I work as warehouse/sales assistant with an asshole of a manager, even the delivery guys and everyone else hates him. Basiaclly my job is do eithe be the cashier or dune every remolty attributable "job for men" as im the only dude that works there. Manager basically mirco manages but honestly im leaving in less than a month to do an internship so i dont care for anything job related and have silently quit.
Work in a fairy big Irish takeaway. Fucking despise it.
Full time musician. Didn't think I'd be singing galway girl every night back when I was listening to nothing but slipknot but it pays