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I love my job!
12

I love my job!

I love my job!

4
(OP)
Reading over this forum, we seem to get a lot of the same questions repeatedly, phrased in different manners.  I find some of the things posted here amazing, and couldn't imagine myself staying in some of those conditions longer than a week.  So I thought it would be interesting for us to post what we have found that we have liked or loved about our past or present employers.  Maybe those are strong words as well?  How about what aspect of a company kept you getting out of bed in the mornings?

I have found that most of my past employers were involved in products that were actually beneficial to society in some tangible manner.  Even when I worked for a defense contractor, I knew the products I worked on were strictly defensive in nature, meaning I had a small part in potentially saving a life.  Having this "peace of mind" made it very easy for me to go to work on a daily basis.

Most of my past employers had good attitudes towards their workers, salaried or not.  It didn't matter if it was a large or small company, it seemed like the management actually cared about me.  I know that The Board or The Investors could care less, but I always got the feeling that the CEO and those down the ladder always did. This was the warm and fuzzy feeling that made it nice to stay at an employer.

The vast majority of my coworkers have been a pleasure to work with.  They all wanted to do a good job, and do the right thing, just like me.  Even the grumpy guy wanted to do things right, that was why he was so grumpy.  I found that some of my favorite employers had employees that were having a good time at work.  It didn't necessarily involve Nerf darts and unicycles, but when a company allows a little relaxation it was noticeable (and nice).

So let's hear what's positive about your past or future employers, things than go beyond compensation.  I'm sure in the end we'll see a trend that others can look forward to.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."


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RE: I love my job!

I think it's important for people to know that there are good situations out there.  Knowing that, they should be less willing to put up with work environments and working conditions that drag down the profession as a whole.

I'm VERY lucky.  I work for a company which is doing interesting work, serving customers who are happy to do business with us.  The company gets fairly compensated for its efforts, and shares the profit equitably with its employees.  When the company does well, we all do very well financially.  We're private and employee-controlled, so we have no idiot shareholders who know nothing about the company, pressuring our management to do dumb things.  They do dumb things sometimes anyway, but I guess that's inevitable.

I get to see immediate results from decisions I make.  I not only get to see my designs implemented, I also get to supervise their fabrication- and I get to test them afterward.  

I'm not only empowered to innovate- innovation is actually expected as part of the job.  I have not only the accountability for the decisions I make within my scope of control, but also the authority to make them.  Responsibility without authority, to me, is the definition of destructive stress.  There are always things that are outside your scope of control that happen TO you, but that's life.

The work environment can be stressful, but is also cooperative.  A lot of the in-fighting and discord that I've seen in other companies, between designers and builders etc., does not really exist here.  

It's not perfect, but it's a very good gig.  If it were only half as far away from home as it is, it would be even better!

By the way, I've worked in several other places where many of these things were not true.  Seeing those in the rearview mirror gives me perspective on this job when the going gets tough.        

RE: I love my job!

The company I work for has changed massively over the years I've worked for it (was a bunch of gentlemen engineers, now more like a bunch of lawyers and accountants). The work is still fascinating though and I do get to use all that maths, physics and chemistry that I was told I never would use outside of university.

- Steve
 

RE: I love my job!

"Give the customer what he paid for. If something is wrong, make it right. Do those two things, and the profit will be there."

Quote from one of the founders of the company. Hard to beat.

Good on ya,

Goober Dave

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RE: I love my job!

I can't say I have any really complete good times with any company except to say that at every company I have found good fellow workers.
In my first proper job I was lucky enough that though the management should all have been put out to grass long ago and were highly risk averse I had a lot of very good and helpful co-workers.
Unfortunately there were no brown-nosers. I say unfortunately because an early learning experience would have helped greatly in later years.
This was a company in the last days of its "man and boy" era when it passed from being a family run company for 200 years to a corporately owned company (several in succession). The majority of the workers had joined from school, moved with the company from London to Sussex and been allowed time off for war service.
It did means lots of "we've always done it that way" attitudes but it was also a great learning ground.
One of the good days was when I finally inherited an office which I found to be stuffed full of prototypes and old products going back 50-100years - a few of which I still have.
What I savour are the successes.
Being young I wasn't afraid to ask questions and challenge silly "go away. I've more important things to do." answers.
Being told that an operation to disassemble a meter register, glue in a small magnet (to operate a reed switch) and reassemble would take 30 minutes each and cost accordingly it didn't seem reasonable.
I took one home and had several goes.
My best time was 45minutes. But simply pulling it apart and then trying to line up all the cogs and number rollers didn't seem reasonable.
I made a small jig up from a block of wood with a groove in it and 4 small panel pins. I pretty soon had the time down to around 40seconds.
I took it to the project engineers.
A couple of days later I asked in the assembly area if there had been any changes? "Oh, yes great. We have a new Jig now." They did indeed. It was my block of wood with a tool number marked on it.
Early satisfaction.
Not crowing appears to have been the best course because in later years my input was welcome on a range of projects I had only marginal justification for putting my nose into and I chalked up some good successes.
I still remember that early simple satisfaction with as much fondness as when, having directed the development of a new product, it became an industry standard and learning that the German Engineers at the client company would deal with no one else except me.

While that first company was very old fashioned, ultimately destined to be absorbed into a global company but with each step along that path marked by the lack of investment and the loss of product after product till none were left, and while paid abysmally, it was one of the most enjoyable companies to work for, especially in my formative years.
But was it the best?
Maybe an early exposure to the perils of modern corporate environments would have been better for me. I would have learned early about brown-nosers and idiot managers, office politics and all the other dangers of the modern workplace. Probably I got it wrong and should have started life in corporate industry and then looked for a nice old family business to grow old in.
 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: I love my job!

It's the people.  If they are good people - I get into that they are counting on me, and I'm counting on them.  If they are good people, you can overlook that they are not perfect, they are not you, they may not have every "tool" you think they should have, you can help them and they can help you.  If they are bad people - who gives a @&$%!

Good luck,
Latexman

RE: I love my job!

2
I have the most awesome boss ever.  Of course, I'm self-employed :D

Thanks for this idea, MM.  Being grateful is hugely powerful.  So here goes:

I love that I can take off to take care of my kids and I don't have to ask anyone's permission.
I love that I can take or turn down a project based on how I feel about it.
I love that I can work whatever hours I need, when I need, as long as it doesn't mess up my family (too much).
I love that even my earlier crappy jobs, and I had a few, taught me a lot about engineering.
I love that I can do what I love.

RE: I love my job!

Where's the like button for this thread smile

peace
Fe (IronX32)

RE: I love my job!

I work for a company of about 50 people that builds machinery used in plastics manufacturing.

We have a gym that is ~50ft from my desk. I generally start work every morning with my hair still wet from the shower. Once a week we have a trainer/nutritionist who comes in and helps us set up exercise & meal plans for ourselves and family.

We have a chef who has worked in 3 star Michelin restaurants, who cooks very affordable breakfasts and lunches for us.

As I type this I'm looking over the 15 acre lot adjacent to us that the company owns and is expanding into in the next 2 years.

 

RE: I love my job!

One former employer were awful at dealing with some of the petty little things that would have cost nothing to fix, but could be absolutely brilliant with the big important things. The occasion which I will always be grateful for was when my dad was very sick, dying from cancer. I asked to take my bereavement leave while he was still with us and spend a bit of time with him. I had no other leave to take. A company director told me it was no problem, and I was to come back when I was ready, whether in a few days or a month later. Maybe it wasn't a big deal to the company, but it meant the world to me.
  

----------------------------------
  
If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
 

RE: I love my job!

Well I am pretty content with my company.  I have some ups and downs here but it helps that my company is trying to save the world, IE in the recycling industry.  Over the last 4 years we have tripled in size, which has had some growing pains but all in all has greatly improved the company.  A need young HR person and a new younger boss, has also helped modernize the company (Like-actually have PTO by the hr). Since it's a small company it still has a small family feel.  However like many small companies that are growing, I do more 60 hr weeks than I want to. I do less real engineering because we have to don't a lot of our own drafting.  And -the worst part- I don't get to spend much time on E-T.

I would argue the best part is the atmosphere created by the small group we have. Everyone typically gets along really well. There is a lot of stone busting...especially even across departments.
 

RE: I love my job!

(OP)
I'm glad folks are posting positive things here.  When you do encounter something that needs fixing, by all means try as hard as you can, but remember that some things are just outside of your sphere of influence to change.  It's better to look for a new employer (or got the self-employed rout if possible) than to sit and fume and stress over things you can't change.

I worked for a large medical device manufacturer, used to love the fact that we had chefs to prepare breakfasts and lunches. Everything was always fresh and tasty, and very convenient.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."


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RE: I love my job!

Justkeepgiviner, that reminds me the second good company was one where they had an onsite nurse a few days a week and the company contributed to the social club funds. They also had a dinner dance for all the employees come Xmass with a great menu, a dance band and a cabaret act.
(Sad was to see how they changed under new owners).

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: I love my job!

MM, is it coincidence that you posted this on Valentine's Day?
 

"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge."  Ivana Trump

RE: I love my job!

Current US employer, well getting most Fridays off is nice, and generally some flexibility in schedule.

Previous employer in the UK, well I didn't realize it at the time but compared to what I've encountered here at my current US employer and what I read about here and elsewhere etc. well let's just say it was some kind of Elysian Fields/Nirvana.

Things like getting a company credit card (2000 pound limit) as soon as it became clear I'd be doing any significant travel.  When they couldn't' get me the card in time for my first big trip they gave me a boat load of travelers checks (and I think some $ left over from another trip) to take.  Even before that on smaller trips they usually reimbursed expenses the same day I put in the claim and normally from petty cash so I didn't have to wait for a check/cheque to clear etc.

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What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: I love my job!

Well at least you did not have the company treasurerer hounding you about receipts saying " no tickee no poundee"
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them.  Old professor

RE: I love my job!

Well actually, that was one of the only bad things that sprung to mind about that place.  The CFO/finance director was a bit of a typical accountant 'price of everything, value of nothing' type.

There was a hullabaloo after one manager went on travel without approval, it was a sales/marketing type trip. They implemented some draconian travel restrictions after that.  Trouble was the most impacted folks were engineers that had to go on travel to support various test, customer progress meetings... not 'at risk' but explicitly listed tasks in customer SOW etc. that we were being paid for.

So, me being me (or is that I being Iwinky smile) replied all to the email that he sent notifying us of the changes, asking for clarification for everybody on the various typo's, short sighted assumptions (e.g. in the section for currency conversion they had a fixed 1.5 which was a typical approximation for the $ but useless for Euros and not close to the 1.7 or so which was real for the dollar at that time).

Went over like a turd in a punch bowl!  

This is the same guy that complained when I left something about me being ungrateful given the high pay they'd given me etc.  He missed the part where I met my wife on extended travel for the company - so it was their fault for sending me to the colonies long enough to go nativewinky smile.

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What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: I love my job!

""so it was their fault for sending me to the colonies long enough to go native.""
I love it.
B.E.
 

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them.  Old professor

RE: I love my job!

(OP)
Casseopia, coincidence only.  While I enjoy my present company immensely, I reserve stronger feelings for actual people.

People really do make a difference in an organization.  If you have happy co-workers, chances are the company is nice to work for.  I've also had the chance to observe employees while I waited for an interview, and have even scoped out the lunch crowd at restaurants near a company I was interested in, just to get a chance to hear some insider banter.  That type of observation sticks in my gut, and while it has tainted past interviews, it has never led me astray.  If I walk into a company and see zero personal effects in anyone's space, I consider that a warning sign.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."


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RE: I love my job!

My first real big overseas job was a real hoot. It was costed by someone who then left, leaving me to spend the money.

Without any experience of expenses planning, I just bought what I needed, including upgrading my car(s) and hotel. When all was said and done, I managed to fluke it at £20 under budget, so I bought a corporate umbrella, which I mananged to leave on a train in London.

The joys of being single and care-free.

- Steve
 

RE: I love my job!

MM "...zero personal effects".

This is a very important Sherlock Holmes like observation.
Other clues that all is not well:
Corporate screen savers.
(It probably also means that "Games" was not installed).

Coffee machines installed within sight and sound of the manager or HR offices (and not free). Ditto the copier machine.

I'm just guessing ow but I'd be wary of a company where no more than two employees ever get together at once and go to the loo and turn the taps on before whispering to each other?

SG, didn't you ever wonder what he had intended to spend the money on and what you may have missed out on?
(With one of our guys and his fondness for business trips to Thailand we are pretty sure what his budget was intended for. He is probably in jail by now.)

 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: I love my job!

Salad days....
Very employee oriented company which manufactures high-end servo-valves, on the crest of the "employee empowerment" wave, generous but not outrageous wage, great benefits, award winning modern building with parking underneath (in Florida), supremely enjoyable beach and holiday parties, a truly family feel, frequent and varied training, listed as one of the top 100 companies to work for...
Of course, the employees were expected to do whatever it took to get the work done and OT was standard and generously given as opposed to hiring and firing as the work load changed.  I think that the only reason this company was so fine to work for was that the founder was still guiding the decisions, and he always put his employees first.
Unfortunately they had to close the division, but have successfully regrouped since.

Technically, the glass is always  full.

RE: I love my job!

JMW:

Hand on heart - no naughty spending was done. Although our VP of bus dev tried his hardest to get me to fork out for a night at BT's or The Landing Strip (nice places in the Detroit area).

We did do the Lake Point Yacht Club a few times though. Money well spent. Took the client there too.

- Steve
 

RE: I love my job!

"so it was their fault for sending me to the colonies long enough to go native"

Switched to lager now, eh Kenat?

Seriously, on topic:  I don't love my job, have never loved any job.  It's work, not play, and that's why they have to pay me to keep me coming back.

Yes, I love parts of my job, and have to have some idea of contributing to a greater good to make me feel like it's worthwhile...but in the end, the paycheck lets me go home to my wife and kids and do the things I really want to do (time permitting), and let them do the things they really want to do.

As far as people go, yes, it's good to be around happy people.  But I've also learned a lot from some pretty curmudgeonly folks, and earned (from most of them) grudging respect after standing up and/or shouting back.  Of course, that kind of behavior makes one stand out to the namby-pamby, smiling-all-the-time, don't-spank-your-kids, let's-all-consider-each-other's-self-esteem types, and puts one on the short list for the next round of layoffs.  When it's shove time, and the order needs to ship TODAY, I don't need a lot of smiles, just people who will help, snarls and all.

Have a nice day.

RE: I love my job!

Hmm, after some of the comments I made at our DFMA training today about 'I'll believe it when I see it' regarding senior management really buying into doing more up front to save later on I guess I am that curmudgeon.   Dagnam it.

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RE: I love my job!

You didn't put your head above the parapet again did you Kenat?

I love management.
Really. T
hey are so stupid they are almost like cartoon characters.
You all know way ahead of time that Wiley C will hit the wall any minute now and if he had any brain cells or memory he'd know it too. But he goes ahead and chases the damn roadrunner. The only people who know for certain Wiley C will get blown up by his own bomb or that Tom will never ever catch and devour Jerry are Wiley C and Tom.  

Management are like that too. They do all the stupid things management always do and they never seem to realise this or remember that when they did that at their last company they killed it.

Modern managers have forgotten that once upon a time success was when you took some idea and built a major company out of it.

Today success is measured by mergers and acquisitions, buy-outs and take-overs and defined by "business cycles" e.g. the 20 year diversification /core competencies cycle. (spend 10 years buying everything in sight as part of the illusion of growth and the next 10 years selling it all off again to focus on core business activities.

But take a look at any individual company and you'll see they manage to run down the workforce, cut investment, terminate products. In the end often all they have left of a company that has been traded, acquired, merged and rationalised and has had duplicated functions eliminated is a set of brand names they keep for reasons of nostalgia.

I started at a company on its 200year anniversary.
Sad to see that absolutely none of its products are around today. They managed to retain about one trademarked name.
Most of us here probably have worked for about a dozen or more companies without ever leaving our desks. But what we notice are the lost products, the skills that walked out the door or were rationalised away and the faces now but memories.

A key sign things are really going to pot is when they call in consultants or decide they want one of those "Investors in People" plaques for the lobby. Of course, what management think is that Investors in People consultants will tell them is that their workforce is inefficient deaf and stupid. They like it not when the consultants tell them their is nothing wrong with the workforce, its management that can't communicate and don't know what they are doing. They take their plaque and put it up in the lobby and then vertically file the report.

Of course, most managers are so useless, they are given a management handbook and told that if ever they have to make a decision they should look it up in the book and if it isn't there, pass the problem up the tree. It's the only way to keep the company from bleeding to death before it can be dressed up and tricked out and sold to the next company.

You have to laugh. Anything else is too painful.
If you didn't have jobs for managers you'd have an enormous welfare bill because there is nothing else they can be used for.
 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: I love my job!

Fuel?
  

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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
 

RE: I love my job!

My mistake:

Biofuel.

rofl

----------------------------------
  
If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
 

RE: I love my job!

I work 4 10's.  3 day weekends every week is a huge bonus.

I get 23 days/year of paid time off, very nice.

I live 1/2 mile from work (yes, I still drive every day).  No commute!!!

I don't work much overtime (paid when I do) and don't have to travel unless I want to.

Quite a few good things at my current company.  There are also quite a few thinks that make my blood boil, but this is supposed to be a positive thread.   

RE: I love my job!

Madmango,
I wish you hadn't started this.
What I like about my job are the achievements down the years.
But I made a mistake today in expressing this to the SB (SB= Superior Being aka wife).
Now my life is hell.

The company I worked for introduced a new sensor (let's not be too specific).
They had high hopes for it but it was proving highly unpredictable and costing more in after-sales support than it sold for.
They invited me to join them and gave me the task to make it a "fit and forget" "straight from the box" "plug and play" sensor. (always be wary of management that so unashamedly uses so many clichés in one job description).
So I did just that.
It took a lot of long cold days and nights hanging around in refineries trying to figure it all out, but figure it out I did.

Then I looked at its applications and realised that while every man and his dog could do one sort of application, though no where near as well, no one could make the other sort on line.
Then I introduced two new calculation methods, one for single sensor and the other for two sensors.

The single sensor solutions were the first ever online that delivered satisfaction and are widely used in one industry.

But forget these.
The two sensor method may seem expensive and it is.
I think the first system we ever did must have had an installed cost of around US$250-350k. Actually, probably more. But the client got their money back in a month or two.
Looking a few more of these the installed cost seems conservative and the payback about right.
Let's just say that an installed cost of around US$750,000 or more is attractive to some end users. Seems a lot to pay for a single process measurement to me but the ROI is confidently predicted as within a year. Often much less.
We did a few more of these then I did another project which developed the sensor for another industry and took the business out of the hands of the original supplier who had enjoyed a 40 year 90% market share till that moment.
And, just before bonuses were due to be paid, my company decided they needed my desk more than they needed me and happily made me redundant.

This week I saw another of these enquiries. I can't handle that sort of risk myself these days so I can just sigh and find it a decent home.
But in a moment of weakness I mentioned it to the SB.
The SB has since been busy working out how much money on a per system per annum basis my work has generated and wants to know why we are as poor as church mice.

And what's worse, damn it, is she has a point.


 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: I love my job!

(OP)
JMW, if we all wanted to be rich, we would have been lawyers, dentists, or politicians. smile

You hit the nail on the head though, it IS the "achievements down the years" that keep us (at least me) in our respective industries and coming back for more. It's especially true if your work makes it out into the public arena, where you can see your involvement on a daily basis.  I catch myself every now and then spying something that I have done in the past, thinking to myself, "What the heck was I thinking back then?"

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."


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RE: I love my job!

Yeah, (sigh) I know.
If only there was a way to eat as well.
 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: I love my job!

2
I wouldn't go as far as to say I love me job, but I do enjoy it very much and feel privileged to be in the position I am.

I am very lucky I was born in the UK and both my parents had work and whilst far from being rich I never knew or never have known hunger or poverty that straight away puts me in the top 20% world wide.

I was lucky to have a good but far from outstanding education and whilst being far from the brightest person in the world I have a well over average intelligence. I also have no major health issues, either physical or mental.

Upon leaving school I was lucky to get a job doing exactly what wanted and was able to put myself through further education, university straight out of school was not a financial option.

From there I was able to get a series of jobs, all of my choosing up to the point of starting my own company, where I am now. Basically I do what I have a passion for and I earn enough money to put me way up in the top 1% world wide, you would be amazed how little to have to earn to be in the top 1%.

If despite the strong hand life has dealt me I was having to work 8 hours a day or more doing something I didn't enjoy I would have failed myself and I would hate that.

I would guess my circumstance are not that different to the vast majority on this board and you get out of life what you put in, I wonder how many who go on about lousy bosses and bad work situations are just using that as a cover for their real frustration that they have failed to use the strong hand that life dealt them?
 

RE: I love my job!

Good points, ajack1... it is easy to gripe when the root cause is your own.

Technically, the glass is always  full.

RE: I love my job!

It's easy to be ungrateful and to look at gifts as entitlements.  ajack1 is right to remind us all that we're very fortunate.

It's also easy to blame the victim.

Early in my career, I was ripped off and taken advantage of by unethical management.  I was beaten with the whip of "professionalism", to extract uncompensated overtime from me for the sole benefit of others.  It wasn't my fault, and I was right to be angry and disillusioned about it.

I had to seek the advice of others to ensure that I wasn't  mistaking normal treatment for mistreatment merely because I was inexperienced.  Unfortunately, there was no forum of this sort at the time to help me with that.

Once I knew what was going on, it was my responsibility to get out and find a better situation for myself.  Knowing that others had it better was definitely helpful.
 

RE: I love my job!

Me too! It's great.

RE: I love my job!

Working at a small firm, I love that I have to opportunity to wear a lot of hats.
In my first year as an engineer out of college I've been a estimator, scope writer, designer, draftsman, engineer, consultant, project manager, mechanical engineering reference, structural engineering reference, and software developer. I used to hate this, but seriously, looking at my friends that are just getting out of training I wouldn't trade it for the world.
I love that I have the opportunity to travel for my job, but I don't have to (Family comes first).

I love that even though the office is always busy, the engineering manager will try to find time to start a Nerf war, throw candy at someone or do something to lighten the mood.

I love that my PE finally trusts my work (only took about 150 projects) and will listen to my opinions.

I love that my bosses recognize a good idea and will give you whatever means they can afford to let you push it towards fruition.

I love that when my boss says "thank you" and "we'll take care of you" I believe him.
 

RE: I love my job!

Quote:

I love that when my boss says "thank you" and "we'll take care of you" I believe him.
I reckon it would have been better for me if I'd had a first job with the company from hell. It would have prepared for for the future.
I had the joy of my first job being in one of these companies where, however inept they were at managing the company, the managers were human beings and you could believe and trust them.
The downside was that I stayed way too long and got way behind the market on salary etc.
It was only later in life that I began to encounter the real bottom feeders who in addition to being totally inept were also nasty specimens. Plus late on is when I encountered brown nosers.
I'm pretty sure that had I encountered these problems early on I would have been better equipped for life and that even when I got double teamed by a pair of brown nosers I could have survived.
Ah well. Those were the cards dealt.
That first job was great even if viewed naively.
  

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: I love my job!

moltenmetal - your post reminds me of where I was two years ago. For reference, see http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=255928

I quit that job within 6 months of that post and haven't looked back. One of the many times that the words of E-T members have helped me to put things into perspective.  

RE: I love my job!

Jmw that probably sums up the difference between you and me.

 I feel extremely fortunate with the hand life dealt me in that all the things outside of my control gave me a great start in life, what I do with them is entirely down to me, you choose to ignore the start and blame everyone else for you not getting where you want to be.

I look at it the same as being overweight, if you are born with an eating disorder there is little or nothing you can do about that, if you are overweight because you eat too much or do not exercise enough that is entirely your own fault, not the fault of the guy that serves you an oversize meal.
 

RE: I love my job!

ajack1:

Quote:

...you choose to ignore the start and blame everyone else for you not getting where you want to be.
?
 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: I love my job!

I've been to cool down and it didn't work. Not when there is no clarification or retraction posted.

I think this is an offensive, unwarranted and unjustified personal attack.

You need to read again what I said and if you don't understand what I said, ask me to clarify.

I can and do put a certain level of blame on bad management and on brown noser personalities for some of the issues that I have had to confront and which have done me damage.
To use your analogy I guess we should blame Etheopian children dying of starvation for their lack of character? Or abused children? Is it their fault?
Or families who are destroyed by idiots who think cot death is due to child neglect or abuse and take away the families other children?
Yes, even your view on people who are overweight because they choose to eat is a somewhat superior attitude to take and if there are some fat people here who don't have the excuse of some sort of genetic disorder I am sure they will be happy to take exception too.
Perhaps those people convicted of crimes they didn't commit and were convicted based on false evidence or inept investigations are also to be blamed for their lack of character?

But what you are suggesting is either that I lack professionalism or I lack character. You'll be happy to know you have probably also offended some other members by your attitude.
Now I defy you to tell me I am the only member of these forums who has not suffered from such problems in their time.
I actually know of a a few who have had such difficulties, one of whom had to take the discussion out of these fora and where there was concern from myself and from at least one other member (to a much greater extent and from personal experience) that this person was potentially in a life threatening position from the work environment colleague. This was not that persons fault. It wasn't a character defect on their part. But you think they should accept the blame for having to change jobs several times to try and get away from the threat?

So what you say to me you are saying to them also.

This in a week when I am approached to see if I'll give a paper at an upcoming conference and possibly chair a session. A week when I am also approached to see if I would be interested in collaborating with a University research group on one of my areas of interest.
In fact this week I have had occasion to look back at some notable successes and see some satisfactory reflection of my success in the way some respected professionals deal with me.

If you want to red flag your post and have it taken down please do.
I wont.
I am happy for others to see what you have said and make up their own minds.



 

JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

RE: I love my job!

Firstly no I would not blame starving children or abused children of having lack of character. I though I made it very clear that I consider myself very lucky for the hand life dealt me with regard to things I have no control over. If I did not make that clear I apologise.

As for offending overweight people, well I am overweight myself and have finally decided to do something about it. The big difference between that and starving children is it is entirely my own fault that I am overweight and it is entirely down to me to do something about it and I have the ability to do so.

 If there are people who are overweight that do not have a medical condition that I have offended, by saying it is their own fault, so be it. It is my view that only they can do something about it.

At no pint do I question your lack of professionalism or character, what I said was for not getting where you want to be. As just about every post you put on here moans about how bad work life is and has been and how it is always managements or co-workers fault I assumed that you were not where you wanted to be. If you are where you want to be then I apologise for that as well.

Everything else I think expresses my views, if others find that so offensive that they wish to red flag them that is their right.
 

RE: I love my job!

As for the no clarification or reaction posted that was because I went to watch England play Wales at rugby with a group of friends.

Whilst going to watch a game of sport I enjoy with a group of friends on one of my days off and not monitoring every activity in the everyday world seems a reasonable thing to do to me, clearly you take that as some sort of personal attack.

I guess that just highlights another one of the differences between you and me, others can judge who they think is right.
 

RE: I love my job!

I love most things about my current job, and the main reason I really appreciate my current employer and position is the contrast to previous experiences. So in a very real sense, I love my previous bad jobs for teaching me exactly what I don't love about engineering, management, and ethics.

-I love my co-workers. By and large, I work with brilliant people who are also kind, caring, wonderful human beings that I am honored to count as friends.
-I love the independence in my job.
-I love that I have seen a project from start to finish without it being cancelled!
-I love the location of my job. Most people I work with probably would not agree, but I am very happy with the area I get to live and work in.

All in all, my current bad days are better than most of my best days at my previous employer, so I count myself very lucky and blessed.

When the future's architectured
By a carnival of idiots on show
You'd better lie low

RE: I love my job!

I am doing  a 9-5 day( most days more than 10 hours), 6days a week,52 week job for the past 45 years after passing out a 5 year engineering degree course from University  - first 33 years with a government manufacturing company and last  12 years with a global MNC.Frankly I was enjoying my work,every  Monday eager to be at my table to see what problem is waiting for me.I think if one can excell in a skill or continue learning different disciplines,one will never get bored with  the job.Eventhough basically Iam an electrical engineer, my ineterests are wide including literature,history,biography etc,etc.It is more the way we look at rather than job content that  make a job interesting.I too had funny bosses,but I used to ignore them and tried to enjoy my work.

RE: I love my job!

reading through the first post... had to stop there, makes me chuckle... the company i work for provides Monsanto with there chem processing equip.

very much so not helping the world in any way!

RE: I love my job!

your hate is welcome!

RE: I love my job!

Great idea MadMango!

I loved engineering school.  It's a great joy understanding how things work and being able to solve problems.

I love most of the people I've worked with.  The ones I only like I would still help, if they needed it and I could.

I've learned interesting things on the job about engineering and people.

I've grown personally through the good times and the not-so-good times.  I desperately needed growth and still do.

I've made a good living and been able to enjoy life and help others in my personal life.

It's a pleasure to have an operator, mechanic, foreman, etc. let you know you've made life easier for them.  I've heard that a number of times.  Some have moved me to tears and I don't cry easily or often.

It's a pleasure to know I've helped society.

It's a pleasure to help others professionally.

It's a pleasure to help your customers, internal and otherwise, solve their problems.

I've traveled to countries and met people I wouldn't have otherwise.

Growing up in poor circumstances didn't allow me to dream of near the life I've lived thus far.  I am blessed in so many ways!

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC

RE: I love my job!

Quote:

ajack1 (Automotive)    
25 Feb 12 14:28
I am overweight myself and have finally decided to do something about it.

All the best in that effort!  Isn't it great to take control of some of the out-of-control bastions of life?

I've had a number of people, who know my background, tell me that I shouldn't have accomplished near what I have.  I shouldn't be near as solid as I am given my childhood.  However, by God's grace, I am here.  It's not been easy and it's not been pretty but I have overcome some harsh realities of life.  It is not about what happens to us.  It is about how we handle what happens to us.  We have choices to make about every big and small situation in life and they all count.

My dad, one of my biggest problems in life, marveled at how I could get get knocked down so many times but still pick myself up by the boot straps, brush the dirt off, and keep going.  I don't think I do that on my own but through Providence alone.

When you've reached your goal, and you will, let us know so we can congratulate you!

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC

RE: I love my job!

Thanks lacajun, I actually reached my goal a couple of weeks ago having lost 56 lbs. To be honest it wasn't that difficult, it makes me wonder why I didn't do it years ago rather than always think I will do it tomorrow.

I honestly believe almost anything is possible if you have the right frame of mind and the drive and determination required, which is why I get so frustrated with people who always just want to blame someone else for their own short comings.
 

RE: I love my job!

ajack1, congratulations!  That is quite an accomplishment regardless of your ease.  It still takes discipline and determination.  You have the same thinking as my mother.  :)

I think we often, me included, forget to be thankful for the good things on our jobs because we subconsciously blame others for our decisions to let them make us miserable.  Hope that returns the topic to target...

Pamela K. Quillin, P.E.
Quillin Engineering, LLC

RE: I love my job!

I've been significantly involved in the design & construction of 2 buildings. I love having something tangible that represents my work.

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