I hated my last job. I was only there a year. I'm a highly qualified professional and I was treated like sh*t. I was in good company though. My officemate had to give herself a pep talk every day before she got out of her car so she could make it into the office. I don't know a single person in that job who wasn't looking for something better.

My new job is similar in terms of the work I do (data management and analysis), but I feel so much better about what I'm doing. The people I work with are very professional. I am very busy. In my last job I either kept myself busy doing work no one bothered to receive, or I surfed the Internet. Here, I love that every last thing I do is necessary. I'm doing it because someone needs it.

36paws~I love your work! The one with the black dog looking out over the deck railing is my favorite! (Well, I have a thing for big black dogs--I have labradors.)

36paws- i actually have just been looking at starting small and doing hammered metal pieces for necklaces and bracelets..no kiln needed for that. Even bought a book and doing some research..but haven't gotten around to buying the stuff yet...dh is rearranging the garage (where the table and stuff would be kept) so have to wait for him to get garage in order so i can have a work place. darn men LOL

I love my job I'm in direct sales doing romance parties....if I didn't like it I'd quit. Not that there are times where clients are a PIA but they are far and few. Before that I was an Animal Care Curator for the Louisiana Nature Center in New Orleans...I loved that job too until Katrina came and destroyed it.

I also rehab injured or orphaned native LA wildlife (been doing this for about 12 years)....it's a volunteer thing though.

I can say that I love my job, I'm an archaeologist. What I like most about it is that you basically have to become a jack of all trades to be successful at this.

On any given day I'm a counselor, cartographer, mechanic, spatial analyst, historian, translator, bone expert (human and animal), GIS tech, plant expert (modern and ancient), bug expert, materials analyst, ditch digger...list goes on.

And then, I also teach intro courses at a university. I like it, I wish I was teaching more specialized courses or running a field school, but intro is just fine. I'm not going to become a college professor though. At least not for a major university. Too much everything. Publish or perish, in house drama, no life, few jobs, lots of backstabbing.

The pay is okay, but I have great benefits. Sadly, as soon as I have children I'll have to find something else. Mommy can't be covering herself up with DEET, working 10 hour days, and coming home with ticks. I'll probably switch to the spatial analysis side with GIS.

But lizziep - what IS your job? What do you DO?

I usually love my job. I'm a Project Manager/Program manager at a company that develops and runs systems that are industry wide in a high technology international industry. Projects involve software development, hardware installation, network, as a rule, and many other things as an exception. I like that every project is different. When I don't like it, it's usually because of politics - especially when we're doing something stupid for a bad reason.

I don't often tell people what I do for a living, I'm an airport screener and when people find out, they often start in on how "useless, moronic" it is, etc (I have to hear it at work; I get sick of it, so I try not to talk about it outside of it). The job itself doesn't bother me, but the politics and the behavior of some of the passengers isn't good. Ninety-nine percent of the passengers are great, but then you get some who think they are above being screened. I've been cursed at, people have yelled in my face, generally a lot of rude and ignorant comments. Some of my coworkers have had things thrown at them. I haven't. I have been there for seven years, and I want to go into the RCMP next. I know that being a cop, I will encounter a lot worse, but at least I'll be better trained and paid to handle that.

I work in a supermarket as well as a deli worker. I am getting tired of it...too routine. Plus, I just started to do parties...like Tupperware but toys for adults...and that is fun! I'd love to be able to do that all day!

I'm an RN on a very busy Postpartum/Nursery Unit and I love my job. I get to care for and educate new moms and their family units. Not every aspect of my job is rewarding or fun, but for the most part, it's great. I don't like the long hours, off shifts & holidays or occasional ill-mannered client or physician. I've been a nurse for 31 years, 21 years on this area. Definitely the best place I've ever worked.

Hi -- thank you for your responses. Personally, I'm dreading going back to work on Monday. It's going to be the start of planning this exhibition for November and ugh...I really couldn't care less about it!

It's great that so many of you have jobs that you love, or at least like. I hope to be one of you some day! The only thing keeping me sane these days regarding work is that I leave early on two days to attend classes (whee!), so I actually get to step away from the gallery on those days and be in a totally different place, concentrate on something that actually interests me (my classes), see friends, have coffee, meet up with my fiance on campus before class, etc etc. BE OUTSIDE. I get the worst crankiness and sunlight deprivation during the fall and winter because I am literally inside, windowless, from sun up to sun down -- I get headaches, depressed, etc etc. My co-workers (particularly 2 of them) are good, but the physical environment, the work, the long long hours, etc. are very trying.

My plan is to get my MA in secondary education and my teachers certification for NYS (and the other national certificate that would let me carry my credentials out of NYS) and then I will begin teaching at a hs. Eventually, I want to work towards my PhD, probably in history, and maybe begin teaching at college level by my mid-late 30's (I'm 24 now). I *LOVE* school and love being in that academic environment.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have a job at all right now, considering how many people are out of work, laid off and between jobs are underemployed and looking, but it's hard to love something you just don't like.

webrover- i also don't like to talk about it because people usually tell me how horrible i am when i tell them- i'm a collector for a credit union i call people that are past due on their loans. it's not the job that is the problem though- it's the company i work for. we are treated pretty terribly and have to do mandatory overtime every week and every other week i have to work a 6th half day. ugh it blows.

That's cool -- I always thought being a freelance whatever would be fun. Do you work full time hours (40-ish hrs a week)?

I love my career, but I really hated my last job. I am a massage therapist. I am also in the midst of starting an all natural body care business. I love my career because I know without a doubt that I make a huge positive difference in people's lives. Unlike the doctor or dentist, who we all dread going to see, people want to come see me, and I can see an appreciable difference in my clients usually after the first session. I hated my last job because it was a huge corporation that was getting rich off the therapist's back breaking labor (it really is a physical challenge) and paying the therapists beans. Not only was the pay horrible, the benefits were practically non-existent. 800 dollars a month for a family of four HMO health insurance? With a two thousand dollar deductible? Count me out. "We offer a 401K!!" "How much do you match?" Looks at me incredulously and says, "We don't match!" They were open on several major holidays like the 4th of July and Christmas Eve. We were micromanaged to the nth degree. It was like working for McDonald's except in a spa-like setting. The only reason we could refuse a client was if they made sexual overtures. I had a client who smelled like she hadn't bathed in three months or longer. I refused to work on her again. When she rebooked with me several months later, I refused to do the massage on the basis of her horrible BO. I was told to do the massage or find another job. I found another job. I now work for myself, and I love it. I make about four times the money in half the time, and I really offer a fantastic and necessary service to those with an extremely high stress lifestyle.

Can you come to NH please..... we have a shortage of terps here and we/I need you!!!!

S