I don't know if I have a favourite task, but my least favourite one is calling customers to ask them to pay their overdue accounts. It's awkward to be asking for money in the first place. It's...
I don't know if I have a favourite task, but my least favourite one is calling customers to ask them to pay their overdue accounts.
It's awkward to be asking for money in the first place. It's never a happy conversation. Although, I have had one customer tell me she prefers hearing from me, rather than her other suppliers. I assume that means they're all shouty, whereas I try to keep things civil and amicable. But, still, it's not nice to be calling people to tell them they're not paying their debts and requesting payment. No matter how friendly I am, it's still a phone call they don't want to receive (and I don't want to make).
Then, there's the added bonus of hearing everyone's stories about how trade is slow, and so on. All across Australia, our customers - who are retailers - are suffering. I'm seeing the actual effects of a slowing economy. In extreme cases, I've had small business owners tell me how they're closing the shop, and having to sell the house to cover their debts.
It's not an activity per se, but the least favourite aspect of working in my industry is just the immense desk presence required to do the work (software engineering). I love developing software...
It's not an activity per se, but the least favourite aspect of working in my industry is just the immense desk presence required to do the work (software engineering). I love developing software and building things that solve problems. But—mentally, I can't do it anymore. Sitting inside for 8 hours a day staring at a screen is such a drain on my energy levels. You feel lethargic, tired, and it's not good for you. This can be significantly compounded if you feel the actual work you're doing isn't valuable, doesn't benefit you in the long run (I always want to be learning something new), or doesn't give you motivation to get the job done.
I like the industry as a concept—that you can build things to help others. The actual implementation leaves something to be desired. I've unfortunately never been exposed to a workplace where I felt like my contributions were valued or where management invested in their employees: no standing desks, few if any perks. I guess that shouldn't surprise me, this isn't silicon valley after all. Some of that's on me, I should probably have vetted the companies I've chosen to work at some more.
So yeah, fuck that, I'm out. I'm so over the industry at a moment. I'm doing my own business, admittedly it's still software, but I can choose when and where I work, what my working conditions are like, and invest in my own intellectual growth at my own pace. I'm highly inspired by companies like Basecamp which actually give a shit about their worker's mental and physical health.
If my next adventure doesn't pan out, then there's zero chance I'm going back into that industry again. I'd sooner switch careers and get my commercial pilots license. At least flying is somewhat tactile and exists in the physical dimension.
In terms of favourite aspect: there's nothing quite as fun and challenging as abstracting away all that internal complexity and presenting the simplest, clearest possible interface to the end user; and evaluating new and novel ideas to both empower that user's decisions and be empathetic to their mistakes.
I hear you; I'm on my third cycle of IT burnout and about ready to give it up as a bad job. I don't even think that staring at screens all day is the heart of the issue - it's the persistent sense...
I hear you; I'm on my third cycle of IT burnout and about ready to give it up as a bad job. I don't even think that staring at screens all day is the heart of the issue - it's the persistent sense that you're pouring your life down the rathole of capitalism, that you're just a cog in a worthless, destructive machine. You can nurture illusions of helping people for a time, but at the end of the day, how the company treats its staff is only a reflection of how it treats the consumers of its products - as objects to be manipulated for profit.
I'm not working right now, but the job I left was one I enjoyed a great deal until the dislikes outgrew the likes. Dislikes: Corporate politics. I've had to bribe (literally, with money, or...
I'm not working right now, but the job I left was one I enjoyed a great deal until the dislikes outgrew the likes.
Dislikes:
Corporate politics. I've had to bribe (literally, with money, or valuable equipment and services), horsetrade, counter malicious gossip, kiss ass, engage in espionage, build elaborate strategic traps (figurative), sit through meetings as Byzantine as anything Machiavelli might have dreamed of, organize (figurative) gangland warfare... All to get meagre funding or fairly basic shit done, even before winding up in middle management. And I'm not, and will hopefully never be, good at it.
Direct personnel management - Hated nearly every minute of it; it's painful to do something you're not likely to succeed at. If I wanted children, I'd have had them; I don't enjoy demanding subordinates' discipline to the work. I've been self-educating for so long that I don't have much patience for other people's need to have basic technical knowledge spoon-fed to them. I'm not a great mentor. Firing people, even though they really needed to be fired, gave me ulcers and I still get the shakes thinking about it.
Administrative paperwork - I understand why some of it's necessary. Logging budgets, hours, expenses, project timetables, and the like helps the organization as a whole keep running. But I loathe every minute not spent actually building or maintaining things.
Phone calls - it's a personal quirk that I don't like audio-only interactions. I need facial expressions and body language to feel like I understand the content and import of what's being discussed. Without that data, I get unreasonably anxious that I'm missing things.
Likes:
Difficult projects. I know this isn't a single task, but I like the vast majority of the tasks involved - the detective work; the troubleshooting, research, and testing; the brainstorming sessions; the cram sessions to master new (or very old) technologies; the travel; the sheer all-involving physical and mental labor. The more gnarly technical and logistic problems, the better; solving 4-D puzzles and building teams to handle them is fun. A firewall config that needs 100+ ports, tunnels, and routes catalogued and managed with a dozen different security organizations? Awesome. Medical records app with thirty interfaces? Cool beans. 20 TB of imaging data to export/import in 48 hours? I can do that. Four tons of configured equipment shipped and installed with a week's notice? Yep.
It's like sex - stupid amounts of overthinking, sweat, and panic in the arrangements, so much satisfaction when complete. Big projects have so many tiny dopamine hits involved with each task done...
Edit: On thinking about this, I don't see much need anymore to be cagy about some details. I was a server/network engineer in healthcare who wound up in charge of IT for corporate acquisitions and new growth projects. So, technical due diligence for acquisitions, network and application integration, working across the business with legal, financial, clinical, executive, and other functions, etc.
I work in retail, and by far my favorite part of my job is the fact that it's easy work and the stakes are very low. Least favorite part of my job? The pay. There's no way I could live on my own...
I work in retail, and by far my favorite part of my job is the fact that it's easy work and the stakes are very low.
Least favorite part of my job? The pay. There's no way I could live on my own with my current wage unless I got a second job (I'll probably have to in the future).
I like coming up with ideas and writing stories, screenplays, etc. I don't like dealing with all the inevitable bureaucracy involved with submitting and managing creative projects.
I like coming up with ideas and writing stories, screenplays, etc. I don't like dealing with all the inevitable bureaucracy involved with submitting and managing creative projects.
Software developer. Favourite part: finding solutions! Least favourite part: implementing them! This is where I'm at lately, at least. When I have something new to work on I am generally engaged...
Software developer.
Favourite part: finding solutions!
Least favourite part: implementing them!
This is where I'm at lately, at least. When I have something new to work on I am generally engaged and "on". But if my work is "find out how to fix this issue we're having, and then apply the fix to these five affected areas" I'll lose an absurd amount of motivation between figuring it out on the first one and applying it to the others, even if it's just a straight copy->paste. I'll want to go back and keep making the solution better instead of just shuffling code around.
Unlike some people, I don't hate some of the bureaucracy and direction aspects of software engineering.
I'd actually like to move into a managerial or leadership role eventually because I think I'd be good at it, but I think I'll have to leave my current job to get there.
My favorite part of my job is learning something new and showing it off to my coworkers. I am a system admin for HR so I work on various systems from time-tracking to recruiting to incident...
My favorite part of my job is learning something new and showing it off to my coworkers. I am a system admin for HR so I work on various systems from time-tracking to recruiting to incident tracking. Before I entered the job, the most programming anyone on the team did was VBA for excel macros, so me coming in with Python know-how has been advantageous to me. I get a real kick out of automating something boring or creating an analysis in Python that is easily reproduced. I have a good reputation of being the person who can just figure shit out and document it so I get tossed a lot of interesting projects like predicting employee turnover and creating tools in HR. Its fun because I have 100% ownership of my work, no one understands how its done so I have job security, and I get to collaborate with others.
My least favorite has to be working on projects across multiple groups. I really don't enjoy working within the bureaucracy of IT or with groups that have a well-known tendency to pass off any new work or responsibilities to other groups. When my work has high visibility and mistakes are relayed to the top executives of the business, I tend to hate that type of stuff. I think big, cross-functional projects make me feel like I don't own a project as much so I don't end up putting my all into it.
I've had a role like yours. If you're like me, you'll get bored with chronic success and go looking for more interesting challenges. With time, I gained a lot more tolerance for cross-functional...
I've had a role like yours. If you're like me, you'll get bored with chronic success and go looking for more interesting challenges.
With time, I gained a lot more tolerance for cross-functional projects and the bureaucracy needed to do them, a thicker skin for dealing with high-visibility issues, and more satisfaction from helping other people do their jobs. You'll find groups that have strong work-defense in any organization; that's when you learn the dark arts of politics if you really want to get shit done.
Sense of ownership is an interesting problem. I found that at the end of the day, nothing in technical work is permanent, any more than it was in kitchen work. You only own your work until it obsolesces, according to the needs of much larger entities. Being able to lead others in a shared endeavor is a form of "ownership"; you also get to shape the scope of need and obsolescence in addition to accomplishing the work itself.
Best part is getting a new type of data and writing code to analyze them, I always get a bit excited when I'm producing results and for the first time, waiting for the plot to show up. The coffee...
Best part is getting a new type of data and writing code to analyze them, I always get a bit excited when I'm producing results and for the first time, waiting for the plot to show up. The coffee break too.
Worse part is boring meetings, dumb managers, people complaining, doing administration, etc.
I don't know if I have a favourite task, but my least favourite one is calling customers to ask them to pay their overdue accounts.
It's awkward to be asking for money in the first place. It's never a happy conversation. Although, I have had one customer tell me she prefers hearing from me, rather than her other suppliers. I assume that means they're all shouty, whereas I try to keep things civil and amicable. But, still, it's not nice to be calling people to tell them they're not paying their debts and requesting payment. No matter how friendly I am, it's still a phone call they don't want to receive (and I don't want to make).
Then, there's the added bonus of hearing everyone's stories about how trade is slow, and so on. All across Australia, our customers - who are retailers - are suffering. I'm seeing the actual effects of a slowing economy. In extreme cases, I've had small business owners tell me how they're closing the shop, and having to sell the house to cover their debts.
It's not pleasant.
It's not an activity per se, but the least favourite aspect of working in my industry is just the immense desk presence required to do the work (software engineering). I love developing software and building things that solve problems. But—mentally, I can't do it anymore. Sitting inside for 8 hours a day staring at a screen is such a drain on my energy levels. You feel lethargic, tired, and it's not good for you. This can be significantly compounded if you feel the actual work you're doing isn't valuable, doesn't benefit you in the long run (I always want to be learning something new), or doesn't give you motivation to get the job done.
I like the industry as a concept—that you can build things to help others. The actual implementation leaves something to be desired. I've unfortunately never been exposed to a workplace where I felt like my contributions were valued or where management invested in their employees: no standing desks, few if any perks. I guess that shouldn't surprise me, this isn't silicon valley after all. Some of that's on me, I should probably have vetted the companies I've chosen to work at some more.
So yeah, fuck that, I'm out. I'm so over the industry at a moment. I'm doing my own business, admittedly it's still software, but I can choose when and where I work, what my working conditions are like, and invest in my own intellectual growth at my own pace. I'm highly inspired by companies like Basecamp which actually give a shit about their worker's mental and physical health.
If my next adventure doesn't pan out, then there's zero chance I'm going back into that industry again. I'd sooner switch careers and get my commercial pilots license. At least flying is somewhat tactile and exists in the physical dimension.
In terms of favourite aspect: there's nothing quite as fun and challenging as abstracting away all that internal complexity and presenting the simplest, clearest possible interface to the end user; and evaluating new and novel ideas to both empower that user's decisions and be empathetic to their mistakes.
I hear you; I'm on my third cycle of IT burnout and about ready to give it up as a bad job. I don't even think that staring at screens all day is the heart of the issue - it's the persistent sense that you're pouring your life down the rathole of capitalism, that you're just a cog in a worthless, destructive machine. You can nurture illusions of helping people for a time, but at the end of the day, how the company treats its staff is only a reflection of how it treats the consumers of its products - as objects to be manipulated for profit.
I'm not working right now, but the job I left was one I enjoyed a great deal until the dislikes outgrew the likes.
Dislikes:
Corporate politics. I've had to bribe (literally, with money, or valuable equipment and services), horsetrade, counter malicious gossip, kiss ass, engage in espionage, build elaborate strategic traps (figurative), sit through meetings as Byzantine as anything Machiavelli might have dreamed of, organize (figurative) gangland warfare... All to get meagre funding or fairly basic shit done, even before winding up in middle management. And I'm not, and will hopefully never be, good at it.
Direct personnel management - Hated nearly every minute of it; it's painful to do something you're not likely to succeed at. If I wanted children, I'd have had them; I don't enjoy demanding subordinates' discipline to the work. I've been self-educating for so long that I don't have much patience for other people's need to have basic technical knowledge spoon-fed to them. I'm not a great mentor. Firing people, even though they really needed to be fired, gave me ulcers and I still get the shakes thinking about it.
Administrative paperwork - I understand why some of it's necessary. Logging budgets, hours, expenses, project timetables, and the like helps the organization as a whole keep running. But I loathe every minute not spent actually building or maintaining things.
Phone calls - it's a personal quirk that I don't like audio-only interactions. I need facial expressions and body language to feel like I understand the content and import of what's being discussed. Without that data, I get unreasonably anxious that I'm missing things.
Likes:
It's like sex - stupid amounts of overthinking, sweat, and panic in the arrangements, so much satisfaction when complete. Big projects have so many tiny dopamine hits involved with each task done...
Edit: On thinking about this, I don't see much need anymore to be cagy about some details. I was a server/network engineer in healthcare who wound up in charge of IT for corporate acquisitions and new growth projects. So, technical due diligence for acquisitions, network and application integration, working across the business with legal, financial, clinical, executive, and other functions, etc.
I work in retail, and by far my favorite part of my job is the fact that it's easy work and the stakes are very low.
Least favorite part of my job? The pay. There's no way I could live on my own with my current wage unless I got a second job (I'll probably have to in the future).
I like coming up with ideas and writing stories, screenplays, etc. I don't like dealing with all the inevitable bureaucracy involved with submitting and managing creative projects.
Software developer.
Favourite part: finding solutions!
Least favourite part: implementing them!
This is where I'm at lately, at least. When I have something new to work on I am generally engaged and "on". But if my work is "find out how to fix this issue we're having, and then apply the fix to these five affected areas" I'll lose an absurd amount of motivation between figuring it out on the first one and applying it to the others, even if it's just a straight copy->paste. I'll want to go back and keep making the solution better instead of just shuffling code around.
Unlike some people, I don't hate some of the bureaucracy and direction aspects of software engineering.
I'd actually like to move into a managerial or leadership role eventually because I think I'd be good at it, but I think I'll have to leave my current job to get there.
My favorite part of my job is learning something new and showing it off to my coworkers. I am a system admin for HR so I work on various systems from time-tracking to recruiting to incident tracking. Before I entered the job, the most programming anyone on the team did was VBA for excel macros, so me coming in with Python know-how has been advantageous to me. I get a real kick out of automating something boring or creating an analysis in Python that is easily reproduced. I have a good reputation of being the person who can just figure shit out and document it so I get tossed a lot of interesting projects like predicting employee turnover and creating tools in HR. Its fun because I have 100% ownership of my work, no one understands how its done so I have job security, and I get to collaborate with others.
My least favorite has to be working on projects across multiple groups. I really don't enjoy working within the bureaucracy of IT or with groups that have a well-known tendency to pass off any new work or responsibilities to other groups. When my work has high visibility and mistakes are relayed to the top executives of the business, I tend to hate that type of stuff. I think big, cross-functional projects make me feel like I don't own a project as much so I don't end up putting my all into it.
I've had a role like yours. If you're like me, you'll get bored with chronic success and go looking for more interesting challenges.
With time, I gained a lot more tolerance for cross-functional projects and the bureaucracy needed to do them, a thicker skin for dealing with high-visibility issues, and more satisfaction from helping other people do their jobs. You'll find groups that have strong work-defense in any organization; that's when you learn the dark arts of politics if you really want to get shit done.
Sense of ownership is an interesting problem. I found that at the end of the day, nothing in technical work is permanent, any more than it was in kitchen work. You only own your work until it obsolesces, according to the needs of much larger entities. Being able to lead others in a shared endeavor is a form of "ownership"; you also get to shape the scope of need and obsolescence in addition to accomplishing the work itself.
Best part is getting a new type of data and writing code to analyze them, I always get a bit excited when I'm producing results and for the first time, waiting for the plot to show up. The coffee break too.
Worse part is boring meetings, dumb managers, people complaining, doing administration, etc.