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What does a good job look like to you?
- Thread starter Andrew206
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MeetMyNeeds
New Member
To have a quiet space where I'm not constantly overstimulated so I can focus on problem solving. Also, less of being forced into "team building" activities.
Hmm... I'm not exactly much of a worker myself, havent fully worked a job in probably 10 years at this point (no need). Had ALOT of jobs in the past as I tended to be not very good at them. Dealing with aggravating customers, having stuff break down, and nobody understanding the whole autism thing... yeah. Bad.
Recently though, I did do one thing: some contracted development work for an indie game developer. I'd gotten to know them well over a couple of years, and then a contract out of the blue.
And that was the CORRECT sort of work for me, for a few reasons.
1. I made my own hours. AKA, I worked on it when I bloody well felt like it. Rather than trying to do what most jobs do, which is force myself to work even if I'm not feeling up to it.
2. Number of hours was low. Development is a very difficult thing, but my way of doing stuff just doesnt NEED that much time in a week. So I could actually handle it.
3. LOTS of freedom. I was put in a position of authority in the project. Instead of being told what to do, I made my own choices, and could veto the choices of others on the team. Which is so much better. In old jobs, I'd always be told what to do.... even if the thing they wanted was a really stupid idea, or they wanted it done in a way that didnt make sense to me and was very confusing. But with this contracted work... I was able to do things MY way. And if some concept or other was bloody stupid, I didnt allow it into the game.
4. I didnt have to constantly deal with others. Dont get me wrong... everyone on the team was good and friendly, and they're people I've known for a couple of years now. But even with people I know, having to deal with them CONSTANTLY throughout the day is very stressful. But when I'm working on it here, in my room at home, that's not an issue.
5. NO BLOODY UNIFORM. I haaaaaaaaaaated that with the jobs I'd had in the past. Hate hate hate. They were always horribly uncomfortable things that set off sensory issues for me.
6. And lastly... the lead developer is someone who is very accepting and understanding, and fully listened to my explanation of autism and my limitations. They worked WITH me instead of trying to force me into some box.
So, I guess that's the sort of thing that works for me. The ONLY sort.
Recently though, I did do one thing: some contracted development work for an indie game developer. I'd gotten to know them well over a couple of years, and then a contract out of the blue.
And that was the CORRECT sort of work for me, for a few reasons.
1. I made my own hours. AKA, I worked on it when I bloody well felt like it. Rather than trying to do what most jobs do, which is force myself to work even if I'm not feeling up to it.
2. Number of hours was low. Development is a very difficult thing, but my way of doing stuff just doesnt NEED that much time in a week. So I could actually handle it.
3. LOTS of freedom. I was put in a position of authority in the project. Instead of being told what to do, I made my own choices, and could veto the choices of others on the team. Which is so much better. In old jobs, I'd always be told what to do.... even if the thing they wanted was a really stupid idea, or they wanted it done in a way that didnt make sense to me and was very confusing. But with this contracted work... I was able to do things MY way. And if some concept or other was bloody stupid, I didnt allow it into the game.
4. I didnt have to constantly deal with others. Dont get me wrong... everyone on the team was good and friendly, and they're people I've known for a couple of years now. But even with people I know, having to deal with them CONSTANTLY throughout the day is very stressful. But when I'm working on it here, in my room at home, that's not an issue.
5. NO BLOODY UNIFORM. I haaaaaaaaaaated that with the jobs I'd had in the past. Hate hate hate. They were always horribly uncomfortable things that set off sensory issues for me.
6. And lastly... the lead developer is someone who is very accepting and understanding, and fully listened to my explanation of autism and my limitations. They worked WITH me instead of trying to force me into some box.
So, I guess that's the sort of thing that works for me. The ONLY sort.
MeetMyNeeds
New Member
Love your reply Misery, you mentioned all of the things I forgot to! Freedom, lack of coworkers bombarding you, and ability to make decisions are so important!
Iamnotarabot
Well-Known Member
I have no idea what I want to do in life, but...generally speaking...
Socially usefull job, I dont want to be part of the problem that the world is suffering from.
Not overpaied but paied enought to live simply but with some comfort
Now I have no Idea how I would react to coworkers and all the things we are suppoed to not be comfortable with.
Socially usefull job, I dont want to be part of the problem that the world is suffering from.
Not overpaied but paied enought to live simply but with some comfort
Now I have no Idea how I would react to coworkers and all the things we are suppoed to not be comfortable with.
To be the specialist. The one who does the impossible in a narrow, specific situation. To be the wacko who sticks his finger in the fan, is well paid for it, and does it so well that it makes others want to try it. In this sort of "hired gun" role, social skills don't matter, and nobody cares how you act or what you do, as long as you do the difficult job they can't get anyone else to do.
This was my career for over 25 years, but the market and the business changed. Now I am adrift, doing jobs I suck at and hate for well less than half of what I made 20 years ago, taking crap all day long and getting poor reviews.
This was my career for over 25 years, but the market and the business changed. Now I am adrift, doing jobs I suck at and hate for well less than half of what I made 20 years ago, taking crap all day long and getting poor reviews.
Whatever job is good for that person. I don't agree with jobs being "beneath" people and don't think the same as people when they talk about how "my job sucks".
Freedom. Isolation. Worthwhile output. Creative. Being left alone to think for extended periods. One day, if I can afford it, I'm so going back to college/uni.
A good job is one can tolerate. By that definition I've had good jobs, and bad jobs.
What separates the two for me is a mix of things:
1) Staying busy. I absolutely hate downtime; even episodic downtime will make the day seem to take forever.
2) Perks. This would be things like an agreeable break policy, flexible hours, and no freaking uniform.
3) Little social interaction. I had a great day yesterday and got a lot accomplished. Why? Because I wasn't waylaid by some fool talking about their kids for an hour. I don't think I talked to anyone all day, in fact, and that was nice.
4) Unobjectionable coworkers
5) Unobjectionable management
Staying busy is the biggest thing though. I guess if there was a good job, it would be one where I'd be left alone so I could simply work all day instead of playing monkeys just for the sake of it.
What separates the two for me is a mix of things:
1) Staying busy. I absolutely hate downtime; even episodic downtime will make the day seem to take forever.
2) Perks. This would be things like an agreeable break policy, flexible hours, and no freaking uniform.
3) Little social interaction. I had a great day yesterday and got a lot accomplished. Why? Because I wasn't waylaid by some fool talking about their kids for an hour. I don't think I talked to anyone all day, in fact, and that was nice.
4) Unobjectionable coworkers
5) Unobjectionable management
Staying busy is the biggest thing though. I guess if there was a good job, it would be one where I'd be left alone so I could simply work all day instead of playing monkeys just for the sake of it.
That's basically my job - and just about the perfect job for me. I'm in a team of one, with no supervision, no line managers and no oversight. I manage my own workload, set my own priorities and am left to get on with it. I'm the specialist my employer needs, and they know they have no idea what I do, just that if I didn't do it right, everything would go wrong.
While I do interact with my colleagues, it's on my terms entirely. It provides for constant learning, the opportunity to play with advanced technologies, and focus intently on tasks.
And while I am not paid particularly well in comparison with what I could get elsewhere, it's enough to pay my bills and provide a reasonably pleasant life.
One where expertise and quality matters instead of instant gratification and quantity, with minimal interaction and office politics (if possible, I know that's a long shot). Less emphasis on social prowess and feeding the ego, more emphasis on skills and a job done right.
I could care less about over the top pay or salary or accumulating boundless wealth...that would be a nifty bonus of course that allows for some neat "wants", but if I can make do within a reasonable budget that's all that matters.
I could care less about over the top pay or salary or accumulating boundless wealth...that would be a nifty bonus of course that allows for some neat "wants", but if I can make do within a reasonable budget that's all that matters.
I was thinking about it... ONE other job I'd had that wasnt totally awful did occur to me.
Quite awhile ago, I worked at a bank. A position that I'd gotten because of my aunt. I started out just doing data entry... bloody mind-numbing, but my typing speed is seriously absurd, so I tended to crash through it very fast. An image of a check appeared on the screen, and you typed in some numbers from it. Repeat until your sanity breaks. It really was bloody boring. It would then get more boring when I ran out of images.
After awhile though, they gave me something else to do. Which was: Run the check sorters. I didnt expect that at all, and frankly, it was intimidating.
A check sorter, at least the sort used at that bank, is this big machine about the size of a car. There's a computer terminal on the left side, a maintenance panel near that, this sort of tread roller thing that pulled stuff to the right, and this funky set of slots and things that the checks would end up sorted into after going through that complicated mess. There were alot of slots. The checks came in these big metal trays, and you stuck the whole clump in the left end. I dont even want to know just how much money was being processed by that thing per day. From what I was told, sorters were actually fairly rare and usually handled stuff from multiple branch locations. This made it more intimidating.
When active, the thing would launch checks at the speed of sound, shooting them through into the slots and making tons of noise. It was very, very fast. It's operation wasnt that complicated.
Well... in theory. I quickly found out what the job was REALLY about: Keeping the things from going insane. Like some sort of rogue AI, they'd frequently find new and increasingly screwed up ways to go bonkers and cause chaos. They were supposed to sort the checks. What they ACTUALLY did was chew them up, shred them into many pieces, spray them all over the place, lock up, have glitches, make rather alarming noises signifying internal problems, or on one notable occaision, start spraying smoke into the air. Or a variety of other things. If it could go wrong, it did go wrong. Any problem needed to be immediately dealt with.... and it was ALWAYS problems. They needed constant babysitting. And there were two of them, with just me operating both at the same time. It was lunacy.
And probably entertaining for others working there (the sorters were in the same room as all the data entry terminals and a bunch of other cubicles). I'd be back there behind the machines, and anyone else would randomly hear "DO WHAT I'M TELLING YOU, YOU STUPID LUMP!!!" and then a thud. And then at random intervals there'd be checks flying through the air or a loud CRUNCH noise or something. Just another day at the bank...
Seriously, the things were freaking nuts. I always figured the designers must have been high or something.
But the job worked. Nobody pestered me while I was doing it (nobody wanted a face full of checks, probably) and I was on my own to figure out and deal with the chaos. Instead of constantly being told "okay do this now" all day. Also I didnt need a uniform.
Had the job for about a year. It was.... interesting.
Quite awhile ago, I worked at a bank. A position that I'd gotten because of my aunt. I started out just doing data entry... bloody mind-numbing, but my typing speed is seriously absurd, so I tended to crash through it very fast. An image of a check appeared on the screen, and you typed in some numbers from it. Repeat until your sanity breaks. It really was bloody boring. It would then get more boring when I ran out of images.
After awhile though, they gave me something else to do. Which was: Run the check sorters. I didnt expect that at all, and frankly, it was intimidating.
A check sorter, at least the sort used at that bank, is this big machine about the size of a car. There's a computer terminal on the left side, a maintenance panel near that, this sort of tread roller thing that pulled stuff to the right, and this funky set of slots and things that the checks would end up sorted into after going through that complicated mess. There were alot of slots. The checks came in these big metal trays, and you stuck the whole clump in the left end. I dont even want to know just how much money was being processed by that thing per day. From what I was told, sorters were actually fairly rare and usually handled stuff from multiple branch locations. This made it more intimidating.
When active, the thing would launch checks at the speed of sound, shooting them through into the slots and making tons of noise. It was very, very fast. It's operation wasnt that complicated.
Well... in theory. I quickly found out what the job was REALLY about: Keeping the things from going insane. Like some sort of rogue AI, they'd frequently find new and increasingly screwed up ways to go bonkers and cause chaos. They were supposed to sort the checks. What they ACTUALLY did was chew them up, shred them into many pieces, spray them all over the place, lock up, have glitches, make rather alarming noises signifying internal problems, or on one notable occaision, start spraying smoke into the air. Or a variety of other things. If it could go wrong, it did go wrong. Any problem needed to be immediately dealt with.... and it was ALWAYS problems. They needed constant babysitting. And there were two of them, with just me operating both at the same time. It was lunacy.
And probably entertaining for others working there (the sorters were in the same room as all the data entry terminals and a bunch of other cubicles). I'd be back there behind the machines, and anyone else would randomly hear "DO WHAT I'M TELLING YOU, YOU STUPID LUMP!!!" and then a thud. And then at random intervals there'd be checks flying through the air or a loud CRUNCH noise or something. Just another day at the bank...
Seriously, the things were freaking nuts. I always figured the designers must have been high or something.
But the job worked. Nobody pestered me while I was doing it (nobody wanted a face full of checks, probably) and I was on my own to figure out and deal with the chaos. Instead of constantly being told "okay do this now" all day. Also I didnt need a uniform.
Had the job for about a year. It was.... interesting.
Aeolienne
Well-Known Member
I'm reminded of the parable of the three stonemasons. It's a bit cheesy but it still rings true. This is how it goes: There were three stonemasons who were asked what they did for a living. The first said, "I'm a stonemason." The second said, "I provide for my family." The third said, "I build cathedrals." Who appears to have the most job satisfaction? Obviously the third.
So I would like to have a clear idea of what wider goal I’m contributing to, which would have to be something that fires my enthusiasm (most likely something sustainability-related). I’d like to be able to understand what I have achieved so far, how my role fits into the wider scheme of things and where I see myself going – and be able to explain all these (mutatis mutandis) to a prospective employer or indeed a bloke down the pub or a younger college alumnus who has approached me for advice.
And I must admit I would like the opportunity to travel on behalf of work. Or at the very least not to be denied the opportunities that my colleagues have, as happened when I worked at the Met Office. (My boss, on being informed of my Asperger’s, recommended that I be excluded from presenting results at conferences because I didn’t give a favourable impression.) Perhaps that sounds a bit hypocritical coming from an environmentalist. However I am/was supposed to be good at foreign languages, and it saddens me that I’ve made so little use of them.
So I would like to have a clear idea of what wider goal I’m contributing to, which would have to be something that fires my enthusiasm (most likely something sustainability-related). I’d like to be able to understand what I have achieved so far, how my role fits into the wider scheme of things and where I see myself going – and be able to explain all these (mutatis mutandis) to a prospective employer or indeed a bloke down the pub or a younger college alumnus who has approached me for advice.
And I must admit I would like the opportunity to travel on behalf of work. Or at the very least not to be denied the opportunities that my colleagues have, as happened when I worked at the Met Office. (My boss, on being informed of my Asperger’s, recommended that I be excluded from presenting results at conferences because I didn’t give a favourable impression.) Perhaps that sounds a bit hypocritical coming from an environmentalist. However I am/was supposed to be good at foreign languages, and it saddens me that I’ve made so little use of them.
20 years ago I went for an interview for a Shelf stacking job down at the Co Op, the Manager took a look at my CV and told me to my face that I was "overqualified" and shop work was beneath me! I was literally like, WTF?!
Aeolienne
Well-Known Member
Literally? You mean you swore in an interview?!
I once applied for a job delivering leaflets - I was really desperate at that point and would try anything - and the guy phoned me up at 10pm just to take the piss, I think.
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