People Who Love Their Jobs: What Do They Do?
I sort of assume that everyone hates their job, and those that seem like they enjoy it are either faking it or psychopaths. Of course, I'm wrong. There are people out there who genuinely love their jobs. Some days I genuinely love my job. When you strip away the corporate bullshit there is a lot to like.
Below is a collection of comments from people describing why they love their jobs. If you or anyone you know are looking for some career direction, this might be the place to start.
Let me know if you see the pattern.
People who like their job, what do you do?
I think up and draw cartoons. Every day. A syndicated comic for newspapers. Only learned to draw at age 43 so it’s been a cool midlife turn. I’m one of those handful of people trying to be at least a fraction of what Gary Larson was/is.
I am a speech therapist working with stroke patients. I love rehab. I tried pediatrics but it was not my thing. Rehab is for me.
Matte painter for film
It’s fun and lives at the intersection between having to have artistic talent and technical experience. Honestly sometimes it can be maddening as I come from a creative background (traditional illustration and sculpture) so certain programs are like going from speaking French to speaking Chinese.
But all in all it’s fun to see your work when it’s composited into a film and get to see the shots before any VFX goes in.
Frankly it’s surprising just how many movies use VFX and I can assure you it’s almost everything you’ve seen including smaller independent films.
Seaplane pilot - charters, sightseeing, fly-in-fishing, & seaplane flight training.
I make replicas of dinosaur fossils for museum display. The company I work for does full sized replicas, but I primarily work in the division that creates teeth and claw replicas, and a few scaled down skull replicas, for gift shops.
I'm a night shift worker at a manufacturing facility. I love being able to set all my machines, read a book (or play on my 3DS), and be by myself. Once all my machines are set, I just need to change finished parts for new blanks every 15-20 minutes.
Waste management. I drive a garbage truck. I start early but there are days I’m off at noon. A full 8 hours for me ends at 1:30 and I work 5 minutes from my house. I am in the AC all day and left alone. It’s wonderful.
I’m a locomotive engineer. It’s badass controlling thousands of horsepower and tons all with my hands. I love running with the window open listening to the power working and waving a people when they wave with more than one finger.
I work at a grocery store. I love my coworkers, we’re tight, my managers are really helpful and understanding, and I guess I just like working? I’ve done a lot of volunteering before this so now that I’m still doing things for others but getting paid (!) it’s pretty wild. Also, my coworkers are so fun. Did I mention them?
Facilities—a glorified janitor.
The position has morphed, I started by cleaning floors and toilets. Now so many of my creative strengths are used. We’re updating our campus, so we build furniture, construct new walls and stages, choose paint colors, engineer unique solutions for an aging campus, and so much more. I’ve learned electrical, concrete work, welding, sound engineering, drywall, installation of floors, ceilings, doors, stage backdrops, you name it. If something needs be be done, we get it done. I love it.
Before the pandemic shut everything down I was a Broadway dresser! I got to work backstage on some awesome shows with pretty costumes and be a part of the magic, it was such a rewarding feeling.
I’m a Meteorologist. I look at weather all around the world and work directly with Fortune 500 companies to help them prepare for natural disasters.
Considering I’ve wanted to be a Meteorologist since I was 5, it’s a dream come true and I feel blessed.
Public Library
Everything is free.
I don't have to sell anything.
People come in because they want to be there.
I get to help people who want to be helped, or provide and environment where they can chill and relax.
They only owe money when stuff is late.
I'm a social worker. Currently I work with seniors who live alone with a disability and have no family to take care of them. I plan on getting my masters and becoming a therapist. After working construction for 8 years and getting a degree in business I said fuck it and followed my passion regardless of what everybody in my life said. I am so. Fucking. Glad. That i made that decision. It was really hard to get myself into the mindset that it's not too late. Once I was there though, I wasn't leaving. I put my foot down and was determined. Went to a community college, got 12 credits, working an entry level social work job and will be applying for my masters once this shit show of a pandemic is over... or maybe when i cave and decide to do online classes. Either way I feel like i'm living my dream, even though i'm not nearly where I want to be... yet.
Freelance illustrator and graphic designer.
I've always liked the idea of making things that are useful to people in any way, and I always try to apply this mentality into my work. Not to mention that stimulating my creativity is something I've always enjoyed, and something this line of work requires on a constant basis.
Of course, creative blocks are an issue occasionally, but it's still something I truly enjoy.
I work for a grocery store and I am the person who picks out what specialty cheese, crackers, salamis and olives all our stores carry.
I’m currently a factory worker making sheet metal roofing and siding, it’s one of the easiest jobs I’ve ever had. The work is relatively repetitive, but there’s enough variation to keep it from getting boring. The people I work with are kind and funny, management actually gives a shit about us, and the benefits are fantastic. I love working manual labor, I could never have a desk job.
Marine engineer. I like solving problems, and the moment you figure out how to do something is a golden feeling.
Park ranger
I work for the national park service. I started off seasonal and got to visit 6 different national parks, getting paid to live peoples vacation and be in most beautiful places. Now I am settled permanently on The National Mall where i get to work with special events, getting to see first hand all the amazing events that go on in Washington dc and be apart of it all.
I have worked in zoos my entire career (mostly as a zookeeper) and now get to travel and work in conservation. Incredibly gratifying and truly feel I have never worked a day in my life with this career.
I'm a Medical Specialized Interpreter! (And also general one)
I like it that much that im mastering 2 other languages at the same time (Italian and French) to be an interpreter English- Italian-Spanish-French.
E-discovery. We help people deal with data and fact finding in litigation and investigations. It's extremely stressful but every day is different. Every day is a new challenge. You have to constantly be learning and growing. The moment someone comes up with a new chat systen, or file system, or collaboration system you immediately have to understand how it works and how to forensically grab the data quickly. You have to know technology, law, statistics, and how to argue (a lot). It's one of those business that has a steep learning curve that never really stops going up.
Physics in optics research. I have a massive selection of lenses, mirrors, and light sources, and I use them to measure non-uniform diffractive gratings (they basically just make a rainbow). It’s like a big lego set with no instructions, and I don’t really know what I’m looking for, but today my boss told me “having a lot of good ideas is better than knowing something for certain.” Love that shit.
Architecture during quarantine I was doing 60 to +90 hours a week. The only thing holding me was my passion for the profession.
Hair stylist! I chose this career instead of pursuing a career with my college degree. It allows me to be creative, work in a social environment, I can wear whatever I want, and I get to help people feel good about themselves when they look in the mirror!
Server/bartender
Idk everyone sees it as something they want to get out of. I can see the wisdom in getting a career in a growing and stable field, but I honestly enjoy it. The craziness, the good guests the bad guests, people having fun being super inappropriate, people being pissed off for something that really doesn't matter. It's a lot of fun, and for the most part you're in control over how much money you make. Even if I find a "big boy job" I'd still try and work some shifts at a bar or restaurant. Pay for groceries/gas and have fun doing it.
I'm a data analyst!
I set up and maintain a large amount of data flowing in to a database and process it so that it's useable within BI tools and for machine learning projects.
Then after it's in a good format I use BI tools to make cool visualizations so that a few couple hundred users who want different things from this data can all go in and be able to find what they need efficiently.
Sometimes I also get to do some machine learning projects!
IT inside a hospital. I go out if something breaks or we deploy PCs for new practices etc. Everyone appreciates me and the pay and benefits are great.
I teach history and government at a small rural high school. My students are extremely polite and respectful (it's not often the younger generation calls their elders, "sir"), I love what I teach, and I get along with all of my co-workers.