Have you got a 'negative' job?

[Greg_D]

By that i mean, traffic warden, tax inspector, clamper, undertaker, speed camera operator etc.

Basically any job where there is a very high probability that by just doing your job you will be upsetting people.

My question is thus, how does it make you feel? why did you pick it? are there any unintended consequences? do you ever really get used to it?

i'm just interested in the other side of those jobs that we all love to hate.

[badlands1]

I am a porn star....



The negative side is....
















I had to work overtime this week.

[Corpulent Tosser]

I work in the oil industry, I don't suppose many here will consider it 'negative' but lots of greenies do.

Why did I pick it ? Didn't really pick it, just stumbled into it, good earning got my interest and I have stayed in for the same reason and because I like most of the people in it, particularly the 'old school' with the get after it and get it done attitude.

[Parsnip]

Corpulent Tosser said:

I work in the oil industry, I don't suppose many here will consider it 'negative' but lots of greenies do.

Why did I pick it ? Didn't really pick it, just stumbled into it, good earning got my interest and I have stayed in for the same reason and because I like most of the people in it, particularly the 'old school' with the get after it and get it done attitude.

Same. Have only caught negativity over it a couple of times (and both were from yoghurt weavers who missed the irony of driving a car...) but the majority of edumacated people get it.

Have never once considered it as a negative job myself, which I think is all that matters - if a traffic warden enjoys their job then why would they care that they are thought of as heartless bds (which they are ) by others?

[chunkymonkey71]

I'm the opposite. I have quite a positive job.

I help people develop the skills and attributes to allow them to make solid, well informed decisions about their futures.

I also deal with welfare and general advice on careers, funding, courses etc...

I like the fact that I'm empowering people to make changes.

I hate the fact that I'm poorly paid and there isn't a career progression route in this.

And I want to be an engineer.

[maxrider]

I.T. = Spend day after day being whinged at that something 'isn't working'. Things that previously worked fine breaking faster than I can sort them all out.

Being expected to know absofkinglutely EVERYTHING about every bit of hardware and software ever manufactured and sort every problem immediately.

When, on the rare occasion everything is going fine, receive no thanks whatsoever and may as well not exist.

So I'd say that's pretty damned negative, and no I didn't choose the job, it chose me many years ago. Now too old to retrain or find anything else.

[D1ngd0ng]

I don't think I have a negative career as such but some obviously don't feel the same...

When I was an odds compiler (same company, different role now) I was shopping around for insurance, thought I'd found my deal and was in the process of filling in the form with a helpful bank advisor. When it came to occupation I stated Odds Compiler and Risk Manager for such and such and she proceeded to admonish me for my career choice. Turns out a friend of hers had a gambling problem.

Needless to say I didn't hang around to get talked down to by some 2 bit clerk and walked out.

[Hoofy]

chunkymonkey71 said:

I'm the opposite. I have quite a positive job.

I help people develop the skills and attributes to allow them to make solid, well informed decisions about their futures.

I also deal with welfare and general advice on careers, funding, courses etc...

I like the fact that I'm empowering people to make changes.

I hate the fact that I'm poorly paid and there isn't a career progression route in this.

And I want to be an engineer.

You should speak to someone who gives general advice on careers, funding, courses etc... Someone who can help people develop the skills and attributes to allow them to make solid, well informed decisions about their futures. Someone who empowers people to make changes.






Edit: TBH I quite like the sound of your job, ignoring the money/career aspect.

Edited by Hoofy on Tuesday 7th February 11:59

[Ikemi]

maxrider said:

I.T. = Spend day after day being whinged at that something 'isn't working'. Things that previously worked fine breaking faster than I can sort them all out.

Being expected to know absofkinglutely EVERYTHING about every bit of hardware and software ever manufactured and sort every problem immediately.

When, on the rare occasion everything is going fine, receive no thanks whatsoever and may as well not exist.

So I'd say that's pretty damned negative, and no I didn't choose the job, it chose me many years ago. Now too old to retrain or find anything else.

Could you not go into a consultant based role, with your knowledge of hardware/software/networks? Alternatively become a salesman and sell solutions/products? What about travelling the country and repairing computers through on-site warranties with a company?

In regards to the latter, we have a Stone Computers engineer who visits us and repairs our laptops, which are under a next day, onsite warranty agreement. He travels a lot, but only within 3 Counties. The pay is good, the stress is low and some jobs are so quick (user error) that he sometimes finishes early too! Come to think of it, I'm in the wrong job!

maxrider said:

Being expected to know absofkinglutely EVERYTHING about every bit of hardware and software ever manufactured and sort every problem immediately.

I can relate to this ... I've been asked to repair televisions and DVD players by staff members, as well as the odd Playstation 3! Err, no.

[P-Jay]

Not anymore, but when the crash first hit I was asked to get involved with debt recovery - I had been a Account Exec AKA sales for 8-9 years at an Business Finance company. We were told that instead of passing early default cases straight off to the debt team at HQ (which would ultimately be passed onto debt recovery agencies) we would have to deal with it ourselves. We had to try to contact them via telephone / e-mail within the first 5 days, if no contact was made we had to go and visit them.

I HATED it, on the face of it we were there to help, but the options we could offer were useless, basically to re-finance the amount outstanding amount but strictly at the new much stricter underwriting rules - a good proportion of our old clients couldn't get any new finance from us because the goal posts had moved so far, so trying to refinance large amounts for clients who had defaults and businesses were failing/struggling was never going to happen. Other than that the best we could offer was to take a cheque from them... I was still quite junior so most of my clients were one-man-bands. I'm not sure what the bosses were hoping to achieve by it, I'd guess as usual some centre or area manager was looking to impress someone higher up about the latest proactive BS they were doing.

The last visit I had to do was to a nice bloke in a not very nice part of town at all - he was thankfully a very decent guy on the face of it, his house was nicely decorated and very nicely kept, it just happened to be in a st-hole, he was from the area and saw no reason to move when his business took off. As I sat on his Sofa with his wife and kids in the next room having their dinner he's telling me his business is fundamentally sound and will be able to meet the payments in the next week or so when a large job he's completed is due for payment, but he had to down tools for 3 months whilst he was doing time. In a very matter of fact way he told me that he'd never been in trouble with the police before, but there had been some sort of argument in the pub one night and he's badly beaten up someone. Whether the guy deserved the shoeing or not never came up. I felt equally worried and ashamed at the same time.

Not long after that we were told we were being made redundant, I still made the calls and offered what I could, but if I was called to make anymore 'visits' I drove to the park and watched to ducks for an hour, before returning to the office to say no one was home. Left as soon as I could.

[Pilsner]

Greg_D said:

By that i mean, traffic warden, tax inspector, clamper, undertaker, speed camera operator etc.

Basically any job where there is a very high probability that by just doing your job you will be upsetting people.

My question is thus, how does it make you feel? why did you pick it? are there any unintended consequences? do you ever really get used to it?

i'm just interested in the other side of those jobs that we all love to hate.

I'm a trader. Everyone hates me, but no one knows why they hate me. I'm a nice guy.

I cry myself to sleep every night, but then I laugh all the way to the bank at the end of each month.

Edited by Pilsner on Tuesday 7th February 12:15

[jesta1865]

maxrider said:

I.T. = Spend day after day being whinged at that something 'isn't working'. Things that previously worked fine breaking faster than I can sort them all out.

Being expected to know absofkinglutely EVERYTHING about every bit of hardware and software ever manufactured and sort every problem immediately.

When, on the rare occasion everything is going fine, receive no thanks whatsoever and may as well not exist.

So I'd say that's pretty damned negative, and no I didn't choose the job, it chose me many years ago. Now too old to retrain or find anything else.

i thought for a second i had posted under a 2nd id by accident

mind i go one step further, apparently when outside contractors stuff up its still my fault according to my boss.

[shed driver]

I used to be a bed manager in a large district general hospital. Never popular, always having to make decisions that would leave someone upset, for example one HDU bed, two people booked for surgery. Glad I'm out of that game now.

SD

[sinizter]

Does being a dentist count ? Some people would agree.

[Hoofy]

sinizter said:

Does being a dentist count ? Some people would agree.

My dentist keeps making up excuses about me needing fillings and such. I'm sure she just has the hots for me. She is a cutey, mind, so I don't mind the attention. Although, she does always insist on using that drill. Is this what they mean by love-hate? Maybe, she's into a bit of BDSM. (The "D" standing for "dentistry".)

[valiant1]

Well I must be near the the top of the list as I am a tube driver (sorry, Train operator in proper LUL speak).

It must be one of the most critisized jobs on the planet and it must be one of the only jobs out there where EVERYONE is an expert at it even though they have no clue how to do it.

I trained really hard and put my life on hold for 6 months to ensure I passed the training and it seriously pisses me off to have it described to me as 'only pressing 2 buttons' - fktards the lot of them!!

I love my job and I only wish that I joined up years earlier as I feel I have found my place in life and please ignore what you read in the Daily Mail/LSE or even here about unions,closed shop,etc,etc as it is in almost all cases complete bullst.

[Greg_D]

Aaaargh, burn him..........

[valiant1]

Greg_D said:

Aaaargh, burn him..........

What? In the brazier on the picket line? How will I do my Sun crossword and write my Bob Crow fan letters then?

[fido]

valiant1 said:

I trained really hard and put my life on hold for 6 months to ensure I passed the training and it seriously pisses me off to have it described to me as 'only pressing 2 buttons' - fktards the lot of them!!

Why - is there a 3rd button?

[Munter]

fido said:

Why - is there a 3rd button?

The Tannoy doesn't turn itself on you know.