BootsnAll's Travel Community

There's so many of us seemingly frustrated in the corporate wasteland, rat race, whatever you want to call it... so, I'm just curious if there's any BnA'rs that have a corporate job that they actually enjoy on a day-to-day basis and aren't just in it for the money.

Do these jobs exist, or are we all pretty much doomed in the almighty cubicle?

I used to enjoy my job (legal secretary). However, then the work started to pile up, and I ended up working for 7 lawyers, even though the max. is meant to be 4.
So it was an extremely happy day when I handed in my resignation a month ago, and told them that I was going to live and work in China.

I enjoy my job.
I do marketing, right now for a digital design agency. But I have enjoyed marketing at various types of companies over the years. It is creative but yet still grounded, which I like.

I think part of my enjoyment is my attitude. Some people hate "the man," rage against corporate life, whatever. I find this to be a waste of energy. The way I see it..."the man" pays for a lot of my insurance, pays for me to have days off, pays my bills, all in exchange for some of my time. "The man" has allowed me to live a pretty fun life, complete with travels that aren't completely "budget," a nice home, and the ability to donate and volunteer for organizations I believe in (since I am compensated fairly and have time to do such things).

If I were self-employed, I wouldn't necessarily have these luxuries. I see the stress of business ownership firsthand with my father.

I figure as long as I don't hate my job, which I have in the past and moved on from, it is ok by me.

I enjoy my job now.

I also completely agree w/ Annie that much of it is one's attitude regarding all of it. Not so long ago I was quite the opposite. It actually took a lot of time and work on my part to be able to see things differently...it wasn't a fast process. I eventually got to the point where the corporate thing no longer affected me in the same way, and from there I was able to see more clearly and applied for a new job. My new job is great (the old one sucked, I was just stuck in a rut for a while). Since then it's been quite good, and I'm finally satisfied with my life where it is. It's a good feeling.

I'm certainly not in it for the money or the climbing-the-ladder aspect. But I am quite thankful for the benefits I do get, and my ability to live the life I want.

I like my job pretty well. The Outdoor Industry is fun, relaxed and has great benefits. (Sadly, decent pay is not among them.) I do Consumer & Industry relations for a company that makes fancy outdoor gear and my head is filled with useless trivia about Goretex, goosedown and tent poles.

Some day I will have to grow up and get a real job.

I really enjoy my job, if I didn't there is no way I would still be doing it after 20+ years.

Having said that, I'm paid a fair and decent wage, have good medical and retirement bennies, and because of my seniority I get a crap load of vacation/comp time which allows me to travel for a full month each year plus a couple more weeks here and there on shorter trips or camping treks.

I can't say over the years there haven't been times where I've thought about doing something else. But jobs are alot like relationships, they aren't always a bed of roses and you go through ups and downs in how you feel about them.

I enjoy my job as a graphic designer - half of it comes from the creative freedom I'm allowed at the company, and the other half is from the great bunch of people I work with - fun, hardworking & always joking around...but we buckle down when we need to. And another nice extra are the complimentary *department* lunches every Tuesday!

Before this position, I had my share of cube jobs that sucked the spirit right out of me, but by some stroke of luck, I found this little piece of heaven.

Jen

I LOVE my job. I work for a nonprofit (the lack of $ is the only minus) but work with and for a fantastic group of people and love the pace and the topic of my work.

I enjoy my job, but then again, it is just a college job reffing intramurals. I don't enjoy the pay, however, as I usually work less than 10 hours a week and get paid minimum wage.

I think I enjoy my job. But I've only been at it for 3 months. However, I relocated my life for it, so I'm hoping I'll like it - ha!

I used to work at a university counseling PhD and MA/MFA/MS students on career and academic-related matters and LOVED my job. It allowed me to pretty much stay connected to university life, interesting students, faculty, etc. after I graduated from grad school, not to mention the 5 weeks of paid vacation in addition to unlimited sick days and university holidays, free tuition for any class you wanted to take subject to approval (not a difficulty) and the people I worked with were all smart, interesting and fun. Why the hell did I leave?? (sometimes, in this discombobulated and stressful phase of being new on the job, I really start second-guessing myself). However, I knew I was getting bored, it was time to move on, I really did need to "expand my skill set" and such to develop professionally, which, great though my last job was, could no longer offer.

I'm currently working as a consultant (yup, switched over to the dark side: for-profit corporate life) for higher education institutions. The way I see it (and hope it plays out), this way I still get to work with and at universities (my ideal work environment), but I get to do it on a number of different levels and in various capacities, so I will be learning new things all the time and constantly being challenged. Travel is integral to the job so that's a no-brainer benefit particularly all the frequent flier miles I'll be accumulating on which I plan to use for my next RTW trip (although business travel is light years different (in a negative way) from TRAVEL... and let no one say differently)!

I had to give up my office (ah, the luxuries of your own door...) for a cube - and not even my own cube at that, but I got to keep copious vacay time and the pay is way better. So, I figure, keep the attitude open and positive, and even though I obsess about being a constant nomad, traveling the world endlessly and independently working along the way, amidst being ensnared by corporate trappings, I think this job is a good one (for now).

My previous job was in front of a computer all day and in a dark office with no window. I literally got depressed. I found out later that I have an EMF sensitivity and the lack of sunlight caused Vitamin D deficiency, which can cause depression. Now I don't work in front of the computer, I get outside, and socially interact every day. So now life is good, very good.

I love what I do. Been an Electrician for 30 years now, started at age 13 wiring houses. It's just easy for me, I love the freedom, can't beat getting paid to drive places, good money, the joking with the guys, the donuts at the supply house on Friday. I'll do it till I'm very old, just love the work.

Amstel

Go Buckeyes!!!

I was enjoying my job right up until they started randomly adding tasks to my job description without any kind of notice other than suddenly finding new files in my cabinets. Because of all this new work, there is the "requirement" to do overtime that, if I can't do it, results in some really interesting manipulative behaviour (guilt trips and pressure).

Oh yes, and then there are issues with my wages. With my increase in workload, there has been no accompanying increase in my pay.

Ironically, they are sending me to a course in employment standards as the only representative of the company. I think maybe I can learn something....

i know how you feel with the increase in duties and no increase in pay. I just got a new position within our level which requires much more responsibility, but no increase :-( However, the trade-off is now I don't have to log into the phone queue (unless we're crazy busy), so that part is great and probably just as pleasurable as a pay raise.

i definitely don't love my job, but i do like it a lot more now than when i started.

I enjoy my job but that is because it allows me to interact with people from different cultures who are also fellow travellers. I manage a non-profit hostel. It does have it's drawbacks. Such as dealing with those who are not true travellers and think a hostel is the same as a hotel but they don't stay long and leave feeling better about the people who are there.