# Would you stay at a job you didn't like forever?



## theflame (Apr 12, 2014)

I had a conversation one time with an acquaintance and one thing he said to me was: he didn't like what he was doing but it paid him good money and he wasn't struggling like me.

A lot of things have gone wrong in my life, but one thing I know for sure is I'm going to wake up to a job I like and want to do every day, plus it makes work more fun. I don't get how someone could stay at a place where they hated everyone, hated what they were doing, did well at it...doesn't that make you go psycho?

My way of thinking is that I'm sure there is a company out there who does value its good employees.
I don't have to work for crappy people just because someone thinks that's the only thing they can get.

Would you stay at a job you didn't like just for the money?


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## IncoherentBabbler (Oct 21, 2013)

No longer than I have to, no. In fact, every job I've applied for I intended to leave 3-6 months later. I need income so I'll accept jobs I dislike and reaching 3-6 months looks good on a resume, if I have no interest in staying longer. Not to mention, the income sources I'd actually like are slow to build (ie un-livable for quite a while).


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## Jwing24 (Aug 2, 2010)

Nope, it's the reason I am in the process of a career change.


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

Not if I had any other opportunity.


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## Madam (Apr 1, 2012)

I can do a boring job or a job I dislike if it pays well, no problem. For me a job is something I do to earn a living and serve society. It would be great to do something I love but it's not absolutely necessary for my satisfaction with life. However, one thing I really could not stand - bad atmosphere at work and awful colleagues. I couldn't deliberately surround myself with people I disliked. It's such torture.


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## AriesLilith (Jan 6, 2013)

It depends, I'd have to ponder how torturous the job is being and how easy it would be for me to change jobs in that moment. I have bills to pay together with my husband who is also working full-time. We can survive for a while if one of us gets jobless, but I'm not crazy enough to drop any job if it causes too much instability and it's hard to get a new one in that moment. That by itself would cause lots of stress and struggle which would make me unhappy too. 

But being a programmer, it's fairly easy for me to get a new job soon. And I've quitted my first job when I was working under horrible management plus doing tasks that I did not enjoy and saw no growth at all. I only stayed a bit too long (a few more months) as I lacked the courage to quit my first job and so lived in denial and hoped for better changes, but then I've got a "push" from my manager who reprimanded me unjustly.  It made me realize how he could screw up my career prospects if I stayed longer, and being an idealist and all I could not see myself working for a bad leader like him anymore.

And honestly, *life is too short* to do something that is making you too unhappy in the long term. Sure, even in our favorite fields we might have to end up with boring and even bad tasks every now and then, but if it becomes long term then try to find something else. Not only this is about your happiness and enjoyment VS torture, it's also about building your career wisely. Try to find something else that allows positive growth in the long term if you can't have that.


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## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

As far as I can tell, different people are predisposed to find satisfaction in different ways. 

Some people are happy to take on tedious labor. It can be psychologically and physically exhausting to them, and they may even complain about it, but there is something about them that values above all, proving that they're dutiful. I think a lot of money hoarders are like this. A lot of really successful people I have known couldn't enjoy themselves for a moment doing some leisure activity. They have to instead, be actively engaged in hunting money or conquering something -- that -is- the way they experienced pleasure.

Some people are just that fixated on status, that whatever it takes to get is legitimately a necessary means to an end no matter how tedious and boring. If you don't care about status enough, you probably won't feel the same desire to work at acquiring/proving status. 

My parents were both highly puritanical in work ethic. My mom once said to me "god wants you to have nice things" and "I think people who are able to value nice things end up working harder and making more of themselves." (Some people will try to make you feel guilty for not being like them, because they are afraid of things that are not like them.)

To me however, I think - for what? To prove to other shallow bitches like her that I'm as good as her? I just want to do what makes me happy and have enough money to do it, damn what anyone thinks of my status; some dumb social construct that I don't care about.

That said, no, I am not the type of person who would stay in some career that makes me miserable, just because the money is good. Life is too short to play a role that isn't true to your spirit. Frankly, we aren't here to make ourselves miserable.


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## Hollow Man (Aug 12, 2011)

If I actually feel valued for what I do for a company that encourages me to stay longer even if it's repetitive or seemingly dumb, I'll most likely stay if I feel I am actually doing a good job too. If I can't convince myself I am good enough or the company does really bad ethical things, I'll eventually leave almost for certain and I have left places before. 

I don't really care too much about money. Somehow the job and just being there is really important to me when I do things. If people are kind enough or just even acknowledge me that helps 10-fold because so many places people don't really care all that much or sometimes it's a bitter competitive environment. I don't do those. That would be hell. Sometimes people will say I do a good job too, but the fact is, sometimes in these situations, that means, I am not doing anything outwardly completely negative, and I've learned to hate these environments too. Environments like this don't treat people human. They treat them like a computer program.

On a another level, I recently got a summer temp job, and my friend was asking me if I was excited about it. I told him I wasn't. I was a bit excited for the money...it's just kinda meh. I told him it wasn't who I am...it's just something for now...it's a warehouse job. I will do my best at this job, but it probably won't really make me all that happy...maybe a little satisfaction...but I can find more sincere happiness and reasons in things outside of the shift, I guess. That's just kind of my idea about it after being at kind of shitty places and knowing that what does make me happy is connecting with people and other things that are really hard to talk about at work with others. 

Ultimately, I don't know what my point is...I feel kind of conflicted...I would love to be passionate about my work, but I don't think I can ever really be paid well for what that is. I guess work is kind of boring, that's part of the reason you get paid for it. Unless you can convince people of your awesomeness...which is something I won't do. Not because I am not awesome...well maybe partially because of that.


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## MNiS (Jan 30, 2010)

No, I wouldn't unless I had a family and were the breadwinner of the house. 

Otherwise I'd end up doing a sub par or just average job and that would definitely hurt my self-esteem as I take a lot of pride in excelling or being the best at anything I undertake unless it were impossible for me on a practical level (Meaning: I'm not talented enough.).


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## anarchitektur (Feb 11, 2011)

Personally, no. But I'm intelligent, educated, and driven, so I have options. Some people aren't so fortunate and just have to suck it up and take the best opportunity that is available to them.

There are a variety of other reasons to stay in a job you don't like, as well. For instance, some jobs might be tedious, rife with internal politics, or whatever else, yet provide stability, low stress, or some other benefit that outweighs the general distaste for the work itself. For instance, both my parents have worked for the federal government for thirty years. Neither one of them particularly enjoys their job, but they prioritized being able to provide a stable income to support a family over their personal preferences. It also allowed them to leave the job at the office... unlike me, where my job feels like a constant, 24/7 responsibility.


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## monemi (Jun 24, 2013)

I enjoy making money. It's not about the money. You know when you play a game and your racking up points to win? It's like that, only those points pay my bills to survive. That is fun. It's as superficial and pointless as any video game, but those commission cheques and bonuses put a nice grin on my face and make me feel appreciated. I'm naturally competitive and working is a great place for that part of me to shine. I'm good at it. 

Still, it's not enough for me to stay in a job that makes me unhappy. Or even enough for me to stay in a job that isn't working for my family. I quit my job to stay home because my career was competing for time and resources of my family as was my husbands. Two competitive careers in one household with kids doesn't work. The difference between my husband's career and my career: I enjoyed my career but my husband's career is his calling. I'll do whatever's best for my family. 

When I didn't like a job, I always worked to move up the ranks. That seemed to solve the problem until it conflicted with my family. If I really cared about the money, I'd be working.


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## JustBob31459 (Apr 7, 2014)

You can think you are a corporate slave; an employee and that you stay at a job for security of money. The treadmill, monotonous and comfortingly dull but agonizing.

Or

You can see your current employer as your only customer; you can find other customers, even more than one. You are the commodity you are trying to sell, maybe someone offers a better price and better conditions. Go do market research!


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## theflame (Apr 12, 2014)

I have a friend that's been at McDonald's for 9+ years she claims she "likes" it but I don't think she truly does. I feel like she just says that because it is stable for her, she's manager now, and has worked her way to the top there and has been respected there. For me, a restaurant job isn't ideal, but I have done it just to see if I could do it. People ask her why doesn't she leave, especially when she is going to college trying to get a degree but she's still going to stay at McDonald's anyway. She says it pays her bills and lets her do anything she wants and she owns her own house because of it.


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## ScientiaOmnisEst (Oct 2, 2013)

Stay at a job I hate? No longer than I have to. I wouldn't be able to deal with it - I'd probably start getting mentally messed up within a year. It wouldn't be worth it.


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## xisnotx (Mar 20, 2014)

Not even if they paid me...


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

No. That's why I quit my job and moved to Texas.


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## wanted188 (Apr 19, 2014)

For me, staying at a job that i don't like forever is like imprisoning myself forever.


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## snowbell (Apr 2, 2012)

thelostxin said:


> I had a conversation one time with an acquaintance and one thing he said to me was: he didn't like what he was doing but it paid him good money and he wasn't struggling like me.
> 
> A lot of things have gone wrong in my life, but one thing I know for sure is I'm going to wake up to a job I like and want to do every day, plus it makes work more fun. I don't get how someone could stay at a place where they hated everyone, hated what they were doing, did well at it...doesn't that make you go psycho?
> 
> ...


It depends on the other extenuating factors as some have mentioned. If it's a bad job (the work itself) but it pays enough for me to survive, and I don't have to bring the work home with me for example, then I'd probably stay. If it pays me tons of money but I'm miserable while I'm working and on a regular basis, dread even going to work, I'll save as much as I can, then find something else, but staying there isn't going to work out for me in the long run. 

I tend to follow your thinking though, and the way I see it is, we spend a good portion of our time at our job, so I would hope for the work and work environment to be if not "good" (I'm starting to doubt that job satisfaction is a state of normalcy), then tolerable. I know my strengths, and I'm not going to stay in a place where I'm going to be treated poorly though.


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## LostFavor (Aug 18, 2011)

It's something I've avoided like the plague because not having sufficient motivation kills shit easily for me.

But... if I really, desperately needed the money I would do it without hesitation because then I have the motivation of not being forced to live under a bridge. I mean, living under a bridge wouldn't exactly make me happy.


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## Grandmaster Yoda (Jan 18, 2014)

Depends upon why I would hate it. If it's because of somebody else being obnoxious, I'll keep the job and live with it. If it's because it's draining and difficult for me then I would likely look for a change.


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