sometimes I wish i pursued a different career

[brainhulk]

it seems i have to take a test or recertify a license every couple of months. I thought after school, I would be pretty much done with all that. But work is constantly adding more requirements every year. bleh

not saying it's not important or needed. just lazy. i have to figure out a way to take all the recerts and test in one day. this every couple of months stuff is annoying

 

[futurefields]

you can blame the dems and all their "regulations" aka more money for big gov for that

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Run for president. Absolutely no qualifications necessary ever.

 

[OutHouse]

fuck that shit.

 

[Humpy]

you can blame the dems and all their "regulations" aka more money for big gov for that

Always looking for someone to blame.

 

[brianmanahan]

i just wish i had a dumb job when i have to think so hard, and switch contexts so often, that it gives me massive headaches that last for days

thankfully that happens less often now since i switched jobs and went from a lead programmer back to a non-lead programmer.

 

[rh71]

Being a non-lead programmer is awesome in terms of job enjoyment. Have to think just enough to get it done and that's it. My lead has to worry about 15 different apps on a high-level... may as well be a manager. Bleh.

 

[lxskllr]

I'd like to work for a non profit doing dummy work at low pay. Little responsibility, and little hassle. Just do my thing, and go home.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Tech support? You do have a dumb job.

Network admin? The modern day sewer plant worker. Keep the shit flowing.

Writing code? Today's assembly line worker.

 

[BudAshes]

Tech support? You do have a dumb job.

Network admin? The modern day sewer plant worker. Keep the shit flowing.

Writing code? Today's assembly line worker.

The worst is Sys admin, because then you have to do all three.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The best is a technical job that is fairly low key and what really makes the job is not so much the job itself but the boss. I went from sysadmin that practically had Hitler running the show to NOC with a boss who's on our side with pretty much any issues. It's a super laid back environment, hardly no stress and generally easy. When it gets busy then it's gogogogo but that happens only a few times per year, usually if there's a major failure or a major storm. Storms are the worse as they tend to cause lot of damage all spread out throughout multiple territories which gets confusing to coordinate all the techs etc but overall can't complain.

Downside is the easiest a job is, and ANY job that is done from a desk can be outsourced or moved elsewhere at the drop of a hat. Trades or any physical job is the way to go now days. When I was in school if I even knew about the concept of outsourcing and stuff I probably would have picked a physical job like electrician or something. More physically demanding but guess if you start off at a job like that you get used to it. But then even those jobs will soon be replaced with prefab construction where everything just interlocks and had electrical, plumbing etc built in.

 

[amicold]

it seems i have to take a test or recertify a license every couple of months. I thought after school, I would be pretty much done with all that. But work is constantly adding more requirements every year. bleh

not saying it's not important or needed. just lazy. i have to figure out a way to take all the recerts and test in one day. this every couple of months stuff is annoying

You just need to watch Office Space again.

 

[brianmanahan]

Writing code? Today's assembly line worker.

an assembly line worker that has to keep track of logic happening over a million lines of code?

yep, sure

 

[Mai72]

I live at the shore.

Imagine working hard for 5 months and taking off from late September to April. That's the life of many people who live here. Now that's living.

 

[brianmanahan]

Being a non-lead programmer is awesome in terms of job enjoyment. Have to think just enough to get it done and that's it. My lead has to worry about 15 different apps on a high-level... may as well be a manager. Bleh.

yeah, i enjoy my job as a non-lead 5x as much as when i was a lead

AND the new company i switched to pays me %20 more to just worry about myself, so win-win-win IMHO

 

[Platypus]

sounds like you already do

 

[kt]

an assembly line worker that has to keep track of logic happening over a million lines of code?

yep, sure

He's probably talking about programmers that only get to write a small part of the entire software code.

 

[MongGrel]

Depends on what you define as a "dumb" job I guess OP.

Are many manual trade jobs out there that require many things to be frequently renewed on a steady basis.

Especially in laboratory/R&D type of settings.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I work in a lab/R&D setting. I have an annual hazardous waste generator computer-based training that I need to watch and pass the quizzes. I have one for ESD and FOD/FOE as well. But that's it.

It's the least of my pains.

While I'd consider this a "smart" job where we dev technology, insert tech, etc. and half the people in my hallway have PhDs, my biggest gripe is that these people suck. They're not very good, they're insecure, they're power hungry, they hoard info,... they suck.

Not all of them... but a good number of them, and it's especially prevalent in the management.


I suppose my point is that there will always be something to complain about.

 

[Red Squirrel]

an assembly line worker that has to keep track of logic happening over a million lines of code?

yep, sure

As far as a CEO is concerned anybody can do it, it's cheaper to just offshore it to India. They don't actually care how the end product will be affected, just how the end cost will be affected. Capitalism FTW?

 

[slugg]

i just wish i had a dumb job when i have to think so hard, and switch contexts so often, that it gives me massive headaches that last for days

thankfully that happens less often now since i switched jobs and went from a lead programmer back to a non-lead programmer.

I don't mind being a lead, as long as my boss realizes that if 10 people are constantly using me as a resource, I can't actually finish my own work. But he knows that, so it's not bad. I do enjoy teaching...

 

[ultimatebob]

You should have been a teacher instead.

My wife is a pre-school teacher. In that job, she gets:

1) A pension that pays 80% of her salary for the rest of her life when she retires.
2) 12 weeks of vacation (mostly summer break) a year
3) A 35 hour (8 to 3:30) work week
4) Government health benefits that beat almost anything that you can get in the private sector.
5) Tenured status after 5 years that basically guarantees that she has a job for life.

Try getting anything close to that as an IT person or an Engineer.

 

[brianmanahan]

I don't mind being a lead, as long as my boss realizes that if 10 people are constantly using me as a resource, I can't actually finish my own work. But he knows that, so it's not bad. I do enjoy teaching...

i didn't mind being a lead as much when i got to stick to the technical side. but i got pulled to the business side about half the time (requirements, estimates, deadlines, etc) and it was not fun and not healthy for my diminished memory.

 

[JEDIYoda]

it seems i have to take a test or recertify a license every couple of months. I thought after school, I would be pretty much done with all that. But work is constantly adding more requirements every year. bleh

not saying it's not important or needed. just lazy. i have to figure out a way to take all the recerts and test in one day. this every couple of months stuff is annoying

Yearly certifications for male masseuses is just part of making the top dollar that you are paid!! Just be thankful the ending is always happy!!!

 

[TheVrolok]

Occasionally I feel similarly. It's reasonably exhausting keeping up with the sheer volume of information that's never ending.