How important is a job to your mental health?

>I know people that have been there for much longer and none of them seem happy or fulfilled. But much like you, I feel it's too cushy of a place to abandon in search for greener pastures.
Holy shit are you me? The only thing keeping me here is the money. And it's GOOD money (46k no benifets) for not a lot of work, but I'm just not sure. I haven't met a single person who is here willingly everyone hates the place new and old timers alike.

The company culture also sucks cock where they believe in management through intimidation and everyone hates everyone else.

Yeah that's a good way to describe this place as well. Promotions are usually handed out privately to friends or acquaintances, sometimes from outside the company, and the job postings for the cushier jobs are often not even displayed publicly.
Despite this, I could've advanced professionally if I had a college degree, that's my biggest drawback and it makes any chance of getting up the ladder pretty moot. My only future options would be supervisor/middle management stuff, which I wouldn't mind as I already try and support my younger coworkers in any way I can in that regard, but those are the kind of positions where nepotism seems most rampant.

>My only future options would be supervisor/middle management stuff
Nigga I've got an engineering degree and that's what I do now. I work with the sups and go to their meetings daily. Don't get me wrong. This position has high esteem and pays quite well but I'm not a management type.
>nepotism seems most rampant.
Yeah I can see this happening but everyone at my company is too cut throat to suck a dick.

I couldn't imagine working at the sort of corporate places you all are talking about.

Wyd?

Attached: 1520441720206.jpg (500x355, 69K)

Still at college, waited/ing tables for awhile, I plan on teaching history and/or Spanish at a middle school. It's not glamorous in any way, but I get along well with kids and I feel like I'll have some sort of impact. The neighborhood and surrounding area is nice too, so there's that support from parents that's absent in inner-city schools.

Attached: el muchacho verde.png (382x452, 163K)

It certainly does. Work should be a split of you love being there and you have ahit youd change.

I actually like my job, quite a bit most days. Its hard work but i make people smile and that makes me feel good about how i spend my time to make money.

>Nigga I've got an engineering degree and that's what I do now. I work with the sups and go to their meetings daily. Don't get me wrong. This position has high esteem and pays quite well but I'm not a management type.

Then I don't know what to tell you. Do you honestly think you'd be happier doing maintenance work on industrial machines? You sure this is not just you wanting to change things up and not see the same faces in board meetings all the time?

>Do you honestly think you'd be happier doing maintenance work on industrial machines?
I'd like to think so, yes. I went into engineering thinking I'd be bulding and fixing shit, but that's what the mechanics do.

The "soulless corporation" stories you hear going around are pretty much true. There can however be a big difference between two teams within the same shitty company. Having a decent manager that understands he's not there to crack the whip and push people around and colleagues that defend, support and understand each other goes a long way towards making such places a lot more bearable.
If you however do land in a cutthroat environment where people are simply exploited and replaced and there's a constant pressure on everyone which leads to massive distrust and resentment between coworkers, then it's pretty much hell on Earth and your only way to survive is to push people around which has the side-effect of exacerbating the problem for everyone else.

I think this is a case of grass being greener, because I honestly don't see how such a position would be better, regardless what your education is. Besides, if you like to tinker with things you can always pick it up as a hobby. Maybe buy an older car/motorcycle.
I think what you're aiming at would be a step down professionally and is perhaps a romantic notion to you because you haven't even tried it.

my job's pretty boring and it pays very poorly, but im very happy with my life

most people just go home and watches shit tv anyway - im not convinced making more money will make you happier. very few people actually 'enjoy' work, they tolerate it, so if you tolerate yours and have a good, active, interesting life outside of work, good job & keep it up
life is about who you are, not what you are

read, write, make music, be kind to people and have genuine conversations

you can sort a career out with enough persistence, but you won't give two fucks about it when you're old and approaching death. sorting yourself out is much more important

This. I'm and the place I work for is locally/family owned and my supervisor spent 8 years in my position. Everything is super fucking chill.

This is what I'm scarred of the most. What if this is the best opportunity and I have no idea that it is. What if it's horrible but I never leave?

I'm 23 and this is my first real job outa college. I've worked Wal-Mart to tech support and network ops so I have no real idea where I'm going at this point.

I think that your reasons for switching jobs is what will clue you in on whether it's a good move or not.
When you start disliking a job, a place or even people, you will automatically start coming up with reasons to confirm your bias. I should go back to do X, Y might have been better for me and so on. These are just assumptions not based on anything concrete other than your expectations and dislike for your current condition. That's why when people hit a rough patch in their lives they start analyzing past mistakes and opportunities they missed thinking that if they made different choices they wouldn't have ended up in such a bad place.
The problem with this kind of thinking is that it doesn't account for the fact that no matter what you're trying to pursue you will have to endure transitional periods where you don't feel like you're growing much. But if every time you come across something like that your reaction is to quit and try something else, you might end up always chasing something different and never getting deep enough in any area of expertise to reap the rewards.

Being only 23 is good news because it makes it very likely that your best jobs are still ahead of you. But even at this age, your choice to step into a different area of expertise and discard your 1 or 2 years of experience should have a rational basis and "I have no real idea where I'm going" isn't one. If you had a job lined up that promised more personal satisfaction and at least an idea of where you'd want to be in 5 years then that would make some sense. Otherwise you're pretty much just wishing on a star.

Thank you for your in depth reply.

You see, I had gone to school for industrial engineering, but found 2/3 of the way through that I really wasn't a fan of it. Instead of switching majors or dropping out I committed and finished my degree with the mentality of "I just have to find a job I like. An engineering degree from an ABET accredited school should just just help me find something somewhat easier."
This white collar stuff doesn't really jive with me at all and I'm nervous that I got a degree in something that I hate.

Yeah it was stupid, but I chose this degree when I was 17-18 years old. I had no fucking clue what it was going to bring me. I though engineers built shit with math because I was an idiot and I never had anyone tell me other wise.

The main reason I think I have to "find a job I like." Is because my dad worked as a surgeon for like 40 years and hated every second of it. He hated his life. Damn it he hated just about everything. The one piece of advice I took from him was "do something you love, don't chase the money or status. If you chase the money you'll end up like me. Use me as an example of what not to be."

So I want to find something that I get that I enjoy. I just don't know when to switch or if the reasons are justified or not.

Attached: 1519851305130.jpg (1024x702, 79K)

I wish I could remember the book so I could recommend it but my takeaway from this book I now can't remember the title of was that "pursuing your passion" is a very romantic notion with little root in reality. And that at best, being passionate about something will only really help you in the beginning, it'll make learning the ropes feel easier and less of a drag. But that being good at something, honing your skill through practice and experience, is where true job satisfaction resides. Being good at something automatically makes you like that activity more.

As far as what your dad said, I dunno. It goes back to what I said earlier, it's easy to play the what if game.But if you're determined to try something else, make a real goal out of it. Write down exactly what you want, break it down into little steps and actively pursue it. Otherwise, you're just expecting something better to fall in your lap.

This

You think you like playing the guitar, or reading novels, or whatever? Try doing it 8 hours a day, every day, with some miserable old twat telling you what tunes to learn and what books to read. Even if you decided for yourself, you'd begin to hate it. Passion doesn't last!

Thanks guys. I needed to hear this. Maybe I just need to change my attitude about this job.

...still bitter that they made me shave my beard for this job. Fuck maybe I can push for that policy change here.

No problem. My job is far from ideal and I bitch about it often, but realistically it ain't that bad and I have more than enough time to see the boys, see my gf, go for walks, ride my bike, make tunes and read. Realistically, that's as good a life as any unless you're deluded and hellbent on being some millionaire investor or the next Steve Jobs. By all means, don't settle for a shit job if there's something you'd prefer and are eligible for, but make sure you're that not throwing your toys out the pram or shooting yourself in the foot.

In a word.. extremely. Your entire environment is important to your mental health.

You don't have to have your dream job but it's important you're stimulated, not stressed, and well paid (last ones subjective)

>Not realizing that engineers are white collar paper pushers.

Too bad you had to learn the hard way. You're still young though. If you're physically fit and interested in fixing shit I bet you could start an apprenticeship as a heavy duty technician, those companies would probably be happy to hire someone with an engineer's mind. There will be a bit more schooling but the vast majority of the apprenticeship is on-the-job training.

I've been considering this as well. Thank you man.

I haven't had work in 5 months, not studied in 3… doing nothing all day is shit. If I had a job I could plan around it and actually spend my money on things. Gym at 5 after. Coffee with friends on the weekend at 9.

Without work/money I hate myself and don't plan anything.

>"do something you love, don't chase the money or status"

I like the advice but don't know if it's a good idea for me to take it. I don't care much about money and not at all about status, but right now there are armies of tech people working on AI that can do the sorts of jobs I would like to do. Honestly I would be most happy working as a garbageman because it's low stress and I'd get to drive a big truck, but I don't know if that job will exist in 15 years.

Having a job is necessary to develop self worth and obviously financial worth. There is nothing more soul/pride crushing than the feeling of being useless.

>garbageman
Thought of this during my last semester. Shit man it still sounds pretty good.

I still haven't abandoned the idea. I'm considering going to the trucking school and taking the Class 3/DZ program where you get the license to drive those trucks. The commercial waste disposal companies are always hiring drivers and you can make 50-60k (CAD) if you work long hours and overtime. A few months ago I was talking to guy who became his own boss, he bought a truck like pic related and became a garbage contractor. All he does is get up every morning, drive his truck to his customers' businesses, pick up garbage, make dump runs, repeat. His wife stays at home and works as his secretary/dispatcher.

Attached: garbagetruck.jpg (1004x752, 138K)

It's crucial. You need food, shelter, and you need something of real value to work at.

Attached: hidden.jpg (758x886, 149K)

>Does a job affect how you see your day to day life?
Definitely
The important part is being able to live off the paycheck though so I wouldn't switch jobs if that isn't the case even if it's hell on the mind and body.
If you just wanted to fix shit you should've put yourself through a trade school and saved the money from your degree. Good thing is it's not too late or too expensive to take some night classes or something and move to a field you might enjoy more.