what do you like about your job?

by Alison Green on August 23, 2011

Reading all the comments on the secret fantasy career post made me wonder about the things that make you happy at your job in real life.  What do you love about your job, past or present? What things make you happy about your job that might surprise other people?

Nothing about the paycheck or benefits here. This is about the day-to-day mundanities that you derive joy from.

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{ 93 comments }

{ 93 comments… read them below }

  1. Will Johnson*

    I enjoy how busy I am and the fact that I get to analyze data about our data.

    We do a lot in paid search advertising and I’m constantly working on finding the cause of minor differences and analyzing trends. It’s way more interesting than doing just the paid search marketing aspect of it.

    I don’t think I’d enjoy my job as much if I didn’t get to dig into interesting problems that others don’t really know how to solve.

  2. Anonymous*

    Well, with my fantasy career, it’s more about what else I would’ve wanted to study in college. As far as what I am doing today, it’s more about what I don’t love. I’m not in my own field yet, having to resort to a job outside my field thanks to the weak economy. I’d go on, but I don’t want to put a kabosh on your post.

  3. Katy O*

    My favorite parts of my last job included the ability to work independently (trust from employers) & the people I worked with. It’s great to work with people that care about their company and doing a good job. It’s hard to find that environment today because so many people just don’t care about honesty, hard work & integrity.

  4. Meaghan*

    Number one is that my family and I get to live overseas (once I’m done training)! But even at home, my job is rarely the same two days in a row. I’m in a training position right now where I’m working on an internal help desk, which means that I’m learning exactly where in our LARGE organisation to go for the answers to different problems. I’m also learning about finances, something totally new to my super-humanities background, but I’m finding that it is way easier than I had feared!

  5. Nichole*

    I work two jobs, and at both my coworkers are hilarious. This morning, everyone is excited because we’re “piloting” adding capris to our business casual dress code. At the other job, we have an ongoing discussion about cankles. The combination has me snickering in my cubicle. When I hear people talk about their awful coworkers and nightmare bosses, I say a little prayer of thanks. Also, I like that my coworkers bring snacks. I know that sounds simplistic, but it’s definitely good for morale when someone fills the chocolate basket or stashes samples of their latest kitchen adventure in the breakroom. There are lots of things I like about my work and my companies, but those are the little things that help on days when I don’t like much of anything.

  6. Anonymous*

    My current job has been wonderful because I get to split my time between creative and organizational tasks. I love having that duality, because when I get stuck on the creative stuff, I can switch gears and do the organizational stuff. It’s nice being able to use both sides of my brain. I also like that my bosses are very effective managers. They understand the importance of hiring good people and then simply clearing the way so their team members can do what they do best with few obstacles.

  8. Liz in a Library*

    For my field: I get paid to learn and teach. That’s pretty exciting for me–I love information in all its forms. I also get to meet new people constantly, and I do a lot of detail-oriented work to satisfy my type A tendencies. I create knowledge units and teaching tools. :)

    My job in particular gives me a lot of leeway to choose my own projects, instead of just doing whatever comes down from above. That’s unusual in libraries in my sector. I also work with a really strong, close-knit group of people who all genuinely like and respect each other–that is pretty rare, in my experience.

  10. Anonymous*

    Recent posts aside, I love my cubicle with the computer facing the corner. I’m a web developer and value the concentration space. I love the unending puzzles my clients give me. I love that my job is not all consuming and I get to go home at a reasonable hour and live a healthy life. And I love my users, bless their technology-challenged hearts (the young ones are the most fun, they are convinced tech is in their DNA, but of course it isn’t).

  11. Jamie*

    I love analysis – the IT and internal auditor/cost analyst parts of my job both allow me to pour over data (what is) and see patterns and opportunities for improvement (what can/should be). I don’t think there’s anything more satisfying than solving the puzzle and then using the solution to increase efficiency.

    That has to be the most boring thing anyone has ever typed – but someone has apply the logic so the creative types can do what they do and bring in the customers and their business.

    And although you didn’t ask – what I hate about my job is troubleshooting user problems. I don’t love the mini-fire drills every day or hand-holding. I’m really not great at hand-holding.

    Nothing is perfect, though, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

    1. Josh S*

      I am neither auditor nor IT person (I work in market research), but I, too, LOVE using data to find patterns that might not be obvious.
      “Solving the puzzle and then using the solution to increase efficiency.” That’s me in a nutshell. Every job I’ve had, I find myself doing that on the side of / in addition to whatever my ‘job’ duties are. And any time the companies I worked for de-valued or ignored the improvements, it totally demotivated me.

      (Wow. I think I just recognized something about myself that I hadn’t put words to before. Thanks!)

  12. Anne*

    I love a lot of things about my job. I’m a Children’s Librarian so it can be lots of fun reading with the kids and getting to know the local families. My husband jokes that I’m a celebrity because I am always running into people I know from work at Taco Bell, the movies, grocery store, etc.

    I really like that I am making an impact on the community where I live and work. I have been able to make some pretty big improvements to my department since I’ve been here also, so it has been validating to see the changes and people are responding well.

    One thing that may surprise people is that I sometimes like when patrons “complain” to me about one thing or another. To me, that means they are really engaged in our department and that they care about what we are doing. If they didn’t care, they’d say nothing and just stop coming. I like having the opportunity to (re) evaluate that aspect of our services and possibly fix it.

    I’m only in my mid/late 20s, so I really like that I found a job where I am the head of my department and get to pick out all the kids’ and teen books. That is really fun and awesome to seek them react to what we have on our shelves.

    There are also things I don’t like, of course… but Alison didn’t ask about those!

  13. Jen*

    I work in non-profit fundraising, and it’s about as rewarding and frustrating as you might imagine. I love being able to be proud of the work I do, asking people to support missions that I believe are important. I work in annual giving, where high volume, low dollar gifts are the name of the game. It makes my day when I get a call from someone who gives us $10 a year and wishes they could give more, but they are a committed donor regardless. I even love hearing from the people who are outraged that we would presume to ask them for money at all.

    There are icky bits that go with it – very few people seem to hold fundraisers in any sort of positive light – but I enjoy the work.

  14. majigail*

    I run a nonprofit, and I get a real kick out of playing with year end statistics. Weird, I know.

  15. Samantha*

    I like that I have an office, that I’m decently busy, that my boss leaves me alone and that my coworkers are nice. Seriously. I’ve worked without an office, been bored, under micro managers and with nasty coworkers. Not fun.

  16. Megan*

    I measure streamflow as one of my major tasks. I’m based in Nevada so there isn’t much water…but we have a lot of hot springs. I love standing in a hot spring and getting paid for it. I also like the interaction I have with the public. They come to enjoy the spring and ask what I’m doing and why I’m there. Maybe I just spend too much time out by myself, but it’s awesome to explain why my job is important and show them where they can get the data online for free!

      1. Anonymous*

        My first job out of college was going to the beach, in LA, and taking samples of the water. Best job ever. I got to know the guards at the private beach clubs, and they would let me in whenever I wanted.

      2. Megan*

        I’m a surface water hydrologist with the USGS. It’s a great job – I compute and verify the stage/discharge relationship for a variety of streams in southern Nevada. The data are used for bridge design, floodplain mapping, water supply, and recreational purposes.

  17. Heather-Renee*

    The best part of my day is that I am able to spend all day with college students. My job may not be glamorous, but I like knowing that I can fill a need on campus, as well as getting know the students.
    Plus, it is air conditioned and the radio works, so I can’t complain.

  18. Rachel*

    My job has really been getting me down lately. I really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments so far.

    I work across the street from a large branch of the public library. If someone mentions a book in passing, I like being able to pick it up, for free, during my lunch hour.

    I also like that we have lap top computers. It means that I can relocate to another spot if I need a change of scenery.

  19. NDR*

    As far as the work conditions go: I appreciate the autonomy (amidst camaraderie in the department), the fact that my boss will always intervene if necessary and having coworkers in roles that take care of the tasks that I dislike (invoicing, invitation lists, etc.), rather than former jobs where I had to take care of all of these things. I am honored having repeat clients who trust that I will exceed expectations.

    As far as the specific job of event planning: I really like the monthly (or more) catering and/or wine tastings, visits to florists and getting to play with linens. The nerd in me loves making and manipulating budgets and timelines. I also think that the variety and cyclical nature of event planning keeps it interesting all the time.

  20. Cruella*

    Despite the fact that they’ve made half of my hair turn white, and nick-named me “Cruella,” I really love my staff. The other thing that I love about my job is the people that I meet. Our clients are great too. No two days are the same and all these people help keep them interesting.

  21. CK*

    At my last job, we had a large bowl of whole fruit and a basket of granola bars replenished daily in the kitchen (as part of a company-wide health and wellness initiative) – I didn’t have to buy bananas for over a year! I also liked the compressed work schedule which allowed me to have every second Friday off, which would sometimes lead to extra long weekends if my Friday happened to be tacked onto a long weekend.

    At the job previous to the above, I absolutely loved my manager – I still consider him to be the best manager I’ve had in the 15 years I’ve been in the workforce. I ultimately ended up leaving the job only because there was nowhere for me to go career-wise, but I stayed for almost 3 years because I enjoyed working for him so much (I probably would’ve left after the first year if he hadn’t joined the company).

  22. Lisa*

    I love the people I work with, and the enormous amount of autonomy I’m granted. I report only to the owner, and he just doens’t want to deal with the mgmt, so I and 2 others do it.

    I love the variety of the days.

    I love the work the company actually does.

  23. fposte*

    I feel like if I listed all the things that I like everybody’d want my job. Or at least a good portion of AAM readers, since there are definitely recurring types around here. But I’ll go with great colleagues, heart-warmingly eager and talented young support staff, flexibility, variety, interesting challenges, cool books, writing for a living, incredibly short commute, industry with possibilities for advancement and authority at all stages of life. I’m very fortunate. (Mind you, I also don’t mind low pay and long hours.)

      1. fposte*

        It’s a strange hybrid; I think I’m the only one anywhere with this actual job, so all the coworkers I’ve recommended this blog to will probably recognize me! It’s actually an academic job, and it involves both publishing a professional book-review journal, running a research center, and performing academic research, all in children’s literature.

        It doesn’t pay a ton, but it’s a great job to talk about at parties.

  25. Anonymous*

    I love my colleagues and that I get to work with a lot of different people from various fields. My work is in organisation, project management and technical for a handful of technical developments. And I also love that I am left allone when on vaction, since I really need the rest to be fit for the rest of the year.

  26. Anonymous*

    This is a great question. I’ve been having a very hard time at work lately so it is good to reflect on the upsides. I love the look people give me when I tell them something that they find valuable or when they find a bit of hope. So many people come in who feel overwhelmed or scared or hopeless and I love the part of my job when those people leave feeling better.
    I also like when people with very advanced degrees come in and though they could act like they know everything and are above getting assistance from someone like me they rarely do and they nearly always are willing to find the little nugget of information in what I have to tell them.

  27. Not That Jennifer*

    My manager is great, and I like the flexibility she offers us (to work the hours that are most effective for us, to work from home whenever it makes sense). And the people I work with are great.

    I also enjoy my core job function: turning raw technical details into something our customers and tech support teams can use. Writing text for user interfaces, writing articles and white papers, creating flowcharts and illustrations–that’s all fun for me.

  28. Cara Carroll*

    I like the location of my job, just 15 min from where I live. I like the people I work with. I am in HR and things can get interesting around here. But I really enjoy that people know they can confide in me and I will help them to the best of my ability. We have a strong internship program and I really like going out to the campus and talking to/helping students with their interviewing and resume skills. I probably derive the most joy from that. Ideally I would like to someday work in a Career Services facility.

  29. NicoleW*

    There are a number of things I don’t like about the company I work for, but I can find a fair amount to like in the job itself.
    I like the variety. My boss calls me the “budget master,” but I also evaluate & hire staff, project manage, and edit scripts.
    I like that watching the movie Rio with my daughter last night was a work assignment.
    I like that I have a large window and a nice view from my office.
    I like that my bosses and I have things in common outside of work.
    I love most of the vendors and independent contractors we work with. On some projects, these people are the best part of my job.
    I like hiring a great person for a job (it’s especially rewarding when it’s someone I’ve really championed and my boss agrees to go with my recommendation).

    Thanks for asking us to reflect on this. When the job search isn’t going well and you’re working at company with crazy low morale, it’s easy to forget you like anything about your job!

  30. Jaime*

    I like that my job environment is very casual (ie, shorts and flipflops). My immediate manager is a good guy and doesn’t hesitate to showcase your successes. My coworkers are almost all fun and great to work with. I met three of my closest friends at this job and I still get to hang out with them almost every day. I love that we all laugh and have a good time. One of my friends there has a great gag – if you have long enough hair, wear a tshirt and pull it through the sleeve. Then you stroke it a bit (or whatever) and have someone turn around to check out your hairy armpit. lol, it’s making me giggle just to think about it. While that doesn’t happen every day, it’s nice to work somewhere it can happen at all. Most of our clients are nice too and some we get to work with enough to develop a bit more of a relationship.

    Certainly it has it’s drawbacks and I’ve worked there so long I’m stagnating, but the people make me smile every day.

  31. jersey*

    Part of my job involves researching to find people who have the capacity to donate to our organization. I love doing that. I find all kinds of wacky information about them – I look at their awesome homes, and their old marriage announcements in the NYTimes; I find out why they were disbarred from the California bar association or that their father was part of the Payola scandal. It’s fun! And yeah, I get that it’s a bit creepy, but it’s all public info. It’s not like I break into their houses or anything.

    Besides all of that, I truly, truly love my boss and my other colleague that I work closely with. We have a shared work ethic – and that makes all the difference.

    Oh yeah. I almost forgot. I love working to raise money for a good cause. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

  32. Sarah*

    What a great question! I think we’re all hard-wired to gripe but need to be reminded to be grateful sometimes.

    I love the fact that I am employed, and in the current times, that’s something I try never to take for granted.

    I love that my boss trusts that I’m working even when she can’t see me, that she’s brilliant, and that she treats me well. (I’ve had ones who didn’t, who weren’t, and who didn’t.) I love that my job has a lot of variety and I can always learn more. I love when I can help a coworker and when I can be a resource to somebody. I love the location of my office – both that it’s not far from home, and also that it’s a beautiful location. I love that I’m getting a new angle on my career working here.

  33. Kailyn*

    My last job was in healthcare IT, and I loved that I learned something new every day. Being non-clinical in the medical world – there was/is always something cool I didn’t know about.

    Also, I loved, whenever I went to the doctor, I was able to actually see the impact of my work from another perspective.

  34. Heather*

    I’m in a new job now after nearly four years of hell at my old job in finance, where barely a week passed without me driving home in tears. After my recent bad experience, I’ve tried to be especially mindful of how lucky I am in my new position: I have a boss who trusts me and treats me like an adult; she actually values my experience and input and welcomes my opinion – I feel like I’m wanted here; we’re regularly praised for even the smallest accomplishments and victories, which makes me go home feeling good about myself each day; I work in an industry that’s making a difference and makes people’s lives better, so I can go home each day feeling good about my contribution to the world (hard to say about finance right now); I work with really great people who are all supportive of each other and truly team player; I know my boss has my back 100%, which allows me to do my job with confidence; and lastly, I work with people who come from all walks of life and have varying degrees of experience – and I have learned so much from all of them. In just a few months here, I feel that I’ve grown more than I did the four years in my old job.

  35. Anon y. Mouse*

    I’m a desktop support tech. I handle anything that goes wrong with people’s workstations, other people handle the servers. I like having my own little realm to keep running smoothly, it’s a mostly invisible job but a very important one. I’m also good at it. There’s a lot of organization required, and hands-on work with computers and parts, which I really enjoy.

    I also really enjoy explaining technical stuff to non-technical people, at least on the rare occasions when they want to learn. It’s a challenge to distill technical terms into plain English, and I love the way people’s faces light up when they ‘get it’ and realize that this incomprehensible tech stuff really isn’t that hard to understand after all.

    1. Jamie*

      Shhhh…if people know it’s not that hard to understand we’ll all be out of work.

      That’s IT’s best kept secret. :)

      1. Anon y. mouse*

        Hah, that’s so true. I think we could shout it from the rooftops, though, and we’d still have plenty of work. Some people are just scared of computers. I can’t for the life of me figure out why.

    2. Lesa*

      You reminded me of the wonderful tech support I’ve been privileged to have available in previous jobs. It sounds like you would be something to be thankful for! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  36. Joy*

    I just can’t get enough of solving problems! I enjoy so much when I figure out a way to fix a broken process, streamline a process, or find a way to meet the most outrageous goal…I won’t be content if I run out of problems to solve

  37. Sarah*

    I just switched jobs about 10 months ago, and I love that the culture at my new company is SO much more positive, relaxed, and associate-focused.

    I like that my boss and I can curse around each other, vent, and just discuss random personal things. I came from an environment where personal lives and work did NOT intermingle.

    I like that we have a popcorn machine in the cafeteria that makes fresh yummy popcorn around 2:00pm every day.

    I like that we have a gym and that I am free to go work out in the middle of the day, and then shower up (weird to shower at work, but strangely relaxing and quiet) and go back to work.

    I like that this company really understands work-life balance. At my previous company, my boss would’ve come to work dragging an IV cart if she had to, and would expect you to do the same. If you called in sick you were weak, lazy, or not dedicated.

    2. Anon y. mouse*

      “I like that we have a popcorn machine in the cafeteria that makes fresh yummy popcorn around 2:00pm every day.”

      Oooh. My company’s talking about finding ways to have more fun – I think I need to go suggest this to HR. Or right to the CEO, whoever likes popcorn more. :-)

  38. Kelly O*

    Honestly, my boss is the best part of my job. I’m working directly for one individual, and that one individual is pretty awesome. He’s a great teacher, he provides clear, complete instruction, and he explains things in such a way that I don’t leave his office scratching my head about what the whole point of our conversation was.

    I also get to spend time creating forms, writing procedures, and analyzing data. Those are three of my favorite things, and I’m enjoying having the time and ability to focus on that for a bit.

    I can totally relate to the person who said the best part is going home. Because there are so many other things going on that make this place Purgatory on Earth, it’s nice to now have some things that are more bearable.

    1. Anon y. mouse*

      I once heard someone say that the single most important element of job satisfaction is the boss. I completely agree.

  39. Jamie*

    When I worked at a rare books library with a small staff — I loved the cats that lived outside and became unofficial mascots. I loved that we ALL ate lunch together at essentially the same time to just chat… and we also had tea break at 3 every afternoon together. (Is that a benefit? lol.) I loved that my bosses always told me I was doing a good job when I was, and didn’t mind taking time to teach me something when I needed it. They treated me like an adult (gasp!) and trusted my choices.

    Task-wise, I LOVED looking at old stuff and organizing it… I always managed to find the funniest and most interesting ephemera — there was the printed card commemorating when the members of a rich old boys book club got stuck in an elevator during a 1940s annual meeting… there was the photographs of Teddy Roosevelt valiantly “guarding” the thieves that stole his boat in Montana (or North Dakota?) while his assistants did the real work of chopping wood and stuff. XD Hahaha! Or the poem written in the early 1700’s lamenting the fate of Mr. Io Clavy, who shot off his own hand. lol. So interesting to get a peek into someone else’s life in the past!

    At my other more recent job at my high school as a temporary registrar — I looooved doing all the mundane but super necessary records work. -I- helped the 100 seniors get into college. Not directly by writing essays (ugh o_o ) or recommendation letters, but I helped wrangle the new system that sent everything electronically, I created a good-looking PDF version of the kids’s transcripts on my own when the computer people refused to help… it just made me feel competent and useful. I think my favorite memory was the one kid who would come in every week or so to chat and basically ask for validation because his college counselor belittled his college choices… that kid -remembered- my name when he saw me outside school, and personally thanked me at the end of the year. It’s cheesy, but it’s so rewarding to know you helped kids like that. =)

  40. Steve Geoghan*

    Best part – my boss doesn’t hog the day to day decisions. He lets me make operations-type decisions even though I am not a manager and trusts my judgement. He is busy looking for new markets, etc. I could easily imagine someone in his position micromanaging me, questioning every detail of what I do, etc.

  41. Anonymous*

    What I like about my job that makes me want to stay?
    The relationships that I have with my co-workers and especially my supervisors/managers.

  42. Susan*

    I loved a ton of things about my last professional job. I worked for a great company, with a great group of salespeople and a great internal team. I also made lifelong friends there. For day-to-day specifics, I loved the empowerment and autonomy I was granted in order to get my job done, and had creative, risk and project management tasks to manage; in addition there were the daily “fires” to handle for my sales team and my external clients. I loved being given a task of “what is this product they’re asking about, figure it out, get it approved for client ABC, and we need the contract signed within 9 days” and being able to get it done (w/o micromanagement). I loved having all those balls in the air and at the end of the day or week, that feeling of “AH HA, I did it!” type of success. ☺

    Sadly, the only jobs I see now are so pigeonholed – i.e., put peg A into slot B and do this for 8 hours 5 days a week for the next three years, please.

  43. Christine*

    I think one of my favorite aspects of past jobs (I’m out of work right now) was working with fellow professionals in the same or similar fields as I am. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy helping the general public too, but for some reason, I feel more energized by other professionals whereas trying to translate information to the public was actually draining for me at times, especially verbally. Weird, I know. lol.

  44. Jessica*

    I’d definitely have to say my coworkers. Some of them are women that I would (and sometimes do) hang out with outside work. I would have loved to get to know them even without working with them, so I feel lucky that they are also my coworkers. (Being able to laugh with coworkers makes the bad parts more bearable.)

    I also like that my job is changing, so I’ll have to learn new things. I hate things getting old and mundane, so new learning opportunities makes me super happy!

  45. Jane*

    I love that I am very busy, very, very busy!! I love helping our customers and researching to get them the right info they need. They often tell me they are so glad they talked with me as no one else in the company could help them. It’s nice to be appreciated.

    My boss is great, very easy-going and laid back. He doesn’t make me feel tense and on edge all day long as other bosses in the past have.

    I like organizing my massive piles of work and I just love it when I am finished with something and can throw it in the wastebasket.

  46. Anonymous*

    I love so many things about my job – things that I couldn’t have foreseen when I accepted it! I love the people I work with: my coworkers, my boss, and even most of the clients we serve. I feel that I can really relate to the clients, which helps me serve them better. I also like that the job takes me out of my comfort zone just enough to stretch me and help me grow. It is a great mix of interaction and independence, which works for my slight introvert tendencies. I’m deeply grateful that my boss trusts me an believes in my abilities. Overall it is a great fit!

  47. Maddy*

    I have to agree with those that say coworkers. At my last job, I loved the relationship I had with my team. We all got along really well. Also, my boss was not “greedy” with her knowledge. I learned a lot from her- business and street knowledge. She was probably the best boss I’ve ever had. Anyway, I think your relationship with your coworkers either make or break your love for the job. If you don’t talk to people at your workplace you are going to dread going in everyday despite how much you make there… but if you love the people and organization then you will find someway to make it work…

  48. Linda Kuriloff*

    I am employed as a Work Readiness Instructor to a population that has employment barriers. I like getting to pick what we talk about in class along with getting to influence how they think of work. It gives me a sense of contributing to all of society by assisting those who are currently supported by public assistance.

    1. anonymous*

      I would love to do this job… I have often thought of volunteering in this capacity. I am in HR and do hiring of hourly/entry level positions.. I see so many people that I think, “if I could just help them work on their application skills, personal presentation, attitude, etc”..

  49. Jody*

    I love that when my workload gets mundane and predictable, I can volunteer on an outreach team and get a sense of fulfillment and excitement about creating a positive impact at work and in our community. The events improve morale and it is so much fun working with smiling people that have put work aside for a few moments to support a community drive or a diversity incentive and it help us engage with each other at work but in a non-related work activity.

  50. ShirleyCakes*

    Like a few others that have posted, I’ve been struggling with how I feel about my job lately so its nice to stop and focus on the positives.

    I love getting the opportunity to do creative and marketing type tasks despite the fact that it is not part of my job description. I love leading and supporting my team and really being able to pass on my knowledge and experience to them. I am fortunate to have a lovely group of folks to eat lunch with daily. My husband constantly talks about working through his lunch, but I am afforded the luxury of an hour with people I truly enjoy. My sanity demands it!

  51. Sinjin Smythe*

    My co-workers here is my local sales office and my peer in sales offices across the country are the best part of my job. It helps that I’m just a few miles from the office and the attire is business casual too. Now that I’m a manager I’m called in to help instead of asking for help all the time. That is empowering or makes me feel validated. When I do go to my boss for help it isn’t like when I was not a manager. Now going to my boss is very consultative where before I was a manager it was very instructional.

  52. Anonynous J*

    To be honest, what I like best about my current job are a few select coworkers and leaving at the end of the day. Also, to its credit, my company–management in general, even my crappy managers–is very flexible about leave. It’s very rare for someone to want or need time off and for them to say “no.” Also, our campus is really pretty lovely.

    In the past, I was very, very happy as a temp, not just because of the variety and flexibility, but because of the variety of work settings and tasks I was asked to do.

    1. Anonynous J*

      Urgh. I meant “…not just because of the FLEXIBILITY, but because of the variety…”

  53. Phideaux*

    I work for a company whose products improve the lives of thousands of special needs children every month, and seeing the end result of that and knowing that I played a part in doing that is very rewarding for me. It’s that very same sense of purpose or mission that makes for a great, dedicated group of people to work with.
    Also, the company culture is such that innovations and changes either to the product or the process come from the workers, the people who are actually doing the job. The management actually goes to the workers to help solve problems, and they encourage everyone’s input. This give people a huge sense of accomplishment and that they are more than just a cog in the machine.

    That, and they give away big screen TV’s, airline tickets, and weekend trips to resorts, among other things, as door prizes at the company picnic!

  54. MissinLnk*

    I’m in IT and my favorite part of the job is optimizing systems. Sure, it’s fun to be thrown a problem (our network is down!) and have to come up with a solution to get everything going again quickly. But I really enjoy preventing those problems from ever happening. Taking a network and cleaning it up, optimizing it’s operation, removing single points of failure, and preparing it for the next 5 years of known and unknown changes to IT and the business…I just love that. I have to continually learn new things to be able to accomplish it properly, which I love to do and keeps me interested in the gig. (Plus, it lets me sleep at night even if I’m on call 24/7.)

    You know, I never thought about this topic until reading all of your replies. Figuring this out really helps me to understand what makes me tick. I have been debating where to take my career and now it feels much easier to weigh the different options. Thank you AAM and everyone who commented!

  55. Jen*

    I am given flexibility with my schedule. I am also trusted to do my job. My boss knows me enough to allow me to do my job without micromanagement. I check in often with my boss and she lets me be. Love it! And yes, I’m a Gen Xer :)

  56. Sarah*

    Another thing I love about my job/company…

    I really love the impact we have on our customers and how the company shares that with its employees. We sell clothing to young girls with positive messaging, and it’s great to read letters and stories from moms and girls about how much they love our company, or had a great in-store experience. Even though there are a lot of layers between my job and the end customer, I still feel like what I do impacts them.

    1. Anonymous*

      wouldn’t be too quick to say that.. True, any job is better than none…. but remember the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

  58. ECH*

    I like the good relationship I have with the members of my department at a small local newspaper – how we encourage each other, try to help each other out when needed, and have a great time being together. One of my staff members, after introducing me to someone, said “We laugh a lot at work, and somehow we get a paper out.” I love that description. The camaraderie is priceless.

  59. Happy Lawyer*

    I’m an associate lawyer, and I really enjoy the intellectual challenges of my job. I do tax and regulatory work (no litigation, thank goodness), and I like figuring out how the financial aspects of a deal work with within a broader legal framework. My day is balanced between drafting documents and participating in calls, and I like the mix of writing and contact with other people. My colleagues are all terrific people, which is an added bonus. I haven’t seen many other (happy) lawyers on AAM, but we do exist:)

  60. Josh S*

    The best thing about my current job is that I am allowed to go where my curiosity leads me, so long as I get my stuff in by deadline. It’s endlessly fascinating (even if the stuff I’m researching is usually ‘mundane’ items like shampoo packaging).

  61. Laura*

    I get to spend my days helping people navigate knitting and crochet patterns via phone and email and I love hearing the thrill in my customers’ voices when I get them to a place where they actually understand and can move on with their project. I have to admit, I also love how impressed pretty much everyone I know — especially those who also knit or crochet — is that I can actually do this without being face-to-face. It ain’t easy, and it’s really nice to be appreciated.

  62. Charlotte*

    I love the majority of my co-workers, that my schedule can be flexible if I really need it to be, that the company I work for values and supports continuing employee education and that I can make it to work in under 15 minutes even through “rush hour” traffic! Plus, I love how much I’ve learned about HR in the past three years – enough to know that while it will be a mostly satisfying/interesting career and pay the bills for the next 20 years or so (lol) my quilting will keep me sane!

  63. Brianna*

    A lot of folks have commented about their coworkers. I’d have to echo that. However, it’s a bit of a love-hate relationship. Individually, I respect and enjoy so many of my colleagues. But collectively they can drive me quite nuts!

  64. niki*

    I get free cosmetics all the time
    Flexible working hrs
    I get to travel
    My boss and i get along very well
    Big company but i working in a small group
    Best welfare
    … i actually thinking of quitting but after writing down the above points i may re consider.
    Thanks for the post , very interesting :D

  65. Dale Narca*

    What I’ve like best about this position is that it is a continues learning process and you will be keeping in touch with the client dealing with and have interpersonal relationship / interaction with the client dealing respectively.Lastly, this position motivates me to work with passion and career oriented as well, because my current job comprises and involves about loans documentation on approval and processing of loans which i guess I had the edge on applying above mentioned position.

  66. 上海新世界英语*

    Hi! I know this is kinda off topic however I’d figured I’d ask.
    Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog post or
    vice-versa? My site goes over a lot of the same subjects as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from each other.
    If you might be interested feel free to send me an e-mail.
    I look forward to hearing from you! Terrific blog by the way!

  67. Saurabh Nayak*

    As a software tester (Black box) I enjoyed –
    1. Busyness
    2. Single handed the project till handover/release.
    3. Working in different team for the same project.
    4. To be a faithful team member for ANY day to day task.
    5. Daily healthy argues with designer and developers for the issues found and force them to fix
    6. Daily various reporting activity which took almost 2 hours to prepare.
    and yes! appreciation from PM, DM and other teams for quality work done.

  69. Jennifer*

    I love that I am able to work from home. I love that my boss trusts me and at times even seeks my opinion or expertise. I love that my work improves the lives of my clients. I enjoy being constantly challenged and learning new things. Every day and every client is a different experience. I appreciate that the company I work for recognizes and appreciates my work and makes me feel like a valuable asset. I appreciate that my employer promotes health both physically and financially. I love being able to have lunch with my husband every day.

  70. Atishay*

    I would like a job where there is something new everyday. The pay doesn’t matter to me as much as the joy I derive from doing the thing I love. That makes for the motivation that is required for me to excel in the field. But realistically speaking,there is not quite a job like that where you get to experience something new everyday. I think People are just lucky if they get the job they love. Almost everyone is unhappy with their jobs or so it seems.

  71. Izetta*

    Hey just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you
    know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly.
    I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers
    and both show the same outcome.

  72. ayyappa*

    I enjoyed the people I worked with. It was a friendly and fun atmosphere and I actually enjoyed going into work each morning. I felt the leadership team was great as well. They knew all of their employees on a first name basis and tried to make those personal connections. I also enjoyed that fact that the office tried to do community outreach with local organizations.

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