I'm going to elaborate a bit more on
@Jesse Kamm and
@Herbert Raybourn's comments. In my experience, enjoyment of your job is most strongly correlated to two things:
- The people/environment in your day-to-day work. You can be working on a great project, but if the people you are working with are difficult personalities, it makes it hard to enjoy the day-to-day work.
- A match between your personality, your interests, and your role. This is something we often don't discuss and in my opinion needs to be talked about a lot more than it is, especially for students and young professionals when selecting early jobs. When these match, it is much more likely that you will enjoy your day-to-day tasks, which is very highly correlated with retention/job satisfaction as a whole.
Civil engineering is amazingly broad, and usually, it takes a number of jobs and companies to find the right fit for you. For example, an extroverted engineer stuck in an isolated, desk-type job, or an introverted engineer who is stuck on a construction site dealing with subcontractors all day will very likely not enjoy their day-to-day work. Both could even appear to be doing well from the "outside" but are likely to get home every day feeling drained and generally unfulfilled.
As someone who has mentored many engineers (particularly female engineers and minorities), I've seen way too many engineers (and I've done this myself) stick it out much longer than they should have in a role or environment that just wasn't well-suited to them. Sometimes that's required for financial reasons, but the more troubling trend I've seen is an assumption that because you've tried a couple of jobs (often in the same general area, for example consulting or construction) and didn't find one you enjoyed, that the entire field is not for you. That feeling is even easier to validate in cases where you don't see engineers in leadership that look like you.
I enjoy my job 90% of the time now (I own my own business). With age and 15 years experience, it's now abundantly clear that the times I didn't enjoy what I was doing was largely because I was trying to fit myself into a work environment that either didn't fit me or that I had outgrown. At the time, however - and especially the first few years - I remember believing that my experiences were indicative of the entire field and that this was "just how it is". If I had not had a really good mentor those first few years, I can't say if I'd even still be in this field today.
If you are reading this thread and trying to figure out why everyone loves their job so much - but you don't - please know that you are not alone and that it takes many of us several tries to find our "happy place" in the industry.As a very pragmatic person, I also don't think it's realistic to expect that you will love what you do 100% of the time. Mundane tasks are required in every role. Even when you are the boss, there is still absolutely necessary not-fun stuff to be done (does anyone really love doing timecards or dealing with scope/billing disputes?).
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Stephanie Slocum P.E., M.ASCE
Founder
Engineers Rising LLC
www.engineersrising.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 08-09-2019 10:32
From: Herbert Raybourn
Subject: Do you enjoy your job?
Jesse,
You make a great point about the people you interact with on a daily basis and matching your personality with the nature of work you spend most of your time doing being important factors in the satisfaction you have with your role.
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Herbert Raybourn P.E.,M.ASCE
Manager, Environmental Permitting Department
Walt Disney World Resort
Lake Buena Vista FL
(407)390-5215
Original Message:
Sent: 08-09-2019 08:38
From: Jesse Kamm
Subject: Do you enjoy your job?
Natalya,
I ought to clarify.. I have less front line, direct interaction with subs in my current role than I did when I was a field superintendent and project manager. My current role is largely about managing money, risk, strategy and relationships. Yes, managing contracted vendors can be quite stressful. It's a shame they have a minds of their own and don't always do things precisely as I would - (just a joke). I certainly get frustrated when I think events could have been handled differently. I have two sayings to remind myself and my CM's that I often say; "We're not the thought police" and "people are just people -we all want the same thing - to be happy and respected".
To your point, outside of the issues you excluded in your question, 1) The direct people with whom you interact on a day to day basis and 2) matching your personality with the nature of the work you spend the majority of your time doing seems to lead to a greater job satisfaction.
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Jesse Kamm PhD, PMP, A.M.ASCE
Senior Vice President of Construction Management
Original Message:
Sent: 08-08-2019 19:04
From: Natalya Sokolovskaya
Subject: Do you enjoy your job?
Thank you, Herbert, Jesse and Ala!
Even if different people appreciate different types of tasks, everyone agrees that who you work with and for is extremely important. Jesse, although I love traveling for work, I remember construction oversight, especially when it involved managing multiple subcontractors, as most stressful. On the contrary, I enjoy being at the computer, analyzing data to figure out trends and piece the puzzle together. Having other team members there for support and to joke around with made even the less favorite aspects of the job enjoyable.
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Natalya Sokolovskaya P.E.,M.ASCE
Wynnewood PA
(323)382-6176
Original Message:
Sent: 08-05-2019 18:02
From: Natalya Sokolovskaya
Subject: Do you enjoy your job?
Jameelah's excellent post on realism vs. romanticism in outreach to students (link below) got me thinking about how the reality of our daily tasks does or doesn't reach up to our expectations.
At one of my early jobs, I tried to keep a tally of what percent of hours worked during the day came with a '+' sign, which I defined as either being interesting, fulfilling, enjoyable, or teaching me something new. The results were depressing, and I ended up changing jobs. The ratio is much better now.
Aside from secondary issues of pay, work load and stress, do you find the bulk of your actual day-to-day tasks enjoyable? Can you put a number of it (e.g. half)? What are some of the favorite aspects of your daily tasks? Or is it too much to ask of a job - it's not a hobby after all?
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Natalya Sokolovskaya P.E.,M.ASCE
Wynnewood PA
(323)382-6176
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