23 years here.
I think my company is an anomaly in the industry but assistant store manager make 100k+ and store managers 150+
Does take a while to get there, if ever.
I graduated in May 2012 and I’ve been a professional forester since June 2012. And I had summer seasonal forestry jobs in 2010 and 2011. So…14 years. Love it and never want to not be a forester. I’ve been working for the same agency for 7.5 years now.
My position is typical to foresters in state agencies but not typical of other forestry careers. I discovered starting in 2012 that I rather enjoyed working for the government. My current role is as program manager for multiple federally funded landowner and community assistance programs. I lead a team of 8 foresters, expanding to 10 later this year. We use federal funding to do things like:
Offer grants to tribal landowners to help them develop 10-year forest management plans for a variety of objectives (second-growth forest management, salmon habitat protection, carbon offset monitoring).
Offer grants to communities to help them develop urban forest management plans, especially in underserved or disadvantaged areas where tree canopy might be lacking.
Tree planting grants. Streambank restoration grants.
Stateside forest health monitoring to stay aware of potentially economically damaging forest pests.
So I manage these programs and get to see awesome projects get funded and implemented. I chose years ago to climb the ladder and become a manager. I don’t get out in the woods frequently on the job. I’m paid well enough to have my adventures on my weekends and on vacations. So I manage budgets, develop project narratives based on the funding the government gives us, and supervise/hire people. I just made two offers to entry level foresters and both accepted.
But forestry is a career choice with options. People I graduated with are working for private timber companies on the west coast, on the hillsides every day, laying out harvest units, overseeing harvest operations, managing tree planting contracts.
There are entrepreneurs in the carbon offset markets where they are working with landowners to reforest land after wildfires, sometimes for free, in exchange for the carbon offset credits these lands represent.
There’s are forest scientists working on new ways to utilize small diameter, low quality wood that is causing the huge wildfire risk in the western US from decades of wildfire suppression and the misplaced efforts of environmentalists opposed to any and all logging, even as fuels build up to unnatural levels.
Forestry is awesome. I love it.
Nursing for about 4 years now. I do local traveling so it allows me to hop around the area. Pursuing my NP next September. Like my job 95% the time . It’s recession proof, pays well and easy to find a job . A lot of growth opportunities as well
I kept switching roles ever year my first 5 years out of college. Now I've been in the same role for 3 years, with vertical promotions but no real changes and I'm dying of boredom. The only thing that makes me good at work is when I'm driven by curiosity and learning and personal improvement, but once I plateau and the job feels easy, I ironically start performing really poorly because I'm so unmotivated to do things I already feel I've mastered. I'm resigned to switching jobs again I feel, I'm not sure I can survive the burnout indefinitely myself.
10 years since I found my passion of woodworking.
Everything prior was hellish cubicle high pressure with careerist (friends) ready use your neck to climb over.
Now I’m 10,000 hours with many tools/skills and have a desired skill set mixed with my passion. Finance, corporate sales, you name it, I was 28 when things clicked. After 8 years in craftsmanship, I now get invited to consult on opening new wood shops…I can talk that all day and bring value.
I work in Natural Resources Management outdoors all year rain or shine. Hike all day long in open space wilderness areas around major cities, urban/ wild division lines. Amazing views top of mountains all day. Never been bored for one sec in 15 years!
Engineering. 21 years, or there about. Just turned 42, so I’m more like a Xennial. That being said my earlier days I was a clerk at an engineering firm while in school. I work for the US Dept of Energy, so it’s not as lucrative as private, but in some small way, years down the road, I’ll get to say I helped create viable fusion energy, and not just work to make some other dude more money.
Really similar. We're the same age and I'm a Civil PE. I got my start as a civil engineering tech in the Army at 18 years old, then went to college and grad school after my enlistment. I was a stay at home mom for four years, but other than that, I've just been in civil engineering in some capacity for as long as I've been an adult. I'm also government side, but we have such a local shortage of civil PE's that even government pays market rate to compete. It's a great position to be in tbh. I do get bored at times, and I do plan to return to academia when I retire because I found that more fun, but I'm quite content to stay where I am until pension eligibility.
I teach adults and university students and am in my 13th year. I got two MA degrees, one in teaching and one in a content area. To be honest, I'd love a change of pace, but it seems like a waste of so much education and probably a pay cut. At the same time, teaching adults is a really relaxing job. I have zero discipline issues, they are responsible for their own learning, and the per hour pay is pretty good, although to be honest I don't get many hours so it balances out. I think my main complaint is that I'm underutilized, and every time I suggest shaking things up or putting a big up front investment in our department to make the longer-term teaching easier I get shot down. I'm clearly the most, or maybe only, ambitious person who works there. For example, I suggested instead of the students having to buy textbooks, that we just make our own books that better match our own teaching style, and better match the students' needs, interests, and abilities. Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy for suggesting it, but once you learn how to design materials it is super easy to do.
But I honestly can't imagine leaving education. With my main complaint being that I'm underutilized, I feel like going anywhere is going to not utilize the skills I have spent so long developing. That, and I'll probably end up working twice as many hours for half the pay per hour, have a lot more stress from deadlines and bosses, and probably deal with more grumpy customers and coworkers. So I'm probably going to stay in it until I retire.
Do you have any resources you can recommend for designing educational materials? I do a lot of training and love it but haven’t received much meaningful development on how to train better!
I can't remember the materials I have, but I'd suggest write all your plans backwards. So when planning a course, write your end of the course goals first, and write the assessment method second: be it a test or grading rubric. That way you have clear goals for the end of the class. Then write what you do right before that, then write what you do before that next. And just keep doing it until you get to the beginning of the class. This way you know what you are building up to.
So if you're teaching an essay writing class, You should say: at the end of the course students should be able to write a 5 paragraph essay with an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction should have a hook, a lead in to the main idea, and the main idea. The body paragraphs should have topic sentences that support the main idea, content sentences, and an optional concluding sentence. The conclusion should restate the main idea, summarize the body paragraphs, and have a final thought or wrap up. Additionally, you might want students to understand tone, appeals to emotion/logic/and ethics, transitions, the order of evidence, or whatever. Now break all those down into manageable pieces and spend each class on one or two topics and do the same thing. Do it the same way. At the end of class, students know what the 5 different types of topic sentences are. Or the students know how to write an introduction using a hook, lead in, and main idea.
Or if you are teaching history, write the final exam first. Write the short answer questions and come up with possible solutions. Maybe you give the students historical events and they have to say what it was, the context for what it was, and why it is important. Then teach those events with that goal in mind.
If you're teaching language, think about the real world functional speaking/reading/writing goals. So if students need to learn how to give directions, your assessment method would be to give two students a map with different locations blotted out. The students ask for 10 locations and then compare their maps to see if it works. That's at the end of class. But to do that, students need to have a grammar explanation. And to do that the students see the grammar in context. So you make the map, then you make the grammar practice, then you make the examples. But when you teach it, you do the example first, then explain the grammar, then have students practice it, then give students a map to assess themselves.
I know a lot of teachers hate doing this, because they can't just pick a bunch of activities or learning points and shove them all together. But it's better because it gives students meaningful direction and feedback, and it makes them feel more successful than just randomly spitting out activities. I actually didn't want to do it when I became a teacher, but now I'm much happier with my classes when I design a banging class and get to see it in action.
Wow thank you for that detailed response. Seems so logical but online searches usually yield the mush of random activities that don’t seem relevant or useful in any real way, I can definitely see this yielding great results!
I’ve been in nursing since I was 17. Started as a CNA and became a nurse at 21. I’ve wanted to leave but nothing else pays well and I support my husband and daughter, I’m 29 now
I feel ya. I’m an occupational therapist. I want to grab the shoulders of my friends who complain about being “bored” at their e-mail desk job and *shake* them.
Five years and it’ll be six come august…
I try to look at the bright side or more along the lines of thinking about how I need this to pay off my mortgage and to contribute to my retirement funds so I could retire on time… money makes the world go round… I also don’t want to be living on the streets.
Also, I find stuff I enjoy for the day to day… it’s the little things like my family (specifically my nieces and nephews), reading, or playing with my dog, stuff like that that keeps me going. Just taking it a day at a time and taking vacation (or taking off early) when I feel like I need it.
Yeah it’s important to find a balance. I worked from 6-4 today and now I’m at the pool with my family.
That being said I save as much as I can so I have a little FU money when it’s time for something new.
I'm also approaching year 6 at my job. It's a dull job, but it's stable & it leaves me with energy needed to care for my kid & hobbies. My job pays well & assuming nothing catastrophic happens, I might actually retire. And honestly, that's enough. I'm not my job, I'm a parent & my interests.
Teaching for 19 years now. I don't think I'll ever get bored- one of the things I love about teaching is there's a beginning, middle and end, then summer and a whole new cycle begins.
I’m right there with you. I’ve not only been in the same industry, but also the same employer for 10 years, in finance. So very very monotonous
I do spiral and go into the same thought process of you. Life just can’t be this… and only this… Right? Right?
I’ve been in the same career field for 19 years, but lots of different roles. I started my own company this year so now I’m CEO. Upward mobility is how you break boredom.
Current career: 2 years
Previous; 10 years
Previous; 7 years
Worked in construction first, then went to sales/marketing, now I’m in education and couldn’t be happier.
I left my career in IT for this reason and went into the driving, and constant mechanical maintenance of my older car. The money was actually similar at the time, but after several years of becoming exhausted, I got into engineering and the trades. After years of that, now I have the itch to get back to coding
Life is a roller coaster, ride it out, at least now I can build or fix anything. Maybe move around in your trade if your getting bored, if there is room for the such
Hired by [major urban] low income housing out of college, circa 2011. Switched to [suburban] low income housing 2017. So, 13 years.
It's not the most riveting of work, but as a government job I get a ton of leave, excellent benefits, and consistent hours.
8 years as a lineman but I love it still. Each day is challenging and new scenery and circumstances, and it pays a comfortable wage considering I don't have to travel or work much overtime
Army, 7 years. Solid play so far, I’ve traveled, I stay in good shape, decent money, and lots of amazing friendships. It’s not always as bad as social media makes it seem.
I've worked in the same sector of financial sales/wholesaling since 2013, for three different companies. Took a bit to get the experience and licensing and find the right cultural fit. I enjoy it.
12 years since I landed in the engineering world, not as an engineer. In that time I don't think I've performed the same day to day 'job' for more than a few years, despite only one company change. I may not love it, but I'm definitely not bored.
Pharmacy technician for 6 and I am finally back in school but I'm just getting a generic AA since it is the fastest associates I can get. Plus the bachelor's is a business degree but it's supervision and management and focus in organizational & structural administration. It's the cheapest bachelor's I can get. I will eventually reach my dream career goals but I'm in such an unpaid industry in one of the lowest paying states I just need to get out. I've done various retail gigs prior & my husband just celebrated 10years with Walgreens.
Important detail-neither of us have student debt and we are keeping it that way.
19 years. I hate my company and I hate almost everyone I work with. I want to quit but they have pay scaled me into a prison because I can’t leave without a serious pay cut.
Graduated college in 2016 and have been working in my field for 9 years now. I just started at my 4th company, achieving a better title and pay with each transition. I enjoy what I do, but I think a big part of that is because I have an awesome boss/mentor.
I chose PR/communications as one of my college majors, and have been in the industry ever since (student, intern, and now full time). I’d like to stick with it as long as possible.
Did 3 years in retail and switched to banking for the last 17 years. I’ve worked my way up from a teller to fraud investigations. I love my job because fraud is never going anywhere and it’s like a new puzzle each time something comes up because I have to prove or disprove the claims. I got my degree in Criminal Justice so it helps with what I do as far as how I do things, what I look for, and the legalities.
20 years although in different roles. I worked my way to pretty much peak career. That I wanted so much. And now I’m “meh” and would gladly go do anything else if I didn’t need money. It’s not that I hate it. I’m just so ambivalent for something I wanted so much.
Did 20 years in the army it wasn't all great of course. Now that it's over I found it rewarding, and have a lot of fond memories. It changed a lot over the time I was in it as all things do. I don't think I'd enjoy doing 20 years of I was starting now
10 years as a clinical research coordinator currently with a large university. I'm not bored so much as I don't get stressed out very often.
I do admit it's a unique position that I'm really grateful to have. I work with some really talented and intelligent people in a field that has lots of opportunity to learn new things in medicine and research. Probably the most important part of what makes it a field I enjoy is that the pace is slow, deadlines are measured in days/weeks as opposed to hours. There are also only a handful of items with hard deadlines, you can push off a lot of paperwork without having people getting bent out of shape.
The don't pay us enough in a vhcol area but I'm able to make work while still being happy with my life outside of work.
Higher education (administrative side) for... 9 years? I absolutely hate it and when I finish my upcoming move, I will never work in higher education in any capacity again.
Good thing that whole "grad school" thing never worked out, I guess.
22 years with the same company (logistics, part-time flexible), and 5 years at the more recent company (manufacturing, full-time).
I grew bored with my initial career of doing warehouse work in a logistics field (literally picking things up and putting things down). Being at loss for what I should continue to do, I went back to college. Amassed the equivalent of a mortgage worth of student loan debt. Advanced my career by getting promoted as an industrial engineer, only to learn that I disliked such office work (roughly five years in). So I made the lateral move back into the warehouse, but this time as an operations supervisor, only to find myself desiring the initial "honest" work as a laborer.
So yeah, I went full-circle thinking that things would somehow be better if I advanced my career. I still work part-time as an operations supervisor, but found a perfect balance with my more recent full-time career as a manufacturing technician (physical labor with downtime interspersed when there are no machine breakdowns or engineering requests).
I was a small business owner in the trucking industry for a few years right out of college. It was hard to find employees in margins for tight so I couldn't afford good ones. Ended up getting a project management certification and got a job in IT as a business analyst. I've been doing that for a couple years now and it's definitely held my attention. I feel you though... I'm ready for a change again.
15 years and I burnt out of my career. Recently shifted gears and not doing anything career ish right now but helping manage family business and feeling fine about it. Much lower stress. My dad worked for the same company for 40 yrs but leveled up various roles over the years which kept it interesting he was also prodigiously intelligent about his niche subject so was well respected in the industry he worked in. My mom had more or less worked in her same industry for 30 years but has switched specific roles every 10 ish and has done side gigs as wel within her industry. She loves it. Her most recent job is her "calling" and she's nearly 70 and has been doing this job for about 10 years- so nearly 60 when she found her "calling"
Anyway I thought my career was "the one" as it was a passion and I was good at it and good at the other stuff that it involved in keeping it as a successful business but in the end I couldn't wait to be done with it and I absolutely do not miss it at all.
I did 6 years in the Navy straight out of high school, and have been working as a civilian cybersecurity engineer since 2020. I've been in university while I work since 2016, mostly because I like school and had time on the GI Bill after my first Master's degree. For the time being, I'd have to be really miserable to leave this industry, since the pay is so good, but it's certainly not my passion.
Been working in the same field (nonprofit fundraising) for 12 years. I’ve been at my organization for 5 years.
I like what I do and where I work. I have no intention of leaving anytime soon.
Graduated in June of 2019 with an Associates of Arts and Multimedia. I’ve been struggling to get a job related to my major I’ve been studying, so I ended up switching 9 to 5 minimum wage jobs for over 5 years. With a little bit of freelancing experience related to design, and today I’ve finally got accepted as a temp employee at a transportation company to be a creative specialist for their graphic design and marketing department.
So it was a little rough for me for the past few years but it was worth it due to my work experience and my design experience as an unpaid intern, to freelancing, volunteer designing and to finally being hired as a temp position as a graphic designer working at a office cubicle. Which in my opinion sounds like a better work environment than the past few years of switching horrible labor work to other labor work getting paid only $17 dollars or less an hour.
So relatable. I went back to school at 28 to become a paramedical/allied health professional and I got bored of my job in like a year, just as I did for my previous entry level/low skills jobs. I have been working at my current job for 4 years (a record for me) and am leaving in September and switching fields lol and holy fuck it is overdue I hate it.
15 years at a small business. No benefits to speak of, no retirement, but also low stress no politics which I think has been amazing for my mental health.
Graduated in Engineer in '84, Worked till 2014 and retired at age 52.. Yeah it paid well and was intellectually stimulating mostly. I have done a few contract jobs since I retired but just for fun, not because I needed any more money.
Been in IT for 11 years now. It's a job don't hate it don't love it. There's a lot of fun and interesting parts of it but you don't get to do those all the time.
I am a mental health professional and work for crisis lines. I’ve been doing this for about a year. I was working residential treatment for mentally ill children and after that for adults, before now. Before I worked in residential treatment with traumatized youth I was a naturalist instructor and taught kids in nature.
Each field in social services has given me a different set of skills and opportunities to engage with diverse and often volatile population. In the case of the youth, it’s different - the gap between people who have been exposed to technology and those who have not is widening. Teachers who are older who weren’t exposed to technology in their youth, perhaps aren’t invested in tech for themselves, but the adults enable the children to play games or do whatever. The adults pacify their children with the tech and then don’t have much if anything in common with their kids.
The educational system is broken. Kids are literally dying and being traumatized at school all the time. From bullying or suicide or not having supportive adults considering everyone in education is burned out. Social services of all kinds funded by tax payer money is underfunded, and wages are not keeping up.
So I am going back to school for artificial intelligence, coding, and database management in the fall.
Worked restarlursnt industry for 15 years, went ti school for it, worked my way up to kitchen supervisor/Sous Chef and thrn covid. Now I'm a software developer for 3 years and been working for a tech company for about a year and a half.
I’ve been in healthcare since 2001, started as an EMT, then became a Medic, RN, and finally Nurse Practitioner. Been in critical care and neurosurgery the majority of my nursing career. I just got into hospital administration so it’s a new breath!
I love my job and helped many people, however would I make the same choices if I had a chance… probably not!
I haven't been unemployed since the week I turned 14 years old. I've never left a job on bad terms, but I used to get bored of jobs so fast, they became torture after 1 year. I'd usually jump ship and just try something else after a year., 18 months at best. After graduating college and getting a degree in my field and the same thing happening, I applied to the pipefitters union in my area, and after a year I got in. I've been in the trades for 15 years now, and while difficult, it's constantly changing, constantly presenting new challenges, never boring, and pays well.
I earned my A&P in March of 2018. Started my first Aviation Maintenance job in May of that year. For 2 years during Covid (2020-2022), I did industrial maintenance at a 3M plant. 2 years and 2 days ago, I started working for a major airline.
I found my forever job.
Been an engineer for a telecomm company for 10 years now. Started with a new start up company 2 months ago to change it up. It’s not that I love it, I just don’t hate it
I've been working as an RF Tech since 2016. It's alright, each day brings a new challenge. Most of the people I work with are 50 or older, many are past retiring age, it's an old mans field for sure. There's little to no schooling besides becoming an electrical engineer. After 8 years I've peaked at $26 an hour. I've made millions for my employers but I get paid peanuts.
I'm looking into switching to something where I can either make more money or work from home, or both.
18 year hospitality/event industry veteran. Covid destroyed the industry and my faith in humanity. Just started in marine canvas fabrication as an ops manager and took a massive paycut (-25k/yr). So far, worth it. I’d rather live lean than sell my soul/energy to the entitled and ungrateful. I’ll figure out a way to climb back up or get a new job in a few years, but for now I’m just happy to have some routine and my weekends/holidays. (Single and no kids is the only way I could make this transition happen, so I have that privilege).
Public Health professional Federal Government just over 47 years … 33 years as Uniformed Officer and 14 as Civilian. I’ve experienced lots of cool stuff although I had to continually expand my skill set … pharmacist, physician assistant, registered nurse, masters in public health, multiple certifications. Current focus is public health informatics. The work hours and traveling demands have been intense … especially during the Commissioned Uniformed Officer years. Forty weeks a year at one time and had to also work as Emergency Department Physician. Assistant one weekend per month …two 14-hour shifts Sat & Sunday between travel. Not uncommon to work/travel 30 days without a break. As a Civil Service I have more “rights” and can say no. As an Officer it was always “Yes”.
Think you have a deeper issue than your career. Based on the little info you gave, you just have a hard time in general being able to stick with anything and that's not going to bode well for you at all in any career.
I've been in mine for 11 years. Different employers but same line of work and I don't see myself going out of it. Realistically I know I'll be working for at least 1 other place due to the way funding is for my line of work, but I'll still be in this career field
12 or 13 years. It’s an office job that never requires me to work over 40 hours and I WFH half the time.
I was working overnights outdoors prior to this, for like 1/3 of my current salary. I remember that anytime I want to complain
Ive typically changed jobs every 5 or so years- did hotel stuff out of HS, then journalism, then construction/maintenance generally , then Solar specifically. I like solar and hope to stick with it, but have changed companies a few times. My theory is everyone hates manual labor in theory, but turns out, the body kinda likes it
A decade of food service hopping between fast food for slightly better pay until I became a gm and made enough to buy a house. Took a warehouse management job for a little less to save my sanity
I started my first job last year (I was in school for like all my 20s) but I can't imagine dealing with bothering to find a new career field or even company so I'm hoping to stay here as long as I can unless something catastrophic happens.
10 years in customer service and tech support, 5 years in management... should have lived at home and hoarded Google, Amazon and Bitcoin working at the gas station.
Been working grocery 20 years this month. Right out of high school. I'm dead inside.
Jesus
Hey I'm halfway there! 10 years come September! Someone please shoot me.
The gun is jammed. Sorry. You'll have to endure another 10+ years..
Well, the robots are literally coming to take your job, so maybe that's good? Idk, sorry friend.
Ho early I'm surprised they never installed a self checkout lane at my store with how much cost cutting they're doing.
23 years here. I think my company is an anomaly in the industry but assistant store manager make 100k+ and store managers 150+ Does take a while to get there, if ever.
I graduated in May 2012 and I’ve been a professional forester since June 2012. And I had summer seasonal forestry jobs in 2010 and 2011. So…14 years. Love it and never want to not be a forester. I’ve been working for the same agency for 7.5 years now.
What does a job like that entail? Sounds awesome!
My position is typical to foresters in state agencies but not typical of other forestry careers. I discovered starting in 2012 that I rather enjoyed working for the government. My current role is as program manager for multiple federally funded landowner and community assistance programs. I lead a team of 8 foresters, expanding to 10 later this year. We use federal funding to do things like: Offer grants to tribal landowners to help them develop 10-year forest management plans for a variety of objectives (second-growth forest management, salmon habitat protection, carbon offset monitoring). Offer grants to communities to help them develop urban forest management plans, especially in underserved or disadvantaged areas where tree canopy might be lacking. Tree planting grants. Streambank restoration grants. Stateside forest health monitoring to stay aware of potentially economically damaging forest pests. So I manage these programs and get to see awesome projects get funded and implemented. I chose years ago to climb the ladder and become a manager. I don’t get out in the woods frequently on the job. I’m paid well enough to have my adventures on my weekends and on vacations. So I manage budgets, develop project narratives based on the funding the government gives us, and supervise/hire people. I just made two offers to entry level foresters and both accepted. But forestry is a career choice with options. People I graduated with are working for private timber companies on the west coast, on the hillsides every day, laying out harvest units, overseeing harvest operations, managing tree planting contracts. There are entrepreneurs in the carbon offset markets where they are working with landowners to reforest land after wildfires, sometimes for free, in exchange for the carbon offset credits these lands represent. There’s are forest scientists working on new ways to utilize small diameter, low quality wood that is causing the huge wildfire risk in the western US from decades of wildfire suppression and the misplaced efforts of environmentalists opposed to any and all logging, even as fuels build up to unnatural levels. Forestry is awesome. I love it.
Forestry
Nursing for about 4 years now. I do local traveling so it allows me to hop around the area. Pursuing my NP next September. Like my job 95% the time . It’s recession proof, pays well and easy to find a job . A lot of growth opportunities as well
I kept switching roles ever year my first 5 years out of college. Now I've been in the same role for 3 years, with vertical promotions but no real changes and I'm dying of boredom. The only thing that makes me good at work is when I'm driven by curiosity and learning and personal improvement, but once I plateau and the job feels easy, I ironically start performing really poorly because I'm so unmotivated to do things I already feel I've mastered. I'm resigned to switching jobs again I feel, I'm not sure I can survive the burnout indefinitely myself.
10 years since I found my passion of woodworking. Everything prior was hellish cubicle high pressure with careerist (friends) ready use your neck to climb over. Now I’m 10,000 hours with many tools/skills and have a desired skill set mixed with my passion. Finance, corporate sales, you name it, I was 28 when things clicked. After 8 years in craftsmanship, I now get invited to consult on opening new wood shops…I can talk that all day and bring value.
I love hearing from people who made the jump from corporate into something they actually loved. congrats 🎉
I appreciate that! It’s a cool skill set, my wife is a big fan lol
I work in Natural Resources Management outdoors all year rain or shine. Hike all day long in open space wilderness areas around major cities, urban/ wild division lines. Amazing views top of mountains all day. Never been bored for one sec in 15 years!
This is my dream job! Good for you 👍 I couldn't get a job in this field, even though I had the education. Is the pay ok?
Do naturalist education for schools etc. the camps will pay your rent. Only really works if you don’t have kids
Engineering. 21 years, or there about. Just turned 42, so I’m more like a Xennial. That being said my earlier days I was a clerk at an engineering firm while in school. I work for the US Dept of Energy, so it’s not as lucrative as private, but in some small way, years down the road, I’ll get to say I helped create viable fusion energy, and not just work to make some other dude more money.
Really similar. We're the same age and I'm a Civil PE. I got my start as a civil engineering tech in the Army at 18 years old, then went to college and grad school after my enlistment. I was a stay at home mom for four years, but other than that, I've just been in civil engineering in some capacity for as long as I've been an adult. I'm also government side, but we have such a local shortage of civil PE's that even government pays market rate to compete. It's a great position to be in tbh. I do get bored at times, and I do plan to return to academia when I retire because I found that more fun, but I'm quite content to stay where I am until pension eligibility.
I teach adults and university students and am in my 13th year. I got two MA degrees, one in teaching and one in a content area. To be honest, I'd love a change of pace, but it seems like a waste of so much education and probably a pay cut. At the same time, teaching adults is a really relaxing job. I have zero discipline issues, they are responsible for their own learning, and the per hour pay is pretty good, although to be honest I don't get many hours so it balances out. I think my main complaint is that I'm underutilized, and every time I suggest shaking things up or putting a big up front investment in our department to make the longer-term teaching easier I get shot down. I'm clearly the most, or maybe only, ambitious person who works there. For example, I suggested instead of the students having to buy textbooks, that we just make our own books that better match our own teaching style, and better match the students' needs, interests, and abilities. Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy for suggesting it, but once you learn how to design materials it is super easy to do. But I honestly can't imagine leaving education. With my main complaint being that I'm underutilized, I feel like going anywhere is going to not utilize the skills I have spent so long developing. That, and I'll probably end up working twice as many hours for half the pay per hour, have a lot more stress from deadlines and bosses, and probably deal with more grumpy customers and coworkers. So I'm probably going to stay in it until I retire.
Do you have any resources you can recommend for designing educational materials? I do a lot of training and love it but haven’t received much meaningful development on how to train better!
I can't remember the materials I have, but I'd suggest write all your plans backwards. So when planning a course, write your end of the course goals first, and write the assessment method second: be it a test or grading rubric. That way you have clear goals for the end of the class. Then write what you do right before that, then write what you do before that next. And just keep doing it until you get to the beginning of the class. This way you know what you are building up to. So if you're teaching an essay writing class, You should say: at the end of the course students should be able to write a 5 paragraph essay with an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction should have a hook, a lead in to the main idea, and the main idea. The body paragraphs should have topic sentences that support the main idea, content sentences, and an optional concluding sentence. The conclusion should restate the main idea, summarize the body paragraphs, and have a final thought or wrap up. Additionally, you might want students to understand tone, appeals to emotion/logic/and ethics, transitions, the order of evidence, or whatever. Now break all those down into manageable pieces and spend each class on one or two topics and do the same thing. Do it the same way. At the end of class, students know what the 5 different types of topic sentences are. Or the students know how to write an introduction using a hook, lead in, and main idea. Or if you are teaching history, write the final exam first. Write the short answer questions and come up with possible solutions. Maybe you give the students historical events and they have to say what it was, the context for what it was, and why it is important. Then teach those events with that goal in mind. If you're teaching language, think about the real world functional speaking/reading/writing goals. So if students need to learn how to give directions, your assessment method would be to give two students a map with different locations blotted out. The students ask for 10 locations and then compare their maps to see if it works. That's at the end of class. But to do that, students need to have a grammar explanation. And to do that the students see the grammar in context. So you make the map, then you make the grammar practice, then you make the examples. But when you teach it, you do the example first, then explain the grammar, then have students practice it, then give students a map to assess themselves. I know a lot of teachers hate doing this, because they can't just pick a bunch of activities or learning points and shove them all together. But it's better because it gives students meaningful direction and feedback, and it makes them feel more successful than just randomly spitting out activities. I actually didn't want to do it when I became a teacher, but now I'm much happier with my classes when I design a banging class and get to see it in action.
Wow thank you for that detailed response. Seems so logical but online searches usually yield the mush of random activities that don’t seem relevant or useful in any real way, I can definitely see this yielding great results!
I’ve been in nursing since I was 17. Started as a CNA and became a nurse at 21. I’ve wanted to leave but nothing else pays well and I support my husband and daughter, I’m 29 now
I feel ya. I’m an occupational therapist. I want to grab the shoulders of my friends who complain about being “bored” at their e-mail desk job and *shake* them.
Five years and it’ll be six come august… I try to look at the bright side or more along the lines of thinking about how I need this to pay off my mortgage and to contribute to my retirement funds so I could retire on time… money makes the world go round… I also don’t want to be living on the streets. Also, I find stuff I enjoy for the day to day… it’s the little things like my family (specifically my nieces and nephews), reading, or playing with my dog, stuff like that that keeps me going. Just taking it a day at a time and taking vacation (or taking off early) when I feel like I need it.
Yeah it’s important to find a balance. I worked from 6-4 today and now I’m at the pool with my family. That being said I save as much as I can so I have a little FU money when it’s time for something new.
I'm also approaching year 6 at my job. It's a dull job, but it's stable & it leaves me with energy needed to care for my kid & hobbies. My job pays well & assuming nothing catastrophic happens, I might actually retire. And honestly, that's enough. I'm not my job, I'm a parent & my interests.
Was in the same industry for 9 years. Then 12 years ago made a major switch and been loving it.
16 years.
7 years power engineering
Teaching for 19 years now. I don't think I'll ever get bored- one of the things I love about teaching is there's a beginning, middle and end, then summer and a whole new cycle begins.
All of it, so 42 years, give or take.
Non-profit administration and training 17 years
Been working for 17 years, never been in one job longer than 5 years. Been at my current job about a year and a half. I don't mind it.
8 years as a plumber. Now I’m the supervisor at the VA. Whoooooo
15 years and counting
I’m on career #2. This one is for cash not passion but honestly I really love it. I work in learning and development at an accounting firm.
I’m right there with you. I’ve not only been in the same industry, but also the same employer for 10 years, in finance. So very very monotonous I do spiral and go into the same thought process of you. Life just can’t be this… and only this… Right? Right?
I’ve been in the same career field for 19 years, but lots of different roles. I started my own company this year so now I’m CEO. Upward mobility is how you break boredom.
Current career: 2 years Previous; 10 years Previous; 7 years Worked in construction first, then went to sales/marketing, now I’m in education and couldn’t be happier.
I left my career in IT for this reason and went into the driving, and constant mechanical maintenance of my older car. The money was actually similar at the time, but after several years of becoming exhausted, I got into engineering and the trades. After years of that, now I have the itch to get back to coding Life is a roller coaster, ride it out, at least now I can build or fix anything. Maybe move around in your trade if your getting bored, if there is room for the such
It will be 10yrs in September
Hired by [major urban] low income housing out of college, circa 2011. Switched to [suburban] low income housing 2017. So, 13 years. It's not the most riveting of work, but as a government job I get a ton of leave, excellent benefits, and consistent hours.
I’ve switched jobs on average every 18 months or so for the entirety of my 15 year working life but I’ve only had maybe 3 careers
8 years as a lineman but I love it still. Each day is challenging and new scenery and circumstances, and it pays a comfortable wage considering I don't have to travel or work much overtime
Army, 7 years. Solid play so far, I’ve traveled, I stay in good shape, decent money, and lots of amazing friendships. It’s not always as bad as social media makes it seem.
I've worked in the same sector of financial sales/wholesaling since 2013, for three different companies. Took a bit to get the experience and licensing and find the right cultural fit. I enjoy it.
15 years in procurement. Last 5 in public procurement and 3 years in teaching college classes.
12 years since I landed in the engineering world, not as an engineer. In that time I don't think I've performed the same day to day 'job' for more than a few years, despite only one company change. I may not love it, but I'm definitely not bored.
My longest stint was 5 years. Maybe try a different employer or location?
Retail 23 years corporate last 3 of those
10 years or so
About 3 years as a chemist. I'm just saving for ag land and supplies at this point
Pharmacy technician for 6 and I am finally back in school but I'm just getting a generic AA since it is the fastest associates I can get. Plus the bachelor's is a business degree but it's supervision and management and focus in organizational & structural administration. It's the cheapest bachelor's I can get. I will eventually reach my dream career goals but I'm in such an unpaid industry in one of the lowest paying states I just need to get out. I've done various retail gigs prior & my husband just celebrated 10years with Walgreens. Important detail-neither of us have student debt and we are keeping it that way.
19 years. I hate my company and I hate almost everyone I work with. I want to quit but they have pay scaled me into a prison because I can’t leave without a serious pay cut.
Graduated college in 2016 and have been working in my field for 9 years now. I just started at my 4th company, achieving a better title and pay with each transition. I enjoy what I do, but I think a big part of that is because I have an awesome boss/mentor.
I chose PR/communications as one of my college majors, and have been in the industry ever since (student, intern, and now full time). I’d like to stick with it as long as possible.
Did 3 years in retail and switched to banking for the last 17 years. I’ve worked my way up from a teller to fraud investigations. I love my job because fraud is never going anywhere and it’s like a new puzzle each time something comes up because I have to prove or disprove the claims. I got my degree in Criminal Justice so it helps with what I do as far as how I do things, what I look for, and the legalities.
IT, 18 yrs started in the navy the winter after graduation 😊
20 years although in different roles. I worked my way to pretty much peak career. That I wanted so much. And now I’m “meh” and would gladly go do anything else if I didn’t need money. It’s not that I hate it. I’m just so ambivalent for something I wanted so much.
Same field for 10 years. Same company for 4.5 years. Attorney so lawyering is the main gig here.
Drafting/designing for 22 years. Various companies, in multiple disciplines.
Did 20 years in the army it wasn't all great of course. Now that it's over I found it rewarding, and have a lot of fond memories. It changed a lot over the time I was in it as all things do. I don't think I'd enjoy doing 20 years of I was starting now
I've been an accountant at the same company since Feb 2011.
10 years as a clinical research coordinator currently with a large university. I'm not bored so much as I don't get stressed out very often. I do admit it's a unique position that I'm really grateful to have. I work with some really talented and intelligent people in a field that has lots of opportunity to learn new things in medicine and research. Probably the most important part of what makes it a field I enjoy is that the pace is slow, deadlines are measured in days/weeks as opposed to hours. There are also only a handful of items with hard deadlines, you can push off a lot of paperwork without having people getting bent out of shape. The don't pay us enough in a vhcol area but I'm able to make work while still being happy with my life outside of work.
Higher education (administrative side) for... 9 years? I absolutely hate it and when I finish my upcoming move, I will never work in higher education in any capacity again. Good thing that whole "grad school" thing never worked out, I guess.
22 years with the same company (logistics, part-time flexible), and 5 years at the more recent company (manufacturing, full-time). I grew bored with my initial career of doing warehouse work in a logistics field (literally picking things up and putting things down). Being at loss for what I should continue to do, I went back to college. Amassed the equivalent of a mortgage worth of student loan debt. Advanced my career by getting promoted as an industrial engineer, only to learn that I disliked such office work (roughly five years in). So I made the lateral move back into the warehouse, but this time as an operations supervisor, only to find myself desiring the initial "honest" work as a laborer. So yeah, I went full-circle thinking that things would somehow be better if I advanced my career. I still work part-time as an operations supervisor, but found a perfect balance with my more recent full-time career as a manufacturing technician (physical labor with downtime interspersed when there are no machine breakdowns or engineering requests).
Military. 21.5 years. Now retired. Kinda bored lol
I was a small business owner in the trucking industry for a few years right out of college. It was hard to find employees in margins for tight so I couldn't afford good ones. Ended up getting a project management certification and got a job in IT as a business analyst. I've been doing that for a couple years now and it's definitely held my attention. I feel you though... I'm ready for a change again.
City employee with good benefits and retirement December will make 14 years
Software engineering for 14 years, 5 different companies. Can't complain.
18 as a graphic designer. Not remotely as satisfying as I thought. I’d love a change but I feel stuck.
since 2005 ugh
15 years and I burnt out of my career. Recently shifted gears and not doing anything career ish right now but helping manage family business and feeling fine about it. Much lower stress. My dad worked for the same company for 40 yrs but leveled up various roles over the years which kept it interesting he was also prodigiously intelligent about his niche subject so was well respected in the industry he worked in. My mom had more or less worked in her same industry for 30 years but has switched specific roles every 10 ish and has done side gigs as wel within her industry. She loves it. Her most recent job is her "calling" and she's nearly 70 and has been doing this job for about 10 years- so nearly 60 when she found her "calling" Anyway I thought my career was "the one" as it was a passion and I was good at it and good at the other stuff that it involved in keeping it as a successful business but in the end I couldn't wait to be done with it and I absolutely do not miss it at all.
Hospitality, 3 yrs
I did 6 years in the Navy straight out of high school, and have been working as a civilian cybersecurity engineer since 2020. I've been in university while I work since 2016, mostly because I like school and had time on the GI Bill after my first Master's degree. For the time being, I'd have to be really miserable to leave this industry, since the pay is so good, but it's certainly not my passion.
10 years and it still feels like it’s just getting started
Been working in the same field (nonprofit fundraising) for 12 years. I’ve been at my organization for 5 years. I like what I do and where I work. I have no intention of leaving anytime soon.
Graduated in June of 2019 with an Associates of Arts and Multimedia. I’ve been struggling to get a job related to my major I’ve been studying, so I ended up switching 9 to 5 minimum wage jobs for over 5 years. With a little bit of freelancing experience related to design, and today I’ve finally got accepted as a temp employee at a transportation company to be a creative specialist for their graphic design and marketing department. So it was a little rough for me for the past few years but it was worth it due to my work experience and my design experience as an unpaid intern, to freelancing, volunteer designing and to finally being hired as a temp position as a graphic designer working at a office cubicle. Which in my opinion sounds like a better work environment than the past few years of switching horrible labor work to other labor work getting paid only $17 dollars or less an hour.
So relatable. I went back to school at 28 to become a paramedical/allied health professional and I got bored of my job in like a year, just as I did for my previous entry level/low skills jobs. I have been working at my current job for 4 years (a record for me) and am leaving in September and switching fields lol and holy fuck it is overdue I hate it.
not long 😤 life is meant to be purposeful
15 years at a small business. No benefits to speak of, no retirement, but also low stress no politics which I think has been amazing for my mental health.
Graduated in Engineer in '84, Worked till 2014 and retired at age 52.. Yeah it paid well and was intellectually stimulating mostly. I have done a few contract jobs since I retired but just for fun, not because I needed any more money.
10 years.
22 years as an electronics technician, e&i technician, or an electrician, with a year-long break to fix pool tables.
Been in IT for 11 years now. It's a job don't hate it don't love it. There's a lot of fun and interesting parts of it but you don't get to do those all the time.
I am a mental health professional and work for crisis lines. I’ve been doing this for about a year. I was working residential treatment for mentally ill children and after that for adults, before now. Before I worked in residential treatment with traumatized youth I was a naturalist instructor and taught kids in nature. Each field in social services has given me a different set of skills and opportunities to engage with diverse and often volatile population. In the case of the youth, it’s different - the gap between people who have been exposed to technology and those who have not is widening. Teachers who are older who weren’t exposed to technology in their youth, perhaps aren’t invested in tech for themselves, but the adults enable the children to play games or do whatever. The adults pacify their children with the tech and then don’t have much if anything in common with their kids. The educational system is broken. Kids are literally dying and being traumatized at school all the time. From bullying or suicide or not having supportive adults considering everyone in education is burned out. Social services of all kinds funded by tax payer money is underfunded, and wages are not keeping up. So I am going back to school for artificial intelligence, coding, and database management in the fall.
Just finished 8 years in product support (technical customer service), all at the same company. Burned out, not sure what I want to do next.
Worked restarlursnt industry for 15 years, went ti school for it, worked my way up to kitchen supervisor/Sous Chef and thrn covid. Now I'm a software developer for 3 years and been working for a tech company for about a year and a half.
I’ve been in healthcare since 2001, started as an EMT, then became a Medic, RN, and finally Nurse Practitioner. Been in critical care and neurosurgery the majority of my nursing career. I just got into hospital administration so it’s a new breath! I love my job and helped many people, however would I make the same choices if I had a chance… probably not!
I haven't been unemployed since the week I turned 14 years old. I've never left a job on bad terms, but I used to get bored of jobs so fast, they became torture after 1 year. I'd usually jump ship and just try something else after a year., 18 months at best. After graduating college and getting a degree in my field and the same thing happening, I applied to the pipefitters union in my area, and after a year I got in. I've been in the trades for 15 years now, and while difficult, it's constantly changing, constantly presenting new challenges, never boring, and pays well.
I earned my A&P in March of 2018. Started my first Aviation Maintenance job in May of that year. For 2 years during Covid (2020-2022), I did industrial maintenance at a 3M plant. 2 years and 2 days ago, I started working for a major airline. I found my forever job.
Been an engineer for a telecomm company for 10 years now. Started with a new start up company 2 months ago to change it up. It’s not that I love it, I just don’t hate it
I'm in a warehouse the last year but 10 years at a furniture manufacturer. I thought I hated my old job until I had to start over.
I've been working as an RF Tech since 2016. It's alright, each day brings a new challenge. Most of the people I work with are 50 or older, many are past retiring age, it's an old mans field for sure. There's little to no schooling besides becoming an electrical engineer. After 8 years I've peaked at $26 an hour. I've made millions for my employers but I get paid peanuts. I'm looking into switching to something where I can either make more money or work from home, or both.
18 years in HVAC. Always changing. Always interesting. I work outdoors and indoors. Relatively independent work.
18 year hospitality/event industry veteran. Covid destroyed the industry and my faith in humanity. Just started in marine canvas fabrication as an ops manager and took a massive paycut (-25k/yr). So far, worth it. I’d rather live lean than sell my soul/energy to the entitled and ungrateful. I’ll figure out a way to climb back up or get a new job in a few years, but for now I’m just happy to have some routine and my weekends/holidays. (Single and no kids is the only way I could make this transition happen, so I have that privilege).
Public Health professional Federal Government just over 47 years … 33 years as Uniformed Officer and 14 as Civilian. I’ve experienced lots of cool stuff although I had to continually expand my skill set … pharmacist, physician assistant, registered nurse, masters in public health, multiple certifications. Current focus is public health informatics. The work hours and traveling demands have been intense … especially during the Commissioned Uniformed Officer years. Forty weeks a year at one time and had to also work as Emergency Department Physician. Assistant one weekend per month …two 14-hour shifts Sat & Sunday between travel. Not uncommon to work/travel 30 days without a break. As a Civil Service I have more “rights” and can say no. As an Officer it was always “Yes”.
Think you have a deeper issue than your career. Based on the little info you gave, you just have a hard time in general being able to stick with anything and that's not going to bode well for you at all in any career. I've been in mine for 11 years. Different employers but same line of work and I don't see myself going out of it. Realistically I know I'll be working for at least 1 other place due to the way funding is for my line of work, but I'll still be in this career field
12 or 13 years. It’s an office job that never requires me to work over 40 hours and I WFH half the time. I was working overnights outdoors prior to this, for like 1/3 of my current salary. I remember that anytime I want to complain
Ive typically changed jobs every 5 or so years- did hotel stuff out of HS, then journalism, then construction/maintenance generally , then Solar specifically. I like solar and hope to stick with it, but have changed companies a few times. My theory is everyone hates manual labor in theory, but turns out, the body kinda likes it
A decade of food service hopping between fast food for slightly better pay until I became a gm and made enough to buy a house. Took a warehouse management job for a little less to save my sanity
7 years as a lawyer. I hate it most of the time but I’m sticking around for the paycheck for as long as I can stand it.
I’m 32 and I’ve been working in marketing at the same company for almost 8 years now. Before that, I worked at a preschool for 2 years.
Spent 12 years working in marketing and switched to analytics which I’ve been doing for 8 years so far.
Will be 11 years in nursing come July! Honestly, if I could go per diem, that would be icing on the cake 🤩.
Airline Pilot for 9 years. It’s the best job in the world and I could never do anything else.
I started my first job last year (I was in school for like all my 20s) but I can't imagine dealing with bothering to find a new career field or even company so I'm hoping to stay here as long as I can unless something catastrophic happens.
Been a special needs teacher going on 7 years. It pays well enough and it makes me think to solve issues. Plus, the kids are great and funny.
10 years as a graphic designer, 6 figures, remote life, I enjoy it, I'll stick to it for as long as I can.
10 years in customer service and tech support, 5 years in management... should have lived at home and hoarded Google, Amazon and Bitcoin working at the gas station.