How do I find work that doesn't make me hate myself?

Life of Brian said:
What business is there with a bad reputation or maybe just a boring ho-hum reputation that you can turn on its head? Whom can you serve? Whose life can you make better? Approach it from that angle and not only will you make money, you will find fulfillment
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Hmm... I wonder if the current "changes" happening with Title II ISP regulation will allow for more startups in home fiber service...
 
Life of Brian wrote:<br />This is going to sound kind of ridiculous but it's true: I've found fulfillment in operating laundromats. No really! It's the family business, sure, but I've helped grow it from one store doing $250k per year and mainly just employing my dad to three locations breaking $1.2m with a team of over 25 people.<br /><br />The thing about it is service. Whom do you serve? Whose life have you made better? We took a tired old industry that has a bad reputation for being nasty and gross with no customer service, applied good business practices, served people well, and we've found success. We now run some of the top performing laundromats in the country. I love my job!<br /><br />What business is there with a bad reputation or maybe just a boring ho-hum reputation that you can turn on its head? Whom can you serve? Whose life can you make better? Approach it from that angle and not only will you make money, you will find fulfillment.<br /><br />Okay, now I've gotta brag about the new website redesign I just made for our company: http://www.libertylaundryok.com
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<br /><br />This is probably the best answer in this thread so far. <br /><br />I'm not really interested in making an absolute boatload of money. It is pretty lucrative to be able to say that you are super rich, but it isn't exactly hard to make a ton of money immorally. I would much rather have enough to cover my expenses, sociopathic hording of money seems like a huge waste of my time, to be completely honest. <br /><br />Do you think that the area of work is completely arbitrary in regards to happiness? For example, would you see yourself having the same amount of career satisfaction if you were working in say, a coffee shop?
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Will agree this is by far the best one, I hoped I was able to give advice, even if I made no sense. English, even though it is my first language, had the worst grades. Was more of a science math guy. Anyway, if you feel the coffee shop is the way, go for it dude. If I could I would do similar.
 
@SteamDNT (DISCLAIMER: I'm 24, so I don't REALLY know what the Heck I'm talking about :p )

You said you're interning yeah? So, I assume you're still in school? What are you looking for right now: a part time job while you finish up school, a career, a hobby? If you want a steady job that you like (career?), then use your time at school to network and find the job that is the least flaxty. If you are out of school and cannot find work, one option is to go back to school to master your craft (excuse the pun); I know of at least one EE that did that when the economy tanked in '08. Think in terms of return on investment. If you HAVE to work a flaxty job, make sure you are getting something out of it besides just money (experience, connections, a way to get through school and not starve, etc).

I worked at whole foods for 3 years, not knowing that there were TONS of technician roles in the LA area that I could have applied for. Don't do that. That's just a huge waste of time.

If you are looking for a part time gig, then others have made some great suggestions. In addition, I will add that technician roles can pop up in some pretty weird and interesting places, although many of the jobs can be boring and repetitive over time. But you won't hate yourself. The whole "technician" thing is just one example, of course.

I've gotten some decent gigs off craigslist, but that is incredibly dependent on the area you live in (LA was a jackpot, really). Since you are into CS, I would embrace collaboration and start working on projects with other people.

How do I find a balance of morality, job fulfillment, and actual wealth?
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^ I mean, this is something most of my coworkers, who have been successful in their careers for 10-20 years, still struggle with to this day. So I wouldn't expect to find a magical answer to this question. Instead, frame the question differently: "What are my goals, and how do I fulfill them without killing myself?"
 
The sad reality for most people is that you will most likely not like your job and just do it because you have bills to be paid.
 
Eh, Probably.

I just got all my midterms back, and regardless of the days I wasted studying for them, I still walked away with a meager 2.0 average. So basically my plan at this point is to get a job at some flax software dev company where I can silently waste my life and time at, then when I turn 30 I can become an hero.

Alternatively, I can always try becoming homeless.
 
As somebody who dropped out of highschool and hasn't gone to college, I would recommend not particularly worrying about your GPA and such. Focus on real skills and you can still do just fine without that flax (although I'm not going to say it's super easy or anything, but I haven't regretted dropping out, personally).
 
Have you looked into working on an open source project? Good way to add to your resume/portfolio, get references/network, and gain experience.
 
ITT: People all saying the same thing in different ways.

I think Kickback has it the most right, though - for most people, reality is that you won't like your job, or perhaps not be happy with it.

I run a 3M/year business... but it's certainly not fun or fulfilling, frankly most of my time spent is managing an adult daycare.

Becoming wealthy while doing something that fulfills you is an awfully rare thing, and is different for everyone. Things that we find fun aren't usually things that make us a ton of money, or if we get to the point where they do, we're no longer doing what made it fun to begin with.

Realistically, the best you can hope for is pick two of three: ludicrous, uninteresting, and soul-crushing.

Maybe I'm projecting.
 
robm said:
Becoming wealthy while doing something that fulfills you is an awfully rare thing, and is different for everyone. Things that we find fun aren't usually things that make us a ton of money, or if we get to the point where they do, we're no longer doing what made it fun to begin with.
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I don't even care about the money, I just want to actually do something worthwhile.

I could easily sustain my life by working at a grocery store full time, and then doing flax that I like after work, but that's not the point. The idea of having to trade in a majority of my life to enjoy the few fading seconds of things that I like is bullflax.
 
Have you ever read Mr. Money Mustache's blog? Its a financial blog that goes deeper into how to life a fulfilling life without working forever. His writing style won't bore you to death like some other financial blogs.
 
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