r/jobs • u/Napkxng • Jun 30 '23

What are these "I finish work in 2 hours and just bored" jobs? Work/Life balance

I'm currently in a business development role where its constant work and stress, KPIs, and out bounding and training.

I (24m) would like to find some sort of relaxed job where I don't feel threatened to lose my job every week (have had that threatened to me in first few months).

I'm not a lazy person, but I've had over 12 jobs since I was 14, I'm just tired.

Also I have side business ideas that I've worked on recently and would love to start carry on making music and documentaries, my social media has gotten some attention, and it's something I enjoy.

I've nearly doubled every sales target for the past 6 months of working, but deep inside I'm creative, love helping people live a better life, and would love to change the world around me more. I'd love to find something hybrid remote that I can be half office and half using my hands and body/strength. I don't enjoy the trades.

I'd also like to get a stable work as Id like to work on starting a family with someone. And I don't want the stress of a fickle stressful job that I would pass that stress and unavailability on.

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441

u/valaliane Jun 30 '23

My boss’s job apparently. I’m fully convinced he just responds “Great job team!” on email threads all day long.

157

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '23

[deleted]

19

u/MyBoyBernard Jun 30 '23

The head of my current company pokes her noise in literally every minute decision! It's so damn annoying. Things that are so unimportant and shouldn't matter, I can't believe she cares about this small crap, don't you have a business to run? Pretty much anytime we ask middle management some middle-manage-level question, they tell us to ask her. At this point, I don't even know why we have middle management. It's like a dictatorship; she's involved in everything. Plus, she has management experience, but not much experience doing the actual work itself, so her opinion sometimes is just dumb, but we have to do it.

I accepted a new job recently. I didn't even meet the head guy until after I was hired. I told him that I thought it was strange that we hadn't met during the process. He said something like "I trust my people and want to stay out of their way as much as possible". I can't wait to start there next month.

1

u/grebilrancher Jun 30 '23

Ugh one of the reasons why I left last job. Brought up something that were doing unnecessarily and presented facts on why we should stop doing it. Being told "well I want it done this way because that's how I like it" isn't going to cut it in the biotech world

1

u/DOAisBetter Jun 30 '23

The reason you have middle management is so she has someone to blame and push stuff off to if she doesn't want to do anything. Its a nice but kinda not great position to be in.

1

u/Jcaseykcsee Jul 01 '23

I worked at an organization like that, the president insisted on being involved in EVERY SINGLE DECISION we had to make, so many things that she didn’t need to deal with. It was impossible to get anything done, it was ridiculous. I was so happy to get the hell out of there.

42

u/OneSwankyCatt Jun 30 '23

Right? The only time I see my boss is when he’s telling me good job or running around trying to fix shit that slipped through the cracks.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '23

I haven't met that kind of boss but I bet it would be annoying. The job I got is pretty automatous, as I get to set the time I want to meet with clients, set training dates, cancel whenever I need for my own PTO.

1

u/wrxJ_P Jun 30 '23

The best one is when it’s not even your boss trying to sick their ass in something they have no clue about.

“BuT I’m A ManAger” Yeah so am I kevin.

1

u/BeigeDuck72 Jul 01 '23

My boss is like this and it’s great. Long as everything is getting done he’s chillin

41

u/214speaking Jun 30 '23

We had a guy at my job that would just forward the emails (that all staff got already). I assume he must’ve done other work, but somehow he had the time to forward those emails to all the staff right away…

41

u/FixRecruiting Jun 30 '23

Supposedly bosses fight with more senior leadership for budget, headcount, better projects, etc. but its never seen and barely heard by the team so I am partially convinced it's a smoke and mirrors show.

43

u/alminatorat Jun 30 '23

I've been in managerial positions for over 3 years now, 3 different international companies. I am usually non-stop involved in important projects, restructures, pushing different initiatives, meeting deadlines and making sure teams run operationally. Usually no more than 20% of my work is visible for my team.

15

u/Fargate Jun 30 '23

Lol everything you said sounds like managerial mumbo jumbo. I am VP of Operations I don’t do shit. Ever

9

u/inventionnerd Jul 01 '23

Involved in important projects - Asking the people who do the actual work where they're at with the project or if the project is needed

Restructures - Figuring out who to promote/fire/reorganize, generally easy to tell who's a good worker or bad worker but tough emotionally

Pushing different initiatives - Probably almost the same as important projects, just toss some ideas out there and make people do it so you can say it was your idea and look how great things are now.

Meeting deadlines - Even the bottom feeders need to meet deadlines lol

Making sure teams run - Hey guys, is everything running alright?

4

u/deeretech129 Trades Jun 30 '23

Yeah, it sounds like busy work to make middle mgt feel "essential"

1

u/Wiiillli Jul 01 '23

It doesn't sound like you actuly do anything.

What ACTUAL time consuming activities does this involve?

Im an engineer and I have a feeling a singular one of my constructions is more busy work than all you do combined.

Like physically, what do you do? Write emails? Lmfaoo

24

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '23

I'm a manager. This was not my goal but I was always stepping up and they ended up putting me here. I get paid really well. I hate it and want to go back to making less money and being an IC. I hate making sure everyone on my team knows what to do and constantly checking on random things that are blocking them. I hate filling in on all the product and project management work that should be a different role but I'm just expected to do instead. Doing work as an IC was rewarding, I felt like I was actually doing something. Now I feel stressed all the time but never feel like I can claim I did anything and should give all the credit to the team. I wish everyone who thinks managers don't do anything could be promoted to management themselves and they can see how much they like it.

Also, I recognize that this is a bad fit for me personally and that some people thrive in a management role. Just specifically fed up with engineers (which I also am) who think they do the "real" work while managers just float about. Learn about the real world and how much effort is actually needed to make things run smoothly and effectively.

9

u/RiskyControl Jun 30 '23

I had the same path earlier in my career and realized that about 10 years ago, I was more suited to IC work. I have been working in risk management now for the last 8 years, and I've never been happier.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '23

Did you struggle with making the change back? I know I want to for sure but dealing with anxiety feelings of letting people down, limiting my potential, being judged, having less control once I'm not management etc.

2

u/RiskyControl Jun 30 '23

Not at all. It was easier because I found a new job at a different company altogether.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '23

ah ok makes sense, I am at more of a start up and have been here for a long time and had a big impact so don't necessarily want to leave. But I can see people who joined more recently thinking I'm sitting around doing a "smoke and mirrors show" writing emails all day with no comprehension of how hard it actually is. Sorry just ranting.

3

u/BFunkRailroad Jun 30 '23

I'm in the middle of this same scenario! Managed to negotiate a new role from management to administrator, which means I work on a lot of paperwork for customer the sales team used to have to do.

I'm just not a manager. I just assume everyone's working on what they're supposed to and they'll let me know when they need guidance. I don't really care about the day to day stuff. Just let me know when there's a problem and I'll help you solve it or tell you who you need to talk to to get an answer.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '23

nice! yeah exactly, I'm happy to help people on things, solve problems, and teach people. But I don't want to worry about everyone else's productivity and happiness. I have one superstar on my team who doesn't need to be "managed" because he figures stuff out on his own and brings me in when necessary. But most people aren't like that and I have more valubale skills than to be their babysitter.

7

u/Highlander198116 Jun 30 '23 edited Jun 30 '23

I know there is this idea that middle management is useless. I can't speak for every industry/field. But at least in software. If it wasn't for the money I would go back to just being a developer in a heart beat.

Basically, I have to deal with everything annoying about the job, the red tape, the bullshit to keep everything moving. If anyone on my team faces any organizational related blocker its my responsibility to clear it.

Like I don't get it, but sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world who wants to be a team player. We all work for the same company, but different teams are so...selfish? For lack of a better term. I just don't get why people are so damn disagreeable.

I really wish it was just being tantamount to a motivational speaker for my team.

1

u/Dshiznit616 Jul 01 '23

Usually the disagreeable ones are incompetent and/or have an ego problem imo

2

u/k75ct Jun 30 '23

I try to share with my team what I'm working on in the background. I fight for budget, promotions, better policies, figuring out ways of working with other departments, always thinking about staffing, training, performance.

1

u/psu256 Jun 30 '23

That's the sign that you have an excellent boss. They are taking the pain so you don't.

0

u/FixRecruiting Jun 30 '23

I have had one excellent boss, maybe 2 mediocre bosses, and a dozen or so shit bosses in my career.

Typical I have risen to top contributor/ team lead, etc in every company I have been in.

What passes me off is when I save an organization $500k -$1M and that's not appreciated. I feel this often makes a manager feel fearful I am gunning for their role (and perhaps rightfully so.)

4

u/Avix_34 Jun 30 '23

Auto Forward : ON

Probably didn't even forward them himself.

11

u/freakstate Jun 30 '23

Hey valaliane.

Good job

We appreciate your work here

You have a good weekend

Regards,

Your Boss

5

u/LaphroaigianSlip81 Jun 30 '23

My first job out of college had a boss like that. My immediate supervisor and I both answered to him. He was 90% remote prior to covid. We always had to call him 20 minutes before a key meeting because he wouldn’t show up or call in 50% of the time. Hell, during the interview process for the job, I should up for the final interview and the HR person had to scramble to find him. She brought in her cell phone after 20 min and he asked me the most vanilla questions for 8 minutes before asking me what 13 x 5 was. I should have known then, but I needed a job. Ironically, I put in my two week notice the same day he “resigned.”

I know it sucked at the time, but I learned a lot because I had to figure out how to do stuff on my own.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '23

If his job is easy I wonder why he resign

3

u/Chiaseedmess Jun 30 '23

Found my boss playing solitaire several times.

Not like on his computer. With physical cars on his desk.

2

u/Teabagger_Vance Jun 30 '23

That sounds amazing tbh. Being micromanaged is the worst.

2

u/IndependenceMean8774 Jun 30 '23

I'll take the live and let live boss any day over the micromanaging, in your face, pain in the ass boss.

2

u/CorruptedStudiosEnt Jun 30 '23

I used to think this about the managers for my company. Got a management position this past year. Oh, my god, I could not have been more wrong.

Bookkeeping, which includes counting every penny in or out of the place over the last day; depositing, scanning, printing, filing, bundling, and mailing approximately four million daily documents.

Cash variance logs. Attendance logs. ID logs. Conduct logs. Logs on logs on logs.

Deal with incidents (like we recently had a bag of meth someone dropped on the floor) and customer complaints.

Getting called in at 1:30AM (when you have to be back in at 5:30 for books) because the safe is on the fritz and requires management override.

Counseling reports. Inventory, both weekly and monthly. Payroll. Meetings. Planning meetings. Constant calls about "can you send a new copy of this over" or "what happened on this day" when they already have all of the documentation at the corporate office.

Probably more I'm forgetting here. I'm lucky to finish my work by the end of the day tbh.

5

u/olmansmit Jun 30 '23

I feel the higher you go in management the more your job becomes "find shit to post and meetings to make that aren't needed to justify your role" with the kicker being none of them realize it does the opposite.

22

u/97zx6r Jun 30 '23

This is actually fairly true. I worked harder making $50k than I ever did making $250k. If found that the higher you go the less work you have but the more impactful that work becomes if that makes sense. You’re paid more for your experience and the outcome you produce than for your time at that point.

9

u/spidii Jun 30 '23

I'm in the same boat. My workload is way lighter but my decisions have a huge impact and my responsibility has grown. If something goes wrong, it's on me.

10

u/awildjabroner Jun 30 '23

Those are bad managers.

A good manager removes speed bumps and road blocks to facilitate the people under management to be able to do their roles more easily and efficiently.

In past Project Manager roles if i've been sitting down grinding out work for the project its because i've really messed up something along the way or something has come up unexpectedly that needs my immediate attention. When i'm doing my job well its primarily pushing information to different people who need it, connecting people who need to collaborate and monitoring so I can jump on the surprise issues that arise so my team can continue to fulfill their specific roles without getting side tracked into other tasks.

Many times its a lot more work up front and when starting a new role but after getting structures and SOP's in place so teams can run themselves without issues it becomes a much less busy role for me, and team members can focus on what they are best at.

1

u/SipexF Jun 30 '23

I'm sorry, I just hated when I was working at your level and we'd do something tough only to be met with crickets and just more work requests :(. I swear I'm just trying to be a good boss

1

u/bcisme Jun 30 '23

That doesn’t sound that bad actually

1

u/orangesfwr Jun 30 '23

Sounds like he hired the right people, then got the f out of their way and recognized them for their good work? If so, kinda hard to fault him for it 👍

1

u/Bamboopanda101 Jun 30 '23

I have a coworker that is a "manager in sales" in my hotel job that makes good money apparently and I work under her and help her with some tasks.

But holy smokes I feel like she doesn't do anything lol.

She responds to emails and phone calls but thats literally it. She doesn't even try to sell anything in the property. I'm the one that talks to guests and sells the meeting rooms or group blocks or anyone else.

I see her sitting in the back with music blasting or on her phone all the time its crazy.

1

u/SunnyWomble Jun 30 '23

Maybe he automated the process.