Job vs. Career: How much should you like your job?

Every job has fun parts and boring parts.  Some jobs also have really difficult parts, which may be fun or may be boring.  As a manager, I think a lot about my employees and  how much they like their job.  The answer can never be 100%, not even for me.  So how much is enough?  How much should you like your job?

To answer that question, I want to break down life on the job into three parts:  part 1 – the environment of the job, part 2 – the people you work with, and part 3 – the work itself.   The reason to break this down this way is because the work itself is really only a part of the overall aspect of working.

So, how much should you like your job?   Well, let’s look at each part.

Part 1 – The Job Environment:
   You really should like all these things about your job environment: Temperature, Workspace, Bathrooms, Odor/Air Quality.
   Some things you can “not like” because it’s just part of “having a job”: hours, breaks, location (distance from your home)
   Extras: these things you can like, but don’t expect them: perks, comfort
   My count: you should like your Job Environment 4/7 or 57%.   Above 57% and you may have yourself a career!   Below, and you should look for a new job now.

Part 2 – The People:
    You should not dislike more than 50% of your coworkers.  You should respect your boss (not necessarily like him/her). Your boss should have a path for promotion for you in mind and want you to succeed.
    You do not have to like: everyone.  You do not have to be ‘social’ with anyone from your job, if you are consider that a bonus.
    My count: If you dislike more than 50% of  your coworkers or do not respect your boss or your boss does not want you to ever get promoted (no path), then you should look for a new job.  Otherwise, you may have yourself a career!   Read on!

Part 3 – The Work Itself:
    As said before, there are parts you like and parts you don’t.  It’s true for every job, even CEO job (maybe especially!).  Here’s a checklist of should’s:
   1. You should identify with the department you are in “engineering, marketing, sales, production, etc.”.
   2. You should like the ‘main thing’ that your job is responsible to do.  (build stuff, market stuff, sell stuff, etc.).
   3. You should find your work challenging but doable.
   4. You should be able to learn new things constantly in your job.
   5. You should not expect to do only stuff you like all the time.  You may only get to do stuff you like about your job about 25% of the time.
   6. For doing stuff you don’t like, you should not “absolutely hate” more than 25% of the stuff you do.
   7. That leaves about 50% of stuff you don’t like but don’t hate, and that’s okay.
   My Count:  If you like at least 25% of the stuff you do, and don’t hate more than 25%, and you identify with your department and find your work challenging and learn new stuff…. you have yourself a career.  IF not, start looking for a new job… perhaps in a new department.


So, do I like my job?  The picture below should answer that:

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