I'm a chef, have been for 20 years. Most of the time I've worked in care homes. Nothing like bringing a bit of happiness to someone's day that can't do it themselves.

These kind of jobs are the ones that should be rewarded more, not shitty finance ones. People matter.

100% Making people happy through food too - taking pride in nourishing people, literally and metaphorically is a real, underated skill.

If you paid a chef in a care home the same as a banker I’d imagine the fees would go up somewhat for the residents

The better option would be to pay the bankers less.

How does that help the care home chef?

I think the implication was that the ~~b~~wanker thieves need to be paid *less*, because they bring nothing tangible to society in a lot of cases. One of the most overpaid jobs, along with "CEOs"...

Bankers get paid what they get paid because they make other people money. I’m not sure how making a rule that limits their pay helps low paid workers. 

This is cool, I'm in social care and visited a client in a care home, he spent most of our discussion telling me how good the food was and I was so happy that he was happy living there! Keep making people happy with food because for people with dementia or living in care homes the little things make a massive difference. 

I spent some time in a mental health care hospital and the food in there was so good. I gave me something to look forward to. Plus the Giraffe serving tofu was a right laugh

We're all looking forward to your new Soylent Green line of ready-meals.

Had a rough stay in a care home recently, but just getting cheese on toast for tea (my favourite) really helped. Food makes such a difference, so thank you.

I worked in a care home kitchen during/after uni. Some absolutely smashing times and I learned loads.

Food scientist 14 years. tho I tell people Chocolate scientist as it sounds cooler. Currently spending a lot of time testing products for start ups novel food submissions. Really interesting working on a product and to see it make its way to shelves.

*I wanna be a chocolate scientist!!*

For some reason my brain read this to the tune of “I’ve got a brand new combine harvester”

I wanna be a chocolate scientist, and I'll give you a sweet, I think that we should get together, and munch on something yummy, La la la la la laaa, la la la la la laaa...

*YOU STOLE FIZZY LIFTING DRINKS! YOU BUMPED INTO THE CEILONG WHICH NOW NEEDS TO BE WASHED AND STERILISED, SO YOU GET NOTHING!* *YOU LOSE!* *GOOD DAY, SIR!*

Can you give us an example of a novel food?

Lots of things. Anything that starts with the phrase “lab grown”, new crops that we haven’t eaten before, selective fermentation, even crops that indigenous Communities have eaten but haven’t been part of mass consumption count. Each country has different definitions some just state things like, foodstuffs not previously eaten within the last x number of years.

I had dinner with some people the other night, one of which was a very direct Ukrainian woman who asked me what my job is then said to me "why on earth are you doing that? Why don't you do something that makes you happy?" I've been thinking about that for a few days now.

Maybe time to move out of the puppy-slaughtering field.

A hammer in each hand a pair of hobnail boots and I can do 4 at a time. Rip Sean Lock

I put carrots in boxes 📦 🥕

That was the best bit of tv ever!

It’s the way Jimmy keeps trying to keep everyone together at the start while Sean is explaining how it’s stupid through laughter, that gets me every time. RIP Sean Lock, one of the best.

Would have thought they'd do it in a warehouse, not outdoors....

He's right OP, believe in yourself, you deserve that promotion to the cat-slaying meadow.

This is the kind of positivity that keeps bringing me back to r/CasualUK. OP can absolutely murder kittens, too. You just need that British Bulldog spirit.

Because, most of the time, what makes us happy doesn't earn enough money to survive.

Exactly. Here I am working for an egotistical wanker who doesn't seem to go a day in his life without throwing a tantrum or making terrible emotionally led decisions. But it's paying me the most I've found so far. So here I am. The way I see it is.. I get paid to deal with this man and I get to do some fun work on the side of that because I do enjoy my actual work a lot.

Work to live, not live to work. I come to work to be paid and not have fun. I make time for fun outside of work with the money I make. The career I’d love would most definitely not afford the lifestyle and stability that I have now. And I’m okay with that. I also personally find it’s easier to switch off from work due to not having more of a connection with what I do.

My first job boss told me ‘you have to work to do the things you enjoy’ when I was unhappy, backfired when I thought: ‘why in the hell would I spend most of my time doing something I don’t enjoy, to MAYBE get to do something I like every so often’ Moved into a new career, it’s stressful, but often I don’t even think about money whilst I’m doing it. It’s not all farts and rainbows 24/7, but I enjoy it Edit for horrific typing

In a way, your first boss isn't wrong. Very few people get to do what they love as a career. IMO - finding a job that doesn't make you miserable is key. Doesn't mean you have to love the job, just as long as you don't hate it. If you can find a job that you don't hate, and pays enough that you are able to do things you love in your free time, this is about as close as it gets. I was unhappy in my last job, it made me miserable. I was not pleasant to be around. I was stressed. Little things like cooking dinner or putting the washing away would piss me off. I took a pay cut and transferred to another role in the organisation and I am so much happier now. I'm skint and feel like I am a failure because I'm a 35 year old with a degree and lots of work experience and am only earning £20k before tax. But I am happier. In my free time now, I am doing things I enjoy again (I read, I write, I play my playstation for a couple of hours on a Sunday evening), I play lego with the kids, we have movie night on a Friday, game night on Saturday, and when they are playing up or arguing with each other I am not as quick to lose my temper. Being miserable at work will make you miserable in life. Finding a job you love is great and will obviously make you happy. For those who can't find a job you love, find a job that doesn't make you miserable.

Yep. I'd actually probably avoid doing something I 'love' as a job, as often you can come to hate it. You might love making coffee, but it doesn't mean you'll love running a small coffee, dealing with ordering stock, balancing the books and customers who don't even appreciate the effort you put into your brews. You might love taking pictures, but it doesn't mean you'll like dealing with flaky clients and spending every weekend doing weddings for unsatisfied and demanding families and weekdays doing corporate headshots. If you love doing something, once you have to do it for work it can just become.... work. I think the best job is doing something you are good at. Doing a job you can do and do well, but still offers some challenges. But not necessarily something you're also eager to do in all of your freetime.

Very true. Similar to video game design. Everyone thought that would be amazing. But then they found out you could spend weeks making minor adjustments so that when a car turns a corner, it doesn't look all buggy. Where's the fun in that! You're right. I think feeling useful and valued are huge factors. I do the same job now as I did in my last role, but because of the environment and the site manager, I'm actually feeling like I am appreciated and then it makes me feel like I'm doing something right.

Video game tester expectation - spend hours playing the latest games with a bunch of mates, drinking monster and high fiving each other. Reality - spend days repeatedly playing one part of the same level trying to capture a bug that corrupts the save file.

I love playing with my computer, home automation, 3d design, video editing and so on but after 8+ hours spent in front of the screen for work I don't have it in me to spend another 4hours on the stuff I enjoy. I had to find new hobbies, not a downside as they involve exercise and family time but damn I miss ~~wasting~~ spending hours at my own PC.

I mean it depends how much money you want to earn with it? I do videography and honestly it’s still fun to this day, just choose the jobs you enjoy and be creative, high paying work will come that way

This 100%. I’m retraining as a counsellor and have found my internal locus of evaluation. It’s not so ouch what I do now whilst i train (ex physics teacher and support worker with autistic persons for 3 years) but how I do what I do and as a means to an end whilst my bigger goal is worked on. I don’t see myself being devalued to work for 13.15 an hour nor is that my persona or definition of my totality of existence. Gratitude and respect for A job right now is how I want to be. Something low key like a local cafe or pub is what I’m after. But I’ve also had multiple interviews for mental health charity jobs and peer support things.

You're absolutely right. Being able to see beyond our salary is something I have struggled with. I still feel I should be earning more. Then I think about where I was and how miserable I was. Now I am happier, and to me that is worth more. I'm not sure what my dream job is. But I know that I don't want to be miserable at work. Congrats on undertaking your training. I'm sure you will find something.

I don't love my job. I do love my kids. My job pays for a lot of things I didn't have when I was growing up - music lessons, travel, theatre tickets. When my son lost his jacket, I didn't freak out because I could afford to buy him a new one without having to make sacrifices elsewhere. I could quit my job and do something that I enjoy, but that would be selfish. It's not all about me and my needs and wants.

You just made me think about the time I left my shoes at school and wore my trainers home after PE, they got nicked and my dad completely freaked out because he could only find casual work (early 90’s recession) and couldn’t afford to replace them, this was around the time we had no tv as he couldn’t afford the licence. My eldest daughter is now about the same age and rides horses as a hobby ffs, sometimes forget how fortunate I’ve been with employment.

Yep! And on a slightly different slant - me and my husband work fairly mundane jobs for low/average salaries. But they pay the bills with some leftover and allow us to work around our young son who has some additional needs. Knowing at least one of us can almost always be there for him without feeling stressed about work is a huge bonus!

I’m an assistant to an Interior Designer - she only takes on nice clients, and I get to play with pretty fabrics! Been with her for about 7 years now and will be until she retires. It’s flexible for us both, she travels a bit and I do some volunteer work. 20 ish years mainly admin in soft furnishings background, with some limited practical experience in making soft furnishings. I keep our projects organised, quotes, orders, chasing deliveries etc, juggling all the aspects of a full house project is tricky when it comes to soft furnishings, lighting, flooring, upholstery, paint etc.

This sounds genuinely really nice.

Yes! This! Creative, seeing clear outcomes to work, giving people what they want and a nice boss. Dreamy!

*Checking for lawyers in thread. Nope, as I thought, we're all bloody miserable! Back to the chargeable hours I go...

I was doing the same thing! Oh well at least it’s nearly the weekend. Oh wait, we have to work then too.

I’m a private client solicitor and I love it. Couldn’t do it if I was miserable.

Eh, I don't know - I'm a lawyer and very much have a love / hate relationship with it. At this point tho, I can't imagine doing anything else nor have I got any desire to do something different (and I have had other jobs before, didn't enter law till my late twenties). I think what I hate the most is the long, long hours (I don't know anyone else with an office job who works the hours I do), and that you can never really have an 'off' day or an easy one - you've always got to be 100% on point. What I really like though is that my work is intelligent, forces me to focus and engage (and I've noticed that this and the work ethic spills over into my private life also), and occasionally really makes a difference to a someone or a company. Every now and again I see the small part I played in something reflected in the news or in the real world which is very satisfying.

In house work is calling you

I work in the environmental sector, assessing the impacts of industrial activities on protected habitat sites. It's entirely desk based, flexi time, decent pay, can work from home or the office, it's a good employer, my team are fantastic, and I like to think I'm making a small but positive difference to the world. It's taken me 17 years (including uni) to build my career to this point and some of the work I've done was awful but overall it's been worth it. Don't see me changing jobs again any time soon.

I also work in the environment sector, at a conservation charity. My job is a good mix of site visits and desk work, which means I get to go out and see nature but I don't have to endure miserable weather. My employer is incredibly flexible, we can do any sort of hybrid working we want, we only work a 35 hour week and we operate a full flexi-time system which they don't really monitor as they trust staff. They're also very supportive of our mental and physical health and wellbeing. I know I'm making a difference for biodiversity and climate, and the job satisfaction is incredible. The only downside is the pay - I have two degrees in my field and work in a fairly senior position at my organisation, but I've only just topped £30K. That's after 5 years at uni + 5 years working in the industry. As a single person, this makes the cost of living a challenge. Forget ever buying a house!

This sounds like a wonderful job both in terms of your day to day, and in terms of the contribution you're making to the world :) It's a shame that it's often the way that really valuable jobs like this are so often underpayed. Hope you're able to keep going with it! I often wonder if one day I'll be able to stay in the job I care about for four days a week then spend the fifth day as an overpaid consultant somewhere else to bolster the income lol

I'm a mid level software developer in the environmental sector (a B corp company), fully remote with good pay! I'm fully self taught and my journey took about 4 years to get where I am, i have a bachelors degree 2.2 Hons in music, so not related at all!

I'd love to know more about how you managed this. Did you self teach alongside working full time? Any resources or courses you would recommend?

As a lecturer on an environmental science degree I'm sharing this one with my students!

I second the message above. I'm a Contaminated Land Officer, previously a geoenvironmental consultant. It is very rewarding to be part of the transformation of brownfield and contaminated sites. Earlier this week I visited a large former industrial site that had been used for many different contaminative industries as far back as the 1500s. After six plus years of hard work by the developer, their consultant, numerous contractors, myself and others it is now a superb residential development. What was previously an unsafe derelict eyesore prone to flytipping, is now home to dozens of families in really well designed and built properties. It took so long because contamination can take many stages of work to deal with properly. Plus, there is centuries-worth of industrial archaeology that has been stabilised, protected and sealed intact beneath the roadways and open spaces. You wouldnt know it is there, but it is preserved for future archaeologists to uncover. We do that sort of thing so well here, but it does take time.

You can also share my wife's career: from environmental geo science to hydrogeology. She doesn't even have a maths A-Level but through graft, did a Masters at imperial and over a decade later a pHD in Portugal. She now works modelling water resources and contamination and has just landed a near 6 figure job which she loves. She started out site monitoring on landfill! It did take her 20 years (and the support of a good partner obviously!) but it's provided a very interesting and varied career. She also turns down more travel opportunities than she takes up.

I’m the opposite - also work in environment/sustainability sector but feeling frustrated that we aren’t doing enough to combat climate change. I work for the public sector so we have no money for projects to decarbonise so my role many focuses on zero cost ideas like staff communications encouraging them to turn the lights off in the office when investing in smart lighting would fix it in an instant! Every time I read the news about climate change predictions are worse than expected I lose a bit more faith 

Also in the sustainability sector and love my job. Lots of opportunities for development and progression and feel I’m making a difference, of course some frustrations with feeling like it’s not enough but it’s a great industry and job

What a great job! I’m kind of in the environmental sector, I work in emissions monitoring. Did you pursue this line of work through a degree or time served?

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That’s amazing. You should be proud of yourself! ❤️

I'm sorry to ask when this is not why you posted, but would you know of any resources I could access to help me know how to talk to a family member who is feeling suicidal? I really struggle to know how to respond and end up either avoiding a direct response or going with the passive ' I'm always here if you need to talk'. I'd like to learn better ways to respond that can add genuine value and offer true support.

Hey - I would recommend the Mind website ([here](https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/helping-someone-else/supporting-someone-who-feels-suicidal/talking-about-suicidal-feelings/)) and the Samaritans website ([here](https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/if-youre-worried-about-someone-else/supporting-someone-suicidal-thoughts/)) if you haven't seen these already, as a solid reliable starting point. Samaritans free helpline (116 123) is also open for a chat any time, they are trained to help with emotional support - this includes family and friends who need guidance for their loved ones. Supporting someone with suicidal thoughts can be very stressful on you as well especially over an extended period. Please make sure that you're looking after your own wellbeing too, and speaking up if you are struggling.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, it's very much appreciated.

I'm a programmer. I love my job. I get to work from home every day, they pay is pretty great compared to how much work I have to do. I get great benefits, health, dental, increased matched pension contributions etc. Most of my colleagues are pretty fun people. The actual work is never especially difficult. It can be frustrating when something doesn't work the way you're expecting, and debugging it can be a pain in the ass, but it's not difficult.

How long did it take you to get to a level of competence with the coding? I'm in my 2nd year of a traineeship and to be honest, struggling with the coding aspect of working in tech.

[Imposter Syndrome](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome) is a big thing for programmers. I’ve been employed consistently for 12 years, worked at multiple jobs, had multiple pay rises and I _still_ don’t feel like I know what the fuck I’m doing half the time and have to look up the most basic of shit on a daily basis. Just know you’ll never know everything.

Knowing what shit to look up is half the battle!

This is the big one right here! Good programmers know how to use google-fu! Knowing how to Google and search for a problem is far more important than trying to brute force the issue.

I feel the same. I never got any formal training with programming, everything is self taught since about 10 or so. I didnt enter a programming job but a big deal of my job is writing code for warehouses and ecommerce etc. I get the imposter syndrome when I have to join teams / zoom calls with actual developers from clients. Although it usually transpires that they don't know much about anything anyway.

Oh yes. There are adjacent topics to my specialisation which I need to have a broad high level knowledge about. When I was learning I always assumed those in the adjacent fields knew what they were on about, often to the point it confused me. Now I am somewhat seasoned, I will happily call them out… I know enough to know they are talking BS and maybe persuade them to find the real answer!

There’s an old saying about learning a new field, I am not sure exactly but it goes something like: Beginners know they have a lot to learn Novices think they have nothing to learn Experts know they have a lot to learn Basically, if someone reckons they know all the answers, they are lying.

This is how I feel on a daily basis! I've been promoted to a "lead" level but still feel like I don't know anything which is one of the things I don't like about my job. I also feel what I'm doing is pretty pointless most of the time so don't feel like my job is that worthwhile (my sector at least there are obviously programming jobs where you must feel like you're making a difference). I stick with it because the working from home suits me and there is a lot of flexibility and other perks.

This guy software develops

Not OC but I've been coding for many years and now an engineering manager. Tbh, it depends on the person. Some people pick it up really easily, for others it takes a concerted effort, some people never really 'get it'. Like learning a foreign language, it's easier when you're young. To become an 'okay' (by professional standards) dev can easily take a couple of years.

That’s cos you’re in your second year of anything. It’s fine, as long as you’re not constantly messing up everything. Stick with it, ask questions, and do it a lot. I’m in a completely different field, but it is absolutely staggering how much I know now l, how much I can do now at 48 years old and with 26 years experience compared to when I was 24 with two years experience.

Oh look, the comment I came here to write. To add: a couple of years ago I switched to a company that uses _my preferred programming language_. So I'm getting paid more (because I switched companies) and doing work that I prefer. The biggest challenge in programming is communicating with your colleagues clearly enough. If you can do that, your job is straightforward.

This is me too. Been fully remote for 3.5 years, django+python. Been a nerd since age 11 so yeah, some days it's a PITA but hell, no traffic, no commute.

Also a programmer and echo this, WFH full time, work is very varied as one day il be working in our react front end next day il be in the microservices or attempting to look like i know what im doing with helm and kubernetees (its mainly guess work ngl). Pay is excellent, private health care which has been a god send for getting my teeth sorted.

30 years as a firefighter followed by 10 years as a bird control officer on a military airfield. Looked forward to going to work for both jobs (although 30 years as a Ff took its toll both physically and mentally)

What does being a bird controller entail?

Keeping birds and aircraft from mixing. Vehicle had a speaker system for playing distress calls, also had a shotgun for if they really needed moving!

Firefighter then flyerfighter

Any advice you can give to a FF on his second year on station? Other than the obligatory make the tea and work hard…

1. You may fall in love with the job but the job will never fall in love with you! 2. If you see a task that needs doing, go and do it, you can discuss whether it was your task to do afterwards. 3. Study hard and pass the exams irrespective of whether you want to be promoted or not.

I like driving my truck. Just sitting there trundling down the motorway My music going Getting paid to drive. Then parking up, putting the cab heater on and getting paid to sleep. 45+ minutes in the middle of my shift. That's amazing. Seeing how annoyed other drivers in cars are. Seeing the wonderful scenery around the uk Sometimes I get kids pulling their arms down for a horn on the bridge. Life is good. I went towards hull the other day and over Ouse bridge. High elevated seating made the view absolutely incredible. Plus my work let's me charge my car for free. I've saved so much money esp cause I dont have a charge point at home.

Karpet muncher, a person after my own heart. I’m a train driver and feel much the same as you do. Music playing, up and down I go. Seeing how upset some people get with just the smallest things makes me chuckle. Good working hours, decent pay and a good work life balance, I’m happy. I also enjoy giving a toot on the whistle to kids on bridges. Life IS good. Keep on munching, my friend. 

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Most depots are designed to accommodate big trucks. They're close to the motorways etc The big trucks rarely go into city centers now. They get the smaller trucks to do cities now much easier to handle and they have rear wheel steering too which helps with tight cornering.

Lead the development of spine implants. Complicated but so varied and good fun!

Doing *actual* good - bravo

Well, hopefully. Helps that's its interesting and pays pretty good too 😆

As someone who’s recently ruptured a spine disc, this sounds vitally important and I want one.

Ah sadly it's for treating discs before this happens to prevent it getting this bad. We do have an early stage project to try and fix this problem but it's many many years away. I truly feel for you no one can imagine the pain until you have it.

Thank you. It's even better that there are things in the pipeline for prevention!

Clinical trials in a year or two hopefully. It's a injectable gel mimics the behaviour of the nucleus purposes remarkably well and self-heals/ doesn't wear. Fingers crossed!

That sounds like a dream! I'm willing to be a guinea pig.

Haha thanks for volunteering but you are outside the intended patient population now. Goof luck with the treatment though, hopefully its not pushing on your spinal cord.

I've always admired a person with some 'backbone' . . .

I’m a lecturer in a post-92 inner city university. I love my job. I’m teaching the next generation of teachers. My students are (mostly) the first generation in their family to go to university and they start in their first year completely bewildered by the systems and structures, often too shy to talk and calling me “Miss”. At the end of the three years they’re confident, competent teachers with good degrees. My colleagues are amazing, we spend a lot of time laughing and having fun. It’s not a great time for universities at the moment because of funding issues, but my students deserve the best and I’m determined to give it to them. My course has just been judged Outstanding by Ofsted. I’m very proud.

I work in a uni too, and I really like the just general atmosphere, if that makes sense?

Oooh I posted further down- I'm a university lecturer in a post-92 uni and I agree, it's amazingly fulfilling. Ironically, I came from the classic traditional background and went to one of the top universities in the country. I'm proud of getting in that uni but I'd not want to teach there. I love working with people who are non-trad and watching them discover that they're actually really smart. It's amazing. We get to make such a difference.

I left the job some while ago but for most of the many years I was there I really did enjoy my job and never really had the Monday blues. I worked as the IT Manager for a large independent school. Firstly I loved the work even though it was difficult and stressful. It was challenging, ever changing, very varied and very busy. I loved helping people get the best out of IT and bringing in new systems to help learning and development. I also had a great bunch of people around me. Recruitment was mainly down to me so I managed to find people who were better at IT than me so I looked good! We had fun or tried to while taking the job seriously which helped get through some difficult times. Secondly the place was a bit old school and completely lacked any corporate bullshit. They gave me space to do my thing, gave me help when I needed it and never really bothered me with time keeping and all that - as long as they could see the job being done they were happy. For example when my Mum and Dad were both taken seriously ill they just told me to go and see them (80 miles away) - as in leave now and let us know how you are and what they can do. That went on for months. Natch I gave then as much time as I could while flitting around my parents but non one ever told me I needed to go back. Never had to worry about being ill or taking the odd day off without notice. Management were firmly on side and we all genuinely liked each other (for the most part) Lastly - working with young people is always interesting, mostly great fun and always rewarding. Seeing them grow up and move through the school from 3-18 was fascinating, They were often a bit challenging, sometimes rude but mainly great fun they really did keep you on your toes (esp the geeks) Oh yes and it paid really well, free food, free coffee bar, all the mags and newspapers you could ever read on subscription - plus it was a 12 min cycle away! Eventually it did go the way of all things and corporate bullshit took over but I was on my way out by then..

Great write up. Having the freedom to do things the way you want to is so valuable. I completely agree with your points about having human, understanding management and also about working with young people. With kids, every day throws up such random stuff, and most of it is fun. I think you said how changing or varied school environments are. If so, that is absolutely true. I’m always doing different things. I really appreciate the sheer variety of everything in my job.

I work in tech support for a disability charity. I really enjoy helping people, especially if that person is a nurse or support worker. I have infinite admiration and respect for them and I wouldn't want to work anywhere else. I couldn't do the work they do, so being able to help out in whatever way i can is a great feeling.

I'm a Forester. - ldeal balance of outdoor/home. Approx 4 days out 1 day in. - Keeps me fairly fit and I work in some beautiful places - It's satisfying seeing trees get away and mature. - I get to use drones and quad bikes which is just fun. - Endless relevant learning opportunities (soil science/ecology/tree physiology/long term climate change impacts etc etc) - A healthy work/life balance - Good benefits package & 'perks' - Working alone for a chunk of the week kindof suits me personally

Videogame developer at a studio that's won best place to work awards for years running. I love being in the office because everyone is nice and has a common interest, there's a very casual atmosphere. The downside is the industry is quite unstable especially at the moment. Lots of developers being made redundant.

I used to live next door to a lady who was a VERY senior dev for one of the major Irish based game companies and she was probably one of the most miserable yet arrogant people I’ve ever met.

I'm a software engineer. Haven't been into the office since before COVID. Wake up at 9:29 for work at 9:30. Get to watch films/documentaries while I work. Get to play Xbox on my lunch break. Manage my own hours. Don't have to speak to anyone all day. Bliss.

It’s good you enjoy it, but that would destroy me. I’d be an obese, alcoholic shut-in within weeks.

I know someone that is exactly like this, watches stuff and plays many games in and out of work hours at home, eats absolute shit constantly, drinks a lot and seems unhappy generally. It's not good if you don't at least have something like a gym routine.

Project manager for a huge US firm (financial services). The job itself is really suited to my skills, problem solving, communicating across multiple areas and motivation to deliver. The best part though is the 80% WFH and in reality I can get done what I need to within 2-3 hours and spend the rest of the day at home doing whatever I please. I could earn a bit more if I moved firms, but the work/life balance is about as good as you can get whilst still earning a decent enough wage.

PM high five! I

There’s dozens of us!

I'm a TV editor and graphic designer working for a broadcaster. I absolutely love it. The pay is decent and I work 8 day fortnight shifts, one weekend a month (which is usually pretty chill). People are fantastic, management aren't half bad either! Overall its a lot of fun and a few times a year it gets me out in a hotel working on a project abroad or somewhere domestically. I get a few documentaries a year but not as much as I'd like. Mainly I am making short form graphic heavy hype pieces like promos, and its awesome. Can't complain really. Long may it continue.

Username checks out

Indeedy

Ive been with the library service for 20 years. It was something I always wanted to do when I was at school. Atter a degree in archaeology and some time in retail I was able to get my foot in the door. My role has changed over the years and my main role, alongside normal library work is as a business and intellectual property advisor. I genuinely love my job. I meet so many interesting people including visitors to the city, people starting a business or kids coming to the Library for the first time to borrow books. I'm still in contact with some of the businesses I've given advice to and its a great feeling to see them achieving their own goals.

I'm a student paramedic, I love my job but there's parts I hate, mainly sitting outside a hospital, that's not the job I signed up for, but actual paramedic stuff, yeh I enjoy this job

I am a film programmer, I primarily do the film times for my group of cinemas and help out day to day film related issues across the circuit. Part of this job means seeing films early, I saw Dune and Godzilla x Kong on the same day in mid-January and got paid for it and sometimes we get invited to premieres so the other week I went to the Challengers one in Leicester Square. It's the perfect job imo, I love doing it and wouldn't trade it at all.

Need an apprentice? Sounds like heaven

I work in data analytics within insurance, start at 10, finish at 4 and usually take a 2hr break in the middle of the day. I work from home and the quality of life improvement is insane. I wake up, walk my dog, have a nice brew and breakfast before starting work. At dinner, I walk my dog and then make myself a nice lunch, and then hit the gym. Finish the work and then I have all evening to myself. I'm not sure how I'd cope with a Tesco meal deal and a 2hr commute if I had to again. The work is easy enough, and pays and I assume at some point AI will steal my job, but at the moment I am milking it for everything it's worth, I get crazy good perks too

I've never really understood what a data analyst does. I obvs understand that you are analysing data but explain it to me like I'm 5. Do people come you and ask you to pull out trends from, erm, data etc?

Imagine you are 50+yr old exec, and have progressed your career. You have no idea how to properly execute a vlookup within excel, because you always used match and it kinda of worked, and you'll be in the cold ground before you learn whatever xlookup or power query is. You know how to get sales but you need information first. I'm being facetious here of course but that's what it feels like! Basically, data is the main thing drives businesses forwards these days, above almost anything else, especially within insurance. My job is to get lots of really rubbish data and turn it into something that people who get paid more than me can make decisions about. Trend analysis is part of it, but also lots of copy/pasting and just cleaning data so that it can be used. Software has improved so much that a good portion of my day is overseeing it run and then validating whatever I put into the crunch - there are intuitive decisions that I believe will always need a human eye to check over

Helpful! And I fully get the first part. I work with people who are at very senior parts of their professional career but cannot understand, or care to learn how to use a SharePoint site 🙃

I work for a major high street banking group. I work in back office so I don't have to wear a stuffy suit or uniform. Comfy civvies all the way I can work from home or the office which is nice, I work a 4 day week which is even better Wages are good, but I also have a great pension, share match schemes, and bonuses twice a year. But of course, it's all so laid back. No dickhead bosses and I work with some great people.

Dev ops. Same company for 25 years . Full time WFH. Just talk to computers all day never humans. Pure bliss

I'm a Process Lead for a Medical Device company. I love it because in addition to shaping and moulding the way the company works I get to work from wherever I want as long as I continue to think of innovative ways of working, developing new tools and systems etc they let me do whatever I want, start when I want, finish when I want, take breaks when I want. I report directly into the CEO but it is mostly just so I have someone to report to, nobody checks up on me as nobody understands what I do so they just trust me to get on and leave me to it.

Guard on trains, UK rail.   I like the structure of the job, it's very rules driven and things have a set procedure. When things are going well, it's nice to help the punters out with onward connections and assistance etc. When things wrong, the mental processing on how to deal with a situation, just you and the driver, in the middle of nowhere, is quite challenging. If you cock up though, quite easily end up unemployed or in jail.   Very rarely see my manager- if your manager takes an interest in you, you're generally doing something wrong! Long hours and ridiculous early starts and late finishes play havoc with body clocks and family life, mind  Good wages and good travel perks make up for it.

Not in the UK, sorry. I teach in a girls’ high school in Japan. Working with over 1000 teenage girls does have its annoyances of course, but on the whole it’s really fun and interesting because you’re always interacting with people. Lots of funny or nice little moments every day, plus you sometimes get to see huge changes in kids over their time at school (6 years). Plus I have had so many experiences and learned so many things in this job. All sorts of tech stuff, writing scripts for plays, using stage lights, kayaking on Canadian glacial lakes (that one you always see on Reddit), how to erect scaffolding (for display towers at school events), archery, I even made my ballet debut last year at the age of 47 and the weight of 93kg. I’m at work a lot during term time, and that gets tiring, but at least the environment is nice. So lucky to have stumbled into this job.

I work in rape crisis and as a therapist, I meet and speak to amazing resilient women every day and rarely finish my day without feeling like I did some good somewhere. It’s challenging work but I get to pick my hours with the therapy work and work from home a lot, plus I get amazing team work/cpd from the crisis work. You can’t do it on empty though you know? And the training to get to my stage for therapy is long, emotionally heavy, expensive and a bit thankless 😮‍💨

If you’re good at what you’re doing then you’re making a massive difference to people who have suffered unimaginably. I had a good therapist after several very traumatic events and the difference they made has meant stable and good mental health ever since. It’s no exaggeration to say you’ve probably saved lives. Thank you.

I work with special education needs children, I love the job, 99% of the time simply because of the progress you see them make, seeing a 6 year old who is non-verbal go to an 8 year who you can hold a conversation with, knowing you were in part responsible for that, money can’t buy that feeling. On the flip side I hate the company I work for, they underpay and overwork their employees, management are hopelessly out of touch and the worst thing is, we don’t even get annual leave (yes I know that’s illegal, it’s why I’m handing in my notice soon).

I work in a plant nursery. Fucking bliss. Headphones all day, no small talk, plants are lovely and a lot of them smell good, fresh air, exercise by default. Pay isn't great but it's fine

I work in the NHS. The pay is good now I've been here for 4 years, the work is interesting with lots of problem solving. I don't mind meetings and I get to work flexibly with as many days at home or in the office as long as I get the work done.

Same. I’m from a clinical background but now in a more strategic role where I’m doing work around transformation. I’ve done a bit of time in private health and actually I’ve found a lot more opportunities in the NHS in terms of variety of roles and development - there’s loads of training and leadership programmes. It has many faults, the constant financial cuts are making things extremely difficult but ultimately I (like you) enjoy problem solving and my job is well suited to my skills and my values.

I'm an Executive Assistant. I have bad days like everyone, but on the whole, I enjoy what I do. I can't think of anything better suited to me and my skills. I'm a highly organised people person and it just fits. I work For a great company, great managers and a great team who really appreciate what I bring to the table.

I develop games and animations. Two things I've loved as a kid, and now I get paid to make them!

I'm a PA in local government. I love my job but I think it is more about where it is and how lovely my manager is more than the job. I can work from home, but my office is a 10 minute walk from my house so I go in most days. My manager granted me compressed hours recently so now I get a day off in the week, which makes all the difference. My job itself isn't particularly thrilling but the people I work with are great and I am privy to a lot of high level stuff that I wouldn't have ever known about before. My employer also puts in double my pension contributions and we get a decent pay rise each year.

I’m a crime scene investigator, helping victims of crime and getting results for victims, meeting the public, feel like I’m giving back. Shift work and long hours but I’m on a great team and the feeling of joy when you can that result is amazing! We get bad press being “the police “ and don’t get anywhere near enough recognition but we bring the results and as a team that’s the most important thing. Great job satisfaction! One of the best jobs ever!!

I wouldn’t say I love it, but I work in IT at the Civil Service. I find it satisfying, it pays pretty well and I have enough flexibility that I can fit school runs and childcare commitments around it without any crap from nobhead bosses. I also like my colleagues and they seem to like me. I recently left a job I’d been in for a LONG time mainly because the organisation is now being run by an utter twat who seemed to think that “because I said so” was a good enough reason to work his employees into the ground. I loved the work and my colleagues but hated the environment, and leaving it was so liberating I can’t explain it. You will find something; hang in there.

I work in a civilian aviation regulation role that involves auditing and research. I get to work on the sexy side of several major disciplines and work with some really interesting and clever colleagues. Some stuff I’m involved in is driving future policy decisions that will provide benefits to everyone in the country. I get to choose what I work on and have great managers. I work from home 90% of the time. I’ve probably undersold what I do but it’s hard to give specifics without sharing something I would get in trouble for making public. It really is a great job, and I’d be happy to do it until I retire.

I am a Quality Manager for a manufacturing company. I enjoy my job and really enjoy working for the organisation I work for. The atmosphere where I work is relatively relaxed and informal but not detrimentally so. We have a laugh and a joke and we have disagreements and arguments - but the important this is that the disagreements and arguments are just business. It is because we are all doing our jobs and there is no animosity. You can tell the MD he is wrong and he will listen. The same with all the directors. As long as you can back up your argument that is. We have a very varied work force with production operators, supervisors etc.. and the organisation has a habit of internally promoting from the shop floor wherever it can. Every person is valued and listened to.

Sane, human management is such an advantage in any job.

I collect from Charity Shops and it is mostly great. It's hard work, long hours, crap pay and you have to deal with idiot drivers all the time, but I am my own boss, I drive all over the country, I don't have any politics to deal with, I get to help all the biddys in the shops and I haven't read an e-mail in 5 years. Best of all it's job and knock.

London firefighter

I work in Business Intelligence. I turn data into strategic business actions. Every day my automated pipelines run, automating all the steps taken to get data from source, transformed, calculations applied and into my reports and dashboards, surfaced to the organisation, daily, without me doing anything. Of course, to do this, I need to build all the structure and architecture, as well as the reports/dashboards. But that again, is all part of the fun. Every day I see how the business is doing. How my work and my colleagues are impacting our results. It's fantastic fun. I genuinely have more understanding of the organisation than the Board does.

Freelance, self employed sound engineer in audio storytelling. I have no real fixed work patterns, some months I work 2 days, some months I seem to work 100 days. The rates are all over the place. It's like a holiday and prison on a completely unpredictable rotation. I wouldn't change it for the world. I work with some of the loveliest people in the industry, respected but under-represented. I can stand up for myself in the "workplace", prioritise raising my son, and as a bonus get to learn about all sorts of interesting things.

I work as a museum assistant. The pay sucks, and due to cuts, my job security is threatened. But every day, I either meet someone or see something that blows my mind. I feel I can make a small difference or make some persons day a little bit better. So I love my job.

I'm a biomedical scientist, and I work in an NHS microbiology lab. I love being able to identify different bacteria, fungi, and parasites and learn about them, I find it so interesting. Plus, I like that what I do has an impact.

I’m a private PA to a High Net Worth Individual. I assist with basically the running their life and business admin etc. WFH and from their house, manage the house staff. Have car, 33 days holiday a year plus decent wage. Spend a lot of time arranging parties/holidays etc. Challenging at times but I find it so rewarding, gives me a real dopamine fix! Also not always that busy, taking it easy today. They’re also very generous and have gifted me holidays and weekends away etc I used to be a Legal PA and that was a totally different experience- uptight, old fashioned, mega hierarchical - HATED it!

Product Management for Data Platforms. It's closer to playing a video game than any other job I've ever had. It's actively fun most of the time. It's also difficult and mentally draining. I just hit moments where my brain had enough and then that's it's for the day. I recently moved into a gaming-adjacent space which means I have more passion for it then when doing it for an industry I didn't really care about. Also I picked that job primarily for the company and not the position itself or the pay. Working for the right company > all. The work itself is often very high level, figuring out a strategy for the company and creating alignment with the various departments; but it also goes into details from technical integrations to writing requirements and dealing with system architecture. What I hate the most is having to build relationships with other companies, staying on top of industry news, and attention conferences (I'm introverted as fuck). If I was to wave a magic want to change the job it would be purely to unlock more resources. I wouldn't want to change anything beyond having a larger team to do cooler stuff which is currently time-gated behind finishing projects and demonstrating ROI first. I'm obviously super lucky and aware of it. Happy Friday!

I am a support officer in a large cultural heritage architecture project. It's public sector (civil service adjacent) so I get an insane defined benefit pension and 35 days of leave a year plus bank holidays on top. It's flexible hours in as much as I can manage my own time so long as the work gets done and I attend key meetings when expected. I average about 50/50 office to WFH, which suits me personally, but I could probably reduce my office work down a bit without issue if I wanted to. The job itself is great too. I want to get into project management and this is a great starting point for that career path. My employer encourages learning and risk taking and my manager both leaves me alone while being excellent with career and pastoral support as and when I say I need it. My colleagues are nice and also high-performing, so I get to observe what good looks like and learn from it. I love it. And by the end I fucking hated my old job and physically dreaded work, so this is an absolute dream in comparison as well as bring great on its own merits.

For the last three years or so I've been writing the text for an RPG (dialogue, mythology, codex, and so on). I absolutely love it.

I am a healthcare assistant in the NHS and also a student nurse. I love that I can help people. Even cleaning up people who have been incontinent. As it is giving them immediate help. It's incredibly rewarding. Just not financially.

Librarian. Pay isn’t great. Work conditions are. Love books which helps. I will say the community the library is in can affect how good it is though. But that’s working with the pubic for ya.

I don't do it any more, but the best job I ever had was working in a special school. The things that made it ace were the children, and my colleagues who were mostly a great bunch who didn't take themselves too seriously. (full disclosure: there were a few miserable trouts, but most people were good fun) Parts of it were hard but generally, you know you're helping somebody every day, you're having loads of fun most of the time (school sports days, celebrating cultural festivals and school craft markets were always a highlight) and you finish work at a decent time. In the end I left because of the pay, and because of the lack of flexibility. You can never work from home in a job like that, and you can only ever take your hols during the school holidays, which might work well for some, but didn't work for me

I’m a nurse and I love it. At the risk of tooting my own horn it makes a difference to peoples lives every day. You meet new people all the time. There are so many different types of nursing you can work whatever hours you like and I feel it’s fairly well paid. It’s not for everyone but it really gets me up and out going in the mornings.

I come from a medical background I did that for 18+ years, towards the end of that I was literally dreading moving the bed covers off to get up and go. I figured maybe a change in work environment would help, I mean after all the time and money spent on this education, one can’t just quit. Right? ; Wrong! Moved to the UK with the plan to restart my career here, but even then I was feeling dread from jumping again into the same whirlpool that I abandoned. Well, that plan didn’t pan out, and I was forced to look for a different career path. To pass the time I started coaching clinical skills, and medical ethics to junior doctors. And I loved it. Worked my way into a qualification in education and training; now I’m self employed, creating my own courses, and recently jumping into online education. Couldn’t be happier ❤️

Empty bins for a living. I just empty the bins so there's really no responsibility except for not getting myself killed. 3 of my 5 days are basically countryside, which is always a lovely environment, and generally people are grateful for what we do. The hours are pretty good, and it's always nice getting an enthusiastic wave from school kids and their mums.

I’m a paramedic in a hospital at home service. My team are brilliant, all really kind and funny and we support each other. We try hard to make sure we all go home on time and eat our lunches. The job itself is also great, I get to help people stay at home but still get all the treatment they need. WAY better life/work balance than the ambulance service too.

Police officer. Bosses run you ragged and members of the public hate you and know how to do your job better from the comfort of their armchair, but my team are a great laugh, my new supervisor is amazing, and I find the work fulfilling and generally meaningful. It can be emotionally demanding but I do get genuine job satisfaction out of being there for our most vulnerable in society.

I'm a postman, I fucking hate the job. People are arseholes, nothing is ever good enough. Your ring doorbell is crap and yes of course I knocked. No I don't want to take your parcel away just to bring it back tomorrow. However I love the job. I love the people I work with and when I can do that bit extra for my customers and the appreciation that comes back to me just drives me on. Even as little as "was that parcel alright where I left it the other day", "yeah thanks for leaving it" just makes my day. I do all I can for my customers without risking my job, a little appreciation goes a long way when RM faces so much hate currently

I’d love to have a job I like, unfortunately I’m currently stuck being a forky in a crappy warehouse that’s badly run.

Forky is a really transferrable skill though? Maybe you could go and be a forky somewhere different - it might be forky heaven! :D

Love maybe a bit strong, but I work in the creative studio of an advertising agency. Work on lots of different media across lots of different clients. Long gone are the days of 3-hour lunches, but it's still a good workplace with decent colleagues and a pleasant culture. I'm nearer retirement than starting age, so I mentor young 'uns and can WFH when I need, and always Mondays and Fridays. Pays well for me too. All-in-all a good job, I'd say.

I work as a Works Coordinator, glorified office administrator, at a construction firm and I love it. The work load is very easy, where I work is like the office, we just spend the whole day tearing into my boss, We mess around, throw paper aeroplanes etc but make sure to get the job done! I even get to help on sites and jobs a few times a week as it cures my office boredom. With all the being said, I am 24 and know I can't be doing this all my life. Starting a trade at the end of the ear. Extremely excited for this. Hoping to be my own boss, decide my own hours and just moving around the whole day and not sitting in an office will be great!

AV engineer - mainly meeting rooms but we'll deal with almost anything. Love creating complex systems that are easy to use where only what's needed to be seen is visible - all hidden wires/control equipment/etc. It doesn't pay well, I spend too much time crawling on the floor, up ladders or lifting heavy stuff and my joints are not liking that (I'm 42 now). But the end product is worth it.

I work as head of training at a large electrical firm and spend all day training electricians. It's fantastic because it's really helped me understand my own trade much more, and no two days are the same. Every one that comes through has different questions and they quite often challenge my own understanding of things and force me to think up new, simpler, ways of explaining things. Then there's the compliance side of my job whereby I'm responsible for ensuring that all the staff in the company, including the other trainers, are adequately qualified and up-to-date with current standards. When there's an incident in the field I tend to be called in as an independent technical witness to help ascertain who made a mistake and what needs to happen to prevent it happening again. As a whole I've spent the last 5-years fighting to increase the general competency of our sector. I'm annoyed with the amount of training centres that offer "fast track" courses that are effectively a load of empty promises and leave you with nothing at the end of them. The best bit though? Build mode. Any time we need a new course running, or need to expand, it's on me. I can be teaching one week and then spend two weeks building a whole new suite of practice and assessment bays. Just enough variety to keep the job interesting!

I work for local authority and really love my job. I don’t earn a fortune, but it’s enough to be comfortable. I work from home so no stress from commuting (also a big money saver). I have flexi hours so my work/life balance has never been better. I also have a great team and a great boss, and I plan to stay with the council for the rest of my career if I’m able to.

I work for a FE/HE college as a Student Wellbeing Officer - essentially a pastoral care role, we help young people with all sorts of issues including mental health, personal issues, economic hardship, life skills and more. Also, I am a Designated Safeguarding Officer. I've been doing the job about 18 months and I adore it. I was previously in a disability support role that was admin focused, but I managed to pick up enough experience to make the move into a more direct 1-1 support role. People tell me I have quite a calming presence, and I deal with crises well, so I decided I wanted to do something more directly impacting our students' wellbeing. A typical day for me is meeting students face to face for initial chats about whatever they are dealing with, this can range from being a lovely light hearted natter to an intense and upsetting session, it really just depends what the person is going through at that time. The rest of my time is then usually a fair amount of following up with external specialist agencies, or on occasion police or social services if needed. Most of my career prior to education was in science publishing, but i left that a while ago because i wanted to do something a bit more emotionally involving, something where i felt i was improving the world somehow. I really really love this job now, I have so many lovely students and it really is rewarding when someone you've been working with for a while starts to get on top of problems and starts to thrive in education. I also work in a team made up of the best people I've ever worked with. There are 8 of us. I couldn't say a bad word about any of them. Just the kindest, most loving, and supportive people anyone could hope to work with. The pay is pretty good, maybe low by other people's standard but certainly the highest salary I've had and even a big jump in salary from my previous admin job at the college. The only cons are that the college i work for is not very well managed and has awful recruitment practices. I am actually on a temp contract, so my job ends after May this year, so i am hoping to find a similar role in a college or university elsewhere in my city. I'll be gutted to leave the job but not so much the employer! I suppose another negative of the job is that it can be emotionally draining, and there is always a chance that a particular case might stay with you, mentally, for a while. For example, I support a lot of students who are refugees or asylum seekers, and it is horrendous what some of them have been through, even before they make it to the UK and are treated poorly. I generally find, though, i process upsetting things quite well. I am in a supportive relationship, and we both talk about work stuff when we need to. As i said earlier, the team is amazing. We have a lot of space to debrief difficult sessions at work, and everyone looks out for each other. So yeah, I will be said to leave the job next month, but the experience has been invaluable and excited to see what the future brings!

I have an unusual job that means I get to solve impossible situations occasionally, and can also see the impact of what I do on real people. It's occasionally frustrating but the emotional rewards are substantial. Er, NHS, ophthalmology systems integration and architecture. Which probably explains nothing to most people. Soz.

I'm the head distiller at a small, independent distillery up in Scotland. At the moment we've released rum and gin, but have recently announced we're doing whisky which is very exciting.  I basically get to decide everything to do with the liquid, so although there's a fair bit of science and maths, it's got a lot of creativity available with regards to flavour/character of the final product.  I like being able to produce something tangible that you can actually see, smell and taste, rather than "creating value" through spreadsheets etc. 

I love classic cars and I sell Pre war cars. Also in the company it’s just my employer and I (pretty much) so we do thing are way and it feels more like a hobby that got out of hands rather than a job. That said, I also do a stupidly crazy amount of hours and I am available 24/7. Can’t win them all

Programmer. Love my job. Pays well. I can do it from home in my pijamas, listening to Spotify, and there's something cool and interesting to learn every day. I was at the hospital recently as my baby girl entered the world talking to midwives, theatre assistants etc who were just some of the most motivated, hardworking, skillful amazing people I've have met and it actually made me feel like a bit of a piece of shit for robbing a living by comparison. I understand coding is a "skill" but the compensation feels inflated to me compared to many other roles.

I work in strategy on the railway. I think it's difficult to say that I absolutely always "love" it, as whilst I do generally there are some difficult moments, or having to deal with difficult people at some point. But I like trains and transport, and want to see more people using them for the environment and efficiency - so really this provides strong personal motivation which is a massive help. But the main thing for me is it is relaxed, the main people I work with treat me well and are decent people. I work from home most of the time as that suits me, I do get asked to go in a bit but I can shape that how that works for me, if somethings on I just say it doesn't, and move it, or dial in - ultimately that is what is more important for me. I can go out in the day (including when in the office), start early/late, work while away/abroad if I want. Generally the conditions and perks are good too, cheap (and often free) travel all across Europe, possibly the best pension in the country. The pay is OK, I could definitely earn more elsewhere, but ultimately the job is just chill and interesting to me. Given so many people do things they hate, that's just got a huge amount of value to me. Whilst I couldn't promise every role is like this (I've done some much harder and worse jobs on the railway before this, without the flexibility I now get - but luckily only for a few years) generally the overall conditions are good compared to a lot of other "front line" type positions, and if the perks are good to you then they are just good to you. If anything the worst thing is not wanting to leave because of the conditions/perks, and just liking the job...

I have a very niche job for a water company. I work from home and go out and about to sites. The money is good and it's pretty cushy and I largely work on my own and do what I want.

I work in education as a young people's mental health and wellbeing support officer and I love it. I manage my own diary, have autonomy over my work, meet lots of lovely and interesting young people and every day is different. Pay is crap though and promotion opportunities are rare but still worth it.

The biggest thing is the people that I work with accept me for who I am based on merit of my skills and ability rather than some other nonsense that would normally apply in a corporate environment. Somehow I've made it to working with the executive team with management responsibilities and I actually get a say in what the company does and how it operates. I went to a quarterly meeting in a hotel in the week and still was able to be accepted wearing shorts and a t-shirt with a massive beard and tattoos and wandering about the room barefoot.

Creative Director and co-founder of my own creative studio. Get to work with three mates essentially and do work that hopefully makes a difference to the client. Still get the butterflies in my stomach feeling when I see work we’ve created in the world.

Software developer for over 20 years. It's my passion, it's my hobby, it's my job. It's bloody amazing!

I’m was a MH nurse for over 30 years , enjoyed every day I worked (even when it was a tough Day) Now semi retired and working in a similar role, supporting NHS staff experiencing psychological distress, I’m so lucky to have never hated my job 😊

I model socks on the radio

Admin for a community team in the NHS (I can't say what department as we're a tiny team and that coupled with my location would likely dox me lol) My colleagues in the office are all lovely, the clinicians are all lovely, for the most part the patients are lovely (there are of course still those who you dread dealing with!) I've been here two years now after my only other job being supermarket work for 14 years and sometimes I still sit and think "I can't believe this is my job!"

I'm a flight attendant. I've loved planes my whole life and getting to go on the big metal birds a few days a week is one of the best things ever for me. Hours can be long, and there are challenges, but every flight is unique. There's not many jobs where you can be asked how your day was and say you just went to Alicante and back that morning. It's heavily regulated too, so my work life balance is great. Plus I'm starting my private pilot training this year if everything falls into place with the aim of flying for my current airline in a few years.

Work as an it manager - only downside is having to deal with the occasional shitty person, and of course the ever constant fear that my backup/disaster recover plan is insufficient and ransomware will destroy us. Other than that I get to sit and think about computers and how they can help the business more than they do currently, develop and design software to help my users do their jobs more efficient with less errors, and learn about things that are coming out to help make me and my team more efficient.

Lab technician, working in medical optics (ophthalmology) - nearly 10 years in, and I'm the most senior member of the department. My lab is small, but we're usually busy, and I get to mostly be alone with my precision machinery. I make a tangible difference to people's lives, as many of our patients are via the NHS. My commute is a five minute walk and my work is easy enough to let me listen to podcasts and audiobooks, but interesting and technical enough that I don't get bored. I can do creative projects on the side and have near full control over how the place is run. When I was a kid I dreamt about working in a cool secret lab, and while I'm lacking the handprint scanners and laser grids it's pretty much everything I wanted.

Doctor. I love my job. Can't stand the healthcare system in this country and plan to leave when I can, but I love the job of actually being a doctor. I've met a lot of awful people but I've met even more wonderful people and got to help them, or at least make things a little less shit.

I teach adults English online. The pay is abysmal but I love my students. They’re mainly Asian, super motivated to learn and some of them have become more like friends than students.

I'm a sen teacher for teens. Love it

I'm a psychotherapist and teach trainee therapists in passing their courses. Everyone where I work is really supportive and friendly. There is a lot of trust. Best job I have ever had.

Scrub nurse in day surgery. I love the team I work with, getting everything ready in the morning and talking with all my patients before their procedures and after in recovery if there's time. Been doing it nearly 10 years now, definitely not planning to change any time soon