So long story short, the building that I specifically maintained and worked on was shut down as a Covid casualty and sold to a car dealership (which plans to demolish the building. It’s on the west side of 67th and I-35 for the locals). I’ve been working there for approximately 5 years.
I truly enjoyed my time there but the deal is I was contracted through a company that doesn’t do what I did. Now to find my new role within the company I have taken a slight demotion in role and am basically attempting to learn an entirely new field and it’s cool to learn new things. It’s commercial HVAC. Not easy by any means, but I got my EPA cert and all that good stuff so far. But I don’t love what I’m doing anymore. And that part is worrisome. I want to stick around because I think the upside of the work is amazing if I can stick through it all, but truthfully it’s not that fun to me.
My main question for you guys is what made you fall in love with your craft/job/expertise? I wanna love what I do, and it’s been discouraging to not feel that way as much lately despite the fact I do like the company I work for. I need to find my trigger that’ll ignite my passion. [Reply]
Are you doing strictly HVAC work? Have you looked into building engineering? I have a team of 78 and we maintain a portfolio of class A commercial office towers (6.3 million square feet). My guys are building engineers and are not silo'd. They run central plants, tear apart pumps, chillers, AHUs. We do plumbing from PVC, cut and groove black steel, solder and pro press copper, run augers and sewer jets. We handle electrical from chasing grounds, replacing ballasts, running conduit and installing circuits. We operate the fire alarm systems, the generators, and the fire pumps. We provide carpentry and locksmith services. It's an incredibly rewarding trade. [Reply]
Are you doing strictly HVAC work? Have you looked into building engineering? I have a team of 78 and we maintain a portfolio of class A commercial office towers (6.3 million square feet). My guys are building engineers and are not silo'd. They run central plants, tear apart pumps, chillers, AHUs. We do plumbing from PVC, cut and groove black steel, solder and pro press copper, run augers and sewer jets. We handle electrical from chasing grounds, replacing ballasts, running conduit and installing circuits. We operate the fire alarm systems, the generators, and the fire pumps. We provide carpentry and locksmith services. It's an incredibly rewarding trade. [Reply]
Originally Posted by T-post Tom:
Real men don’t enjoy their jobs. They just work hard, support their families and die young from stress and a poor diet. It’s what we do.
Are you my mom and dad? Because you sure sound like them. [Reply]
30 years of plumbing. I'm 54 and have the knees and back of an 80 year old. I hated it, but it payed the bills. I guess my advice would be to do what you have to until you can do what you want to [Reply]
Worked Heavy Construction my whole life.. Started as a ditch guy at 18 laying pipe and whatever shit job I was told to do.. That was not fun.. It was our family business and I learned it from the ground up. After a few years I was running two crews, bidding jobs and operating excavators, dozers, graders, and any piece of equipment you can think of.. We sold our business to a City and now I’m the Utilities Construction manager here and still get to run a new excavator.. Was it fun the whole time no, but I truly love operating equipment and that’s the rewarding part for me. [Reply]
Originally Posted by T-post Tom:
Real men don’t enjoy their jobs. They just work hard, support their families and die young from stress and a poor diet. It’s what we do.
I work in the oilfields as a operator, I absolutely love the freedom that I have. I get about 1-2 phone calls a week, if that. Very little physical labor. [Reply]
I've never understood people who love a job. I have never dreamed of labor. A job is something I tolerate to do the things I love. If I loved it, I wouldn't be "forced" to do it day in, day out in order to eat and if I did love it, I would hate the idea of having to do it on a schedule of someone else's choosing. [Reply]
I hear the common social media advice that you shouldn't do something for eight hours a day unless you love it.
This advice is incorrect.
Your goal is to maximize your happiness 24 hours a day and sustain or improve that in the future. If you don't like your job, evaluate how it's impacting your current overall life and your future. If it's making those things great, maybe it's worth it, though you can still look around. If it's not making those things better, ditch it. [Reply]