I’m lucky that I can say yes. That said, I still wouldnt do it for free. What about you, how do you feel about your job/career/field in general?

  • knightly the Sneptaur@pawb.social
    1·
    2 months ago

    I haven’t had a job that should exist since I was a tutor in college. Every position since then was either a fake busywork job, or tech support for people in fake busywork jobs. =/

  • Asafum@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 months ago

    No and no. I help produce luxury goods for obscenely rich people… 2 units of our product, depending on configuration, is my entire years salary…

  • mrmaplebar@fedia.io
    1·
    2 months ago

    Open source developer.

    I’d say it’s relatively unimportant in the greater scheme of things; nobody dies and the world would keep going even if I stopped.

    But I’m mostly proud to do it and I enjoy working in the non-profit sector, especially since I don’t have an asshole boss or corporate interests to worry about.

    On the flip side, I make less money than I would in the corporate space. But I suppose I value the freedom more than the money

    • DriewielerPlusPlus@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      2 months ago

      How did you get into this? I’ve been thinking about finding a different job but haven’t put real effort into it (yet). I’m currently a “senior” developer according to my boss, and I’m bored and annoyed by the commercial culture. Something open source sounds great if I also get paid but I highly doubt that that “senior” standard translates well.

      • mrmaplebar@fedia.io
        1·
        2 months ago

        I got into it by just committing to some projects in my free time. I built a relationship with the project, traveled to a few international sprints, and then eventually started working part time and gradually increased my involvement. I’m not sure how widely reproducible it is, to be honest, but it all starts with just getting into open source development and, like basically anything else, making personal connections in that scene. It’s highly dependent on the funding of the project, and unfortunately fundraising is the hard part of open source software development…

        Plus, if you’re a senior developer, especially in the US, then you’ll probably be looking at decrease in pay to something around Euro developer rates. It’s hard to know if the long term prospects of this career are good, but I’m happy enough for now and I have a lot of agency. And it does feel good to know that you’re writing FOSS code for everyone to use. I would treat it like a passion-driven vocation of sorts.

  • Fondots@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 months ago

    911 dispatch, yeah, kind of important.

    Wish I could do it for just fire and EMS, and not police, but that’s the way the system works, and the most interesting calls I get are for police I suppose.

    In a more ideal world where people don’t have to work just to survive and make ends meet, I probably would still do it, just not on a full-time schedule. It’s one of those things that needs to get done but that absolutely not everyone is cut out for, so I think it’s important for those of us who can hack it to step up to the plate to do it.

    As far as whether I’m proud of what I do, well I’m proud that I get to help people, I’m proud of the skills I have that allow me to do it well, but otherwise it’s just a job, I don’t brag about what I do (although I do have a ton of interesting stories from it that I like to share)

    And since it is a full time gig and I have tons of things I’d rather be doing, I’m looking forward to hopefully being able to retire someday and never having to go into the office again.

  • StickyDango@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    Yes and yes. I’m a health inspector.

    Would absolutely not do it for free. There’s a lot more that I do than just inspecting restaurants and beauty premises:

    • inspection accommodations (hotels, motels, rooming houses, student forms, hostels, camps)

    • respond to environmental complaints (dumping, pollution of storm water, failing septics, installation of septics)

    • residential complaints (the worst!! People don’t want to talk to each other and problem solve like adults so they threaten each other by dragging me in to sort their shit out for them. If they don’t get the result they want, it’s my fault 🙄)

    • emergency response (we suddenly had importance when covid came around, but the nation still wouldn’t acknowledge us as important because we’re not in the “response” side like nurses and doctors. We’re prevention, and nobody cares about us; bushfires, floods, air quality)

    • mosquito detection (for diseases they carry and treat the areas that we find have carrier mozzies for diseases like Japanese encephalitis, Ross River, etc.)

    • pest control, hoarding, land use, subdivisions, swimming pools, drinking water quality, disposal of dead carcasses, cemeteries, exhumation, outbreaks like gastro, too many things to list. We’re pretty much involved in everything that affects human health.

    But we’re underpaid, underappreciated, perpetually short staffed and quickly burning out, and mostly unknown to those who don’t run businesses that require council registration by law.

  • ExtremeDullard@piefed.socialEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    I have a great job, I’m reaching the end of a successful career and I’m very happy with the choices I’ve made in my professional life.

    But my job is NOT important and I’m not proud of it. I’m only proud of having the honesty to do what I’m paid to do well. Beyond that, my job is a means to an end: supporting my loved ones. They are what’s important. Nobody goes to their grave reflecting on what they did for a living.

  • humblearrogant@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 months ago

    I do maintenance at a telescope and occasionally fill in as telescope operator. It doesn’t pay great but the work has been fulfilling. A telescope operator recently quit and they implemented a temp salary (removing my overtime) without discussing the numbers first and ended up putting me at the bottom of a lower pay scale. I thought I was stuck but eventually complained and got reverted back to hourly, but they screwed me out of 200+ hours of overtime because “I didn’t complain soon enough and therefore that is the same as me accepting that salary”. I’m going to quit soon because I don’t work for free.