Quick survey: What do you think of your job? Chances are, you’re not thrilled with it. In fact, a staggering 70% of Americans hate their jobs. Considering how much of our lives we spend at our jobs, shouldn’t it be something we enjoy? So why is job satisfaction so difficult to come by? Here are a few reasons.
-
You Picked the Wrong Career. Children are asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” practically from the time they’re old enough to speak. That means you have plenty of time to think over the decision before entering the workforce. So job satisfaction should be a lot higher. Except that what you want to do when you’re younger isn’t necessarily what you want to keep doing the rest of your life. Once you got the job, you may have discovered that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Or maybe it was fun for a while, but the novelty wore off quickly. Still, it’s what you studied to do, and you’ve established yourself in this career, so you continue to do it, day in and day out, despite your personal feelings about the job.
-
You Don’t Like the Environment. Even if you do love what you’re doing, the wrong workplace atmosphere can make you loathe going to work every day. Maybe your boss is mean or abusive. Maybe your coworkers are incompetent or conniving. Maybe your commute to work is long and arduous, and drains you before you can even get to your desk. There are a number of factors that can create a toxic environment and, over time, lead you to hate your job.
-
You Don’t Have Stability. If you’re working freelance, or your job is on a limited term contract, it can be difficult to enjoy what you do. The day to day work is great, but in the back of your mind, there’s always the looming dread that it could be over at any moment. Will your employer renew your contract for another term? Once this job ends, how long will it be until the next? Will you end up out of work? How long can you afford to go between jobs? Knowing that your situation can turn on a dime is nerve-wracking, and a major cause of job hatred.
-
You Feel Undervalued or Underappreciated. This can come in a number of forms. The main one is simply not making enough money. You’re working constantly, but still struggling to make ends meet. Or maybe you are making a decent wage, but your employer complains that you’re overpaid. They never recognize your hard work or show their appreciation when you’ve done a good job. They only complain when you do something wrong, and make you feel inferior and undeserving of even the meager paycheck that you get.
-
You Feel Stagnated. You took your job when times were tough. It was all you could find. It pays the bills, but it’s not what you really want to be doing. At the time, you were happy just to be working, but now you really wish you could be doing something more fulfilling with your life. You’re not advancing in the company, and your workday feels meaningless. You wish you could have a career doing something else, but for now, you’re stuck here. And it’s eating you up inside.
If you find that you do loathe your job, ask yourself what it will take for you to like it. It could be as simple as having a word with your employer, to fix elements of your environment and perhaps climb the corporate ladder. It could mean doing some networking and seeing if other companies in your field are hiring. Or maybe it means going to night school and getting the training you need to switch careers entirely. But whatever it takes, you owe it to yourself to take steps to make it happen. Life’s way too short for you to spend so much of it doing something you hate.