Ever wondered why you do the job you do?

I presently have a humble job which thankfully puts food on my table. Hell yeah I have earned pretty decent cash at times in the past but so what? About 3 years ago my financial world came crashing down around me and frankly I got wiped out. I was amazed at times how much I could make like 30 euros stretch.Not nice times,but enriching if you can survive them.

I'm in a very similar position to Shell, 5 years in and beginning to wonder whether I should stick with it or look elsewhere.

Pro's
Love working outdoors
Variety of work

Cons
Shift work
Having to change plans at very short notice due to being kept on after work
Bureaucracy
The General Public who have to use the police as a tool to sort their lives out.

Now I'm not griping at the entire Gen Pub but the ones who seem to use us for sorting out their problems with they created - drunken arguments, name calling over FB and people who waste our time by making a report one minute, and retracting it the next.

Its all about the end product, of which there is very little. I'm seriously looking at my options, although there doesnt seem to be many open doors at the moment.

If I did leave, it would be to go into the private sector, and I'd be looking for a job which wouldnt be in the same place every day. I've considered doing some kind of RICS accredited course to go surveying but I hear that opportunities are thin on the ground.

Originally Posted by robchester

I'm in a very similar position to Shell, 5 years in and beginning to wonder whether I should stick with it or look elsewhere.

Pro's
Love working outdoors
Variety of work

Cons
Shift work
Having to change plans at very short notice due to being kept on after work
Bureaucracy
The General Public who have to use the police as a tool to sort their lives out.

Now I'm not griping at the entire Gen Pub but the ones who seem to use us for sorting out their problems with they created - drunken arguments, name calling over FB and people who waste our time by making a report one minute, and retracting it the next.

Its all about the end product, of which there is very little.

Got it one Rob.

I've got 9 years in & it's a similar situation for me.

Reading these posts has made me do a bit of a mental review of what I've done this year (at work). I went back into uniform and back onto a 24hr response team just before Christmas. I've had more stress trying to "firefight" than anything else. By that I mean picking up a job where there is a named/identifiable suspect - usually for shoplifting, thefts, hit n run accidents etc, & then I spend more time arguing with my Sgt's & Insp over why 3 or 4 weeks later I still haven't pulled them in.

I can pull up the incident log & show them that the "ex-boyfriends new girl-friend has called me names on facebook & bad mouthed me" incident that I was detailed to attend took about 4 hours to resolve. By the time I spoke to her, went to speak to the other party who made counter allegations, went back to put these to the original complainant, returned to the office to prepare a harrassment warning notice for the other party, went back to their house to serve said notice only to find that my original complainant had been back on FB "slagging off" the other party about how the Police were now involved & "you're gonna get what's coming to you"; "yo effing Fugly fat slag etc" WHILE I WAS TYPING UP THE WARNING NOTICE - went back to the office to do another warning notice for the original complainant & went to serve it on her!!!!!!

Obviously while this is going on I struggle to find the time to do any "real" Police work. My victims then have little or no faith in the Police because I then have to put off my arrest for another day. Half the shift has now gone & because I can't guarantee getting the arrest, interview & take the case to the CPS completed in the remaining 4 or 5 hours, I'm told in no uncertain terms NO OVERTIME, unless I want it as time off in lieu. Seeing as how I'm still owed 36hrs TOIL as well as 12 rest days in lieu & get knocked back when I ask for these due to "insufficient resources" & have been owed this time off & RDIL for over 12 months - this is a non starter for me cos I know I'll never get it back.



Just re-read what I wrote & it does come across a lil bit soap box-ish, not meant that way, sorry.

[QUOTE=yorkie_chris;2327339]Very cunning tactic there if you ask me. If the scroat was hiding in a bush nearby, him p*ssing himself laughing would immediately alert you to his presence!

But think about it, rather have stuff like that and a tale to tell than be sat bored witless behind a desk![/QUOTE]

bingo!
Grass is always greener etc, I sit here thinking how ideal it sounds walking around or workin on site etc jus something other than staring at the same desk/wall/monitor 35hrs a week.
The good weeks are the one where Im so busy I dont have time to realise Im working.
Trust me, if you went from the street to a desk it would feel like sucicide

Just spoke to my dad and he goes "That is exactly why I am no longer on borough, I'm tired of the petty public." He got tired of shift work and has changed jobs, but still is in the Met, just works in a specialist planning role which he absolutely loves.

Personally, I'm unemployed at the moment (changing very soon hopefully) but I couldn't imagine myself in an office environment. Everything I have an interest is something unique or exciting, like Motorcycle racing, joining HM forces and all that lark. I'd just get incredibly bored if I was doing the same thing, day in day out.

Although I have just applied for part-time work at HG, but that's a little different.

I dont know why i do the job i do? (Royal Mail) started working for them in 1988 as a cadet lol now i manage there its like an addiction you start to live and breath the job and its far more involved than you'd belive

I did actually go back to a desk 2 years ago and pushed it for near enough 12 months before I went back active. In that 12 months, I didnt complain about the job once, as my social life was sorted, I could do what I wanted, could plan things in advance and could plan my working time accordingly.

I'm not going to let the recession play its part in making me decide whether I stay or go. I'm conscious that i've got a 3-4week holiday coming up in November so cant really jump ship before then as employers wouldnt take too kindly to it, but after talking about it for the past 3 years, I think it really is about time that I looked for alternative employment.

I do the job I'm doing now because I haven't got around to doing the next one yet

I wonder what it'll be?

C

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

I dont know why i do the job i do? (Royal Mail) started working for them in 1988 as a cadet lol now i manage there its like an addiction you start to live and breath the job and its far more involved than you'd belive

oh and i only do 4 days a week which i love

[Paul the 6th]

Jack of all trades. Master of none*. Except my name is Paul & not jack.

Still not quite sure what I want to do with my life



*= apart from CorelDraw/photoshop/general graphic design jobs... I'm banging at those