Our industry has more than its share of grumpy practitioners to whom the art of creating technical information means nothing more than a paycheck. They spend their days daydreaming of what their careers might have been if only this and that had happened. They go to sleep each night dreading the thought of another day working on that manual or with that person. To them I say, “Enough is enough.” Love it or leave it!
In this column, we are going to talk about why some technical communicators just plain hate their jobs. To aid me in my quest, I’m going to employ the aid of one of my favorite philosophers, Roseanne Rosannadanna, of Saturday Night Live fame.
“Well, Jane, it just goes to show you. It’s always something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.”
We all know them and see them every day at work. They can find more reasons to complain about their job than there are ants in an anthill. “My boss is a jerk.” “I have to work too much overtime.” “My computer is too slow.” “This deadline is ridiculous.” Or my personal least favorite, “We don’t get any respect for what we do.” To them I say, “Shut up and get over it!” You are draining the life right out of your coworkers with your negativity.
Here’s the deal. Whether you want to admit it or not, everyone is ultimately self-employed. You are the one who decides how you are going to spend your day. Are you going to go to work today, or will you call in sick? Are you going to keep working at your current job, or will you go somewhere else? It doesn’t matter whether you are a permanent employee or a consultant. You are the only one that’s in charge of you.
You are probably familiar with the U.S. Army’s “An Army of One” slogan. Well, you are a “Company of One.” And you have a client ― your employer. If you can’t stand working for your employer any more, don’t complain. Fire them! Go somewhere else!
“Boy, Mr. Feder, you sure do ask a lot of stupid questions for a guy from New Jersey.”
I would encourage you to reevaluate your relationship with your client/employer at least once a year. If you work at a company that conducts annual performance reviews, this is a good time to do this. Your employer is taking this opportunity to assess how well you are doing for the company. It only stands to reason that this would also be a good time for you to assess whether you want to sign up for another year working with them. Question your assumptions about your job and your career. Give yourself a reality check.
For some, this can be very empowering. However, you have to accept the fact that you are accountable for your decisions. You are in control of every aspect of your career. Not your employer. If you hate your job, you have only yourself to blame.
“What are ya tryin' to do, make me sick?!”
If you ask technical communicators if they enjoy their jobs, one of the comments that makes me want to power barf is, “Well, what can you say? It pays the bills.”
I think this is the worst reason in the world to stay at a job. You spend such a huge part of your life at work ― is paying the bills really that fulfilling? When your days are numbered, do you really want to look back on your life’s accomplishments as a series of debits and credits to your bank account?
We live in a time of unprecedented prosperity. There is a whole world out there full of careers that you can be happy doing, if you are wired up to be a happy person. If you read this column and you are one of those grumpy practitioners who just enjoy being disgruntled, then I can’t help you. Perhaps nobody can.
However, if you are unhappy in your job and honestly want things to change, then there are ways to dig yourself out of the hole you’ve stumbled into. Start with some good books. My favorites are What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles and Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Also, it may be worthwhile to seek out a therapist or good friend to help you assess where you are and where you’d like to be.
The bottom line is to not just stay in that unhappy place. Make up your mind to do something about it. Make your job into what you want it to be.
I’d like to close by explaining why I love my job. First, I love my coworkers. It sounds corny, but we are really like extended family. Second, I love my job because I have an insatiable curiosity about how things work. Much to my family’s dismay, I love to watch TV shows about how this, that, or the other works. I love to tour assembly plants and see products coming together. I love talking to people about what they do. My heroes are Edison, Einstein, and the Wright Brothers. The quest to build a better mousetrap just fascinates me.
That’s why I love my job, and I’m not planning to leave anytime soon.
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