I hate my JOB

So how many times you have said “I hate my JOB”?

Never!!! Then you must continue reading this because you have forgotten the basic reason of your existence and may be by the end of this you will awake to freedom.

And if you have been saying this daily like chants in praise of lord Hanuman, then continue reading this coz I think even good efforts needs to be acknowledged and this is just an acknowledgement of your greatness.

Well, I for sure hate my job and I have made it a point to knock my inner self to confirm this fact, almost daily. Its not that I am stuck into some nonsense work, as a matter of fact I am doing what I decided quite early in my career, still the way I am doing this is not what I wished and so I hate my job.

Let me tell you what exactly I do. I am designated as a consultant for banking domain and my JOB is to understand the problem faced by banks find a strategic solution, plan and design that solution and then ensure that its implemented properly. Now in a layman’s language this means giving “Gyaan” and writing reams of crap which confuses each and everyone around. But for a person like me, who always wished to be associated with banking world and hypothesize imaginary utopian banking solution, this is the best profession to be in. Still I hate my job more than anything else in my life.

And like me there are many others who (on paper) are doing the work they aspired for; still do not find the work interesting enough to develop a liking for it. Then there are majority of others who have fallen into the wrong job – like an aspirant dancer writing software codes or politician at heart selling soap and detergents in hinterlands – and so they hate their job. There is another section of people who don’t know what they really want to do in their career, but are sure of not doing what they are doing, and so hate their job. In a nutshell, whichever category you take all of us hate our job.

But why?

I know the kind of answers you will have in your mind, but believe me its not that simple. We hate our job not because of company’s policy or our bosses – these two variables are there everywhere, maybe the garnishing will differ, still we hate the job – so there must be something fundamentally wrong with the jobs we do, which make us (me for sure) hate it.

The very first reason why I don’t like my job is coz I am made to deliver what the client wants and not what I want to deliver, and there is no escape. I have to do this coz the client is paying my salary at the end of the month. My creativity is rated by the currency quotient of its result – If the client is happy at my dumbest solutions then I am rated the best, however the best solution do not even sees the light of the day if client is not happy.

The second reason is that all jobs are to be completed within a deadline. How can you be made to do something you are passionate about within a time line defined by others? Its something like 9 pregnant ladies being asked to deliver a child in a month – it’s the numbers which needs to fit in – rational behind the numbers are irrelevant. Deadline takes the perfection out of your passion.

Thirdly, a job is never an isolated piece of work, its an assortment of ripe, over-ripe and rotten apples – and you have to eat all of them. The company presents these rotten apples under various names – knowledge management, talent management, continuous learning, leadership building blah blah blah. The crux of all this is simple – if you are happy after eating the ripe apples then think twice coz the rotten ones are still there in your basket.

You know, people have developed unique answers this issue of “JOB HATRED”. The plausible answers I have come across are –

• “Work is worship” (I am an aethist :D) – since you have no control over the nonsense thrown at your in the job, so leave it to god and keep the faith alive.
• Make your passion your profession; create a career in the field you love the most. “3 Idiots” tried to preach this message at the highest decibel level, but that’s a trap into which you must never fall into.

I am sure in today’s materialistic world the first argument has fallen on its face, and that’s why even the HR managers do not use these lines to motivate people around, but the second one is gradually gaining ground. So before it cast its spell on you, its my duty to enlighten you with the reality.

I know that this argument of mine is a bit difficult to digest, so let me share an instance with you. A couple of week back my friends had come over to my place for a small get together. There was no particular reason, except that I was cooking Chicken curry (Well you might not fathom the importance of this, unless you have tasted what is being referred to). Anyhow, the part of discussion I am referring to is my friend’s suggestion to start a restaurant of my own – according to them I can do a great job at that.

I know this was their way of showering complements and no one meant anything serious. Still, I tried to ponder over this suggestion – Can I really do a great job as a cook?

I think, rather I believe I will be the worst cook, if ever I decide to change my profession. Today I can make delicious dishes; coz cooking for me is a pastime leisure activity, which I do without any pressure of deadlines or any expectation of reward. The day I start a restaurant business, I know for sure the cook within me will die an unnatural death.

I will be cooking to keep the footfalls in place. I will have to ensure that there are items available in my restaurant which customers want, irrespective of my liking for the same. My focus will gradually shift from being a cook to a bean counter – after all its about survival. On the contrary if I join a restaurant as a cook, then that job too, will come with basket of apples which for sure I don’t like. I am not a pessimist, but at the same time I don’t like to close my eyes at the reality lying in front of me. 

In the end I concluded that my passion is alive till the time there are no strings attached to it. Its easy for “Mr. Phunsuk Wangdu” to live in laddakh and do experiments for which he gets a multi-million contract, but reality is much different from the reel life being preached to us.

So what does this means? Shall I go and put down my papers tomorrow morning because I hate my job?

No!!!


Job is there for your existence, to ensure that your bank account is periodically credited without any concern. Accept your job with a pinch of salt, but keep your passion alive (without any strings attached :D) to drive you ahead, else this life will become too dull to live.