Announcement

**joncha** · July 22, 2006, 10:29

Hippie.

**Datajack Franit** · July 22, 2006, 10:34

Italian way of life lesson #1: to the least you can, and if you think you work too much, pretend to be sick and have a cappuccino with a scandinavian girl instead

**BeBMan** · July 22, 2006, 10:37

**Barnabas** · July 22, 2006, 10:40

Does it happen to you that you close your eyes in bed when trying to sleep, and only see you working ?

Like in those days, you spent the whole day playing civ, and when you go to bed and close your eyes you see the map, tiles, cities etc?

**Pekka** · July 22, 2006, 10:45

Hippie? How can you make that from .. listen buddy, I think you just mixed up what a hippie is.

I have mixed feelings about my job. OTOH it's a HUGE opportunity and so far I've executed pretty much to perfection and I've even surprised myself, and you guys know how I appreciate my superior being that is me, the master.

However.. I also realize I can not do this for a long time. It's super consuming. There's only few people who have done this job for more than few years there. Why? It's hella consuming, hella tough and all that matters is results and since we're talking about BIG money, not millions, but billions, the pressure is adjusted to that. It's like the army. I have my officers, well I guess I'm an officer too but these managers really are tough cookies. They are extremely competent people (most competent I've ever seen), and they DEMAND stuff. If I don't do my best at all times, every minute, I'm toast.

I've driven myself hard but it's starting to show. I mean literally, I think it shows in my face these days. And people are snapping to me too, you know, and I don't do that so I'm sucking it all up and being nice but effective to everyone else. I don't snap at others just because I had a ****ty meeting where I was put in the spot for something I'm no way responsible of... but what the hell.. why not. It's not important to know what is going wrong, it's important to know who to blame, right?

It's a fight every day, it's like stock markets, a war, most of these meetings. THere's all kinds of people there, including managers, directors plus other companies cooperating with us so we're always at war because someone is going to pay for stuff. And there's always stuff to be paid for. So we're at war, but ... sometimes you ask yourself what for? Why am I doing this? It's not MY money on the line, hey, how about you guys fix me in with the bonus system, I'll fight.

Right.. but I have to fight, because it's my job to fight anyway.. oh well. Not to forget that some of the managers actually had half the things in their area of responsibility when they were doing my job 10 years ago. They got off easy then. It gets tougher every year. New responsibilities, new stuff to do including the old ones. Breaking the records every quarter. But I'm just a summer boy.. yeah.. what ever.

Then I think to myself, it's a fact, I am just a summer boy.. this is a freaking summer job wtf... why am I at war with these companies personally, why do I have to function at professional level every minute, hey I just got here.. man.. summer boy, and I'm leaving soon because the schools are going to continue soon..

Then there's the anti-climax. I know there will never be a place like that I'll work in.. ever. Everything from now on seems ineffective, lazy, done wrong.. etc.. a company worth hundreds of millions just doesn't do it for me. Got to be billions.

**Pekka** · July 22, 2006, 10:46

Brancy-Pride, yeah.. kind of yeah... you get the same thing? It's irritating because even though you're trying to relax, all you think is the job.. what's going on, what about this, what about that, who is there now, if you're required to come in early because of this and that ...

**Pekka** · July 22, 2006, 10:47

Datajack, sounds good, except I'm in a position where we can't be sick. If we are sick, we work sick, period. I've done few days in fever, headache and a bit dizzy... wasn't fun at all. Felt like a martyr but no one cares

We're the people who can be called at every time of the day. You're never free. You're always responsible. You're representing the company, even in your free time. So suck it up .

**Cort Haus** · July 22, 2006, 10:49

Originally posted by Brachy-Pride
Does it happen to you that you close your eyes in bed when trying to sleep, and only see you working ?

In the past I've dreamed entire month-long projects in a single nights sleep, only to wake exhausted and having to get up and do it for real.

Pekka, that job sounds very intense. - is this a perm or a temp role?

**Datajack Franit** · July 22, 2006, 10:54

BTW you seriouly can´t work too hard with this kind of weather, we had 41 degrees here yesterday

**Lorizael** · July 22, 2006, 10:55

Having not read the OP at all, I would like to say that yes, you do take your job too seriously, Pekka, just as you take everything too seriously. Chill.

**joncha** · July 22, 2006, 10:55

Deny it all you like, hippie. We all know what kind of communist punk you really are.

**Spiffor** · July 22, 2006, 10:55

That's a lesson I learned quite some time ago:

Whenever you show that you can do more, the higher-up will always ask you to do more.

You have to say "no can do, I'm too busy" at some point. Any person who has a little experience managing a team knows that you can't expect from one person to do the work of three.

However, if you show that they can squeeze you into doing the work of two (for no additional pay, or for a pathetic bonus in comparison to what double-pay would be), then why the hell wouldn't they take this opportunity?

Especially since you're the summer boy, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you getting exhausted and sick of the job. It's not like they have to think about how you'll perform in the future.

"No can do, I'm too busy" is the way to go. Especially if you couple it with "ask someone else". You ought to be more polite than that, obviously, but you have to get this message across. If your manager has half a brain, he'll understand that things won't work if the guy can't do the task properly.

**Pekka** · July 22, 2006, 10:57

Cort Haus, dude, it's TENSE. I said it's like the stock markets and I'm not exactly lying. It's war sometimes. IT's fight and it gets personal. If you back down, you're 'letting us down, you have to stick it to them so they can't escape THEIR responsiblity to us'. And it's always experts fighting too, so what you get is tough stuff and you really need to know what you're doing and what's happening to even defend yourself at these fights, or to win them. I've never won any of them fights. I've defended few times and if you lose point blank it means you're incompetent.... and it gets personal in those terms.

It's a summer job, however I have all the same responsibilities, tasks and also authority and power of regulars. It's extremely demanding mentally. Mmm, I naturally have to decline going into details what I do, as it is a business secrets all the way, however it's fortune 10 company and I'm in the production side and boss of 50+ people. I know it's freaky, but well.. that's because it is. There's tons of things that can go wrong every day, and it means they usually do. And since talking about big organizations and big money, it means you have to go to these wars... these days they are almost daily. It ****s up your day because you have to prepare yourself to them, it takes an hour to prepare yourself, the war goes on for about an hour, so that's 2 hours off your regular stuff and you still need to do your job regardless.

Basically it's a place where excuses play no role and incompetency is the biggest sin.

**Pekka** · July 22, 2006, 10:59

"You have to say "no can do, I'm too busy" at some point. Any person who has a little experience managing a team knows that you can't expect from one person to do the work of three."

Dude, I know that's usually true, but in this place not true. I do all the stuff regulars do, and they are on the edge every day as well. We are all dying. Everything is a critical operation. To make things worst, right now, I'm working in an area that has the biggest pressure, because it's the 'hottest area', meaning that literally every single operation is critical. And we're never performing good enough, I could go on and on why this is so etc but no one cares plus I don't want to go into details. I still want to go back there some day, because I'm sick and twisted like that.

Announcement

Maybe I'm taking my job too seriously

Maybe I'm taking my job too seriously

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment