Is working hard worth it?

[Simon11]

Some great advice here and working smart is more important than working hard.

Another aspect is networking and that can provide you with lots of advice and a step into a job. Linkedin is a great platform for this!

All my jobs in the last 10 years have come through people reaching out to me, rather than me applying.

With over 500 connections and building relationships, I am fairly confident that if I posted I was available, I would get several people reaching out to me.

 

[nlogax]

Another aspect is networking and that can provide you with lots of advice and a step into a job. Linkedin is a great platform for this!

LinkedIn is indeed a great platform, as long as you can keep the annoyance down while it increasingly resembles Facebook for people in smart shirts. It pays to be slightly picky about the contacts you make. Quality over quantity.

 

[MotCO]

Some great advice here

I agree, particularly

For me, I never felt that I had to work hard, but in looking back now I can see that I did, but whilst I can say without doubt that I much prefer not working at all (I'm retired now), what was once hard work was made easier for me by two things:

1. That I had a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in doing my job as well as I could, not for financial reward but for personal self-esteem.
2. That I had a sense that what I was doing was meaningful to and valued by others in some way.

Working hard, for me, would have been having to work when these conditions didn't apply, and I was lucky during most of my career that they did. I was also lucky in that when the second stopped applying, and I no longer felt that what I was doing was meaningful or made a difference to anyone in any significant way, I was able to retire.

I probably only worked really hard during my life once, which was for my A-levels, which got me the grades I had hoped to be able to achieve (3xA in 1978).

I would always advise people to target their career aspirations towards something they could be interested in spending 30+ years of their life doing, rather than targetting financial rewards. I could have had higher paying jobs, and in 2008 I resigned from one job and took up a lower-paying job because I felt it would be more rewarding, and for a few years it was. However it's easy to say that, and harder for someone with significant debts to consider.

But I still think the bottom line is that I never considered work as 'hard' when I was doing something I thought relevant, I found interesting, I was given the freedom to make decisions for, and which I felt was important and relevant to others.

and

Short answer, yes. You're getting no where in this life without living the the principles of serving others and working hard.

Longer answer:

Hard work is the foundation, but a career is built with many pillars. (I'd imagine you are already aware of a number of these, but for the benefit of those without the maturity to ask for help like yourself...)

Self awareness.
Listening skills.
Clear communication.
Compassion and empathy for your co-workers and superiors. This can often be expressed with cake, which is one of the easiest ways to make friends in the office. (side note, this does not mean being a people pleasing walkover. You can be kind and fair. Tough, but compassionate.)
Being informed of the wider business and market to some degree.
Self discipline, showing up/logging on when expected, not endlessly complaining or being negative or gossiping. That last one is a killer of careers.
Good manners, please, thank you, holding the door, no swearing, no ridiculous attire.


There is a good book on this called the rules of work.

If you are missing self awareness, then the best money you will ever spend is on counselling to improve your self awareness. Beyond all others aside from hard work, this attribute has the biggest effect on your career and work life. And your personal life, but that's out of scope here.

 

[Bovverboy]

You were told by your teachers at school that if you worked hard and got qualifications you would get a 'good' job. ('Good' not defined). What they meant was, if you worked hard and got qualifications, they themselves would get the credit.

Clearly you've never had a teacher as a parent or partner.

I'm more than happy to say I haven't, but a few years ago I did have one for a landlady for a while, that was quite bad enough.

If you acknowledge that it is possible to have a teacher as a parent or partner, can I presume that you also acknowledge that there are such things as getting married, and having children?

 

[trainmania100]

I'd say no it isn't. For years i've been taking on more and more workload, more and more responsibilities, yet the pay is always national living wage.
Doesnt help that the goverment suck off a large amount in taxes and national insurance.
Maybe i'm in the wrong job. but frankly, I make the company thousands in sales each month, enough to cover everyones wages at least once over, and the wages never go up, but hey ho, thats employment for you.

 

[jfollows]

I'd say no it isn't. For years i've been taking on more and more workload, more and more responsibilities, yet the pay is always national living wage.
Doesnt help that the goverment suck off a large amount in taxes and national insurance.
Maybe i'm in the wrong job. but frankly, I make the company thousands in sales each month, enough to cover everyones wages at least once over, and the wages never go up, but hey ho, thats employment for you.

My response is ill-considered, of course, and lacking in knowledge, but on the face of it I would suggest you look for another job as a matter of urgency and then tell your current employer that you'll leave unless they reward you appropriately. Easy for me to say, much harder to do, I know.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Maybe i'm in the wrong job. but frankly, I make the company thousands in sales each month, enough to cover everyones wages at least once over, and the wages never go up, but hey ho, thats employment for you.

If you've got sales skills, then look at moving into IT sales. There's an absolute dearth of talent in that sector, and companies will pay you a considerable amount for doing so.

 

[trainmania100]

My response is ill-considered, of course, and lacking in knowledge, but on the face of it I would suggest you look for another job as a matter of urgency and then tell your current employer that you'll leave unless they reward you appropriately. Easy for me to say, much harder to do, I know.

Well thats just it, its a small business with 4 employees, and i'm actually the only full time employee there. Obviously the company owner works to his own schedule as you would if you owned a business, but if I left, the company would fall flat on its face. Everything would stop. Would be like taking the boiler from the flying scotsman 24 hours prior to a trip with her majesty the queen lol

But at the end of the day, I work from home , the workload (as large as it is) is quite steady, so its manageable, but at certain times of the year it gets hard to manage, and it does put it in to perspective that the wages arent great and I'm not really getting where I want to be financially, even when minimising my overheads.

My mother bless her, has often put in extra hours at work, putting her over the 40 hour week, and she says its simply not worth it because the tax goes up and makes it pointless

The country is in a state really

 

[Dai Corner]

I'd say no it isn't. For years i've been taking on more and more workload, more and more responsibilities, yet the pay is always national living wage.
Doesnt help that the goverment suck off a large amount in taxes and national insurance.
Maybe i'm in the wrong job. but frankly, I make the company thousands in sales each month, enough to cover everyones wages at least once over, and the wages never go up, but hey ho, thats employment for you.

I'll probably get criticised for mentioning that the national living wage has risen by more than general wage and price inflation and income tax has been reduced too.

Decide whether you want a minimum wage/minimum responsibility job or to take on more responsibility in return for more money and move to a new position accordingly.

 

[Bovverboy]

I'd say no it isn't. For years i've been taking on more and more workload, more and more responsibilities, yet the pay is always national living wage.
Doesnt help that the goverment suck off a large amount in taxes and national insurance.
Maybe i'm in the wrong job. but frankly, I make the company thousands in sales each month, enough to cover everyones wages at least once over, and the wages never go up, but hey ho, thats employment for you.

My response is ill-considered, of course, and lacking in knowledge, but on the face of it I would suggest you look for another job as a matter of urgency and then tell your current employer that you'll leave unless they reward you appropriately. Easy for me to say, much harder to do, I know.

Just look for another job, your current employer has had his chance.

 

[Simon11]

Well thats just it, its a small business with 4 employees, and i'm actually the only full time employee there. Obviously the company owner works to his own schedule as you would if you owned a business, but if I left, the company would fall flat on its face. Everything would stop. Would be like taking the boiler from the flying scotsman 24 hours prior to a trip with her majesty the queen lol

But at the end of the day, I work from home , the workload (as large as it is) is quite steady, so its manageable, but at certain times of the year it gets hard to manage, and it does put it in to perspective that the wages arent great and I'm not really getting where I want to be financially, even when minimising my overheads.

Second that you should consider leaving and sounds like they are taking advantage of you.

If you were to pass away, your company is likely not to really care and after a short time, your memory/ hard work will have gone. Never stay in a job because you feel guilty for leaving. Life moves on

 

[WelshBluebird]

Not all companies are fully remote though. Mine, for example, will hire from different parts of Scotland but it's still expected that you'll be able to attend the office on a regular/semi-regular basis (could be anything from once or twice a week through to once or twice a month by agreement with your manager). Easy and cheap to do from say Stirling or Paisley, less so from Sheffield or Manchester.

Not all are, but a significant number are. Enough that it is worth looking into anyway!
And I'd also argue that a 90% remote company that asks for you to be in once or twice a month is still better than one who expects you in multiple times a week.
And that differences means longer distances are possible. E.g. travelling once a month Leeds to London for example (OP said they are in Yorkshire) is very doable.

 

[najaB]

Well thats just it, its a small business with 4 employees, and i'm actually the only full time employee there. Obviously the company owner works to his own schedule as you would if you owned a business, but if I left, the company would fall flat on its face. Everything would stop. Would be like taking the boiler from the flying scotsman 24 hours prior to a trip with her majesty the queen lol

You owe your employer a days work in return for a days wage. Nothing more. If they don't value you and the effort you're putting in then you should find someone who does.

Not all are, but a significant number are. Enough that it is worth looking into anyway!

Oh, I don't disagree. I'm just pointing out that "all IT is all remote working" isn't a reasonable expectation when looking for a job.