Yeah the office space type cubicle's are like 1 million times better than the open ones in the pic I posted.

I worked in cubicle style settings post college and it wasn't really 9-5 more like 8-8 but it was in a industry I dug and worked my ass off/was challenged even if it was bitch work 80% of the time and it was still kind of fun/fulfilling...felt like it was leading somewhere career/future wise.

I've worked some other 9-5 cubicle type jobs post 2007 crash and mass layoffs and they have sucked pretty hard. The above pic was one where I was making 40K and had sweet benefits with long term job security but I daily had Tyler Durden like dreams of getting hit by a crashing 747 or drunk driver on my commute to work. Working 6am - 3pm sucked pretty hard too.

I now work at a tiny web design firm and make 30K with no benefits with no real job security but I have my own office and my boss is super chill and I actually handle clients/projects etc. Doing something similar at a much larger firm/corporation I'd probably make 55k+ and have major room for growth upwards.

Doubtful I'd ever progress beyond making 40-50k a year given the size of the company...but for now in this economy...if you are going to have to work for peanuts...at least work at a job that doesn't suck away your soul.

I remember the days when I was 110% confident that I was on the road to making 6 figures with-in 2-3 years and would be enjoying what I do. Now I just wonder if I'll ever make more than 60K a year without having to hate my life M-F. Good times!
The 70K in student loan debt doesn't help things lol

I'm in university right now and I can't imagine working in a 9-5 cubicle job. I really can't. It would soul-kill me if I had to grind everyday like that. I can't imagine working as a waiter either.

This past summer I worked 3 days a week for ~12hour a day as a busboy/waiter. 10:00-3:00 /break/ 4:30 - 12:00. Even with that break in the middle, by the second week I was cringing just thinking about the grind. Walking around non-stop, carrying giant platters of food back and forth, gotta' provide happy service, gotta' be nice to dickwad colleagues, cleaning piss dirty places. It boggles my mind how people do it non-stop for days, months, even years on end. I know they don't have other options like my silverspooned ass but is it that hard to save some money and not blow it on random **** on the weekends?

Anyhow, after this spiel, a 9-5 job doesn't look that bad compared to waiting but even then, I'd rather take home less $$ if it means I can do something I like. If you have no problem with a 9-5 job, more power to you. Do what you want to. I just realized that there aren't any rules in life. There's nothing wrong with it unless you've got something wrong with it.

First of all, no one even alluded to whether or not (some) CEO's start from the bottom at some point. So that makes no sense.

Secondly, yes you do know what I mean by a "cubicle-type" job; if you somehow don't then read through the thread and you will come to an accurate conclusion based on a lot of the posts.

I am in a cubicle setting but I am in the corner space, that is pretty cool I guess?

I had high hopes for this but I think it's pretty terribly written and I highly doubt he makes 40k a month from that website. (now you're gunna go there and reward his lie and I am the messenger noo!)

Anyway, I work alone but 1 thing I can say I long for is having an office setting with friends that you see everyday. I know these are ideal circumstances and there are also lots of downsides, but as someone who works in isolation I think going to an office everyday would be pretty fun in an intolerable sort of way.

Things I've learned from this thread:

- am in the same industry as Dids (omgwtf?)
- am glad i have an office with a door rather than a cube

Things I already know but had assertively pointed out

- start to finish UK football games are nearly 2hrs to US football's 3.

My commute is 1 minute door to door and I earn enough after tax, ni, student loan and pension deductions to pay a mortgage, utilities, council tax and eat/play, so whoopee.

That said I'm still looking for better pay...

how do you watch porn without walls?

the only time i've been in a cubicle was during my masters course where we had a cubicle style setup in the msc lab.

the worst working environment i've seen so far was the middle office at a european bank (in brussels) where the head of MO sat with his back to the window, his two cronies in front of him with their screens facing towards him (slightly to the left and right forming an aisle), and down the aisle all the slaves were sat at their desks, their screens in turn facing towards cronies a and b.

we (semi-)jokingly called it the roman galleon.

no, I really don't know what you mean. my GF's CEO (and everyone else at her company) works in a cubicle. does he have a cubicle type job?

I know people who work or worked in marketing, finance, IT, HR, accounting, legal, IT, PR, creative, engineering, and much more who worked in cubes. are you talking about all of these functions? or just some of them? or none of them? are you talking about anyone in their first first few jobs in corporate America?

In my original post I wrote, "I realize that many of these jobs differ, but I just mean jobs where there's a strict office hierarchy (lots of regulation/'red tape') and work that's not very challenging (eg- using lots of Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint)."

So any job that's repetitive, monotonous, not challenging, and with tons of regulation/'red tape,' where you're in a cubicle setting. Other people refer to similar jobs as "soul crushing," in the thread.

so yeah, to a large degree you are talking about "most first jobs in corporate America".

I have a good friend who has been dubbed a rising star (she has her pick of next assignments, she is in the top few % of performers, etc) at P&G, by all accounts one of the best companies to work for in America and a brand that many would love to have on their resume. you know how she describes her current role? repetitive, monotonous, and it doesn't require enough thinking. that's life for most younger people in large corporations. to a certain degree, anyways. you do it so you can eventually rise and do more interesting work. and make more money. and have more control. basically, have a much better job.

I mean, that's life. you have to pretty exceptional or lucky to get through life as a painter or poet or rock star or food taster or whatever you really love to do. some people are smart and/or lucky enough to get super interesting jobs right out of college. my guess is that this ship has already sailed for you.

His site is a huge scam. He has some basic life advice stuff (waking up early, managing finances etc.) but then a load of totally dumb stuff, see this article for example:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...as-field-test/

Obviously very unlikely that he makes 40k/month, although if he does then it just confirms that there's a sucker born every minute.

Pretty much this. Isn't 'Freelance ___' a nice way of saying 'Unemployed' in not all but most cases? I'd love to have Jim Nance's or Guy Fieri's job but g/l to me on that. So I work in an office because I don't know what else I can realistically do. Meh.

I think the answer to your OP is that there exists "entry-level white collar jobs" that can challenge you and satisfy you on many levels, with a rich potential career track going-forward.

-Al

yes. if you are forward enough looking you can get one as 22 YO. for some people it takes longer. some people get into interesting careers after going to law school or med school or business school.

I think in all cases, it's not going to be interesting to you if you don't give a **** about it

I would rather live in a dumpster than go to an "Office Space" job every day.

Lumberg had it pretty good

i know what i would do if i had to work in a cubicle:



or this...

I'm in one and I can say they definitely are "soul-crushing".

You realize that not every "corporate" job is soul-crushing? Maybe find better work? Not meant to be confrontational - but there seems to be this idea ITT that every white-collar, corporate job is like Office Space.

-Al

Interesting. I've just quit a job where my salary had jumped from 50K to 100K pa inside the first 6 months but the hours and stress were extremely high to move to a cube farm type of job.

For me the destruction of my social life, motivation and self worth outside of work were just not worth it.

I figure I'm giving up probably 30-40k in expected earnings over the next year but I'm confident it's the correct call.

I work in investment banking, so for all but the top two levels it is cubes (all short too, so you can see everything). I actually like the cubicle setting as it is kind of a war room and makes the job alot more enjoyable when there are late nights. Additionally, it really does facilitate communication and actually helps contribute to less hierarchy. The only reason bosses themselves have private offices is they spend large parts of the day on the phone with clients.

That being said, my hours are horrible, average day in at 9:30 AM and out between 12:00 AM and 1:00 AM. A bad night is until 4:00 AM and about once a month I pull an all nighter and only go home to shower. Additionally, I probably average 20 hours of work each weekend.

Despite all of this, I am well paid, learning a ton and enjoy what I do 90% of the time. It is amazing how I can walk home happy at 4 AM knowing I have to be back in 5 hours since I finally completed a big model or something and "figured out" something interesting.

I think the idea of cubicle jobs everyone talks about hating are the ones with six bosses where a person does the same thing everyday and feels like their work is meaningless.

After years of temporary jobs and ones that were interesting and fun but didn't pay too well (like dealing poker), I thought all I wanted was a steady, well paying job.

I have had one for 2 1/2 years and my health has gone completely downhill. I had a major surgery in 2008, and would leave this job now, but will have another major surgery later this year that has a 2 -3 month recovery.

After the surgery, though I am out! I had no idea I would hate a 9 to 5 as much as this.... and I have: my own office, am overpaid and very little stress.

That said, the backstabbing and other people in the office make me want to jam icepicks in my eyes.

Never again.

During college I was going to sleep at 6AM and waking up at 2PM everyday. Then I had a trading internship where I was waking up at 6AM to be at work at 7AM. Totally reversing my sleep schedule was bad but I found it enjoyable to be waking up right when the sun was rising. I also had a 30 minute drive to work which was actually good for me since it would wake me up and I could listen to the radio. I enjoyed the internship because I was doing something I really wanted to do and enjoyed doing it. I think that is the most important thing for your job, if you enjoy doing it.

Oh you mean the good bits ?

Jesus you suck