Job Satisfaction

As second term reports are round the corner, I've been burning the midnight oil all this week in order to meet deadlines and finish my marking before April 15.  "Why worry about deadlines? After all, you are your own boss!", friends and family often remark. The truth  is I don't always understand them. Since I started running my own language school back in 1997, I've  realised that nothing really changed compared to working for other schools.

Piles of tests to mark at the weekend.

The work has to be done. Ah right! I'm only called to account for myself but, then again, I find that myself as a boss is  much more demanding than any boss I've ever had in my teaching career. One of the many reasons why I declined a job offer in public schools is because I had a very different idea of teaching English and French as foreign languages and my idea did not comply with theirs.

Working at the Weekend

I don't employ other teachers apart from myself, so all the responsibility is mine. Nor do I aspire to make big money. My greatest satisfaction  lies in my students' success. Believe me, it's very rewarding! Job satisfaction is an important element of individual well being. To me, salary is not as important as enjoyment at the workplace which, in turn , brings happiness. Surely, money is important. However, money doesn't make happiness, it may just as well  contribute to it.

Comments

[Stefania]

I think that job satsfaction isn't always a realistic goal. Many people are unemployed these days and have to face hard financial realities, so they often have to take a job, any job, that does not always suit their skills or their personality.

[Christina]

To me, job satisfaction depends largely on a well-paid job which will give me a good reason to get up in the morning and go to work.

[Karolina]

While corporate executives report the greatest job satisfaction in Canada, with an average salary of about $150,000, a new study shows that teachers,whose average salary is almost $70,000 less than their business counterparts, are the second most content. After all, money isn't everything.

[Laura]

A professor once told me that if you go into psychology because you just want to help people, you'll make a terrible psychologist. I agree. To really be satisfied in psychology, you need to be able to step back and take joy in learning how people work and using empirically sound therapies and techniques. You also need to be actually pretty cold-hearted - you need to empathize without sympathizing because if you feel right along with your clients, you'll be too messed up yourself to do them any good.

[Lakis Ioannou]

Loving and enjoying your job is by far the best way to get job satsfaction. A well-paid job doesn't always lead to job satisfaction. Opportunities to use skills and abilities, feeling safe in the workplace and, above all, job security are to me the most important factors contributing to job satisfaction. I'll agree with Karolina. Money isn't everything.

[Constantinos T]

Employees are very unlikely to be happy if they continue to come to a job that offers no room for growth or advancement. I guess one reason why you declined the job at a public school was because of a lack of career projects. Having been an employer for quite a long time, I think that employees need most of all job security, respect and the possibility for potential career growth.

[Jeff]

The next level of happiness, which tends to last a lot longer, is the feeling that you have a pleasant life. That kind of feeling comes from liking what you are doing and feeling good about your job. The most sustainable level of happiness is being able to feel like you are giving back to this world.

[Jean-Paul Bouvier]

L'homme au travail a besoin de se sentir utile car il cherche naturellement à comprendre pourquoi il fait ce qu'il fait. Il aime contribuer à quelque chose et réaliser l'impact de son travail sur l'économie de sa famille, de son entreprise et de son pays.

[Alexia M]

I work for one of The Netherlands biggest travel agencies and have recently been promoted to area manager. This is certainly not a 9-5 job and it involves a lot of travelling which I don't always enjoy. When I accepted the promotion, the factor "money" came fourth after the following three factors for job satisfaction which are very important to me: Challenge, Vision, Job Security.

[Alexia M]

I would also like to add that even if I got a salary of, let's say $20,000 monthly, I'd never take the job if I hated it. And vice versa, if I fall in love with a job offer, I don't hesitate to accept it even if the money is less. I worked in Cyprus for 2 years for half the money I was earning then in The Netherlands. Never regretted it. But I had to go back home for personal reasons.Family comes first!