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Love Your Job

How Important is it to Love Your Job?

Much has been touted about how important it is to find a job you love. Maybe that’s not as critical as we’ve been led to believe. (Reading time 150 seconds)

My experience is that most people don’t love their work. Many like it, some tolerate it, but it is a minority who find work they love that also supports their lifestyle.

Does that mean that everyone else is left to live in frustration, desperately seeking that perfect job they can be passionate about? Not at all.

You can and should find enjoyment in your work. Doing so is very valuable to your life in many ways, including greatly increasing your probability of financial success. But you don’t have to love, or even like your overall job to enjoy everyday aspects of it.

It is critical to distinguish between the job and the way you do it. This is important because every job has aspects that will be very unpleasant for you. You need to be able to get through them with a smile on your face.

Let me give you a personal example. Coming out of college I helped start a company that required me to develop a sales pattern to teach to others. The nature of the sales contact was face-to-face cold calling. Unlike some of the great salesmen I’ve worked with since, I DISLIKED SALES. So much so that, for the first year, I got up every weekday, threw up, and then went to work.

Although my specific job literally made me sick, I was proud and took satisfaction in the way I was doing the job. I was giving it my best. Somebody had to create a successful way of selling our product, and money and manpower restrictions made me the best choice.

Why did I put such a concentrated effort into a job that I clearly didn’t love? Because I needed to make a living. I saw a significant opportunity for my partners and myself. And as importantly, it made me feel good about myself. I enjoyed undertaking something and giving it my best. It made me feel better about me, and my life as a whole.

Passionate about the job…no. Passionate about how well I did the job…yes. Fortunately, the effort paid off and we were able to hire and train others to do what I didn’t like to do. For a few of those folks, it was their dream job. For most, it was an okay way to make a good living. As for me, I moved to a job that I disliked less.

So if your boss doesn’t appreciate you, you’re underpaid, your company isn’t ideal…that can be OK, for now. They aren’t the key evaluators in your life. You are. Do your job well for YOU. Even if you don’t like your specific work, or the work environment you are in, you can love the way you do it.

Be able to pat yourself on the back at the end of every day. By doing so, you also set yourself up for finding, within your company or somewhere else, a job you will enjoy more.

And you may discover, as you focus on doing it better, that some of the irritants of your job become more rewarding, or at least less lousy. For me, I eventually grew to like sales, though never to love it. However, after 30 professional years, I am fortunate to have created a job I love doing. It would have never happened without my previous work experiences, many of which were less than ideal.

Afraid of being stuck in the same job for life? Don’t worry. Individuals who emphasize the positive and rewarding aspects of their job, don’t stay in unpleasant jobs that long. They get promoted or use their positive record to get a more fulfilling job.

So, paraphrasing a verse Stephen Stills penned,

If you can’t be in the job you love… Love the job you’re in (or the way you do it)

It will make EVERY JOB much more enjoyable and rewarding.

But what about Passion….Love of Life? Is that dependent on finding a job you love? No.

We all need to love life to fully benefit from it. But which parts of our lives generate that ardor, will vary from person to person, and over time. Someone who is passionate about their job is not necessarily living their life any more or less fully than someone who is passionate about their family or their music.

So, other than your job, what is your passion in life? Do you love to learn, or teach, or write? Are you fervent about cooking, sports, cars, or clothes? Do you have a wonderful friend, lover, or a family that you adore? Congratulations! You’ve discovered some of life’s great turn-ons for you.

Why not expand the joy in your life by regularly blocking time to engage in those activities you love, with the people you love? If it’s cooking special meals, set an evening a week aside from TV and laundry to be the chef you want to be. If that’s not enough, get a part time job as a prep cook in a restaurant you enjoy. Do it for free if you have to…it’s not your job, it’s your joy.

This is not hard to do. You just have to decide to do it. Then, in a calendar or planner that you use on a daily basis, write it down on the day you will do it. “Buy tickets to Sunday’s game” (tonight), “till my garden” (Saturday), “sign up for a design course at night school” (5 p.m.), “read my new book” (everyday at lunch). Don’t take your loves for granted – plan time with them. And that certainly should include the people you cherish the most. Commit to regular, celebration times, play times, bring them flower times, in addition to the routine.

Please understand that I’m not encouraging you to stay in a job that makes you miserable and find all your joys elsewhere. If you dislike the job you are in, start to lobby or look for a better one today. And create a plan to get it. But remember, while you are searching for that perfect job, enjoy the way you are doing your present one, and keep celebrating and expanding all the other joys of life that surround you.

Jim Bird Publisher

You can help create a work environment that the people around you enjoy more. Simply recognize the value of what they do more often. Congratulate them more. Thank them more. Don’t fake it. It has to be real. Just focus a bit on regularly catching them doing something right. Then tell them. You’ll enjoy it too. Who are you going to make feel good about working with you today?

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The interest and demand for Work-Life Balance from your managers, sales people and employees has never been higher. Why not have the leader in the field deliver a high-impact program at your next meeting?

The Manager’s Role

More and more organizations have recognized that creating a work environment that people productively enjoy is great for the bottom line. It draws out the discretionary focus and effort that can double or triple the contributions each of us can make on the job.

Managers in such an environment must expect, communicate and celebrate professional and organizational achievement. But what a manager must also recognize is that in addition to having a job, people on their team also have a life.

Showing sincere, even if brief, interest in the non-job related passions of each person that works for him or her can do this. Such sincere interest makes work a place that reinforces the achievements and enjoyments of ALL of life. When such a tone is set in our work, we all willingly contribute more to it.

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How To Say “I Love My Job!” in 9 Steps

“I love my job!” Don’t we all dream of saying these words regularly?

In the last two years, tens of millions of workers took a leap of faith and left their existing jobs in what’s become known as the “Great Resignation”. In 2023 alone, almost 96% of workers were planning a career change. The lockdowns gave people a chance to reevaluate their lives and look for their dream career. The ultimate goal, of course, is to find a role with the most merits possible alongside the fewest faults. In other words: the dream job!

If your current position isn’t living up to your expectations, it’s time to start asking whether you can make some changes .

Don’t let years pass you by waiting around in a position that’s merely “ fine” . You deserve to work in a job you find stimulating and enjoyable.

Use the clickable menu to navigate through the article more easily:

Why I love my job: an easy question to answer?

Find a purposeful mission
Look for a challenge
Ensure there’s room for progression
Check how impactful the work is
Be mindful of your work-life balance
Think flexible
Ask for a fair salary
Find a positive work culture
Find a leader who sets goals and listens
Key takeaways

How can you be sure it’s the right time to switch up your career?

If you’ve been in your current role for a long time, it’s possible that comfort and habit have set in, and it won’t be so easy to tell how satisfied you actually are. If you’re not sure whether you ought to be leveling up your career, a good starting point is to write a list.

Title it something like “Why I love my job”, and write down everything that you enjoy about your daily work life.

Your list should, hopefully, include points such as:

I work with supportive colleagues who make me smile
I work in an area that interests me and inspires me to learn
I believe my work has an impact on the company as a whole
The company’s values align with my own
I can see a clear path ahead, with room for growth
My managers appreciate my efforts and encourage my development
My role involves challenges, which I am able to overcome
I am respected as an employee, and not treated merely as a number

If you find yourself filling the page easily, you know you’re in a good spot. If, however, you find you’ve run dry after only a couple of bullet points, it’s time to take the next steps toward finding a position you truly love.

9 steps to say “I love my job”

1. find a purposeful mission.

Let’s be honest: you’ll always struggle to love your job if you don’t believe in the work you’re doing — at least to some extent. You don’t have to decorate your car with branded stickers or fly the company flag from the roof of your house, but you should feel that your work has a genuine purpose and that you’re making a change in the world in a way that makes you feel proud.

If you’re not sure yet, try reading our guide to answering that pesky question “What should I do with my life?”

2. Look for a challenge

Everybody enjoys the occasional quiet, easy day — only a couple of new emails, an empty in-tray, and no long meetings. Too many, however, and life gets monotonous. It’s important to feel challenged and tested in your career, as overcoming obstacles is a major part of growth.

There’s nothing like the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that comes from solving a complex puzzle, and with a career that offers the right level of challenge, you’ll be leaving the office with a smile on your face each day.

3. Ensure there’s room for progression

To feel satisfied in your career, it’s crucial to feel you’re heading somewhere. If opportunities for advancement are zero — no possibility of promotion, no skill-boosting seminars, no training days — then not only will you feel frustrated and stagnant, but the business may soon lose momentum as a whole.

Instead, find somewhere with the space to flourish, a clear route of progression, and open-minded leaders who want to see you advance.

4. Check how impactful the work is

When you’re interviewing for jobs, try to discern from the interviewer how much of an impact your work will have on the business as a whole.

Will you be making meaningful decisions? Or will your work be left unseen in some distant, gloomy corner (metaphorical or otherwise)?

A key factor in job satisfaction is creating impactful work, and directly witnessing the impact of said work. Even something as small as receiving a mention in the monthly company newsletter can make all the difference. Nobody wants to feel like a tiny part of an incomprehensible machine.

5. Be mindful of your work-life balance

It’s easy to get sucked into the mindset of working every spare minute, particularly when you’re new in a role and are determined to make a positive impression.

Too many late nights and early mornings, however, can lead to a lack of sleep, thereby increasing stress , and in turn leading to even less sleep and even more stress.

Yes, there are times in every business when a little extra is required from employees, but a company must respect the work-life balance of its employees, not bury them beneath a mountain of unpaid overtime.

Listen for hints that this might be the case during the interviewing process, and read reviews on sites like Glassdoor to discern whether a company is considerate of its employees’ home lives.

6. Think flexible

The standard nine-to-five is on its way out. If you’re looking to yell “I love my job” from the rooftops, flexible working is a crucial component to look out for during your job search.

This could mean flexible working hours, remote or hybrid working options, or a good amount of paid holiday. All of these benefits give you the option to work in a way that suits you, giving you time to thrive outside and inside the workplace.

It’s mutually beneficial: flexible working attracts top talent, makes employees happier, and has been proven to increase productivity.

7. Ask for a fair salary

If you’ve put years into studying, growing, and honing your abilities, don’t undersell yourself!

Even a fun, fulfilling job can start to feel pointless if the remuneration is far below what you’re worth. While it can definitely sometimes be worth taking a pay cut if it means you’re able to break into an industry you’ve been wanting to, in the long run, fair pay means you’ll be able to work your dream job without the stress of wondering whether bills are getting paid.

And a little security can work wonders for overall happiness.

8. Find a company with a positive work culture

Company culture starts with the CEO and flows down. You’ll be able to sense whether a company has a positive (or not-so-positive) culture early on—sometimes, as early as the interview process.

Is the HR department warm and open to chat, or do they have little interest in pleasantries and putting you at ease? If the latter, it’s probably fair to assume things won’t improve much when you’re hired. So seek better!

A rich company culture can mean many things.

It might mean a creative, inspiring office space. It could mean team-building activities. It might mean yoga classes, skills workshops, or engaging company all-hands meetings once a week. It might simply mean a lot of laughter during the working day.

You’ll know it when you find it—because you’ll feel at home.

9. Find a leader who sets goals and listens

Good management can be a huge factor in career fulfillment. If you’re being micromanaged, given unreachable targets, or if all your ideas are ignored, it’s unlikely you’ll feel like sticking around.

For true job satisfaction and that blissful “I love my job!” feeling, seek out a company where the management sets clear, measurable goals that are challenging yet achievable.

Further, seek out a company where your voice is heard, and your expertise is both listened to and appreciated. This is what good leadership looks like.

How to say “I love my job”: Key takeaways

Consider this list as a series of suggestions, rather than absolute requirements.

We haven’t written them in order of importance—that’s down to you to decide. We’re giving you a rundown on things you should try to consider.

Of course, in reality, everybody’s vision of perfect career happiness looks a little different. You might prefer less flexibility and rigid, tight deadlines to help keep you motivated, or you might like strict hierarchies that give you a concrete sense of where you stand within the company.

You might not want any kind of challenge in your career, you might passionately hate work socials, or your only concern might be finding a job that’s future-proof.

All of that is perfectly fine. Finding your dream job—the one that gets you all excited to go to work in the morning—isn’t about following a set formula as much as it’s about being aware of what’s out there, and what suits you.

Why not begin now? Make a list of your priorities, using this article to help you, and see where it takes you. This could be the moment you’ve been waiting for. If you’re unsure what you might be best suited to, try our free job career quiz .

If you’d like to learn more about switching up your career, these articles are packed with information to help you:

“What Should I Do With My Life?” 15 Questions to Find Your Path
“I Hate My Job”: What To Do Next
5 Ways to Prepare for a Major Career Change
How To Successfully Change Careers in 2024: Your Step-by-Step Guide

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To Land a Great Job, Talk About Why You Love Your Work

Kaitlin Woolley
Ayelet Fishbach

Hiring managers want to know that you’ll be engaged in your new role.

When interviewing for your next job, how can you impress your recruiter and increase your chances of securing a job offer? Of course you may wish to emphasize your ambitions and goals you hope to achieve as a result of working at the company—your extrinsic motivation for the job. But to what extent should you also emphasize your love for your work and what you hope to achieve as part of the process of working at the company? This comprises your intrinsic motivation for the job, and most of us understand how important it can be to sustained engagement at work; but do recruiters care to hear this? Our research suggests that they do—and that job applicants aren’t taking advantage of that. Indeed, we have found that people fail to predict the power of such a statement of intrinsic motivation on the impression they make. What’s more, recruiters fail to predict how important intrinsic motivation will be in luring promising candidates. Our message: Candidates interviewing for a job should highlight the meaning they derive from their work, and recruiters looking to attract job candidates should emphasize that their employees do work they love.

KW Kaitlin Woolley is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University. She studies the psychological processes underlying consumer motivation and decision making to help people better achieve their goals.
AF Ayelet Fishbach is the Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

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How Liking Your Job Will Help You Succeed

November 17, 2023

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How "Liking" Your Job Will Help You Succeed

Steve Jobs stood in front of the 2005 Stanford graduating class and said, “"the only way to do great work is to love what you do," but how does enjoying your work really lead to success in the workplace?

Being happy at work and loving what you do is an overall productivity booster and enhances performance. People who enjoy their jobs are more likely to be optimistic, motivated, learn faster, make fewer mistakes, and better business decisions.

Positivity is Pertinent to Success

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a distinguished Hungarian psychologist, being able to enjoy your work is the main factor in getting into a state of flow.

Flow: The experience you have when you are “in the zone”. You feel fully focused, creative, and ideas are flowing freely.

This means that every time you are given a task and view it negatively, this mindset is already making it harder for you to complete your work. Doing work you love is energizing and creates a positive feedback loop that fuels productivity. Your passion for the work energizes you and vice versa, giving you more fuel to put towards success. The trick is figuring out how to make yourself love your work - even the most tedious of tasks.

Csikszentmihalyi discovered that once you take on a task with a positive mindset and think of the benefits you can reap from completing this project, your work is more likely to happen in a steady, concentrated flow. Being in this state of mind means you will be highly focused and fully absorbed in the task at hand, just as you would be while doing something you really enjoy. Being able to fully devote yourself to a task and give it your all will make you more productive and knowledgeable, leading you towards success at work.

The ability to complete work you don’t enjoy with enthusiasm is hard enough, let alone being the best at it. Without the passion or drive it just doesn’t come naturally. People are more confident at tasks that are more natural and seem to flow. This pertains to anything from writing emails, speaking to large groups, or even creating a presentation. Use a positive mindset to find your drive and build confidence in yourself. If you feel confident and secure with the work you are producing, you will be able to complete it to your fullest potential. Without this overall positive mindset, confidence is lacking and can lead to second-guessing yourself and becoming inefficient.

Passion not only drives you to enjoy your work, but helps in overcoming obstacles in the workplace as well. Anytime you hit a bump in the road or begin to doubt your abilities, remember the positive effects of the work you are doing. This persistence will lead to quality work that elevates you and brings you that much closer to your next goal. Use that drive and motivation as fuel towards your next checkpoint to success.

Finding Passion for Everyday Tasks

An overall positive and passionate mindset can be difficult to enact while completing tedious assignments. To change the way you think, you must also change the way you work. Find the significance in your efforts, live the vision of your organization, work with your colleagues, and in turn you can encourage positive change and take one step closer to success.

Every company has a mission or vision that they work to achieve. Whether it’s clothing the homeless or creating happy, loyal customers while keeping costs down for the organization, raising your significance by working towards the common goal will keep you on the path towards success. By seeing your part in the big picture and realizing your worth, positivity and passion come naturally.

Along with realizing your own worth, knowing your team’s abilities is just as important. According to Paul A. O’Keefe, assistant professor of psychology at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, working with your colleagues helps foster interest in work and create enthusiasm. In a study conducted by O’Keefe, it was found that those working with a partner reported greater interest in the subject and a stronger desire to master it. In other words, utilize your co-workers for motivation. Brainstorm, collaborate, and discuss to instill interest and drive in your work.

As you become more connected with your workplace and coworkers, begin to encourage positive change around you by asking yourself, “what can I do to improve this?” Immersing yourself in your work will help cultivate a passion for your duties. Add this passion on top of taking personal responsibility for making your company more successful, and your engagement will increase greatly, along with your job satisfaction.

The mindset you choose to take on when working is very important. Be conscious of the benefits you are creating for yourself and think positively. In turn, work will become more enjoyable and easier to master on the road to success.

Understanding human behavior is more than the basis of psychology – it is an essential component of virtually every business and organization. The USC online aster of Science in Applied Psychology degree prepares professionals to excel in the fields of consumer and organizational psychology.

Liking Work Really Matters How Loving Your Job Helps You Succeed Having a passion for your work may be overrated as a key to success

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How to Fall in Love With Your Job

T here’s a widespread misconception that the only way to start loving your life, is to quit your day job , move to Thailand, and start your own business from a beachside villa. While this surely makes for sweet pic on Instagram, the truth is that finding fulfilling work may involve starting your own venture, but it can also mean sharing your gifts by working for another organization, whether it’s a large company, or a tiny start-up.

In The Quarter-Life Breakthrough , I tell the stories of numerous meaning-hungry millennials who actually found they were happier when they quit being a solopreneur (someone working for themselves), and became an intrapreneur (someone working in a large company with a team). A recent Gallup report revealed that 21% of millennials have switched jobs within the past year, three times the number of non-millennials, and only 29% of millennials are engaged with their jobs, making them the least engaged generation in the workplace.

If millions of Americans are disengaged at their jobs, then clearly we need to make it easier for people to experience meaning, purpose and joy in the workplace. Here are six ways motivated employees of all generations can pursue meaning within their current job.

1. Know your why. These days, it’s not enough just to have a job; you need to know how the position fits into your larger purpose . What do you care most about? Why are you here? How does your position relate to your personal mission? If you take the time to answer these questions on your own, it will be easier for you ensure you’re spending your days working on as many projects that interest you as possible, and you might even discover where you want to take your career in the future.

2. Don’t let your job title limit your hustle. A lot of twenty-somethings think they have to be miserable at their jobs, just because they don’t have a fancy job title or a large salary. In my book, I tell the story of one twenty-something, Amira Polack, who was working as a corporate social responsibility specialist at SAP, a large software company with offices in 130 countries. She was really interested in youth engagement issues, and told her supervisor that she wanted to spend more time focusing on youth.

Eventually, she became the head of the SAP Youth Campaign, which meant she coordinated a thirteen-person team, coordinated Twitter chats, got to meet CEOs of global companies and build partnerships with organizations like TEDxTeen and Africa Code Week. All because, when the challenge presented itself, Amira jumped on it, even if she had to learn new responsibilities on the job.

Be creative, challenge yourself to pursue new opportunities, step up when the opportunity presents itself, and think beyond your pay grade.

3. Invest in your skills. Research by Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us , has shown that mastery is one of our top motivations in the workplace (and in life). When’s the last time you read about a symphony conductor, or the chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant, or an Oscar-nominated actor, who didn’t love their job? So, how can you become a master at what you do? Remember: skills are why people get hired, and why people get promoted. Being really good at specific skills, whether it’s writing, marketing, coding, design thinking, facilitation, human resources, data analysis, etc., will help you find more happiness at work, and in the rest of your life.

4. Seek co-leadership opportunities. Whenever I speak to HR departments about how to empower millennial talent, I stress the importance of creating a collaborative relationship between early talent and more experienced talent. One way to do this is to pair younger employees with colleagues that have five to ten (or more) years of experience, to co-manage projects that are of top value to C-level executives. The assumption being that we millennials have a lot to learn from Gen-Xers and Boomers, and we also have something to teach them. Everyone wins when companies create structures that promote knowledge sharing, frequent feedback loops, and the opportunity to treat the workplace like a classroom.

5. Keep your work fresh and focused. Working from the same desk every day can get boring. Research suggests that employees who work remotely from home are more productive (and happier) than employees who have to commute every single day. Obviously, some jobs will require you to be present in an office and interact with a team, but ask your supervisor if you can work from home once a week.

Even if you can’t work from home, switch up your routine when you’re bored. Be sure to take frequent breaks go outside, meditate, or exercise at the office. Renewal is a key factor in determining workplace engagement and productivity. Research by the Energy Project and Harvard Business Review showed that employees who take a break every ninety minutes report a 30 percent higher level of focus , and that employees who were able to focus on only one task at time at work, are 50 percent more engaged.

6. Don’t wait for permission to find meaning in your current job. If there’s a project that aligns with your purpose or something that gets you excited, do it. If there’s an initiative you want to be involved in, get involved. Don’t wait for an invitation to start loving your job, make it happen yourself. Be proactive and ask your boss. If your boss ignores you, ask someone else. If you wait for someone else to give you meaningful work, you’ll get so bored at the office you start spending six hours a day wasting time on Facebook, or worse, you’ll start using Tinder at the office.

Adapted from The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters by Adam “Smiley” Poswolsky, available October 4, 2016 from TarcherPerigee/Penguin Random House.

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You Had Me at “You’re Hired”: How to Fall Back in Love With Your Job

People are leaving their jobs in record numbers, why some people fall out of love with their jobs, 8 tips for falling in love with your job again, you don’t have to stay in a bad situation.

The once excited and ambitious turned tedious and gloomy legal history professor Oliver Lee Bateman recalled that fateful lecture when his career changed forever , “[This] student, who like all in-state students was paying $50 per lecture to hear me talk, was watching season one of Breaking Bad . In a class with no attendance grade, where the lectures were at least halfway decent, he was watching Breaking Bad .”

Bateman had to take a moment to consider what it was he was actually doing with his life. It wasn’t that he didn’t see the importance of his position, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized the passion was gone. He had fallen out of love with his job.

Bateman isn’t alone in feeling this way. Many people worldwide feel like they no longer love their jobs. This realization can feel demoralizing, especially when you think about how you once felt.

It’s important to note, however, that there’s a difference between hating your job and falling out of love with it . There are usually very specific and unavoidable reasons someone might hate their job. Falling out of love with it, on the other hand, can feel frustrating because the reasons feel less concrete and tangible.

Falling back in love with your job is possible, but just like any relationship, it takes effort on your part as well. As you understand the reasons why you might feel differently about your job today, you can work to regain the passion you once felt and lost.

Workers are showing a growing disinterest in their jobs, all to the point where they’re leaving to look for new ones. At the moment, we’re in the midst of what is being called the Great Resignation, where the job market is in serious flux. A new survey from Grant Thornton found that 40 percent of people who switched jobs in the past 12 months are on the hunt for a new job once again . In 2021 alone, 48 million workers quit their jobs , breaking previous records.

So, why are so many people quitting now? After all, leaving a job isn’t a new phenomenon. The catalyst for this seismic change is the pandemic. Coming out of the pandemic, people started to look closer at their jobs, rethinking what it meant for their careers. Things they could tolerate before—low pay, poor working conditions, long commutes, and inflexible hours—became deal breakers. Workers suddenly had a lot more power to make demands , from schedule flexibility to increased benefits. With this shift to a more employee-friendly market, workers have been ready to move on if their current job didn’t provide these things.

Younger workers, in particular, have been a major driving force at this time. They desire a better work-life balance . They’re also less likely to stick it out at a job, hoping it improves. In just one example, a recent Nationwide survey found the younger the worker, the more likely they would consider leaving a job if it didn’t provide more flexibility, such as with remote work. From this perspective, it’s easy to see how a job people once loved can quickly become undesirable.

Other issues may arise around how much the company is willing to invest in its employees. For example, a LinkedIn Workforce Learning Report found that 94 percent of workers would want to stay at a company if it invested in their learning and development . It’s no wonder why some may sour on a job if organizational leadership doesn’t provide those opportunities.

Besides the above reasons for leaving a job listed, there are other ways people fall out of love with their dream jobs. What starts out so promising and enjoyable can quickly evolve into something you simply don’t like anymore. The following are some of the additional reasons people may grow disenchanted with what they do.

Burnout: Unfortunately, work b u rnout has become a common part of many jobs. According to a Gallup poll, 76 percent of workers experience it at least some of the time, with 21 percent saying it happens “very often” and another 7 percent saying it happens “always.” Constant exhaustion can quickly turn a great job into one you dread.
Boredom: On the other hand, many people become bored with doing the same thing day in and day out. It’s not something they particularly dread, but the tedious nature of a job can leave workers feeling unfulfilled.
Remote Work Transition: In recent years, especially in the wake of the pandemic, many jobs have transformed into remote positions. While some may like the change, others are struggling with it, leading them to fall out of love with their jobs. Jon M. Jachimowicz, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, described the problem in an article from the BBC: “When you’re in the office and it’s hectic, you don’t have as much space and time to think. It’s hard to zoom out and think about the next month, year, or five years of your life. Being at home kind of forces that on you, for better or worse. It made people start to question: ‘How can I live a life or have a career that’s in line with what I’m actually interested in?’”
Lack of Balance: For many people, their jobs become less appealing if it dominates their lives. People want to have enough free time to pursue their interests and hobbies. If a job doesn’t allow that, then they may come to resent it.
Lack of Appreciation: Even when you’re doing what you love, if you don’t receive recognition for your work, it can often feel like you’re not valued. When business leaders don’t properly appreciate their workers, their employees will likely look elsewhere for that recognition.

1. Focus on the Vision and Mission

Every effective company should have a specific vision and mission exemplified in a vision statement and mission statement . At times, it can be easy to forget them when you’re going through your daily routine. Take a step back and think about how each task you do relates to these items. That tenth email you’re writing to a client may feel like drudgery, but if you can connect it to the overall vision and mission of the company , that task begins to take on a new level of importance. With more connections like these, you give added meaning to even some of the mundane tasks you do.

In a sense, this is all about figuring out why you fell in love with your job in the first place. Remember what it was that helped you get out of bed in the morning. If you can recall initial feelings like that, you can encourage those feelings to resurface.

2. Align Your Core Values

Before you fall back in love with your job, you need to love yourself. Take a moment to reflect on your core values. What motivates you? What problems do you want to solve in the world? Once you know your core values, you can align them with your work. A sense of dissatisfaction may come from a misalignment, so getting everything in order should be a priority.

3. Engage In or Organize Social Activities

Many businesses will offer opportunities for you to socialize with your coworkers outside of business hours. Make sure to take advantage of those opportunities. Doing so can help you grow closer to the people you work with and, in turn, help you love your job again. According to Dr. Angela K. Troyer , the Program Director of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health at Baycrest, interacting with others lowers the risk of depression, improves your physical health, and may even help you live longer .

Not every company will offer these social opportunities, however. That’s when you need to take the initiative. Organize the events yourself. Think of some fun things to do that everyone can enjoy. Just remember as you do this, you need to invite everyone. Be fully inclusive, and make sure no one feels left out . You don’t want to be the reason someone else falls out of love with their job.

4. Show Gratitude

Robert Emmons, author of The Little Book of Gratitude: Creating a Life of Happiness and Wellbeing by Giving Thanks , knows about the power of gratitude. He explains that when people lack gratitude, they experience higher job dissatisfaction, burnout, and absenteeism . However, a grateful person can counteract a difficult work environment. As he puts it, “Grateful individuals live in a way that leads to the kind of workplace environment that human beings long for.” While every job has its problems, take a moment to note what you’re grateful for. Focus on the positive. You’ll find that there might be a lot you have overlooked.

5. Change What You Can

You can’t control everything at your job, but you may be surprised at what lies within your sphere of influence. Take your immediate workspace as an example. If things feel like they’ve grown stale, change your surroundings. Liven up your desk with new items, including plants. Or if possible, spend a day working in another location. As you exert your control over things, you will realize how much is in your power. Maintaining that control can help you stay satisfied with your job.

6. Take a Break

It might sound ridiculous, but did you know that more than half of American workers (55 percent) don’t use all of their vacation days? Do you fall into the same category? Don’t let your time off go to waste. Take full advantage of PTO. Doing so will help you feel better about your job. According to the American Psychological Association, 68 percent of workers had a more positive mood when returning from vacation, while 58 percent felt they were more productive.

7. Look for Learning Opportunities

In your job, you can also look to expand your mind and develop your skill set. Look for learning opportunities. Take training courses that your company offers. If your current position is unsatisfying, is there another position within the organization that looks more appealing? Start cultivating the skills needed to land that position. When you have a promising goal to work toward, you start feeling extra motivation.

8. Talk With Your Manager About Problems

If you’re encountering issues in your job, open up to your manager about them. Don’t wait to express your concerns. Too many people seem to think that they need to hold onto their worries until a “big meeting” situation, especially now that so many companies have gone remote. You don’t have to bottle up your feelings until then. Send a quick message to your manager to set up a time to discuss what’s bothering you. Most importantly, make your discussion a real conversation. Rants don’t change policies or conditions, but dialogue does. Show respect and consideration, and your employer should return it to you.

Your relationship with your job is often like a personal relationship. You can give it your all and try to make it work, but if you’ve tried everything, it may be time to “break up” with your company. You can tell you may be on your way out if you’ve checked out mentally, or if the company isn’t responding to your concerns. When a relationship is unhealthy from both ends, it serves no one to keep it going. Breaking up can be difficult and even painful, but oftentimes it ends up benefiting both sides.

Don’t feel like you need to stay where you are. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of job openings in the U.S. in May 2022 numbered more than 11 million. Companies are looking to hire people at record numbers. The opportunities are there. You don’t have to stay at a business where you are not appreciated or feel fulfilled.

Perhaps the main factor leading to a breakup is when your core values are different from the company’s. You can try to make it work all you want, but opposite core values mean you have different goals and visions in mind. No matter what you do, you will always be at odds. In such cases, the best move will be to get out.

In other cases where you’ve simply lost your passion for the job, rediscovering that passion is a strategy that presents less risk. Take the time to implement the above tips, and see if you can fall in love with your job once again.

Still wondering if you should look for a new job? Be sure to read, “ Should I Quit My Job? 7 Reasons to Start Looking for a New Role. ”

If you are in the job market and have a more introverted personality, get tips from “ 12 of the Best Jobs for Introverts .”

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The Importance of Loving Your Job

Whether you’re running a business or working within one, enjoying your work-life plays a big part in having greater happiness in your life as a whole. After all, we do spend most of our week working!

This blog will discuss how loving your job positively affects you and why it is so important. It will also look at the importance of having staff and team members who are happy in their jobs and finally it will offer some key tips on how to feel more positive about your job.

What does it mean to love your job?

When you love your job, you will see it as a choice and something that you like to do rather than a burden on your time; there will be many aspects that you genuinely look forward and you’ll have a strong sense of satisfaction when you achieve your goals or widen your skillset.

Understandably, there may be aspects or tasks that you do not look forward to as much or feel you are not as accomplished in; however, you can learn to enjoy the rewarding feeling of completing the challenges or difficult parts that come with a role. We’ve all had that feeling of satisfaction when we’ve completed the dreaded thing on our to-do list!

If we can strike the right balance, finding happiness and love for your job will contribute to your everyday happiness. RJ Sternberg is a psychologist who is renowned for his research on love, happiness, and intelligence and the relationships between them. His work suggests that when you love your job you will feel passionate, connected, and committed to your work. When you have these three components, you will often find yourself looking forward to your work or most elements of your work and being excited to start your job most days. Understandably, it is hard to dread a job that often brings you happiness!

Why loving your job is important:

Better quality of work
Increased productivity
Better mental health
Better overall health and wellbeing
Better job retention
Happier everyday life
Increased motivation in all activities
Stronger engagement on tasks
Fewer mistakes within work
More confidence

When you love your job and find yourself in a role that suits you and your lifestyle, you will find so many added positives to your life. When you love a job, your work is more consistent, and focus is easier. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist reported that the state of flow known as “being in the zone” mainly comes from finding enjoyment in your work. When you are in this state of flow, you become more creative, focussed and often think of ideas and solutions a lot faster.

As a result of better work, you will likely receive more benefits from your company and feel a stronger sense of contribution within your team. Having a happy work-life and love for your job can encourage healthier behaviours outside of the workplace and prevent physical and mental illness in the future.

Steve Jobs said that the only way to produce great work was by loving your job as this will lead to success in the workplace.

Importance of having employees who love their job:

Better employee retention
More positive representation of a company
Quality of work is improved
More cohesion and collaboration within the workplace
Confidence that your employees care about their impact and the company
Higher employee attendance numbers
More positive work environment
A place for better communication between colleagues

Having a work environment with colleagues who have a passion for their job is extremely beneficial to a company and its growth. One way a company can ensure their employees are happy is by regularly collecting employee engagement and happiness surveys, feedback groups, or 1:1s and implementing any ideas or correcting any issues. Employees will feel valued and listened to and in turn, this will likely lead to an increase in employee retention.

How to Grow Your Love for Your Job

Organise your tasks, splitting up your less preferred tasks with your most preferred
Try to surround yourself with a network of supportive colleagues
Celebrate achievements such as completing a difficult task
Avoid rushing to prevent stress
Manage stress with mindfulness, meditation, or a hobby or interest that allows you to relax and free your mind

It is understandable that when starting a new job, you may feel nervous and perhaps not have a strong love for it straight away, but it is important to try and achieve this by staying positive through the challenges so that you can grow with your job and company.

Many people feel stressed before their workday has even started so it is important to plan and prevent rushing so that you can start your day with confidence. When you rush you cause stress and anxiety and over time this becomes your default mental state. This means you then find it hard to feel relaxed, causing a negative relationship and association with your job.

It is also important to accept when a job is not suiting you and that you may need to look for another role that will allow you to reignite the enjoyment for your career, where you can experience the excitement and balance within your life that you achieve from having a happy job.

A Few Final Thoughts

In conclusion, it is evident that having a job that you love plays a key part in the harmony of your life. It contributes to your health, lifestyle, and quality of work.

If you are a manager who wants to gauge the general happiness of your team and gather their honest feedback on what they love about their job as well as any issues or improvements, then please get in touch. We can work with you to design a bespoke survey via e-mails and/or interviews that will help you measure this and gain invaluable feedback to help with your employee retention and the overall happiness of your colleagues. We also advise on how to implement the feedback most effectively. Get in touch to find out how we can help: + 44 (0) 1625 541 030 / [email protected]

Additionally, if you are not happy in your current role and you crave that passion and love for a role again, we can work with you to help you find a job that compliments your life and reignites your love for work! Visit our jobs page and check out our current vacancies.

How to master the writing test: a guide for medical writers, the benefits of engaging with a recruitment agency for your next medical writer opportunity, how to stay motivated in a fast-paced environment, find your perfect job with carrot recruitment.

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A Deceptively Simple Way to Find More Happiness at Work

You don’t need to change everything about your job to see major benefits. A few changes here and there can be all you need.

By Tim Herrera

Welcome to the Smarter Living newsletter! Every Monday, editor Tim Herrera emails readers with tips and advice for living a better, more fulfilling life. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

Do you like what you do?

Now, I don’t mean that in the broad sense of wondering whether you’re on the right career path. I mean on a day-to-day basis, if you thought about every single task your job entails, could you name the parts that give you genuine joy? What about the tasks you hate?

It’s an odd question. We don’t often step back to ask whether the small, individual components of our job actually make us happy.

But maybe we should. As many as a third of United States workers say they don’t feel engaged at work. The reasons vary widely, and everyone’s relationship with work is unique. But there are small ways to improve any job, and those incremental improvements can add up to major increases in job satisfaction.

A study from the Mayo Clinic found that physicians who spend about 20 percent of their time doing “work they find most meaningful are at dramatically lower risk for burnout.” But here’s what’s fascinating: Anything beyond that 20 percent has a marginal impact, as “spending 50 percent of your time in the most meaningful area is associated with similar rates of burnout as 20 percent.”

In other words: You don’t need to change everything about your job to see substantial benefits. A few changes here and there can be all you need.

“When you look at people who are thriving in their jobs, you notice that they didn’t find them, they made them,” said Ashley Goodall, senior vice president of leadership and team intelligence at Cisco and co-author of the book “ Nine Lies About Work .”

“We’re told in every commencement speech that if you find a job you love you’ll never work a day in your life. But the verb is wrong,” he said, adding that successful people who love their jobs take “the job that was there at the beginning and then over time they transform the contents of that job.”

To be sure, transforming your job isn’t easy. But you have to start somewhere, and there’s a wonderfully simple but surprisingly revealing trick that can help.

For a full week, carry a notepad at all times. Draw a line down the center of a page and label one column “Love” and the other column “Loathe.” Whenever you perform a task, no matter how small, be mindful of how it makes you feel. Are you excited about it? Do you look forward to it? Does time fly when you’re doing it? Or did you procrastinate, dreading every moment and feeling drained by the time you’re done?

It seems silly, I know. But this exercise — which Mr. Goodall and his co-author, Marcus Buckingham, co-head and talent expert at the A.D.P. Research Institute, write about in their book and practice in their lives — can show you hidden clues and nuances about work.

[Like what you’re reading? Sign up here for the Smarter Living newsletter to get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.]

“It’s a beautifully simple way to inventory your emotional reactions to the reality of your day or week at work,” Mr. Buckingham said. “Understand what it is that lights you up. Understand what you run toward. Understand where you are at your most energetic, your most creative, your most alive, and then volunteer for that more and more and more,” he added.

This is, of course, just a starting point. You won’t instantly be happier at work once you have a list of things you dislike about your job. But this exercise gives you a road map about how to focus your time and energy on the things that get you excited. Rather than trying to get better at things you hate doing and know you’re not great at, reframe the issue and try to do more things that energize you and that you excel at. No one can tell you what those things are, and discovering them can be transformative.

“If you don’t know what you’re like when you’re in love with your work, no one can do that for you,” Mr. Buckingham said. “This has always been in your hands, and it cannot be in anyone else’s.”

What do you love and loathe about your job? Tell me on Twitter @timherrera .

Have a great week!

P.S. — Technology has become integrated in nearly every part of our lives, and the lines between public and private are more blurred than ever. This month The Times is starting a limited-run newsletter to dive into what that means — and what you can do about it. Sign up here to get it in your inbox .

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Tip of the Week

This week I’ve invited Dorie Clark, author of “Entrepreneurial You,” to teach us a tip about getting better at email: the personal trainer.

It’s a curse of modern life so many of us know all too well: drowning in your inbox. But often, the problem isn’t actually the time required to process the messages.

It’s the psychological resistance.

Some messages you can dash off in an instant: Sure, let’s meet Friday night ! But emails that require emotional energy — turning down someone’s request, or figuring out complicated details — have a tendency to linger untouched in our inboxes for weeks, sometimes months, on end, like a digital ghost haunting us each moment we open our inbox.

But then I realized there was an analogy: fitness. You hire a personal trainer to motivate you to work out, even when you don’t feel like it. So I hired my virtual assistant, Jake Tavares, to become my personal trainer for email.

We talk on the phone for 30 to 60 minutes every weekday, and I answer “problematic” messages while he cheers me on. Because I’m on the clock, I work faster, and I force myself to get through the hard ones. Since we started working together, the average number of unanswered messages in my inbox has shrunk to 15 from more than 70.

You don’t need a professional for this strategy to work, either. You can partner with a friend or use a free service like FocusMate , which pairs you with a virtual accountability partner. Pushing through the most difficult messages helps you stay on top of important work, and gives you a virtuous feeling that lasts all day.

Tim Herrera is the founding editor of Smarter Living, where he edits and reports stories about living a better, more fulfilling life. He was previously a reporter and editor at The Washington Post. More about Tim Herrera

Making the Most of Your Time

In our hyperconnected world, distractions lurk at every corner. these tips can help you become more focused and increase how productive you are..

Brain slumps are real. Taking a break for a few minutes can allow you to return to work sharper and more creative.

Smartphones, pings and social media have shortened our attention spans. Here is how to get focused again .

Take our seven-step challenge to reduce the obstacles — both internal and external — that hinder productivity.

Do you often find your workday spiraling out of control? Try these productivity techniques .

We all procrastinate, but why? We examined the emotions that are at the root of it and how we can focus our energy in healthier ways.

The biggest hurdle to meeting a deadline is sometimes getting started. To get there, give micro-progress a try .

Struggling to prioritize the right tasks? Regain control with an Eisenhower matrix .

Relationships

How to Learn to Love Your Job

The spirituality of workplace social support..

Posted April 10, 2023 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

Why Relationships Matter
Find a therapist to strengthen relationships
Some employees experience insecurity or perceived incompetence, which creates anxiety.
Employees respond to the social aspects of a job, not just the work.
Workplace spirituality involves meaningful work, community, and purpose.

If you love what you do for a living, you don’t “work” a day in your life. True enough. But, newsflash: Many people who blithely profess to love their jobs, don’t. They work because they have to, not because they want to. They would much rather spend their days with family and friends, perhaps volunteering their time and talent as they see fit, rather than being subjected to an employer’s schedule—whether live or remote.

For many employees who would rather be doing something else during the workweek, the Monday morning blues begin Sunday afternoon—when storm clouds of negative emotion begin to shroud what should be a coveted time to enjoy faith, family, friends, or favorite activities. So, especially considering they are not getting paid to dread Monday morning on Sunday afternoon, what causes this discontent and how can it be overcome?

Sources of Job Dissatisfaction

The first step toward finding a solution is identifying the problem. Some employees have jobs they are not comfortable with or aren’t good at and are afraid they will be fired if they ask for help. They fear admitting incompetence will lead to unemployment.

Others enjoy their work but detest their workplace. When working for a bad boss or interacting with co-workers who are gossips or bullies, even interesting work can become intolerable. Other employees do not find their work interesting to begin with. Bored to tears with the monotony of their 9 to 5, they are unchallenged and unfulfilled, feeling unmotivated and unhappy.

In stark contrast, however, some employees in a wide variety of professions are comfortable and content. What is the secret? Interestingly, this positive mindset is not dependent necessarily on what they do, where they work, or even who they work for. It is dependent on their level of support, and perceived satisfaction.

The Support of Workplace Spirituality

Employers are increasingly recognizing that, for modern employees, working involves more than making money, and they are adapting accordingly. William D. Hunsaker and Wenjing Ding (2022) explored the role of spirituality in workplace satisfaction. 1 Defining workplace spirituality as characterized by “meaningful work, community, purpose and transcendence,” they note that it helps employees achieve spiritual needs including meaning and purpose of their work, connection with coworkers, and mitigation of anxiety and stress .

Hunsaker and Ding further found that workplace spirituality promotes innovative behavior through an employee’s heightened sense of flourishing and workplace satisfaction, which means that organizations are well advised to create a climate conducive to workplace spirituality through the development of mutually aligned values. They advise organizations to train their leadership in the area of workplace spirituality and encourage workplace practices that facilitate team building, self-reflection, and even job crafting as a method of broadening employees' emotional states, as well as workplace satisfaction.

Falling for the Labor of Love

Research findings corroborate what most workers know instinctively: There is much more to job satisfaction than the job. Working with people you genuinely like and enjoy spending time with, having a boss who expresses authentic appreciation for your efforts, and experiencing a sense of competence and pride in your work product are often more important than your title, tenure, or timesheet.

Considering the variety of factors that contribute to employee happiness above and beyond salary, modern workers and employers are well-advised to explore the entire workplace environment, rather than just the work.

1. Hunsaker, William D., and Wenjing Ding. 2022. “Workplace Spirituality and Innovative Work Behavior: The Role of Employee Flourishing and Workplace Satisfaction.” Employee Relations 44 (6): 1355–1371. doi:10.1108/ER-01-2021-0032.

Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., Ph.D., is a career trial attorney, behavioral analyst, author of Red Flags , and co-author of Reading People .

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What public k-12 teachers want americans to know about teaching.

Illustrations by Hokyoung Kim

At a time when most teachers are feeling stressed and overwhelmed in their jobs, we asked 2,531 public K-12 teachers this open-ended question:

If there’s one thing you’d want the public to know about teachers, what would it be?

We also asked Americans what they think about teachers to compare with teachers’ perceptions of how the public views them.

Related: What’s It Like To Be a Teacher in America Today?

A bar chart showing that about half of teachers want the public to know that teaching is a hard job.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand what public K-12 teachers would like Americans to know about their profession. We also wanted to learn how the public thinks about teachers.

For the open-end question, we surveyed 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14, 2023. The teachers surveyed are members of RAND’s American Teacher Panel, a nationally representative panel of public K-12 school teachers recruited through MDR Education. Survey data is weighted to state and national teacher characteristics to account for differences in sampling and response to ensure they are representative of the target population.

Overall, 96% of surveyed teachers provided an answer to the open-ended question. Center researchers developed a coding scheme categorizing the responses, coded all responses, and then grouped them into the six themes explored in the data essay.

For the questions for the general public, we surveyed 5,029 U.S. adults from Nov. 9 to Nov. 16, 2023. The adults surveyed are members of the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, a nationally representative online survey panel. Panel members are randomly recruited through probability-based sampling, and households are provided with access to the Internet and hardware if needed. To ensure that the results of this survey reflect a balanced cross section of the nation, the data is weighted to match the U.S. adult population by gender, age, education, race and ethnicity and other categories.

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, the teacher survey methodology and the general public survey methodology .

Most of the responses to the open-ended question fell into one of these six themes:

Teaching is a hard job

About half of teachers (51%) said they want the public to know that teaching is a difficult job and that teachers are hardworking. Within this share, many mentioned that they have roles and responsibilities in the classroom besides teaching, which makes the job stressful. Many also talked about working long hours, beyond those they’re contracted for.

“Teachers serve multiple roles other than being responsible for teaching curriculum. We are counselors, behavioral specialists and parents for students who need us to fill those roles. We sacrifice a lot to give all of ourselves to the role as teacher.”

– Elementary school teacher

“The amount of extra hours that teachers have to put in beyond the contractual time is ridiculous. Arriving 30 minutes before and leaving an hour after is just the tip of the iceberg. … And as far as ‘having summers off,’ most of August is taken up with preparing materials for the upcoming school year or attending three, four, seven days’ worth of unpaid development training.”

– High school teacher

Teachers care about their students

The next most common theme: 22% of teachers brought up how fulfilling teaching is and how much teachers care about their students. Many gave examples of the hardships of teaching but reaffirmed that they do their job because they love the kids and helping them succeed.

“We are passionate about what we do. Every child we teach is important to us and we look out for them like they are our own.”

– Middle school teacher

“We are in it for the kids, and the most incredible moments are when children make connections with learning.”

Teachers are undervalued and disrespected

Some 17% of teachers want the public to know that they feel undervalued and disrespected, and that they need more public support. Some mentioned that they are well-educated professionals but are not treated as such. And many teachers in this category responded with a general plea for support from the public, which they don’t feel they’re getting now.

“We feel undervalued. The public and many parents of my students treat me and my peers as if we do not know as much as they do, as if we are uneducated.”

“The public attitudes toward teachers have been degrading, and it is making it impossible for well-qualified teachers to be found. People are simply not wanting to go into the profession because of public sentiments.”

Teachers are underpaid

A similar share of teachers (15%) want the public to know that teachers are underpaid. Many teachers said their salary doesn’t account for the effort and care they put into their students’ education and believe that their pay should reflect this.

“We are sorely underpaid for the amount of hours we work and the education level we have attained.”

Teachers need support and resources from government and administrators

About one-in-ten teachers (9%) said they need more support from the government, their administrators and other key stakeholders. Many mentioned working in understaffed schools, not having enough funding and paying for supplies out of pocket. Some teachers also expressed that they have little control over the curriculum that they teach.

“The world-class education we used to be proud of does not exist because of all the red tape we are constantly navigating. If you want to see real change in the classroom, advocate for smaller class sizes for your child, push your district to cap class sizes at a reasonable level and have real, authentic conversations with your child’s teacher about what is going on in the classroom if you’re curious.”

Teachers need more support from parents

Roughly the same share of teachers (8%) want the public to know that teachers need more support from parents, emphasizing that the parent-teacher relationship is strained. Many view parents as partners in their child’s education and believe that a strong relationship improves kids’ overall social and emotional development.

“Teachers help students to reach their potential. However, that job is near impossible if parents/guardians do not take an active part in their student’s education.”

How the U.S. public views teachers

While the top response from teachers in the open-ended question is that they want the public to know that teaching is a hard job, most Americans already see it that way. Two-thirds of U.S. adults say being a public K-12 teacher is harder than most other jobs, with 33% saying it’s a lot harder.

And about three-quarters of Americans (74%) say teachers should be paid more than they are now, including 39% who say teachers should be paid a lot more.

Americans are about evenly divided on whether the public generally looks up to (32%) or down on (30%) public K-12 teachers. Some 37% say Americans neither look up to or down on public K-12 teachers.

A bar chart showing that teachers’ perceptions of how much Americans trust public K-12 teachers to do their job well is more negative than the general public’s response.

In addition to the open-ended question about what they want the public to know about them, we asked teachers how much they think most Americans trust public K-12 teachers to do their job well. We also asked the public how much they trust teachers. Answers differ considerably.

Nearly half of public K-12 teachers (47%) say most Americans don’t trust teachers much or at all. A third say most Americans trust teachers some, and 18% say the public trusts teachers a great deal or a fair amount.

In contrast, a majority of Americans (57%) say they do trust public K-12 teachers to do their job well a great deal or a fair amount. About a quarter (26%) say they trust teachers some, and 17% say they don’t trust teachers much or at all.

Related: About half of Americans say public K-12 education is going in the wrong direction

How the public’s views differ by party

There are sizable party differences in Americans’ views of teachers. In particular, Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to say:

They trust teachers to do their job well a great deal or a fair amount (70% vs. 44%)
Teaching is a lot or somewhat harder when compared with most other jobs (77% vs. 59%)
Teachers should be paid a lot or somewhat more than they are now (86% vs. 63%)

In their own words

Below, we have a selection of quotes that describe what teachers want the public to know about them and their profession.

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How Important is it to Love Your Job?
Doing so is very valuable to your life in many ways, including greatly increasing your probability of financial success. But you don't have to love, or even like your overall job to enjoy everyday aspects of it. It is critical to distinguish between the job and the way you do it. This is important because every job has aspects that will be ...
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Why I Love My Job. If you asked me why I love my job, I could go on and on about how I have rewarding work. I have enjoyed writing since I was in third grade, and I'm fortunate to make a living now doing something I find challenging and inspiring. The process of putting words together and creating something that's meaningful to others ...
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When people say they love their job, what does that really mean? You can be overflowing with passion for your job. You can trulylove your job, and yet still, there will be parts that you don't even like, let alone, love. And other parts that subtly (or very loudly) remind you your job is work, and not a party. That's ok. That's actually ...
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3. Engage In or Organize Social Activities. Many businesses will offer opportunities for you to socialize with your coworkers outside of business hours. Make sure to take advantage of those opportunities. Doing so can help you grow closer to the people you work with and, in turn, help you love your job again.
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Understand what you run toward. Understand where you are at your most energetic, your most creative, your most alive, and then volunteer for that more and more and more," he added. This is, of ...
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How the U.S. public views teachers. While the top response from teachers in the open-ended question is that they want the public to know that teaching is a hard job, most Americans already see it that way. Two-thirds of U.S. adults say being a public K-12 teacher is harder than most other jobs, with 33% saying it's a lot harder.
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How To Say “I Love My Job!” in 9 Steps

Why I love my job: an easy question to answer?

9 steps to say “I love my job”

2. Look for a challenge

3. Ensure there’s room for progression

4. Check how impactful the work is

5. Be mindful of your work-life balance

6. Think flexible

7. Ask for a fair salary

8. Find a company with a positive work culture

9. Find a leader who sets goals and listens

How to say “I love my job”: Key takeaways

To Land a Great Job, Talk About Why You Love Your Work

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How Liking Your Job Will Help You Succeed

How to Fall in Love With Your Job

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You Had Me at “You’re Hired”: How to Fall Back in Love With Your Job

1. Focus on the Vision and Mission

2. Align Your Core Values

3. Engage In or Organize Social Activities

4. Show Gratitude

5. Change What You Can

6. Take a Break

7. Look for Learning Opportunities

8. Talk With Your Manager About Problems

The Importance of Loving Your Job

What does it mean to love your job?

Why loving your job is important:

Importance of having employees who love their job:

How to Grow Your Love for Your Job

A Few Final Thoughts

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The Support of Workplace Spirituality

Falling for the Labor of Love

Regions & Countries

Teaching is a hard job

Teachers care about their students

Teachers are undervalued and disrespected

Teachers are underpaid

Teachers need support and resources from government and administrators

Teachers need more support from parents

How the U.S. public views teachers

How the public’s views differ by party

In their own words

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