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My dad is a long retired school superintendent. He was able to convince a small community to greatly upgrade their education system.
After he retired he worked (for almost nothing) to help school boards from poorer counties do the same.
He helped lot of people.
No. I just try to work places that don't actively work to harm the world.
I work in a slaughterhouse so I'd say my job is important till all of humanity goes vegetarian (which I don't think even the most diehard vegetarian or vegan believes will happen in my lifetime). Am I proud of it? No, but I'm not proud of anything I do.
My job is important but I feel that either I'm not equipped enough for it or that my users don't get value out of it.
Without getting too specific, I'm a data engineer that is doing ETL work for maintenance data. So it could allow the business users to optimize the business and potentially lower a large carbon footprint while also saving the company millions.
I have a devops background so I really just need to git gud at databases and data engineering
I haven't had a job that should exist since I was a tutor in college. Every position since then was either a fake busywork job, or tech support for people in fake busywork jobs. =/
Yes and yes. I'm a health inspector.
Would absolutely not do it for free. There's a lot more that I do than just inspecting restaurants and beauty premises:
inspection accommodations (hotels, motels, rooming houses, student forms, hostels, camps)
respond to environmental complaints (dumping, pollution of storm water, failing septics, installation of septics)
residential complaints (the worst!! People don't want to talk to each other and problem solve like adults so they threaten each other by dragging me in to sort their shit out for them. If they don't get the result they want, it's my fault 🙄)
emergency response (we suddenly had importance when covid came around, but the nation still wouldn't acknowledge us as important because we're not in the "response" side like nurses and doctors. We're prevention, and nobody cares about us; bushfires, floods, air quality)
mosquito detection (for diseases they carry and treat the areas that we find have carrier mozzies for diseases like Japanese encephalitis, Ross River, etc.)
pest control, hoarding, land use, subdivisions, swimming pools, drinking water quality, disposal of dead carcasses, cemeteries, exhumation, outbreaks like gastro, too many things to list. We're pretty much involved in everything that affects human health.
But we're underpaid, underappreciated, perpetually short staffed and quickly burning out, and mostly unknown to those who don't run businesses that require council registration by law.
Open source developer.
I'd say it's relatively unimportant in the greater scheme of things; nobody dies and the world would keep going even if I stopped.
But I'm mostly proud to do it and I enjoy working in the non-profit sector, especially since I don't have an asshole boss or corporate interests to worry about.
On the flip side, I make less money than I would in the corporate space. But I suppose I value the freedom more than the money
The world needs more open-source software. Keep your head up king.
How did you get into this? I've been thinking about finding a different job but haven't put real effort into it (yet). I'm currently a "senior" developer according to my boss, and I'm bored and annoyed by the commercial culture. Something open source sounds great if I also get paid but I highly doubt that that "senior" standard translates well.
I got into it by just committing to some projects in my free time. I built a relationship with the project, traveled to a few international sprints, and then eventually started working part time and gradually increased my involvement. I'm not sure how widely reproducible it is, to be honest, but it all starts with just getting into open source development and, like basically anything else, making personal connections in that scene. It's highly dependent on the funding of the project, and unfortunately fundraising is the hard part of open source software development...
Plus, if you're a senior developer, especially in the US, then you'll probably be looking at decrease in pay to something around Euro developer rates. It's hard to know if the long term prospects of this career are good, but I'm happy enough for now and I have a lot of agency. And it does feel good to know that you're writing FOSS code for everyone to use. I would treat it like a passion-driven vocation of sorts.
I have a great job, I'm reaching the end of a successful career and I'm very happy with the choices I've made in my professional life.
But my job is NOT important and I'm not proud of it. I'm only proud of having the honesty to do what I'm paid to do well. Beyond that, my job is a means to an end: supporting my loved ones. They are what's important. Nobody goes to their grave reflecting on what they did for a living.
Same. I write software for a company that nobody would miss if it never existed. I'd like to be more useful to society, but first I'll make sure I have something saved up for my retirement.
Thats an interesting perspective, thank you.
Fire fighters, medical, teachers...
Military folks, scientists, artists...
One of these things is not like the others lmao
911 dispatch, yeah, kind of important.
Wish I could do it for just fire and EMS, and not police, but that's the way the system works, and the most interesting calls I get are for police I suppose.
In a more ideal world where people don't have to work just to survive and make ends meet, I probably would still do it, just not on a full-time schedule. It's one of those things that needs to get done but that absolutely not everyone is cut out for, so I think it's important for those of us who can hack it to step up to the plate to do it.
As far as whether I'm proud of what I do, well I'm proud that I get to help people, I'm proud of the skills I have that allow me to do it well, but otherwise it's just a job, I don't brag about what I do (although I do have a ton of interesting stories from it that I like to share)
And since it is a full time gig and I have tons of things I'd rather be doing, I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to retire someday and never having to go into the office again.
My job is important within the company, but that's about it.
I'm not proud to do it though, just mostly amazed I got this far at all. Impostor syndrome runs strong with me and even after all these years there's still a nagging worry that they'll find out that I've been faking my competence.
Yup. Psychiatric nurse. I think the field needs a lot of advancements and a lot of the tools I have are barbaric but I'm doing the best I can with what I have and trying to contribute to my field by teaching and pushing for advancements.
No and no. I help produce luxury goods for obscenely rich people... 2 units of our product, depending on configuration, is my entire years salary...
I know the feeling. I worked as a gunsmith for a certain well-known ultra-luxury hunting rifle maker, and obscene is the word: we made 12 guns per year and that kept 15 people employed. Our cheapest shotgun sold for just under 100k. Our customers would come and buy those things as if they were cheap trinkets.
Yeah, it gave 15 people a job. But nothing of value was produced to society.
Hope one ends up in a museum as a hisorical art piece?
I used to study architecture so this doesn't sound bad to me at all 🥰🤣. I have already mentally prepared myself in case i need to live that life.
No, but yes. I was laid off. But, it was because my employer was a federal contractor in the USA who suffered at the hands of DOGE. We were doing good stuff, actively helping others, so I was quite proud of it. It was also important, important enough that people could literally be dying -- other than the fact that the people who managed to stay behind and are now doing the job of 3 or more folks are managing to barely keep things going.
I work for a company that makes lab and medical testing equipment, if you've had a medical emergency that required blood tests then odds are good our equipment was used. It feels good knowing that I work somewhere that has a positive impact on many people's lives.
But, I've met our company president and he's a complete piece of shit. I almost quit because the idea of making him even richer makes my stomach turn. Unfortunately I've been unable to find someplace else that will pay me what I need to continue to support my family... so I look at the positive things that we do and try to forget the psycho.
My job isn't important at all - it basically just makes money for our CEO, but I am proud of how little work I can manage to do while still staying in the good graces of my manager, so there's that.
Yes. I'm an IT sysadmin for the last fully independent local newspaper in my country.
It's pretty challenging because a newspaper needs special systems that are a clusterfuck of tech debt that the suppliers don't fix anymore, since the entire industry is dying.
Its not important at all. My job brings no value to the betterment of humanity. But in private i hope i can develope some free software to better ppls lives ^^
No and no. I make way too much money for the value that my job adds to society, which is nearly none, and I want to totally blow up my career and do something that helps people. It’s harder when I have folks relying on me but I am moving in that direction
No. It is just an easy job that pays the bills and I can completely forget about it the moment I'm out the door.
I work as a cleaner. Just regular apartment building hallways and the like. Yes, I think it's important - they had me work through Covid. I also know what it looks like when there's nobody to clean for a few days. Pay is poor but I can listen to podcasts and audiobooks in peace so it's chill enough. I am proud of the work though. I hadn't thought about the impact of custodian work before I started doing it myself and realized how big of a difference it makes. I get by with my pay because I don't have kids but my workmates definitely struggle. It should pay more.
Not that proud, as it's a fairly trivial IT thing with niche elements. "Anyone" could do it, but there are so many different elements, all of which are trivial separately, that there aren't a whole lot of people in the world who can do what I do because of the odd combinations.
So while my work is (mysterious and) important for the particular industry I'm in,I'm sure any IT geek with networking and linux experience could do it after a few years of training.
As for importance, kinda. The higher-ups consider it important enough to grant me every demand I stated when they tried to poach me from my previous employer. I was looking for an excuse to turn them down, but they agreed to everything. For example, my contract stipulates that any flight over four hours warrants business class.
My biggest point of actual pride is the fact that I got to where I am despite growing up on a dairy farm and never finishing hischool.
Im a teacher so yes. Do I still eagerly await retirement? Yes.
My job at the minute isnt important but im super proud of it. Im basically an ATM but a human version. I get to help the blind, deaf, super-technophobe-old, mentally enfeebled etc. Im literally no better than an ATM, but because im helping people who struggle im feeling that job satisfaction.
My previous job in a meat processing factory was relatively important, if I fucked up lots of food never made the shop shelves or made a lot of people poorly. My job satisfaction was in the negative though I hated it so much.
Your current job sounds pretty important to me though! Accessibility is important.
Indirectly important. I help make the tools others use to do important things. Or rather I'm learning to. I'd say that what I do is as much art as precise science. The pay is a bit knaff but it's interesting work.
Will society collapse without me? No
Will the company collapse without me? Probably not, but they’d be a lot worse off.
But I love my job and the people I work with. Plus I know I’m basically unfireable.
Nope and I’m not.
Yep and yep and I've been incredibly lucky. I help run a spirituality (Buddhism-ish) related website. I don't have much formal training, I've just been a shut-in nerd for decades and picked up skills that turned out to be useful for the teacher (they tried to make a website that was total shite and I told them as much. Long story short, they hired me).
I'm actually on permanent neetbux due to mental health issues ('twas partly the treatment resistant depression that led me to look into spirituality) but I'm allowed to earn a certain amount without losing my benefits. I get paid that exact amount and I largely choose when I work and how much. From my perspective, I'm now getting paid to do the stuff I used to do as idle fancy. Which is awesome. I'm also mentally in a much better place thanks to my own practice and the community. I definitely couldn't handle neurotypical life but at least I can do a bit of work, kinda take care of myself and not let my home devolve into a total legbeard nest. Glad to be able to help provide service to others that was helpful to me. Plus despite not having very good people skills, I'm appreciated by my boss and the community and I'm welcome to be as I am, I don't have to mask or sell "good vibes only".
This is so awesome for you!!
Thank you ^^
I should probably state what I do first: I’m a lab tech for a company that does materials testing for a large number of aerospace and automotive companies.
It’s incredibly important, and we don’t fuck around. There are international specs and standards that we are held to, and laws that ensure we follow them. I’m doing my tiny little part to ensure that any vehicle you climb into is as safe as it can be and yeah I’m a little proud of that.
The job itself can be a bit of a grind but I like it primarily because I can go about my day with no one pestering or micromanaging me, and it’s a good brain challenge occasionally.
Definitely important!
No and no, I'm thinking about working for myself as an independent automotive diagnostician. That would still be somewhat unethical and hard work, but at least I'd face real challenges and be helping people on an individual level. I can't just quit my day job right off the bat due to health insurance. I'd have to start doing work on the side, but business insurance plus equipment and subscriptions would make it difficult to break even. Plus I haven't worked on cars professionally in about 12 years so I'm not up to snuff on working on newer cars.
Yes, Buddhist academic makes me feel good. I get to study what I love, teach those interested, and pursue interesting research. It’s also right livelihood so that’s a plus.
No
I work in the auto industry but my product is a luxury device that not many people care or know about
I used to work on human interface devices likeinstrument panels and radios and displays and it was more satisfying to see me products in the wild
