If paid the same, would you rather be a janitor or keep your current job?

[mskyle]

The only thing I don't like about my job is that I can't spend much time outside. So janitorial work holds no real charms for me, but landscaping might.

[forestj]

If I could work sane hours I would totally rather be a foodservice worker.

[humbleMouse]

I wouldn't want to be a janitor for any amount of money, but I would be a part time fine dining server and part time programmer.  That sounds like a nice balance.

[jrhampt]

I'd keep my current job since I can do it remotely.  I suppose I would try a less brain intensive field if I didn't have to be physically present somewhere outside of my own home to do it.

[tipster350]

Janitor. I would simply need to come in, do my job for 40 hours, and go home. No staying up at nights with job stress, no dealing with intense politics, no working 55-60 hours a week. Where do I sign?

[AZDude]

There was definitely a time where I would have chosen janitor. However, some time in the last few years I made peace with my career and have looked to just get the best job I can in this field. While janitor or whatever sounds nice in theory, there are benefits that come with a "professional" job you cannot get as a janitor.

The big one is telecommuting. Working from home makes work so much less stressful and saves so much time. Its the next best thing to not working.

[redbird]

In my last job, I would've chosen janitor. My previous job I got paid well but my supervisor was terrible at assigning me tasks to do. I basically had to find things to do on my own most of the time. I did do so, but it was hard to find 40 hours' worth of work to do. During the last 6 months of that job I was so fed up with the job that I stopped trying to find things to do. There were some weeks where I only had maybe an hour's worth of work to do for an entire 8 hour day as a result of that. Being a janitor would've given me more to do and thus time would've passed by faster.

[DagobertDuck]

Oh man, this thread really applies to me.... I'm on the verge of quitting my somewhat high-brow, well-paid job that I've come to hate so much (I like the work that my job should be about, but I'm drowning in the email, paperwork, politics, blala, procrastination sh*t. I suck really, really badly at that part too, by the way) and getting my dream job (shitty-paying, not high-brow, but outdoors, simple and extremely satisfying).

Downside would be the low salary, but I could probably live with that. I'm not really interested in FI btw.

[Kaspian]

I'd definitely rather work on a farm or do something manual.  After 20+ years in IT, I'm burned out looking at monitors all day and helping fix bad code or everyone else's computer problems.  I enjoyed computers back in the dark ages, when systems were cobbled together, IT people were real fringe experimentalists, before everything got corporate and advertised to hell.   A Raspberry Pi connected to a coffee maker still excites me way more than the latest Apple iMac ever could.

[Johnez]

Wait, 7-11 cashiers make $70k? I'd work bad hours for that. What did you do at the warehouse job?

I wish it was 7-11 cashiers pay, haha. A short description:

If you've ever been to Walmart or any other store that sometimes has pallets on the sales floor, I built those pallets. I rode around on a walkie rider (rideable, powered pallet jack) and picked whatever my headset commanded, put them on a pallet and loaded them in a truck. Really simple.

Companies like UPS, Walmart, or Target don't pay squat. $10-15 an hour. Warehouses for beverage or food service companies (Pepsi, Coke, Sysco, US Foods) pay decent wages. $20-25 an hour.

[forummm]

Wait, 7-11 cashiers make $70k? I'd work bad hours for that. What did you do at the warehouse job?

I wish it was 7-11 cashiers pay, haha. A short description:

If you've ever been to Walmart or any other store that sometimes has pallets on the sales floor, I built those pallets. I rode around on a walkie rider (rideable, powered pallet jack) and picked whatever my headset commanded, put them on a pallet and loaded them in a truck. Really simple.

Companies like UPS, Walmart, or Target don't pay squat. $10-15 an hour. Warehouses for beverage or food service companies (Pepsi, Coke, Sysco, US Foods) pay decent wages. $20-25 an hour.

Could you listen to an iPod during this? Where do you find these kinds of jobs?

[katstache92]

Well forummm you hit the nail on the head.  You described exactly how I'm feeling and some of the struggles I have at work right now.  Although my job of choice would be lifeguard.  I worked as a guard for years when I was younger and loved every minute of it.  I would take that in a heartbeat and I plan on doing that once I'm ER to fill any gaps and to keep me active.  It just makes me happy.

[Johnez]

Wait, 7-11 cashiers make $70k? I'd work bad hours for that. What did you do at the warehouse job?

I wish it was 7-11 cashiers pay, haha. A short description:

If you've ever been to Walmart or any other store that sometimes has pallets on the sales floor, I built those pallets. I rode around on a walkie rider (rideable, powered pallet jack) and picked whatever my headset commanded, put them on a pallet and loaded them in a truck. Really simple.

Companies like UPS, Walmart, or Target don't pay squat. $10-15 an hour. Warehouses for beverage or food service companies (Pepsi, Coke, Sysco, US Foods) pay decent wages. $20-25 an hour.

Could you listen to an iPod during this? Where do you find these kinds of jobs?

No iPods or anything like that on the warehouse floor. It is a safety issue, need to be able to hear other operators. They do blast a radio though, which is easy to stow away during visits from "higher ups."

The major soda vendors have easy to navigate sites you can apply directly from, which is how I got in. Half the guys who come in go through a temp service like Volt to be hired on full time. There is very high turnover, about 2/3 of guys quit in a month, so going from temp to full time is not a problem here.

What I'd do is simply go down the grocery store, pick up products, find out the manufacturer and visit their site and check out their career opportunity section. It is how I have my current job actually hehe.

I am actually thinking of going back in, as my career path may be a bit stalled at the moment and will become more stressful.

[BFGirl]

This sounds like my job and there are days I would definitely choose janitor.

[bb11]

Keep my current job. Much more intellectually stimulating.

But mmm, bacon.

[Dollar Slice]

I brought this concept up with my boss (aka the business owner) and she admitted that she sometimes fantasizes about working as a cashier at a grocery store.

[forummm]

The major soda vendors have easy to navigate sites you can apply directly from, which is how I got in. Half the guys who come in go through a temp service like Volt to be hired on full time. There is very high turnover, about 2/3 of guys quit in a month, so going from temp to full time is not a problem here.

What I'd do is simply go down the grocery store, pick up products, find out the manufacturer and visit their site and check out their career opportunity section. It is how I have my current job actually hehe.

What drives the turnover?

[Johnez]

What drives the turnover?

I would say it's 80/20- can't handle pace/can't handle hours.

The job is simple, but you need to be efficient.  If one can hang in there for 3 months, you'll likely do well.  The ones that quit usually do so before a month because they don't "get" it.  The job is very "nose to the grindstone," kind of deal, 8-10 hours a day of hustling ain't for everyone. 

And to clarify, I should have said the "washout" rate is pretty high, turnover after 3 months or so is pretty stable actually.

[actualethan]

I think if the janitorial job in question occurred while the business was closed, and was performed solo, and therefore involved absolutely zero chance of any social interaction whatsoever, I would take janitor for sure.  It would eliminate the three worst things about my office job:

1 - phone calls, of any kind, ever.
2 - people who send an email and then immediately walk to my desk and say "I just sent you an email..."
3 - people to whom I send an email, who then immediately walk over to my desk and provide verbal direction, and then inevitably later claim they "never said that."

[Schaefer Light]

The only thing I don't like about my job is that I can't spend much time outside. So janitorial work holds no real charms for me, but landscaping might.

I would definitely cut grass all day if it paid the same.