The other day my Dad called out of the blue in the middle of the day and asked me ,"What are you doing?". Not wanting to befuddle him with technical lingo ( *ahem,ahem* , I liked using that.., but do not pledge to its accuracy), I replied, " Nothing much, Dad".To which he said " Oh? On the bench are you?". Quick to rise was my anger. My dad's remark was not particulary accurate. True, the work I do is nothing mind boggling but I was most certainly not on the 'Bench' as my dad put it.
A couple of days ago my brother in law ( ha!! The lucky soul who got to marry my sis!!) asked me, " So what's up at work?". Brutally honest I replied, " Don't keep asking me that question. The work I do is extremely monotonous". Then I hit the nail on the head! Eureka, I thought and then exclaimed to him " You know what? I am nothing more than an overqualified, overpaid, overworked data entry operator".And that precisely sums up my job.
Explaining the adjectives,
Overqualified - Data entry operators do not require a Bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering ( alas, also with a First Class with Distinction) !!
Overpaid - Have you heard of typists earning 17 K a month?????? :0
Overworked - I don't know the meaning of 9 - 5. My company expects me to log in an average of 9.5 hours a week : ( :( .And that is just on paper. Reality could quite easily stretch those hours!!
Therein I discover my true worth in the industry!!
25 comments:
I think in the initial years one gets to do really monotonous jobs. I was a data entry operator (actually one entering backdated vouchers and customer master records) for over 6 months before I got really something worthwhile to do. This after my MBA.. can you believe it ??
Anyway, that was a time even my Project manager had to dirty his hands. I think it is nature of jobs to be monotonous. Most stories of interesting, cutting edge, exciting jobs that you hear among people are either HR propoganda in Ascent and ET or ability of people to derive small creative satisfactions in an otherwise monotonous work life.
nice post anyway.
vasu
sad to realize tht i have to spend four of the best years in my life at a *ahem* college only to end up later in the future as a robo substitute , the potti kadai idea also seems better .....c'mon u must b having some kind of fun ....
lol....i thought u would enjoy the "overpaid" part of it! I dont see yourself hating the fact that you're being paid 17k! I sure am gonna envy u even after i get my kinda job!....And im sure you meant 9.5 hours per day every week.
hah.,not everyone ends up like that. There are companies where you are entrusted with some serious work. What matters is where you work. Would you compromise the 'big company name' and the 'assumed job security' etc.. to come over and work in a smaller company just because you want to do cool stuff??
i emphathise with u. but at times, if u wanna live ur dreams, u need to take a risk and catch it.. rather than waiting for the sky to fall down at ur feet, u need to go up into the sky. but its a hell of a lot risky.. r u game?
Random Access
The search has just begun !!!
do i see my future? (to be a bachelor in comps in another 3 yrs now... of course not with a DISTINCTION!)
- As a fresher very few people land up a job they like the best. You can always work yourself to a job closer to your taste.
- The job you do isn't creative, but pays you well. But some creative jobs (like that of a journalist; I am one) don't pay that much. One way is to indulge in creative work off office time.
Life's lik tht! (atleast for us).
And I hope "this" (bugging thing) won't stretch to an eternity!)Am sure u won't let it happen! :)
Carpe Diem! :) Seize the day!:)
thts the prob with working for big service companies ...
Not much difference between what u and i do!! You type in data ...and i make reports with that data!!!!
Ohh..but i do work 9hrs day/6days a week!! ...So i beat you to the finish line!!;-)
Haha... I just left you a scrap in orkut comparing certain software jobs to ironing clothes... and now I come here and what do I see?!
deepti..
can understand the monotonous spree u had poured..
makin a life out here gonna withsatnd these..
U know the caption of Data entry ,
"Information is Wealth"
I agree montonous days can be depressing ....for me as a researcher every single day is different from the other (everday different things go wrong and I have to troubleshoot!).....but on average my job could be summed up as trying to find what's worng and trying to explain weird crappy data! But there are days when I wish that I had a montonous 9-5 job where I know what's coming without twists and turns...just my perspective!
Deepti, Only few ppl will have the job on what they relly interested..
You know I am now literally paid for nothing for few months.. that too in onsite($ Salary)...
What can I say more than that.. on the same time I am using this time for exploring on the other sides- non techical..
In S/W industry 9-5 literally means - 9 A.M to 5 A.M next day.. these are hidden truths..
Monotony is extremely subjective.... I'm supposed to be doing research.. off late its just turned out to be "RE-search"... and it sucks when I have to do the same stuff.... the only thing that makes me feel O.K is that I would have ended up with some kind of a unperceivable wisdom ... and yeah the patience helps too... so I bet you wud have gained something outta it and it may not be that transparent...
@vasu - thanx! how tedious it must have been .. but things are good now rite?? i feel that one should like the work they do !!
@ mi - after 4 yrs at *clg*!!.. yeah.. it is fun..the atmosphere ..the ppl i like tat.. but the work .. it's not inspiring.. does not leave me to think at all!!
@vik - yeah, tat is wat i meant..but am too lazy to edit the post.. ! :) oh.. i don't begrudge thme the 17k.. u know the way i spend... the 17 k refuses to stretch too far !! : (
@joe,RA - totally!! i don't mind quitting the big job.. there are jus 2 things that keep me here
a. i'm bonded for a year and a half!!
b. before i quit it , i need to know where to land my feet next!!
@can you see - best of luck ;)
@pradeep- nice job u've got!!! but unfortunately the job i am in is the kind where free hours are few and far between.. and when i am free.. i just like to read!! Is there a job for ppl who love to read books?? :(
@nan- i hope so too!! hey.. remember i wrote tat poem carpe diem, seize the day in college?? Do you have a copy?? I think I lost mine!!!
@jagan -hmmmmmm :(
@brainstormer - :0 6 days a week!!wat kinda job is tat???????????!!!!!
@prashant - *blush* guilty as charged~!!~
@logic- yeah, information is wealth.. but to the one who interprets it and gives it new dimensions... not to the one who is made to chart it out !!
@kirukal - i guess i can kind of understand what you are saying!! sometimes when i have absolutely nothing to do at work.. i long for work( however thrashy it can get!!) and when i am overloaded ( i long to have nothing to do!!) ! But i think i'd taking discovering and learning new things anyday to mundaneness ( or is it -ity)?
@neighbour - it's gud to look at the brighter side and try to explore things beyong !! : ) i've actually taken up reading the way i only used to when i was in school!!!
@dawdler - * ROTFL* ( at ur RE -search).!!!! A little bit I have gained... but not as much as I could have, which is wat i bemoan!! Most times I am quite complacent abt things.. this post was jus one of those complete I need to let my frustration out!! kinda ones!! : )
atleast u put only 9.5 hours
there are places where u asked to work for flat 12 hours.
sometimes its more irritating when u arein a project but as a shadow.
i guess as we gather experience i m sure we will get more responsibities at work.
till then enjoy
ha ha maybe you should call it the
"THREE ominous O's" theory......nice post!
Megha
Hopefully this is only the initial bit of it- it'll probably get better as it goes on!
yup... thats why once things got unbearable, I quit and became my own boss. Only then I realised, I am not exactly a good boss even to myself..
The grass is always green on the other side.
vasu
@reflex- i think he should feel at the top of the world!!! When u get tat much I think that itty bitty concience of urs goes for a toss!!
@nirmal - yup! but patience was never one of my virtues!1
@ megha- love that title!! Wanna edit mine and change it to tat.. think i will soon!!!
@nandini - i hope so too!! i hope so too!!
@vasu - lol !!i find it funny : )
i could relate to every word you typed here. i had made some policy changges in my life recently... and i went thru the same stream of thoughts. this reminds me of a pic i recently saw in shashank's blog. of an old man wading thru the flood carrying a sewing machine over his shoulder ... all smiles.
I am flattered!*BOWS*
thanks!
Megha
@ neets - :)
@megha - ur welcome ;)
Post a Comment