Would you accept unrelenting boredom for £50k p/a?

Manxman_in_exile

McCloud1 wrote: »

I can totally see why you could interpret my post to mean I have to complete 100,000 entries per day, but no I did not ever say that.

How many entries I am expected to do is irrelevant to the point, I have to work for 9 hours each day and it's always doing this. Each spreadsheet takes as long as it takes, and there's always one more to do.

How can you "totally" see that if you never said it?

Manxman_in_exile

McCloud1 wrote: »

I'm 27 and I have no degree, I make £50k p/a plus a 20% bonus, I work from home. Sounds amazing right? Here's what I do for 9 hours each day, and have done for 4 years:

I look at a number in a spreadsheet of over 100,000 data-filled cells and read an accompanying description (corporate jargon), I then assign it to one of 10 categories based on my 'experience', I do this for all 100,000 cells. I total the categories. That is it. For 9 whole hours, every day.

I've had lots of jealous family members/friends sniff at my complaints as they eye up my fancy home-office. I've sat many of these people down and offered them £30 per hour for each hour they could do in one sitting. Want to know the record? 2 hours 5 minutes, by my 14 year old nephew. He said he wouldn't have even done it for 2 hours if he hadn't been desperate for money followed by:

"do you have money problems or something Uncle McCloud1?".

Well actually you cheeky little !!!!, thanks to selling every ounce of willpower and mental energy I can squeeze out to Satan, I am the highest paid member of our immediate family. This is what success looks like Robbie, glassy-eyed and constantly hinting that it's going to jump off of the nearby bridge.

I was a smart guy before I was lobotomized by spreadsheets, my brain wants to problem-solve and create, and it screams out in protest every minute I force it do keep sorting the numbers. I can feel parts of me dying as they give the middle-finger to reality and bury themselves deep within my sub-conscious where dreams still exist.

So, to the question, would you take my job knowing what I just told you, assuming you have to do it for at least 5 years?

+ stay at home and work in your pants
+ never deal with colleagues
+ £50k salary plus £10k annual bonus (which scales with salary)
+ Easy and never worry about luck or skill

- Spend 9 hours a day locked in a room with no one to talk to sorting 1000's of 6-figure numbers into categories based on descriptions written by people who hate their jobs almost as must as I do.

Thoughts?

Could you be more explicit? How many spreadsheet entries are you dealing with per nine hour day?


Not 100,000 but 10,000, or 1000 or 100 or ten? It's kind of relevant to £50k pa.


I think your mention of 100,000 in the OP is "totally" misleading.

stoozie1

OP I realise none of your relatives could do more than a 2.5 hr stretch of what you do, but if someone offered me £30/hr for an hour's work a day I would totally do it, however dull.

Find 4 such people and you can go part time.

[Deleted User]

aife wrote: »

But why five years ? Is that just hypothetical or some kind of contractual obligation ?
either way , as others have already said , I don't think you can count on it lasting that long

His done 4 years already if you read the OP or it hasn't been edited.

Perhaps as there is only 12 months left to go they should chill out.
And start their own business - had enough opportunity to do so and that way they need not follow anyone else's rules (unless regulatory of course)

Other then that for once, I don't really understand.

Tony_H_3

McCloud1 wrote: »

I'm 27 and I have no degree, I make £50k p/a plus a 20% bonus, I work from home. Sounds amazing right? Here's what I do for 9 hours each day, and have done for 4 years:

I look at a number in a spreadsheet of over 100,000 data-filled cells and read an accompanying description (corporate jargon), I then assign it to one of 10 categories based on my 'experience', I do this for all 100,000 cells. I total the categories. That is it. For 9 whole hours, every day.

I've had lots of jealous family members/friends sniff at my complaints as they eye up my fancy home-office. I've sat many of these people down and offered them £30 per hour for each hour they could do in one sitting. Want to know the record? 2 hours 5 minutes, by my 14 year old nephew. He said he wouldn't have even done it for 2 hours if he hadn't been desperate for money followed by:

"do you have money problems or something Uncle McCloud1?".

Well actually you cheeky little !!!!, thanks to selling every ounce of willpower and mental energy I can squeeze out to Satan, I am the highest paid member of our immediate family. This is what success looks like Robbie, glassy-eyed and constantly hinting that it's going to jump off of the nearby bridge.

I was a smart guy before I was lobotomized by spreadsheets, my brain wants to problem-solve and create, and it screams out in protest every minute I force it do keep sorting the numbers. I can feel parts of me dying as they give the middle-finger to reality and bury themselves deep within my sub-conscious where dreams still exist.

So, to the question, would you take my job knowing what I just told you, assuming you have to do it for at least 5 years?

+ stay at home and work in your pants
+ never deal with colleagues
+ £50k salary plus £10k annual bonus (which scales with salary)
+ Easy and never worry about luck or skill

- Spend 9 hours a day locked in a room with no one to talk to sorting 1000's of 6-figure numbers into categories based on descriptions written by people who hate their jobs almost as must as I do.

Thoughts?

Feel free to send me a good selection of sample data, along with the anticipated result on the second sheet. I have NOT been able to find data manipulation that I have not been able to automate.

How frequently do you receive the spreadsheets? How many spreadsheets per year?

I do like a challenge, and it sounds like you would like to get some of your time back!!!

McCloud1

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

How can you "totally" see that if you never said it?

It's called empathy, seriously what kind of obnoxious comment is that in response to me patiently understanding you misreading? Who does that?

I appreciated my wording could have been clearer, and your reaction is that?

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

Could you be more explicit? How many spreadsheet entries are you dealing with per nine hour day?


Not 100,000 but 10,000, or 1000 or 100 or ten? It's kind of relevant to £50k pa.


I think your mention of 100,000 in the OP is "totally" misleading.

Quoting 'totally' as though you're being smart really only works if you're making a joke or you just burned me...do you think you just made a funny or something? /slow clap

McCloud1

Deleted%20User wrote: »

His done 4 years already if you read the OP or it hasn't been edited.

Perhaps as there is only 12 months left to go they should chill out.
And start their own business - had enough opportunity to do so and that way they need not follow anyone else's rules (unless regulatory of course)

Other then that for once, I don't really understand.

I didn't edit, you're right that is why I said 4 years, because with my notice etc I will do a minimum of 5.

McCloud1

Tony_H wrote: »

Feel free to send me a good selection of sample data, along with the anticipated result on the second sheet. I have NOT been able to find data manipulation that I have not been able to automate.

How frequently do you receive the spreadsheets? How many spreadsheets per year?

I do like a challenge, and it sounds like you would like to get some of your time back!!!

Thanks Tony, awfully tempting proposal there.

I would have to spend some time inventing a data-set because everything is on live matters, and I can't just send that out to people I don't know (or people I do know for what it's worth!).

Did you see my earlier post regarding apportionment of 1 numerical entry across several categories? I'm wondering how that can be automated when it's based on my judgment, and sometimes the same words in the same description.

How many cells would you need if I were to put something together?

Potbellypig

In response to the OP; it's a tricky one, isn't it (as I think we can all tell by your posts).

I can answer what I think, based on experience though. I'm 30, I work in a boring job, half the week working from home, but get paid between £55k and £60k (as a contractor too so no high tax bracket). I have no degree, or any real qualifications, and kind of 'fell' into this job. Money wise, it's obviously great. I can effectively buy what I want, when I want (within reason), but it doesn't necessarily make you happy. I can think back to all my other jobs which were considerably less paid and sometimes much more stressful, but I was much happier in them.

Would I change this boring job for the happier jobs? No, in truth. It's boring, I get no satisfaction from it, but the freedom it brings by no being restricted to long hours and the money outweighs that. It's only you that can make that decision though.

ConsumerMatt

I agree with others - I could do your job temporarily to save for something perhaps but not permanently.

I'm sure there are those who would love it but I doubt many would last very long. I think I'm similar to you - I thrive on solving problems, creating solutions and seeing those solutions fall into place. I need my colleagues around me. To give me stick, to share ideas with and to receive praise from. I also need a break from things and to know I'm not being constantly watched.

I can work from home but I can't deal with the isolation. Others at my office use that privilege regularly but I haven't yet picked up the knack for avoiding distractions and/or boredom.