Happy with my Position

08 Oct 2019 at 20:25 // under Work Chemical Engineering

Last night I attended a "networking mixer" by the Edinburgh University ChemEng Society. A selection of alumni were invited along to give some short talks about the companies they work for, what their career has been like and advise for those that are looking to get a placement or graduate role.

One of the other alumni was much younger than myself and yet his career is much more advanced. He has been plant manager at a number of plants, lead global projects and just generally done very well for himself. When hearing what he had achieved, I initially got a pang of jealousy, but it passed quickly. Sure the advanced globe trotting career sounds great. But to be honest, I am pretty happy with my current position.

When compared to many other people, I have a huge amount of flexibility. Work needs to get done, but I get to choose the order that most things get worked on based on what I would be most productive doing. There are very few meetings that get in the way of doing the work. I get to choose what way to do the job based on my own judgement. I have a relatively low stress position. And most importantly, I live about 10 minutes away from my work and 15 minutes away from where I grew up.

If I were to design my perfect job, I would be struggling to make it much better than the one that I currently have. Sure more pay, more perks and a more prestigious title would always be nice. But for the things that actually matter, the day to day things, I have it pretty good.

I did the whole rushing around and getting stressed beyond healthy limits. I am glad that I do not have to be available to make last minute trips halfway round the world. That is not to say that I couldn't do those things. But considering that I have a young family at home, why would I want to, if I can avoid it?

I am glad that the other alumni is doing well. I just think that I am doing pretty well myself.

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