911 dispatcher
Probably a solid 6-7/10 (10/10 is wealthy retiree)
Long hours, but more days off, my area is relatively safe, so we don’t get too many crazy incidents happening but there’s still always something interesting happening. I work overnights which isn’t for everyone but I dig it. The call volume where I am is manageable, you’re not constantly bouncing directly from one call to the next, usually you get a couple minutes between calls. My agency isn’t too anal about you reading or playing around on your phone, etc. between calls as long as you’re not at your desk, not bothering anyone, and ready to put it down and answer the next call when it rings (typed this comment out between answering about 3 calls.) Solid benefits (pension! How many jobs have an actual pension anymore?) ok-ish pay. I like my supervisors and agency well enough.
Definitely not for everyone, we have a lot of turnover, pay could be much better, but I can see myself sticking with it for the next 20-30 or so years until I can retire.
So I’m a technician at a research lab. 8/10
The benefits are absolutely amazing. We do a lot of government work and have one of the highest budgets, so very good job security.
The work does get pretty technical, but it’s all OJT. And they give plenty of time to get qualified. The work is a lot of setting up expirements for scientists. Lot of mechanical installations and a hefty amount of computer operations for gas operations and cryogenics.
We work 24/7 (the lab). I work 13 hour shifts 3/4 days a week. One week is 3, the next is 4,the next is 3. Rinse and repeat. So i get a 3 or 4 day weekend every week. That’s absolutely beautiful to me.
My main complaint is that we don’t have enough work to actually fill 24 hours a day. I work the night shift, so I have quite a bit of down time. I don’t like downtime personally. If I’m gonna sit and watch YouTube, I’d much rather be in the comfort of my home. But I’m hourly, so I can’t leave. For some people, that’s the fucking jackpot, but I like staying busy.
Im prior military so it’s very nice seeing how much they care about making our jobs easier. There’s schedule pressure, but management does an extremely good job about not letting that trickle down. So i never feel rushed to get stuff done. It’s lots hours but fairly stress free.
Research lab, open 24/7, lots of government contracts
I’m dying to know more about what kind of research they’re doing.
I work IT doing linux administration stuff for a research company. I’d say its a 7-8/10. Some days are difficult. I know a good amount, but don’t really have anyone to guide me, which is difficult. I’m the most experienced Linux person here, and I have ~4 years experience, so…
What’s nice is it’s a really relaxed environment and pay’s not bad. Just not a great place to learn/progress in my linux administration skills
