• Question: did you like to work all the time

    Asked by yonojobi to Helen, Hollie, Matt, Phil, Steve, Sylwia on 8 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Helen O'Brien

      Helen O'Brien answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      I like work most of the time – I find writing reports a bit dull, but I know they are necessary and useful, so have to do them anyway.
      It is all worth it though for the big moments – delivering an instrument to be installed on a satellite, or watching the launch.

    • Photo: Hollie Heard

      Hollie Heard answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      Much like Helen, some of the more admin/desk based activities aren’t quite as fun as when we are building or creating things, or doing some analysis. That doesn’t mean I don’t like it, but everyone has tasks and responsibilities in their job that they enjoy more than others. For example, I’ve just spent a week having to unblock a machine that was filled with metal chlorides and was very unpleasant. It wasn’t fun, but I knew why it had to be done and the benefits it would have in the long run. It can also make us more rounded engineers when we have to do things that might be out of our comfort zone. The more skills and capabilities you can develop, even if you don’t like them, can only make you a more effective engineer in the long run.

    • Photo: Steve Williams

      Steve Williams answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      Most of the time I enjoy what I do but I also enjoy holidays and weekends too. I don’t imagine there is a job in the world that is great everyday. I have just started working on a new mission and that requires me to learn and understand a new software base. And frankly its a bit of a slog as I know it will be sometime yet before I can put all the pieces together. However, I have to go through this part before I can get onto the really interesting part which is changing this new software base so that it does what is required of it for the next mission. Fortunately a task like this doesn’t happen very often.

    • Photo: Sylwia Nikel

      Sylwia Nikel answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      I’m quite lucky that my work is also my passion. They say one has really succeeded if their job is something they love to do… Saying that, when it’s your passion it can get overwhelming at times and it is really important to find this healthy balance between work and life.
      Similarly to others who responded, a majority of times I love my work. I also do love holidays and Fridays are really great, especially when you have finished all the tasks you set yourself for the week :).
      There are days that I wish I would not have to talk to anyone but these are extreme exceptions. There are sometimes situations when you rely on someone to do their job and they are late, which means you will have to stay late or miss the deadline but this actually can give you ideas of how to manage your time and relations with other people to avoid these kind situations.
      I’m still very happy in my work, as every day I learn something new!

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