Staying in a comfortable environment for too long can make one very negative

Thread Content

I started working in Shanghai in the summer of 2013, initially at an engineering design company where the salary was low. Since my university was part of the 985 program, I felt somewhat dissatisfied, but I endured it because I had heard that one could learn a lot working in an engineering design company； I had just graduated at that time, full of hope for my career and for myself; I was in an excellent mental state. Although my income was low, I didn’t feel any pressure, and I was brimming with energy ； During the first six months, there were no overtime hours or stress, and I gradually adapted to life in Shanghai. On weekends, I would meet up with classmates from Shanghai for meals and other activities ； After half a year of happy times, I was assigned to the project site. Since I was the only person there and had no project experience, I had to learn basically everything from scratch ； I need to review and understand the drawings from all various specialties – piping, instrumentation, civil works, and equipment – because the construction team comes to me whenever there are problems. I stayed on site for over a few months, and was tormented by the project owner and the construction team to the point that I was completely exhausted. The main issue was that members of the project team kept leaving the job; even the project manager resigned. Moreover, I hadn’t been involved in the design phase of this project, so as someone who had only been working there for half a year, I often didn’t know how to decide on many things. Those were tough times, but I really learned a lot during that period – I became familiar with knowledge from various specialties, and it was then that I learned and mastered the piping software PDMS ； Due to some matters at home, I returned to Shanghai from the project site. I thought I would be assigned to work on project design, but after being idle for several months, I was assigned to another project site. Thanks to my previous on-site experience, and because the client was really great this time, the few months I spent at this site were quite comfortable; I had good relationships with both the client and the construction team, and I learned a lot as well ； But the good times didn’t last long; due to conflicts among senior management, problems arose in the company and many employees left. I was forced to change jobs and went to a private environmental protection company, which is my current employer. At that time, there were few job opportunities in the chemical industry, so I had to switch to the environmental protection sector. My salary there was slightly higher than at my previous company (excluding travel allowances). At the new company, I was full of enthusiasm during the first few months; I learned about environmental protection practices and water treatment processes, and introduced the concepts of PDMS software and 3D manufacturing to the company. My leadership style was also good, so my days were fulfilling with little psychological stress ； I successfully obtained the certificates for a Level 2 construction engineer and an intermediate professional title. The company mainly sells complete sets of equipment; the projects it handles are relatively small, and there are no various regulatory requirements like in the petrochemical industry. Therefore, having worked on projects in the petrochemical sector, it can handle new tasks with ease ； Life is quite comfortable; the workload during working hours is very light, and most of the time, a few people in the same department just chat or surf the Internet. I’m about to have worked for 3 years now. The economic situation is poor, company performance is declining, there’s no hope of a salary increase, and my income is much lower than what I expected. Especially when compared to my peers who work in foreign companies, I deeply regret not having searched carefully for a job when I graduated. Work time passed in a rather comfortable manner, and gradually I became very negative, lacking motivation; I felt an inexplicable sense of emptiness and fear ； I can’t settle down to read either; I want to change jobs to earn more, but I don’t know which direction my career should take. Looking back at the time right after graduating, although my monthly salary was only enough to cover rent and food, I still had hope that things would get better for me over time ； But now there is no such hope in my heart anymore. My friends also experience this phenomenon: they are dissatisfied with their jobs and incomes, but lack the courage to change jobs, becoming increasingly negative······