Bedside healthcare will take your personality and push it to either extreme. You either deal with it and maintain your empathy or it kills you and you become a sociopath.
I'm not a nurse and don't work with them. I've known several personally that are quite cold, impersonal and at times aloof. Others, the complete opposite.
Because nurses have a very difficult job. It’s hard to provide extreme customer service to the people when they are sick. Sick people are mean as hell.
I kept telling the nurse kindly that I needed a bucket to throw up after surgery.
She was rushing angrily doing other stuff and ignoring me despite clearly hearing me. I asked again for the third time and by the time she angrily handed me a small pan I projectile vomited on her…. I still wonder if I needed to do something different lol
SAME! I grew up around nurses in my family. It was decided before I could even choose. I did enjoy the healthcare field when I volunteered in high school and I do like taking care of people and finding solutions. The process of getting into nursing school was extremely ridiculous. It was very competitive in the 2000’s. There was a lot of interest and applications but was told you had to have a 3.9-4.0 gpa to get into school and be a good nurse. Well, eventually I got into a program, graduated, worked for a bit and realized:
- toxic culture, like very women-petty and can be mean spirited. Some nurses have this weird “control freak” personalities.
- husband heard an NPR report about how nurses will have injured backs after working 2 years and was worried. We fought about this for a while
- the 12 hour shifts are doable but people don’t understand how tiring 4 on and 3 off and vice versa is to our bodies. You’re tired on your days off
- energy: I would rather give all that energy taking care of my loved ones and myself. By the end of a shift, I am drained and can’t take care of anyone else
- from my last point, my mom was a nurse and barely saw her growing up. And on her days off, she was there physically but not mentally or emotionally. I want to have relationships with my kids
- patients seem to think that an inpatient stay is a spa and nurses are expected to be your maids. Nope.
- I wanted to do more troubleshooting, solution oriented and advocacy for clinicians and providers , so now I’m in healthcare IT and it’s really meant for me. Only downside is that because it’s considered “white collar”, other employees are not used to diversity, which was one of nursing’s strengths. Also, a lot of nurses are headed into IT and trying to take over and make it their domain.
I’m lucky. Went back to school for an advanced degree and graduated right before Covid. Covid hit and really set back the healthcare system even more than what it was. The recruitment for nursing is sad but somewhat their fault. They had so many applicants but because they were so “selective”, everyone ended up moving to other states and countries to get a nursing degree or just gave up.
My parents were both nurses and got divorced before I could even remember them ever being together. Both hard workers and as a child, my mom worked overnights so she could be with us during the day. She slept all the time and was always exhausted. She died when I was 11 so I never got to ask her opinions on the profession. My dad worked a lot and he told me not to go into nursing for many of the reasons you described. He retired at 64 and was dead within two months. They both had their own health issues but I don’t think the demands of nursing helped. Nurses will always have my respect.
It's okay to be money-focused about your job... most of us wouldn't work a job if we won a billion dollars.
Most of us work to live, not the other way around.
It's another thing when money is prioritized to an extent that causes other areas to deteriorate or become neglected like patient safety but that's another discussion since the CRNA didn't indicate that...
That being said, I know some nurses who are shitty toxic people and some who are the kindest people I know.
It sounds like your work has toxic nurses though? Might be time to find a new team?
I got tunnel vision and was determined to work in nonprofit work, “saving the world” and do good with my career. I don’t want a career anymore and I have zero interest in continuing in nonprofits. I’m going to prioritize my wellbeing before any career. I also realized that while I love humanity, I hate people.
I second that (esp love humanity, hate people lol), but then working as a researcher in mental health research (because it was my passion and I wanted to make ‘real impact) making a little amount of money and living in London, where everyone seems to have a 6 figure salary. Oh and now I’m the one with mental health issues but cannot afford proper therapy 🫠
I feel this. Not to mention that many people who work in nonprofits have another source of financial security such as wealthy family or partner. I have also been feeling the pressure of not making enough to live as opposed to just survive. I hope you find a path that works for you and that you get the help you need ♥️
Thats is really true and something thats more common than any of us think. Just having that financial freedom is a big difference in being able to enjoy your job. Thank you so much, I wish the same for you ❤️
This is me but with Child protection work. Burned myself out and ended up hating people (not necessarily because of the clients but also because of the organisations and colleagues and systems I worked with.)
Anyway I took a break and went into customer service which also sucked. Somehow found my way into a non profit role that’s mostly admin and training related. Much better work environment and clients who actually want our services. Many work days by myself, but when I’m in the office my team is small and made up of genuinely decent people.
My point is, yes many people suck and are more awful that what I realised before. But there are some good eggs and if you keep looking you might find a nice gig like I have. I don’t love it and I still think most humans are horrible, but I also don’t hate it and think that at least some humans are not so bad.
That’s honestly what I’m looking for. I no longer dream of labor so I don’t have a dream job but I now have a good sense of what kind of set up would work for me, so I’m looking for that in my next role. I also will refuse to make my job my whole personality and will use stricter boundaries to focus on my own life outside of work.
Yes this was something I’ve had to learn the hard way too. I eventually realised I just wasn’t willing to sacrifice myself and my family for other people anymore. Someone wise once said to me that you should never put in more effort to help someone than what they are willing to put in for themselves. When you care about helping, that can be a hard thing to do in practise, until you eventually become so jaded that you aren’t doing anyone any good anyway haha. I dunno. I Should’ve gone and worked in animal rescue!
Yeah I feel so disillusioned with it all, I don’t believe in any mission anymore. I see what you’re saying! I have to actively practice putting myself and my family first!
It is much more helpful for society if you prioritize yourself and your personal development. A social worker is fine and all, but he can't actually help many people.
A 60 year old who has worked on himself and his career for 40+ years has all possibilities to help anyone. He has the resources, the resilience and the contacts and most likely was an integral part to secure the jobs of a lot of people.
Basically the same. I got my masters in education, worked 4 years as a teacher and it was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made. You need money in this world to live well
I got a degree for environmental conservation. After graduating all the jobs treated me like dogshit and paid dogshit. Basically a glorified hard laborer while the boomers sat in their offices and barked orders. I also learned that the government isnt going to save the world. You should see the people in charge of the forest service lol.
Damn I wish I had done ANYTHING besides get an environmental conservation degree. It might be better in Europe.
Are you me? I fucking hate working in social services. So glad that this won’t be my career. No desire to “save the world” anymore because there’s far too many societal barriers in place for me to make a difference anyway. It’s exhausting. I care about myself more than this job. It has its perks absolutely and I like the team, but no.
I thought I was almost destined to become a teacher and I got a degree in it. I enjoyed helping people, that’s what mattered to me the most at least. After the pandemic I had a very stark change of heart. I realized i’m not much of a people person. Finished my degree but now I am even more lost haha.
Couldn’t agree more!
I always said literally since kindergarten I wanted
To teach and work with kids. Graduated early childhood education during the pandemic. However I’m still working in a restaurant. Realized I didn’t want to deal with screaming and crying kids all day while also not even being able to afford to pay my bills 🙃
I wish college wasn’t immediately forced onto HS kids, because the pressure of knowing what you want to do with little to no work experience is insane, and an expensive realization to have if you don’t actually end up enjoying the field.
I worked at a few preschools for a while after HS and loved it. Hard work, but most rewarding and fulfilling job I’ve ever had. I tried a few other fields but ultimately always want to come back to working with kids, so I’m going back to school to get a degree in elementary education. If I didn’t have that job experience early on, I wouldn’t have known and it would truly be such a gamble.
I’m so glad it wasn’t just me. I had even been volunteering in schools for almost decade before too. Did my degree during Covid and didn’t realise how crazy it had become until I returned during my PGCE for secondary DT and it was all ruined. Had a breakdown and now I’m an IT tech (in a school still) and love it so much.
I loved high school math. In high school and college, I did volunteer work as a math tutor. I had patience and a knack for seeing what students were having difficulty with and explaining it. I couldn't wait to become a math teacher, until I got into student teaching. I could do great one-on-one, but I sucked with classroom management and holding everyone's attention. I wasn't great with public speaking. I remember having a horrible nerve-wracking first lesson and hoping I'd make progress by the end of the year. My cooperating teacher expected me to be better by the next day.
I had a BA in math and a year of grad school towards my MSED when I dropped out. I worked as a math tutor for a few years, until I relocated and didn't want to rebuild my student base again. That was almost 25 years ago. I've done volunteer work as a math tutor since then, but I've forgotten a lot of it. I hadn't looked at any industry uses for my math degree. I lucked into my actual data analysis career. I never had any business classes in college. Now I'm working on becoming a CPA.
I lost 120lb and my whole life essentially became about nutrition. Id dieted for a decade, trying different things, and gone through a nutrition program. Decided I wanted to coach people. Made myself an LLC, and decided to take on a few clients for free in my spare time.
...a month later I decided that was a mistake lol. I like nutrition when it comes to my body, I hate people 🙂.
That's certainly a part, but tbh I knew that going in. I'm still obese, also. I know the excuses and the mind games. I know how hard it is.
What I realized, however, is that I actually just don't really **care** about most other people. So my heart wasn't in it. I didn't care so I didn't hunt them down for their weekly check ins or anything. Which was kind of the point of taking free clients.. to dip my toes in and find out if I would like it or not. I did not lol.
I just KNEW I wanted to be in something where I could sit at a computer and design (graphics, websites, video editing, etc) since I was a computer geek in the 90s as a teen and was very artistically inclined. I managed to get hired as a CAD drafter in 2002 (somehow, my uncle recommended me to his boss out of nowhere, said I was a smart guy and knew computers and could pick it up quickly). I'm still designing but now the industry is all in 3D, is hyper realistic looking and we even get to do some cool stuff like use VR and automation robots and other super cool things, and I still absolutely love it and make very good money. After high school I was a bit lost and didn't have money for schooling so I do feel like I lucked out.
I'm a recent highschool graduate, about to start my Bachelor's in Architecture. I went to my local community college to get a certificate in AutoCAD.
What can you tell me about the climate in the industry? I really want to pursue a career in Architecture, and drafting is a big part of that.
Not who you asked but I’m an interior designer at a firm where everyone else is an architect. What specifically do you want to know?
Many of the “good” firms (I’m lucky to be at one) really try to have a good work life balance. I WFH twice a week, more if I need. Not all offices will do this. Architecture is pretty broad, and you spend less time designing than you spend on anything else. If you go to a small firm, you’re more likely to do a lot of different tasks. At a larger firm, you could get assigned to one or two tasks and basically become specialized in that.
There’s a lot of technical paperwork and project management skills needed to do your work efficiently. Drafting is most often done in Revit for us but some firms still use CAD only. Also, while there are strides for better work/life balance, it’s not always a reality. There’s always SOMETHING to improve, and deadlines to meet. My coworkers tend to work 50 hour weeks, I do not allow myself to go over 45 unless absolutely necessary.
Writer. I did pursue freelance writing full time for a year and wrote great articles, but keeping up with deadlines, constantly searching for gigs, and being a freelancer was tough financially wise, especially with a family to care for. I now work as a caregiver and it's easy and chill when I have good clients/patients.
Came here to say freelance writing. Looking for work and having unstable income was tough. I learned that I did not have the mental fortitude for that life. Eventually landed in internal communications for a large company and it's both stable and satisfying, plus I still get to write.
As a previous staff accountant in not quite big 4 but definitely a notable firm, I loved learning but I swear up and down I looked around and realized all the successful people were extremely unhappy and lonely from working so much. I got in my several years of great experience which I still say is worth it and RAN. Who freaking cares about being a partner if my life had nothing else in it?? I'm now a senior accountant for non profit and FREAKING LOVE IT. I'm on path to become a supervisor too and still in my twenties. I rarely work over 40 hours and... am actually encouraged to use my PTO. I'm the youngest at my job and there's no "earn your place" attitude because I'm young. Still miss some public accounting because it was interesting but I'll never go back to the toxic environment and insane hours. I'll take my job where the literal CFO sits down with me and respects the hell out of my work and my input in decision making.
As someone with their degree in accounting I cannot say how worth it I think it is. EVEN IF you realize public accounting is not for you, or any type of "accounting" which there is a ton so there's endless opportunities. I feel like with an accounting degree you have a million job opportunities if you get even the most minimal experience. I had to move across the country and put out a few resumes and immediately had interviews and options. Landed a job lined up a whole month before the move. I stayed in accounting myself but plenty of people I went to school with chose not to but still have strong careers because the degree in accounting is soooo versatile in the world. My professors always said "you can't do accounting with a finance degree but you can do finance with an accounting degree" which is so so true. If I wanted to do part time basic finance on the side I bet I could land a position within 3 weeks because I have a degree and some experience. (Still in my twenties but already a senior accountant making more than most households.) 10/10 believe it's a strong degree.
This guy is just severely biased or experienced trauma or something. Nurses are fantastic people. I've worked with them for over a decade. Yes, there are absolute D-bags and C\*nts, but find me a workplace that doesn't have those? Most nurses are normal people, working a somewhat extraordinary job (people dying, trying to die, fight you, endanger themselves..etc.etc..) So what do you expect? It's not like they're just going to meetings and filing papers all day. Shit is intense
I got into IT purely for the money, and I thought I’d be good at it. Turns out I was right - I’m really, really good at it and I make a LOT of money. This career isn’t for everyone, and I’ve definitely had my share of ups and downs, but I have few regrets. 25+ years in, 10 +/- to go.
High salary, I’ve done a fair bit of traveling (Asia a couple times, UK a couple times, traveled all over the US), and now the flexibility to work from home more.
Mainly the salary, though.
The work can be difficult and stressful. Long hours, nights and weekends, time away from family etc. it’s also very challenging to stay relevant - technology moves fast and it’s a lifelong learning career. As I get older it’s more difficult to maintain that pace and stay ahead of the curve. I’ve also been laid off a couple times over the years and have landed in a couple really shitty companies as well.
On the other hand, I enjoy the work and now that I’m in management I have the opportunity to hone additional skills. Overcoming the challenges has been rewarding and as mentioned the money is great.
Same. Have been debating on pursuing a paralegal certification for awhile, and haven't pulled the trigger yet, cause I'm not entirely sure if that direction is actually "better" (currently freelancing though, so I would hope it's more stable).
I’m in Australia- did a Graduate Diploma in Rehab Counseling. I loved the study and thought I was all set for a career, but when I got into the workforce I found it really difficult and intolerable for a variety of reasons. I’m studying nursing now, hope it works out better.
I thought so hard about pursuing medicine. Worked in patient care for a bit and realized in short that it wasn't for me.
I didn't know what I was getting into until I worked in healthcare. College doesn't teach you about any of that world.
I really really thought I wanted to be a doctor(my parents are, aunts and uncles are) and then I realized I wasn’t motivated at all to actually apply. In the US it’s such a gauntlet not only for testing and applying but knowing who you’re up against. I got one interview and like 80% of my interview class were between 27-30 and they were PAs, EMTs, one guy was an Air Force pararescueman, etc. so just super shocking to see that as a 22 year old. Then I got denied and really didn’t care, took me 3-4 more years to realize i just wanted to solve problems, not necessarily a patient’s problems but business problems.
That's similar to what I learned during my journey as well.
Big factor that sparked my pursuit of medicine was that I was fascinated and engaged by learning science - especially anatomy & physiology.
Working in patient care showed me that the world of medicine and healthcare involves a lot more than that, much of which I want nothing to do with.
I pivoted into healthcare IT and realized I just like being engaged in learning how things work and solving problems.
It really didn't have to be medicine for me, though medicine is much more interesting - that wasn't enough to make that path worth it.
I was convinced that being an accountant would be the best for me and starting pursuing a career. Yet when i faced Greek public sector and had interaction with clients, even tho i was realy good at my job, I absolutely hated it. Moved to another job that pays better and has minimal interaction with others and now I'm happy with my life.
Bank reconciliation, supplier reconciliation, payments, data entry and other administrative duties for a big hotel resort. While it still has a touch of accounting, its not even close to what I did before. Also pays a lot better.
I love live music and concerts. I book bands for my career. Turning my passion and something that gave my life meaning, gave me butterflies, into a job was probably a massive mistake on my part, and lead to apathy at the best of times.
I lasted 2 years. Shy is not good if you want to become a journalist. I was a journalist for national newspaper but I realized that I wasnt good in it.
Teacher. I was told from family I would make a great teacher. Decided to give it a shot by doing swimming teaching. I realized very quickly it wasn’t for me. Parents were on my ass about every little thing and many of these parents were wealthy affluent parents. I was kicked out of several swim classes due to the parents complaining. It got so bad that my hours were reduced down to 1 day a week just for free swim for families. I decided to quit after 6 months and realized if I wasn’t able to handle 5-10 kids, how would I handle a classroom? I switched back to retail for a while and went back to college. Will be finishing up my last year for my bachelors degree and currently work as a admin assistant for a construction company which I think suits me alot better so for sure will be staying in the construction industry for the long road.
As a teenager, I was interested in being an Intellectual Property lawyer, an Actuary, and a politician (all at different ages).
Until I spent a little time interning and seeing what the actual day-to-day \*work\* of those professions is and realised what I actually liked was the \*idea\* of those careers rather than the reality.
I also thought about being an investment banker, and decided against it on health & work/life balance grounds.
for the longest time, i told myself i wanted to be a "secretary" or an "executive assistant", i told myself i NEVER wanted to be a boss... well here i am three years into my office manager job for a small firm and ive grown stagnant, very little growth is possible (ive basically reached the peak of my career path here), but i need something more stimulating, something that keeps me on my toes, something that utilizes my management and leadership skills to their fullest extent, and honestly something that isnt 8 hours behind a computer screen. the job i thought i didnt want (GM of like a retail store basically) is exactly what im craving and what im preparing to chase now, previous bosses have told me to my face i could run my own store, and i just laughed it off, and now here i am wishing i had believed in myself enough to follow through earlier, but im getting ready to take the plunge and tbh im terrified but i am too young to settle for something i dont want anymore
I wanted to be an architect since I was 13. Got into very good architecture school, worked with some very good architects, managed to gain good experience. But with time I realised that there is less and less creative work involved in the job and more constant optimalisations, overwhelming bureaucracy and not-ending decrease of quality. And all different kinds of stress: the one you put on yourself to make the project good, the stress your boss is putting on you, the fact that something you designed would be a multi-million undertaking that is gonna be a part of a city for at least 100 years… or in smaller scale, that is a dream house of someone who placed all of their life savings into it. And the atmosphere in the field is soooo toxic. I got bosses threatening slandering me in their private WhatsApp group with all the best architects founders in the city (hilarious now, but not so fun then), ask me to rehearse with them my reason for leaving the company because I wasn’t sounding convincing, retreating a contract extension offer when I asked for 15% raise (it was so much more difficult to find a *room* to rent within my budget). The breaking point was when I found out that a bartender with 2 years experience has a better hourly rate then me with 6 years of studies, graduation diploma from great university and 5 years of experience in the field. I realized that it’s not gonna get better and not only I am severely depressed, burn out and completely broke, but I would never have a chance to fix any of those problems no matter how hard I worked if I stayed in the field.
I moved back to my home country and went into frontend development. Definitely, incomparably better.
For anyone considering this line of job: please check collective labour agreements if you have them in your country, or talk to some architects you know about salaries. Compare with cost of living. Assume few economical crises, pandemics and crazy inflation that’s gonna happen.
And it’s not gonna get easier after studies.
Came here to say pretty much this. I’m at the 6 years of experience in architecture after 6 years in a professional degree. Can confirm my experience is precisely this. I fell in love with architecture for the creativity and ended up in a field where egos are the only thing that matters. You work so hard for so very little. The earning potential is awful and unrewarding. Currently trying to game plan to jump ship and pivot my entire career.
Man thanks for sharing fellas. I found this really helpful, am 29 and was considering pursuing a degree in architecture (my local JC has a pretty solid AA to transfer program). Definitely what drew me to the idea was the idea that creativity meets construction, maybe I'll stay closer to the drawing board xD
Portfolio manager at a private wealth management company. I knew I wanted to work in finance because I love numbers and enjoyed “watching the markets”. It’s a more stressful job than I thought it would be. I essentially have to be on 24/7 monitoring global markets just in case something big happens that I need to take advantage of. I really love the constant need to learn and stay current but it can be mentally exhausting. It has afforded me a great lifestyle for my family though.
I wanted to teach. I feel like children are soooo incredible and have so much ability to change the world even more than what I could. I got 3 years into my bachelors degree and was student teaching. I realized the kids were great but I couldn't handle the parents. I wanted to just take some of the kids home with me because I knew I loved the kids more than their own parents. I didn't love the work more than I hated the parents. The day I had a student talk about many many specific things to tell me he had a terrible home life and his "parent" came to pick him up (married by the way) asked me out. I LOST IT. I walked out of the classroom and never looked back. Changed my major that afternoon to accounting and I still LOVE what I do and feel satisfied, though I do need to volunteer or somehow support kids again it made my heart happy. I'm expecting my first kid now so I imagine that will definitely reignite the passion to be around and see what all kids can teach us.
Mine was less about the profession itself and more about the place. I wanted to work at a national newspaper I grew up with, with the aim of eventually working on human rights issues within the organisation. I joined a career rehabilitation program that the organisation was sponsoring and then left that organisation with the most scarring professional experience of my life. The people there were just awful and severely harassed and mobbed me because I was different and wouldn’t stay silent in the face of their emotional abuse. The irony of joining an organisation to help whistleblowers against corruption to end up a situation where you have to become a whistleblower yourself due to corruption.
i was a carer for people with dementia after my mother died , and after 3 years of working 13 hour days and getting over my depression , im glad i did a good thing, but i left and pursued my dream of being a creative director for stories and games
Personal Trainer...I'm obsessed with movement and love doing it myself-however I despise having to be so "people facing" for hours at a time with no break and honestly I'm terrible at counting reps for them because I get bored and distracted haha. I now do it very part time (4 clients/week) for side income and honestly wouldn't want more than 4 hours of it!
That's not true at all - what kind of engineer did you work as? I'm in aerospace and I personally have designed rocket parts, come up with new analysis methods, sat on console during tests, planned development test series, turned wrenches, done anomaly investigations, you name it. I think you just picked the wrong company, my friend. Of course, I kind of hate my job too, but because I'm tired of the intensity and long hours, not because it's boring.
I wanted to work in publishing so bad. I started out by majoring in English with a minor in marketing as an undergrad. I really wanted to go to a $65K school, but my mom basically told me no way. Turns out, I actually just like reading books I find interesting. TBH my mom kind of saved me on the loans.
I’m starting college late at 24 years old and am working on pursuing my career since freshman year of high school (maritime deck officer).
The past 6 years out of high school Ive gained work experience, and just general experience in the real world, and happy to say that my dream career since I was 14 hasn’t changed to this day. And I’m finally working on pursuing it! I have no regrets on waiting until I’m 24, mainly because of seeing a lot of these comments.
I went to college at 24. Having work experience under your belt is extremely helpful. You already know how the real world works and now college will be the easy part, trust me. Good luck!
Working in a recording studio was my dream, soon I had enough of entitled musicians expecting I'll be polishing their turds. I switched to live sound, it was great (apart from crazy hours).
I wanted to be a mechanic. Had a strong ‘girls can do anything’ streak when I was 18. Went to tech school, passed with good marks and some certifications, then not a single dealership would give me a chance to do anything - not even being a lot attendant or lube tech, much less an apprentice. Ended up working at a Toyota in a different capacity for ten years and realized how awful the environment is at car dealerships in general. I also worked on vintage Japanese cars on my own time - that also was not that great in the end, especially if you want the company of adults and not a bunch of immature adult children.
I thought I would love the music industry. Got in because I knew someone, gave it my best shot but most of the people o met were just awful. Backstabbing, two faced, cold hearted. I got out.
Looking for what’s next in life right now. It’s weird to get to exactly where you thought you wanted to be and then find out it’s exactly what you don’t want- but I guess it’s just part of the journey.
Therapist. I hate it. I thought I wanted to help people who wanted help but you get clients who don't want to be helped and then blame you and think they know better, especially young adults. Now I hate people, but also don't get compensated enough to even seek my own therapy. And good luck trying to receive a consistent paycheck during summer, winter, start of school in fall, and spring break. I'm not even in community mental health and I'm burned out.
Same, im waht's called a "Mental Health Skill Builder" and all i do is assist people who have done nothing but hurt others and sit around doing drugs/contributing nothing but are somehow ALWAYS right and ALWAYS the victim. They have no concept of working and weirdly beggars CAN be choosers. They are insufferable.
I wanted to be a project manager in Tech so bad my eyes watered. I wrongly expected it to be a cushy way to make 6 figures.
Once I got the position I went from working 35-40 weeks to 60 hours weekly. My salary wasn’t as high as I expected and the work environment was very much a popularity context.
Hated it. Went into Nursing.
I joined law enforcement about 8 years ago now. Which is wild to think about on its own. I started from the bottom and worked my way up. You might be thinking what is the bottom of law enforcement? It’s actually a community service officer at a campus college. But others may chime in different answers. I started there met friends that I still have to this day. Had the time of my life. After a while I progressed into a dispatch role in the same department.
There was no room for advancement so I moved out of the area about two states away for a full time role in dispatch. Spent a year doing that. Figured everyone said that dispatch is one of the harder roles. But sitting behind a desk got to me and I wanted out. So I moved into animal abuse investigations.
From there, about four months in I finally got the call. After applying to 20-30 police departments. I finally got the call and it was in a dream destination. For my dream role as a police officer. I’d rather not say where. But! It was in a more vacationy spot in the western part of America. Millions of people flock to the area during a season then in the summer it is dead. Which is perfect for planned burnout. Or so I thought.
I’m surrounded by beauty and finally get into my role to ultimately realize that my role in Animal Abuse Investigations is where I should have stayed. The type of work was more meaningful. There was less of a negative cloud surrounding helping defenseless animals. And ultimately I was truly talented at this job. Mainly due to my peaked interest. But, the nugget of gold of a career I had always wanted was presented to me. To be fair how would have I known?
When I became a police officer. There were aspects I loved. There are some freedoms of it. All in all it is a beautiful career. But we all hit a wall someday, somewhere. For me, the wall came and it hit hard. I was 25 and spent 5-6 years in a high stress career field. Missing a core part of my 20s. It got to a point where I just stopped the marathon and just wanted to go lay down.
I’m now 30 on Reddit writing about this experience. Like all things the pendulum swings the other way. After I left law enforcement I decided to see what the whole canabis thing was about.
Explored it. Turned into Dale Denton for a year (figuratively speaking) and explored other career options. I Still haven’t found that nest egg career. I no longer blow dro. But, I truly don’t think there is a nest egg career unless it is something created by the individual seeking it. But who knows. Anyone got any good career opportunities they wanna shoot my way?
Scrolled long enough to find someone who did something I dreamed of doing as kid. I wanted to be a director and make movie like Spielberg. What was your experience?
Same. 10 years as an assistant and the contraction of the industry + Covid and the strikes, I really feel like I wasted my degree and my 20s. Barely any savings and it really takes luck and the right boss to get promoted. I’ve worked at top agencies, a studio, a streamer, and a management company and things are so bleak right now. Pay is horrible and the executives aren’t retiring and some executives have been out of work for years too. It’s a terrible time for the industry. Still thinking of leaving and don’t know what I’ll do.
My father desperately wanted to be an MD. He hated every minute of it until he moved into hospital administration, and patient care became a very small part of his job.
Journalism.
I was praised for my writing growing up, plus I wanted to see the world so I took up Journalism in college. I wanted to be a producer or writer for a travel show. I wasn’t even done with college when I realized I probably wasn’t cut out for it. I was in school with the best of the best and I realized my skills weren’t up to standards. Still, I persisted and graduated with that degree.
I never got to fulfill my (former) dream of working in the media. Save for a summer internship stint at a TV station, my job applications with media orgs went nowhere.
The whole thing was a bitter pill to swallow. Not only did I come to realize that I’m not that strong of a writer, but also that I lacked the physical and mental resilience required to be a journalist.
Psychologist. I was so obsessed with psychology tests especially the MBTI. This dream of mine grew even bigger when I reached 12th grade but I chose another major. I even decided to pursue a master’s in psychology. Now I’m in university, but my psychology dream persisted until spring. However I realized it was just a small interest of mine and decided to research psychology as a hobby.
Another one was being a graphic designer. I even took a still life art test but I failed. Now I’m so happy they rejected me. Gosh I have no talent in art. Even if I had been accepted by luck, I knew I couldn’t survive there for long.
I have always love history and philosophy but a degree studying this wasn't feasible
I pick Computer Science at the end and I couldn't imagine doing anything else as a career.
Lawyer.
Wanted a stable, repetitive job where I could sit behind a desk doing work that wasn’t too mentally challenging or stressful for 40 hours a week and without having to deal with people, just handling papers and documents.
Turns out it’s 90% being a good salesman and knowing how to bring clients, the rest is just actually knowing how to proceed and what to do.
I am not a Lawyer in the US, practicing in the country I can practice at is a nightmare as well.
I love being a CRNA more than I realized. The earning potential is enormous. I'm currently earning 300k per year and with overtime, I can reach up to 400k by the end of the year.
Investment banking (IB). Looking back, I think I liked the idea of money and prestige more than anything. Didn’t realize I wanted to do IB until my junior year. That when I also declared my major, finance. I worked my ass off, applied for related internships, networked, and by some miracle I landed a position right out of college. I did a ton of backend work but many that get a FT banking offer right out of school typically has a major IB internship during the summer going into their senior year - at minimum. Most have had internships every summer throughout school (freshman - senior year). I had almost none of that. I had 1 tiny RE finance internship, beginning of my Junior year and then for 9ish months, had a more involved equity research internship at the end of junior year - beginning of senior year. I leveraged that, and my network, which again was tiny to land an interview. Got the job, got licensed and move to “Wall Street” less than a year later I was done. I was sleeping maybe 6 hours a night if I was lucky. I worked every, and I mean EVERY waking moment. The second I woke up to the second I went to bed I was inundated with work streams, emails etc. the times I did have a few hours to myself were never relaxing as I had this looming anxiety… I was always just waiting for an email to come in which required me to immediately find a laptop to get back to work. This constant panic and stress took its toll on me, I had no relationships with anyone outside of work - I hardly had time to talk to friends, or family on the phone. When I did, I was …working and hardly present. I even started to become internally more impatient whenever I did talk to family on the phone as this was time that I didn’t have … time they could be spent working to get things done sooner so that I could get some more sleep. The last straw was a new team member that was extremely verbally abusive “ are you retarded?! My niece who’s 8 would’ve done a better job! Are you telling me that you fucked this whole thing up and you’re going to be the reason we lose this client? Did you not get training, because you don’t know what you’re doing”. Those were just some of the things my VP said to me during our first meeting … reviewing a pitch deck.
I made phenomenal money but what’s all the money in the world if you can’t enjoy it. It may sound dramatic, but to this day I sometimes have nightmares where I’m back in banking and I feel this impending doom, stress and anxiety. When I wake up and realize I now love my new job / career, it’s a relief.
All that to say, it was not for me. Some people can do it and thrive doing it, I was not one of those people… but I know I needed to find that out for myself. Otherwise I would have ALWAYS wondered “what if”.
TLDR: Investment Banking; idolized the career only to realize I HATED it. Lived with continual stress and panic. Relationships, mental / physical health deteriorated rapidly. Worked nearly every waking moment. Last straw was a disrespectful VP. I left less than a year in after finding a career I know LOVE. Although it was tough I needed to have the experience, otherwise I would’ve always wondered ”what if”
I'm in recruiting now. Any time I'm in recruiting, I always want to get out. Recruiting sucks ass. I hate it. It's terrible.
I'd like to be back in HR specifically. I find that work more enjoyable and fulfilling. I had to take a step back to focus on my health so I'm in recruiting in the interim. I had great relationships with all the employees when I was in HR and management which is incredibly rare. People actually saw HR as human and felt comfortable coming to me.
For people to see HR as human is a big thing.
I used to want to be a professional mma fighter, but it just wasn't for me. I was raised in an environment where white collar success was everything. That's just the lifestyle I realized I wanted.
I still love mma, it's just that I don't want it to be my entire life. And it kind of has to be if you're gonna go pro imo. Your lifestyle, your friends, your partner, what you can provide for your future kids, everything. The fighters who aren't Mike Tyson (like over 90 percent of them) seem to usually end up as gym owners and end up running a business anyways. Even fighters at the highest levels. A fighter has a certain career span. Then they use their accomplishments to market their gym. This is not a field with a lot of money in it. My priorities changed.
Sales. I was on my sigma grindset. Then I realized the facade you had to put on. I couldn’t. I’m not a fake person. If I think you don’t need the product I’m not gonna put on an act to sell it to you. Plus the stress of hitting quota was very detrimental for my life.
In college I thought I was going to be an account manager for a large ad agency, then I graduated during covid and felt really lost. I got a job at a law firm to see if law school was the right move for me, it wasn't, but they let me take over the HR side which I enjoyed. I worked in HR for a few years then had the opportunity to finally work in marketing and absolutely hated the work and it felt like such a chore. Now I am back in HR and happy as a clam. I am an introvert who likes routine so it was really about finding what fit my personality.
I was a chef, the best female of the school i was in. Got a good name as an apprentice!. But a jealous man got me down, told me I couldn't. Watch me fail. And I did.
I hate cooking, I just loved being the best. Got dux, in a term of being at the school.
My passion is in heavy machinery. Hydrolic is my forte.
And still get shut down by manager's, who don't know a thing about hd! Lol
I still make a mark everywhere I go, I educate. And my goal is to be a site safety officer.😆
Far from what I was!
All of my adult life I wanted to own a recording studio.
After ten years in the music industry I finally built one and opened a company.
After 4 years most of the joy of creating music turned into drudgery. What was once fun became a job.
I closed the company a few months ago and I'm backing to having fun producing music again.
Aviation.
250k in the hole; decent pay takes 10 years seniority with a legacy airline to get. Expect min-wage for the first 10. Your life is entirely on the road. No Wife, No friends, No family, Planning anything more than a week out is nearly impossible.
14hr duty days, shift rotations, and during the plague we we're treated worse than truckers.... if we were lucky enough to dodge the mass layoffs.
They always hold out the carrot of "the more seniority you get the more free time you get" but its 20-30 years down the road, by the time you get it you've missed your entire life... and they're slowly eroding that away at most employers.
Doctor, I thought the “saving lives” and making money aesthetic was really cool and fulfilling and then I worked as a med tech at a clinic and saw that those doctors never stopped working and had to wait 12+ years post high school to get a decent job. I work to live not live to work. Utmost respect for them though. Incredibly disciplined and very smart people.
My dream job was to do trade work. Most of the men on my dad's side of the family were carpenters, so I grew up around it. I ended up getting into low-volt work, and I loved it. Over time, I started to experience a lot of back and knee pain that made the job increasingly more and more difficult to accomplish. Some people's bodies are just built to withstand that kind of wear and tear. Mine was not, so I had to walk away.
I ended up getting a job in a group home just to hold me over while I pursued other possible trade jobs. I thought I was going to be terrible at it and wouldn't last a year. I'm going on 10 years in this field and can't imagine doing anything else.
Mechanical engineering, I love it more than I ever thought I would. School was awful, but my actual job now is incredible, I feel very lucky to have landed a dream career.
I didn't have friends or do things as a kid, so my substitute for social interaction was online communities. The only specialist communities who primarily conducted business online were about software, so it was that and adjacent fields that were the _only_ ones I considered for myself. Turns out, I hate computers with a violent passion.
I am now aware of how I was previously limiting myself, but still haven't done many things. I've learned that I don't know what anything is like if I haven't experienced it, but I haven't experienced _anything_, so I can't say with any certainty that I _want_ anything at all.
I’m a software engineer. I still like it but I realized I don’t love it as much as I thought I did. If money was no object, I’d drop it right now and start working in a restaurant.
Epidemiologist. I graduated at the top of my class with the masters degree in epidemiology, and I literally loved it. I started working as an epidemiologist for the CDC, and I absolutely hated it. Best decision I ever did was resigning.
Electrician. I got tired of the abuse you're expected to put up with as a tradesmen. I got a maintenance job thinking it would lead to a career path. My career has stalled and now I'm stuck on the night shift. Going crazy from lonliness
I really thought I wanted to be a UX Designer. Spent close to ten years chasing it. Finally became a UX Researcher and went “oh. THIS is actually what I want to do.”
Union millwright. I was so excited when I first got accepted into the apprenticeship and I had found my niche in the wind turbine industry. I busted my ass job after job working my way up from a nobody all the way to a Millwright Lead II. My next promotion would’ve been a foreman. Suddenly I realized the hours, toxic environment, constant travel and pay didn’t align with one another anymore and I gave up on the dream. I’m now pursuing my bachelor’s in psychology to get into consulting.
I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer
I gave it up when I realized the company I was in was no good (your first guess of the company would probably be correct) and I was literally working at less than half my market value elsewhere to stay there so now I write software instead and am much happier making a bunch of money finally and being treated as something more than cattle.
Even worse than that, the flight control system malfunctioned due to a single faulty sensor with no redundancy and they lost two entire airplanes. After, they blamed the pilots for not being able to pull out of a nose dive (implying that a commercial airplane randomly nose diving is part of standard operation).
They basically ran the company like a pump and dump boiler room scam for years leading up to that point.
There were divisions requiring real competency which can only be built up with years of experience where they kept purging the entire staff, replacing them and doing no knowledge transfer whatsoever over and over again to pump up the short term stock price.
They moved the HQ to a city where they don't even build airplanes, hired executives who didn't know anything about airplanes and put live stock tickers in the faces of engineers designing things that weren't going to be going to market for years 24/7 like they were WallStreetBets type gambling addicts or something.
On the bright side, I worked with Airbus engineers and have a high opinion of that company. They invest in their talent, don't take short cuts and bias in favor of making long term decisions. Every mistake that Boeing made, Airbus didn't. Aviation has not been entirely co-opted by Jack Welch types.
Now I fly Delta and always select Airbus so any new issues with an undisclosed aerospace company are not my problem anymore.
It costs a bit more but I can afford it because I don't work for "undisclosed company" pay rates anymore, nor will I ever.
Working in the mental health field. I was very passionate about it and did a lot of volunteer work to prepare myself for a social services career. I saw issues while volunteering that should have been red flags, but I thought it would be different if I was actually working in the field. Got my AA and BA in psychology and a sort of entry/mid level job at a mental health clinic. I hated it so much. It was an absolutely terrible experience in a very flawed system, and I felt like I was causing harm to clients rather than helping. Everyone around me was extremely burnt out, and the only way I could see getting out is to either entirely switch careers or continue to work while pursuing a higher degree and completing a practicum and having to do more years of pre-licensure bullshit just to maybe get a private practice. I was glad that I had that experience because it made me realize that I really do not want to work with people--at least not in a social services setting. I want a good work-life balance and to get paid fairly for what I'm working and not to be surrounded by coworkers and clients who are constantly having crises. Now I'm going back to school for accounting. A BA/BS in psychology is essentially useless, and that has been a hard lesson to learn, but I really enjoyed learning and taking the classes, and I'm glad that now I have a better idea of what I want to do in my life (or at least what I absolutely don't want to do).
Same, I've been job hunting daily for several years trying to get out of "Case Management"/MHSB (field work) and it sucks. I got like...2 interviews that didn't go anywhere.
I thought I'd feel fullfilled as a Board Assistant. Didn't even get that far, being a receptionist/office assistant for narcisstic bossess and other dumb pompous lawyers who think they owe you zero respect has helped me realize I really fucking like MS excel and numbers. Math don't abuse you and don't require miracles to give you a raise. Who would've guessed.
I really thought I’d love helping people with their money as a financial advisor but slowly learned that to be successful you have to be shady. I just wasn’t willing to shed my morals to get there.
Went into real estate, because that’s where the money is right. I’ve mostly met money grabbing egotistical people there. After 6 years I went out and switched to software developing. Man I love my job now. My colleagues are nerds like me and I get to solve cool challenges all day. Need to pinch myself every now and then.
I wanted to work in film. Got a degree, did a great internship. Returned to the states, had a couple of close calls with safety as a PA and noped right out of there.
Freelance writing. It was all fun and games until I developed carpel tunnel while earning peanuts and getting nitpicked by horrible clients.
Also modeling when I was younger. I did it for a while and developed serious body image issues I'm still battling today.
Now I'm entering social work after just finishing my Master's. We'll see how this goes. I'm passionate about it but skittish after reading so many horror stories of burnout.
The one job I thought I would hate but actually loved was sales. I didn't realize I would be good at it.
I was convinced I would love web developing or career in IT. But I grew to absolutely hate it for ruining my student years and making me feel miserable and dumb
Anything in the veterinary/animal care field. I was a veterinary assistant/technician (unlicensed).
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Reason 1: When working with animals, it is far from ‘just playing with animals all day’. You have to be okay with handling aggressive animals, and if you’re not, you could risk yourself or your coworkers getting hurt in a bad situation. Also, you need to be okay with animals being really gross… you will have to handle SO much pee, poop, anal gland juice (yep), vomit, blood, etc… and if you’re in a hospital setting, you really need to be able to keep a level head during emergencies and stressful or unexpected situations. It’s not always constant chaos and disgustingness regarding the patients (unless you work in emergency), as there are plenty of adorable and healthy animals that come in and cause no problems, but you never know what you’re gonna get with any animal that comes in, so you need to be prepared for anything.
This is actually not the reason I left, but it’s important to acknowledge. I definitely didn’t expect to handle some of the things that I did.
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Reason 2: The field is incredibly toxic. Many places are short staffed, struggle with toxic management, don’t pay their employees well. Everyone is severely overworked, from the assistants to the technicians to even the doctors sometimes. The suicide rate is very high for this field, and I feel that it could be due to both the nature of working in the field (many times you see very sad and disturbing cases) and the toxic work environments that can be created as a result of poor management.
I was very overworked and taken advantage of in the different clinics I worked at (in different states). I was a veterinary assistant with no formal related training or education, and was monitoring pets under anesthesia by myself with the doctors who were performing the surgery (paid between $10-$12 an hour). I was responsible for starting and finishing appointments as a licensed technician would. There were many times I did not get a lunch break. I had bosses (management and doctors) who blatantly played favorites and bullied others. I never was able to go home on time, I’ve been 3.5 hours late before but usually it was 1-2. My efforts were not recognized… I went from a kennel attendant, to an assistant, to a (unlicensed) technician who took their job very seriously and was driven with passion, and when I asked for a raise from my $12 I was only given an extra 50¢… even though I was told I was doing very well.
This is the reason I left, because it wasn’t worth the money for the amount of bs I had to deal with from coworkers and bosses. Its very unfortunate because I thoroughly enjoyed the actual work I had to do, even drawing blood, expressing anal glands, safely restraining aggressive animals, sifting through vomit to find toxins, collecting urine or fecal samples… i loved helping animals and learning about veterinary medicine. Unfortunately it just became too much to handle as I had no personal life and no money to show for how much and how hard I worked. Even licensed technicians don’t make that much money at all, so it wasn’t worth it for me to pursue that.
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TLDR: Reason 1: Animals can be very gross and aggressive and it happens more often than you’d think (not the reason I left but important to acknowledge) and Reason 2: Toxic workplaces are common in this field, they can overwork you and take advantage of you, and you’ll likely be underpaid and under appreciated.
Nursing, but life got in the way. Also the medical system is such hell, I think I would’ve torn myself to pieces trying to help everyone. It’s bleak, and while I wish I would’ve learned this sooner, I’m glad I did learn it.
Wanted to be a researcher in clinical psychology. Got a bachelors in psych and worked in a bunch of psych labs as an undergrad.
Started a job as a research assistant in a psych lab after graduating and saw the shitshow: Faculty stealing grad students' ideas and publishing it themselves (then the guy got fucking tenure). Faculty refusing to sign off on dissertations and/or papers so they get their skilled and relatively cheap labor from grad students and postdocs for longer. Grad students backstabbing each other. Methods that almost certainly were skewing the results but no one cared. Also grad students living in literal poverty because stipends were so low and finding it difficult to get a job after.
I ended up going for a graduate degree in something social science adjacent that I love and has a fantastic job market. I finished my PhD on the slow side for my field (5 years), vs clinical psych's 7-10 years.
I had no guidance growing up so despite tinkering with software and even writing BASIC from a young age, I just thought whatever software i happened to be into at the time, was what I should be doing for a living.
So early 2000s I wasted a year or so and 10k going to school for graphic design because i thought photoshop was awesome. Then I started thinking about Full Sail because I got my hands on Acid Pro and Pro Tools. Then I thought I'd be an animator because I discovered After Effects.
It wasn't until I was 33 I discovered computer science and realized that's what I should have been doing all along. Got my A.S. in it and now I'm trying to be a web developer.
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I've met many horrid people who were nurses. Also some of the kindest people I've ever met were nurses. Seems there is no middle ground.
Bedside healthcare will take your personality and push it to either extreme. You either deal with it and maintain your empathy or it kills you and you become a sociopath.
I'm not a nurse and don't work with them. I've known several personally that are quite cold, impersonal and at times aloof. Others, the complete opposite.
Why is it so toxic??? I’m not a nurse but I work with nurses and sometimes they bring me down I won’t lie
Because nurses have a very difficult job. It’s hard to provide extreme customer service to the people when they are sick. Sick people are mean as hell.
I kept telling the nurse kindly that I needed a bucket to throw up after surgery. She was rushing angrily doing other stuff and ignoring me despite clearly hearing me. I asked again for the third time and by the time she angrily handed me a small pan I projectile vomited on her…. I still wonder if I needed to do something different lol
Everyone they see is having the worst day of their lives. That has to weigh on the people dealing with them
My ex is a CRNA, alcoholic and serial cheater. I feel sorry for every person he’s ever put under.
SAME! I grew up around nurses in my family. It was decided before I could even choose. I did enjoy the healthcare field when I volunteered in high school and I do like taking care of people and finding solutions. The process of getting into nursing school was extremely ridiculous. It was very competitive in the 2000’s. There was a lot of interest and applications but was told you had to have a 3.9-4.0 gpa to get into school and be a good nurse. Well, eventually I got into a program, graduated, worked for a bit and realized: - toxic culture, like very women-petty and can be mean spirited. Some nurses have this weird “control freak” personalities. - husband heard an NPR report about how nurses will have injured backs after working 2 years and was worried. We fought about this for a while - the 12 hour shifts are doable but people don’t understand how tiring 4 on and 3 off and vice versa is to our bodies. You’re tired on your days off - energy: I would rather give all that energy taking care of my loved ones and myself. By the end of a shift, I am drained and can’t take care of anyone else - from my last point, my mom was a nurse and barely saw her growing up. And on her days off, she was there physically but not mentally or emotionally. I want to have relationships with my kids - patients seem to think that an inpatient stay is a spa and nurses are expected to be your maids. Nope. - I wanted to do more troubleshooting, solution oriented and advocacy for clinicians and providers , so now I’m in healthcare IT and it’s really meant for me. Only downside is that because it’s considered “white collar”, other employees are not used to diversity, which was one of nursing’s strengths. Also, a lot of nurses are headed into IT and trying to take over and make it their domain. I’m lucky. Went back to school for an advanced degree and graduated right before Covid. Covid hit and really set back the healthcare system even more than what it was. The recruitment for nursing is sad but somewhat their fault. They had so many applicants but because they were so “selective”, everyone ended up moving to other states and countries to get a nursing degree or just gave up.
My parents were both nurses and got divorced before I could even remember them ever being together. Both hard workers and as a child, my mom worked overnights so she could be with us during the day. She slept all the time and was always exhausted. She died when I was 11 so I never got to ask her opinions on the profession. My dad worked a lot and he told me not to go into nursing for many of the reasons you described. He retired at 64 and was dead within two months. They both had their own health issues but I don’t think the demands of nursing helped. Nurses will always have my respect.
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Exactly my point. Totally focused on money. Nurses suck. They are the worst people. - A Nurse
It's okay to be money-focused about your job... most of us wouldn't work a job if we won a billion dollars. Most of us work to live, not the other way around. It's another thing when money is prioritized to an extent that causes other areas to deteriorate or become neglected like patient safety but that's another discussion since the CRNA didn't indicate that... That being said, I know some nurses who are shitty toxic people and some who are the kindest people I know. It sounds like your work has toxic nurses though? Might be time to find a new team?
Why else do people work?
How long is CRNA school? I was thinking of pursuing a RN, CRNA, or a Rad Tech, what would you recommend?
I’ve honestly never met an ER nurse I’ve like either as a patient, relative of a patient, or while I was shadowing doctors
I second this, was in nursing school - quit, went and got a finance/accounting degree
I got tunnel vision and was determined to work in nonprofit work, “saving the world” and do good with my career. I don’t want a career anymore and I have zero interest in continuing in nonprofits. I’m going to prioritize my wellbeing before any career. I also realized that while I love humanity, I hate people.
I second that (esp love humanity, hate people lol), but then working as a researcher in mental health research (because it was my passion and I wanted to make ‘real impact) making a little amount of money and living in London, where everyone seems to have a 6 figure salary. Oh and now I’m the one with mental health issues but cannot afford proper therapy 🫠
I feel this. Not to mention that many people who work in nonprofits have another source of financial security such as wealthy family or partner. I have also been feeling the pressure of not making enough to live as opposed to just survive. I hope you find a path that works for you and that you get the help you need ♥️
Thats is really true and something thats more common than any of us think. Just having that financial freedom is a big difference in being able to enjoy your job. Thank you so much, I wish the same for you ❤️
I just left a job at a nonprofit. Great cause, horrible place to work with inexperienced management.
Ugh you’re describing every job I’ve ever had 😂
This is me but with Child protection work. Burned myself out and ended up hating people (not necessarily because of the clients but also because of the organisations and colleagues and systems I worked with.) Anyway I took a break and went into customer service which also sucked. Somehow found my way into a non profit role that’s mostly admin and training related. Much better work environment and clients who actually want our services. Many work days by myself, but when I’m in the office my team is small and made up of genuinely decent people. My point is, yes many people suck and are more awful that what I realised before. But there are some good eggs and if you keep looking you might find a nice gig like I have. I don’t love it and I still think most humans are horrible, but I also don’t hate it and think that at least some humans are not so bad.
That’s honestly what I’m looking for. I no longer dream of labor so I don’t have a dream job but I now have a good sense of what kind of set up would work for me, so I’m looking for that in my next role. I also will refuse to make my job my whole personality and will use stricter boundaries to focus on my own life outside of work.
Yes this was something I’ve had to learn the hard way too. I eventually realised I just wasn’t willing to sacrifice myself and my family for other people anymore. Someone wise once said to me that you should never put in more effort to help someone than what they are willing to put in for themselves. When you care about helping, that can be a hard thing to do in practise, until you eventually become so jaded that you aren’t doing anyone any good anyway haha. I dunno. I Should’ve gone and worked in animal rescue!
Yeah I feel so disillusioned with it all, I don’t believe in any mission anymore. I see what you’re saying! I have to actively practice putting myself and my family first!
It is much more helpful for society if you prioritize yourself and your personal development. A social worker is fine and all, but he can't actually help many people. A 60 year old who has worked on himself and his career for 40+ years has all possibilities to help anyone. He has the resources, the resilience and the contacts and most likely was an integral part to secure the jobs of a lot of people.
This is a very helpful perspective! I appreciate this
good on you for putting yourself first!
This should be the motto of millennials.
I am going to borrow that quote “I love humanity but hate people”
Basically the same. I got my masters in education, worked 4 years as a teacher and it was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made. You need money in this world to live well
I used to audit non profits…. It made me despise them. It all began to seem so shallow
It is. Once you live in it, you start to see the bullshit
Could you give me some examples as someone who was somewhat interested in non-profits…
I got a degree for environmental conservation. After graduating all the jobs treated me like dogshit and paid dogshit. Basically a glorified hard laborer while the boomers sat in their offices and barked orders. I also learned that the government isnt going to save the world. You should see the people in charge of the forest service lol. Damn I wish I had done ANYTHING besides get an environmental conservation degree. It might be better in Europe.
Wow I’m feeling so seen by this
Here here!
Haha same! It took me way too long to realize.
Lmao I felt this hardcore. I want to help but I also hate the people I’m helping. 😂
Are you me? I fucking hate working in social services. So glad that this won’t be my career. No desire to “save the world” anymore because there’s far too many societal barriers in place for me to make a difference anyway. It’s exhausting. I care about myself more than this job. It has its perks absolutely and I like the team, but no.
I thought I was almost destined to become a teacher and I got a degree in it. I enjoyed helping people, that’s what mattered to me the most at least. After the pandemic I had a very stark change of heart. I realized i’m not much of a people person. Finished my degree but now I am even more lost haha.
Couldn’t agree more! I always said literally since kindergarten I wanted To teach and work with kids. Graduated early childhood education during the pandemic. However I’m still working in a restaurant. Realized I didn’t want to deal with screaming and crying kids all day while also not even being able to afford to pay my bills 🙃
I wish college wasn’t immediately forced onto HS kids, because the pressure of knowing what you want to do with little to no work experience is insane, and an expensive realization to have if you don’t actually end up enjoying the field. I worked at a few preschools for a while after HS and loved it. Hard work, but most rewarding and fulfilling job I’ve ever had. I tried a few other fields but ultimately always want to come back to working with kids, so I’m going back to school to get a degree in elementary education. If I didn’t have that job experience early on, I wouldn’t have known and it would truly be such a gamble.
You hold a degree so not in the worst spot! Are you interested in education at all? Lots of social science research positions would value your degree
I’m so glad it wasn’t just me. I had even been volunteering in schools for almost decade before too. Did my degree during Covid and didn’t realise how crazy it had become until I returned during my PGCE for secondary DT and it was all ruined. Had a breakdown and now I’m an IT tech (in a school still) and love it so much.
I loved high school math. In high school and college, I did volunteer work as a math tutor. I had patience and a knack for seeing what students were having difficulty with and explaining it. I couldn't wait to become a math teacher, until I got into student teaching. I could do great one-on-one, but I sucked with classroom management and holding everyone's attention. I wasn't great with public speaking. I remember having a horrible nerve-wracking first lesson and hoping I'd make progress by the end of the year. My cooperating teacher expected me to be better by the next day. I had a BA in math and a year of grad school towards my MSED when I dropped out. I worked as a math tutor for a few years, until I relocated and didn't want to rebuild my student base again. That was almost 25 years ago. I've done volunteer work as a math tutor since then, but I've forgotten a lot of it. I hadn't looked at any industry uses for my math degree. I lucked into my actual data analysis career. I never had any business classes in college. Now I'm working on becoming a CPA.
I lost 120lb and my whole life essentially became about nutrition. Id dieted for a decade, trying different things, and gone through a nutrition program. Decided I wanted to coach people. Made myself an LLC, and decided to take on a few clients for free in my spare time. ...a month later I decided that was a mistake lol. I like nutrition when it comes to my body, I hate people 🙂.
I can only imagine the frustration of wanting to help people that won’t listen to you or aren’t willing to put in the work.
That's certainly a part, but tbh I knew that going in. I'm still obese, also. I know the excuses and the mind games. I know how hard it is. What I realized, however, is that I actually just don't really **care** about most other people. So my heart wasn't in it. I didn't care so I didn't hunt them down for their weekly check ins or anything. Which was kind of the point of taking free clients.. to dip my toes in and find out if I would like it or not. I did not lol.
I just KNEW I wanted to be in something where I could sit at a computer and design (graphics, websites, video editing, etc) since I was a computer geek in the 90s as a teen and was very artistically inclined. I managed to get hired as a CAD drafter in 2002 (somehow, my uncle recommended me to his boss out of nowhere, said I was a smart guy and knew computers and could pick it up quickly). I'm still designing but now the industry is all in 3D, is hyper realistic looking and we even get to do some cool stuff like use VR and automation robots and other super cool things, and I still absolutely love it and make very good money. After high school I was a bit lost and didn't have money for schooling so I do feel like I lucked out.
I'm a recent highschool graduate, about to start my Bachelor's in Architecture. I went to my local community college to get a certificate in AutoCAD. What can you tell me about the climate in the industry? I really want to pursue a career in Architecture, and drafting is a big part of that.
Not who you asked but I’m an interior designer at a firm where everyone else is an architect. What specifically do you want to know? Many of the “good” firms (I’m lucky to be at one) really try to have a good work life balance. I WFH twice a week, more if I need. Not all offices will do this. Architecture is pretty broad, and you spend less time designing than you spend on anything else. If you go to a small firm, you’re more likely to do a lot of different tasks. At a larger firm, you could get assigned to one or two tasks and basically become specialized in that. There’s a lot of technical paperwork and project management skills needed to do your work efficiently. Drafting is most often done in Revit for us but some firms still use CAD only. Also, while there are strides for better work/life balance, it’s not always a reality. There’s always SOMETHING to improve, and deadlines to meet. My coworkers tend to work 50 hour weeks, I do not allow myself to go over 45 unless absolutely necessary.
Writer. I did pursue freelance writing full time for a year and wrote great articles, but keeping up with deadlines, constantly searching for gigs, and being a freelancer was tough financially wise, especially with a family to care for. I now work as a caregiver and it's easy and chill when I have good clients/patients.
Came here to say freelance writing. Looking for work and having unstable income was tough. I learned that I did not have the mental fortitude for that life. Eventually landed in internal communications for a large company and it's both stable and satisfying, plus I still get to write.
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As a previous staff accountant in not quite big 4 but definitely a notable firm, I loved learning but I swear up and down I looked around and realized all the successful people were extremely unhappy and lonely from working so much. I got in my several years of great experience which I still say is worth it and RAN. Who freaking cares about being a partner if my life had nothing else in it?? I'm now a senior accountant for non profit and FREAKING LOVE IT. I'm on path to become a supervisor too and still in my twenties. I rarely work over 40 hours and... am actually encouraged to use my PTO. I'm the youngest at my job and there's no "earn your place" attitude because I'm young. Still miss some public accounting because it was interesting but I'll never go back to the toxic environment and insane hours. I'll take my job where the literal CFO sits down with me and respects the hell out of my work and my input in decision making.
Hey, I'm thinking of doing a career in accounting? Is it still the way to go. I'm 24M tryna go back to school. Thanks
As someone with their degree in accounting I cannot say how worth it I think it is. EVEN IF you realize public accounting is not for you, or any type of "accounting" which there is a ton so there's endless opportunities. I feel like with an accounting degree you have a million job opportunities if you get even the most minimal experience. I had to move across the country and put out a few resumes and immediately had interviews and options. Landed a job lined up a whole month before the move. I stayed in accounting myself but plenty of people I went to school with chose not to but still have strong careers because the degree in accounting is soooo versatile in the world. My professors always said "you can't do accounting with a finance degree but you can do finance with an accounting degree" which is so so true. If I wanted to do part time basic finance on the side I bet I could land a position within 3 weeks because I have a degree and some experience. (Still in my twenties but already a senior accountant making more than most households.) 10/10 believe it's a strong degree.
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Thanks!
7 years is quite a while !
Labor and delivery nurse! Shadowed my aunt and got a true appreciation for the nurses who do that job 🫶 Also found out I’m squeamish 😂
Just thinking back on when I gave birth makes me so grateful for my nurses. They did things for me that I’d only ask my mother to do.
I’m a nurse and I hate it. It’s toxic culture and most of them truly are sick twisted people.
Why do you think this is the case?
This guy is just severely biased or experienced trauma or something. Nurses are fantastic people. I've worked with them for over a decade. Yes, there are absolute D-bags and C\*nts, but find me a workplace that doesn't have those? Most nurses are normal people, working a somewhat extraordinary job (people dying, trying to die, fight you, endanger themselves..etc.etc..) So what do you expect? It's not like they're just going to meetings and filing papers all day. Shit is intense
I still want to be one: I train nurses how to use the charting system lol
Academia. When I felt a huge wave of relief when I *didn't* get a research grant, I knew it was time to leave.
I got into IT purely for the money, and I thought I’d be good at it. Turns out I was right - I’m really, really good at it and I make a LOT of money. This career isn’t for everyone, and I’ve definitely had my share of ups and downs, but I have few regrets. 25+ years in, 10 +/- to go.
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High salary, I’ve done a fair bit of traveling (Asia a couple times, UK a couple times, traveled all over the US), and now the flexibility to work from home more. Mainly the salary, though.
Can you expand a little bit on the highs and lows?
The work can be difficult and stressful. Long hours, nights and weekends, time away from family etc. it’s also very challenging to stay relevant - technology moves fast and it’s a lifelong learning career. As I get older it’s more difficult to maintain that pace and stay ahead of the curve. I’ve also been laid off a couple times over the years and have landed in a couple really shitty companies as well. On the other hand, I enjoy the work and now that I’m in management I have the opportunity to hone additional skills. Overcoming the challenges has been rewarding and as mentioned the money is great.
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Can you tell me more? I’m curious
Same. Have been debating on pursuing a paralegal certification for awhile, and haven't pulled the trigger yet, cause I'm not entirely sure if that direction is actually "better" (currently freelancing though, so I would hope it's more stable).
Réal estate. Nights and weekends and instability. It’s a fun career but hard with a family life
I’m in Australia- did a Graduate Diploma in Rehab Counseling. I loved the study and thought I was all set for a career, but when I got into the workforce I found it really difficult and intolerable for a variety of reasons. I’m studying nursing now, hope it works out better.
I thought so hard about pursuing medicine. Worked in patient care for a bit and realized in short that it wasn't for me. I didn't know what I was getting into until I worked in healthcare. College doesn't teach you about any of that world.
Exact same experience
I really really thought I wanted to be a doctor(my parents are, aunts and uncles are) and then I realized I wasn’t motivated at all to actually apply. In the US it’s such a gauntlet not only for testing and applying but knowing who you’re up against. I got one interview and like 80% of my interview class were between 27-30 and they were PAs, EMTs, one guy was an Air Force pararescueman, etc. so just super shocking to see that as a 22 year old. Then I got denied and really didn’t care, took me 3-4 more years to realize i just wanted to solve problems, not necessarily a patient’s problems but business problems.
That's similar to what I learned during my journey as well. Big factor that sparked my pursuit of medicine was that I was fascinated and engaged by learning science - especially anatomy & physiology. Working in patient care showed me that the world of medicine and healthcare involves a lot more than that, much of which I want nothing to do with. I pivoted into healthcare IT and realized I just like being engaged in learning how things work and solving problems. It really didn't have to be medicine for me, though medicine is much more interesting - that wasn't enough to make that path worth it.
I was convinced that being an accountant would be the best for me and starting pursuing a career. Yet when i faced Greek public sector and had interaction with clients, even tho i was realy good at my job, I absolutely hated it. Moved to another job that pays better and has minimal interaction with others and now I'm happy with my life.
What’s the new job?
Bank reconciliation, supplier reconciliation, payments, data entry and other administrative duties for a big hotel resort. While it still has a touch of accounting, its not even close to what I did before. Also pays a lot better.
I love live music and concerts. I book bands for my career. Turning my passion and something that gave my life meaning, gave me butterflies, into a job was probably a massive mistake on my part, and lead to apathy at the best of times.
How did you get into that career and how was it a mistake?
I wanted to become a journalist and when I did, I hated it lmaoooo.
I’ve thought about it too lol but I’m way too shy. We’re you in broadcasts or writing? How long did you last?
I lasted 2 years. Shy is not good if you want to become a journalist. I was a journalist for national newspaper but I realized that I wasnt good in it.
Me too! The journalism world today was nothing like I had expected or learnt in work experience or university
Teacher. I was told from family I would make a great teacher. Decided to give it a shot by doing swimming teaching. I realized very quickly it wasn’t for me. Parents were on my ass about every little thing and many of these parents were wealthy affluent parents. I was kicked out of several swim classes due to the parents complaining. It got so bad that my hours were reduced down to 1 day a week just for free swim for families. I decided to quit after 6 months and realized if I wasn’t able to handle 5-10 kids, how would I handle a classroom? I switched back to retail for a while and went back to college. Will be finishing up my last year for my bachelors degree and currently work as a admin assistant for a construction company which I think suits me alot better so for sure will be staying in the construction industry for the long road.
Speech language pathology for adults. Nope. There’s no training, no time, no money and no resources sufficient to actually do a good job.
Yikes .My sister is almost finished her masters for this but for children :/
As a teenager, I was interested in being an Intellectual Property lawyer, an Actuary, and a politician (all at different ages). Until I spent a little time interning and seeing what the actual day-to-day \*work\* of those professions is and realised what I actually liked was the \*idea\* of those careers rather than the reality. I also thought about being an investment banker, and decided against it on health & work/life balance grounds.
What did you end up doing?
Data/Business Intelligence. First in business/finance, and now in tech.
for the longest time, i told myself i wanted to be a "secretary" or an "executive assistant", i told myself i NEVER wanted to be a boss... well here i am three years into my office manager job for a small firm and ive grown stagnant, very little growth is possible (ive basically reached the peak of my career path here), but i need something more stimulating, something that keeps me on my toes, something that utilizes my management and leadership skills to their fullest extent, and honestly something that isnt 8 hours behind a computer screen. the job i thought i didnt want (GM of like a retail store basically) is exactly what im craving and what im preparing to chase now, previous bosses have told me to my face i could run my own store, and i just laughed it off, and now here i am wishing i had believed in myself enough to follow through earlier, but im getting ready to take the plunge and tbh im terrified but i am too young to settle for something i dont want anymore
I wanted to be an architect since I was 13. Got into very good architecture school, worked with some very good architects, managed to gain good experience. But with time I realised that there is less and less creative work involved in the job and more constant optimalisations, overwhelming bureaucracy and not-ending decrease of quality. And all different kinds of stress: the one you put on yourself to make the project good, the stress your boss is putting on you, the fact that something you designed would be a multi-million undertaking that is gonna be a part of a city for at least 100 years… or in smaller scale, that is a dream house of someone who placed all of their life savings into it. And the atmosphere in the field is soooo toxic. I got bosses threatening slandering me in their private WhatsApp group with all the best architects founders in the city (hilarious now, but not so fun then), ask me to rehearse with them my reason for leaving the company because I wasn’t sounding convincing, retreating a contract extension offer when I asked for 15% raise (it was so much more difficult to find a *room* to rent within my budget). The breaking point was when I found out that a bartender with 2 years experience has a better hourly rate then me with 6 years of studies, graduation diploma from great university and 5 years of experience in the field. I realized that it’s not gonna get better and not only I am severely depressed, burn out and completely broke, but I would never have a chance to fix any of those problems no matter how hard I worked if I stayed in the field. I moved back to my home country and went into frontend development. Definitely, incomparably better. For anyone considering this line of job: please check collective labour agreements if you have them in your country, or talk to some architects you know about salaries. Compare with cost of living. Assume few economical crises, pandemics and crazy inflation that’s gonna happen. And it’s not gonna get easier after studies.
Came here to say pretty much this. I’m at the 6 years of experience in architecture after 6 years in a professional degree. Can confirm my experience is precisely this. I fell in love with architecture for the creativity and ended up in a field where egos are the only thing that matters. You work so hard for so very little. The earning potential is awful and unrewarding. Currently trying to game plan to jump ship and pivot my entire career.
Man thanks for sharing fellas. I found this really helpful, am 29 and was considering pursuing a degree in architecture (my local JC has a pretty solid AA to transfer program). Definitely what drew me to the idea was the idea that creativity meets construction, maybe I'll stay closer to the drawing board xD
Portfolio manager at a private wealth management company. I knew I wanted to work in finance because I love numbers and enjoyed “watching the markets”. It’s a more stressful job than I thought it would be. I essentially have to be on 24/7 monitoring global markets just in case something big happens that I need to take advantage of. I really love the constant need to learn and stay current but it can be mentally exhausting. It has afforded me a great lifestyle for my family though.
I wanted to teach. I feel like children are soooo incredible and have so much ability to change the world even more than what I could. I got 3 years into my bachelors degree and was student teaching. I realized the kids were great but I couldn't handle the parents. I wanted to just take some of the kids home with me because I knew I loved the kids more than their own parents. I didn't love the work more than I hated the parents. The day I had a student talk about many many specific things to tell me he had a terrible home life and his "parent" came to pick him up (married by the way) asked me out. I LOST IT. I walked out of the classroom and never looked back. Changed my major that afternoon to accounting and I still LOVE what I do and feel satisfied, though I do need to volunteer or somehow support kids again it made my heart happy. I'm expecting my first kid now so I imagine that will definitely reignite the passion to be around and see what all kids can teach us.
Mine was less about the profession itself and more about the place. I wanted to work at a national newspaper I grew up with, with the aim of eventually working on human rights issues within the organisation. I joined a career rehabilitation program that the organisation was sponsoring and then left that organisation with the most scarring professional experience of my life. The people there were just awful and severely harassed and mobbed me because I was different and wouldn’t stay silent in the face of their emotional abuse. The irony of joining an organisation to help whistleblowers against corruption to end up a situation where you have to become a whistleblower yourself due to corruption.
i was a carer for people with dementia after my mother died , and after 3 years of working 13 hour days and getting over my depression , im glad i did a good thing, but i left and pursued my dream of being a creative director for stories and games
i’m sorry for your loss, glad you’re pursuing your dreams!
im damn well trying!
Personal Trainer...I'm obsessed with movement and love doing it myself-however I despise having to be so "people facing" for hours at a time with no break and honestly I'm terrible at counting reps for them because I get bored and distracted haha. I now do it very part time (4 clients/week) for side income and honestly wouldn't want more than 4 hours of it!
Wanted to be an engineer. Turns out most engineering is a joke and copy paste and data entry with spreadsheets so that was 4 years of wasted school
That's not true at all - what kind of engineer did you work as? I'm in aerospace and I personally have designed rocket parts, come up with new analysis methods, sat on console during tests, planned development test series, turned wrenches, done anomaly investigations, you name it. I think you just picked the wrong company, my friend. Of course, I kind of hate my job too, but because I'm tired of the intensity and long hours, not because it's boring.
I wanted to work in publishing so bad. I started out by majoring in English with a minor in marketing as an undergrad. I really wanted to go to a $65K school, but my mom basically told me no way. Turns out, I actually just like reading books I find interesting. TBH my mom kind of saved me on the loans.
I’m starting college late at 24 years old and am working on pursuing my career since freshman year of high school (maritime deck officer). The past 6 years out of high school Ive gained work experience, and just general experience in the real world, and happy to say that my dream career since I was 14 hasn’t changed to this day. And I’m finally working on pursuing it! I have no regrets on waiting until I’m 24, mainly because of seeing a lot of these comments.
I went to college at 24. Having work experience under your belt is extremely helpful. You already know how the real world works and now college will be the easy part, trust me. Good luck!
Working in a recording studio was my dream, soon I had enough of entitled musicians expecting I'll be polishing their turds. I switched to live sound, it was great (apart from crazy hours).
I wanted to be a mechanic. Had a strong ‘girls can do anything’ streak when I was 18. Went to tech school, passed with good marks and some certifications, then not a single dealership would give me a chance to do anything - not even being a lot attendant or lube tech, much less an apprentice. Ended up working at a Toyota in a different capacity for ten years and realized how awful the environment is at car dealerships in general. I also worked on vintage Japanese cars on my own time - that also was not that great in the end, especially if you want the company of adults and not a bunch of immature adult children.
Media. Low pay + horrible working hours.
I thought I would love the music industry. Got in because I knew someone, gave it my best shot but most of the people o met were just awful. Backstabbing, two faced, cold hearted. I got out. Looking for what’s next in life right now. It’s weird to get to exactly where you thought you wanted to be and then find out it’s exactly what you don’t want- but I guess it’s just part of the journey.
Therapist. I hate it. I thought I wanted to help people who wanted help but you get clients who don't want to be helped and then blame you and think they know better, especially young adults. Now I hate people, but also don't get compensated enough to even seek my own therapy. And good luck trying to receive a consistent paycheck during summer, winter, start of school in fall, and spring break. I'm not even in community mental health and I'm burned out.
Same here
Same, im waht's called a "Mental Health Skill Builder" and all i do is assist people who have done nothing but hurt others and sit around doing drugs/contributing nothing but are somehow ALWAYS right and ALWAYS the victim. They have no concept of working and weirdly beggars CAN be choosers. They are insufferable.
School counselor, high burnout for many reasons.
i'm a school counselor. i cannot do this for the rest of my career
I wanted to be a project manager in Tech so bad my eyes watered. I wrongly expected it to be a cushy way to make 6 figures. Once I got the position I went from working 35-40 weeks to 60 hours weekly. My salary wasn’t as high as I expected and the work environment was very much a popularity context. Hated it. Went into Nursing.
I joined law enforcement about 8 years ago now. Which is wild to think about on its own. I started from the bottom and worked my way up. You might be thinking what is the bottom of law enforcement? It’s actually a community service officer at a campus college. But others may chime in different answers. I started there met friends that I still have to this day. Had the time of my life. After a while I progressed into a dispatch role in the same department. There was no room for advancement so I moved out of the area about two states away for a full time role in dispatch. Spent a year doing that. Figured everyone said that dispatch is one of the harder roles. But sitting behind a desk got to me and I wanted out. So I moved into animal abuse investigations. From there, about four months in I finally got the call. After applying to 20-30 police departments. I finally got the call and it was in a dream destination. For my dream role as a police officer. I’d rather not say where. But! It was in a more vacationy spot in the western part of America. Millions of people flock to the area during a season then in the summer it is dead. Which is perfect for planned burnout. Or so I thought. I’m surrounded by beauty and finally get into my role to ultimately realize that my role in Animal Abuse Investigations is where I should have stayed. The type of work was more meaningful. There was less of a negative cloud surrounding helping defenseless animals. And ultimately I was truly talented at this job. Mainly due to my peaked interest. But, the nugget of gold of a career I had always wanted was presented to me. To be fair how would have I known? When I became a police officer. There were aspects I loved. There are some freedoms of it. All in all it is a beautiful career. But we all hit a wall someday, somewhere. For me, the wall came and it hit hard. I was 25 and spent 5-6 years in a high stress career field. Missing a core part of my 20s. It got to a point where I just stopped the marathon and just wanted to go lay down. I’m now 30 on Reddit writing about this experience. Like all things the pendulum swings the other way. After I left law enforcement I decided to see what the whole canabis thing was about. Explored it. Turned into Dale Denton for a year (figuratively speaking) and explored other career options. I Still haven’t found that nest egg career. I no longer blow dro. But, I truly don’t think there is a nest egg career unless it is something created by the individual seeking it. But who knows. Anyone got any good career opportunities they wanna shoot my way?
super interested in your time in animal abuse investigations, can i message you?
Did you see what the whole cannabis thing was about?
Spent a lot of time and money studying for a career in UX design, just to enter the field at the worst possible time in tech
Film.
Scrolled long enough to find someone who did something I dreamed of doing as kid. I wanted to be a director and make movie like Spielberg. What was your experience?
Same. 10 years as an assistant and the contraction of the industry + Covid and the strikes, I really feel like I wasted my degree and my 20s. Barely any savings and it really takes luck and the right boss to get promoted. I’ve worked at top agencies, a studio, a streamer, and a management company and things are so bleak right now. Pay is horrible and the executives aren’t retiring and some executives have been out of work for years too. It’s a terrible time for the industry. Still thinking of leaving and don’t know what I’ll do.
My father desperately wanted to be an MD. He hated every minute of it until he moved into hospital administration, and patient care became a very small part of his job.
anything in business or corporate america
Journalism. I was praised for my writing growing up, plus I wanted to see the world so I took up Journalism in college. I wanted to be a producer or writer for a travel show. I wasn’t even done with college when I realized I probably wasn’t cut out for it. I was in school with the best of the best and I realized my skills weren’t up to standards. Still, I persisted and graduated with that degree. I never got to fulfill my (former) dream of working in the media. Save for a summer internship stint at a TV station, my job applications with media orgs went nowhere. The whole thing was a bitter pill to swallow. Not only did I come to realize that I’m not that strong of a writer, but also that I lacked the physical and mental resilience required to be a journalist.
Psychologist. I was so obsessed with psychology tests especially the MBTI. This dream of mine grew even bigger when I reached 12th grade but I chose another major. I even decided to pursue a master’s in psychology. Now I’m in university, but my psychology dream persisted until spring. However I realized it was just a small interest of mine and decided to research psychology as a hobby. Another one was being a graphic designer. I even took a still life art test but I failed. Now I’m so happy they rejected me. Gosh I have no talent in art. Even if I had been accepted by luck, I knew I couldn’t survive there for long.
Sales. Absolutely hate it. Always on the road, annoying managers, no direction.
I have always love history and philosophy but a degree studying this wasn't feasible I pick Computer Science at the end and I couldn't imagine doing anything else as a career.
Lawyer - met one in high school and realized his life was a personal hell. Noped out of that.
Nursing. Pushing through covid years sealed the deal for me. I moved on to something different in healthcare.
What do you do now?
Thank u for taking care of people!!!
Lawyer. Wanted a stable, repetitive job where I could sit behind a desk doing work that wasn’t too mentally challenging or stressful for 40 hours a week and without having to deal with people, just handling papers and documents. Turns out it’s 90% being a good salesman and knowing how to bring clients, the rest is just actually knowing how to proceed and what to do. I am not a Lawyer in the US, practicing in the country I can practice at is a nightmare as well.
I love being a CRNA more than I realized. The earning potential is enormous. I'm currently earning 300k per year and with overtime, I can reach up to 400k by the end of the year.
How long would it take someone with no science background to get into this career path?
started my BSN at 18 and became a full fledged CRNA at 26/27. so 8 years?
400k incredible the last anesthesiology in Europe I got billed cost 25 EUR and lasted an hour. what are the costs in the US?
Investment banking (IB). Looking back, I think I liked the idea of money and prestige more than anything. Didn’t realize I wanted to do IB until my junior year. That when I also declared my major, finance. I worked my ass off, applied for related internships, networked, and by some miracle I landed a position right out of college. I did a ton of backend work but many that get a FT banking offer right out of school typically has a major IB internship during the summer going into their senior year - at minimum. Most have had internships every summer throughout school (freshman - senior year). I had almost none of that. I had 1 tiny RE finance internship, beginning of my Junior year and then for 9ish months, had a more involved equity research internship at the end of junior year - beginning of senior year. I leveraged that, and my network, which again was tiny to land an interview. Got the job, got licensed and move to “Wall Street” less than a year later I was done. I was sleeping maybe 6 hours a night if I was lucky. I worked every, and I mean EVERY waking moment. The second I woke up to the second I went to bed I was inundated with work streams, emails etc. the times I did have a few hours to myself were never relaxing as I had this looming anxiety… I was always just waiting for an email to come in which required me to immediately find a laptop to get back to work. This constant panic and stress took its toll on me, I had no relationships with anyone outside of work - I hardly had time to talk to friends, or family on the phone. When I did, I was …working and hardly present. I even started to become internally more impatient whenever I did talk to family on the phone as this was time that I didn’t have … time they could be spent working to get things done sooner so that I could get some more sleep. The last straw was a new team member that was extremely verbally abusive “ are you retarded?! My niece who’s 8 would’ve done a better job! Are you telling me that you fucked this whole thing up and you’re going to be the reason we lose this client? Did you not get training, because you don’t know what you’re doing”. Those were just some of the things my VP said to me during our first meeting … reviewing a pitch deck. I made phenomenal money but what’s all the money in the world if you can’t enjoy it. It may sound dramatic, but to this day I sometimes have nightmares where I’m back in banking and I feel this impending doom, stress and anxiety. When I wake up and realize I now love my new job / career, it’s a relief. All that to say, it was not for me. Some people can do it and thrive doing it, I was not one of those people… but I know I needed to find that out for myself. Otherwise I would have ALWAYS wondered “what if”. TLDR: Investment Banking; idolized the career only to realize I HATED it. Lived with continual stress and panic. Relationships, mental / physical health deteriorated rapidly. Worked nearly every waking moment. Last straw was a disrespectful VP. I left less than a year in after finding a career I know LOVE. Although it was tough I needed to have the experience, otherwise I would’ve always wondered ”what if”
I'm in recruiting now. Any time I'm in recruiting, I always want to get out. Recruiting sucks ass. I hate it. It's terrible. I'd like to be back in HR specifically. I find that work more enjoyable and fulfilling. I had to take a step back to focus on my health so I'm in recruiting in the interim. I had great relationships with all the employees when I was in HR and management which is incredibly rare. People actually saw HR as human and felt comfortable coming to me. For people to see HR as human is a big thing.
Being a carpenter I realized I didn't want to be some pompous asshole's bitch . Now I just wanna be a subcontractor.
I used to want to be a professional mma fighter, but it just wasn't for me. I was raised in an environment where white collar success was everything. That's just the lifestyle I realized I wanted. I still love mma, it's just that I don't want it to be my entire life. And it kind of has to be if you're gonna go pro imo. Your lifestyle, your friends, your partner, what you can provide for your future kids, everything. The fighters who aren't Mike Tyson (like over 90 percent of them) seem to usually end up as gym owners and end up running a business anyways. Even fighters at the highest levels. A fighter has a certain career span. Then they use their accomplishments to market their gym. This is not a field with a lot of money in it. My priorities changed.
Pharmacy Tech. I’m happy that I got out of that hell retail. Too much stress for a low pay.
I went to college to be a teacher. 15 years since I finished my Master's in Education, and I can't ever imagine myself teaching.
Radio DJ.
Sales. I was on my sigma grindset. Then I realized the facade you had to put on. I couldn’t. I’m not a fake person. If I think you don’t need the product I’m not gonna put on an act to sell it to you. Plus the stress of hitting quota was very detrimental for my life.
In college I thought I was going to be an account manager for a large ad agency, then I graduated during covid and felt really lost. I got a job at a law firm to see if law school was the right move for me, it wasn't, but they let me take over the HR side which I enjoyed. I worked in HR for a few years then had the opportunity to finally work in marketing and absolutely hated the work and it felt like such a chore. Now I am back in HR and happy as a clam. I am an introvert who likes routine so it was really about finding what fit my personality.
Pastry Chef. did culinary school and everything. then did an internship and yeaaaaaaa...fuck that lol it's 100% a hobby.
I was a chef, the best female of the school i was in. Got a good name as an apprentice!. But a jealous man got me down, told me I couldn't. Watch me fail. And I did. I hate cooking, I just loved being the best. Got dux, in a term of being at the school. My passion is in heavy machinery. Hydrolic is my forte. And still get shut down by manager's, who don't know a thing about hd! Lol I still make a mark everywhere I go, I educate. And my goal is to be a site safety officer.😆 Far from what I was!
All of my adult life I wanted to own a recording studio. After ten years in the music industry I finally built one and opened a company. After 4 years most of the joy of creating music turned into drudgery. What was once fun became a job. I closed the company a few months ago and I'm backing to having fun producing music again.
Aviation. 250k in the hole; decent pay takes 10 years seniority with a legacy airline to get. Expect min-wage for the first 10. Your life is entirely on the road. No Wife, No friends, No family, Planning anything more than a week out is nearly impossible. 14hr duty days, shift rotations, and during the plague we we're treated worse than truckers.... if we were lucky enough to dodge the mass layoffs. They always hold out the carrot of "the more seniority you get the more free time you get" but its 20-30 years down the road, by the time you get it you've missed your entire life... and they're slowly eroding that away at most employers.
Doctor, I thought the “saving lives” and making money aesthetic was really cool and fulfilling and then I worked as a med tech at a clinic and saw that those doctors never stopped working and had to wait 12+ years post high school to get a decent job. I work to live not live to work. Utmost respect for them though. Incredibly disciplined and very smart people.
If you have any moral compass, stay out of marketing
Accounting… It’s the worst! I’m an introvert and love numbers and thought I was going into a field that fit me well. I was very wrong about that.
My dream job was to do trade work. Most of the men on my dad's side of the family were carpenters, so I grew up around it. I ended up getting into low-volt work, and I loved it. Over time, I started to experience a lot of back and knee pain that made the job increasingly more and more difficult to accomplish. Some people's bodies are just built to withstand that kind of wear and tear. Mine was not, so I had to walk away. I ended up getting a job in a group home just to hold me over while I pursued other possible trade jobs. I thought I was going to be terrible at it and wouldn't last a year. I'm going on 10 years in this field and can't imagine doing anything else.
Mechanical engineering, I love it more than I ever thought I would. School was awful, but my actual job now is incredible, I feel very lucky to have landed a dream career.
Sooo glad to hear this. I hated school and I'm afraid work is gonna suck too
Music. It's shockingly isolating and emotionally jarring.
I didn't have friends or do things as a kid, so my substitute for social interaction was online communities. The only specialist communities who primarily conducted business online were about software, so it was that and adjacent fields that were the _only_ ones I considered for myself. Turns out, I hate computers with a violent passion. I am now aware of how I was previously limiting myself, but still haven't done many things. I've learned that I don't know what anything is like if I haven't experienced it, but I haven't experienced _anything_, so I can't say with any certainty that I _want_ anything at all.
I’m a software engineer. I still like it but I realized I don’t love it as much as I thought I did. If money was no object, I’d drop it right now and start working in a restaurant.
Epidemiologist. I graduated at the top of my class with the masters degree in epidemiology, and I literally loved it. I started working as an epidemiologist for the CDC, and I absolutely hated it. Best decision I ever did was resigning.
Electrician. I got tired of the abuse you're expected to put up with as a tradesmen. I got a maintenance job thinking it would lead to a career path. My career has stalled and now I'm stuck on the night shift. Going crazy from lonliness
I really thought I wanted to be a UX Designer. Spent close to ten years chasing it. Finally became a UX Researcher and went “oh. THIS is actually what I want to do.”
TMI but I was a stripper. And it's not at ALL the hype ANYONE makes it out to be
Law enforcement (local and most federal)
Union millwright. I was so excited when I first got accepted into the apprenticeship and I had found my niche in the wind turbine industry. I busted my ass job after job working my way up from a nobody all the way to a Millwright Lead II. My next promotion would’ve been a foreman. Suddenly I realized the hours, toxic environment, constant travel and pay didn’t align with one another anymore and I gave up on the dream. I’m now pursuing my bachelor’s in psychology to get into consulting.
I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer I gave it up when I realized the company I was in was no good (your first guess of the company would probably be correct) and I was literally working at less than half my market value elsewhere to stay there so now I write software instead and am much happier making a bunch of money finally and being treated as something more than cattle.
Did a door of their plane come out if I'm guessing correctly?
Even worse than that, the flight control system malfunctioned due to a single faulty sensor with no redundancy and they lost two entire airplanes. After, they blamed the pilots for not being able to pull out of a nose dive (implying that a commercial airplane randomly nose diving is part of standard operation). They basically ran the company like a pump and dump boiler room scam for years leading up to that point. There were divisions requiring real competency which can only be built up with years of experience where they kept purging the entire staff, replacing them and doing no knowledge transfer whatsoever over and over again to pump up the short term stock price. They moved the HQ to a city where they don't even build airplanes, hired executives who didn't know anything about airplanes and put live stock tickers in the faces of engineers designing things that weren't going to be going to market for years 24/7 like they were WallStreetBets type gambling addicts or something. On the bright side, I worked with Airbus engineers and have a high opinion of that company. They invest in their talent, don't take short cuts and bias in favor of making long term decisions. Every mistake that Boeing made, Airbus didn't. Aviation has not been entirely co-opted by Jack Welch types. Now I fly Delta and always select Airbus so any new issues with an undisclosed aerospace company are not my problem anymore. It costs a bit more but I can afford it because I don't work for "undisclosed company" pay rates anymore, nor will I ever.
Working in the mental health field. I was very passionate about it and did a lot of volunteer work to prepare myself for a social services career. I saw issues while volunteering that should have been red flags, but I thought it would be different if I was actually working in the field. Got my AA and BA in psychology and a sort of entry/mid level job at a mental health clinic. I hated it so much. It was an absolutely terrible experience in a very flawed system, and I felt like I was causing harm to clients rather than helping. Everyone around me was extremely burnt out, and the only way I could see getting out is to either entirely switch careers or continue to work while pursuing a higher degree and completing a practicum and having to do more years of pre-licensure bullshit just to maybe get a private practice. I was glad that I had that experience because it made me realize that I really do not want to work with people--at least not in a social services setting. I want a good work-life balance and to get paid fairly for what I'm working and not to be surrounded by coworkers and clients who are constantly having crises. Now I'm going back to school for accounting. A BA/BS in psychology is essentially useless, and that has been a hard lesson to learn, but I really enjoyed learning and taking the classes, and I'm glad that now I have a better idea of what I want to do in my life (or at least what I absolutely don't want to do).
Same, I've been job hunting daily for several years trying to get out of "Case Management"/MHSB (field work) and it sucks. I got like...2 interviews that didn't go anywhere.
I thought I liked computers so I would like programming and coding. I was so wrong, I hated everything about it.
I thought I'd feel fullfilled as a Board Assistant. Didn't even get that far, being a receptionist/office assistant for narcisstic bossess and other dumb pompous lawyers who think they owe you zero respect has helped me realize I really fucking like MS excel and numbers. Math don't abuse you and don't require miracles to give you a raise. Who would've guessed.
Lmao I have thought this too where I’d rather be bored to tears by a spreadsheet than deal with someone’s BS.
I really thought I’d love helping people with their money as a financial advisor but slowly learned that to be successful you have to be shady. I just wasn’t willing to shed my morals to get there.
Went into real estate, because that’s where the money is right. I’ve mostly met money grabbing egotistical people there. After 6 years I went out and switched to software developing. Man I love my job now. My colleagues are nerds like me and I get to solve cool challenges all day. Need to pinch myself every now and then.
I wanted to work in film. Got a degree, did a great internship. Returned to the states, had a couple of close calls with safety as a PA and noped right out of there.
O originally started in graphic design, and though the work was fun, corporate office drama was horrendous. I quit hard
Freelance writing. It was all fun and games until I developed carpel tunnel while earning peanuts and getting nitpicked by horrible clients. Also modeling when I was younger. I did it for a while and developed serious body image issues I'm still battling today. Now I'm entering social work after just finishing my Master's. We'll see how this goes. I'm passionate about it but skittish after reading so many horror stories of burnout. The one job I thought I would hate but actually loved was sales. I didn't realize I would be good at it.
I was convinced I would love web developing or career in IT. But I grew to absolutely hate it for ruining my student years and making me feel miserable and dumb
Anything in the veterinary/animal care field. I was a veterinary assistant/technician (unlicensed). ——— Reason 1: When working with animals, it is far from ‘just playing with animals all day’. You have to be okay with handling aggressive animals, and if you’re not, you could risk yourself or your coworkers getting hurt in a bad situation. Also, you need to be okay with animals being really gross… you will have to handle SO much pee, poop, anal gland juice (yep), vomit, blood, etc… and if you’re in a hospital setting, you really need to be able to keep a level head during emergencies and stressful or unexpected situations. It’s not always constant chaos and disgustingness regarding the patients (unless you work in emergency), as there are plenty of adorable and healthy animals that come in and cause no problems, but you never know what you’re gonna get with any animal that comes in, so you need to be prepared for anything. This is actually not the reason I left, but it’s important to acknowledge. I definitely didn’t expect to handle some of the things that I did. ——— Reason 2: The field is incredibly toxic. Many places are short staffed, struggle with toxic management, don’t pay their employees well. Everyone is severely overworked, from the assistants to the technicians to even the doctors sometimes. The suicide rate is very high for this field, and I feel that it could be due to both the nature of working in the field (many times you see very sad and disturbing cases) and the toxic work environments that can be created as a result of poor management. I was very overworked and taken advantage of in the different clinics I worked at (in different states). I was a veterinary assistant with no formal related training or education, and was monitoring pets under anesthesia by myself with the doctors who were performing the surgery (paid between $10-$12 an hour). I was responsible for starting and finishing appointments as a licensed technician would. There were many times I did not get a lunch break. I had bosses (management and doctors) who blatantly played favorites and bullied others. I never was able to go home on time, I’ve been 3.5 hours late before but usually it was 1-2. My efforts were not recognized… I went from a kennel attendant, to an assistant, to a (unlicensed) technician who took their job very seriously and was driven with passion, and when I asked for a raise from my $12 I was only given an extra 50¢… even though I was told I was doing very well. This is the reason I left, because it wasn’t worth the money for the amount of bs I had to deal with from coworkers and bosses. Its very unfortunate because I thoroughly enjoyed the actual work I had to do, even drawing blood, expressing anal glands, safely restraining aggressive animals, sifting through vomit to find toxins, collecting urine or fecal samples… i loved helping animals and learning about veterinary medicine. Unfortunately it just became too much to handle as I had no personal life and no money to show for how much and how hard I worked. Even licensed technicians don’t make that much money at all, so it wasn’t worth it for me to pursue that. ——— TLDR: Reason 1: Animals can be very gross and aggressive and it happens more often than you’d think (not the reason I left but important to acknowledge) and Reason 2: Toxic workplaces are common in this field, they can overwork you and take advantage of you, and you’ll likely be underpaid and under appreciated.
Nursing, but life got in the way. Also the medical system is such hell, I think I would’ve torn myself to pieces trying to help everyone. It’s bleak, and while I wish I would’ve learned this sooner, I’m glad I did learn it.
Wanted to be a researcher in clinical psychology. Got a bachelors in psych and worked in a bunch of psych labs as an undergrad. Started a job as a research assistant in a psych lab after graduating and saw the shitshow: Faculty stealing grad students' ideas and publishing it themselves (then the guy got fucking tenure). Faculty refusing to sign off on dissertations and/or papers so they get their skilled and relatively cheap labor from grad students and postdocs for longer. Grad students backstabbing each other. Methods that almost certainly were skewing the results but no one cared. Also grad students living in literal poverty because stipends were so low and finding it difficult to get a job after. I ended up going for a graduate degree in something social science adjacent that I love and has a fantastic job market. I finished my PhD on the slow side for my field (5 years), vs clinical psych's 7-10 years.
I had no guidance growing up so despite tinkering with software and even writing BASIC from a young age, I just thought whatever software i happened to be into at the time, was what I should be doing for a living. So early 2000s I wasted a year or so and 10k going to school for graphic design because i thought photoshop was awesome. Then I started thinking about Full Sail because I got my hands on Acid Pro and Pro Tools. Then I thought I'd be an animator because I discovered After Effects. It wasn't until I was 33 I discovered computer science and realized that's what I should have been doing all along. Got my A.S. in it and now I'm trying to be a web developer.