Tell me something about your job which surprises you

[NoEffingWay]

I work in mental health. Most people seem to think it's a bit 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' when in reality 90% of my work is helping lovely people who have an illness get better or cope better with their symptoms. I really love going to work, and despite staffing being a nightmare it's usually a happy place to be.

What assumptions do people make about what you do that is completely wrong.

I manage a children's home, it's not at all like Tracy Beaker! I spend
most of my time dealing with staffing issues and writing reports. People are usually surprised that staff go to bed and sleep at work doing 25 hour shifts

Mum was a cleaner in the theatres at a hospital. Loved her job, people etc stayed almost 30 years. Im told most other staff spoke to her like she was shit on their shoes but consultants were the most down to earth, respectful people ever, often telling them without them they wouldn't be able to operate.

@dooratheexplorer

You surely realise that career average pension is exceptionally good???

^ this with bells on!

Sorry, but I assume you're in a union?

Should we not aspire to at least that?

Where are we when we 'sneer' at the sheer arrogance of someone assuming their post-work income won't be penury?

They have so got us where they want us.

I'm a dentist. I've got a £400k business loan that I've barely started paying off. I drive a rusty 12 year old car, and I've not earned a penny since March.

I work in clothing retail, I am educated to degree level as are most colleagues or they are students on the way to a degree. The full time workers are mainly all business, art or fashion graduates. It is probably unfair but retail jobs are not as easy to get as they once were. I think this is partly why people who struggled at school find getting work harder now more than ever, factories and heavy industry have disappeared etc even though my job is easy, my employer is getting a skilled work force on the cheap. They want us all multi tasking, you could be doing admin one shift and working on till the next.

Paramedic.

Most common misconception is that we work from/for hospitals.
We do not.
The (insert ambulance service) is an NHS trust in its own right. We are not affiliated to any hospital.
If i had a fiver for every time someone has asked me which hospital I'm from I could probably afford to retire at 60. Instead of 67.

How effing busy it is, even on supposedly quiet days.

How after years of working there, a client/customer can still ask me things and I’m like

@outttcast

I'm a dentist. I've got a £400k business loan that I've barely started paying off. I drive a rusty 12 year old car, and I've not earned a penny since March.

Crikey - although I’m sure your skills will be in huge demand once this is all over. The nation will have no teeth left soon if dentists can’t get back to routine appointments!

@dooratheexplorer

You surely realise that career average pension is exceptionally good???

^ this with bells on!

I didn't say it wasn't. I said that lots of people assume it's final salary which would be a lot more.

I own my business so people assume I work 24/7.

I don’t. I work max 15 hours a week.

Then they assume I’m making 15 hours worth pay wise.

I’m not. So far this year I’ve made 6 times my previous (40 hour work week) corporate salary from my middle management job.

@treefallingdown - I remember DS2 being referred to Speech & Language therapist because he refused to eat (severe GERD and ASD). I was so bemused. He was toddler who spoke very well for his age. I had no idea what the referral was about.

I'm an accountant with a mixed tax specialism who does a lot of advisory and tax planning work.

You don't have to be particularly good at maths. Virtually all the day to day maths involved would be easy enough for a moderately bright twelve year old.

You do have to know how to interpret the numbers, of course.

But a bigger part of the job is being able to place the numbers in a real life context and explain them so that a client will understood and assist them in making the correct choices for their circumstances.

Essay and report writing skills have come in far more useful than mathematics.

I never knew that about speech and language therapists until recently.

Another accountant. Many of DH’s (particularly older, male) colleagues have said that it seems like long hours for pin money and wouldn’t I be happier at home or being in the admin team at his school. Watching their faces as DH gently explains that I outearn him is a picture.

Lesson: the roles in a Finance team are very varied.

Hotelier. A shocking number of grown men wet the bed when drunk. We have two waterproof mattresses on every bed.

I'm a childminder and it shocks me a alot to see the (for the most part) little Angels that spend the day with me, turn into little demons when their parents come. It shocks me more to see what some parents put up with and laugh at. I have my own 2 children so am well aware of how differently children behave for other people, bit can never get over parents laughing of their children hitting them kicking them etc, and acting as though there is no way they could possibly retrain a 2 year old.

I am also shocked by the number of children I get that do tiny little shits all through the day. Just always a little bit in their nappy (sorry tmi) I've had about 5 different children do that.

I work in finance for care homes. Unfortunately one of the most surprising things about my job is how many families steal from their parents, mismanage their finances and rinse them for every penny they've got!

As a midwife i often get comments that I "must love babies" or people assume I spend all my time cuddling babies. While I do occasionally spend time on a night shift cuddling a baby, my job is actually very varied and most of the time the baby has not yet been born or if it has been born then most of my time is spent supporting the parents to care for their own baby. I love spending time with women and families, pregnant women, new mothers, new fathers, besotted grandparents etc. The babies are just a bonus

I work in outbound telesales and actually DO NOT COLD CALL PEOPLE! All of my leads are warm where customers have expressed interest and ask for a call. It’s more customer servicey if anything. I also get paid much more than people expect. They assume I’m on minimum wage, last year I took home 26k which isn’t mega money but probably a good 8-10k more than most expect.