To ask whether you judge someone based on their occupation?

[lushilaoshi]

I am sometimes judged (I think) a bit harshly based on my occupation. It can be a bit of a conversation killer, sometimes.

So without revealing yet what I actually do, if I were to say (for instance) that I am a City lawyer, what assumptions would you make about me? Would you take an instant dislike? Versus if I were to tell you that I am, for example, a languages teacher?

I think I can predict some answers, but I am curious about what characteristics are attributed to certain occupations, and whether justified. And in particular, whether gender makes any difference to your judgement?

I get abuse or a list of complaints when I say what my ( fairly innocuous ) job is....or a ten minute lecture on how we shouldn't exist. Ridiculous since it's such a nothing job really.

Old bloke: So do you have children?
Hugh Grant's dad: Yes, I have 2 sons
OB: how wonderful, what do they do?
HGD: Well one is a merchant banker, and the other is an world famous actor.
OB: How fascinating. Which bank?

chandler, did you ever have to use that computer programme at school that asks you loads of different questions about your personality etc and then gives you a list of suggested occupations at the end? that was my school's idea of careers advice... I remember it telling me I should be a lumberjack.

and by the way I have met lovely estate agents, bankers etc. just giving examples!

Trainee psychotherapist here.

People either ask if I'm analysing them, want to tell me all their problems (fine if you're a client, not fine when I'm socialising) or tell me therapy is made up/bourgeois/self-indulgent.

I wouldn't judge, as people I enjoy spending time with have a variety of jobs. However, if I meet someone new, there are some jobs that might inspire me to ask interested questions about a their work, and other jobs where I wouldn't know where to start, so would talk about something else instead.

I'm a careers adviser - people say 'oh can you find me a job then hawwwwhawwwhawww' when I tell them - it's so so funny every time

Oh god lush yy... Remember it well! It was so fricking obvious what they were going to magically come up with based on the questions.

Are you a Policewoman?
A Tory MP?
A prison officer in Saudi arab prison?

I agree with the pp who said that we do assumptions. To use your example when i hear 'lawyer' i think 'ambitious'.
Language teacher not so.
The assumptions are not in terms of 'good' and 'bad' person but some character traits that needed for the job.

However i am sure people assume 'thick' and 'loser' for some jobs. I have seen it hear on threads about supermarkets and retail employees.

me and my husband were looking for a flatmate last year and we interviewed a few people. one of them was a mortician. poor guy, he probably had terrible problems trying to find a room!

Some people of my parents generation, aged early 70s, Ive heard say " she was a teacher you know" or "worked as a consultant (some sort of medic)" or " They were an XX, that was a good job in our day" etc.

Really, Im long in the tooth now and know with a bit of hard work/ luck/ intelligence people can go far and sometimes it doesnt work out even if you do have the aforementioned.

I honestly dont care/judge but might wonder how you got where you are. I have a really wide range of friends: some are successful solicitors, contractors earning £450 per day, cleaners and hospital care assistants.

I can get on well with someone who earns £100k just as well as someone who earns £15k.

If someone has got an interesting job, I will be nosey.

Sex of a person in a particular job? Not sure.

Ive observed colleagues/ people who Im acquaintances with be dismissive of people who are not deemed to be in important enough jobs by them. That is just plain rude.

Egg trust me I used to try to explain what type of IT I do, but so many people fell asleep during the explanation that I don't bother any more.

I'm a BSL interpreter.

"Sorry, what??" says noone ever.

Pinch yes

My mother speaks about my db neighbour....'he's a top surgeon you know....dresses so ordinary though you'd never know'

As if she'd expect him to wear a suit and stethoscope or scrubs on the school run.

My job title is incredibly long winded and draws comment if I give it in full. However if I cba and just give the name of the department I work in, it's quickly skipped over

I'm a 6 foot male childcare worker. I get judged, but not to my face.

I get hugely judged (I think) because I'm a bar maid. I've got a fairly decent degree, but until our youngest goes to school we just can't balance the books if we pay for full time childcare and I'm only in an entry level position.

DP works odd shifts so this works best for us, for the moment.

An abattoir worker may be judged by me…I honestly do not know how anyone could do such a job.

I work in Human Resources which is a profession that seems to be subject to many judgements & preconceptions - generally bad!

Not unless you're a bailiff of a snoop for the DWP.

An abattoir worker may be judged by me…I honestly do not know how anyone could do such a job.

Nor me. Especially the ones who throw the fluffy little yellow chicks into the shredding machines.

But that probably makes me an outrageous hypocrite, since a vegeterian I am not.

Please explain it to me Sweet - I did get one person to tell me what they did, it was creating systems for a large company and the intricate details. I was completely fascinated.

I have started to learn coding and trying to get computer science geek DH to explain the inner workings to me. It is so interesting. Should note that DH doesn't work in IT though and he always laughs about the IT people who tell him that he wouldn't understand what they do.

OK I'm going to come clean: I am in fact a corporate type lawyer. I will immediately defend my career choice by telling you that I work in the renewable energy sector in developing countries, so not majorly evil. but when I tell people I'm a lawyer I get (i) how can you sleep at night defending people you know are guilty (I'm not a criminal lawyer...), (ii) you must be really clever (err, I guess? though I know some bloody stupid lawyers) or (iii) you must be rich (its a well paid job but I am drowning in debt from years of training and definitely not all lawyers are well paid).

I think a lot of the misconceptions come from peoples' experiences with divorce lawyers, unfortunately. and American TV dramas (no we do not stand up and shout 'I object!' in court. it's waaaay less exciting).

but I do sometimes feel like I should be ashamed of my job, rather than proud.

someone once told my brother, when he told them that he is a soldier, that he must enjoy killing people

Pumpkin - ooh I think that must be a great job. My mother tried learning BSL, and I remember the paperwork. It was tough and that was only level 1!

I have 2 jobs. I'm a newly qualified tattoo artist (in the studio 15 hours a week, when I was an apprentice I was on a low wage so couldn't afford to rely on it) and work in sales for 20 hours a week.
I never admit to the former, though. I tend to get so many annoying questions its unreal. the worst for me is "Oh i'll LET you tattoo me" No, I'm the artist, I'm a professional and you're really not doing me a fucking favor can you tell it pisses me off? I might sound a bit up myself but after 2yrs of doing grunt work as a trainee and then another 2.5yrs tattooing occasionally under the close supervision of an experienced and qualified tattooist (perfectly legal and part of training) and then finally getting licensed I get VERY annoyed when people make it sound like i'm doing them a favor! its also generally assumed that I have an NVQ/Degree of some form in art. Nope, I was home schooled (Dyslexia and in an awful school which did nothing for me and made no allowances) and at 15 turning 16 went to the studio with my sister while she got her tattoo done, saw they were looking for an apprentice and boom. thats how I got started! however if I say I work in sales I get raised eyebrows and its generally assumed (and has been said to me) that I must be a thick shit to do such a job! I can't win, i'm either a thick shit or have 101 annoying statements and questions to deal with.

Are you a law lecturer?