AIBU to ask whether it's possible to have a decent paying job with minimal stress?

[Elasticity]

I'm a recently qualified accountant. I qualified in practice and found it too stressful there - juggling too many client projects and quite a lot of driving on commutes to client sites and overtime.

I've recently started a new job in industry (i.e. within a business). I find this new job is equally stressful - whilst there isn't an expectation for you to work overtime, during the time I'm at work I seem to have multiple pulls by different line managers (I work across a few departments) and constant small bits of unexpected/unplanned work and requests to have calls and have meetings. Every day feels like a mad rush and I seem to only get maybe 40% of my time to actually sit down and crack on with the work I have to deliver.

I struggle to switch off at the end of the day as I always feel anxious about what the workload will be the next day, the next month etc. I have a work phone with access to emails which I find I check in the morning before I even head to work and sometimes in the evenings.

In an ideal world I would have a simple 9-5 job with simple tasks reporting to only 1 or 2 people, but still be paid well, and where I can simply forget about work once I step out the office.

Do such roles exist?

Does anyone here work in a well paid job that isn't stressful or pressured?

Me. I do digital marketing for a global healthcare company. Healthcare is notoriously paid over the odds, and the rate of change is slow at my company with only a few major campaigns a year.

I really rate pharma and healthcare for supporting functions like finance, law, HR and so on.

Yes! Yes! I’m a rare lucky fucker to have it. I work freelance from home in digital marketing/projects. I haven’t had a moments stress in the 5 yrs I’ve been doing it. I find the work easy. I’ve never had a bad client and it’s strictly 9-5 with no commute. I earn well enough to cover all family costs, inc mortgage and childcare, for a family of 6.

I will be teaching my kids entrepreneurship over academics as hopefully a way to their freedom too. Even if they enter a profession it should help them see a gap to set up independently from the rat race if they need to.

HeyMikey, snap.

No, It does not exist. The stress free jobs aren't paid well in my experience.

Yes absolutely. You've done the right thing moving to an industry position rather than agency per se. Now you just need to find the right business to work in.

Not accountancy (although I know a LOT of both firm and business accountants) but I used to do my role in an agency. I moved client side into an organisation and I earn a bit less money for more enjoyment and far less stress. I would say I get paid above the equivalent level of stress agency side. It's definitely possible. I earn my age (my marker of success) and I make much more impact.

What do mean by 'well paid'? I earn just over 23 grand a year which isn't loads, but I only work 24 hours a week (three days 9-5) in a very low stress job. I earned 35 grand a year doing the same job full time until recently and I think that's pretty good for a stress free living!

I do auditing which I can forget about as soon as I get home

Heymicky and hideandgo - what are the entry routes other than a degree in marketing or similar? Too late for me to change?

Mistermagpie - I suppose £40k+?

I had a fairly complex admin job for around £20k which was so chill, once you knew what you were doing it was easy, the team were good fun and you could listen to music on your phone/iPod all day. But I left that to do the accountancy job and get qualified. Going back to that kind of salary for trivial, forgettable work wouldn't be possible now as I need to buy a house!

I think it depends on what you find stressful. I don’t find my job stressful but I know lots that do. What you might find stressful others won’t and vice versa.

Stick with accountancy. My current accounting job is 9-5, low stress and in a great location. I’ve had more stressful roles in the past though. Teams that were badly organised in companies facing cuts or cash flow crises. So much depends on the organisation you work for so be very choosy when you go for your next role.

OP, it’s not the marketing that’s worth doing these days, it’s the digital. I did however start in traditional advertising which included digital projects. Then worked in hardware/software integrated projects and from that got work project managing digital programs which are marketing based but it’s more the digital knowledge that I use than marketing knowledge. It’s an area that has lots of work these days and is quite future proof I feel but you could try to specialise in SEO work, digital development, data systems, digital security, or some other discipline. I work across a lot of those but not deeply in any.

Oh and salarywise £40-100k is not unusual I feel.

Stress is different for different people.

I would find working freelance very stressful, even if the work itself isn't.

The most stressful job I had was managing a team of salesmen because I was under a lot of pressure for their results but didn't have the skills to manage them.

My current job is technically demanding and involves being pulled in all directions but I enjoy the challenge and don't find it stressful at all because I'm confident in my ability to do it well.

A square peg in a round hole is a very stressful situation, you need to find the job that's right for you.

@Elasticity You could do a CIM certificate which doesn't take long. Or maybe approach it from a business intelligence perspective - you might be able to leverage the finance element for a BI role.

Or stay with accounting but find a better industry. Anything highly regulated - pharma, gas and oil, insurance, some telecommunications and transport - will pay better than other industries

I don’t have any expertise, but do you think as you ease into the job you can start to manage the demands even better? After all, as accountant you are an important asset to each manager - they should value your time and so should you, which might mean doing more ‘scheduling a chat in’ rather than being pulled around all the time, and prioritising deadlines and other things. Allocating a certain amount of time for dealing with e-mail requests. And setting rules for yourself about checking at home. Many of these things will make you seem more professional, not less, though they will happily let you work yourself to burnout if you don’t set boundaries.