To think working in 'the professions' is not all it's cracked up to be?

[malificent7]

I think the major professions do a fantastic job by the way.
Teachers, doctors, nurses, police, social workers etc are amazing.
Im an x Teacher ...now retraining in health care and ive been passionate about both roles. If course the benefits are great...pensions, regular wages, holidays...cannot fault it.
But omg...the stress, accountability, hatred from public, politics.
Is it worth it?
For me probably yes for stability but I am not a natural.

The grass is always greener. I work in a manual role on minumum wage, high risk of Covid, private sector. The stress of worrying about the business going under and losing my job, having no sick pay if we get Covid and largely forgotten about during this pandemic has been pretty brutal.

It's a bit shit. When I practised as a solicitor, the unpaid overtime, expectations to work at weekends, lack of benefits and civstabt ieeasure to time record those 6 minute units wasn't really worth the salary. Working in London wasn't an option for me.

There's no tax free cash in hand or bonuses, you have to either live or work in a city centre location with all the costs that brings and you just get as much work piled onto you as the firm gets offered, because you're there to make a profit for the firm. Turnover is high and a lot if people drop out.

Meanwhile, you have to be really circumspect over what you post on social media and be careful in general about how you lead your life. I got a row in one job about going out running at lunchtimes because they didnt want clients to recognise me while wearing running gear...

Often not very exciting law either.. I eacaped to an EU institution via a masters degree at a continental University and now work in academia. The disconnect between academia and the profession is pronounced in a way you do not get on other jurisdictions.

I'm a midwife. Loads of responsibility, stress, understaffed, over worked. Fair share of rude and entitled women and families. Which I try not to take to heart, always assume they're scared, in pain, tired, etc. Lots of hatred from the public which I see on threads on here, getting slagged off for no compassion, incompetence, etc. Obviously there may be such individuals but the thread turns into a pile on of the profession, like the teaching threads.

I've semi left. Haven't done a shift in a year and I don't miss it.

@BoomBoomsCousin. I think HCP (Health Care Professional ) suggests nurse, radiographer, physio...endless list are professionals.
That's a bit naïve. Does renaming a 'dustman' into a 'refuse collector' make the slightest bit of difference? Or calling a 'dinnerlady' a 'lunchtime supervisor'?

[quote RedFrogsRule]**@BoomBoomsCousin. I think HCP (Health Care Professional ) suggests nurse, radiographer, physio...endless list are professionals. They are all registered with professional bodies. They can also all work for themselves in the way you describe. Most choose to be employed for stability[/quote]
Pretty much everyone calls themselves “professional” nowadays. It’s used more now as a word for “job that requires some knowledge”. But the OP was talking about how respect for professionals has declined and I was pointing out that it is these changes, from what the professions used to be that is a large part of why.

Some HCPs might fit into the mold along with doctor. But others not so much. Many are much more about applying training about a more limited area as a craft than about informing people about how the body of medical knowledge applies to them (similarly with surgeons, originally).

Your post says public sector which id agree is shit except civil service and council type roles which are fairly cushy and don't require hard work. Pay and pension Can be amazing in those roles and you don't have to kill yourself working.

This is a joke, right?

I think all jobs have significant downsides to them, and the more responsibility you take on in a role the higher the stress levels are likely to be. What I would say, is that those stress levels can be equally high for people doing jobs on quite low incomes. And in those roles, there is no large salary to compensate for the stress.

I'm a journalist. Long hours, terrible pay, unbelievable levels of workplace bullying. On the other hand, everybody hates us.

@YukoandHiro

I'm a journalist. Long hours, terrible pay, unbelievable levels of workplace bullying. On the other hand, everybody hates us.

Yeah you win. I think journalists are hated even more than teachers.

YANBU. DS1 is looking to go into law. DS2 wants to go into business. My job crosses over from eductaion to the business world occasionally. OMG, the offices I've worked in have no idea how over paid and underworked they are. What they call stress made me grin itno my coffee cup. Conversely in Higher Education all people ever see is the face to face teaching and not the hours and hours and hours of prep and admin and meetings half of which you don't get paid for.

I am glad DS2 wants to go into business. I am less easy about DS1 and Law. I think he'll burn out quickly. Or miss out on his twenties and find himself with money in the bank but no life, no partner because he's stuck in some magic circle office wading through paperwork.

Lawyers are surely the most hated profession. People assume you are a jack of all trades and are therefore naturally responsible, personally, for their divorce.
Exiectibg to be paid for your professional expertise makes you hated too.

I once received a friend request on FB from a friend of a friend. I accepted out of politeness. He then sent me a detailed pm, asking me for legal advice. I politely replied that I could not do that on social media and how to find a solicitor. He replied "my brother's wife is a lawyer and she said the same shit too" and promptly blocked me.

@Didiusfalco

Almost everything is stressful in one way or another. If you have a low paid job you have the stress of paying bills and getting by. If you get paid more in the public sector roles you describe there is security and decent pay but a sense of overwhelming responsibility. If you have a job like my dh which is neither of the first two then there is the stress of financial targets and looming redundancy. You just have to pick which stress suits you best.

This. I found retail to be extremely stressful as the money was bad, targets unachievable, constant disciplinary procedures to "Keep you on your toes" and you are treated like absolute scum by the public and head office. Anyone that thinks it's easy is deluded. I did find it quite amusing how offended people got when retail workers got to wield a little lockdown power. I'm not in retail any more and my blood runs cold at the thought of ever having to do it again.

Pretty much everyone calls themselves “professional” nowadays. It’s used more now as a word for “job that requires some knowledge”.

That’s nonsense, a professional role is one which requires a particular qualification and statutory registration. Social workers, nurses, teachers all are reserved professions in that you must be registered with the relevant body, work within their code of ethics and can be struck off for malpractice or lack of fitness to practice. You can’t call yourself a social worker if you’re not registered with the SSSC/HCPC.

And @ZenNudist I clearly work in the wrong kind of public sector - my role is far from cushy, I work long hours and carry legal accountability for my work which involves the care and protection of very vulnerable people. I’ve not had to worry about job security in the pandemic but that’s been replaced by lots of other concerns.

I think people often hate lawyers because they have to deal with them at the most stressful points in their lives (divorce, moving house, disputes) and so they associate them with that stress, even though without the lawyer, they would find the process much more stressful.
They also assume that they are always in the right and want the lawyer to “win” for them, and don’t like hearing that sometimes they can’t get what they want. I’m a litigator and even my professional clients were like this sometimes.
I’m not working as a lawyer right now as I have young children and run a business instead but it is a really interesting and fulfilling job, good money etc. I’d encourage my kids to be lawyers but personally the only part that appealed to me was litigation, most of the other stuff seemed deadly dull (apart from criminal).

Id love to do something with little responsibility but earn loads of money such as.....? Does it exist?!

I think YABU if you are suggesting "the professions" are all the same and viewed them same

@malificent7

Any job that involves data analysis is usually low responsibility and highly paid. It does require you to be both numerate and literate though, and most people are one or the other.

You also don’t get impressive letters before or after your name, just a high salary and the opportunity to work from home even when Covid isn’t happening.

@Jellycatspyjamas

Pretty much everyone calls themselves “professional” nowadays. It’s used more now as a word for “job that requires some knowledge”.

That’s nonsense, a professional role is one which requires a particular qualification and statutory registration. Social workers, nurses, teachers all are reserved professions in that you must be registered with the relevant body, work within their code of ethics and can be struck off for malpractice or lack of fitness to practice. You can’t call yourself a social worker if you’re not registered with the SSSC/HCPC.

And @ZenNudist I clearly work in the wrong kind of public sector - my role is far from cushy, I work long hours and carry legal accountability for my work which involves the care and protection of very vulnerable people. I’ve not had to worry about job security in the pandemic but that’s been replaced by lots of other concerns.

No, that's nonsense!

There is no definition of "professional" in uk law. There aren't many professions where you have to be registered to use the word. Anyone can call themselves a teacher, for instance (or doctor, for that matter). What you can't do is make out you have qualifications, authority or expertise that you don't have.

People commonly use "professional" in regard to all sorts of jobs that don't need registration. As examples, these sorts of exchanges are not exactly unusual:

q: What do you do?

a: I'm a professional musician

q: What's your profession?

a: I'm a software engineer.

Neither being a software engineer nor a musician require you to be registered with a professional body.

There is no definition of "professional" in uk law. There aren't many professions where you have to be registered to use the word. Anyone can call themselves a teacher, for instance (or doctor, for that matter). What you can't do is make out you have qualifications, authority or expertise that you don't have.

I agree. Anyone can call themselves an accountant too, and start their own accountancy practice. No qualifications or experience necessary!

@ZenNudist er, excuse me - there are plenty of civil service and council worker jobs that are incredibly hard work. Your ignorance is showing.

I’m in a civil service role, it’s incredibly stressful, exhausting and demanding. Wind your neck in.

Anyone can call themselves a teacher, for instance (or doctor, for that matter). What you can't do is make out you have qualifications, authority or expertise that you don't have.

To practice as a social worker in the U.K. you must, by law, be registered with the regulatory body for your home nation. To practice as a doctor you must be registered with the relevant regulatory body. You can call yourself whatever you like, but you can’t practice in a regulated profession without being registered.

I'm public sector now not public facing though & I'm much prefer it to my time in the private sector. Much less stress & better benefits eg security, pension.

I think a lot of people assume that solicitors, barristers, accountants etc all earn ££££ without doing much. Plenty don't earn that much & plenty of the ones who do work ridiculous hours.

[quote Monkeytennis97]@GarlicMonkey I agree. It's a job that's how I see it now. Bollocks to vocation. It used to be but it has trampled me in its enormity. I think schools 'closing' has shown how massive the job is that teachers do. [/quote]
I thought the closure of schools and Covid finally settled the long running MN battle between teachers and nurses as to who has it hardest.

@YukoandHiro

I'm a journalist. Long hours, terrible pay, unbelievable levels of workplace bullying. On the other hand, everybody hates us.

Is it a profession anymore? I thought you'd all raced to the bottom and were no more than click bait writers/rehashers of advertising text released by companies.

"Even" the BBC rush out click baity articles backed up with nothing but a couple of quotes lifted from any old person on Twitter. No one is spending the time and money to write any substance these days.