To feel embarrassed about your occupation?

[Poppets14]

I’ve been a medical receptionist for 14 years. I really enjoy my job and consider some people I work with as friends.
It’s super flexible around childcare. I can also do my job blind folded.
The money is crap! Minimum wage.

Ive not got any skills or any qualifications to write home about so it’s not like I can just do something much different. I’m not the bread winner - it’s a part time job that fits in with the school run!

When people ask what I do I suddenly start feeling really embarrassed to tell them. Almost ashamed I’m not a’professional’
Some of my mum friends have been to uni and seem to have super flash jobs and I’m worried people look down on me for having a job so simple.

Anyone else feel embarrassed by their job? AIBU?

I work in admin and receptionist roles. I was never embarrassed about it. Now I don't I can honestly say I would be up shit creek with the admin I have at work. Without admin and receptionists many professionals wouldn't be able to do their jobs. Don't be embarrassed OP. Be proud.

I would think this is a nice job if someone told me it’s what they do. Before I worked where I am now, I would’ve been envious of this role and applied for any that came up.

I understand the feeling though and I’m a medical secretary at band 4 in nhs Scotland, so they pay is quite good for an admin role and high for area I live in. But sometimes I get embarrassed saying ‘secretary’ in my title but there is a whole lot to my job people don’t realise. Audio typing, checking the consultants follow ups are actually actioned, all sorts of admin, ensuring medical tests are actually requested and keeping tabs on when they return, booking and rearranging urgent clinics etc etc. But some people think I ‘just’ make tea and answer the phone. - Answering any phone though for a medical department is critical and stressful and not everyone can handle it. You should be proud you do your role well and have a comfortable life around it.

Could you look to progress to a band 3 or 4 admin role somewhere within nhs? Where I work, the would snap up medical reception over others applying from different admin areas. Many of my colleagues don’t have qualifications apart from standard grades/highers and not to a high level. There is a huge emphasis on actual ability to do role, work under pressure in medical setting which you would have.

I'm a nurse. No division of socialising by occupation in our team, we're very much appreciative of our different roles and skill sets and we all mix together. Maybe it's different because we're not general medicine and we have less hierarchy than in traditional medicine.

Blimey OP, never be embarassed about having a good work history, a job you love, and probably/hopefully a decent pension. Your job is really important, and I'm sure you put a lot of people at ease when then call you feeling sick and vulnerable. My mum's doctor's receptionist is so mean that my mum is nervous about calling for an appointment which is really horrible for her, and I assume other patients.
Is there any workplace training you could do? You might decide as you get older that you want to progress your career a bit more, I always like to have a plan.
I used to feel embarassed about not having a degree - went to school at a time when not many people went to uni - so I enrolled for a part-time degree course and graduated with a 2:1. Made no difference to my career choices really, but somehow made me feel that I had choices, and had chosen my job rather than it was all I could do.

@Poppets14

Patients are actually really nice most of the time and if they’re not it’s usually for good reason! It’s the nurses and some doctors that make our life so difficult and make us feel a bit worthless. We’ve got one doctor that will not socialise with any of the receptionists as she has told us she only socialises with professionals. She says it’s because our levels of intelligence doesn’t match and she would bore us all!! She wont even have us as friends on Facebook. Makes you feel a bit crap

I don’t need to tell you that’s on her and not you.

If you have a job that fits in around you and your kids, doesn’t stress you out, provides friendship and helps pay the bills then I’d say you’ve hit the lottery. X

And Hospitals and clinics would not run without their admin staff. So people thinking bad of you or that you aren’t reeeally a ‘key worker’ can do one (but that’s a different thread).

I work in the Civil Service. A friend visited from London recently and expressed surprise that I was “only” earning £26k as she had just started a new job at £30k and thought that was crappy money. I simply couldn’t be arsed to point out to a 52-year-old woman that we work in completely different industries, in completely different parts of the country, doing completely different jobs. Where I live, salaries are low, and £26k is more than enough for me to live on. I did enjoy pointing out that my employer pension contributions are approximately 28% of that “rubbish” salary, but frankly she can go fuck herself. She won’t be staying again for a number of reasons.

You’re doing fine, OP. My mum was a dental receptionist for many years and it suited her. She took on more responsibility over the years and some of the patients were arseholes, but mostly she enjoyed it.

@Harlequin1088 you’re aware some of us don’t have to work and definitely don’t receive benefits. That’s nothing to be embarrassed about either.

OP you said you really enjoy your job. That to me says it all. You enjoy it, are friends with your colleagues, and it fits around your home life.

I have a 'good' job, I'm a professional etc. I have always had imposter syndrome and I'm super stressed all the time. It's really really not all it's cracked up to be....(and anyone who looks down on you because of your job is a knob).

I’m a nurse and I too, feel embarrassed about my job sometimes. I think my issue is, I actually wanted to do something completely different but at that point in my life couldn’t afford to be out of the work force for 9 years of study so I choose, for me, ‘the easier’ option and embarked on 4 years study to become a nurse.

I am now in the throes of deciding whether to go back to uni and actually do what I wanted to in the first place.

Forgot to add: I used to work as a gardener. I loved it but people think you’re thick and you haven’t got any qualifications, or you’re a volunteer with a wealthy husband. Just occasionally, people would say “I’d love your job” and I ended up giving careers advice to a few!

My dad was a GP and he often spoke of how much he appreciated the medical receptionists. Good ones very much contribute to the smooth running of the practice and knowing you can trust them to keep confidentiality is essential. It's an important job and the rest of the team rely on it.

Where I live, semi rural, there are all sorts. Here, bloke in petrol station tesco may well have been a professional. Ditto any job. I discovered when moving here, you can do any job locally from road sweeper to multi lingual legal secretary. You won't earn more than ten quid an hour!

when my late husband was ill, the receptionists at my GP's, at the specialist and the hospital were a real lifeline. Efficient, kind and supportive. Both emotionally and practically they were wonderful. I cannot praise them too highly.

I actively avoid telling people what I do for a living- I sell "stuff" on eBay and Amazon. It's a fairly niche range of "stuff" and I do fairly well (turnover around £75k), but I feel really embarrassed about it. I also have a smallish farm, so sometimes I just say I'm a farmer, but my main income is the online stuff.

I sometimes feel like what everyone else does is a real, gownup job, but what I do is just pretending and one day I'll be found out.

@Poppets14

Patients are actually really nice most of the time and if they’re not it’s usually for good reason! It’s the nurses and some doctors that make our life so difficult and make us feel a bit worthless. We’ve got one doctor that will not socialise with any of the receptionists as she has told us she only socialises with professionals. She says it’s because our levels of intelligence doesn’t match and she would bore us all!! She wont even have us as friends on Facebook. Makes you feel a bit crap

WTF? It’s not you, it’s her. She may think that, but to SAY it is a whole new level of rude. I bet she is terrible at her job, which needs her to be able to relate to people from all walks of life and out them at their ease.

I know how you feel OP! I work in a nursery and as soon as I say that I can feel the judgement, as I think there is still a view that we sit and play in sand all day. We don’t, and even when we are playing in the sand with children we are actually facilitating some fantastic learning opportunities in that moment that we are analysing in our heads right there and then.
OP, you work in the medical field, you have been so so important to the safe running of this country this past 18 or so months. I also think there’s a lot to be said for a job that fits around you, and you don’t wake up on Monday morning instantly dreaming about Friday afternoon, wishing the days and weeks away.
I will say don’t feel embarrassed, but I’m not trying to discredit your feelings. But nobody should be embarrassed about their job!

I spent most of my working life in day centres for adults with severe learning disabilities, who often had mental health issues and behaviours that challenged the service.
It certainly didn’t pay well, but I loved it - it could be rewarding, was unpredictable and often chaotic. I had the most excellent team alongside me, which ensured that even the most demanding days kept everyone safe.

However, to some people, we were ‘bum wipers’, but could look forward to a ‘gilt edged pension’…….🤣🤣🤣

If you love your job, that’s way more important than what anyone else thinks.

@BonnieGoWayward

People who judge you on your job role or enployer aren't worth bothering about op. You just need to learn not to care...you're happy, doing well in life, let others think what they want.

When asked, dh used to tell people he 'worked for KFC' (he did, but his full job title was wordy and sounded pretentious as fuck so he hated saying it). He got sympathetic faces, lots of patronising kindness, even comments along the lines of 'ah, don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to get sonething better one day' (said by the queen-bee mum of dc2's class who was obsessed by jobs and money and delighted when she found out where he worked).

He just used to smile and nod because he was an Area Director on £70k + bonus Luckily he cares less about what people think of him than anyone I've ever known so it didn't bother him at all.

It's taught me you should never assume!

Your husband sounds like a legend.

My grandad used to do the same. He said he worked for a big car manufacturer (which I won't name).Missed out the part where he said he was managing director of the UK

I work in a factory packing fish, minimum wage. I work with lovely people. I've never paid for childcare as my dh works opposite shifts to make sure she's ways had a parent there at either end of the day. I have a lovely home with a small mortgage. No debt.Have holidays and days out.
At the end of the day my lifestyle suits me and my family. So I pack fish? Who doesn't eat fish fingers

Op. You need to get yourself to a place where you're happy with your lot. Your job is as important as the next person's. Only you can do the job the way you do it. Be proud of that.

Op I’m a medical receptionist in a gp practice and it’s bloody hard work but I love it
I was a mental health nurse for 17 years but after years of changes,unsociable hours and new management I decided the role wasn’t for me anymore.
The job I do now means I have more family time,it’s closer to home (within walking distance) and although I took a cut in pay not having the travel expenses helps and everyone in the practice gets on really well together and we are all there for one another.We have lots of social nights that include everyone and I’m so much happier than I was 4 years ago.

I have 2 jobs, neither are well thought of by some but who cares? I'm doing what I need to and they fit around my family.

I would quite like to be a medical receptionist but I am not a confident person so dealing with the public would be hard for me and I could be doing with some admin training. You've already got these things so you're skilled in my book

@Jenster03 I used to be a teacher and the amount of people who, when you told them what you did, would tell you all about how teachers let them down in their childhood and scarred them for life! And I’m thinking “I was even ALIVE when Mrs Jones was telling you you would never amount to anything!”

I feel the same as someone who work in admin. I do have a degree however i chose this job because its flexible, easier to fit around my family and i don't take it home with me. But doesn't change the way I feel