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?

Yes xeno we have all been on benefits and one point in our lives (massive generalisation there!) They are designed to be a safety net, and all of the NI you have paid over the years has paid for it. Try to think of it as a time when you can regroup and work out what to do next.
Please don't feel ashamed.

I have been embarrassed telling people I’m a SAHM. I had a lovely job not dissimilar to your own actually OP pre children. I feel as though I’m written off immediately when I’m asked what I do. So I’m updating my skills now and hoping to get back to work soon.

I’m a nurse and I’ve never looked down on receptionists or medical secretaries. I couldn’t do your job!
You are selling yourself short by saying you don’t have skills, you do and lots of them.

Be proud of what you do, it’s a much needed and worthwhile job.

I'm a HCA in a medical centre. I've been stopped by a neighbour recently who looked at my uniform and said 'oh you're a carer now?'

To be fair hashbrownsandwich as an HCA you are a carer, as is a nurse, as is a GP. The blurring line between HCAs and nurses is a genuine concern and an individuals role should be crystal clear. Too often it isn't- imo HCAs need to be clearly defined and wear a uniform that identifies they are not a nurse.

I am an assistant store manager in retail and I am looked down on, cos its retail. They can do one, I love my job!

@RosesAndHellebores

To be fair hashbrownsandwich as an HCA you are a carer, as is a nurse, as is a GP. The blurring line between HCAs and nurses is a genuine concern and an individuals role should be crystal clear. Too often it isn't- imo HCAs need to be clearly defined and wear a uniform that identifies they are not a nurse.

That's because in a hospital setting your not a carer. You would be known as a CSW/nursing assistant.

Depending on the speciality you work in you can do bloods, ECGs canculas, remove canulas, take air out of a TR band its a lot different to a nursing home or the community by far. Not to mention the constant hourly obs and sliding scales.

@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!

PMSL and imaging the ‘queen bee’ as Amanda from Motherland.

I think lockdown has been a great leveller in terms of snobbery over jobs. It’s actually those people with what may be considered by some, to have menial jobs, who actually kept us afloat. Those supermarket workers, corner shop workers, petrol station workers, receptionist type roles, refuse collectors etc etc were vital. Of course there were professional workers who did the same, but they were no more important than the others.

Your job is important OP, be proud not embarrassed 💐

No one who is doing a day's legal work should be embarrassed about their job.
It doesn't matter whether you're the cleaner or the CEO, you're just as important as is your role.
Without the workers, there would be no company.
Anyone who looks down their noses as someone else's job isn't worth the paper that their payslip is printed on.

I get you OP. I have a degree and am in a not-particularly-well paid admin job in HE.
I feel like a complete and utter failure. There I said it. But it sounds like you're happy and fulfilled outside work, whereas I'm most definitely not.

OhGiveUp

I agree, but not everyone feels that way.
My mother is mortified by my work- she has recently told friends ( in a panic) that I am a firefighter- but work from home.
If I see her friends and they ask about my work I have to quickly change the subject or lie to save her feelings.

@Speakout That's terrible. I don't understand people like your mum.
Never be ashamed of your job.

I'm a nurse. I hate it when people ask what I do. Every one presumes I'm fully clued up on everything. Maybe once upon a time I was lol. However I now work as a specialist nurse in pain. Amount of people who then want me to go into how I help etc or want advice 🙄 is draining. I hate saying what I do and avoid it if I can as I don't wanna give advice or feedback of how things are run or a day to day structure of what I do

@Louderthan. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.
I've known cleaners who are extremely intelligent, more intelligent than the people who they're cleaning up after, but due to circumstances at home or just life in general they're cleaning the office rather than doing admin in it.
There's no shame in it. Don't be so hard on yourself.

@RosesAndHellebores

To be fair hashbrownsandwich as an HCA you are a carer, as is a nurse, as is a GP. The blurring line between HCAs and nurses is a genuine concern and an individuals role should be crystal clear. Too often it isn't- imo HCAs need to be clearly defined and wear a uniform that identifies they are not a nurse.

We always make it clear I'm not a nurse and I am happy to correct patients who think I am. I tell them I am trained in certain clinical tasks such as phlebotomy etc and I wear a uniform which is a different colour to my nursing manager. Appreciate in hospitals it might be different but I'm fortunate enough to be in a medical centre.

For me it's the way people look down their noses at me and people do say 'oh you wipe bums!'

OhGiveUp
@Speakout That's terrible. I don't understand people like your mum.
Never be ashamed of your job.

Thanks. I am not personally ashamed. But my mother would lose friends if they found out what I do. I have to protect that.

lol try and be a waitress - that's embarrassing at 41

"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 do the same job as you and it's not like that at all where I work. The docs really value what we do. It's a tough job. And you have to be reasonably smart to do it. A well run practice values its staff. Don't undersell what you do. I am a single parent and do the job full time. I'm proud of it. I have a degree. I do it because it fitted in with family like you. But now I'm on my own it's massive security for me to have this. The doc you work with sounds awful.

Most people have jobs, not careers. But that said some of the richest people I know are tradesmen and hair / nail technicians.

@hashbrownsandwich if people ask that, it's disgusting.

However I do think it's disgraceful that hca's now pccupy the old sen space without adequate training or recognition. It's shocking that nurses no longer effectively nurse and the old sen's, without adequate training, were bumped up to srn grades

It has done the vocation no good at all. I remember whenbright young people went into nursing. There may be exceptions but now it all seems via access courses "innit blad" and that's how it feels as a patient

@RosesAndHellebores That's what I love about blatant discrimination in the UK - it's possible to be just so incredibly offensive without actually explicitly saying what you're absolutely aching to say. I do hope those 'innit blad' access course students hold you in just as much regard as you hold them when they are treating you, it would be delightful to witness

I think its really rude to ask people what they do

I have an admin job that allows me to work very flexible hours from home. I am sometimes a bit embarrassed to tell people who knew me before this job what I do now- as I previously had a much better paid professional job. Some people seem to assume that this is a short-term thing and seem confused that I don't have a plan to return to by previous job. Others have offered me support, assuming that I must have had some sort of mental health crisis.

The reality is that my previous job left very little time or mental capacity for anything else and I came to realise that other things were far more important to me. It felt like I had the career I thought I ought to have, but not the life I wanted, so I decided to make a change.

I do find it interesting that if I am discussing my work with people I don't know well, some friends and family feel the need to point out that I had a 'proper' career before.

I have a career job but genuinely think people like you who've worked everything around being there for their kids first and foremost are awesome.

I'm too selfish and often feel embarrassed telling people about my job and the sacrifices it entails around family life.

Just to give you a different perspective .