What careers sound good on paper nightmare in reality and what sounds nightmare on paper good in reality.

[Cupcakeicecream]

On paper teaching sounds great, all those weeks off. Weekends off working in primary schools sounds fun secondary schools you can specialise in a subject you prefer. Reality grading lesson plans admin alot of work not enough pay.
Firefighters and police sounds fun reality dangerous.
In paper admin or reception jobs sounds boring and tedious paper work. But some have great hours and good work life balance.
In your opinion what jobs aren't worth the hype?

Well...I was eyeing up the NHS STP for after my masters.

But after this thread I'm seriously considering insurance :D

I won't give my opinion of professions I haven't personally experienced, but a few words about my own experiences...

Archaeology - everyone thinks it's something very exciting, some even think archaeologists are rich. Thanks for nothing Indiana Jones, lol. The reality is it's one of the most family unfriendly careers you can possibly imagine. It's especially unfriendly if you're a woman who decides to have children. 90% of archaeology jobs are short-term contracts and moving around the country, there aren't exactly thousands of museum and faculty positions to be filled. Good luck with that if you're a mother. The field also offers extremely low pay that is only suitable for a single childless person and doesn't resemble anything needed for a decent life. It's also traditionally very sexist and if you're a woman harassment is sadly quite common.

Self-employed - won't state what field I'm self-employed in, it's doesn't really matter because this is a shared experience for all self-employed persons. People have this perception on how brilliant it is to "be your own boss". The reality is you work 24/7 because you alone run what is normally split between several workers in a company. It is intense and consuming. Your entire life resolves about it and there's constant dread what will happen if you're sick and unable to work - the latter happened to me and it was a blow I've never recovered from. My mental and physical health are shambles.

Teaching - no, just no. If you feel the need volunteer at a school or run an after school club instead.

Civil Service - hated on by the media, general public, miserable payrises and you do come across some completely incompetent people but fantastic for employment rights, job security and there are so many opportunities. Not just on your initial team but following probation internal jobs open up. There are so many interesting teams/departments that you would never know existed. Also once you become part of a fab team it makes all the difference.

Doctor..all those programmes onTV..doc saving the day with some esoteric diagnosis, patient recovers and is forever grateful, tall, good looking, usually a bloke,women falling all over them… reality ( as a short woman), no blokes falling over you, dealing with chronic illness, addiction ( food, alcohol), patients coming with their lists 10 things for a 15 minute consult, the absolute fear of making an error, the absolute and total physical and mental exhaustion, 12 hr days, inability to offer patients the care they need as there are limits to what secondary care offers, your job is actually quite prescribed and limited by funders.
Dealing with a suicidal teenager or telling somebody they have cancer, pulling yourself together and the next patient complaining that you’re running late.

Lawyer!!!

Lawyer - BUT in a small firm or in-house at a government/charity organisation. Perception is that being a lawyer is hell, in reality it's always paid more than other roles, work is not difficult, hours are flexible and it's intellectually stimulating.

Nursing: mainly just a desk job, worrying everyday you'll lose your registration because of someone else, and occasionally being hit as a bonus.

Appeared as fast as I expected on this thread. Hated it, glad to be re-training and away from it.

@LLj8893 I honestly could not believe that my midwife stuck around to see my baby being born - her shift finished about 2 hours prior and she came to say goodbye once I was in recovery. And the long hours and hard work! I was actually blown away by the dedication. 💗

What a great thread!

Acedemia not all it is cracked up to be. But I imagine you know that already.

Accountancy - can only say that the accountants I use seem to be permanently short of good staff. But maybe they dont pay them enough?

@LadyOfTheCanyon you would have loved me then hopefully. when looking for my wedding flowers went in and just said I would like white roses please then himself picked everything else to go with the bouquet. the florists face was a picture following him around picking the bits

Yep, she must be doing hours after the school pick up otherwise it would be impossible to work full time.

Regardless, it seems an incredible job for flexibility. Cannot be flexible in many jobs out there.

Holiday Rep

Second this one.

it’s absolute hell and people are dicks.

I'm a divorce lawyer and part time judge. It's not like The Split! The pay is not as good as people think. Clients want me to be a social worker and therapist as well as a lawyer and dealing with sad angry people all day is draining. The courts are crumbling, there's no time and no resources to get things properly sorted.

If I had my time again I'd run a campsite in a forest.

Lawyer - bloody hate it. Huge amount of pressure, could lose the company millions if I make a mistake and most people in the company hate the legal team because they think we stop them from doing business but if there is a fuck up then they blame us, whether it is our fault or not.

Mortician for nightmare on paper good in reality. No formal qualifications needed but well paid, very employable and respected. A lot of the job is admin work, but many also find it extremely fulfilling to be providing a very important and necessary service.

Plus your clients never complain!

Teaching - working from 9 to 3 and all those holidays.

When I started out 40 years ago, it was enjoyable. You were left to teach the way that suited you, trusted by SLT and parents to get on and do your job.

Now it's an unrelenting shit show and I don't know why anybody would want to do it. Interference from all directions, prescribed curriculums and "trends" that experienced teachers know are a load of rubbish but aren't listened to.

But that's proofreading, not editing. Editing is completely different.

Bin collectors take 2: The myth: hard work, cold mornings, unglamorous. The reality: secure job. Fun teams. Important work. Good benefits. Keep fit. Toddlers worship you.

I had a mate from uni who was a holiday tester over 10 years ago. She'd get to take a guest too so would go to the Mauritius with her mum or boyfriend for free. She didn't like it and quit!

Podiatrist - based on the number of patients who tell me, ‘ooh I couldn’t do your job’, I imagine it sounds like a nightmare to most people. But I love my job. Not many healthcare related professions where you can have someone walk in in pain and walk out 20mins later feeling better. So much more than cutting toenails and taking out corns as well. Something different to think about every day.

If it's flexibility and good pay you're after then accountancy is good, but sorry I find it sooooo boring quite often! That said I think anyone who does the same work for 30 years would find it boring!

😂😂

And that is so lovely, but absolutely not unique to that midwife. I dread to think how many hours of unpaid overtime I’ve done!

Being a cleaner can be really fun if you only do end of tenancy/post-death/post-flood cleans!

Would hate to do weekly cleans at people's houses, but the best job I ever had was earning £200 to clean empty houses with my friend all day with Absolute Radio on full blast