Do you think anyone can do any job if they work hard?

[Angryvindictivewasps]

Let's say you're in nursing and you start a career in tax, something you've never done before and have no knowledge in.
You're given a rigorous programme to get through in order to become a 'tax specialist'.
Would you feel like if you just worked hard enough, put in the extra hours and did all the studying, you or anyone could become this tax expert or (insert profession)

Or, do you believe that some people are just not cut out for certain careers no matter what or will just feel out of their depth and shouldn't feel they have to? Honestly at my point in life I don't think I've got the headspace to train in and learn something completely new and alien, especially something like that which doesn't interest me.

No, everyone has difference intelligence levels. I don’t think I could be a brain surgeon, I’m not clever enough and I don’t have a good enough attention span for something like that.

Within reason.

As a manager, I hold the opinion that most people can learn most things to a reasonable level of competency if the they have a good attitude and are willing to learn, but obviously there are are limitations, e.g., if the job is physically demanding and somebody has limited mobility.

For me, personally, I know that I couldn't undertake caring roles (not really a people person, tbh), although I'm sure I could learn, if I had to.

No. Some people just don’t have the right natural skillset and/or ability regardless of how hard they try/work/train. The old ‘square peg, round hole’ syndrome.

The ones I feel most sorry for frustrated with are people who insist they’re a good fit for a job when they blatantly aren’t but they just can’t see it and/or won’t accept it.

I work for a global Financial Services organisation and on top of my ‘day job’, I recruit globally for our team. In addition to specific experience/qualifications, we need strong interpersonal skills as we work with some very demanding clients and managing them isn’t easy. There’s a lot of ‘charm’ required to get things done (whilst not upsetting people). I recently rejected someone after first interview. He was clearly a no within the first few mins. HR emailed him the rejection and he forwarded it to me saying that HR had made a mistake with the email as the interview went really well. 🙄I replied and said that unfortunately the HR email was correct and we wouldn’t be progressing and I would be happy to explain my feedback to him in more detail. So we had a call. He wouldn’t let me get a word in (I repeatedly had to say “can you let me finish please!”) and he harangued me for 25 mins, repeatedly telling me that I’d made a mistake not putting him through to the next round. His behaviour proved very clearly that I hadn’t made a mistake at all. Can you imagine him behaving like that with a client/stakeholder whose message he didn’t like?! Honestly, I was appalled at his arrogance and complete lack of self-awareness/judgement. Nothing like the confidence of a mediocre white man eh? 😜

No. No amount of hard work will make you good at something you’re just not cut out for.

I work with violent and sexual offending, in the last fortnight I've attended a domestic homicide review, coroner's inquest and two rapid reviews into child deaths (murders), that's alongside the day job. Lots of people can't do what I do from an emotional and psychological impact perspective.

Re: intelligence - also, it depends.

I have supported team members without a GCSE to their names who would probably have been called stupid in other areas to become senior IT support engineers, with the associated certifications.

Will they ever be CTOs? Probably not (mostly because they don't have the inherent soft skills required to get to that level), but they were able to prove themselves capable of getting to a level with the right support and input.

I visited a fire station today (I'm a beaver leader). There is no way in earth I could do that work. I would just be a hopeless scaredy cat.

The most important part of your post is “or (insert profession).”

It is full of infinite possibility.

Life experience gives us more understanding of ourselves and what we love and have natural skills in.

If you are feeling disillusioned with your current work, take some time to think about what you want. It sounds like tax is not for you, but perhaps something else?

it is absolutely possible to retrain in a new profession, I know many people who have. but it has to be a profession that motivates you.

I am a solicitor and always used to think that law was easy and that anyone could complete a law degree if they wanted to.

I actually do still believe that now, but since I am hopeless at maths and sciences, then perhaps it isn't true and people do have an aptitude for certain things

Talking of nursing, I loved caring for patients and I was very good at doing the drugs round. My memory of the drugs and side effects was excellent. On the other hand, I worked briefly in theatres and I was very privileged to care for some patients undergoing complex surgeries but I was useless as a scrub nurse. I was clumsy and unable to set things up in the right place and the right order.

Each to their own skill set.

I would be an absolutely terrible masseuse or nurse, I don't really like touching people.

If you need someone to sit alone and spend hours of intense focus analysing something, I'm your woman.

Nope. I had a job in general banking for years and got it 100%. My next job was also financial services but far more niche, we had to pass exams. I bought the course book and immediately knew it wasn't the job for me, literally one ear and straight out of the other (or eye if you will). Tax and actual numbers aren't for me, you could train me for years and I'd still be useless.

I couldn't dream of being a surgeon even if I wanted to. Patients probably wouldn't appreciated being puked on after the first incision. Medical roles in general would be hell for me TBH which makes me admire people in these roles even more.

I think anyone can learn to follow a process - even if the process has to be stuck on the wall in front of them. Like a call centre script.

In your example, both the tax specialist and the nurse would have instances where something out of the ordinary happened and they would need to think around the subject, a bit outside the box. If you have no aptitude for what you're doing then no, I don't think that aspect is teachable.

I'd love to be an opera singer, but my inability to hold a tune would be a bit of a problem.

It's a bad example because a teacher is still the same profession with lots of transferable skills.

Also some jobs are a lot harder than the vast majority of others, like being an astronaut or a brain surgeon. Astronauts in particular need to be top tier athletes as well as scientists (and a bunch of other things).

Its not always a case of willpower - I know for a fact I couldn't work in a slaughterhouse, but I could be a butcher.

I don't think everyone could do every job well. I think there are skills that everyone can learn if they apply themselves, but some qualities that job success depends upon like being an people person or good with numbers or manual dexterity are things that you are born with a natural talent for or not.

No.

There's the obvious like disabilities - someone in a wheelchair can't be a carer who needs to move people around.

Then there's the issue of academic and intellectual capacity. I really can't do any kind of art and design and I'd be spectacularly shit in that kind of job.

I was a good maths teacher though.

No, I do a job which requires lots of concentration and attention to detail, and a good memory, that some people might struggle with.
There is no way, however, that I could be a carer, or work in a customer facing role day after day. I don't have the social skills!

No. My profession has a rigorous series of exams that more people fail than pass.

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to be a brain surgeon - or any kind of surgeon - no matter how hard I worked.

Oh god no, I’m school smart and I pick things and processes up quickly, but there are so many things I would be terrible at. I used to be a waiter, I have an awful poker face, so it wouldn’t take long for lots of customer complaints!

Not sure I could be a neurosurgeon even with training.

My attention to detail isn't that great and I am quite impatient - you really wouldn't want me performing surgery on your brain.

I have 2 life mottos - “how hard can it be?” The answer is way harder than you think! And it’s just a skill I haven’t learnt yet. A dangerous combo :-)

once knew somebody who said only 5% of people are good at the jobs they do- the other 95% just fill the role.

No. I've had days where I've had to remove myself from the building and go for a walk to calm down because I was being managed by someone who was promoted for being a very hard worker and good at their previous role, but they just had very little aptitude for the core skills required in the project they were managing. They used to make poor decisions, dither, and ignore advice, because they literally couldn't understand it. It was not a happy time for their team, or for them; they developed a stress-related illness.
People have different kinds of intelligence, so even if you're really clever and hardworking, you can still under-perform in the wrong role.