To ask for inspiration: what do you do for work and how do you feel about it?

[Cara707]

Just that really!

I did 30 years as a History Teacher and I absolutely loved it. Still miss it.

The hours and workload are insane though.

Management consulting. Insane hours, lots of travel but I’m well paid, challenged and like the people I work with.

NHS physiotherapist working with older people. I love my job. I work with a great team .

Grocery retail, it’s not for everyone but I like the flexibility.

Cybersecurity Governance, Risk & Compliance, it’s interesting, there’s always something to do, constant learning and new innovations in ways to scam and cheat the world that need to be defended against. It’s challenging because the rest of the business never really sees cybersecurity as their problem and I have to fight for budget and priority A LOT! I one of the few women in this role, we make up roughly 17% of the cyber workforce so there’s lots of inherent baked in sexism and I have to be a bit bolshy to get taken seriously which can be annoying. Generally I enjoy it, it pays well, has great benefits, is very flexible and allows me to work from home.

Head of year (Pastoral) in a secondary school, hard work for not a huge amount of pay and can be emotionally draining. It can also be amazingly rewarding -unfortunately these moments are rare.

Own business in hospitality, long hours but amazing flexibility when I want it, but I absolutely love it. We've been trading for 8 years and very proud that we're still going strong despite covid, COL etc

Sonographer… I like it overall, although I do feel a bit overworked and underpaid. But there are more pros than cons 👍🏻

Thanks everyone- really interesting to hear. I'm needing to start taking steps towards a career following long-term serious illness but I'm in my 30s and still unsure what I want to do!

I’m a solicitor. It’s intellectually stimulating and if you’re doing the right kind of law for the right firm the financial rewards are incredible. It’s also massively stressful and all consuming; but that’s why the pay is what it is.

I wouldn’t advise anyone to go into the profession now because within 10 years, the job won’t exist or the number of human lawyers required to do it will be minimal. AI means the end is nigh for the profession (as we know it). It might, at best, see me out to retirement.

Do you really think that? AI can help lawyers, make drafting contracts easier etc but it cannot have a personal relationship with a client, it cannot stand up in court and defend them and do argue it's case, it cannot do interviews with clients or vulnerable witnesses like children in family court. I think a lot of work of paralegals may go and the more mundane tasks but there are many things that a lawyer will still be needed for as you are very skilled people with high level of training. I think when we look at law degrees (some more practical and some more theoretical law) we see how sometimes it's hard to apply it into practice, I feel like that's AI it can understand theory but I'm not sure that it will useful in the real practicalities of law and real cases.

Nuclear physicist working in reactor safety. Retired now.
Fascinating job and people, though quite a bit of sexism. The commute was a bit of a pain as nuclear facilities tend to be remote from large towns.

Could you tell us a bit more? How did you get into it, what experience do you need, etc etc.

I run my own willwriting company. Previously I was a family lawyer, retrained in this area and jacked in the day job.

I love it, lots of different people, the work itself isn’t anywhere near as challenging as litigation, and I work the hours I want.

Though as a pp said, a lot of law is going to be hit hard by AI.

Events in pharma. I hate it with my every being. It's WFH though so has it perks but my god, I wake up and dread it every single day. Been looking for another WFH job but they seem so far and few between.

I'm a nanny and I love it.

Loads and loads of positives.

Very rewarding
Varied - I love that I can inside when it's cold/wet, but outside when it's warm/dry.
Lots of opportunity to manage your own day
No red tape/meetings/dealing with awful colleagues
No staring at a screen/sitting at a desk all day
Can choose almost any hours you want (night nanny, weekend nanny, weekday nanny, morning only nanny, afternoon nanny, wraparound nanny, rota nanny etc.)
Comparatively well paid.
Often other perks in addition to a reasonable salary (family dependent).

Negatives are:

Very little career progression
Little job security
No chance of being able to work from home

Repairs manager in social housing. Love it, started my career in my mid 30s and secured a couple of consecutive promotions. Mo previous qualifications but currently studying for one funded by my employer.

My days go quick and I am constantly busy but I’m very well paid and have excellent benefits like a huge amount of annual leave. Overall I love my job and can’t see myself doing anything else now.

Sign language interpreter. Wouldn’t want to do anything else.

Senior epidemiologist. It took a long time to qualify, but I love it.

Secondary teacher, leading a core subject department.

Lots I enjoy:
*the days are busy and I am never bored!
*watching kids learn something you are teaching is rewarding.
*kids questions/interest in the subject (science)

• The funny things some of them say/do - they genuinely make me laugh! *supporting my form through the teenage years and in some cases, supporting their families as well - I am on first name terms with some! *Leading my team and the curriculum in my area - I obviously work within wider parameters but I do get agency over what I do. *I am lucky that my school is great in lots of ways.

Negatives;
*The workload and pressure are insane at times.
*Ofsted is extremely stressful! There is very little time when you are not 'in the window and expecting a call' and inspection itself is hideously stressful.
*no flexibility at all - arranging appointments etc can be very tricky and you can't just book time off.
*Sometimes, it can be very hard emotionally - when you see/hear what some kids go through, it's heartbreaking.

Can honestly say, despite tough days at times, I wouldn't do anything else!

I take your point and it’s certainly not ready to take over yet. It gets things wrong, hallucinates, can’t handle huge amounts of information (particularly unstandardised documents) very well. However, pretty soon my clients, who are mostly large businesses with well resourced management / HR, will be able to get the kind of strategic legal advice they get from me, from AI.

The one advantage I might have is that I deal with a lot litigation with unrepresented people on the other side. They very often don’t act or communicate clearly, and sometimes act illogically or erratically. There is a need to try to understand what’s motivating them and what they want to resolve matters. I expect that would be difficult for AI to deal with. However, as those individuals get access to AI themselves, their arguments and actions will be more logical, clearer, better drafted.

Maybe I’m being pessimistic but I couldn’t advise anyone to join the profession until the future is much clearer.