18 Jobs That Everyone ~Thinks~ They Want, But Are Actually Disappointing
Recently, Reddit user u/Head_Somewhere3770 asked, "What type of job seems appealing but ends up being quite disappointing?"
Thousands of comments poured into the thread as Redditors shared their experiences in what many would consider a "dream job." Here are some of the top responses:
1.Veterinarian
"Expectation: Ooo, lots of animals!
Reality: Death. SO MUCH DEATH."
—u/rekniht01
"There's a reason that field has some of the highest suicide rates. I only worked in a pet store, and the number of insane pet parents, abusive/ignorant owners, and pets that were definitely not living their best lives was heartbreaking. Vets get even more angry customers and heartbreaking cases. I befriended a few vet techs and vets, and their mental health is almost always in the dumps."
2.Security Guard
"After four years in the military, my biggest complaint was the lack of sleep and the irregular schedule.
First job after that was a security guard. I couldn't believe how lucky I was...getting paid to stand there and do nothing.
Until that job, I had not realized how much I would hate being bored."
"I was so pumped when my job furloughed me during COVID because it meant sleeping in, watching TV, and collecting unemployment. For the first few months, it was awesome. Probably the best time of my life.
After six months, I couldn't wait to go back to work."
—u/_mike_hunt
3.Forensic Scientist
"A friend of mine is a forensic scientist, and whenever he's on dating apps, it's the only thing people want to talk about. His work is actually pretty technical and involves a lot of routine tasks."
"Former forensic scientist here, it sounds glamorous but often you specialize in one thing like drug analysis or fingerprint analysis and it becomes very repetitive. I was fortunate to be a generalist and did a variety of things."
—u/ironmanchris
4.Florist
"Working at a flower shop is just like any other retail position, but everyone assumes it’s more enjoyable than it really is. Assisting families in selecting flowers for funerals is definitely not the fun part either."
"'I don't care that you're saying you want azaleas, the email specifically said rhododendrons. Yes, I get it's your special day, Janice, but I can't source 34 brand-new centerpieces in the next two hours. Yeah, well, next time communicate with your bridesmaids better. Yes, I was insinuating there will be a next time, because you seem lovely.'"
5.Rancher/Farmer
"I cringe every time I see someone say they want to live on a farm or ranch. It's hard, brutal work. Most people that say it will not last."
—u/peezle69
"Every time somebody romanticizes farm life, I think of the time my entire family went on vacation in the middle of winter and left me to take care of the herd. Massive ice storm hit while they were gone. Picture me, a 5'4" woman, alone out in the middle of the prairie in my dad’s overalls and coat, trying to bust ice in the cattle troughs with an ax. Ballerina Farm could never."
—u/jellyrat24
6.Music Store Employee
"I thought it was going to be listening to awesome music all day. It was just putting stickers on everything, trying to sell an absolute rip-off of a store card, and listening to the same four basic-ass albums over and over and over until you understand why war crimes are a thing."
—u/Comics4Cooks
7.Marine Biologist
"A friend of mine is a marine biologist, and they spent the past week measuring thawed fish heads."
8.Event Planner
"Seems exciting until you’re stuck with last-minute changes, unresponsive vendors, and managing everyone’s stress."
"I studied event management and I couldn't believe how much red tape and risk management there is. It's like the whole job."
9.Travel Blogger
"A travel blogger job seems appealing with its promise of adventure and free trips, but it often turns out disappointing due to constant deadlines, unstable income, and the pressure to always 'perform' for social media."
10.Influencer
"I know a lot of kids aspire to it, but the idea of having to constantly be on camera and always coming up with new content and always looking and playing the part no matter what seems literally exhausting. Not to mention the fact that you’re an online figure, so you are going to experience abuse and crap from people because that’s what people do online. It’s a hard pass from me."
—u/wellyboot97
11.Chef
"I wanted to be a chef when I was a kid. Now I work in a kitchen and I hate it. The work is harder than you think, a lot of your time is spent doing mundane tasks, and you practically live there so no work-life balance.
Although all the chefs I know that 'made it' make quite a bit of money, they were so hard on their bodies from lack of sleep and drinking that they can’t enjoy their life after they retire. Their friends were reduced to their drinking buddies because they were the only ones who were available after closing.
Those who had families had strained relationships with their children and wives. Super sad."
12.Film Crew
"Don't get me wrong, I love it, but after five years I can already tell my body will not be able to keep up with it till retirement."
—u/Flanman1337
"This is one of the ones that blew my mind. I worked in hotels, and our hotel started housing film crew for movies and shows. The hours that people in this industry work are completely insane. I'm talking everything from set building to cameras to makeup to the damn accountants. Our hotels offered free breakfast and even light dinners, and we almost never saw them."
13.Video Game Developer
"Video games are great. Creating them is hell with long work hours and minimum pay."
—u/The1joriss
14.College Professor
"Much less lecturing on profound topics of importance, much more trying to keep your course running properly on Canvas than expected..."
15.Archeologist
"When I was an undergrad, it was so exciting. A different dig every summer… different eras, different cultures, different countries, different crews, so much to learn! But I figured out in grad school pretty quickly that it was 90% begging for money for your project while having to juggle teaching first-year yokels at some school in a part of the country you never wanted to visit — let alone live — and 10% using a toothbrush on the same patch of dirt that no one was ever going to be interested in for the rest of your life."
16.Social Media Manager
"Thought it’d be memes and chill, turns out it’s dealing with 2 a.m. crises over emojis."
—u/SunbeamHeart
"Even if I'm at home and on my social media privately, I can't not see what people are trying to sell, product or way of life, or what trend they are hopping on. It's handy since I can spot a scam but also a balls because I don't really enjoy social media like normal."
CBC
17.Porn Star
"You work with a lot of people you won't like or want to work with, for not a lot of money (especially as a straight guy), and the work itself is largely fake and performative. Everyone acts entitled. Everyone acts like male actors are particularly expendable (because they kinda are...)
Most directors and videographers have absolutely no idea what they are doing or what their audiences actually want. None. Zero. Half of the time, their dick is in their hand, especially if they're a step above 'new.'
At the end of the day, you find out the dude with the camera had it pointed at your butthole from 12 different angles because that's what they saw on the internet, and all of your effort was a total waste.
You get a text that somebody who knows somebody got an STI, and suddenly 100 people have to go get tested again.
I got out early, but the people I know still in it also complain about their social and dating lives and how hard it is to get jobs in other fields where they might be recognized (e.g. teacher)."
18.Librarian
"I tell people it's my job and they say, 'That must be chill," or, 'I'd love to read all day.' It's basically just another customer service job where I'm either checking books in/out or showing people how to do basic computer things, but we also attract a lot of folks with mental health problems or substance abuse issues, and that can lead to some tense situations."
"I'm a fellow librarian here, and people are surprised when I tell them this. People idealize libraries as a kind of academic third space, but I always explain it by saying, 'It’s more a community center with a bunch of books than a place to read and do research.'
Like all jobs, it comes down to measuring stats to determine value, even though it's a service. How many computer users did we have? How many people attended our programs? Not so much discussing literature genres and theory. Also, here’s some Narcan, and watch this video on dementia and active shooter situations.
And let’s not get started on the book bans!"
—u/PonyEnglish