Whether through blockbuster movies, popular TV shows, or envy-inducing social media posts, we’ve all fallen for the allure of a seemingly perfect job. But hold on tight; we’re taking off those rose-tinted glasses and revealing the not-so-charming truth behind professions that have been romanticized.
A Reddit user asked, “What’s a job that’s romanticized but in reality sucks?”
Let’s explore this list of the top 20 jobs (according to the people of Reddit) that look great on the surface but aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
1. Farmer
Someone commented, “Raising livestock. Everything about it is so much rougher than any book, show, or movie lets on. You have many days that go by swiftly and easily; then you’re hit with an emergency that makes three hours feel like a week.
“Don’t like thinking about death? Then why are you buying animals who are one bad moment away from you, having to make the hardest decision you never knew was an option?”
Someone else elaborated, “You have livestock; you have deadstock. No matter how well you do and how well you treat your animals, one always dies, and there is not a thing you could have done to have changed the outcome; it’s just a very sad fact of life.
“I’ve spent a fair bit of time on a farm when I was a kid and grew up in a pretty rural area; finding a dead animal never not feels like a kick in the guts.”
2. Spy
A Redditor wrote, “I strongly suspect being a spy involves half as many high-tech gadgets and spontaneous intercourse as I’ve been led to believe.”
A former spy explained, “The job is super boring and lonely. Keep your head down with your local, usually, s*** job you’re placed in, and write reports at night for years. Typically never leads to anything.”
Another experienced individual shared, “I worked as a PI for four years. Half of the job was serving subpoenas. About 40% of it was sitting somewhere watching nothing happen, then writing a report about how nothing happened, somehow filling in details that proved I was actually there… because, all too often, the client would get mad about being billed for hours that weren’t productive.”
3. Lawyer
A lawyer wrote, “Number of historic, life-changing, precedent-setting cases participated in: 0
“Number of angry, self-entitled, abusive clients wanting to s***w each other over: 842
“Number of pages of paperwork that’s sucked up free time and social life: 84,836”
Someone else commented, “Yup, I came here to say this: TV/movies make it look like a non-stop exciting courtroom drama. In reality, you’ll be sitting alone reading super complicated dry, boring s*** almost every day, and when you do interact with other people, 90% of the time, they’re just advocating for something/trying to manipulate you so that they can accomplish their goals. It’s not like I haven’t enjoyed it from time to time, but for the most part, it’s miserable.”
Another experienced lawyer added, “Yes, I agree on this one. I have a lot of baby lawyers fresh out of law school, thinking they’re going to be the next Elle Woods or Harvey Specter. I usually have to talk them back down to Earth. As they start working cases, they realize that law school taught them nothing other than research.”
4. Veterinarian
A Veterinarian said the following about their line of work, “People think it’s playing with puppies all day, but you see some really disturbing things, and people can be awful. You don’t make nearly as much as you should.
“You have to do the jobs of like 10 human doctors combined plus knowing how to work on different species. There’s a reason that the suicide rate for vets is through the roof.”
Someone else shared, “Veterinary medicine. Fantasy: I get to work with puppies and kittens. Reality: a 3-month-old kitten died in my care. I’ve seen so much gore and blood and neglect.
“I’ve sent animals home with invasive cancers because their family couldn’t afford treatment; I’ve been the only comfort shelter animals knew before they left this world. It is a specific and exhausting kind of pain, and it isn’t really talked about enough.”
Another vet expressed their concern for the emotional trauma their job entails, saying, “I worked as a vet tech for 14 years. 7 of those years were in an emergency at a very busy hospital. You can’t even imagine the horrors I’ve seen.
“I also happen to be very good at compartmentalizing my job from my emotions, but even then, the job brought me to tears twice. Also, my pay was $16 an hour with no benefits after 14 years of experience. I was “highly” paid for my area.”
5. Celebrity Assistant
A Reddit User commented, “Celebrity Assistant. My cousin is one, and believe me, the way she talks; it’s really a hard job to have. It’s not fun, but it pays well….”
Someone else shared, “I have known two people who worked as personal assistants for people in the entertainment industry – one was a music producer, the other was sort of on-air talent, but not at all famous. Both situations were straight-up abusive.
“They expected their assistant to be always available for mundane things that didn’t even matter. One friend quit due to the hours. The other one ended up getting fired when she left work early for her birthday dinner despite the fact that she cleared it in advance and nothing major was happening.”
6. Vlogger
Someone expressed, “Being a YouTuber or other type of content creator sounds awful. Going viral is the easy part, but maintaining relevance is extremely difficult. Many of the biggest content creators had to have literally been posting content every day for years before they were successful, and they have to keep posting content no matter what, or else they’ll lose their audience. They also have major burnout and overworking issues.”
Another Redditor elaborated, “Most who try, fail, some put multiple videos a day, with hours of work for each one to never be recognized, and the ones who do now have to maintain relevance and (depending on who they are) have bigger workloads. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be worth it, but it’s not as simple as press record and publish.”
Another user added, “Being a slave to an algorithm you’ll never actually understand or be able to predict consistently seems like absolute hell to deal with when a livelihood is on the line.”
7. Streamer
A Reddit user commented, “Twitch streamer. This is a newer form of career, but one that I have seen a lot of younger people romanticize while watching their favorite streamers making millions playing video games. Fact is that the environment is so saturated it’s damn near impossible to really get anywhere unless you’re incredibly lucky.”
Someone else wrote, “I follow a lot of streamers on Twitter, and from what I can see, it wrecks your mental health. The pressure of having to be “on” all the time, dealing with people who fall into the trap of the parasocial interaction, and dealing with the site algorithms that might make you relevant one day and irrelevant the next. I don’t envy them at all.”
8. Game-Tester
A game-tester shared the inside scoop on their job, “The thing about video game testing is that you’re playing the game long before it’s complete, and long before it’s fun to play. Also, you may hit the jackpot and be able to test the next new breakthrough IP…but Barbie Horse Adventure needs testers as well.
“Finally, you’re not just playing games all day; you’re playing the SAME game all day, every day. And you’re not just playing; you need to document what you find. All for absolute *** pay.”
Doing the same task over and over again for hours on end may end up being a tedious job.
9. Architect
An architect commented, “You think you’ll design big, fancy iconic buildings. Warehouses, Walmarts, strip malls, and s** box apartments all need architects, and that’s probably what you’ll do.”
Someone else added, “As an architecture major myself, God, this is so true. Pulling an all-nighter is considered a norm, and it’s nowhere near healthy. Sometimes you don’t even sleep for 2-3 days straight just to catch up on some deadlines. And most of the time, that is still not enough.
“You put yourself second. It’s like you know it’s not healthy to have a messed up sleeping schedule (and eating, too I might add), but if you don’t get these drawings done, you’re done for. And I was told that this culture continues until you’re working in the real world. I wish people wouldn’t normalize this as much as they are right now.”
10. Journalist
When a Reddit user commented that Journalism was often romanticized, a working journalist expressed their feelings, saying, “I feel this one HARD. Came into it all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as an editor for a local pub out of college, and felt lucky to even get a job in the field at the time, so I was READY TO GO.
“Fast forward a year later, my freelance budget was 10% of what I started with, and I had to resort to posting ‘best gas prices’ type stuff. The current machine is so hungry for instantaneous reporting and speed over accuracy that anybody in it, for the right reasons, will get pushed out pretty quickly. It’s **** depressing.”
Another Reddit user shared, “Ha, I dated a journalist. She worked for a real mid-sized newspaper (not freelance or some free community paper), she made terrible money, and don’t even get me started on the “you need to finish this (impossible) amount of stories by Thursday, but you CAN’T work overtime, but you need to finish these stories, but you CAN’T work overtime”, the implication there being clock out and work on the stories for free.”
11. Ballerina
A former ballet dancer shared, “I was a dancer for 16 years, and ballet destroyed almost everything in my legs. A stress fracture in the left ball of my foot, debilitated knees, hip flexors, Achilles tendon, and so many serious ankle sprains on both ankles that I was on and off crutches for years. Ballet is no f*** joke.”
Have you ever tried ballet? What has your experience been like?
12. Archaeologist
A Reddit user expressed, “Archaeologist, specifically field archaeology. 99% of the time, you find absolutely nothing, it’s often physically demanding (sometimes grueling), the pay is s***, there are no benefits, you have to constantly travel, there’s very little stability, I could go on.”
A former aspiring archaeologist shared, “When I was doing my degree, I went to a career fair. And one of the archaeologists there said that they would be making more working in Tesco than being an archaeologist. Put me off trying to follow through with it as a profession.”
13. Flight Attendant
A Redditor said the following about flight attendants, “Young, good-looking people traveling the world while everyone is looking at you. Many women heavily romanticize the job. They lack male applicants, I’m told.”
Someone else questioned, “Ugh, why would this be romanticized? Free flights, I guess? The job seems horrible: working in a cramped space all day, getting exposed to radiation, and dealing with mean passengers.”
Another person added, “It is glamorous sounding but is basically just a toilet cleaner, waitress, cook, and overall cleaner, all in one. Not to forget, a slave of the pilots.”
14. Chef
One user wrote, “Being a Chef. Everyone: oh, what’s your favorite thing to make? You must eat fabulous at home. Reality: I prefer a simple some fried egg and toast at home after a 10-12 hr shift in a super-hot work area.”
Another chef shared, “I had a sous chef once who told me about how early in his career he would regularly eat a bag of peanut M&Ms and a bottle of Mountain Dew for dinner. And there have been a few nights where my dinner was a bag of chips and a tallboy. Not a healthy lifestyle. Trying hard not to do that to myself anymore.”
15. Bartender
A bartender shared, “Bartending. You’re a legal drug dealer and often have to babysit adults, serve a****, withstand people dumping their emotional stuff on you, chase away creeps from women.”
On top of that, bartending also entails entertainment; a bartender has to do a lot more than just make drinks. Often they are also expected to entertain the guests via conversation or through bartending tricks.
16. Teacher
A Reddit user wrote, “You think it’ll be inspirational and life-affirming, but actually, parents and kids see you as a glorified babysitter. You spend most of your day just trying to get the kids to put the phone down and try something or care about something.
“And then when they leave, you sit down to do assessments, plan lessons, and enter data. I don’t mean to sound like it’s all negative. There have been some good moments, but the stress is constant. I see why people aren’t going into education anymore.”
A college professor wrote, “There’s nothing quite like grading papers at 2 am and questioning your life choices because, Good God! How can they be this dumb?!”
17. Astronaut
Someone wrote, “Astronauts. An absolutely insane amount of studying and training just to qualify, and it still could be years before you get to go into space.
“And even if you do, you spend weeks or months in a cramped environment, far away from your friends and family, performing tasks that are either extremely boring or stressful; one mistake could result in your death and/or the deaths of your fellow astronauts.
“To top it all off, years spent in zero/low gravity results in bone decalcification and muscle atrophy that will wreak havoc on your body later in life.”
18. Writer
A writer shared, “Loads of people think they’re going to sit down and write their book one day and get published. Writing is hard. Writing a coherent story with interesting characters and a plot that goes somewhere and has a beginning, middle, and end is really hard. Getting published is almost impossible. And if you do get published, they expect you to do it all again. Within a year.”
Another writer on the thread commented, “Also prepare for vast, vast amounts of rejection.”
19. Small Business Owner
A budding entrepreneur commented, “Being a small business owner. Everyone thinks you’re going to “be your own boss” and “work whenever you want,” with “unlimited earning potential.” The truth is instead of having one boss, now every single customer of yours is your boss.
“You don’t work whenever you want; you work whenever your customer wants you to work. Unlimited earning potential is exactly that, potential. The average SMB owner pulls in like 40-60k a year.”
Someone else shared, “If you’re not coming from a wealthy background, you’re going to have to know literally every single aspect of your company. You’re likely going to do every single role. For a long time. Until you make enough to hire someone to help you.
“Then that means on top of all the admin, back office, legal, insurance, sales, maintenance, and 1000 other things, you now need to also manage the employee. And the stress and problems continue to mount the larger your company gets.”
Another experienced business owner commented, “You will have almost zero social life if you’re serious about your business. Every waking moment will be dedicated to it. Your health is going to take a massive hit. Relationships will be strained.”
20. Military Fighter
A Reddit user wrote, “The military. Most of the time, you’re bored or cleaning something.”
A veteran commented, “Combat isn’t a 24/7, 365 days a year event. It’s brief moments of action, surrounded by inactivity, boredom, and cleaning/maintenance. Source: I have been to war for 3 years of my life.”
Serving your country and protecting its people is undoubtedly honorable and heroic. However, the military lifestyle is incredibly tough and demands self-discipline and an undying passion for the cause to persevere.
20 Things That Boomers Love That Are Hard for Us To Understand
There is a ton of stuff old people do that the younger generation doesn’t seem to wrap their heads around. However, it is a pattern, and everyone who gets old ends up doing the same things they couldn’t understand when they were young.
20 Things That Boomers Love That Are Hard for Us To Understand
11 Crimes Against Style That Men Need To Stop, According to Women
Fashion is a powerful way to express oneself and can significantly impact how others perceive us, wrong or not. However, not all fashion choices are created equal, and men commit some egregious fashion faux pas, which drives some women crazy!
11 Crimes Against Style That Men Need to Stop, According to Women
10 Crazy Myths About Women Men Actually Believe
In our society, many myths and stereotypes exist about women. Unfortunately, some men still believe in these myths, even though they have been debunked time and time again. Here are some of the crazy myths that men believe about women.
10 Crazy Myths About Women Men Actually Believe
20 Things We Thought Were Awesome as Kids but Actually Are Pretty Terrible Now
As children, we experienced many things that seemed magical and exciting. However, as we grow up, we realize that some of those things aren’t as great as we remember them to be. They are just not as fun as adults.
20 Things We Thought Were Awesome As Kids but Actually Are Pretty Terrible Now
20 Legal Things That Will Hopefully Be Illegal in the Next 20 Years
In today’s modern world of legalities and regulations for everything, there are certain things that people are eager to see illegalized in the next two decades, despite the complex legal landscape or things people think will become illegal in America.
20 Legal Things That Will Probably (Hopefully) Be Illegal in the Next 20 Years
This article was produced and syndicated by A Dime Saved.
