18 Jobs and Their Un-Glamorous Realities

What profession doesn’t live up to the fun expectations that many people have?

A user asked, “Which job is much less fun than most people expect?”. Here are the best ones.

1. Lifeguard

“Everybody thinks lifeguards don’t do anything. Which, physically, is true. But damn, was that the most boring and mentally draining job ever. And stressful (if you take it seriously). Not as fun as my friends thought.”

2. Engineering

“Engineering, most of the time you double-check someone’s work, and mistakes are expensive.”

3. Lawyer

“Being a Lawyer. Looks like you’d be arguing in court to save lives.

You spend most of your time looking up statutes and decisions. When you aren’t doing that, you deal with demanding clients with unrealistic expectations.”

Read: 21 Things You’re Saying That Make People Dislike You “Instantly”: Guilty of Any?

4. Archaeology

“Archaeology. You’re not running around like Indiana Jones or digging up Viking swords daily. It’s mostly doing desk-based assessments (saying whether or not there is possible archaeology in an area for council planning permission purposes), watching briefs (watching builders in case there is archaeology that is found to adhere to council planning permission), or surveying (plotting out grids and doing geophys).

Any digging is unlikely to find anything cool; you mostly find postholes or bits of broken pottery, maybe a few stones that were once part of a wall.”

5. Being A Chef

“Being a chef or a cook.

I can’t tell you how many young dudes think they want to be a chef after watching Masterchef for years on TV. After their first 13-hour shift where stuff hits the fan, the guests keep coming with no breaks, cuts on their fingertips, burn marks from the hot oiled pans, and the sorest feet they ever had. 95% of them never come back.”

6. Astronaut

“Astronauts have to poop in a bag.. Go months without getting a decent shower. Breath stale recycled air. Drink stale recycled urine. If prisoners were similarly confined, it would constitute a human rights violation. Are exposed to higher levels of radiation. Are subjected to muscle and bone atrophy.”

Read: 18 Things You Never Realized the Pandemic Has Completely Ruined

7. Video Production

“Video production, long hours on your feet, often poor pay, no proper breaks, sporadic work schedule.”

8. Commerical Pilot

“Not one, but I would assume being a commercial pilot? Most of the flying is sitting on autopilot for 8 hours staring at the window hoping nothing goes wrong.”

“My dad was a pilot and described it as hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of sheer terror.”

9.  Masseur

“Masseur – especially young people think that you get to touch women and how fun it would be, but after some time, you’re just numb to any touch. People try to get free massages. Never tell random people you are a masseur, or they’ll ask you to perform right then and there.”

10. Adult Movie Star

“This was going to be my answer. Your job is to do it for money, however:

It’s a movie shoot. There are takes, retakes, and creating the set. There’s downtime. Makeup. You have to take direction. Positions are chosen primarily for how they look on camera, not how they feel. And you’re going to be there for hours.

It’s a competitive field. Similar to acting, the big names have it made, but many less prestigious positions pay like dirt, and you deal with many seedy companies. Some of these companies are downright evil, too. Drug use is rampant. I’ve heard that the guys often have to take drugs to stay hard for the shoot. There’s also no shortage of cocaine and other drugs.”

Read: Get Paid To Talk To Stranger

11. Video Game Tester

“Being a video game tester.

You don’t get to pick the games you play; the games are in VERY early stages with lots of elements and pieces missing or waiting to be added.

I was once a tester for a large FPS franchise. There was a time when I spent two weeks (8 hours a day, 6 days a week) in ONE story mode level. Over 90 hours playing a story mission that takes less than 30 minutes to complete.”

12. Acting

“Acting. Sitting in makeup, repeating the same lines repeatedly, getting back into position to do the whole thing over again, sitting in silence, waiting for your cue. It’s just a lot of waiting and repetition.

You get brief bursts of excitement when doing a cool scene, but the rest of the day is just standing and sitting around. In silence.”

13. Bartending

“Bartending.

It has its moments. Coworkers can make it fun. But when you’re knee-deep in the weeds with the ticket printer not stopping printing, servers barking their drink modifications they didn’t ring in and standing there waiting for their order looking and acting inconvenienced, drunk customers calling for your attention.

Pros: walking out with good cash after a good night.”

Read: 10 Endangered Jobs That May Not Be Around Much Longer

14. Tattoo Artist

“Tattoo artist. You get into it because you love art, but at the end of the day, you don’t want to go home and do any art for yourself because you’ve done it for other people all day. And the art they want 90 percent of the time can hardly be considered art.

It’s just the same thing everyone else wants they see on Pinterest. If I have to do one more infinity symbol, paw print, clock, roses, or Roman numerals, I’m going to scream. We joke about changing the name of the shop to Clocks and Roses. Not to mention people are constantly trying to get their 14-year-old tattooed or pierced when we have multiple signs that we don’t allow minors.

Don’t get me wrong, 10 percent of the time, when someone wants something custom is excellent! But it’s not as often as people think. On top of that, being a female in a very misogynistic field is soul-crushing. If one more customer asks me if I pierce or where the artist is I might need to be committed.”

Read: How To Make Money Fast As A Women

15. Sports Reporter

“Being a sports reporter

Some people live for the gig, and it is unique and fun. It is very tough, though: pay is low (unless you’re in the top .01%), the schedule prevents most chances at a healthy and social life, and the work isn’t quite as fun as it looks on TV. Tight deadlines, chaotic working environments, inconsistent accommodations.

That being said, you’ll make memories that will last a lifetime, gain invaluable experience, and it beats being a plumber.”

16. Food Taster

“Food taster or any taster for that matter, how many types of disgusting things you’ll have to try before a decent recipe comes your way.”

17. Gynecologist

“Gynecologist. I’m sure looking at private parts all day can be exciting, but not when there are medical issues (thinking discharges, foul odors, etc.).”

18. Brewing Beer

“Brewing beer. It’s really hard work in very wet, hot, and cold environments. You get paid low and you get almost no time off. Sure, you get to have a beer after your shift, but that also can have its issues.”

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This article was originally published on Mrs. Daaku Studio.