In the (free) newspaper 24 Hours, they posted under Your Career on Monday November 19th 2012, the occupations who really hate their jobs with data taken from Payscale.com:
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Even if the money is good, if the nature of the job itself is hard to deal with and not in line with your personality, it is not a good job.
Money isn’t everything!
MINIMUM WAGE SUCKS
This is the #1 reason for people hating their jobs — the money. These are the jobs I am sure where they don’t make more than minimum wage (if that):
- Fast Food Worker = 38.40%
- Bartender = 6.70% (although we should note that they get tips)
- Fashion Designer = 4.90% (could be lower; not everyone is rich & famous)
- Retail sales associate = 3.70%
Working for minimum wage will suck the life out of anyone, although we have to keep in mind it is most likely students who are working these jobs, so it is not necessarily their career.
In Canada, minimum wage is on average $10.10/hour across all provinces and territories.
That works out to $20,207.69 per year as a gross income.
In the U.S., minimum wage on average is $7.39 an hour, with the federal minimum wage set to $7.25/hour as a bare minimum.
This works out to $14,788.40 per year as a gross income, or a full $5419.29 less per year than their Canadian counterparts.
(Did I also mention there is no universal healthcare in the U.S. either, and from my own personal experience, it can cost up to $1000 – $2000 USD/month for a single person?).
BEING REQUIRED TO BE MEAN, MAKES YOU FEEL BAD
No one wants to go into their job and have to take money away from people who can’t pay their bills.
Yes, they got themselves into that credit card, line of credit MESS, but you still can’t help but feel bad for them:
- Gaming dealer = 17% (they must see a lot of desperate folks trying to strike rich)
- Loan collector = 4.90% (if any job sucks the most, it has to be this one for me)
- Senior Attorney = 4.40% (you’re fighting all the time & you have to be tough)
- Credit/Collections Supervisor = 4.10% (again, you have to take money they can’t give)
- Claims adjuster = 3.10% (can you imagine telling someone they have less money?)
It is a requirement of those above jobs to be mean to people. It’s not a nice thing when you’re trying to make a pay cheque, and people are crying, screaming or generally ALWAYS mad at you.
SUPER HIGH-STRESS JOBS THAT NEVER LET UP AREN’T HAPPY ONES
- Telemarketer = 9.40% (constantly getting the phone slammed down on you is nasty)
- TV news director = 8.10% (you get blamed for everything but credit for nothing)
- Investment banking associate = 4.60% (exactly the reason why I didn’t join banking)
- Legal assistant = 3.40% (you must get yelled at all the time to be faster by attorneys)
- Advertising account executive = 3.30% (there’s a lot of pressure to make it rain)
Dealing with problems all the time does not make you a happy person. These are jobs that are 100+ hour workweeks and don’t let up.
You’re constantly thinking about your job, and if you aren’t a workaholic, it takes a toll on you and your personal life.
In addition, some of these industries are highly competitive (including Fashion Designer, above), which makes it hard to be recognized or to gain a foothold in the job market.
There are times where my job is somewhat high stress, but it isn’t 100% of the time, which gives my brain a much needed break.
ENVIRONMENTALLY-UNFRIENDLY JOBS ARE UNDESIRABLE ONES
The last one that doesn’t fit the above is Petroleum Engineer (3.10%). It stated in the article that 75% of people would not take a job if it harmed the environment, and this is probably the main reason why.
Maybe people get mad at them because they blame them for things like BP’s 2010 Oil Spill Fiasco, and they’re just trying to make a living.
Via
Although if we’re being honest, there aren’t that many jobs out there that are 100% ecologically-friendly.
Almost every job I can think of (including mine), harms the environment through use of technology which releases toxic chemicals into the environment, selling food that has been the result of over grazing land to grow more cows to feed the world’s insatiable appetite for meat, and a whole host of other indirect and direct threats to the environment (we all take cars, use gas or fly at some point of our lives don’t we?)
SO WHAT ARE THE BEST JOBS OUT THERE?
Obviously, the opposite of the above:
- Low stress
- Reasonable-to-High paying
- Not directly tied to harming the environment
- Jobs where you aren’t dealing with problems
- … or people aren’t yelling at you 24/7
I think most of all, the job has to be something you enjoy doing.
If you enjoy your job, no matter how much pressure or stress it puts on you, it can make a big difference, but if you hate it, it’s game over.
For instance, I love my job, but I know at least 2 out of 10 consultants who hate theirs, and we do exactly the same thing.
Money makes no difference to them other than chaining them to their current profession because they just don’t like it.
DO YOU LOVE YOUR JOB? WHAT DO YOU DO?
