Your Dream Job: Overrated
Is your career not living up to everything you thought it would? Do you remember freshman year of college watching TV thinking about how neat it would be to be a police officer? Maybe chef? Attorney? According to US. News, here is the list of 10 most overrated careers:
- Advertising Executive
- Architect
- Attorney
- Chef
- Chiropractor
- Clinical psychologist
- Medical Scientists
- Nonprofit manager
- Physician
- Police Officer
- Real estate agent
- Small-business owners
- Teacher
Wow, some pretty popular careers are on here. My wife-to-be is a teacher. We all have our favorite nonprofit manager. What about small-business? Personally, I didn’t enter any of these careers, so I can’t tell you if they are truly overrated.
I know the people I mentioned above have a lot of passion. They live for their job and truly enjoy it. They were probably quite surprised the first time they saw the list. To paraphrase my fiance when I read the article to her “their a bunch of idiots.”
The reason I think these jobs make the list is the aura around them. Many are on TV or discussed extensively in the news. Kids that wander into college and are not sure what they want to do, they don’t think too far into it, and quickly stumble into the career they believe they will enjoy.
In the end, they begin their career, realize being a lawyer is nothing like Law and Order (and they are not as good looking as Angie Harmon) and they fall into a new career.
My advice for college kids or someone that is stuck in what turned out to be a totally overrated career… Truth is I don’t have any advice. Fortunately, I have never been in that situation. My intial guess would be to research and choose something your passionate about, but my guess is every overrated career begins with passion. Where in the end, it just wasn’t your passion, no biggie, we’re young!
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I believe that people considering any of these “most overrated careers,” (and really, any one in college, or simply about to join the workforce) should absolutely test out the job in an internship first.
For years, people told me that I really ought to be a lawyer, that being a lawyer was something they thought I would excel at — to the point I slowly started believing them. I was never passionate about the idea, but it was an interesting one… until I began volunteering for a teen court program, then interned under a local attorney. Teen court was fun, and I learned so, so much from my internship… and also realized that I probably do not want to go to law school… it’s just not for me.
It scares me when I see peers of mine dedicate all of high school towards medical science classes because they are heart-set on being a doctor… because they have little-to-no real-world experience, and as such, have no balance in their lives, much less many fall-back interests.
Research and coursework is key, but that hands-on experience through co-ops and internships ought to be an essential part of any person’s career planning.
My advice to anyone who has ended up in a job they feel is overrated: Do something else. I think a lot of people my age (23) don’t realize that just because they have a degree in (insert field of study) doesn’t mean that they have to work in that field. I.E.: I started off in Computer Engineering. I now work in a Personal Banking Strategies team. I have a friend who studied music. She now works in Entertainment financing. Explore the space… There are so many random jobs out there!
I really like what Glenn said, the best way to test out the waters.
My situation was similar, but I had the opportunity to get into an industry I was very unsure about, but once I worked with the people, discovered the variety I was hooked. Our land is endless, yet so fragile = there’s always work somewhere.
For some reason I don’t trust people who go into medicine, I don’t know what it is. Doctors are good, fine and dandy, but I always feel like they enter that workforce for the wrong reasons!
**btw thanks for all your input @ my post w/ Brazen.