It seems kids are being encouraged and pressured to choose a career at an earlier age every year, and often the information they have to base their decisions off of isn't the most accurate or transparent.
Unfortunately, a lot of people pursue the dreams they had as a child, like to be an artist or astronaut, only to discover all the hard work they'd put in was for a job that fell desperately short of their expectations.
Redditor American-pickle asked:
"Did you ever obtain your 'dream job,' only to realize it wasn’t actually what you wanted? Why did it not live up to expectations?"
Working from the Air
"I always wanted to be a flight attendant. Then I actually was one. No thanks, ever again, but for a few years it was fun, and then it just became a series of indistinguishable hotel rooms, and it wasn't worth putting up with the passengers anymore."
- oy-withthepoodles
Too Far From Home
"I always wanted to be a part of the music industry but didn't want to be a performer. I went to college for audio engineering and was a live sound engineer/stage tech/guitar tech for about seven years."
"I did love the job and I'm glad I did it, but it was pretty clear after I started touring that it wasn't feasible for me as a lifestyle."
"In order to do the job consistently, you have to basically be homeless and miss everything that happens at home. It wasn't like I was miserable and being held hostage, but after missing enough birthdays and holidays with family and instead spending them with other random stage techs that you aren't super close to, it gets hard to rationalize."
"The days are long, but the pay doesn't reflect that. If it was a show day, I'd usually work for 16 hours straight. I was working with pretty big-name acts, but my day rate was still about $175 a day, and if I asked for a raise, they'd call someone else."
"Everything I did was also as an independent contractor, so my taxes were f**ked to begin with. That was actually what forced me out of doing it full-time, the change to the tax code in 2017 pretty much ruined my career. I went from paying $600 per year to paying $4,000 in one year."
"When I quit, I still kept doing it on the side for a few years with some of the local audio companies I worked with coming up, but it paid way less than touring, which already didn't pay a lot. After about two years and the beginning of the pandemic, I walked away entirely to focus on my career as an electrician, which is a much better fit."
"I miss the experiences, but I don't miss the lifestyle. Again, I'm glad I did it, but I'm glad I don't do it."
- DeltaBearlines
A Little Too Quiet
"I worked a lot of physically demanding jobs during my twenties and had these recurring fantasies about working in a store, sitting all day waiting for people to buy something, and having all that free time."
"Well, a couple of months ago, I found that job. Great pay, some benefits, great bosses."
"But every day it's slower than the last, and weirdly enough, I come back home tired from doing almost nothing all day long, the f**k is with that?"
"Now sometimes I fantasize about going back to my old job, where I would end up covered up in sweat and dirt but at least there was a feeling of accomplishment."
"So dumb, I hate it."
"Edit to Add: Yes, I tried to use that free time on something educational. First, it was programming, and then knots, not sure why, and then I got bored and started Portuguese to 'learn how to learn,' so I could move to more serious subjects and stop abandoning interests."
"I'm planning to study English formally instead of picking it up through memes, but I never get that right motivation or discipline or mental state to actually do it, to do anything at all."
"I just... play mobile Mobas for hours."
. MaeSolug
Camping for Work
"My first job out of college was as a forestry field tech. Turns out camping is way less fun when you worked 10 hours, don't have cell service, are on a random flat spot you found, and there's no one to talk to."
"Now make that eight days in a row, your only water is in jugs in the work truck, and you're covered in grime and wearing the same clothes for the entire time."
"Now I get to stay in a cabin during the field season. Having running water, a bed, and four friendly people on the crew is a godsend. I am so much happier just having company and running water, 'adventure' be d**ned."
- Mirrorflute88
That Living at the Zoo Dream
"All throughout childhood and college, I wanted to be a zookeeper."
"When I was finally offered the internship though, it took me less than a week to realize I couldn't stomach it."
"It's a lot less 'playing with and training cute animals' and a lot more 'cleaning up the vilest messes and being bombarded with the absolute worst smells on planet earth' than I imagined."
- duneden9
"A pony kicked me and gave me a concussion and I got fired for it, lol (laughing out loud)."
"It makes me laugh now. But I was a Junior Zookeeper and they just would tell me to do random things with no training or supervision."
"I had never even seen a horse in real life. I was cleaning its stall and from behind pushed it softly and told it to move outside."
"So in response, it broke two of my ribs and launched me into the gate and I got a concussion, and then it came over and bit me while I was puking."
- MaloPescado
Boring License
"I never really enjoyed driving but always wanted to learn to fly. So I dropped 10k on a pilot's license and found out flying was just driving with up and down added."
"Weird was how quickly a childhood dream turned to 'meh.'"
- thecoolerllcoolJ
It's Not All About Helping Animals
"I dreamt about working in Veterinary Medicine my whole life. When I finally did, I ended up traumatized."
" It wasn't the blood, the abuse, or even the euthanasia. It was how we just didn't talk about it."
"Bad day? Don't talk about it. Got hurt? Don't talk about it. Rude pet parent? Don't talk about it. Burnt out? Don't talk about it."
"I felt so alone in situations where having support was essential."
- lilybear032
Playing with Trains
"When I was younger, I desperately wanted to work on the railway as the money was great, and I really loved railways and everything in that world. I eventually managed to get a job as a welder with a local firm."
"It was f**king w**k. Permanent nights, working every weekend in all weather, with equipment that weighed an absolute tonne that had to be loaded up dark embankments. I was working with thermite and explosive gases, usually after pushing all the gear about three or four miles down the track."
"One Christmas, I worked a shift on a site where a guy was killed the previous weekend after getting his arm chopped off by an excavator. They had a collection box in the site cabin with a picture of him and his young kid on it. F**king heartbreaking. And to top it off, everyone I worked with was a complete and utter [c-word]."
"F**king s**t job."
- CommentOne8867
Working in the Science Lab
"Working as a chemist in an academic research lab."
"Academia is full of narcissistic nutjobs that pretend like their research is the holy grail of their field when it's actually practically inconsequential. The stakes are so low that the results don't matter and everyone is just scavenging for what little funding they can pull together for something nobody really wants or needs."
"The amount of pettiness, sabotage, and frankly fraud is rather pathetic. But they face little to no repercussions because, again, nobody cares."
"Which is why I now do research in a corporate lab."
- AbortionSurvivor777
The Renowned Music Teacher
"I am a teacher and when I first graduated college, I couldn't decide what age range I wanted to teach. My first job was ages four to twelve in orchestra."
"At first, this was amazing, because I could guide the same students from beginners to graduating, but I quickly learned that the 4-12 position was supposed to be a three-person job and not a one-person job."
"I, unfortunately, had to quit because I was so overwhelmed and my school wouldn't hire anybody else. I lasted six years and I don't regret it, but I also don't miss it..."
- karaoke_knight
The Glamourous Life
"To answer the original question, sort of. I got close to it. Close enough to see what that life would actually be like. And it sucked."
"It turns out, I don’t like working with celebrities. They’re kind of annoying clients. It’s not fun and glamorous. It’s unnecessarily stressful."
"And I don’t want to be a famous stylist or famous anything. It makes people weird. Mark Ruffalo is only normal because he hasn’t figured out he’s famous yet."
"I still enjoy doing hair. And I still like people, for the most part. So I went with a more low-key path. I’m very happy with my choices. Sometimes on the way to your dream job, you have to make adjustments."
- friendlynbhdwitch
Hopefully an Isolated Incident
"I got my dream job as a designer of skiing magazines, but then my workload doubled with no raise, the raises I was promised never came, all of the people I liked working with left, and things just got gradually worse."
"I left three months ago, and they still haven't been able to fill the position because they're offering a wage that was low nine years ago for half of the work."
- partial_birth
Teaching Isn't What You See in the Movies
"Teaching at a college."
"I love my field and I love research. It's easy to ramble for hours on end about a topic. The passion and curiosity I held for my discipline, I thought, would make me a good instructor. What I did not expect was how much hatred, contempt, jealousy, and sabotage would come from the administration."
"'Oh, you're enjoying teaching an entry-level class with 30 students? We'll raise the cap so it has 75 enrolled. Have fun grading until you cry each week!'"
"'Oh, you want to be an expert educator in one area? Then you get to be the (unpaid) consultant on *all* department exams on that topic. Enjoy re-writing 7 midterms for your colleagues with one week's notice!'"
"'Oh, you haven't had a raise in six years? The football coach *needs* to be the highest-paid person in the state. If you ask for a cost of living increase again, we'll set the students against you by claiming inflation-adjusted raises for instructors would result in doubling tuition costs for students!'"
"And so many of the students see the courses as box checking and are burnt out from previous bad educational experiences. I don't blame them, but no matter how hard I tried to be kind and share my excitement for the subject it felt like throwing a dandelion into the grand canyon of despair."
- Clever_Mercury
The Truth Behind Graphic Design
"I always wanted to be a graphic artist. I wanted to pass by billboards that I designed, print ads I made, a portfolio with all my paid work, and case studies. I even centered my major around it."
"When I got to the professional world of it, I found out it wasn’t as fun as it was when it was just a hobby, not even close to how I thought it was going to be. The sleepless nights, the deadlines, moving goalposts brought by irrational revisions and indecisive stakeholders; it’s draining."
"I shifted careers and started a job as a backend software developer. I find it more enjoyable. If the code quality passes and it works as expected, then I’m off the hook. No 'Can you try a different font? I just wanna see it,' or 'What happens if you switch this and that? How is it gonna look?' types of stuff."
"Fast forward, and I’m in an architect and designer role now. Best decision I’ve made for my long-term well-being. I still do graphic design, but it’s for my passion projects now."
- abmendi
Plot Twist!
"I worked for a small non-profit doing work that I was super passionate about. I thought it was going to be a dream job. In reality, I was super overworked and underpaid. And being such a small organization there was lots of interpersonal drama that I was just not into."
"I now work a more 'corporate' job, but it’s still work I’m passionate about and makes a difference. I’m getting paid over double what I made previously, my workload is manageable, and I am way less stressed. I also really like my coworkers and boss, AND I work from home full-time."
"The job I was unsure about wound up being the dream job."
- littlepinch7
Like anything else, careers are often portrayed in our social circles as something that's wildly different from actually living the life of that profession. How teachers, doctors, and zookeepers describe their days at the front of a classroom full of starry-eyed children is hardly the same as when those children later walk into those jobs as an intern or new-hire.
Fortunately for some of these Redditors, they were able to find adjacent work that better suited their needs, without leaving behind the full dream they'd been chasing.