Is anyone in a career that they, and everyone they know in it, enjoy?

[CarrierbagsAndPJs]

Is anyone in a career where they, and everyone they know in that career path, would say this is a great job and career path to be in, and you would encourage others into it? Decent pay, job satisfaction, non-toxic etc?

This is on the back of weekly threads about not wanting children to go into various different roles such as medicine, nursing, teaching, where others will always disagree and go on to say how awful it is but they love it…

What are the jobs that are actually good?

My husband works in IT as an architect, he loves it as does most of his colleagues. I think you'll struggle to find any career where 100% of the people love it all the time.
I work for a bank in business change and I do really enjoy it but not all of my colleagues do.

I can't speak for my colleagues but I love my job. It's minimum wage, not always family friendly, quite full on but I love it.

It isnt even a case of it being great all the time. Just it is mostly a good role, with occasionally pressure points that don’t turn toxic and are manageable and well-managed.

Would the pay support a family? Would you suggest it as a career option for your children to thrive?

Chartered Tax Adviser here. Love it. It’s a mixture of being a lawyer and being an accountant. I never do over time and it pays very well.

Surely in a lot of cases, it's because people are in the wrong job if they're hating it and that will be different for different people.

For example I was chatting to a friend of a friend this weekend. She was telling me how she absolutely hates her compliance job, that the only job she's ever really enjoyed was waitressing, so she's leaving to become cabin crew. I'd much, much rather do the complaince job than either of those.

Nursing - there are so many career options and we have the privilige of working with the public.

Legislative drafters (specialised lawyers) usually love their work.

I enjoy my job it’s the people that bother me if anything

There is no one perfect job! It's highly individual and subjective.

Company culture is also massively important.

My step-brother works in power generation and has done all his working life, he loves it. A lot of the younger staff have parents who also work in the industry, they haven’t got in through nepotism but because they can see it’s a good career with prospects, well paid, and the big bonus is no university degree required so no massive student debt. Routes would be training in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, often done at local colleges and alongside apprenticeships.
The downside is that it’s 24/7 so expected to work shifts which doesn’t suit everyone, have to work weekends, Christmas etc. If it’s on the offshore wind farms then away from home for weeks at a time so miss family occasions, but the pay is excellent, once fully competent you can work all over the world.
It’s a mix of mental and physical work, mostly mental, but sometimes my SB can do 20k steps in a day. He’s the type of person who has always liked taking things to bits to see how they work and is good with technology and mechanical stuff.

Supporting a family surely depends on the outgoings.

I'd recommend it as a career for someone who wants to work with animals. I wouldn't recommend it to someone purely interested in earning good money.

I wouldn't suggest it to my children, I would try and encourage jobs/careers in the subject they were interested in.

I used to be in a dream job and then a major bully became head of service. Even though she's gone, there are still some very odd practises left which make the job less enjoyable. So things can change very quickly even in a great job

AHP - don't know a single colleague who doesn't love their job. A lot less stressful than nursing and very versatile in terms of areas of interest you can explore.
Is it well paid? Not massively but quite comfortable at the higher bands.

I work in the film industry in a technical role. While I love it, the deadlines can be insanely stressful.

I'm a specialist midwife and love my job. I work in a great team with some amazing colleagues. It's very challenging emotionally but I have great support from my team, and it is also challenging enough which keeps me motivated. I get a say in the service and can make improvements where I see they are needed, management do listen most of the time. I get to provide great care and enjoy the relationship I can get with the families under our service. Money is ok too, I'd always like more but I earn a good wage considering I'm part time.

I actually enjoy going into work. I feel very fortunate that I do as I have been in jobs where I have been very stressed and anxious.

Communications. Love it. And lucrative if you're good.

I'm a mental health nurse in primary care and maybe surprisingly for some, I really enjoy me job, as do my mental health nurse colleagues at other GP practices around the city.

I'm a primary school teacher in Australia. Absolutely love it.

Yes - dog walking. It’s not something you can do without a love of animals as it’s very physical and requires you to be outside no matter what the weather.

There are people who think it’s an easy way of earning money but they often never make it past their first winter 🤣

I’ve been a nurse for 23 years. I love my job. If you can switch off to the politics and negative press about the role it’s a fantastic job.

I just wouldn’t recommend it due to the job situation. We were told last week that another 450 jobs need to go at our trust on top of recent redundancies and redeployments. The student have no jobs so haven’t bothered applying for their pins.

When I trained hog were sold a job for life, but that’s certainly not the case now. Lucky to have a job at all.

Im curious, what is a specialist midwife? Do you deal with complicated births where the baby might have a condition?

I am but I am SE and so is everyone else who does the same "job"
I am a Relocation and Education Consultant
There are some stresses around getting clients etc but everyone I know (and we are a large network) do seem to love what we do.

Professional novelist, it's my day job. I love what I do, but sometimes love the world of publishing less! Deadlines can be stressful. But I don't know any authors who would do anything else (though a lot of us have to teach, mentor, etc., to supplement our incomes!). Definitely wouldn't recommend it unless you have a real passion and skill for it.

I work in theatre and love it.

I was in FOH, stage management and then directing, latterly building / organisation management.

I have always loved it and everyone who has ever worked alongside me loved it too.

Pay: terrible until you reach very rare / responsible positions and then absolutely not comparable to other sectors with similar responsibility for turnover, staff team size, skilled and specialist knowledge and experience and thoroughly anti-social hours!

Would I advise it as a career path: No. Jobs are ever more competitive as the sector faces huge financial challenges. Pay and conditions are highly unlikely to improve.

Will anyone who is actually driven to work in the arts take notice and be deterred?

No.

Many freelancers have alternative jobs alongside. Teaching , lecturing, running workshops, roles in various events, temping, etc.

Many people who start out realise that it isn't sustainable for adult family life and re-train as life coaches, therapists, team building for industry, teaching, fundraising, and many other things.

I managed it from leaving Uni and through starting a family etc - but only because I had a partner who was fully 50/50 with childcare and household (also had an arts job), I stopped touring and had moved into largely management role. And we have lived thrifty lives!

I don't regret a moment of it but it is immeasurably harder for the next generation.