As you enter theworkforce, it becomes pretty clear that most jobs actually involve a lot of busy work that might not be visible to the naked eye. Achefmight spend all day prepping ingredients without “cooking” a single dish, while ateachermay spend more time grading papers than standing in front of a classroom.Nevertheless, between mass media and just plain ol’ stereotypes, there are all sorts ofmisconceptionsmany of us believe about different careers. So what better way to educate yourself than through the magic of the internet?A curious Reddit userasked“What’s a myth about your profession that you want to debunk?” and professionals from across the internet gave their best examples. So get comfortable as you scroll through, and be sure to upvote the replies that taught you something new!This post may includeaffiliate links.
As you enter theworkforce, it becomes pretty clear that most jobs actually involve a lot of busy work that might not be visible to the naked eye. Achefmight spend all day prepping ingredients without “cooking” a single dish, while ateachermay spend more time grading papers than standing in front of a classroom.
Nevertheless, between mass media and just plain ol’ stereotypes, there are all sorts ofmisconceptionsmany of us believe about different careers. So what better way to educate yourself than through the magic of the internet?
A curious Reddit userasked“What’s a myth about your profession that you want to debunk?” and professionals from across the internet gave their best examples. So get comfortable as you scroll through, and be sure to upvote the replies that taught you something new!
This post may includeaffiliate links.
Nurse: oftentimes we can’t control death, only how we greet it, so for the love of God, do not refuse the comfort medication for your loved one. It’s not going to [end] them, their disease is!! The comfort medication just help to ensure they have no pain or anxiety when they die. Let us help them so they don’t die crying or trashing in bed, confused and scared out of their minds.The hospice nurses loaded my dad the f**k up when he was dying and I’ll forever be grateful for that.
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Former dog walker. Cesar Milán is full of s**t. Dominance training does NOT work for most dogs. It creates more aggression and fear. Positive reinforcement with gentle corrections is so much better.Those alpha wolf studies? Total BS as well. Most wolf packs are family units. Your derp wolf/dog needs a dad, not an alpha douche.
School Custodian here and we are NOT overpaid cleaners. What would you pay someone that can paint, Sheetrock, tape/mud, patch concrete/asphalt, operate/repair commercial landscaping/snow removal equipment, operate/repair commercial custodial equipment, restore various types of floors including vct/hardwood/carpet/tile, replace toilets/faucets, air filters, belts, trim/fell trees, shovel roofs, etc? Not all of us are cleaners/janitors, which are vital and underpaid as well. Some of us are Jack/Jill of all trades and you want to pay us peanuts? All employees of a school are important and administrators shouldn’t try to balance their budgets on the backs of workers when I’ve seen an exponential amount of administrative salary and stupid purchasing decisions, not to mention unfunded mandates from the state.
IT. Rebooting is NOT a waste of time and solves a remarkable number of problems.
People in minimum wage retail and restaurant jobs are not all high school dropouts or losers who wish they had gotten better educations.
Veterinary medicine is not a happy-go-lucky career choice where you get to deal with cute animals rather than people. Most of your patients are sick and/or scared, and every case involves a fraught negotiation with their stressed-out human.
Ambulance Drivers, no such a thing.There’s highly trained Paramedics that just happen to also drive ambulances. As well as dispense over 47 medications, IVs, cardioversion, defibrillation, cardiac pacing, 12-lead EKG monitoring, advanced airways, are able to perform dozens of medical procedures, etc.
Anesthesiologist: you’re not asleep you are anesthetized. When you’re asleep and someone stabs you, you wake up.
Teachers are NOT indoctrinating your children to be gay.
Speaking as an unemployed disabled, most of us want to work, but society won’t give us a chance.
Politics here. Presidents do NOT control the economy!!!They might be able to have some minor influence, but you are NOT experiencing inflation, a recession, or an economic boom because of a president.Congress has more influence, but honestly economies are just complicated.
Teachers have very little say in anything. We advocate the best we can but most of the time it’s out of our hands including holding children back who desperately need help.
There is sooooo much more to the speech-language pathologist scope of practice than working with kids who stutter or can’t say their “r"s. An entire half of the field is in the adult medical setting working with people who have dementia, swallowing disorders, oral cancer, strokes, Parkinson’s disease, and voice disorders, plus some other niche areas like transgender voice or accent modification. The pediatric half of the field also works with AAC devices, social skills, literacy development, syntax, executive functioning, writing, feeding, and more.
Bartender here. No I am not hitting on you, I just want a good tip and maybe a nice review with my name so boss knows I’m working hard
Maintenance is worth doing and definitely worth paying for.“I don’t know why we pay those maintenance guys, nothing ever breaks around here.”!!The reason Germany and Japan (and South Korea) became and remain such manufacturing powerhouses is because they know the value of maintenence. If you keep everything in clean good working order, you end up with minimum down time. Working maintenance into manufacturing schedules keeps output level, because you have no unexpected downtime.It’s the same for your car or your home. Setting aside time and resources for maintenance means you won’t lose unexpected time and resources when things break. Good maintenance will spot things before they break and switch them out. That’s worth paying for.
Nursing is a profession, not a devotion, calling, whatever other b******t they tell you.Yes, it’s an honor to care for people at their most vulnerable, but stop telling people they’ll be a terrible nurse if they say they became a nurse because of the job security or semi-decent wage.
Forester.I am not the one who actually cuts and hauls the trees, that’s a LOGGER. If you have a problem tree you need removed from your yard or trimmed, you need an ARBORIST.My job is to create and implement management plans, cruise timber for volume and defect, and mark trees for the logger, among other preparatory and managerial tasks.Furthermore, my presence does not mean that a forest is being clear-cut (hardly ever). “Clear-cut” does not necessarily mean the complete removal of every tree in an area. Most importantly, the cutting and removal of trees is not automatically a bad thing; more often than not a forested area needs to be thinned to encourage growth/production, increase carbon sequestration efficiency, and reduce fire risk.
I’m an accountant. Whenever people jokingly talk about the good looking people in the office, it’s always “Lisa from accounts”.As an accountant, I wish to point out that most of us look like a bulldog chewing a wasp.
I am a stay at home dad and former NICU nurse.No, I do not sleep all day as a stay at home dad. No, I did not get to play with cute babies all day as a NICU nurse.
OBGYN.Childbirth absolutely can and does changes the caliber of the vagina. The entire field of urogynecology wouldn’t exist if that weren’t the case.TwoXChromosomes and other women’s empowerment places on the Internet love to say everything goes back to normal after delivery. It’s not true and it doesn’t make you an anti-feminist to acknowledge the realities of pushing a 10cm diameter, 9lb sack of potatoes out of the pelvis.This messaging detrimental and causes patients with incontinence and prolapse not to seek help.This is NOT to say that the “husband stitch” is a good thing…or even that it exists. I’ve literally never heard of it being performed outside of the Internet, and a partner has only asked me about it once in my entire career. (my response was: “Do you need it?")
Logistics is a vital component of our society.Everything we touch, everything from the doorknob of your home to the oil in your car to the coffee shop to your desk to your commute to your bed has employed around 10 people.More if it’s food related.Logistics wins wars and ends them.Take a banana -From the planting, fertilizer, cultivation and harvesting involves about 8 different types of transportation, warehousing, storage, distribution and delivery.On average 17 people will physically touch a banana before it’s eaten (and very few people wash the outside of a banana)I’ve been in logistics for years, previously a break bulk specialist with my area of expertise being Russia.It’s a very interesting career
That all lawyers make absurd amounts of money. The ones that won’t sell their entire life for big bucks tend to make pretty average money.
Ejection seat mechanic. Goose would not have died in Top Gun. The canopy explosives can malfunction but moving at the speed that a Tomcat moves at would’ve ripped that canopy off and Goose would’ve escaped without perishing. Obviously done for dramatic effect.
Daylight savings time isn’t for the farmers, please quit blaming us.
Biomedical/bioinorganic chemist: no, there’s not harmful levels of metals in your vaccine. HOWEVER, you absolutely should get your drinking water tested for lead, arsenic, mercury, and all the other nasty metals. Harmful levels of lead, for example, are common in cities and with well water…
I can write code. I cannot debug most of your windows problems without googling them.
Performing in a touring band is hard a*s work and a myriad of things can lead to depression and burnout. Also, crew on tour (sound engineers/TM’s/merch people) are what keep your favorite musicians from imploding and having fights on stage. If you see one at a show, thank them too.
Hospital lab workers DO exist! No really! The lab isn’t just a black hole where tubes go in and results come out, but there’s people inside making that happen!
Archaeologist. The myth that most of the stuff we find is financially valuable. I’ve had literally hundreds of people ask me to look at the tiny stone tool fragment or the s****y piece of pottery they found because they think they’re gonna pay off their mortgage. Buddy I have bags of 100,000 of those things sitting in the lab.
Social worker here. We do FAR more than just take kids away from their parents. Child protective services social workers make up such a small percentage of us social workers. We work in so many different fields. (i.e. geriatrics, medical/ hospitals, criminal justice, government, foster care, domestic violence, schools, hospice, prisons, the list goes on!)
Massage is not sexy, professionally. If you want a sexy massage…idk, do it with a partner or a sex worker, not your physio.
I’m a security guard. The myth that we don’t actually have any power is false. We have the power to call the real police if there’s real trouble. 😁
Professors sit in cushy chairs all day thinking important thoughts, publishing stuff nobody will read, spending zero effort on teaching, and lighting cigars with wads of grant money.The reality is we’re all frantically trying to keep dozens of plates spinning at once, desperately begging for the money needed to pay for basic supplies from granting agencies with a
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Scientist (more specifically, molecular biologist in biotech).I am not hiding the cure for cancer, and idk s**t about actual medicine.
Bartender.We’re not short pouring you. The glasses are different sizes.Light ice = more mixer, not more alcohol.No, I’m not giving you anything for free. If you were someone I liked enough to do that, you wouldn’t have to ask. Also, if I do indeed give you something for free, it’s not free, it’s just gonna be me paying for it.No, I can’t take a picture of your ID. I need to see and touch the ID. Would you try this at the DMV? No.
Print industry - your paper isn’t as recycled as you think it is.
Marine biologists do NOT get to play in the ocean for 90 percent of their careers. Tons and tons of desk work, data analysis, report writing, etc.
Engineer here. We can’t fix everything. I’m mechanical, I know enough to stay away from electricity, not enough to fix most electrical problems.
I was a tandem skydiving instructor for a bunch of years. For some reason, people thought that I was an adrenaline junky and risk-taking, pass-on-a-blind-curve guy.I just worked my way up to a pretty easy job that became mundane and boring 99% of the time. The only time it was adrenaline inducing was when something went wrong. It’s not the type of adrenaline high anyone would seek out.
Fashion design is not glamorous. It has glamorous moments, but is mostly a catty corporate mindfk and the 2nd biggest industrial polluter, I think. you might have a nice colleague here and there but in general people and management tend to be f***g AWFUL. 4/10 stars, do not recommend.
Board game inventors aren’t usually multi-millionaires, nor are they all broke with a dream. Many of us just make some extra yearly cash that helps with the daily expenses.
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Working from home does mean I have any free time to do what I want. No, I cannot talk to you to hear the latest gossip. No, I can’t go meet you for lunch. No, I do not go to sleep in the middle of the day. In fact I barely get a chance to go to the toilet. It is not easier working from home.While this is not profession-specific, it is a work-condition that needs debunking.
Teachers do not get the summers off. We do not work only from 7-3:00. We have no decision making powers concerning curriculum, discipline, or testing. There is very little autonomy remaining for teachers.
Not all mental health workers have mental health problems.
That people in the funeral industry really do care about the families and communities they serve and we’re not out to just gouge your wallet at one of your most vulnerable times. Yes, there are certain entities and people that ruin the reputation for everyone else, but that the majority of people in the industry are in it for the right reasons.
System admin for a major company. It’s NEVER as easy to make a change as you think.“It’s just text. How hard can it be to change??!!“Changing that specific text requires changing 5 training files, multiple Sharepoint pages, 10 other places in the application, and on top of all of that, a code change, which costs time and money. We also have to ensure that the display doesn’t break if the new text is a different length, on 3 browsers, and mobile devices. Then, there is translating it to the 20+ languages that we support.Just so a single executive director can see it say “Personal Time Off Request”, instead of “Vacation Request”, because that’s what he prefers to call it.Now, that’s just for a single line of text. We get change requests every single day for things that not only change the entire fundamental reason for the system, but would require policy changes impacting 20,000+ employees.Then we get often-escalating hate mail for a month after we let them know that the request was denied, and why.
Firefighters don’t all look like those calendars
I was an Amazon Delivery Driver, we aren’t lazy because we didn’t specifically follow the instructions you wrote. We have up to 500 packages per day and no extra time to read your message, your backyard looked sketchy, and the app never deleted old instructions so 1/2 the time it’s outdated info.And honestly Amazon is world famous as the company that delivers things to your porch, you should expect the package to go on your porch.
Train conductor here. We do a heck of a lot more and are responsible for a lot more than “just taking tickets”.
Emergency Services Dispatcher here: Just because your alarm system is going off, does not mean PD/FD/EMS will respond any faster. They are far more inclined to respond to a confirmed call in progress than they are to the alarm system that goes off every time a spider walks over a motion sensor.Side note to that: Just because you have an actual emergency, doesn’t mean emergency services will get there any faster. They can only respond so fast, depending on the geography of your jurisdiction and how busy it is that at any given time.
- Chardonnay isn’t “oakey” or buttery unless it’s overly manipulated- Very few Rieslings are sweet- Saying you want a Pinot Noir tells us nothing. Pinot Noir from Saint Aubin Burgundy France vs Otago New Zealand will be wildly different- You don’t have an allergy to sulfites unless someone with the letters MD at the end of their name actually told you that you do- Most red wines that are completely opaque are overly manipulated, and over extracted- There is no alcohol in the world that won’t give you a hangover
Most cops dont hang around waiting to ticket or arrest you. We just want the shift to end, go home, and see our family (or for me, play with my cats)
Cyber security is tedious. If you are doing pentesting, 60% of your time is spend on deliverables (aka reports). That’s what you are paid for and that’s what decides if customer will contact you again. Outside of assignments? Learning. Learning. Oh and learning some more.
That graphic design is just a click of a button. Ai still can’t handle layout and typography well… at all.It takes hours of work, study and implementation to pull it all off.
I used to be a 3D artist and no, the computer doesn’t do all the job for us and no, there isn’t a “better” software that’ll make everything better in 5min and gosh no, there isn’t that one button that makes everything like in my head instantly like in movies.
That working with musicians is an awesome experience. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time it is fun, but they are also some of the biggest Karens.
Most pathologists don’t do autopsies, except for medical examiners and those in forensics
Pharmacist- we do not just count pills- we find mistakes and interactions from your doctor all day and do our best not to throw them under the bus so you don’t lose faith in them- we have more training and have doctorate degrees in pharmaceuticals than your doctor and are not pill ATM’s to just hand over what your doctor orders- many of us work in areas where we don’t talk to patients or doctors and have more financial, research, compliance/regulatory skills than you think we do-your pbm is not taking your health plans/insurers money.. we have transparent contracts that are audited all the time and often your health plan or insurer is skimming off the top more often than you know with quality payments and marking up the programs they sell your employer/HR… your plan and pharma and congressman point the fingers but when you look at the contracts… your plan is the one charging your employer more than they are paying for the service. 90% of all pbm claims are pass thru where the amount your employer pays the plans is what they pay the pbm and is what the pharmacy gets paid… the 10% that aren’t are set up for the plans' benefit, not anyone else’s. We give 100% of the rebates we get from pharma ( the contracts that we have to negotiate and administer without fees paid to the pbm either) and the health plan is the one that is taking some of that rebate $ and not passing it to your employer…
Counselors aren’t analyzing you if you aren’t paying for a session. I’m not flipping thru imaginary DSM pages when you just need to vent. When I’m not at work my counselor brain can turn off to just be a good friend and listen.
Architecture is not mostly inspiration.
Doctor here. Messaging your doctor through the messaging portal does not mean your doctor immediately sees your message. Depending on the healthcare system and clinic, it often sits in a pool for medical assistance or triage nurses to shift through first before forwarding us some of those messages. In addition, often times doctors have to find time to respond to your message in their own time that they are not getting paid for after their full day of patients. The messaging system should not be used to replace a clinic visit, only for quick questions. You do not want your doctor to miss something just because you gave them a vague description of what is going on and they handled it to the best that they could over text message when they might have done things differently after seeing you in person and getting a more thorough history.
Sales are a very important pillar of society. Yes, some salespeople are selfish and are only looking out for themselves. But the best services and products, especially complex ones, require sales people. Good ones make all the difference in the world (for both the company and consumer).
Ignorance of the law sometimes is an excuse.
Good HR people ARE there to protect the organization. However, they know that the best way to do so is to put the employee first.We may not be “your friends” but we absolutely take care of you first. I’ve fired #2s, COOs etc that were jerks and detrimental to the organization’s culture and staff (but were extremely successful in their role).We also generally hate party planning but get stuck with it 😂
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