If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life — or so they say. Sometimes, what seems like a dream job is a lot less fun in reality. Here are 18 examples of jobs that prove the grass isn’t always greener.
1. Character Performer at Disney
Being a character at a Disney theme park definitely isn’t as fun as you’d think. One person shared their experience, noting that while there are perks and magical moments, it’s an exhausting job. Plus, the park guests can be rude and abusive. They noted that the job also doesn’t have upward mobility.
2. Paleontologist
One person shared that paleontologists don’t get to work with full dinosaur skeletons and go on expeditions. Instead, it’s more of a desk job that involves looking at photos and logging things on a computer. Another paleontologist confirmed that the fieldwork is enjoyable but the job involves a lot of writing and research they found boring
3. Nurse
Being a nurse is hard work. They are exposed to illness, disease, and long hours. There are definitely rewarding moments, but the job is a grind.
4. Lifeguard
This job is more than pretending like you’re on Baywatch. And in reality, you’re just telling people not to run or stop wasting time.
5. Working in an Instrument Store
The idea of working in a music store sounds good until you hear countless people misplay the same song repeatedly. On the surface, it should be a fun gig — until you hear someone murder “Smoke on the Water” for the thousandth time.
6. Baker
Baking requires you to get up before the crack of dawn while working next to a scorching oven and cleaning up gigantic messes — all for minimum wage.
7. Lawyer
Being a lawyer is nothing like how it’s depicted on television. Half the time, when you bring a case before a judge, the other party doesn’t show up, and your next date is several months away.
8. Marine Biologist
Despite what George Costanza thinks, being a marine biologist requires performing many gross, tedious tasks. The industry relies heavily on volunteers, too.
9. Animal Shelter Employee
While you may think you get to play with puppies all day, you’re really cleaning up the messes the animals make. There is some joy in seeing animals find their forever homes though.
10. Demolition
Everyone wants to break stuff. However, there’s a lot of hard work and physical labor involved. It’s a tough job.
11. Zookeeper
Being around so many animals can be a dream come true, but they all tend to stink pretty badly. You definitely need a strong constitution for this job.
12. Archeologist
Archeologists quickly warn people that their work is tedious, uncomfortable, and physically challenging. Not to mention you have to cover expenses like food and travel for doing work on-site. It seems like a glamorous profession, but in reality, it’s anything but.
13. Video Game Testers
Playing video games for a living sounds like a dream come true, but being a tester means you’re doing busy work on buggy games for very little money.
14. Teacher
Teaching is a noble profession, but you must interact with frustrating parents in addition to dealing with kids. It’s not an easy job and teachers definitely aren’t paid enough.
15. Modeling
In addition to shooting swimsuit pictures in January and wearing winter coats in July, models often change their outfits countless times a day. It gets really old, really fast.
16. Photographer
Anytime you turn a hobby into a profession, it sucks the fun out of it. It is frustrating to take a perfect picture only for your client to say it’s unacceptable and demand a refund.
17. Airport Baggage Handler
On the plus side, you can see parts of an airport the general public never will. On the downside, it’s incredibly long hours, and you’ll quickly realize you’re not sleeping as much as you need to, which affects your social life.
18. Veterinarian
There are two significant downsides to being a vet. First, it’s less about treating animals and more about talking about money and costs with people. Second, putting down pets never gets easy, no matter how often you do it.
Source: Reddit.
