Employees share over-hyped dream jobs that sound glamorous until you actually do them: 'I'm 44, a little late to start a new career... but here I am'

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Jun 16, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

When we were kids, dreaming about our future careers was like picking from a magical world of endless possibilities. You could be a veterinarian, a movie star, a singer, an astronaut, a dolphin trainer, or whatever your little heart desired. But then, adulthood arrived alongside a grim reality check. Maybe the years of school and six-figure debt made you wake up from that dream of becoming a doctor real quick. And being a filmmaker sounded artsy and cool, until you realized the 80-hour work weeks and constant rejection weren't exactly the vibe you were hoping for.

Now we're out here scheduling spreadsheet audits at 2 p.m. and updating printer toner in beige cubicles. Welcome to the land of insurance adjusters, data entry clerks, and corporate compliance specialists. How did we get here?

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  • You could argue it’s never too late to pivot toward your childhood dream. But before you book that dramatic career change, hear from people who did land their dream jobs—chef, video game tester, graphic designer—and found out the hard way that it’s not always greener on the other side. 

    Maybe the answer isn’t chasing a better job. Maybe it’s just… decentering work from our entire identity. Now that’s a dream worth having.

  • "What's a job that is so hyped up but in reality, it's absolutely trash?"

    Cheezburger Image 10517097728
    via Hunters Race For Unsplash+
  • Successful-Worker139 Chef. Source: am chef.
    via Successful-Worker139
  • Cooking gets glamorized a lot. People who are good at or interested in cooking are told they should pursue it professionally. Celebrity chefs make it look like big money rock. star stuff. The reality is very long days with very low pay even for very high end skill sets.
    via Successful-Worker139
  • AllHailHaykemie Zookeeper. You need a degree but get paid around $14/hr so someone has to be financially supporting you or you won't be able to pay all your bills. It's also
    via AllHailHaykemie
  • shoveling shall day outside in any weather and the workload is literally so heavy to the point your body will start breaking down even in your 20s. You also spend so much time cleaning that theres barely any time spent enjoying, playing, or
    via AllHailHaykemie
  • enrichment time for the animals you take care of. The staff are all animal people like yourself, and probably don't get along with people as much which leads to staff not getting along at all. Dealing with visitors can be a nightmare
    via AllHailHaykemie
  • as parents don't want to watch their children as they run around banging on enclosure glass (adults do this too) trying to get animals to move or react which is so disrespectful and cruel to the animal who is in their home. I
    via AllHailHaykemie
  • would argue the burnout for zookeeping is one of the fastest for career paths out there. It will break your wallet, your body, and your mental health.
    via AllHailHaykemie
  • pimentocheeze_ I'm not sure if this is hyped up anymore but being a veterinarian freaking sks
    via pimentocheeze_
  • Cheezburger Image 10517097984
    via JSB Co. For Unsplash+
  • medium_buffalo_wings Video game QA Tester Some people think it's a party where you just play video games all day. But QA is
    via medium_buffalo_wings
  • regularly sh on by the rest of the teams, and the monotonous and repetitive test plans and compliance checks can absolutely rip the fun of video games right out of you.
    via medium_buffalo_wings
  • LA_Grip Anything film industry: 12hr days, zero job security, ego/hubris/narcissism, no personal life... Source: I've made poor life decisions. 18yrs in, I'm 44, little late to start a new career... But here I am.
    via LA_Grip
  • Appropriate_Win9538 Social worker, kidding. Everyone knows my job sks...
    via Appropriate_Win9538
  • LardHop Not a job, but starting your own business. Everyone says you're your own boss and you handle your owr time, when the truth is you'll work more than you ever did for someone else.
    via LardHop
  • And every problem is your problem. Then also end up earning less anyway. The odds are stacked against you because most of the time, there's a bigger business with lower prices but better margins since they have capital.
    via LardHop
  • So it ends up that most people who start small businesses oftentimes still work elsewhere to actually support their business because it's hard to compete.
    via LardHop
  • oneofnothing999 Brewer, crippling work, pay, and inevitable alcoholism.
    via oneofnothing999
  • hectorgato13 All jobs. Let's be reall
    via hectorgato13
  • pixelbit Graphic Design. Overworked, underpaid, misunderstood, majorly undervalued. Anyone with canva thinks they can do your job. As a creative
    via pixelbit
  • person, having to sling creativity on demand like a waitress at a diner burns you out so quickly.
    via pixelbit
  • GeneralCHMelchett Any job that requires frequent international travel. It's fun and at first, very boring and tiresome after a while!
    via GeneralCHMelchett
  • Sweeper1985 Former film actor here... It has some good parts, but it's also a lot of long days and nights, travel, hanging around, and repetitive takes. Worse is
    via Sweeper1985
  • the impact on your self- esteem. You will learn to view yourself as a product, and to compete with other human beings who also see themselves as products. You'll get used to being told that it
    via Sweeper1985
  • doesn't matter what you can do so much as whether you look "right" while doing it. It's dehumanising, especially if you are a young person and ESPECIALLY if you are a young woman.
    via Sweeper1985
  • LucidityX Physician, specifically primary care in the USA
    via LucidityX
  • Yes, it pays well. But you sacrifice your 20s doing a ton of school, missing events, and racking up. 250-500k of debt. And then you finally become an attending only to realize you can't
    via LucidityX
  • do your job well because insurance companies are constantly fighting you to not pay for things that would make patients healthier because their bottom line depends on it.
    via LucidityX
  • It makes you lose faith in humanity because the system is so f ed. A lot of your time gets drained into calls for pre-authorizations with insurance companies that are only productive a minority of the time (And have to be done on unpaid time).
    via LucidityX
  • Also, you'll have plenty of patients who just need to stop smoking, stop drinking, and eat healthier. And they won't.
    via LucidityX
  • Puzzleheaded-Dog 1154 I'll be the first commenter to mention an actually "hyped up job: Construction trades. Everyone says "don't go to college, go into the trades" these days.
    via Puzzleheaded-Dog1154
  • The pay is overhyped (yes you can make 6-figures if you put in a f ton of hours, but wouldn't you rather work less for more money?), and you run the risk of absolutely destroying your body by the time you're 40. Lot of old heads
    via Puzzleheaded-Dog1154
  • I've talked to (and even some younger dudes) said it wasn't worth it.
    via Puzzleheaded-Dog1154
  • BigAddam Registered Nurse. Been doing it for 12 years now. If I could do anything else for the money I make now I would, but I can't. So, I'm sort of stuck.
    via BigAddam
  • Possible-Okra7527 Anything with sales. They always talk about how much money you can make. In reality, it's a lot of pressure and not that much.
    via Possible-Okra7527
  • Exciting-Grass-09 Social media manager cool title, burnout job
    via Exciting-Grass-09
  • Explosive_5490 So what I'm getting from this thread is every job sks and I should instead move to the mountains and self sustainably tent camp for the rest of my life
    via Explosive_5490
  • DonQuigleone Engineering. Now first thing is that the working conditions for engineers is actually pretty good, and I think it's in many ways better than other professional jobs.
    via DonQuigleone
  • So why is it here? Its a question of unmet expectations. Most engineers study engineering because they enjoy mathematics and problem solving, and generally tinkering with things. Unfortunately, most
    via DonQuigleone
  • engineering *jobs* require no day to day maths at all (I might have needed to do something more complicated than calculus twice in 10 years), instead you spend all your time filling out paperwork and attending tedious meetings...
    via DonQuigleone
  • Then, you end up getting pigeon holed in a specific niche and it becomes nearly impossible to move outside that niche. So you can end up spending 30 years just designing office building ventilation and nothing else.
    via DonQuigleone
  • A lot of engineers dream of designing planes, boats or robots, but instead spend every week filling out TPS reports.
    via DonQuigleone

  • No one's gonna mention being a teacher? Okay, well these teachers might help:

    20+ Teachers share their most unhinged Gen Alpha student stories that still keep them up at night: 'Several of them can't tell time... on a digital clock'

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