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The incongruity between your interest in a job's subject matter and its daily reality

netzealot

redundant descriptor
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Jan 12, 2013
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ISTP
The incongruity between occupations where the topic it's based upon is very stimulating, but the practical job is not, vs. jobs where the topic it's based upon is relatively unstimulating but the practical job is exciting.

Example:
I will use myself as an example...

In terms of subject matter, digital security is easily my favorite. It's complex, challenging, requires a vast array of understanding of dynamic interactions and creatively working within that infrastructure. However, the daily reality is that a career in digital security will usually mean sitting inside an office (likely one without windows) sitting all day in front of a computer monitor. You'll mostly be granting standard firewall access requests to non-threatening internal employees and not doing much of anything exciting. Despite how interesting and complex the subject matter is, the boredom can be unbearable and the hours drag by.

In terms of daily reality, welding is by far the most enjoyable of daily tasks. It involves a great demand of manual dexterity and concentration second only to surgery, as well as more power, superheated metal, and sparks than you can shake a stick at. Despite being dirty, hard on the body, and extremely repetitive, it's something I can do for hours on end and never feel bored. Yet, it's pretty simple subject-matter wise and not exactly an area of mental engagement.



So, what's worse? Daily dissatisfaction, or the type of dissatisfaction that kind of builds up over time, after which you get a taste of complexity and it's like all of a sudden you miss it dreadfully and wish your job had more of it?
 

Such Irony

Honor Thy Inferior
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Jul 23, 2010
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5,059
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sp/so
Great thread idea.

I majored in biochemistry because I've found the subject itself really interesting, however, as a career it wasn't a good fit for me. Careers in the field are mostly laboratory based and I found it pretty quickly that I did not like lab work. Physically, I'm clumsy when it comes to operating lab equipment and visually, I'm just not observant enough of the details needed to succeed. So, I guess I much prefer to read about science rather than do science.

I've always been really interested in psychology but never pursued it as a major because I knew I wouldn't actually like being a psychologist. I don't want to deal with other peoples' emotional baggage. However, I love reading about psychology and what makes others tick.

Right now I'm currently a librarian- something that I'm satisfied with as a career.
 
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