Many of us likely have a buddy like Chandler from Friends – one that we love dearly, though we wouldn’t be able to tell exactly what it is they do for work even if our lives depended on it. But sometimes, even when people know what their loved ones’ occupation is, they might not know exactly what it entails.

That’s how myths and legends regarding all sorts of professions are born. And there sure are plenty of them, such as the belief that nursing is just the first step in becoming a doctor or that a civil engineer will gladly make an architectural plan for your home, just to name a couple examples.

These and many other misconceptions have been covered by netizens who are tired of people misunderstanding what their job is. So if you want to spare them the headache of having to explain it time and again, scroll down to find their comments on the list below and read them carefully – I’m sure the nurses, civil engineers, and representatives of other professions will appreciate it.

#1

I’m a physicist. One day I got a phone call from an undergraduate. She explained that as an assignment in a sociology course she was required to follow a scientist around for a day and document how he/she spent the day. “I’m far too busy to give you that much time,” I said. “No—” she replied, “You won’t even notice I’m there. I’ll just watch and follow you around.” OK— it sounded a bit intriguing. The scheduled morning she arrived in my office at 9 a.m. She sat down in a corner, and I got to work. Every now and then I looked up and caught her looking at me; she quickly looked away, and scribbled in her notebook. Suddenly I felt like a mountain gorilla being studied by Dian Fossey. At 5 p.m she told me she was leaving. I asked her if she found anything surprising. “My god yes!” She responded. “Your day is totally different from what I expected.” I asked for details and she examined her notes. She said, “You spent 60% of your time talking to other people! You did it on the phone, then you visited several other physicists in their offices. You had lunch with several graduate students. Even in your lab you were working with your graduate students. Several people came to your office.” “What did you expect?” I asked her. “I thought scientists worked alone. I thought they sat in front of computers all day, or in their labs wearing white coats and working with test tubes.” “That’s the scientist of the movies,” I said. “Science is a very social profession. You can save weeks in the lab by a quick conversation with someone else. Two people talking are often much more than twice as effective as two people working alone.” “I never knew that,” she said. It’s odd that people avoid going into science because of the impression that it is for people who like to work alone. That may be true for some people, but in my experience virtually all effective scientists spend much of their time with other people. Maybe the wrong impression arises because of the high school science nerd who doesn’t yet have social skills. But social skills are essential to scientific success. Some nerds learn them only in graduate school. (And the ones who don’t often drop out of science.) Indeed, the interaction with other people is what makes “coming to work” so much fun.

Image credits: Richard Muller

#2

I’m a psychotherapist. Movies and television portray us as dimwits who just listen and ask, “How did that make you feel?” I often promise clients that I’ll never ask them how anything makes them feel. I don’t care how you feel so much as I care how you FUNCTION. Your anger/trauma history/depression is interfering with your life and relationships? Let’s fix it. Your anxiety is keeping you from the life you dream of? Let’s fix it. You’ve got personality quirks that cause people to steer clear of you and you’re feeling isolated and lonely? Let’s fix that. I’ve jokingly referred to myself as an “emotional mechanic.” I don’t see myself as some mystical, spiritual guide doling out eternal wisdom like a guru on a mountaintop. You need to attend your sister’s wedding 3000 miles away but you’re afraid to fly and don’t want to take d***s? No problem. I know a bunch of tricks that’ll get you on that plane without medication. I can’t make you LOVE flying, but you’ll be ABLE to fly. I don’t care how you FEEL. I care how you FUNCTION. 🙂

Image credits: Rick

#3

I’m a Financial Analyst. Not all of us work on Wall Street And we aren’t involved in sinister corporate greed operations. We don’t wear suits, ties and fancy watches to work every day. It isn’t all men . Currently, the majority of my fellow analysts are women. Math Wizardry: Although most FA’s have decent math chops, we don’t sit in front of big screens, conjuring advanced equations to beat the markets. My Advice: Finance is a great career path, particularly if you have solid quant. There’s tons of growth potential. It is the most common background of many types of executives, including CEO’s.

Image credits: Sean Kernan

#4

I work as a software engineer with an American product-based start-up company. There are several misconceptions that people have regarding a career in IT and while some are understandable, something are absolutely hilarious! There is a common myth that everyone in IT earns handsomely. That’s not entirely true. While a career in IT is rewarding and provides you with a fair enough salary to sustain a family, the packages that you see with people earning 30 LPA, 40 LPA or 80 LPA are only offered to the top engineers. They probably constitute only 1% of all the IT employees, or probably less than that. The majority starts their career between 3–5 LPA only. Not every IT employee that you see is rich. A lesser misconception is that software engineers only code. Their day revolves around coding all the time. The truth is that coding doesn’t even take up 50% of the day; I guess an average software engineer spends more time in meetings than writing a code.

Image credits: Shaunak Bhattacharjeee

#5

I’m an airline pilot, and here are some of the most common misconceptions about my job. No, the autopilot doesn’t do everything. Ultimately it’s still just a computer and it’s unable to do something as simple as deviate around a thunderstorm cell right in front of the aircraft. And like all computers they are dependent on human input and they do fail. No, we can’t let you visit the cockpit anymore, even though we may be good friends/related. No, we can’t get you an upgrade to Business/First class. The airline has specific conditions and regulations for doing so. No, we can’t do anything about your complaints regarding in-flight service. Please write in to the customer service department. No, our layovers aren’t one orgy with the cabin crew after another. It’s very common to just get minimum rest and we’re too tired out from the flight to do much else besides have a good meal and a decent night’s sleep. No, we don’t all get massive paychecks. The salary is usually decent but the industry is very volatile and staying profitable is incredibly challenging, hence why bonuses/benefits have dwindled over the years.

Image credits: Chin Sau Yong

#6

We are not charging you too much. Dental stuff is expensive. Be it that setup or materials. Of course, we do keep the margin but that’s not much. You gotta stop blaming every dentist for over charging because in return, you’re being provided the treatment. If you don’t hesitate in paying thousands of rupees for getting CT scan or MRI done just because your Doctor asked you to, know that your dentist isn’t buying a property by charging you 500 for an xray. You gotta trust him or her. Roadside quacks are equal to dentists. No. We aren’t foolish to spends lacs of money and precious 5–10 years of our life to be compared to some quack. Know and understand the difference. Not just degree, knowledge matters as well. Their claims to make a complete denture in 100 rs is as useless as claims made by Modi. That there is no scope in Dentistry. Well, to be frank, there is no scope in any field. All are saturated. It’s up to you how you survive. Same thing happens in this field. So if you claim that there is a dental clinic at every corner of your city, take a deep breath and realize that they are still open. They are stil…

Image credits: Harshita Sharma

#7

Nurse Misconceptions

Only Women become nurses . It is true that there are more women than men in nursing, but no one should be surprised that a man is a nurse. (They’re not all gay either.)

Nursing is the first step in becoming a Doctor. This is a common misconception. I get asked, “How much longer before you become a Doctor?” The two professions are vastly different and require different education routes altogether. Nurses are not highly skilled professionals.

There is no tipping at the end of your visit. Don’t order the nurse around like they work for you. Nurses are college educated professionals. We earn our salaries performing complicated life saving tasks at a high skill level. Treat nurses with the respect the profession deserves.

Three day work week is not a full weeks work. Don’t know who started the rumor that three twelve hour days was so much easier than five eight hour days. There is only four hours difference crammed into three days. Most often nurses work over at the end of their shift. Nurses work nights, weekends, and holidays. There is nothing “great” about our schedule.

It’s easy to be a nurse. Nursing, though very rewarding, is a hard job. The obvious dirty work of cleaning feces off people is just the tip of the iceberg. Nurses deal with an ungrateful public that views them as Doctor’s peons. Administration expects nurses to do more with less staff and for paltry compensation to boot. Becoming a nurse is difficult enough, remaining one is even tougher.

Image credits: Keith Albert

#8

Just because I’m making your skinny vanilla latte with coconut milk does not mean I’m a f*****g loser or some kind of dumba*s.

People go into food and drink establishments daily with the preconceived notion that the employees are somehow inferior beings who deserve to make subpar wages with no health insurance because they should have gone to college, and their job is for teenagers. Newsflash, teenagers don’t open up a restuarant at 5am on a weekday in winter.

I’ll have people know that in my lengthy career in food service I have attained not one, not two, but three entire college degrees. Believe it or not, some people choose the profession because it’s the best option for them. Maybe they have children and need the flexibility. Maybe they like free coffee. Maybe they’re a teenager. It doesn’t exactly matter why they’re there, what matters is, that you are no better than them because you spent an entire hour of their wages on an Iced Venti Quad Cinnamon Almond Macchiato.

I have worked with DOCTORS at Starbucks. Veterans. Wives of veterans. Single mothers. College professors. A Major League Baseball player. All of us have a legitimate reason to be there, all of us are important, and some of us are even smarter than you.

Image credits: Laura Honeybadger

#9

I’m a parking assistant. It’s a part time seasonal job, simply for the purpose of making money. My job mainly consists of customer interaction, handling the registry (figuratively, we don’t have a registry), and answering questions. At the end of each shift, I do some accounting, and sometimes I’m asked to hand out tickets, usually to the abled who park in a handicapped space. Let me just say this: * I’m not stupid
* I’m not uneducated
* I’m not wasting my life
* My colleague isn’t necessarily better at the job, just because he’s older and male
* My colleague doesn’t necessarily have seniority, just because he’s older and male
* Complain all you want, but nothing will come from it because my bosses know I’m right.
A short clarification: I’ve worked there for five years, which makes me the person who’s worked there the second longest, meaning I know the answers to your question, and if I tell my colleagues to do or not do something, they follow. I’m significantly better at my job than most of my colleague, which is evident by the fact that I’m the fastest one at the accounting, and almost never have money lacking or in surplus. And I’m just working there until I get my degree or a more relevant job.

Image credits: Hope Switon

#10

There are lots, but I’ll just tackle my top 3 here.

Astronomy is not ****ing astrology ! Astrology is superstition masquerading as science. Astronomers [internally scream] every time we’re called astrologers, or every time someone brings up zodiac signs as soon as we say what we do.

There is no longer any practical distinction between astronomy and astrophysics.

Surveying and map-making hasn’t been the primary focus of astronomy for more than a generation now. It’s all applied physics, so I often wonder why some schools keep the “astronomy” around as the name of the major.

There are theorists and experimentalists, but at the end of the day, we all sit around solving equations and finagling code trying make sense of our data. And that means if you think the astronomy lab will get you your physical science elective credit without the math, you’re SOL.

If you major in astronomy, you will spend far more of your time at a computer than a telescope. Most of your work will be coding, whether it’s simulations, image processing, model-fitting, error analysis, etc. That means if you want to get into big data, but want to avoid the soul-sucking morass of industry, astronomy might be a good fit for you. That or environmental science. Actually, the latter might be of more immediate use, since we’re currently driving a multi-pronged mass-extinction event that Will Make the Planet Too Hot for Humans Much, Much Sooner Than You Imagine , but there’s a lot of morale-crushing politics and denial involved there, too.

Image credits: Rebecca Pitts

#11

I would like to clear up misconceptions about my husband’s occupation. He is a school custodian, actually the head engineer of a school. Many people scoffingly say ‘the janitor’. People think he must be stupid and/or lazy. So, so far from the truth! Yes, he cleans, and some pretty nasty things he has to clean up too. He also makes sure the all the snow and ice is removed in our snowy state so people can navigate the sidewalks safely. He makes sure the boilers are working properly so everyone is warm in the winter….did you know he needs a license to know how to do that? Also, to operate the pool, and the cooling units. He keeps teachers happy by answering their radio calls, frequently interrupting his meals to do so. He makes friends with the kids. He runs the fire drills and lockdowns so everyone knows what to do in an emergency, and keeps all the fire extinguishers charged. He is the crew leader of the people that help him clean, and must keep the principal happy at all times, so his people skills have to be excellent. He puts 20,000 steps a day on his pedometer. As men retire, the school district does not replace them, the men remaining just have to do more. When I met him, he was reading the book “Ghandi”, not a book I would tackle. He is incredibly well versed in history and actually should be teaching schools, not cleaning them. Many other men in his position are intelligent, well read and well traveled. Two of the others he has worked with were teachers and quit, then became custodians. Make no mistake, the school is in their ‘custody’, they are proud of their schools.

Image credits: Pat Weiser

#12

People often misunderstand what an editor does. I work as a freelance editor and writer, and I fix challenging manuscripts so the writing is eloquent (as well as comprehensible and compelling).

It is not unlike fixing carpentry mistakes, but sometimes I get the impression from people not familiar with my work that they think editing is easy and only involves fixing commas and spelling. (I have been called the “Comma Queen” before.) Yes, that is part of it, but a good editor is a smart generalist and a fast learner who will ask questions of the text and research facts while fixing grammar and poor writing.

Just as with carpentry where the angles and materials need to match, the words and thoughts in a document must join together to create a cohesive whole.

Good editing is not just turning on spell check and making sure the use of commas is consistent (e.g., using the Oxford comma in a series of items every time in that document). It’s making the document a joy to read and, in the process, not being obvious about the changes I add. It still has to speak with the author’s voice even though I often clean it up. A LOT. —Sarah M. 1/25/2017 EDITED to include Daniele Paolo Scarpazza’s spelling correction (survivor’s).

Image credits: Sarah Madden

#13

I’m a paramedic. Misconception one. We are glorified first aiders/taxi drivers. The truth is that to be a paramedic now is a full 3 yr BSC degree. The details we have to know about a huge range of things is immense and can be daunting. In Britain we can access several different clinical pathways if necessary. We do not have to take you to hospital (no matter how much you kick and scream) if we can justify it. Number 2. That we run around saving lives. Nope. Most of our work is people who don’t look after themselves/too lazy to do anything other than call us. A huge proportion of our work is this. It can be soul suckingly dull work from going to people who have a bit of a cough to people who are drunk to people who have had a bit of a pain for several days now and it just hurts…… Number 3. That we are well paid and have an amazing pension (I kid you not. I still get a lot of people who think this). Our pay is not good. It isn’t even good when compared to the other services. I could run a fast food outlet and earn a lot more money. Our pensions are horrendous. We have to work until we are 68 (hands up who wants a 68 year old coming to them or performing CPR) to get them and they aren’t worth a huge amount. A lot of people have gone to private pensions instead.

Image credits: Scott Pritchard

#14

I am (among other things) a Licensed Private Investigator.

I don’t carry a gun. A minority of private investigators go armed. It requires special licensing. I have a number of firearms but never carry one on the job.

I am not sneaky, nosy or concerned with the secrets of others . Some are, most are not. Being sneaky, nosy and obsessed with others’ secrets does not mean you would be a good PI. It may mean you would be a bad one.

I don’t spy on people. Surveillance is a key part of the jobs of a pretty fair number of investigators, but I avoid it like the plague, for two reasons: 1) it’s deadly boring and uncomfortable to stay in one location and try to observe someone, and stress-inducing and exhausting to try to follow them without being “made.” 2) all too often, the results of surveillance are used to exacerbate rather than solve conflicts. Husbands who want to “confront” their wives about infidelity and vice-versa, etc. I’m just not into it.

I don’t get information through manipulation, trickery or threats. 99.99% of the info I acquire is through normal public sources or by telling the person with whom I am speaking, exactly what I’m doing, whom I am working for, what I want to know, and why I want to know it.

Most investigators are no smarter than the average bear. It happens rarely (as in my case) that an investigator has extensive formal training in logic, observation, data analysis, evidence, and human behavior. So it happens I do have “superhuman” powers of “deduction” compared to the man in the street. But really, it’s no more than training in how to observe and how to think. The vast majority of investigators have at least some, in fact sometime extensive, training in sources and methods – but in the vast majority of cases that training is employed by a mind of essentially average intelligence.

I am not allowed to break the law to find things out. I am not allowed to invade another’s privacy, break into people’s homes and businesses, access confidential law enforcement information (like sealed cases, incomplete investigations, internal reports, etc.), beat or fight with or threaten a witness, impersonate a law enforcement officer or any licensed professional like doctor, lawyer, insurance agent, real estate licensee, etc.

I don’t drive a fancy car or engage in chases. I drive a Prius, a Subaru or a pickup, depending. I have never chased anyone. Ever.

I do not have “magic” or access to confidential records. As a licensed and bonded professional, who could lose my license and my livelihood, to say nothing of going to jail for violating federal and state privacy standards, I am allowed to buy subscriptions to data sources that most people are never allowed to see. But I have to follow a bushel basket of laws and regulations in the acquisition and use of this information, and the penalties for abuse of it are severe.

My life is not one of all-encompassing knowledge, but more one of continual study . After over 40 years in the field, there are still more things to learn than things I already know. Certainly, experience and a lifetime of study have outfitted me with a store of knowledge that makes it MUCH easier to accurately interpret new observations than it was at the beginning of my career – but not a single day goes by that I don’t encounter the need to learn something new.

I’m not always right, but can rarely afford to be wrong. Customers/clients will never hire you again if you give them mistaken data or arrive at erroneous conclusions. You have to be right. You have to be accurate. The buying public’s tolerance for error is vanishingly small. I

’m a responsible family man, married for over four decades and with grown kids who (near as I can tell) love him, who makes a modestly “good” living. I’m not always on the verge of bankruptcy and unable to afford my utilities or rent. I’ve been a property-owner since 1977. I pay my bills. I rarely have any surplus income, and can’t afford lavish entertainments, opulent vacations or expensive clothes. I try to eat healthy, rarely drink (and certainly not with witnesses or investigative subjects), pay my taxes and have a range of other interests as boring as bowling, and as interesting as skiing or ranching or target shooting. I love art and music, and my kids and pets, I rescue animals, do things with my hands (including building or fixing cabins and houses and stuff), and don’t endanger or destroy my domestic life with infidelity, self-destructive habits, or my addiction to difficult and dangerous cases. I’m not mysterious, dark or depressive, but social and interested in people. I’m engaged in my community and local government. In other words, a “regular guy.” I love what I do in the same way a stone mason might love what he does. It has its challenges but I’m proud of my results, and it does not consume my life.

Image credits: Bruce Hamilton

#15

I am a special education teacher. Let me dispel some misconceptions for you:

I am not a saint, and I don’t do my job because it is “so fulfilling”. I like working with little kids and I’m naturally pretty good at explaining and demonstrating concepts. I’m not here to earn a pair of wings.

Which leads to: The pay is much better than many people assume, although I wouldn’t complain about a raise. I’m doing this job because it pays money, not because it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. T

he term “special education” refers to a huge range of needs among students. When people imagine it, they picture a room full of grown kids in diapers drooling on themselves. That type of student does exist, and I’m happy to say I’ve worked with them, but they are on the extreme end of need. Many students who qualify for special education would seem completely normal to the average person. Some kids just need a little extra help, or a different kind of environment.

“Do your students just play and have free time all day?” No, we work, and we work hard. Special education doesn’t exist to coddle kids, it exists to help them be the most independent and capable they can be. Many of my students have difficulty understanding abstract concepts, so I break everything down and show/explain it in as many ways as possible until they get it. Multiplication is hard, but my second graders can do it, because they practiced and practiced and practiced. The regular classroom next door to me sometimes has “game days” where kids play board games all day so the teacher can catch up on grading. We have fun, but game day doesn’t exist in my room. My students might need extra time and assistance, but they are still capable. Most regular teachers will say things like,

“Oh, you must have so much paper work and so many reports to write.” Yes, I do, but I only have 10 students, and they have 25. After you factor in grading all those assignments and writing all those report cards and doing all those state assessments, I’ll take my paperwork any day.

“You must have so much patience.” No, I don’t, I’m just a normal person who gets frustrated just like anyone else, but I’ve also studied a lot of effective techniques in behavior management and modification. My class is designed to help kids stay focused and to reward them working hard. A lot of regular teachers could save themselves some headaches if they used the methods I use in my class.

Working in special education can be hard, but we are not angels doing good deeds out of the kindness of our heart. We are doing a job, and working to help some great kids become as independent and skilled as they can possibly be.

Image credits: Jason Warehouse

#16

I work at a soup kitchen. We don’t just serve soup. We don’t just serve “poor people”—seriously. Check with your local soup kitchen to confirm their policies, but many serve anyone, no questions asked. If you just want a free meal or you’re strapped for cash, drop by. We don’t serve rotten or old food. Many of our grocery store donations aren’t due to expiration date but due to aesthetics—they can’t sell something that looks ugly or broken. We get dozens of fresh-made cakes that can’t be sold because the frosting is smudged or the cake is falling apart. The food is not bland, boring, and disgusting. Our cook has a degree in nutrition—she knows what she’s doing, and the food she makes is good stuff. We don’t season it heavily, but we do put some flavor in it. It’s not slop. It’s real, freshly made food. There is nothing shameful about going to a soup kitchen. It’s like going out to eat, but it’s free. There’s no shame in free. We never ask our guests why they’re dining with us—they just are. It doesn’t matter why. Soup kitchens aren’t scary. YMMV depending on where you live, but soup kitchens can be plenty safe. Our kitchen is always buzzing with children and folks of all backgrounds. Some locations do frequently call the police, but plenty of kitchens don’t have problems with safety and security. Answered as part of my question session on “Working at a soup kitchen”, June 2017.

Image credits: Jordan Yates

#17

I would like to clarify a few misconceptions which some people have about IAS officers: 1. They are arrogant
2. They are corrupt and join service to make money
3. They demand big dowries
4. They are puppets of unscrupulous politicians
5. They are insensitive and don’t care for public
I would like to say that majority of them are not arrogant. Do not join service to make money but to serve.

Image credits: Chander Kanta Gariyali

#18

Misconception- Doctors prescribe tests to make money yet they cannot make accurate diagnosis. Also, people think private doctors charge too much(in India). This is because There are multiple diseases responsible for same symptoms and he needs to be sure before treating you for some rare disease. He doesn’t want you to SUE him for not prescribing a particular blood test. He couldn’t make accurate diagnosis because it’s really difficult to do so, you couldn’t explain your symptoms well enough or your body didn’t respond to standard treatment. If you think doctors charge too much, go to a government hospital and stand in queues for hours. You don’t just pay for medical treatment, you pay for luxury of getting treatment in time. Stop blaming doctors, if you think they are overcharging, go to someone else.

Image credits: Shrayash Singh

#19

Hospital Medical Receptionist: I am not a medical professional and therefore cannot give you a diagnosis over the phone. My work is purely clerical. I can process an admission if you have a referral from your GP, but ultimately I cannot diagnose you based on your stipulated symptoms.

I cannot provide complex details relating to your procedure. As each patient is unique, I unfortunately cannot give information regarding fasting instructions, procedure preparations or when to stop taking medication. This information will only come from your specialist’s rooms.

I do not have access to a doctor’s private reports. Believe it or not, I cannot pull a doctor’s report “off the shelf.”

I cannot personally contact a doctor on his mobile. If you need to contact your specialist, I can give you a number to his/her’s private rooms.

I do not spend all day sitting down and answering phone calls. This misconception is fair enough. Prior to becoming a receptionist, I seriously underestimated how much work a receptionist does to keep the whole hospital running smoothly.

I do not decided the costs of your procedure. I work at a private hospital, and the procedures can be fairly expensive. I personally have no say in the financial aspect. This is purely between your health fund and your specialist.

I am not wealthy. Just because I work at a private hospital, it does not mean I’m driving a Lamborghini to work.

Image credits: Courtney Davies

#20

As an OB/GYN:

That I am the enemy of natural childbirth – that I recommend induction to suit my schedule, want to start pitocin because I’m in a rush, urge c-sections so I can go home and push epidurals to make life easier for myself and my nurses.

I love a nice natural, unmedicated delivery – I’m happy to do it lying, squatting, sitting on a toilet or let you do it yourself. I love skin to skin, immediate and exclusive breastfeeding and if you want to wrap up your placenta and go full lotus method then more power to you.

But there can also be consequences to non-intervention as the countless Bolivian women I’ve met who unblinkingly answer the question of ‘how many children do you have’ with the number ‘vivos’ and ‘muertos’ and as the amazing doctors and midwives at Edna Adan Hospital in Somaliland who staff the fistula repair clinic can attest.

That OB/GYNs can be judged by their c-section rate – the rates compiled by the hospitals where I work included all c-sections I do in the numerator and all patients I deliver in the denominator. Problem with this is the denominator doesn’t include all the patients of the numerous midwives and Family Medicine physicians I back up… but the numerator includes all their patients who end up needing a surgical delivery. I could also make my rate look better by refusing to take care of high risk patients who we know are more likely to need intervention and delivery via cesarean (obese, diabetic, older first time mothers etc) but my conscience won’t allow that.

That anyone can safely have a lovely, vaginal delivery. This is just not true. Especially not in a country like ours where our mothers are older, heavier and have many more chronic health conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes than ever before.

Image credits: Xavier Renea

#21

A Civil Engineer here. Please don’t ask us to make architectural plan for your home. This is not our job. Architects make these plans civil engineers don’t . Civil engineers make structural plans. In simple terms these plans tell you about the amount of steel and its location to make sure the architectural plan can perform its intended function without failure. Thats how a structural plan looks like.

Image credits: Adnan Ghous

#22

Search Engine Optimization Aka SEO It’s a practice, not a tactic. You can’t hire someone to do SEO like you might hire someone to do sales, set up your email, or build you your website. You can have someone who assists your practice.

Think if it more like law or medicine. You don’t do medicine or health. You can’t do law. You can disregard them. You can ignore them. You can get help from a lawyer or doctor who knows what they’re doing. But they too are practicing it and that word is the word used because we can’t know if we’ll win or lose.

We don’t know what is the solution. There are no guarantees because EVERYTHING matters. Can a doctor save your life if you don’t care for it? Can a lawyer keep you out of jail if you break the law? So many variables matter, variables that are constantly changing, that you can only practice it – well or poorly.

It’s called optimization for a reason. It’s a process, never ending, and you can’t NOT do it just as you can’t be untouched by the law or unaffected by health. Get that? That’s a confusing concept as most people think of SEO as something you do. No, it’s something you practice. You can’t NOT practice it because Google and other search engines affect you no matter what – the law affects you, even if you ignore it; your health affects you, even if you disregard it.

Search engines are a part of your business and even if you don’t do anything, search affects you – you just suck at the practice.

Stop thinking of SEO as marketing tactic, a channel, or a thing you can decide to do to get some business. It’s a practice. You can hire people who know what they’re doing but you can’t hire someone to do it for you because EVERYTHING affects what search engines think of your business – is everything you’re doing consciously practicing what matters?

Image credits: Paul O’Brien

#23

I’m an American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreter.

1. American Sign Language is not universal . I cannot go to England or Japan or Mexico and be able to communicate with the first Deaf person I meet. While some countries do use ASL, it is not common and certainly not worldwide.

2. I get paid for my work. While I do pro-bono work here and there – usually religious interpreting for a congregation I attend or funerals/weddings/events put on by the local Deaf Club – approximately 95% of my work is for profit. So when I show up to interpret for a class or meeting or pubic event, I expect to be paid.

3. I am not responsible for the Deaf consumer. I do not drive them anywhere, they are not my family members, I do not take care of them whatsoever… It is an incredibly patronizing and incorrect assumption that Deaf people need a caretaker to get through life. As the former president of Gallaudet University I. King Jordan said, “ Deaf people can do anything, except hear. ”

4. I do not know Braille. I’ve had everyone from surgeons to teachers to CEOs to scientists ask me that. I usually just stifle a laugh until their brain catches up. Those are the most obvious and frequent misconceptions, although I’m sure I’m missing more!

Image credits: Casey Jenkins

#24

That all lawyers are heartless, conniving bastards who are screwing people left and right. In reality, lawyers are just regular humans and actually do bad things at a rate far less than the average person: It takes a lot of discipline and obeying the rules to get into law school, finish it, and pass the bar. There are strict ethical rules designed to protect the clients and the public in general from lawyerly misconduct. Lawyers can lose license for egregious violations of these rules. Most states mandate annual “professional responsibility” courses attendance. A significant portion of lawyers are highly idealistic – they went to law to make a difference – defend people who have no voice for example. Look at lawyers in public service – FBI, CIA, ACLU, judges, Presidents (at least good ones!), public defender’s office. Many lawyers work pro bono. These guys were lawyers:

Image credits: Elena Ledoux

#25

I’m a flight attendant. However.. I’m not your personal assistant/bellboy. Don’t expect me to pick up your luggage on the aisle and put it in the overhead compartment all by myself. I’m not a heavyweight champion and I obviously don’t respond to people snapping their fingers to get my attention. Especially if you are twice my size. And you managed to carry that luggage all the way from drop off to the departure hall. Here’s the common ground: Let’s do it together, shall we? I’m not living the high life. I don’t have boyfriends in every single destination I fly to. Catching up on my sleep is more important. Being fully alert while I’m on duty is my main concern. Sorry, guys. I hate delays just as much as you do. If a delay is predicted before hand, I could have taken my own sweet time to get my brain loaded with caffeine, walked a little slower, woke up a little later. Shouting at me just because you are frustrated won’t help. Just so you know, I’m not being paid for all those extra hours of waiting. I’m not at liberty to give you cheaper tickets. I don’t own the airline. You want a good deal? Check the website for latest promotion. So stop looking all flattered when you heard about what I do for living. And for the love of God, do not ask me anything about cheap tickets when we are out on a date. Its just plain annoying and you will lose all your brownie points.

Image credits: JJ

#26

My personal career choice is secretary. It does not mean I’m stupid. I am not lazy. It is not a “stepping stone” job. I don’t sleep with my boss. I love what I do, I make everyone else look good, and I am DAMN good at my job!

Image credits: Melissa Hoy

#27

That actors are just walking and talking, and since pretty much everyone walks and talks, that pretty much anyone can be an actor. Also, one of the first things people want to talk about is “How do you learn your lines?” That’s like asking a chef “How do you boil water?” Learning lines is the most menial part of an actor’s task, and is in no way a part of the artistry. It is simply the most basic building block.

Image credits: Matthew Arkin

#28

Teaching Or, more broadly, education in America. People talk about the American education system like it exists as a single unit. There is not a monolithic “American education system”. So questions like, “What’s wrong with the American education system” don’t make sense. Most educational decisions in the United States are made at the state and district level. There are 50 states (and four territories and one special district), and over 13,000 school districts. If you want to talk about a problem with a school system, you need to start there, not at the federal level. Generally, this is the power that each level of the education system in the United States has: Federal Department of Education: Helps fund schools in impoverished neighborhoods, handles a lot of college financing for students who need it, and collects data. State Departments of Education: Set standards for teacher licensing in that state, set curriculum standards in that state, help fund schools in impoverished neighborhoods. Note that they set the curriculum standards, not the actual curriculum. Standards are usually pretty broad statements about what students should be learning each year. Most states have adopted Common Core standards for their public schools now. Local School Districts and Individual Schools: Hire teachers, sometimes set the specific curriculum (like which novels to read), but sometimes they let the teachers decide for themselves, provide most of the funding for schools via local property taxes. Anyway, if you want to complain about or praise something about education in America, you need to be more specific. For example: “American students are stupid.” – Too broad. Pulls together very different groups of people who are all in very different organizations. “Students at Highwood High, Illinois District 319, are stupid.” – Much better. We know specifically which education system you think gets bad results.

Image credits: Matthew Bates

#29

I spent most of my career as a software engineer. Many people think that means I spent my career programming. But that isn’t so. Programming is the entry level for software engineering. By 10 years in I was designing software systems for others to program and before long I was designing systems involving both software and hardware elements and writing proposals and managing teams and teaching others how to manage and many other things that are pretty far removed from programming, but which require one to know how to program (if for no other reason so you can cut through the BS that the programmers sometimes try to get past you). A true software engineer does a whole lot more than programming.

Image credits: Dennis J Frailey

#30

Warehouse work and forklift OPERATOR. The biggest misconception is anyone can do it. Yes, anyone could probably DRIVE a forklift from point A to point B, move a few levers to lift a pallet, and move the pallet across an open floor to set it down. People don’t realize the level of spacial awareness and finesse required to stack product, inside a trailer, on an incline, with less than an inch of space on any given side, and do it all WITHOUT DAMAGING THE PRODUCT. Over the last several years I have discovered that even stacking boxes on a pallet is something that some people just cannot figure out? If all of the boxes are facing in the same direction, and stacked in a group of columns, say twenty columns, stacked five high… they are going to fall over and someone (not me) will be stacking them again. But if you turn one group at one end 90 degrees, and alternate the turned group from one end to the other each layer, they form a brick house pattern that DOESN’T FALL OVER IF YOU LOOK AT IT WRONG… Six team members communicating together to simultaneously lift a very heavy (40,000 pound/20,000kg) piece of equipment off of a flat bed and set it down together requires a major level of trust, especially if you are the one on the smaller price of equipment. Loading or unloading something valued at millions of dollars, and not getting so much as a scratch on it adds a whole New meaning to the phrase “pucker factor..”

Image credits: Gene Nelson

#31

I’m a hospice nurse.

This seems like a very straightforward statement, yet very few really understand what it means.

Nursing itself is often misunderstood, and hospice nursing even more so. So if you will indulge me, here is my take.

Nurses are healthcare providers. We provide the means for physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners to practice their professions as competently as possible. To that end, we administer medications and gather information like vital signs. This is what most people seem to be familiar with.

However, we also provide education. We explain medications—their uses, interactions, and side effects. We help patients understand procedures—-the risks, benefits, and options. We assess and listen to our patients, then share that information with doctors and so on so they are best equipped with the most complete information on which to base a diagnosis and prescribe treatment.

Hospice nurses do all these things as often as any other nurses. What makes hospice nursing a bit different is two things: our patients have a different expected outcome, and our focus is the patient plus the family.

We do spend a great deal of time administering medications, particularly for pain management. We also spend time talking with patients and their families: explaining the expected stages of a disease’s progress, talking about how we can maintain a patient’s quality of life for as long as possible, discussing what to expect as the end of life approaches, and walking with patients and families through the stages of grief.

We advocate for them, for their right to end treatment, to receive alternative pain control methods, to manage and maintain control of their lives as much as possible.

We encourage them to grieve, to make peace with their loved ones, and to review their lives so they can die at peace.

We clean them, feed them, nurture them, cry with them, fight for them, support them. And then we say goodbye to them. Thanks.

#32

I am an engineer and a youtuber. Certainly these are quite “famous” and “rich” fields !! Here I am breaking myths for you all. First let’s go with engineering !!

Engineering institutes are nothing as shown in movies. You have rigorous classes and 75% or more attendance rule. Practicals and concepts are mere words, profs gives marks to only “chaturs” or some desperate ones give unnecessary marks as “favour” to girls. Placements suck. Average placement is 4–5lpa even in NITs. I have studied in NIT so IITians can give their views on this one. No matter how good you do, parents will always say IIT nhi hua. But hey, engineers are awesome at jugaad and that nobody can take from us.

As for youtube :- You don’t get paid so easily. Also youtube pays way less to indians than to others. It’s about 1000 ad views gives a dollar, and you don’t get paid until you have reached a 100$ mark according to them. Behind the camera work is way more exhausting and trust me it is not “easy peesy” to make a video. No matter how serious you are about it your relatives will always ask what is your “real” job. You get hate comments just because you are on camera. Sometimes people vent out for no reason. Cyber bullying is way too high then don’t get me started on intolerance. Remember aib roast. But then people also love you. Look at bb. We all love him don’t we ?!

#33

I am a sailor in merchant navy and there are a lot of misconceptions I would like to clear up.

6 On and 6 Off:- There is a misconception that sailors have to be onboard for 6 months and then at home for another 6 months which is neither right nor logical. These days, there is a lot of flexibility in merchant navy where a Captain can sail for as low as 3 months giving him the authority to select the month of sailing according to his needs.

Pirate Attacks:- Pirate attack are one thing that has gone through a drastic change in the past decade. Now, there are only a few cases where pirates hijack the ships and the navy can’t intercept them. So, the crux is that pirates attacks are quite rare and happen in the area of red zones where ships generally avoid to go through.

Seafarers can drink anytime:- My friends often ask me that I would be having all kinds of drinks onboard, however the truth is quite opposite of that. There are strict rules and regulations regarding drinking onboard. As we have the responsibility of million dollar cargo as well as ship that we need to safely transport and drinking the one of those things that will create a hindrance in our duty.

There are many other misconceptions like we have can have girlfriends at every port or we can visit any port which is just not true because now there are a lot of rules and regulations imposed on sailors and ports. If you want to know more about merchant navy, lemme know in the comment section and I’ll try to reply you asap.

#34

I am a Graphic Designer . Here are a few things I heard very very frequently that are wrong about my line of work:

It’s fun, we live in a world full of colors and creativity. While it might be true, most in-house graphic designers are somewhat miserable on the inside simply because our ideology usually doesn’t translate good in business world. Yes, we can have wild, crazy ideas about the things we want to design, but more often that not the clients would hesitate to go too “out of the box” in fear of upsetting their consumers.

We will work for free, or for little pay, in exchange of exposure. No. Just no. I will not work for free, I will not give a “friend’s price” if you ever utter the word “exposure”. You’re just unwilling to pay for designs and you certainly won’t promote my work because it’s “expensive”.

Simple & minimalist design is not worth the high price tag it has. Even here on Quora I saw someone actually argued that Google’s logo is “easy” and can be done by almost any engineer who has basic knowledge in using design apps. That cannot be further from the truth. We learn concepts, theories, and design applications throughout our school to make simple logos, complicated logos, logos that have deep meanings, logos whose philosophy you won’t understand at the first glance.

We prosper at night. Not really, the real reason why we seem to be “on” at night is because there are less distractions during the night, it’s quieter, it’s dark/dim, it’s relaxing.

We need substances (drinks, cigarettes, d***s, etc) to be creative. I think maybe half of the designers actually use substances to get creative, and that’s their choice. But personally, I don’t condone this behavior as it shows (to me, personally ) that I can’t do the job all by myself.

Graphic designers are rich (Apple users, clean/fancy Instagram accounts, frequently hang out at good places). It’s individual’s preferences but there are indeed some “fancy” graphic designers who do those kind of things.

Another big part of us, contrary, are unkempt from time to time, have messy desk and are using a 2–3 years old phone. We are tech-savvy and can fix your computer. No. I personally know many designers who are unable to use Microsoft Office on a basic level. They prefer to type their texts on a blank layer on Photoshop instead.

#35

Teachers are trained how to teach things to students. The science is called pedagogy. We don’t simply learn a mountain about our particular subject matter, then walk into a classroom and start talking. We are highly trained, and constantly re-trained, in how to disseminate the information within a particular segment of that subject matter into small bits, present it in a myriad of ways as instruction, and effectively and constantly assess whether the information is being synthesized correctly by the learners.

For those who doubt (and there are a lot who say “I could teach, it’s easy”), ask yourself: how would you go about teaching all about the American Civil War to 2nd graders? Now, how would you change those methods for 4th graders? 8th graders? College students? Okay, how would you assess what was learned? How often would you assess? What methods would you use to assess? How would you integrate methods that utilize the different learning styles, based either on the basic accepted three (visual, kinesthetic, auditory) and/or Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences? How will you differentiate all the lessons and assessments for these differing learning styles? How will you align your lessons to the National Standards within your subject area? Will you utilize grouping? If so, will it be homogenous or heterogenous?

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. A highly skilled teacher can not only write lesson plans that reflect all of the above concepts plus dozens more; she or he can also do them reflexively after years of experience while dealing with the multiple and unpredictable needs of children.

Here is something critical to remember. Are you listening? Good: Those who think teaching looks easy are remembering what their teachers did through the eyes of their childhood selves. It’s far more complicated than the childhood you could have ever known.

Every few years, some redneck legislator proposes a bill to allow anyone with a college degree to teach any subject with no training necessary. This year in Nebraska, the bill proposed was for anyone with a high school diploma to be considered qualified to teach any subject. But hey, don’t worry. There were rigorous requirements. According to the bill, they’d have to be 21, and they’d have to pass a test over the U.S. and Nebraska state constitution. The bill didn’t pass, thankfully. But it was obviously insulting, as these bills always are when they arise like stinkweeds from the dung. Teachers have a degree in pedagogy for a reason.

#36

I am a canine trainer and behaviorist.

Most people think of my profession as an extension of my hobby and not a real job or just that because I was not good at studies, I have chosen to do this. Many people ask me if I have another day job or do I even earn enough to afford my mobile bills. Worse is when people think of me as a glorified dog walker or a maid for the dogs. I explain have that I actually have an undergraduate Diploma in Event Management and Marketing and a post graduate Diploma in Advertising and Public Relations.

#37

I work for an aircraft manufacturer. So naturally, people like to ask if I get perks, like discount or free plane tickets? WTF? Seriously, I said I work for the manufacture, not an airline operator. My employee perks are not analogue to the likes of working at Starbucks, McDonalds, the Federal Reserve or a pharmaceutical companies that have free access things for their employees; (or so I’ve heard, jokingly) In my youth, I flew on stand-by non-revenue perks with the airlines, as the child of an airline employee, and followed the strict rules that came with the privilege. One bored outrageous weekend during college, I flew from Florida to Seattle just to have a meal with my parents, then immediately flew back to Florida. Overall, I wish we were to have airline ticket perks at my job, but we don’t. So stop asking. Lastly, it would be wise to befriend airline employees who have stand-by non-rev perks, they might have an annual surplus of tickets available… good luck!

#38

I’m a cleaner/janitor. I’d like to clear up the following misconceptions: we are not all highschool dropouts, I completed high school through to Year 12. We are not all criminals or have recently been released from prison, I’ve never done any time behind bars. It’s not just sweeping and mopping, there are dozens of other responsibilities a cleaner/janitor has on any given site. The stereotype of the cleaning lady is dead and gone, most of the other cleaners I know are male. And last but not least, no, I will not clean your house for free, this is my job, not a hobby

#39

The derogatory terms applied to diplomats give a pretty good idea of what they think diplomats do and are: Cookie-pushers, striped-pants, people who lie for their country.

While diplomatic service usually does involve official entertainment — as in cocktail parties, receptions, dinners, etc. — these are not entertainment for the sake of entertainment. They are working affairs where contacts are made, networking is done, and substantive business is undertaken in an environment outside the office.

The clothing choices are more or less dictated by the country in which one serves, but always on a professional level. ‘Striped pants’ (and the accompanying formal wear) are actually worn on occasion, like when the Ambassador presents his credentials to the head of state or for particular social events hosted by the local government. But usually, it’s just suit-and-tie. In some places, it can be a bit less formal, but that is up to both the local culture and your own ambassador’s rules. In Saudi Arabia, open-necked shirts were never permitted in the office… it was always jacket and tie, if not suit and tie. India was less formal, but when calling on ministers of state, suits were required.

A diplomat’s job is to explain and express clearly the policy of one’s government. It’s not at all productive to lie about it because there are far too many other sources of information — including the host government’s own embassies — to show the lie. While friendly relations are almost always the goal, diplomacy isn’t about making friends at any cost. At most, one might be asked to put a policy in a favorable light, but, as the saying goes (also used in diplomacy), “You can’t make shit smell good.” Sometimes diplomats have to present a plate of shit and just stand there while the recipient tells you what he thinks of it.

People also seem to be unaware that US law only applies in the US. Rights that Americans take for granted are not always (or usually) available in other countries. This presents problems when people get in trouble and find out that what they learned in Civics class, from Law & Order, does not apply to them in a foreign country. Many people are dismayed to learn that an American embassy cannot simply ignore or supersede local laws. Often, they get angry and write or call their congressmen about it. Too frequently, the congressmen are surprised by this fact as well.

#40

People assume accountants are boring…we spend all day buried in our ledgers…banging out numbers on a 10-key.

Please! Accounting is the language of business. And we are at the center of it all. I’m involved in every business purchase, divestiture, implementation, reorganization…every big decision involves me in one way or another. I take those strategic ideas from the mahogany desks…and measure the impact for the next move. I’m usually in front of the decisions…answering the what-ifs. I get to be a super hero at least once a month. Just because I get my satisfaction from personal accomplishment rather than external praise…doesn’t make me any less cool.

I also provide great jobs for great people. I even get to do something life-changing for somebody on my team…every now and then. It is an incredible gift to be able to do that.

In summary: We are not all named Brad, we don’t all wear glasses, and we don’t all quote tax code as if it were the Bible. We are actually the ones keeping it all together for those guys in front. Accounting is where its at!

#41

Archaeologists

Oh so you study dinosaurs
No. Archaeologists study the human past using a myriad of scientific techniques and anthropological studies. The study of dinosaurs and prehistoric life is palaeontology. They’re not the same subject.

2. You’re an archaeologist? I have this theory…

This is something that has happened to me repeatedly. For some reason, whenever I tell people that I studied archaeology, they take it as a confirmation that I want to hear their “theories” about Atlantis, Stonehenge, Ancient Aliens etc. While it can be amusing, it can also be quite insulting. Archaeologists don’t invent theories out of thin air but by studying, analyzing and reviewing archaeological and historical evidence. This sometimes takes years, even lifetimes and are constantly challenged and reviewed by subsequent archaeologists, to get the most accurate answers.

Also, many of these crank theories about the human past tend to use dubious “experts” who are not archaeologists nor have had archaeological experience or outdated sources from the 19th century. Archaeologists get annoyed with “Ancient Aliens guy” because they’ve spent years gaining their skills and knowledge, enduring physical labour that can deteriorate their health but still do it because it is a worthwhile endeavor.

3. So you’re into prehistory or Roman stuff?
Archaeologists do not concern themselves solely with the ancient past only but have moved onto more recent eras, even studying the 20th century from an archaeological perspective.

4. Do you make money selling artefacts?
This is perhaps one of the worst things to ask an archaeologist. The illicit antiquities trade is a massive problem which many archaeologists throughout the world do their utmost to fight against. Sadly, even well-known museums have been embroiled in this illicit business. While I am sure there are archaeologists who abuse their position to make a quick buck, the majority abhor such practises.

5. I have this old thing. What do you think it is and how much valuable is it?
A continuation of the previous question. We’re not antique dealers.

6. Indiana Jones… Lara Croft….
They’re cool characters, we can agree on that. But very few archaeologists ever get into gunfights or cause long-standing structures to collapse within minutes. But we are probably one of the few professions that have a theme song (Raider’s March).

#42

I’m a translator in English/Spanish (the latter being my mother tongue). I haven’t started working as one yet, but the misconceptions on this profession are quite a few.

A machine can do it, such as Google translator
So you’re an English teacher?
I also studied English growing up, I can be a translator too
But why would you majored in that? Couldn’t you take an English course or something?
Why is it so expensive? You literally just have to read it and write it in other language
So you know what *anything* means? You know all the words right

#43

As a survival instructor I found that people tended to think that survival was easy once you learnt a few skills, sort of like going camping. They don’t understand just how many skills you need to learn. Also they tend to rely on modern technology, modern technology is NOT renewable/sustainable. We are in a throw away society, things break, malfunction, batteries go flat, gas runs out! The only technology that is sustainable is primitive technology, & the best equipment in my opinion for long term wilderness living/survival is 18th century equipment. You don’y have to purchase antiques, traders that cater to living historians & historical reenactors sell copies of 18th century gear.

#44

That I’m a nurse lol. If I wear scrubs in public, I get asked, “Are you a nurse?” I say I work in a hospital and, “Oh so you’re a nurse.” I reply with, “No, I work in a lab” to which the reply is usually, “So you do research.”

“No.”

Hahaha the clinical laboratory profession is hidden from view from the public so it’s completely understandable that most people neither know it exists, nor what it entails. I love my job though and am happy to talk about it to anyone interested enough to ask 🙂

#45

No work all play- This may be true for some people who come with this mentality into the service and they find out there is lack of a proper reward and punishment system so, they end up being lazy. There have been 100s of such comments on my Quora answers that government jobs are “relaxed”. No, they are not, for everyone. Lot of money- Most of the jobs are highly underpaid. The scope of taking bribes is limited to certain posts and even those people spend their life and the money out of corruption in fear of being caught. Once caught, it ruins their life as well as their families. Lot of power- Again, limited to very few posts. In some department, a clerk with good relations with the head may be more powerful than the head of another department. Also, there is no universal definition of power. Is it the power to suppress the less powerful? life is all hunky dory- No, you don’t get to decide your place of posting and have very little control over the lifestyle you lead. I have worked in tier III city for more than 2 years and in my hometown for 2 and now in Bengaluru for more than 1 year. The city you live in decides what kind of life you lead. Everything has its own challenges. I am barely able to save any money in an expensive city like Bengaluru while I have a good lifestyle but in Akola, I could save money because I had nowhere to go and nothing to spend on really. Uncompetitive work environment – I bet you this is the most underrated misconception that nobody talks about. People compete with each other in every way possible. There is a lot of work politics and the sad part is, since the job is mostly permanent in nature, you tend to become submissive in nature and take it all in. You find no point in fighting it out. People will be willing to rip you apart at the first chance they can get.

#46

I live in Bangalore and currently I’m unemployed but I’m not going to talk about misconceptions of being unemployed. Trust me, there are way too many, but that’s for some another time.

I am going to talk about my roommate’s profession. I live in a PG and my roommate is a Doctor in a govt hospital.

It’s only been three weeks since he has arrived, however in these three weeks I’ve learned and realized so many different aspects of being a Doctor than I ever had in my entire life.

In the past three weeks he has told me about different medical cases, the environment of a hospital, the patients and several other things related to his profession as I inquire about his ‘ fascinating ’ job a lot (Like I told you, I’m unemployed and I’ve watched doctors in various movies and TV shows).

But I can assure you one thing that it’s far from fascinating. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad job either. In this short time period what I’ve grasped is that this job is hard to describe fully to a sane person. The “ Doctor is a person who cures people ” is just the top most point of the tip of the iceberg. It’s an amalgamation of various adjectives and I’m not articulate enough to come up with any such word. A few of the scenarios and cases he has told me (and here by him I mean every other doctor): Many times he has to work for 48 straight hours and it’s just a regular thing for him. And during those shifts, whenever he can, he tries to catch a nap in the most unorthodox ways possible.

Something like this: Once he witnessed a dreadful scenario of where a family (the mother and her family) abandoned a newborn girl child in the hospital itself because she was her seventh. And all the doctors and staff members took care of that baby girl. (But also a silver lining) A kind lady, who was there with a patient, voluntarily breastfed the baby during those initial critical days and later adopted that girl.

A non-cooperative duo of father and son (patient) quarreling among themselves and with the doctors just because they were feeling like it. Seeing so many dead bodies on a daily basis (even seeing a dead rat gives me creeps). And many more varieties of cases.

After carefully observing the above scenarios a person doesn’t need to be Sherlock to conclude that- Being a Doctor is physically, mentally and emotionally tiring and that too on a gigantic level.

From an emotional point of view, it’s a roller coaster ride where 8 out of 10 times the car is going downwards. On top of that they can’t even afford the luxury of having a nano-inch margin of error because in this ‘job’ stakes are pretty high and a single small mistake can lead to ‘grave’ repercussions. That the patient is not the only one who is suffering.

Look, I’m not an expert at rating a particular job on the most demanding jobs index because I don’t know the internal dynamics of every single job out there on this planet. Maybe more so because currently I’m jobless.

But what I’ve observed as an outsider so far, by talking to different people on a regular basis, is that this job blows most of the other jobs out of the park.

But you know what is not cool? I’ve seen so many incidents of people talking ill about the doctors just because sometimes doctors are portrayed badly in the media. They have a completely different perception of doctors just because some sensationalist TV channel says so or sometimes they watch pretty looking, million earning doctor in a TV drama (trust me, only a doctor on top of the chain (0.01%) with around 30 years of experience under his belt earns in millions) and they quarrel with doctors just because of some petty uncomfortable situation. It simply looks as if they have formed a very dark preconceived notion about them.

So folks, next time when a Doctor informs you politely about a slight increase in the blood sugar level of your loved one or if a person you care about has suffered a relapse of the disease but he is also assuring you that it’s going to be OK, please don’t get all impulsive and let the rage monster get the better of you. Just show some empathy , stay calm and trust your Doctor!! PS:- Just look at size of one of his freakin book for god’s sake

#47

I am a manager in a supermarket. The misconceptions are: Stupid people work in retail. Esp FMCG. Retail Management is a poorly paid profession. It’s an easy job that anyone can do. Reality: it’s a fast paced, dynamic industry. You have to have some sort of tertiary education (degree in retail management, finance or logistics) to do my job. You’re literally in control of a multi-million dollar business, so only the best of the best survive in retail. Remuneration is based on your experience and level of education. I was able to buy a three-bedroom house at 23. I had more than enough to get by. It’s a challenging business you learn every single day. In between the laws (labour, civil and consumer), health and safety regulations, merchandising codes, product knowledge of literally hundreds of thousands of products, customer care and human resource expertise you must have in order to do this job… the hours are long and shifts can average 15–20 hours per day peak season. I love my job.

#48

I am an applied mathematician working in a university. The research in Applied Mathematics is well…applied to solving many problems from industry, business and any other discipline (Engineering, Physics, Biology, Economics, Sociology etc.)

To give an example in my current main research project I am working with an Electrical Engineer and another applied mathematician on building mathematical models of how information is communicated in our cells to sustain life (many things are still mysteries). Also, very recently I have been working with two chemical engineers and one applied mathematician (and hydrologists at the local Water Development Department) to develop an understanding of the flow in the Germasogeia aquifer from where water is extracted and supplied to a large part of my town, so that a strategy of saving water is devised. Both quite applied problems and quite different, right?

And of course this is why I like applied maths-I am working on exciting, diverse problems (and which inevitably need a variety of different mathematical techniques too). Over the years I have worked on several seemingly very different problems – in my DPhil I have modelled the sonic booms from supersonic aeroplanes, subsequently in other projects I researched and quantified how calcium evolves in the body, I assessed the possibility of magnetic hyperthermia as a therapy for cancer, how often you should turn penguin eggs in the Bristol Zoo so that they hatch successfully, and others. (A slighly more detailed description of problems I have been working on is found at my webpage here: Cyprus University of Technology )

Inevitably I know a lot of physics and engineering (I even did an MS in Physics in the Columbia Engineering School), especially about how fluids behave (gases and liquids) but also by now quite a few things about biology.

For each problem I build understanding of other sciences as needed for the particular problem, in close collaboration with scientists who are experts in those disciplines or with the business having the problem.

But when I mention my profession to people outside the university environment most of them think I am a maths teacher. I do teach maths-and sometimes Physics courses- (and enjoy it) but teaching takes less than half of my work time. If I reply that I also do research they are wondering if there are any still new problems someone could be working on in maths which they think is theorems and proofs or the techniques we learnt at school. (Note: Pure mathematicians indeed work on theorems and proofs – and you also need a lot of imagination for proving a new theorem!)

Sometimes the misconception is held also by other scientists. As such they do not realize -sometimes- the diversity and breadth of knowledge we can bring to a department and this poses career obstacles as some consider us too theoretical for engineering whereas some of the pure mathematicians do not consider us mathematicians! No man’s land one would say but I thoroughly enjoy traveling in it.

#49

I’m an IT Hardware and Electronic Engineering Technician. I also like to rant.

Like the below: Yes, I can fix your printer if it’s one I know about. I know about Lasers and Direct Thermal printers. I have no idea how this Xerox thing with its weird and very expensive toners works and why have you got one of these anyway when nobody else in the company has ever even seen one?

Yes I can probably fix your work PC. I’m not fixing your personal laptop because it’s not a Dell or a HP or something where I know where all the bits are and what they do. No I’m not fixing your mouse and keyboard. I’m putting another one in instead. Why? Because by the time I’ve fixed your old one, to which I know you are very attached but hard lines, you will have been unproductive for ages and I will probably find that your keyboard is beyond repair due to the fact that you have dropped a can of Tango all over it, and what is that disgusting green stuff underneath your space bar? Did it used to be a bit of sausage roll? No.

I don’t know how to work Adobe Illustrator. And whatever it is you want to do with Photoshop, I’m sure there’s something on the Internet to tell you.

Similarly although I do have a familiar acquaintance with Excel,Word,Access,Publisher and Outlook I am in fact employed to look after the hardware and I may or may not be able to help with whatever obscure office admin thing it is that you want to do. I am not a programmer. Although I can write utilities and interfaces in VB, C and a few other things, I am not going to produce an Enterprise-Class killer app for you by Friday teatime. Nor am I going to seamlessly integrate, between 9:30 and 14:00 today, thirty-two different datastreams into a whizz-bang interface that predicts, simultaneously and with 100% accuracy, the fortunes of the FT500, all the winners at Royal Ascot and the weather for the next three months in Hong Kong.

Yes I can fix your bloody electric stapler. Give it here. Twenty minutes. Consider it a favour.

I’m not a bloody accountant. I tell you what something’s going to cost. I’ve gone for the best fit for the job at the lowest possible price. That’s my job. Yours is to find out how you’re going to fit that in your budget.

I am not an electrician. I do electrical work from the plug onwards . That’s what Electronic Engineering is. I do networking too, but if you want a new mains supply fitting, you pay somebody with the right certification to do it, because I’m not insured or trained to be messing about with the distribution boards and if I get it wrong the H&S people, Fire Brigade and subsequently criminal justice system will be putting my little pink bottom in prison, where it will be quickly noticed by a man called “Mad Frankie” or something similar who will insist on calling me a name like “Lillian” and much unpleasantness will befall me.

Look, this franking machine belongs to the Royal Mail. They need to come in and fix it. Oh for God’s sake, alright, I’ll do it if you stop yelling at me.

If the postmeter has blown though I’ll have to get them to send a new one. No. I can’t fix a blown postmeter. I can install and deinstall one with RM’s permission. Why? because if I even look at a postmeter funnily we are back to jail and “Mad Frankie” again.

I don’t know everything about everything. From time to time I will need to talk to specialists. This may cost money, either in telephone calls, maintenance contracts, or meeting time. If you know how to do it, tell me. If you don’t, shut up and let me find out who does.

Yes, I can do raw wood and metal fabrications such as benches, enclosures, and other structural stuff.

No, I’m not putting a new office up. Call the builders and when they’ve done I will come in and cable up network. I might even build your bloody desks and filing cabinets if I’m feeling generous. But that’s it. In short, my name badge says Ian Lang on it. Not Jesus Christ. Alright? Rant over. 🙂

#50

Occupation: Civil-Structural Engineer Common Misconceptions: What most people think I do: 2. What my friends from other branches think I do: 3. What my parents think I do: 4. What Prison Break thinks I do: 5. What Fifth Harmony thinks I do: . What I actually do: Visit site and take necessary notes: 2. Issue/Edit AutoCAD drawings for construction: . That’s all 😁 . Finally a structure is born: .. 🙏🏻

#51

I’m an Entrepreneur . People tend to get the wrong idea thinking that all entrepreneurs are successful people when the reality is that 99% of businesses/entrepreneurs fail or stagnate in the journey.

The people who are close to you will tend to talk/mock/jeer you when you’re starting out. They try to tell you why what you’re doing will never be successful because so many people have failed, or they have failed. This is normal as most people probably wouldn’t understand the journey you’re on and some are probably jealous with the fact that you’re trying to improve yourself. Most people like being in their comfort zone. For the people who only see the surface, they tend to patronise you a lot, especially in the beginning. “Oh you started a business? Remember me when you’re a millionaire! Let’s see that BMW real soon yeah!” . They’ll tend to bring up the same thing over and over again especially in the early days, which can greatly affect your self esteem and motivation levels.

The reality of the occupation is this – It’s incredibly tough, and you’ll have to do it over a sustained period of time. If you don’t love it, you’ll quit . But the benefits will outweigh the costs in the end, so don’t give up.

#52

My job is not so easy that an 18-year-old can learn to do it in a 2-week bootcamp. Data science involves a lot of graduate-level statistical knowledge, and machine learning nuances require a background in real analysis/topology to adequately understand how a given algorithm might perform and what results might be off as a result of limit behavior. This is why data scientist positions in the US require a graduate education to be hired. You wouldn’t want a first year medical student who just learned how to use a scalpel to do your brain surgery. CEOs don’t want shoddy statistics or incorrect inference for decision-making.

#53

When people asks what you do for a living and said “ I’m a civil engineer” They be like:

So you wear hard hats and s**t and shout at people to do their work properly? – No, I work in an office.

Can you build a house for me? – No, but I can estimate & cost your house

You must be excellent in math? – Not necessarily, I just know math. I don’t love it. Wow,

I bet you’re rich af. – BIG NO. In the Phillipines, as a starter, we roughly have monthly salary of 360$–400$ per month(though salary increases exponentially with experience)

Though we’re registered civil engineers, we don’t necessarily wear hard hats or funky reflectorized vests. Some of us are Cost Engineer, Project Planner, Estimator, Designer, Consultant, etc.. Apparently we specialize in one field or another.

#54

A little background first: work in a pharma industry, as a Scientist-III. I currently lead 2 major projects- one of the drugs I am working on is currently in phase II clinical trial and the other in phase I.

Here’s some misconceptions or assumptions people have about the profession I am in:

I get paid a lot and have the ability to live a very lavish life.
My job is glamorous, in terms of how we describe it and the goals we have.
I spend most of my time making presentations. So it mustn’t be that hard.
I have work-life balance, and my weekends are chill.
I will be at the top of the game once one of the drugs gets to the marketing stage.
I am always motivated in my job, and absolutely love doing what I do at all times.
My work doesn’t involve too much research which I am actually trained for. It’s only set protocols and testing set hypotheses. There’s little to no room for innovation.
I have heard all the above, and this is how I react:

Image credits: Payel Das

#55

I was a casualty insurance adjuster for almost 40 years before retiring, handling auto, general liability, and professional liability claims.

Many people have the idea that claims adjusters’ role is to cheat the claimants, to deny legitimate claims or to pay the lowest possible claim settlements. However, those working for reputable companies would be summarily fired if found to be deliberately cheating people.

In reality, casualty claims adjusters (also called claims representatives, claims examiners, etc.) are well trained, dedicated, and ethical. They are required to be licensed in the majority of US states, taking exams, getting fingerprinted, and studying continuing education courses annually.

Their job is to investigate, evaluate, negotiate fair claim settlements, or to deny claims if settlements are unwarranted. Their work is closely supervised and regulated. Their objective is to pay reasonable settlements as required by law. Both contract law and civil law may be involved. If investigation shows that settlements are not justified, then claims are denied, and if a lawsuit ensues, are defended in court by lawyers supervised by the adjusters.

Adjusters have fiduciary responsibility to the carriers, so they have to be thorough investigators and skilled negotiators. They have to have knowledge of contract and civil law, medical diagnoses, treatment and recovery, fundamentals of auto and property repair and values, psychology, economics, physics and logic.

Whenever money is involved, disputes arise. This makes the occupation highly stressful.

#56

That it’s easy being a jack-of-all-trades. It just gives people another reason to wake you up when the s**t hits the fan.

#57

As I’m a student of Computer Science, Let me clear few common misconceptions about Computer Science in my country.

1) Computer Science is not just programming.
#Learning C/JAVA/ AUTOCAD/ANIMATION isn’t Computer Science.

2) TCS/WIPRO aren’t the only companies where we get jobs/which come for recruitment . 😛

3) And finally, If you don’t like coding/programming, that’s not the end of your CS Life, There are many Mathematical areas ( Algorithms , TOC ) where you can concentrate on.

#58

Ahem, I am a Banker.

1) Bankers get a lot of respect: Part true, and the rest (most) isn’t. There are customers who do treat us like high Lords, but then there are those who treat us like slaves. Some treat us like magicians at call that can pull a miracle or two.

2) Banking is easy: No. It is not. We are into core finance, which involves sharp thinking, a ton of risk, a good Adversity Quotient, number crunching, prudence, numb minds and stone bodies.

3) Banking is stable and secure: No way. Any mistake/mischief by anyone would put the joint custodians in soup. In case of failed recoveries, they would have to bear the entire financial burden. Ask a banker how it feels when there’s a shortage of 5000 bucks when they’re in cash. Or suddenly, a customers ear ring from their Gold pledge goes missing. Or an extra zero is added while affecting a transaction.

4) Bankers are paid well: We work 6 days a week here in India. Sometimes even on holidays. We stay late at office to sort things out. We take a titanic amount of personal risk and yet, we get paid half of what an average Techie gets.

#59

If you publish a book you’ll be rich.

Statistically you’re more likely to win the lottery. I am one of the very few authors who makes a living writing novels, and it’s not a good living—I earn less than an average fast food worker.

#60

Two things:

1) That music theory is somehow a bad object, used by the (imaginary) gatekeepers of music to stop the “non-theory” people from gaining access to music. Debunk: music theory is just “how we talk about music” and we need it if we’re going to share it – and our opinions about it – in any meaningful way.

2) That you can be a successful musician without a lot of practice and hard work. Debunk: it may well be true that some people are just “born talented” but that talent will not emerge without a lot of encouragement.