Everyone’s heard some relative or whoever say, “You need to find a real job!” with some kind of intent to insult or pressure you into some high-paying or high-demand job. An office job? Boring. No thanks. Many of my friends have been barraged with expectations to become doctors, lawyers and engineers. Service jobs become the bottom of the ladder and CEOs are somewhere at the top. Let’s be real, not everyone wants to (or should) be a CEO. But there’s a lot to unpack here. What even is a real job?
First of all, the implication that a “real” job is something that has to involve a great deal of expensive education and high-level skill is a bit elitist. According to CareerFitter, some of the most in-demand jobs in 2023 are things like home health aides, software developers, Information Technology (IT) services and physician assistants. All of these roles require specialized and often expensive education. Nursing programs are among the most competitive in the higher education arena, making them a challenge to get into, let alone afford. Not to mention the dramatic variation in pay rate, from less than $30,000 a year for a personal caretaker to upwards of $110,000 a year for a health specialty professor. IT is also highly competitive, and high-ranking schools like MIT add an extra level of pressure to succeed.
Second, treating service jobs like they are less valuable than any other job is incredibly damaging and just plain wrong. If you think about it, millions of people work in service jobs that are essential to everyday life. Every role from mechanics, barbers, grocery clerks, baristas and delivery drivers serve essential functions in society. Where would we be without our garbage collectors? What about our postal workers and public school teachers? In a 2019 study from Pew Research Center, data shows that over 107 million Americans are employed in service-providing jobs. This number makes up more than 70% of non-agricultural workers in the entire country. Despite the large number of service employees, they’re still suffering from the attitudes toward their jobs. The same article from Pew Research Center says the wage gap between workers with and without degrees is the widest it’s been since previous generations made up the majority of the workforce.
However, it would be unfair for me to assume that it’s just that easy. It’s often difficult for people to find work related to their ideal field right away, and a lot of college students don’t work somewhere related to their field at all. According to a study from Resume Builder, one in five recent college graduates don’t work in their field. 28% of these students work in jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree, either. Of 1,000 people surveyed, the overwhelming majority said that finding a job at all was a challenge. Working remotely is another big shift the workforce has experienced. A study from UpWork says that thirty percent of its participants felt more productive and engaged while being able to work from home. Many participants also felt like the office environment fostered the best work performance.
Another thing to remember is most of the time,it is not your fault for not getting hired. Finding a job, any job, is a challenge now. An article from Vox breaks down the issue of “everyone’s hiring but no one’s getting hired.” The lack of feedback during the application process and the waiting are bad enough. Often, job postings also force applicants to rethink their priorities and avoid things like low pay and undesirable schedules. I can say from my own experience that it also takes forever for companies to respond. Some jobs have huge applicant pools and I can understand the delay, but when an entry-level job takes five or six months to respond to my application, no thanks! Sometimes it feels like you just have to seize the first opportunity that appears, even if it’s not your dream job.
In the end, the idea of getting a job is supposed to revolve around you, the job-seeker. Finding work should not come at the cost of your own interests and passions, but sometimes you just have to pay the bills and that’s okay. Your work is not any less important because you’re not a doctor or a CEO. At the end of the day, work is work. Whether it’s to afford your education, care for your family or take care of yourself it will all be good enough.