Stereotypes and misconceptions associated with your job/career

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an engineer but not mechanically inclined. So I won't always know how to put something together correctly on the first try.

Can you load a dishwasher properly? My husband is an engineer and can't figure out how to do this at all.

Sure can! Maybe your husband is a full time con man and a part time engineer.

My husband and I are both engineers and only one of us can properly load a dishwasher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nurse---people tend to think a) not smart enough to be a doctor and b) sleeping with the doctors. Infuriating (and not true!).

I'd blame 30 years of soap operas (back when GH stood for General Hospital instead of General Hoodlums.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nurse---people tend to think a) not smart enough to be a doctor and b) sleeping with the doctors. Infuriating (and not true!).

You may be smart enough to be a doctor, but you lacked the ambition.

[Anonymous]

Lobbyist here:

Regarding being married to the job, one can be but I think for me and those I know, lobbying ebbs and flows. For example, I'm in a very small part of health care and my job is "warm" right now. It will be hot late spring, and summer and will likely be cold late summer through the end of 2012. Right now I do about 40 hours. I"ll work more during the hot time but that's temporary and a bit less during the cold.

I am not evil, I do "eat out" a lot but now that I have a child, mostly lunch. I am not "high powered". I am medium powered at best in a TINY part of health care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: the teacher argument. A number of close family friends are teachers and here's my take. During the school year they work very hard. Often from 7am to 6pm, when you consider planning, meetings, etc. That said, they DO get a LOT of vacation time. Two weeks at Christmas (that's all I get all year at my job in the private sector), a week for spring break, all holidays, snow/hurricane days, and the summer (which is more like two months for most). And most of that vacation time is not spent working.

There are also other things like the fact that during they day they rarely if ever go out to lunch. They can't hop online and shop for a gift or read DCUM. Often they can't even go to the bathroom when they need to.

So in short - they work very hard but get a lot of time off.

I work those kinds of hours 12 months a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lobbyist here:

Regarding being married to the job, one can be but I think for me and those I know, lobbying ebbs and flows. For example, I'm in a very small part of health care and my job is "warm" right now. It will be hot late spring, and summer and will likely be cold late summer through the end of 2012. Right now I do about 40 hours. I"ll work more during the hot time but that's temporary and a bit less during the cold.

I am not evil, I do "eat out" a lot but now that I have a child, mostly lunch. I am not "high powered". I am medium powered at best in a TINY part of health care.

My husband is a lobbyist and all the stereotypes, in his case, are true. Except for 'evil'. We can thank Abramoff for creating that impression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a librarian. Many people don't understand why someone would need a master's degree to become a librarian. Most people think I check out books for a living or only need to know the Dewey Decimal System to do my job.

You beat me to it. You also forgot about shushing people And when you aren't checking out books, you have a lot of 'free time' to read on the job. I wish...[/quot
Same here! I love that there are several of us on here.

Are you suddenly hot when you let down your bun and take off your blinders?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurse---people tend to think a) not smart enough to be a doctor and b) sleeping with the doctors. Infuriating (and not true!).

You may be smart enough to be a doctor, but you lacked the ambition.

This is just mean. Not the PP and not a nurse nor a doctor (not even anywhere related to the medical field) but I don't think that all nurses became nurses and not doctors because they lack ambition. They may lack the desire to become a doctor but that's completely different. Does everyone who chose not to become a doctor lack ambition in your opinion? A nurse is a completely different job than a doctor--its not like nurses chose to become nurses because they didn't feel like they wanted to be a doctor so a nurse was the next best thing. They may have chosen nursing because they like helping people on a more one-on-one level, maybe they liked the flexible hours for great pay and benefits or maybe they chose the field because it has incredible job security---none of these things are true for doctors. Its the same reason I work in a law firm but have no desire to be a lawyer--they may make more but they work twice as much and they all seem to hate their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurse---people tend to think a) not smart enough to be a doctor and b) sleeping with the doctors. Infuriating (and not true!).

You may be smart enough to be a doctor, but you lacked the ambition.

No, I never wanted to see people for five minutes a day. I like taking care of people and helping them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurse---people tend to think a) not smart enough to be a doctor and b) sleeping with the doctors. Infuriating (and not true!).

You may be smart enough to be a doctor, but you lacked the ambition.

This is just mean. Not the PP and not a nurse nor a doctor (not even anywhere related to the medical field) but I don't think that all nurses became nurses and not doctors because they lack ambition. They may lack the desire to become a doctor but that's completely different. Does everyone who chose not to become a doctor lack ambition in your opinion? A nurse is a completely different job than a doctor--its not like nurses chose to become nurses because they didn't feel like they wanted to be a doctor so a nurse was the next best thing. They may have chosen nursing because they like helping people on a more one-on-one level, maybe they liked the flexible hours for great pay and benefits or maybe they chose the field because it has incredible job security---none of these things are true for doctors. Its the same reason I work in a law firm but have no desire to be a lawyer--they may make more but they work twice as much and they all seem to hate their jobs.

I call BS. I never knew a law librarian, paralegal or legal secretary who wouldn't have wanted a JD if he or she could. What would be the point? I also don't think people with great grades and MCATs decide to be nurses instead of doctors for the reasons you outline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: the teacher argument. A number of close family friends are teachers and here's my take. During the school year they work very hard. Often from 7am to 6pm, when you consider planning, meetings, etc. That said, they DO get a LOT of vacation time. Two weeks at Christmas (that's all I get all year at my job in the private sector), a week for spring break, all holidays, snow/hurricane days, and the summer (which is more like two months for most). And most of that vacation time is not spent working.

There are also other things like the fact that during they day they rarely if ever go out to lunch. They can't hop online and shop for a gift or read DCUM. Often they can't even go to the bathroom when they need to.

So in short - they work very hard but get a lot of time off.

I work those kinds of hours 12 months a year.

What do you teach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurse---people tend to think a) not smart enough to be a doctor and b) sleeping with the doctors. Infuriating (and not true!).

You may be smart enough to be a doctor, but you lacked the ambition.

No, I never wanted to see people for five minutes a day. I like taking care of people and helping them.

Speculating here, but I think the PP quoted was expressing another stereotype, not actual sentiment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurse---people tend to think a) not smart enough to be a doctor and b) sleeping with the doctors. Infuriating (and not true!).

You may be smart enough to be a doctor, but you lacked the ambition.

This is just mean. Not the PP and not a nurse nor a doctor (not even anywhere related to the medical field) but I don't think that all nurses became nurses and not doctors because they lack ambition. They may lack the desire to become a doctor but that's completely different. Does everyone who chose not to become a doctor lack ambition in your opinion? A nurse is a completely different job than a doctor--its not like nurses chose to become nurses because they didn't feel like they wanted to be a doctor so a nurse was the next best thing. They may have chosen nursing because they like helping people on a more one-on-one level, maybe they liked the flexible hours for great pay and benefits or maybe they chose the field because it has incredible job security---none of these things are true for doctors. Its the same reason I work in a law firm but have no desire to be a lawyer--they may make more but they work twice as much and they all seem to hate their jobs.

I call BS. I never knew a law librarian, paralegal or legal secretary who wouldn't have wanted a JD if he or she could. What would be the point? I also don't think people with great grades and MCATs decide to be nurses instead of doctors for the reasons you outline.

First of all, not all people who work at law firms fall into the categories you mention above, although several people in my department do have their JDs but hated being lawyers. And all of the librarians and some of paralegals at my firm have their JDs, BTW--they chose not to practice law. I don't think you understand my point. I'm not suggesting that someone who would have the desire to be a doctor (thus would have taken the steps to take the MCAT) would change their mind and become a nurse. What I'm saying is that people who chose nursing don't do it as an easier alternative to being a doctor. They chose it for a variety of reasons that may not have anything to do with being a doctor--they are completely different jobs, each with their own set of benefits and drawbacks.

[Anonymous]

yes being a nurse is usually due to financial issues and not wanting to put in the many years of studying to be a doctor.

[Anonymous]

I am an entrepreneur. My business is newish and I work out of my home. When I first started it, I think most people thought I was full of shit/not serious. I'm not sure what they think now.