People Confess Which Careers They Wish They Had Actually Pursued In Life

Meow....

Professional cat petter. As it stands, I'm an amateur cat petter. Don't get me wrong, it's a terrifically rewarding avocation, but I really wish I'd gone professional out of grad school.

shugerbooger

Flames

I've always wanted to be a firefighter. However due to being born with a bad back, this is only a dream.

MCipriani17

Being a firefighter in the US is extremely difficult even if you had a perfect background and qualifications. A single position could have 500+ applicants fighting for it, and many of those applicants include veterans and people with graduate degrees. Unless you have connections with someone in the department, it is basically impossible to become a firefighter. Regardless, I am sorry for you. It is unfair that some things are impossible for us out of sheer bad luck.

SnooRoar

Creative Psych

Anything creative. Not fine art, but animation or graphic design would be my top picks, or maybe something with programming. Instead of studying art, though, I listened to my parents and teachers and picked a science.

One psych degree and a whole lot of no progress later, I'm finally doing the creative field thing at 28 and wishing I hadn't spent so much time trying to be what I'm not.

treblehex

Final Cut....

I had the grades to become a surgeon. I have always liked the skill required to cut up a person. It sounds like something I would enjoy. I just thought medical school didn't sound like it was worth it.

beachmilk2030

To be perfectly fair, you don't need to go to medical school in order to cut people up.

EaterOfFood

Safe from Home

IT. Specifically cyber security.

Probably would have been able to work from home.

McNultysHangover

Look up an example A+ certification test. If you can answer those questions, you already know enough for a lot of jobs. If you don't know how to answer them, then you know what you have to learn.

Awkward_Bowler

Still Hope! 

Merchant Navy! I'm still relatively young, so maybe one day.

PaulBBN

I'm about to go this way. i'm a cadet (noa) on my second tanker and i really enjoy my time, even though i'm 100% sure that this is nothing everybody could do. being away from family and friends for months etc. and soooo much depends on the crew you're with. it can be rough to be on call pretty much 24/7 and working sometimes 14h a day. but for me, a person that never travelled much it's a nice way to see new places, and safe a little money.

Anyways corona makes sure you only see the ports and cant get out in the cities. i have made some friends and for most of them it's the money bringing them back. as a cadet i'm earning 1000€ a month which is quite need for something being part of my education, having food and a room included. as a captain/master the salary can go up to more than 10k and if you stay on board for more than 6months a year you can forget about taxes. so yeah to make and safe money it's definitely a good choice but not so much for social life/ family.

max_zyxt

Tasties....

I've always wanted to be a chef but every chef I've talked to says it is incredibly stressful to be working in a small kitchen with a ton of people doing a ton of different things at the same time, with another chef yelling at you because there's people waiting for their food outside.

That sounds like hell.

I love cooking and experimenting with food and having people enjoy it but I don't think I could handle the pressure and stress that comes with it.

belleandblue

Sustained....

The law. Later in life I realized that I had the skills, and it would have been more affordable back then. Basically, I'm good at analyzing data and writing it down in a methodical way, and lawyers get paid a lot of money to do that, whether they're the ones who present it in court or not.

These days, I wouldn't. But back in the '70s and early '80s I'd have made serious cash and had the energy to work the hours.

I ended up using my skills in high tech and made good money. But I could have done the same in law in the SF Bay Area in the '80s and made amazing money.

Tall_Mickey

Genius....

The creative arts. I had considered it when I was in high school but didn't pursue it because I thought you had to be a creative genius to do those jobs (and I was unaware that Graphic Design and Digital Illustration were not the same thing) and I certainly was not a creative genius. I'm currently back in school trying to pick up a 2 year degree in Graphic Design/Illustration, but it's just not comparable to those who spent 4 years majoring in it and getting tons of classroom studio experience.

PumpkinSpiceBiscotti

Human Study

Become a psychological human profiler. I'm fascinated by how we think and why do we do, what we do. If that makes sense!

KingPin08

The Skin

A dermatologist. I had terrible acne as a teen but always enjoyed popping those bad boys. It didn't occur to me until almost 20 years later that I should have looked into dermatology.

Lucolame

To be fair though, cutting giant skin cancers off of old people is probably really gross.

Reddit

Stats

I would love to have pursued degrees in math and/or computer engineering instead of accounting. Everything I do now is self taught programming and stats. I just happen to understand what the double entry method is (outside of porn).

noguarde

The STEM

Field botanist... only realized 3.5 years into college with very little in the way of STEM coursework though and was ready to move on from college.

Succulentmeditator

At 29....

Always wanted to be an airline pilot. At the age of 29 I'm not sure whether it's worth doing.

Andwhy99

I've always wanted to be a charter pilot. I'm 29 as well and have a good opportunity to start over right now. It's just so expensive and I have no idea if it'll be worth it. Wish I had skipped undergrad and just don't that instead.

scenicbiway708

Burned Out

Air traffic control. At 9, I hold my dad I thought I'd be good at that job. He growled back "those guys gets burned out".

Fast forward many years. I know current and retired controllers. Based on their stories, I would have loved that gig-----and been good at it. I loved what I did/do for a living, but I wonder how things would have been different.

rrooaaddiiee

When in School

Something IT related. I'm going for it now, but I'm 25, and kicking myself for not having started in high school. I could have a livelihood by now if I had.

KnoFear

The Fighting Kind

MMA. I wish I would have done wrestling in high school as well as martial arts but my father would never let me as he did full contact fighting after he earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and said it was too dangerous to let me start at such a young age. Then any time I ever asked again he just said the same thing.

I believe this stems from one of the guys in his class winding up in prison for accidentally killing a man with a kick to the temple outside of his house - he would be robbed constantly by the same person and eventually stood up to him one day.

alpharius_o-mark-gon

Fur Lovers

A vet for big animals (like felines) or marine biologist! I LOVE animals, but science isn't really my forte, so I chose to become an interpreter (I'm still studying, I'm not officially an interpreter yet).

Madame_Airlock

Reddit

Collections

Garbage collector, politician, timber man, Baker are all jobs I think id enjoy. But I've always thought being the guy who trims the hedges along the champs elysees would be the greatest job in the world.

DerpWilson

by design.....

Sometimes, I wish I had chosen to go into industrial design. Get to be creative, have a stress-free, routine job where no lives are at stake, come home every night and only work five days a week.

But then I step out of my room, walk outside, and I see the ocean... nothing but ocean for miles and miles, and in that moment I feel like I chose the right career for myself.

RedditIsSocialMedia

For the Pulitzer

Journalism. I was going to move to Montana with my sister and brother in law to study Journalism there, but my mother stopped me. Said she wasn't ready for me to leave home. Now I just write for fun.

DaleGribble3