Reality Check, by Bill Gates.

Have you seen this recent meme about a speech by Bill Gates?

I think this chimes with our post What Is A Good Job?


Do you think your expectations have been too high? How has life in the real world turned out for you?

Dream Job - Musician

Who do you work for? What is your job? Where do you work?

I work for myself, playing,teaching music, I work in clubs, festivals, parties and rehearse at home in my cellar!

How did you start in this line of work?

I started cos music was something I loved and was actually quite good at!

How did you find out about the job? Or where did you get the idea?

i was inspired by my fave bands, if they could do it why not me?

How did you get the job?

Got my gigs by self promotion and word of mouth.

What do you do on an average day?

When gigging I prepare healthy nutrition for b4 and after, make sure all my equipment is functional, maybe change strings, charge batterries etc, load the car and drive sometimes up to 5 hours to get to the venue, once there, unload gear and prepare to set up, set up, wait to play, network, listen to other bands, play the set (usually1-2.5hrs), pack up gear, speak and make contacts, take any bookings, sell merchandise, drive home! When not gigging i spend a few hours on the pc, sorting out website and generally networking, then a few hours practice, rehearsal, writing, recording etc all in all about 4-6 hours aday(when not gigging,on a gig day im working at least 12 hrs!)

What’s the best part of the job?

Best part is doing what I love and meeting so many lovely people many of whom become friends for life!

And the worst?

The worst part is waiting around, dealing with idiots and the pressure of continuing to be 100%!

What can you not do your job without - Qualifications, licences, insurance, comfy shoes, eye for detail, sense of humour?

Job cant be done without, humour, patience, tolerance and dedication and much more! (qualifications NOT needed) also i play barefoot these days!

Is there a Society, Association, Union for people in your line of work?

I am a member of the Musicians union.

How much initial investment did you have to spend to get started in your career?

Investment is done on an as needed basis and it never ends, initially a good instrument and amplification, a few hundred quid at the time.

How does the pay and career path compare to other people you know? Can you support yourself, a family, a house on the income from this work?

Pay wise it has kept me afloat and I seem to be no worse off or better than anyone else, eg I've never been in debt! I have suppoorted myself with a bit of housing benefit for over 20 years YES if dedicated this work can provide all family needs and if v successful can make you richer than most (still waiting for that part!).

Does your organisation ever advertise for staff? Where?

I sometimes have to advertise for musicians,word of mouth or on the net.The internet has loads of site dedicated to getting musos together.

What would you be doing if not in this line of work?

If i wasnt doing this I would be teaching and or working with nature and or in some kind of service capacity.
I also have another less unusual job, father of 2 kids. That is the hardest job of all!

Dream Job - Hypnotherapist

Who do you work for? What is your job? Where do you work?

Myself, Hypnotherapist, West London

How did you start in this line of work? 

Was in Marketing got bored by soullessness & wanted a new career, looked at Life coaching (was a buzz thing at the time) – thought it looked like marketing but that clients would need hypnotherapy as a back up – did the course, loved it & dropped the idea of life coaching

How did you find out about the job? Or where did you get the idea?
Researched where to do the course on the web, idea – see above

How did you get the job?

Started the business 

What do you do on an average day?
There is no average day – perhaps 2 typical days would be -
Up excercise, breakfast, see clients; 3 ish clients thru day, then go do something fun in the evening
or
Up late, 3 ish clients, listen to training dvds or read training books/meet friend for lunch/coffee/network meeting or business development, do something fun in the evening 
or
I can be lazy & just watch an entertainment DVD if I'm feeling unmotivated

I always answer calls & emails on days off but very light work. Sun/Mon I have off (often do networking meetings on Mondays)

What hours do you work?

About 15 client hours per week, plus client prep, training – courses & home study 
I'm always doing training – I love it so it’s more like leisure activity 
I work Tues/wed am & pm, thurs, fri, sat (some evenings & weekends likely!)

What’s the best part of the job?
Seeing people in crisis get their lives back under control

And the worst?
Not much! – but it’s easy to be lazy re business development

What can you not do your job without - Qualifications, licences, insurance, comfy shoes, eye for detail, sense of humour? 

Qualificationss/Insurance/Empathy/self motivation/ability to focus entirely on someone else/have your baggage under control/life experience/be able to be taken seriously/humility/be unflappable/quiet professional room to work out of/means of burning CDs of sessions/being non-judgmental 

How much initial investment did you have to spend to get started in your career?
About £8K

How does the pay and career path compare to other people you know? Can you support yourself, a family, a house on the income from this work?

Pay is what you make it – it works well for me but lots of people struggle to make enough to work full time. It would be tougher outside big cities where there are fewer people & the hourly rate would be lower
Career path – again what I make it but flexible for the future – I think thats why ongoing training is so important to keep it fresh 

Does your organisation ever advertise for staff? Where?
No

Have you ever seen other jobs like yours advertised? Where?

No, self employed

What would you be doing if not in this line of work?
I’d probably still be being a marketing consultant & be really miserable

Where to go when job hunting

The obvious places to look for a job are the big employment websites.

The Guardian Newspaper's Careers section serves a variety of functions for the job hunter, from a search facility and email news on jobs to articles and advice. A high proportion of its content is aimed at graduates and professionals but a lot of the advice is just as applicable to less conventional career paths.

Monster is one of the largest such sites in the world and as such is geared to the most common types of job hunt. It was one of the first such sites, set up in America, but its UK branch is just as extensive. As well as offering job searches and lists of employers, it has a Career Advice section and Career Snapshots giving insight into jobs that are out there. They also publish the Monster Employment Index which is an analysis of what trends in online recruiting have done each month. It also hosts BeKnown a networking app on Facebook.

Similar networks are offered by BranchOut, again on Facebook, and LinkedIn is probably one of the best known networking sites. It is advisable to exercise some caution when sending your CV to any website. Make sure you don't include any personal data, like address or NI number. Never pay for job introductions and try to verify that job offers are authentic via other websites. Be aware of the types of scam you might encounter.

(See also; our post on Online Resumes for more on networking and promoting yourself)

Men at Work

More esoteric jobs though, particularly artisanal or freelance positions will not be suitable for massive job search websites. People looking for such individual employees may well be overwhelmed by large numbers of applicants and so feel that they need to advertise their position to a much smaller audience. This means though that they are harder to find, especially for people looking to move into the sector. Often these adverts will be advertised with professional societies or in trade magazines so it is worth trying to find out what resources are offered in your chosen niche.

Local newspapers are also more likely to have local adverts for jobs in smaller organisations.

Dream Jobs

A day in the life of:

• a monk
• police officers
• a trader (finance)
• a market trader

The Guardian also has a Working Life feature that examines the lives of people in a variety of careers and a Behind The Job Title section describing more about real people's work.