If you’re lucky enough to do something that you enjoy AND you get a decent paycheck, you probably remember what it was like to work sh**ty jobs in your younger days.

I know I sure do!

But there is hope, my friends, so keep your chin up and keep the faith!

And maybe these responses from AskReddit users will give you some new ideas about career paths to pursue if you’re stuck in a rut.

Check out what they had to say!

Helping people.

“I work in the pathology lab at a hospital.

I process blood and biopsy samples onto microscope slides for the pathologists to read. I love it!

I feel like I’m helping people, even though I never meet them and they have no idea who I am.”

At the pet store.

“I work at a pet store (only supplies, no animal sales) and make $18 CAD/hr.

That might not sound ‘decent’ but it’s better than minimum wage with no meaningful increase in responsibility (aka stress) compared to any other retail worker. In fact, my work environment is lower stress than any other retail/food job I’ve had and the owner has a keen interest in our well-being.

Yearly raises, Christmas bonus, profit sharing, get paid our full scheduled shift if it’s shortened or cancelled for weather, aiming to become a living wage employer with promises to increase wages beyond that so long as the business continues to grow.

Plus no one asks ‘why’ if I turn down a shift or decline to stay later. Respect for personal time is huge. I’m treated like a human being, not a robot with no life outside work.”

On your own.

“I’m a statistician and work with a government agency.

I particularly really enjoy not having to interact with too many people.”

Family business.

“I am the only IT guy for a family owned business.

They know nothing about computers so as long as everything is running smoothly they leave me alone.

I only put in about 45 minutes of actual work every week.”

That’s awesome.

“Electrician.

It’s hard work most days, but satisfying seeing it all lit-up and functioning properly.

Knowing my work will still be in service many years from now feels good, and seeing customers marvel at their new light fixtures looking great is a good feeling.”

It’s all good.

“I’m an accountant for a bank.

Good salary, great benefits, tons of PTO and all holidays off.

It’s not particularly exciting, rewarding, or fulfilling but it gives me the security and freedom to make my life as exciting, rewarding and fulfilling as possible.”

Interesting.

“I work in a logyard in S. Oregon.

Log trucks come in and are unloaded. The load is rolled out on the ground, and I scale the logs. I measure the lengths and diameters, calculate the gross volume in board feet, and make deductions based on defects such as frost seams, insect damage, burn scars, lightning strikes, etc.

I work outside, so it can be rough in the winter/summer, but it keeps me moving, and it’s an interesting gig. Been doing it about 6 years now.”

Cool.

“I’m a colorist.

It’s like Photoshop for movies. I love it.

But I feel very lucky to have this job, and to be successful in the industry.”

Doing good work.

“Hospice nurse.

My whole job is just to try to make people comfortable and relieve their pain.”

Sounds great.

“I’m a National Park Ranger. 32 years and counting.

As with any profession, there are still bad days, but it’s pretty great.”

Amazing.

“I got to work at JPL for 35 years, designing and flying deep space missions.

Galileo, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Stardust, Solar Probe, InSight and others.

It was an exceptionally fun job even when it was hard. And I met a whole bunch of very smart people.”

Just fine.

“I’m a paralegal at an attorney’s office. I essentially do all the writing and research for cases and assemble the files and information an attorney needs for trial.

I thought about going to law school, but during my internship clerking for the county courthouse I found that people with Bar cards were working clerk jobs like me, saying there’s a too many lawyers out there to get a job.

I decided that throwing down 6 figures on law school and not even having a job guaranteed at the end is too big of a risk, and instead got a paralegal certificate for a fraction of that price, and have been doing paralegal work for 10 years now.

It’s not crazy money by any means, but $40k+ a year supports me and my family and that’s fine by us.”

Now we want to hear from you.

Tell us what you do in the comments and let us know if you like your job.

We’d love to hear from you!