“They’re just doing their jobs”: 20 careers that are often unfairly villainized
“I just want to help you.”
There are several personality tests available online that can suggest which career someone is best suited for. However, the link between career and personality may have led to some workers being unfairly villainized.
In a post on r/AskReddit, a user asks, “What’s a career that’s unfairly villainized?”
Some point to workers in fields that folks don’t want to encounter, such as parking authority, tax collection, or defense attorneys. They suggest the industry’s bad rep shouldn’t extend to individual people.
Others argue that certain job duties, such as public sanitation or defending alleged criminals, are heavily scrutinized despite their necessity.
These are 20 careers Redditors think don’t deserve to be villainized and why.
1. Defense attorneys
“Defense attorneys. I often argue with my mother about this because in her eyes, they’re ‘worse than criminals’ for taking on their cases. How does she not understand *they’re the last line of defense between due process and arbitrary judgment? Courts need two opposing parties to ensure every step is taken before a conviction/acquittal. I’m so tired of arguing with a grown woman over the obvious” —u/fictionallymarried
2. Social workers
“I’m gonna say social workers. A lot of them catch shit for CPS, sometimes separating families when it’s very much warranted. Even then, they’re underappreciated because folks just don’t understand what they do or how much they help people.” —u/EzraliteVII
3. Dentists
“Dentists. I just want to help you. I’m sorry some old man hurt you all those years ago. I promise I’m trying my best to be gentle and just help you look and feel your best.” —u/beewalt
4. Customer service reps
“Customer service reps. They’re given a script and no authority to actually do anything. If there’s a language barrier, they get abused for it, but they’re just doing a job. It’s not their fault that the company hired people in one country to service customers from another. And, especially with tech issues, there’s not a lot they can actually do without seeing the problem.” —u/fountainpopjunkie
5. Teachers
“Not a teacher, but a close friend is, and parents today are sick in the head. From apathy to micromanagement, believing their child is an angel when they are the worst brat in school, and then endless conspiracy theories and accusations. And that’s not counting all the trouble from administrators and worthless policies. My friend could make more doing just about anything else with her education level, but she really cares and wants to make the world a better place. So Sad.” —u/SavedByTheBellExtra
6. Plastic surgeons
“Yeah, plastic surgeons get unfairly dragged when in reality a huge part of their work isn’t about vanity at all. Reconstructive surgeries after burns, accidents, or medical conditions literally change lives and help people feel whole again.” —u/softwinterdays
7. Tax collectors
“Working at the IRS or CRA or whatever your national tax office is. Most of the misery of dealing with them is because they’re underfunded and understaffed. You have to pay taxes anyway. People always seem opposed to any efforts for governments to spend more on these departments as though it will change your tax rate.” —u/eggplantsrin
8. Sanitation workers
“The closer to dirtiness, the easier it is to be stigmatized, such as sanitation workers.”—u/Phong_Nguyen8602
‘Worked as a lab technician in a wastewater testing / monitoring lab out of college. Gave me such a profound respect for the engineers and technicians who manage waste and drinking water systems. A recession-proof industry that really keeps society healthy and functioning.” —u/Virtual-Jicama-2762
9. Physical laborers
“Low-level labourers. They’re called lazy when they can’t go all day in an entirely physical job, called incompetent if they get a job wrong, even though most of them are genuinely uneducated, and it’s the supervisor’s and designer’s job to ensure they do the work right. They’re called job stealers if they work for lower wages, even though they offer themselves up for those lower wages because they can’t afford to live if they don’t get work. And even when they’re not hated, they’re not appreciated for doing what is often some of the most necessary work in society that literally nobody else wants to do.” —u/Zeruvi
10. Human resources workers
“HR. You think I’m firing you? I don’t even [expletive] know you. But you know who does? Your manager. So many things are related to the higher up being pussies and I’m just here for the paycheck.”—u/AdvancingClause
“Most people don’t catch on that HR is just your [expletive] managers’ scapegoat.” —u/erincandice
11. Pharmaceutical scientist
“Pharmaceutical scientist, like it or not, pharma is the only reason medicine is where it’s at today.” —u/innamiddleofthesumma
“Pharmaceuticals. 100% of the scientists at big pharma companies absolutely want to develop the most effective drug that cures every disease. No one is stopping them, except for the ability to develop those drugs/treatments. Furthermore, 95% of corporate/executive staff (market researchers, access, dare I say the execs) all want you to be able to get your drug no problem. There is one specific team at each company that wants to [expletive] you, and that is pricing. They are evil, evil people who calculate how they can make the most money. Those calculations involve acceptable loss of life, etc.” —u/Chris_P_Lettuce
12. Creatives
“Musicians and artists. We’re overall seen as lazy ppl who just wanna carouse and do drugs, and in the end, should get a ‘real job.’” —u/Candid-Astronomer904
“Musicians are highly underrated with what they provide for society, especially the small local bands that play music in bars, basements, someone’s backyard, etc. Go to your local underground shows and show your support to these guys, they work so hard and so long to provide joy in people’s lives.” —u/ladydrybones
13. Parking enforcement
“Parking enforcement. Everyone wants bad parkers to be punished, but no one wants to be punished for parking badly. They’re just doing their job. Leave them the [expletive] alone.” —u/CthuluSpecialK
“Gonna say it – Parking Wardens. If everyone parked where they wanted with no consequence, it would be chaos.” —u/scoro27
14. Farmers
“Farmers. Some of the hardest working, lowest paid people in the country and they literally feed you.” —u/squibitha_tristy
15. Bankers
“Banking. I’ve worked in finance and banking my entire career, and people think I’m some money-obsessed evil person- until they find out I work on projects that benefit the general public, like vulnerable customers and support for financial abuse, as well as human trafficking campaigns. It’s not all trying to suck money out of everyone.” —u/Throwawayxp38
16. Civil servants
“Any government employee. We work for government services, not the current government or the current leader. Stop making us the bad people.” —u/13rajm
“Government bureaucrats, I know it’s more of a general term. Having people who are not beholden to voters or government change is important to keep services and offices running and keep experienced people in charge.” —u/Agint_ReD
17. Nurses
“Nursing. Yes, seriously. The amount of ‘nUrSeS aRe aLL mEan giRLs’ brain rot I see online…Confirmation bias, anecdotes given as ‘proof,’ and zero critical thinking abound. OF COURSE, some nurses are awful people, because they are people. I think the expectation is that they should be angels, which is silly. Healthcare and every other career/position with any power over another- particularly people in a vulnerable state- will always attract some psychos.” —u/CuntumaciousMe
18. Tow truck drivers
“Tow truck drivers. Yeah, some are scumbags, but in general, they help people that need help.” —u/blazer243
19. Journalists
“Recently, it’s journalists. 99% of them have one objective in mind: print the truth. People assume it’s easy, but it’s an elusive, endless hunt. The very best spend years pursuing a single topic. Most only get a couple of hours these days. But 99% of journalists — no matter their personal politics or their organization’s leanings — have that singular motive as a top priority.” —u/prairied
20. Real estate agents
“Real Estate Agents. On the surface, they get paid a lot for doing hardly anything. Except for being the intermediary, it makes it possible for the seller and buyer to try to negotiate without the awkwardness of being face-to-face. We’ve basically decided that avoiding that awkwardness is worth 2% of hundreds of thousands of dollars.” —u/Connect_Ad_466