What has been your greatest frustration or struggle in your career?

[BCRanger10]

What has been your greatest frustration or struggle in your career up to this point? Whether it's been on the academic or professional side.

[Anonymous]

Getting enough paid work. I’m a magician (grown ups, not kids). I’m told I do a great job. I don’t think they’re ALL telling me that “to be nice.” I’ve done repeat shows and repeat bookings in the past, or done “referral shows” (someone sees me at a nephew’s graduation and hires me for a Christmas party), so I have to be doing SOMETHING right. I usually get really good reactions. I think I am ok technical skill level wise. It gets people genuinely talking - I don’t think a notoriously bad performer would get that a lot.


It seems like an issue with “out of sight, out of mind.” (I use a stage name that’s easy to remember, sign with my logo, a lot of little things, but I don’t know if they’re still remembering anything) and not wanting to pay for certain entertainment, even if it’s not that common.


I live near several affluent areas so it’s not like people can’t afford anything, either.


————
We’ll go with a small thing - digital business cards. People seem terrified of the tech (which is just using their smart phone), and they insist on my old fashioned card (which is fine, but it seems like it’s not being used or saved very often) and my guess is they lose it or toss the traditional cards (accidentally or not), and my info gets lost.


The digital cards (popls, dots, etc) give them a quick option to get my info into their contact lists… it seems like no one has heard of these digital card companies (weird, as I see ads everywhere), and it’s new “scary” technology. I offer it, I offer to show them how it’s done… “No! Just give me your regular card.”


I can understand people who don’t have smart phones, or people of a certain age, but I don’t meet that many in that demographic.

It almost seems like everyone thinks it’s witchcraft, evil spirits or something with how they fight it. Like I’m asking them to go on a roller coaster or go bungee jumping. So I give my traditional card - which has half the info - and my guess is it gets lost.


So I spent a small amount of money on something that no one seems to want to use.

[Unit1]

My biggest disappointment was to learn that I've wasted many years of my life for putting myself into the job market not knowing they all were not designed to pay sufficiently. "Study IT. it will make you rich". I sleep on a mattress on the floor and I wish I could eat 3x per day.

The job market's a shitty circus and most of the employers suck.

[jennifer_bloom]

When I worked in a physical space, the hardest thing was monitoring my movements while also monitoring the incoming traffic to my work station and trying not to make mistake or work too slowly and not to overlook any customer who wanted to greet me while busying myself at the work station with eyes down.

When I worked at home, the hardest part was figuring out what I wanted to do and how I was going to do it, also how to beat the competition and carve a space for myself that nobody else had previously patented or copyrighted but was still lucrative and held high potential for expansion and growth.

[electromagnetic]

I wanna say I love my job but I’m also bored of it. It’s not even what I studied. I studied to become a school teacher but I do administrative work for a private school. It’s nice, but there’s nothing special. Sometimes I tell myself to go back to teaching but the pay is pocket change in this economy.

[Simslover92]

Not being able to get a more traditional librarian role. I work at a mental institution library and before that it was archives. I'd rather be working the circulation desk at a public library but those seem hard to get where I live.

[NathanDavis]

the pandemia hit...

"November 2019: hmm... I should heavily invest on a border business, seems like just the right moment to do so"

[NewWaves]

Quite frankly my soon-to-be ex boss. I work in a field that requires insane coordination, and having an easily distracted, disorganized boss was the biggest source of frustration for me. Someone who always wanted new procedures put into place, expected everyone to catch on immediately, only to turn around and not respect them himself.

It was a nightmare.

[dustybiker2]

Getting a temp job. My family doesn't want me to work right now and have gone to great lengths to make sure I do not.

[CuriousMufuxka]

Pay. No matter what I'm still retiring at 50 and buying a bomb ass motorhome!

[BCRanger10]

What do you do that you can retire at 50?

[Kayla45]

Being treated like dirt just because my boss prefers men to do the job over any women, but can't flat out deny our work, just has a resentment to all the female staff.

[JacobJordan]

Completing my dissertation. I started it way in advance and it still took me a long time to do.

[Jmmmfi4]

RIGHT NOW... DRIVING A BIG TRUCK CAUSES ME ANXIETY

[jahaims]

I hated having to be fake

[BCRanger10]

Doing what?

[Babygirl_S]

People think I'm not serious or smart enough.

[sheikalana]

The toughest part for me was to get the job.

[Rangers]

I don't have a career

[Anonymous]

Cashflow issues