• Question: What if your dream job doesn't give you enough money to survive?

    Asked by McWu to Leah-Nani, Kathryn, Ian, Andrew on 22 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Leah-Nani Alconcel

      Leah-Nani Alconcel answered on 22 Jun 2018:

      I would say we’re all pretty lucky in that engineering, as a dream job, is pretty much guaranteed to give you enough money to survive. But if you have a dream job that’s more difficult to make a living off of, then you may find you either have to take a second part-time job, or you turn your dream job into a hobby and make a living out of something that may not thrill you as much but will pay the bills.

    • Photo: Kathryn Burrows

      Kathryn Burrows answered on 22 Jun 2018:

      Good question! Not sure if it has an easy solution. I am still waiting for someone to pay me to eat chocolate and read books! Though if I got that, I would probably just want to do the job I am doing now!

      I guess getting paid is about working out what other people value and need and, you would be surprising the ways you can get money from things if you get creative. That said many great jobs are not well paid, and money is not always related to value as I see it! Many people who follow their passion take on other work as well. In fact there is a general trend towards people having multiple different jobs at once and making less money from each jobs but a good overall income from their several jobs combined. That is not something I have ever really done so I cannot say how well it works but I know it exists.

      That said, while it is important that your job suits you and that you enjoy it, your job doesn’t have to be your whole life and you can have a career in one thing and follow your passion in your spare time. You just have to make sure you make time for your passion in your spare time – don’t just get home and put on the telly [unless tv feasting is your passion of course]. It’s about knowing what is important to you and working out how to get it. This is not something that anyone can really tell a correct answer to, working it out for yourself is part of the problem/fun of life!

    • Photo: Andrew Margetts-Kelly

      Andrew Margetts-Kelly answered on 22 Jun 2018:

      This is a really tricky one. It’s sad but it does happen; hopefully one day we as a society will manage to solve this problem.
      —
      But if you really love it you might be able to find a way to make it pay more. If you love making and selling cakes, you could find a way to make them more efficiently, and sell more of them, to more people; that’s business. But if something like that isn’t possible you could always get two jobs. Like I love engineering, but I also love doing outreach work and teaching (I get paid nothing to do this so I need to still do my engineering day job). Finding balance is key I think to a happy life.

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