Do you have a job that’s below your educational level?

JOB? what job? i live off of my trust fund.

OP good for you. If you can live on your income and the job doesn't wreck you.

OP, that doesn't sound half-bad to me right now.

I worked in a bank, a 'prestige' job, had to wear a suit and tie everyday, no union, and the pay wasn't good.

I switched over to becoming a blue collar worker, a custodian for the Public School Board - the work is okay, the pay is great as are the benefits, and we have a union. I'm much happier here.

If you're happy, then that's great. One of my family members has a bachelor's degree but does blue collar work. They are happier.

I meet so many “professional” type of people every day. They seem so overworked and miserable. They get off an airplane and have the answer 50 emails. When they get home their time is not their own. More emails! I hate that.

OP, if you're happy then it doesn't matter if you're working below your education level. Being happy is the most important thing in life because chronic sadness will shorten your life.

So good to hear OP. I spent 20 years in finance - generally everyone had prestigious MBAs at least. I’ve quit because the stress and lifestyle were making me exhausted, miserable, constantly anxious - generally hated my life as it was all about work and people were nasty or automatons. Now I really am thinking of becoming a store clerk or something totally low low stress. I also think I’m lazy. I’m very happy not working and having little or nothing to do. Pole talk about purpose and fulfillment from work. But I honestly get nothing but stress. And I feel fulfilled, happy and really love my non-working life.

But I do need to make money. Would love a job where I could work from home - maybe doing simple bookkeeping or spreadsheets. But two issues: getting someone to hire a former bank director for a simple job and not wanting to use anyone I used to work with as a reference to avoid people I worked with finding out.

Thats a conundrum R8. I was going to suggest IBM because I know many of their workers work from home.

Yes and yes, OP.

I hate my job! I wish I could be an interior decorator or something.

That's great, OP - and others.

I had a very high-prestige job, tons of responsibility, very well known in the field, etc. I really just hit a point where I was so burnt out. I moved, took a regular job, and love it. One of my former colleagues even asked, "Aren't you embarrassed after the title you once had, etc.?" I genuinely thought hell no. I actually have a life now.

I have a PhD but I teach high school. The pay is the same as the tenure track, my summers are my own (no pressure to publish) and I have job security. I miss nothing about academia.

I have a Master's plus, and I now work at a technology company doing menial crap. It's easy, fun, no pressure, never any work 'after hours' like my former job. When I walk out at 5:00, work never enters my head anymore.

I retired after a successful but very stressful thirty-year career, and now work in a job that draws on my knowledge and skills but is low pressure. I go home at 5:00 and don’t have to worry about crises. Love it.

IF you can comfortably survive at the lower stress jobs, then do so. My family circumstances dictated that I had to settle for less than a job commensurate with my education.

As it turned out, though, most of my struggles were with my own ego. It's true that the professions I could have had might have helped me through some of the rough spots I had, but they also lacked long-term stability, and the pay wouldn't have been enough to make me truly happy. Living within my means became my lifestyle, and I never needed too many extravagances.

As a result, my battles with myself that I regret are when I would be saddled with people who never had much of an IQ to begin with, and I got lumped in with them and felt looked down upon by mid-managers who were often dopes--not all of them, but many of them. I salute some of the above posters who were able to drop down the ladder or move to different work environments entirely and are or were able to keep their ego at bay.

No, it's at level but lately I've been dreaming about a less stressful job for less pay. I realize now though that thinking that way is a luxury. I remember having almost no money and it really narrows your perspective. You don't think about travel, buying new clothes, and all of those 'wants'; your thoughts are about whether you have enough for groceries, rent...the basics.

stressful jobs are the worst, money doesnt equal happiness, do what makes you happy

I got lucky, I was working a very stressful job making good money, but burning myself out. I took a leap of faith and went to a smaller company and took a bit of a pay cut. However, I let it go because I could work 35 - 40 hours a week, almost having the hours I was putting in, have some better benefits (health insurance and vacation policy among others) , work on fun projects and work with a group of exceedingly nice people.

Jump to 5 years later and I still love most aspects of my job and luckily, my salary has surpassed where I would be if I had remained at my previous employer. But beyond that, I enjoy what I do, the people I do it with and have time to enjoy myself outside of the office.

I’m the other way around. I am a brain surgeon, but my degree is in home economics.

[quote] But I do need to make money. Would love a job where I could work from home - maybe doing simple bookkeeping or spreadsheets. But two issues: getting someone to hire a former bank director for a simple job and not wanting to use anyone I used to work with as a reference to avoid people I worked with finding out.

r8, my sincere advice (as a former litigator who went searching for work well below my qualifications) is to lie about having some family responsibility that motivates your job search. Sick mom means I need flexibility and simple work, blah blah blah. The sort of people who you're looking to hire you probably won't even check references beyond confirming your employment. Larger companies have outsourced the sort of work you describe to foreigners.

I think it a sign of a healthy, democratic society that people can change jobs and fields, including getting training through their lives to do this. I don't know why people in this country think job mobility is a problem. IF you had universal health care, this would be the reality. Also, we should lower the cost of tuition again. They have jacked up the cost of tuition so much, no one can afford this. It used to be low.

I'm lucky; Masters plus other degrees, but a regular non-stress editing job. Nice midtown view, easy commute, semi-private office, fun staff. For challenges, I do other art projects for $4 and fun. But yeah, since we don't get big raises, I've just reduced my hours and work more quickly.

I have an MBA and worked in high tech for a long time but just got sick of cut throat, stressful, all hours, no personal life work. Took a pay cut of about 30k but damn I'm so much happier working at a nonprofit. 35 hours a week, tons of vacation time, summer hours, & I can leave work at work at night. So worth not having a fancy car, lattes & lunch out every day.

R22, agreed.

Yes, I have a degree in accounting but work in a job that only requires a high school diploma. I applied for the job years (7) ago because I knew I could get it, enjoyed it at first because it allowed me to spend a lot of quality time with family, but am burned out now. I hope to get back into the field of accounting and maybe finish out my career as a CPA. The clock is ticking!