People Are Sharing Myths Of Highly Paid Career Fields They Once Believed — And Now Know Are A Big Fat Lie

Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell me which career fields they'd always believed had the best pay, but realized they were wrong about. There were some common answers, but others were surprising!

See for yourself below:

1."As a child I assumed that writers and authors make huge money because I held a romanticized view of the profession and understood how mentally challenging the skill can be. However, as I have learned more about the industry, I have realized that the earning potential and level of competition are horrendous in most cases. Very few writers actually get to write what they want to write full time, and those who can still have to fight like hell to maintain that privilege."

—hiitsnicetomeetyou

2."Library science. When I was growing up, librarians made a good, dependable wage. Made sense, given the field requires a master's, and there’s a lot of training involved. Only thing is that wages have not only stagnated in the last few decades, but some have actively decreased. I unfortunately found this out after completing my master's during a global pandemic. I pivoted to a related field – research – and make as much entry level as library branch managers. I see postings all the time for librarian positions that pay $15/hr, like that’s good. I get that many are largely tax funded, but these positions need to get with the times."

—rorose132

3."Veterinarians: People assume that the steep bills at the vet's office go right into the vet's pockets, but most only make about $30/hr. You have the education of a doctor, the stress of a doctor, and the student loans of a doctor, but you don’t actually get anywhere near the same pay as a human doctor."

—dalittle20

Schitt's Creek / CBC / Via giphy.com

4."Just about anything in the cannabis industry. Unless you own a chain of successful dispensaries or are the CEO of a cannabis company (the cannabis itself, or a product used to consume it), you make minimum wage. Budtending makes less than bartending, typically. Any "corporate" jobs pay a slightly elevated corporate rate, but even then, it's still a weed company, which means they aren't taken seriously enough to offer REAL wages for whatever job you're doing."

—svenskaspark

5."Advertising. I thought it would be glitzy and glamorous. My first job paid a measly $35K per year, after two years and moving to another agency, I only made $50K per year. During the pandemic, I was job hunting, and got an offer for a higher-up management role for $30K per year, and turned it down, to which the guy laughed at me for rejecting. Now I work in corporate communications making $72K per year."

—kellybluepants

A lot of people from the healthcare field chimed in...

6."Mental health. Art therapy. I have a Master of Science degree in art therapy with a speciality in neuropsychology. I have speciality knowledge and couldn’t pay my bills out of grad school. When applying for jobs right out of school, one job wanted to pay me $12 an hour to work with criminally violent adolescent sex offenders. I took a job for $30,000 working at a shelter for homeless families and was almost homeless myself."

"I even tried to stay adjacent to my field by teaching college students in art therapy and got stalked by an adult student. I had to walk away. Now I channel the need to help others via nonprofit board work with children in foster care. It’s no wonder why we have a shortage of mental health professionals. The investment is too great and the payout too little."

—aimeestitt

7."Being a therapist. One would think we make a lot of money due to the nature of the work. The truth is that I live paycheck to paycheck even though I’ve been doing this for a while. To save any money I have to completely cut out spending on things that are not needs. I love what I do but damn."

—lenar45ff56517

8."Nursing. I've made anywhere from $25/hr. to $36/hr. in my 10-year-long career in Colorado. I do have a bachelor's degree. However, I also have PTSD, anxiety, and depression now that I certainly didn't start my career with. All healthcare professionals have seen and done things the general public can't even imagine, but we are told by the corporations we work for that the joy of the work we do should be compensation enough. It's a total scam used to keep the do-gooders trapped in traumatic work environments."

"And let's not even get started on how expensive it is to live in Colorado. Rent can easily be 50% or more of the average nurse's monthly pay."

—becca5634

"I'm also in the medical field, and the amount of anxiety and depression and burnout I have is overwhelming." —cheesebones

And quite a few people in academia shared their woes, too.

9."I was a graduate teaching 'assistant' in mathematics for five years while I worked on my PhD; I say 'assistant' because I was the instructor of record, taught the classes, did all the grading, held office hours, everything. Our restrictions on how many hours we could get paid for (still worked those hours to fulfill my job duties though) were even stricter than the adjuncts (and for less pay of course). When a full-time (non-tenure track) position opened up, I was told I needed more experience at other schools to be qualified to work at the school I had five years of experience at. Academia is a joke."

—smuartalexoo

10."Science research! Unless you’re a PI with a lot of publications it’s terrible. As a research assistant I was working 60 hours a week for like 36K–38K. Terrible pay, LOL."

—jaclynt4c4915081

11."Being a professor. Some STEM professor fields pay well, but arts/humanities professors and especially adjunct and assistant professorships...it's bad. And a lot of these people are walking around with hundreds of thousands in student debt from all those years in school."

—gewnadhs

Of course, teaching was up there.

12."Teaching. I plan to go into teaching secondary despite pay, but I was shocked when I first learnt what teachers make. Not only are they teaching the next generations what they need to know, but they're also dealing with child welfare, child mental health, bullying, parents, social issues, constant training, and more. It's such a stressful and often demanding job that gets so little respect AND little pay!"

—flossom23

13."Teaching. The amount of hours versus the money in your bank each month is crazy small in the early years of your career. Some weeks you work 60+ hours."

—teresal49fe5f61d

14."Agreed!! I’m an English teacher with a master’s degree going into my fourth year and currently live paycheck to paycheck. It sucks."

—e_jeane

Law was a surprising one, though!

15."I went to school and figured out I really enjoyed law (still do!). I thought about becoming an attorney, so I got my degree in pre-law and paralegal studies so I could be a paralegal. It pays unbelievably poorly, plus there are so many attorneys that the attorneys are taking the paralegal jobs. Even being an attorney doesn't pay well unless you network and have the right connections."

—madds2016

16."I got accepted into a two-year law school but decided student loans weren't worth it. Half the paralegal jobs on Indeed wanted five years experience and paid less than my retail job. I feel like a unicorn because I finally managed to get a paralegal position that paid decently and was willing to take me on with no experience."

—monikap6

17."I jumped into the paralegal career after getting a paralegal certificate over a year in school. I picked the career because I liked the routine, sedentary nature of the work, and it would supposedly make me the kind of money I really wanted. I researched the competitive market rate for a paralegal in my area, and requested the lower-end rate because of my inexperience. Joke's on me; only ONE of the paralegal jobs I interviewed for was offering the lower market rate, AND they somehow expected the person taking that job to already have FIVE YEARS of experience."

"I'm currently working as an administrative assistant at a law office because they don't need to use me as a paralegal. I accepted the job AT MINIMUM WAGE, let alone what I WANTED to earn as a paralegal, because it's the only offer I got!"

—svenskaspark

And for anyone whose dreams just got crushed, one community member has some advice on fields that pay more than expected:

18."I have an answer to the opposite question: plumbers and electricians! I didn't realize how well certain trades/jobs paid growing up until some people I know were going into those fields and told me how they have already paid off most of their loans."

—zoyaathar

Which answer surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments!

Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.