Jobs That Sound Boring But That Are Anything But!

Female nurse at nurses station. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

It is unlikely that, when you were little and dreaming about your future, you dreamt of a job at a desk or in a cubicle. You probably dreamed of being a sports star, Hollywood A-lister, astronaut, fire fighter, stunt car driver, zookeeper, President—anything but something that would tie you to a desk or an office all day.

As we get older most of us resign ourselves to the idea of a desk-tied job. We discover that we want something steadier and less risky. We want the fattest paycheck possible and plan to save our excitement and happiness for the evenings, weekends and occasional vacation. What we fail to predict is just how satisfying some of those boring sounding jobs can be.

Here are some of the most satisfying (and stable!) careers you should pursue after college.

Nursing

It’s true; nurses will never get the attention or accolades that doctors get. As a nurse you are in the trenches—not allowed to do the fancy procedures you see on television but still your patient’s primary care giver. You are the person that sees to every patient’s immediate need. It isn’t glamorous (sometimes it can even be pretty gross). It is, however, incredibly satisfying.

Helping someone heal is one of the most satisfying things in the world. Plus, as a nurse, bonding with your patients isn’t just a good idea, it is actively encouraged. The fact that nurses are always in demand—which means you’ll never want for a job—is just icing on the cake.

Compliance Officer

According to the ADP Compliance Insights blog, the field with the best projected job growth isn’t engineering or computer science–it’s compliance.

Compliance officers are the people who monitor everything a company does to ensure that the company is complying with state and federal laws. They’re sort of like auditors but, instead of simply working with numbers, they work with everything a company does—from making sure employees comply with OSHA standards to ensuring that the company is taking proper security steps to protect consumer information. You could be the person that keeps your company from becoming the next Target!

Urban and City Planning

No matter what you might have thought about Mark Brendanawicz on Parks and Rec, the job of a city or urban planner can be incredibly satisfying. The world’s population is growing at an incredible pace and our towns and cities are having a difficult time keeping up with the demand for space and services. City planners are the people who are responsible for helping a city grow and expand and make the changes needed to keep the city’s citizens safe and healthy. They design neighborhoods and set up zoning districts. It isn’t exciting in the same way that some jobs are, but what you do as a city planner will affect the lives of people for years (decades even!) to come. That’s pretty cool, right?

Financial Planner

Many people believe that financial planning and investment planning is the same thing. They aren’t. Financial planners work with individuals and help them both overcome troubling financial pasts and set up stable and profitable financial futures. You will help people manage and set up investment portfolios, savings plans, budgets, etc. Unlike investment bankers or brokers who may never even see their clients, you will get to dig in and have an immediate and (hopefully) lasting impact on a person’s life.

Some of the most satisfying jobs you will ever have are hidden under boring sounding descriptions and are housed in lackluster cubicles. Don’t discount a potentially great career just because it doesn’t sound exciting enough!