A few years ago I was interviewing for a job in the field that I had been working in for a little while. They were asking me about my background and what I had experienced at previous jobs. I told them how I had been beaten up, spit on and things thrown at me on pretty much a daily basis. They were mortified but i just laughed. Then they asked me another question that kind of surprised me and I had to take a minute to think about it. Why keep working in this field? What makes it worth it to you? I answered them honestly, some job fields are thankless. You put yourself out there to take care of people or help people and then you end up getting beat up by the same person you were just taking care of. Its hard, its brutal and can be totally unforgiving. But what made it worth it to me is that one person that smiled at you that day. The one who came up and gave you a hug when they struggle with being near people. The one who read a full sentence for the first time ever when you’re teaching them to read with the biggest smile on their face. Seeing that you make a difference in their lives even if it’s a tiny one, that's what made it worth it to me.

I was reminded of this a little while ago and it made me curious. I know what makes my job worth it to me but what makes it worth it to other people?

I interviewed 5 different people in different positions of different jobs. Some work with people with disabilities, others work in hospitals. But they all are pretty tough jobs that rarely get the appreciation that they deserve. So what keeps them there?

One of the first questions I asked was “In a job where you have to deal with people being upset with you on a daily basis or dealing with high stress environments what makes the day worth it?

“I can make a difference in people’s lives so it keeps me going,” One worker answered. “ I rarely get angry with people because I don’t think they understand us and our process that we use.”

Nursing can definitely be considered a high stress position but for some people the small things is what makes it all worth it.

“Seeing the miracles happen right before your eyes. Also being able to see improvement in the patient's health because of something you did, it makes it all worth it.”

Even when someday’s you have to deal with a death of a patient:

“ I would hold onto either the last win I had or the small interactions with patients or families where you could see in their eyes that I was making a difference even if it was a small one. I had to look past the death and remember I still had a job to do and be there for the family. That is just as important.”

Then theres some who just enjoy the challenge of it and the ending result:

“I worked at the cable company as a team lead and it’s funny because most of what I did was take angry calls. But I feel like I could level with these folks, that they are paying for a service they are not getting which would make anyone angry… I felt it was worth it to get their service back up and running to make them happy in the end… I think I just enjoyed the challenge.”

But this isn’t where the interviews ended. Most people don’t jump into a high stress career just for the fun of it. It made me curious of why and how they ended up in the career field that they did. Sometimes you go into a career because it’s what you’ve always wanted to do, other times you just kind of stumble upon it. Out of the five people only one person was working in the career field she had always felt she wanted to be a part of. Most others had different paths thought out. One had wanted to be a photographer and even went to film school but ended up working in a different field altogether. One of my favorite answers was from a gentlemen who is working as a vocational rehabilitation counselor.

“Nope, never had even heard of it[the career]. I found out about it when I was going to the commission for the blind and he asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to do what he did whatever that was. He told me he was a rehab counselor and right then and there I decided that’s what I wanted to do.”

Imagine in just walking into some place and deciding that's where you wanted to be in the long run? Not only that but actually achieving it. Though the last minute career choice made me curious of what he wanted to do before that...

“Oh wow what didn’t I want to do? At one point I wanted to be a doctor, I started classes for pre-med school. I took one chemistry class and realized chemistry sucked. Then it was a body builder, marine biologist…”

Some people just fall into a career.

“...I found myself without a job at a point where I was not looking to make a career change in my life… [i] wound up using a temp agency. Through the temp agency I found a job with a disability company. It turned out to be a good place to work and I really enjoy what I do now.”

Life is full of twists and turns. The same goes for our careers. But in the end when were happy with where we ended up it makes the twists and turns worth it. Sometimes you end up in a great place, sometimes you like what you do but not the place that you work. Other times it’s best to live with the philosophy of everything happens for a reason. Are you happy with where you ended up?

“Yes and no. Really like the job and the company but it’s a step down from where I was.”

“Yes, I think my work is still definitely a challenge, but in the end I feel like I am really helping people.”

“No. I like the part of my job where I get to help people, that is awesome. But all the bureaucracy you have to go through is crap and makes it’s really hard to be happy with where you are.”

With high stress jobs it can be really hard to walk away from it. Sometimes the stress follows you home and sometimes it stays where it’s meant to be, at work. When you are dealing with people's lives especially in health care and disability there are some stories that just stick with you. Sometimes they make you realize you are very lucky to have a job and be able to keep working it. Others make you want to go home and tell your family how much they mean to you. Then there’s the ones that make you want to hit your head against the wall a few times. When asked if they felt they leave work behind them or does it follow them home everyone had the same response. Sometimes the stress bleeds into your personal life or certain cases tug at your heart. But a lot of the time it can be easy to leave it behind and just step away from it.

“There are times where my husband points out that my mind is still at work and makes me stop thinking about it. There are times where my work world is all in order and I don’t need to bring it home. Sometimes it’s hard to find that balance and not all things can be 50/50.”

With any job there is no such thing as one hundred percent perfection. Mistakes are constantly made, rules changed, and new expectations posted. We have bosses to answer to, managers to impress and people to work for. There’s rules, guidelines and goals to follow. At the end of the day sometimes everything we have to go through makes it harder to do what we want to accomplish and help people. When asked what they would change about their job a few had they same thought. The politics. In a lot of jobs we have outside forces and rules that we have to follow that are made by people who are not even doing our jobs, who have no idea what it's like to work in those particular fields.

“I would not allow politicians and bureaucrats have control over what we do. They put rules and stipulations in place that make it harder to do the job we want to.”

At the end of the day there’s also little changes that people would like to be made. More of an outlook of how you see your coworkers or bosses. Being able to be open and honest in the workplace is not something that you come across. When you’re a manager or a supervisor your employees not only look up to you but tend to treat you a lot differently then they would an equal level coworker. When I asked my manager what she would change her answer definitely made me smile

“I would take away the ‘distant weird boss’ atmosphere and I would turn all my peers and supervisors into the ‘friend boss.’ I think if we all just be real with each other and keep hidden agendas out of the picture everyone would be happy to work towards a common goal.”

No career field is perfect. All have their ups and downs. Some are more emotionally draining, others more physically. But either way you deal with stress and struggles trying to get through a work day. When it comes to these particular jobs, to most just the fact of being able to help people makes a difference. There are days where you get frustrated. There are days that you get beat up, yelled at, cried too and spat on. But at the end of the day it’s that feeling of making the tiniest difference that makes it all worth it. So my question, dear readers, what makes your job worth it?