We recently posted a list of the seemingly "smart" occupations that attract totally incompetent people. BuzzFeed Community members poured into the comments with their own input on which jobs fit into this category. Here are 23 careers that seem to be magnets for people who have no idea what they're doing:
1. "Finance. It's for people who want to work with money, but aren't smart enough for accounting."
2. "Politicians. People who graduated last year with a degree in public relations or gender studies just assume that they know more about how to run an industry than the people who have actually been working in that industry for decades."
3. "I worked for the VA. I am also a disabled vet. Too many times my fellow vets will say if the VA was run by veterans, that it would run fine. Absolutely not always right. I remind them of some of the toxic and inept officers we all dealt with in the military that tended to screw up and move up. Then they retire from the military and go work to be administrators in the VA healthcare system, where they believe the staff and veterans only exist to benefit them."
4. "Hospital administration. They have no idea what's going on at the patient care level but try to act like they do. They're happy to price gauge patients to make money for themselves. They could put their resources into their current facilities, but oftentimes buy up more facilities and staff than they can handle, and thoughtlessly put additional strain on their employees. And instead of reasonable staffing, hours, and benefits, they try to provide 'wellness' crap that no one really wants or needs..."
"My sister's a nurse, and I've worked as a hospital volunteer, in the medical lab and as a physician. We say that nurses and doctors will argue, lab will argue with nurses, doctors will argue with lab, etc. — but we will all band together and hate the goddamn administration."
5. "Parenting. Not everyone planned on being one, some never should have become parents, and some are so concerned with being good that they need to chill."
6. "Police. When I worked in politics, the sergeant-at-arms were usually decorated, former career PD. Two that I trust very much told me that 15% of cops chose that profession for the right reasons. Of those 15%, maybe 5% kept those beliefs in their heart after the first few years. Two 25-year PD vets said that they don’t trust 95% of cops."
7. "School administration in the US has a glass elevator problem. Even though the vast majority of teachers are women, the majority of superintendents and administrators are male. I'm a female teacher and I have more than 10 years of experience. However, my administrative supervisor is a male administrator who had four years of teaching experience before deciding to become an administrator. His educational experience is with lower middle school and mine is with upperclassmen in high school (think 11th and 12th grade). His advice and feedback is mind-boggling — it sounds like advice and tips for someone teaching 12-year-olds, not 16–18-year-olds."
8. "Teachers! The education majors with whom I went to college with were morons. Things like reading a book with lots of pages for pleasure were inconceivable to them. At the time, there was a new test for teachers to get their initial certification which, IMO, was like a moderately easy trivia quiz. My fellow students did REALLY badly. I've run into a number of idiot teachers both as a student and as the mother of a student. I went to 'open school night' when my son was in 11th grade. The Brit Lit teacher referred to the father of English Literature as 'Chow-Sir.' I immediately thought of the taxes I was paying to send my son to the best school district in the state, and got a little teary-eyed. It's pronounced Chaw-Sir, btw, and he's the very basis of this teacher's course."
9. "A lot of seriously screwed up people go into psychology. For them, it is a form of self-help. They think they can turn it into a career. But they don't realize how glutted the field is, and also how few people out there are willing to pay big money to talk to them."
10. "Estheticians/cosmetologists. Either they love what they do and put hours and money towards outside classes to really keep up with the latest trends and research...Or they barely pay attention in school (which teaches you nothing) and simply follow the basic protocol. Be wary, especially with estheticians, because if they are in the latter group and do try more invasive techniques like derma-planing or chemical peels that they have not taken the proper courses for, it could cause more damage to your skin. Read reviews and don't be afraid to ask the esthetician what outside courses they have taken and what they are certified in."
11. "My dad is a doctor and the problem he says that's common among nurses is not their actual nursing skills, but their LACK of skill in writing up reports, which some of them have to do for administration issues — i.e. a report on the changes made to nursing training."
12. "Doctors. There are so many bad doctors who just don't want to do their jobs. That's one of the main reasons people with rare diseases, especially women, go an average of seven years without the proper diagnosis. Many doctors also think Black people have a higher pain tolerance because of the color of their skin, and let women of color almost bleed to death before even checking for a problem. Serena Williams almost died after giving birth for that reason. There are so many older doctors who clearly never looked at a medical journal after graduating med school, and being so behind the times, they don't even believe some illnesses exist."
13. "My experience is that restaurant owners are generally people with a lot of money, no clue about the industry, but have seen a restaurant with a 40% mark-up on a bottle of wine and thought, Damn, I can do this and make loads of money! Sadly, restaurant owners tend to get away with having a third of the establishment's income, and they treat staff like dirt because they're rich."
14. "Graphic design. How some pieces make it out into the public on signs, T-shirts, etc. is beyond me."
15. "Producers. I used to work in production, and currently work in development, and there are quite a few producers who are ridiculously disorganized. I'm sincerely impressed when they somehow manage to bring a production to completion without making super dumb decisions, going over budget, losing investors and keys, scaring off insurance, incurring union fines, or pissing everyone off."
16. "Marketing and PR. You want to see dumb, go to any marketing and PR company. I have never come across such stupid people in my entire life. Mind you, they are often very....nice — which is why they are in PR (the more intelligent employees usually handle the marketing)."
17. "I taught a whole lot of first-year college classes in my former life. The most struggling male students? Business majors. No, buddy, you can't pass my class coasting by on your questionable charm. The most struggling female students? Elementary education majors. I'm sure you're better at managing a room full of 6-year-olds than I am, but I really need you to show up and do the damn work."
18. "Disaster relief. I work alongside some of the most selfless, dedicated people I've ever met, and on the same team are people I'm amazed know how to put on their shoes."
19. "The whole real estate industry attracts and promotes idiots — so much so that people have no idea what a realtor is SUPPOSED to be doing. It’s not about finding or selling a home, as much as it’s about literally creating and enforcing a legal contract between the buyer and seller that protects whichever party they are representing. The amount of garbage that happens in the industry, which is a result of the lack of education between both the agents and the consumer, is insane. I encourage you to look at your local real estate board and see the infractions. Most people have no idea what falls in the scope of what a real estate agent is responsible for — including the agents being sued for not protecting their clients' interests."
20. "The medical field in general. From anti-vax/mask nurses to 'new Earth creationist' brain surgeons, there are a lot of people who seem to be walking contradictions."
21. "Mathematicians or math teachers are usually awful at doing their job, evident in their refusal to help anybody."
22. "Truck drivers. For one of the most risk-filled professions, you would be surprised at the number of absolute morons that are able to get behind the wheel as a 'professional.' They drive an 80,000 pound steel missile, can earn more money than god, and will do the absolute dumbest things I’ve ever seen. There are some who can do anything and everything given to them, but others struggle to even get the most basic of tasks done. If five years in the industry taught me anything, it’s to give them the most room possible while on the road. You just never know who is behind that wheel."
23. And finally, "CEOs. I've met a few. A goat has more common sense and less coke in their blood stream."
Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.