30 People Debunk Common Misconceptions About Their Jobs

Sometimes, it feels like every job comes with a set of clichés that people just assume are true.

But how much do we really understand about professions that aren’t our own?

On Quora, workers from a variety of fields shared the biggest misconceptions about their jobs, and let’s just say, some of these are eye-opening.

From construction workers to teachers to IT pros, these folks are here to set the record straight about what they actually do all day.

If you’ve ever thought that librarians are all about shushing people, or that social media managers just sit around scrolling Instagram, this list might make you rethink a few things.

Whether it’s clearing up myths about hard work, technical expertise, or what really counts as “lazy,” these posts shine a light on what people wish the world understood about their careers.

Take a look—you might learn something new.

1.

The myth I want to dispel is that construction workers just stand around doing nothing – especially when patching potholes.
Okay, I have actually tried to dispel this myth before and have received massive amounts of pushback, but I guess I’ll just keep slamming my head into a wall on this issue.
When a crew goes out to patch a pothole (and there are a lot of potholes in my area due to the rapid freeze-thaw cycle), they need to set up traffic control around the area, then clean out the pothole to be filled. They remove dirt and debris (mostly trash and leaves), and then chip the surrounding material back to “good pavement.”
Once that is done, THEN they can call for the fill material – and until the fill material arrives they have to WAIT.
Why? Well, for one thing, the fill has to be mixed up fresh at the plant, and then it has a very limited shelf-life. They can’t call for it until they know exactly how much they need, and they can’t call ahead of time because once the mix cools down it is useless – unless it is in the patch. So they can’t just order more than they need because where are they going to dispose of the excess? Not to mention that asphalt isn’t exactly cheap.
They can’t leave and start cleaning a new pothole because drivers WILL ignore the traffic cones and drive into the hole. Also, with traffic going by, more debris will end up in the hole, blown by the drafts caused by passing cars. So they have one guy watching the traffic and another guy making sure the hole stays clean and the rest of the crew cleans up their tools and get ready for the hot asphalt mix to arrive. The crew chief fills out the necessary paperwork, but they are usually sitting in the truck, at least. (The crew is usually only 4 guys, including the chief, anyway.)
When the mix arrives, they fill the pothole (possibly in several layers), compact the material and protect it while it cools so some idiot driver doesn’t drive over the fresh (hot) patch, melting their tires into the asphalt and damaging both tires and patch.
As they wait for the patch to cool/cure, they clean their tools again (asphalt is sticky and you can’t get it off once it has hardened), then race off to do the next pothole.
It is hard labor and takes real strength and stamina to do. But the drivers going past are mad at the inconvenience (and would be even angrier if the potholes didn’t get patched) and often yell offensive things like, “get back to work!” when the men ARE working – but not actually using a pick or a shovel. Measuring the holes, checking the surrounding material and ensuring the patch takes IS real work.
I’ve heard the same complaint while waiting for the next concrete truck (which is especially fun when the truck is caught in traffic because of the idiot drivers who have to slow down to yell at the “lazy” construction workers) or basically any construction that occurs near traffic. “New” construction or construction on roads that are closed are so much calmer and easier to work.
So, construction workers who don’t appear to be “working” (i.e.: they aren’t swinging a pick, sledgehammer or shovel) aren’t “lazy” – there are other parts to their job that take more skill than muscle. And I challenge anyone who yells, “Get back to work,” at a construction worker to swing a pick, sledgehammer or shovel for fifteen minutes straight and find out just how important it is to have some rest periods in between.

2.

Teachers do not work short hours.
If they are lucky, they have one daily planning period in addition to lunch, but there is no way that all the lessons can be planned and all the homework and tests can be handled in one period per day. Teachers have lots of homework plus grading and record keeping after their normal hours.
Often the “planning period” is used to talk with students having problems or to do tutoring. Sometimes, it’s spent observing other teachers in an effort to maintain a fresh perspective. Sometimes, it’s spent covering for another teacher with a medical or personal emergency where there was no time to recruit a regular substitute.
There are faculty meetings and occasional after-school in-service certifications. There are consults with the department chair and administrators regarding student discipline issues. Everything needs to be documented.
(There is never -nor has there ever been – any overtime pay for any of this!)
There are evening parent conferences for which teachers are grateful because it means the student has caring support.
School holidays are catch-up for lesson planning, test preparation, grading, et cetera.
(There’s more, but this is enough to provide a sampling.)
By the way, teachers teach for the love and empowerment of their students.

3.

It’s easy to write books and make a living from writing.
FACT: 95% of all writers make less than minimum wage from their writing.

4.

If you publish a book you’ll be rich.
Statistically, you’re more likely to win the lottery. I am one of the very few authors who makes a living writing novels, and it’s not a good living—I earn less than an average fast food worker.

5.

English professors are not all raging atheist Marxists.
Half of the people in my department go to church, and lean center-right.
Many of the social-justice-oriented or progressive students we teach already had such sympathies before coming to university. I can’t get my students to put away their smartphones in class; I certainly can’t dictate their political beliefs.

6.

Being a Science teacher does not mean that you know “everything” about Science. I would need at least 20 different college degrees.

7.

Construction. That it is an unskilled career, that is a gross misconception and a large number in the industry are very skilled, have spent several years in college, and many more experienced on site. They have to comply with regulations set down by the industry regulators and there are books of these and updated regularly.

8.

Restaurant Manager. That we will spit in or tamper with your food if you upset us.

9.

Computer science is not the same as IT. Programming is not (usually, in itself) computer science, and neither of these are IT. There’s obviously some overlap in competencies, but they are completely different fields.
Yes, strictly speaking, I can probably fix your computer in the same way that a mathematician can probably help you with your accounting, but it’s not my job, and there are professionals trained to do that.

10.

People will say, “Wow! What a beautiful photograph! What kind of camera do you use?” Totally discounting the skill and knowledge and talent it takes to be a good photographer.
To take consistently good photographs, you have to know how to compose a photo, finding just the right angles, whether it’s a portrait or a landscape or architecture, or whatever. You have to understand light and what a difference bright lights at different angles makes or what happens when the sky is overcast or the lighting is otherwise diffused. You have to understand how ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and focal length all work together (or against each other) to affect exposure.

11.

Linguistics is not about learning as many languages as humanly possible.
There are people who do that. We call them “polyglots.” Some people are both linguists and polyglots. However, most polyglots are not linguists, and most linguists are not polyglots.

12.

My expertise is in cognitive psychology, specifically memory. People typically believe that their memories are true representations of events that happened in their lives. This is largely false. Memories recalled from even recent events are not highly accurate in their details, and older memories are largely stories that are somewhat representative of a person’s understanding of events at the time, and very prone to mistakes of both fact and overall significance.

13.

That an electrician is an electrician, when there are so many different types of electricians. Just think, an auto electrician basically wouldn’t know where to start in robotics, or an HVAC unit, electronics, machine tool maintenance to name but a very few. Now I’m not putting any down, but each is conversant with their own particular field.

14.

As a 911 dispatcher, I can tell you that we can’t always track a cell phone. Many times we can, but not always, and it’s NOTHING like you see on TV or in movies. It depends on several factors and sometimes the ping only gets us to within a few hundred meters of your location, and if it doesn’t ping to what’s called Phase II, the only thing we know is which cell tower your phone is connected to.

15.

I used to be a very highly ranked competitive shooter. I held the highest ranking in several shooting sports and regularly won shooting matches. People assumed that because I was good with handguns and had a reasonably wide knowledge of them that it meant I knew “everything about guns.”

16.

I’m an English teacher and many people think if you are a native speaker and have a pulse you can become a teacher of English. In Japan, many are hired for their native skills rather than actual teaching ability. Most decent language teaching jobs require that you know about linguistics, grammar syntax as well as being able to explain and teach spelling and pronunciation.

17.

Anyone can write a product manual or user instructions, why is it a special profession?
There’s a lot more to this job than you think. Being able to put yourself in another person’s mindset and then write information and specific instructions for them is not an easy task. You have to try and think of every question someone might ask, and everything they might try to do, even though you have warned them that it may be detrimental to their well-being…to the point of potential death.

18.

Not all salespeople are pushy and self-absorbed. Some of us truly feel like we have something worthwhile to offer and love to help people solve real problems. I dislike the stereotypical used car salesperson as much as anyone, so make an effort to be respectful, inquisitive, and kind.

19.

I.T. That we know your password. “Can you tell me what my password is?” No, we can’t, we can’t see it either.
That we are application gurus. If your Excel works, you need to figure out how to insert the pivot table in lite green on the 2,891st line of the 3rd worksheet. We just make sure it works.

20.

Not me but my husband who is a geologist—most people have no clue what he does or even what a geologist is lol. He’s even been called a gynaecologist; now that one was interesting.

21.

That tenure is a job for life.
No. Tenure merely means you cannot be dismissed for teaching or researching something controversial, at least not without a hearing.
However, professors can (and frequently are) dismissed for failure or neglect to do their duties satisfactorily, for breach of contract, for unethical or unprofessional behavior, or simply because of the college’s financial exigency.

22.

That “Science is hard.”
Because it turns out that science is not hard. It’s REALLY HARD. At least the “hard sciences.” I took a couple classes in the “soft sciences,” but they were too hard for me.
And it just gets worse and worse. Or better and better, depending on your mindset.

23.

Two things:
1) That music theory is somehow a bad object, used by the (imaginary) gatekeepers of music to stop the “non-theory” people from gaining access to music. Debunk: music theory is just “how we talk about music” and we need it if we’re going to share it—and our opinions about it—in any meaningful way.
2) That you can be a successful musician without a lot of practice and hard work. Debunk: it may well be true that some people are just “born talented,” but that talent will not emerge without a lot of encouragement.

24.

I am an Assistant Librarian and it’s a myth we don’t let people talk in the Public Library.

25.

Information Technology Network Operations and Admin:
We cannot control the universe through a television remote—that one is literally from NCIS.

26.

Accounting is a boring and dull profession that involves crunching numbers all day long.
That’s what most people think when they hear the word “accountant.” But that’s far from the truth. Accounting is actually a very exciting and dynamic field that requires creativity, problem-solving, and communication skills. Accountants don’t just sit behind desks and stare at spreadsheets. They also interact with clients, analyze data, advise on business decisions, and help prevent fraud.

27.

Here are some common myths about the computer industry, which I have found not to be so:
1) “Modern technology is so complex that only nerds, children, and people without a life can understand it.”
2) “Life without cell phones and social media would be impossible.” (I live without either, and know other people who do so too.)
3) “If the tech guys say it can’t be done, then it can’t be done.” (When tech guys say that something can’t be done, what they really mean is: “I don’t want to do that” OR “I don’t know how to do that.”)

28.

When it comes to social media marketing, ignorant bosses think that once you make a post on social media, you’ll have millions of followers and make sales.
This is far from the truth. Social media is about brand awareness, not making sales. Going viral can be very hard to do! From running my personal Instagram, the lowest I got was 100 views on a video, while the highest was 20k.

29.

All cybersecurity people are hackers/penetration testers.
It is simply not true. I mean sometimes it helps, but most of the time you are basically a middleman that does auditing. My typical day is me going in, responding to tickets, and reading over vulnerability scans. It is a great career path if you realize that what you will be doing isn’t hacking all the time—unless you are an ethical hacker.

30.

My job is to monitor compliance with Ontario’s professional engineering laws and, where necessary, collect information for prosecution.
And the myth is that convictions and other legal proceedings are quick and relatively inexpensive. We should be able to bring lots of them at a reasonable cost.
Frankly, many of the offenses I help prosecute are little more than big traffic tickets. Seriously, the maximum fine for most offenses is the same as the fine for driving 50 km/h over the speed limit. Our discipline cases (which I don’t handle) fill boxes. My cases don’t strain the size of a standard legal-sized folder.