Jobs you cannot do, although would like?

[Thirteen]

On the other hand, having initially thought that being an MP would be a good idea, they aren't paid anywhere near enough to recompense the amount of work they have to do (if they are doing the job properly, that is) and they probably need an ulterior motive (king of the world) in order to take up the job in the first place. Having thought about this one a little, there's no way I'd want the job.

The MP pay isn't the issue for me, it's all the extra activities they have to do like visit schools, writing to the train operators or local transport authority, meeting people once a week, approving or opposing new developments and going back and forth to the House of Commons. It's not the cushy job that it's perceived to be.

 

[Cloud Strife]

The MP pay isn't the issue for me, it's all the extra activities they have to do like visit schools, writing to the train operators or local transport authority, meeting people once a week, approving or opposing new developments and going back and forth to the House of Commons.

It's the travel that really wears a lot of MPs down, especially those from further afield. A friend is an MSP, and she says that there's really an unbelievable amount of work to keep up with, even with assistants and other services. She also said that the party doesn't have set positions on many things discussed, so she relies on her assistants to prepare a substantial amount of notes, all of which she has to read in a short space of time.

She was criticised in her local rag for having a party activist drive her home from the train station, but she said that the reality of the matter was that she was using this time to read through the notes for the upcoming week along with grilling her assistant about what she needed to know.

 

[Thirteen]

It's the travel that really wears a lot of MPs down, especially those from further afield. A friend is an MSP, and she says that there's really an unbelievable amount of work to keep up with, even with assistants and other services. She also said that the party doesn't have set positions on many things discussed, so she relies on her assistants to prepare a substantial amount of notes, all of which she has to read in a short space of time.

She was criticised in her local rag for having a party activist drive her home from the train station, but she said that the reality of the matter was that she was using this time to read through the notes for the upcoming week along with grilling her assistant about what she needed to know.

Honestly when reading about the number of MPs standing down, I can understand why they did especially the younger ones who can make better pay and less stress elsewhere.

 

[maniacmartin]

I work in IT.
Other careers I've been interested in but not persued are highways engineer, travel vlogger, electrician and author.

This is mostly to do with the salary and job security in IT, and the fact it is where my skillset and experience is in.

 

[gg1]

The MP pay isn't the issue for me, it's all the extra activities they have to do like visit schools, writing to the train operators or local transport authority, meeting people once a week, approving or opposing new developments and going back and forth to the House of Commons. It's not the cushy job that it's perceived to be.

For me it's the intense media scrutiny that puts me off.

The same applies to anyone in the public eye really, I'd much rather be financially comfortable and anonymous than rich and famous.

 

[jfollows]

For me it's the intense media scrutiny that puts me off.

I think it's a completely necessary part of the job, people who tell us what to do and enact laws which compel us to do or not do certain things need to be scrutinised. I don't think it would put me off - the poor pay and the excessive amount of work would be more of a disincentive!

I last worked in the public sector, and a well meaning colleague advised me to be "careful" of the Freedom of Information Act. I asked why, and he said that I might get asked questions about what I'd done. Yes, I replied, but actually everything I do is paid for by the public through taxes and deserves to be questioned, I have no problem with it and indeed if I did have a problem it would be a good indicator that I was doing something wrong.

Same for MPs - be open and honest and you won't go wrong. Making mistakes is acceptable if they're genuine.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I work in IT.
Other careers I've been interested in but not persued are highways engineer, travel vlogger, electrician and author.

This is mostly to do with the salary and job security in IT, and the fact it is where my skillset and experience is in.

If you can do IT well, it's a job that makes a lot of sense. There's plenty of demand for it, you can do it from an office or from home, and unless you do production support there's hardly any out of hours work.

That's where I sit, pretty much. Many things I'd rather do but they'd not earn as much, be riskier etc.

 

[ASharpe]

For a while at Uni I was quite close to applying to be a submariner and think I would enjoy it if I had.

But 8-4 in an office pays me well and having young children has certainly changed my perspective on being away.

 

[al78]

Same for MPs - be open and honest and you won't go wrong. Making mistakes is acceptable if they're genuine.

I don't believe that. If you are in the public eye there is always someone out there waiting to stick the knife in given any flimsy excuse, espeecially when being open and honest means saying things some people don't want to hear.

 

[trebor79]

Same for MPs - be open and honest and you won't go wrong. Making mistakes is acceptable if they're genuine.

I disagree. We all have secrets and things we'd rather keep private.

I don't believe that. If you are in the public eye there is always someone out there waiting to stick the knife in given any flimsy excuse, espeecially when being open and honest means saying things some people don't want to hear.

Exactly. Look at all the fuss made.over MPs having affairs. Has zero impact on their ability to do their job. No other job would you have to resign because you'd been unfaithful.
Similarly with anything which is "legal but society views as immoral" MPs are going to face public opprobrium and be booted out/forced to resign if they get found out. Plenty of folk partake in these things every day, probably the same folk writing the headlines. Again, hardly anybody else would lose their job over such things.

 

[D6968]

I disagree. We all have secrets and things we'd rather keep private.

Exactly. Look at all the fuss made.over MPs having affairs. Has zero impact on their ability to do their job. No other job would you have to resign because you'd been unfaithful.
Similarly with anything which is "legal but society views as immoral" MPs are going to face public opprobrium and be booted out/forced to resign if they get found out. Plenty of folk partake in these things every day, probably the same folk writing the headlines. Again, hardly anybody else would lose their job over such things.

I think that the fuss over MPs having affairs has a fair bit of an ability to do their jobs, if someone’s not being 100% truthful in their vows to someone they’ve pledged to be honest and care for ever in their private life, how on earth can can you look them in the eye and believe what they’re saying is the truth in public?

 

[birchesgreen]

Well there is one easy way for an MP to not get into trouble for dodgy dealings or having an affair.

 

[trebor79]

I think that the fuss over MPs having affairs has a fair bit of an ability to do their jobs, if someone’s not being 100% truthful in their vows to someone they’ve pledged to be honest and care for ever in their private life, how on earth can can you look them in the eye and believe what they’re saying is the truth in public?

Because they are two completely different aspects of their life.
My sexual predilections and whether I'm "faithful" to my partner have zero impact upon my professional life and it's no different for an MP. And perhaps because what's said professionally is what they actually believe rather than heavily influenced by a social construct?
Not so long ago politicians used to have to hide or lie about their homosexuality, because social constructs didn't allow them to be open about it. Did that make them untrustworthy politicians?

 

[rapmastaj]

95% of jobs. As an autistic person I find it almost impossible to get through job interviews, unless either they already know me beforehand and know that I can do the job, or it's the kind of job that has multiple vacancies so the barrier to entry is much lower.

 

[Bletchleyite]

95% of jobs. As an autistic person I find it almost impossible to get through job interviews, unless either they already know me beforehand and know that I can do the job, or it's the kind of job that has multiple vacancies so the barrier to entry is much lower.

IT techie type jobs have a very high proportion of autistic people in the workforce, don't know if that is your skillset but it may be easier to get into!

 

[315801]

As I have been a musician since I was 8 years old ( 49 now ), I would have loved to have found a Queen tribute band just needing a bass guitarist to complete the line up.

As it is now, I am in the 4th year of my open university studies to do something far more dangerous, studying volcanoes, hence the picture of a lava lake.

 

[rapmastaj]

IT techie type jobs have a very high proportion of autistic people in the workforce, don't know if that is your skillset but it may be easier to get into!

Thanks for the advice I already do quite a techie job but tbh don't really enjoy it and am moving into something a bit different with more human contact.

 

[al78]

Because they are two completely different aspects of their life.
My sexual predilections and whether I'm "faithful" to my partner have zero impact upon my professional life and it's no different for an MP. And perhaps because what's said professionally is what they actually believe rather than heavily influenced by a social construct?
Not so long ago politicians used to have to hide or lie about their homosexuality, because social constructs didn't allow them to be open about it. Did that make them untrustworthy politicians?

They are two different aspects, one is driven by sexual desire which is powerful and can difficult to override with reason (although that is arguably one thing that distinguishes humans from other species), the other should be more objective. However, what links the two is trust and mental strength. It is debatable/questionable whether a demonstration of lacking in one aspect of life implies a higher than average probability of lacking in all analogous aspects of life. It is a little unfair if someone who makes a mistake is demonised throughout their life for X number of years. If you were on a date and found out they were single because they'd had an affair and got found out, would that influence your judgement of whether they would make a good partner?

 

[adc82140]

I'd love to be driving trains, but two things stop me. Firstly my uncorrected eyesight is I think too poor, and secondly the thought of being lineside, particularly in the vicinity of a conductor rail frightens he bejeezus out of me.

 

[trebor79]

f you were on a date and found out they were single because they'd had an affair and got found out, would that influence your judgement of whether they would make a good partner?

No.
I once went out with a girl who told me straight she had never been faithful to any of her boyfriends

 

[D6968]

No.
I once went out with a girl who told me straight she had never been faithful to any of her boyfriends

That would be a straight red flag for me, Don’t answer if you don’t want to but how did that one end?

 

[trebor79]

That would be a straight red flag for me, Don’t answer if you don’t want to but how did that one end?

Well I can't really go onto details on this forum as it wouldn't be family reading , but turned out we weren't suited as a couple but remained friends.
She was a good laugh and a bit daring and adventurous compared to me being fairly uptight in some ways at the time. Faithfulness isn't the be all and end all of a relationship, IMO. And if the other person basically tells you at the outset they don't intend or can't be faithful, then you go in with your eyes wide open.

 

[Sorcerer]

Because they are two completely different aspects of their life.
My sexual predilections and whether I'm "faithful" to my partner have zero impact upon my professional life and it's no different for an MP. And perhaps because what's said professionally is what they actually believe rather than heavily influenced by a social construct?

No.
I once went out with a girl who told me straight she had never been faithful to any of her boyfriends

Why would someone whose admitted to never being faithful to her boyfriends not influence your judgement on whether or not they'd be a good partner? In relation to the original subject of politicians and MPs you might argue that how they behave in their relationships won't necessarily reflect how they would do the job of an MP, but truth be told if they cannot be faithful to arguably the most important person in their life how can we expect to trust them to represent us as potential voters? Unfaithfulness shows that someone is seriously lacking in decent moral character, and I would certainly not want someone like that to be serving my interests in Parliament.

 

[D6968]

Well I can't really go onto details on this forum as it wouldn't be family reading , but turned out we weren't suited as a couple but remained friends.
She was a good laugh and a bit daring and adventurous compared to me being fairly uptight in some ways at the time. Faithfulness isn't the be all and end all of a relationship, IMO. And if the other person basically tells you at the outset they don't intend or can't be faithful, then you go in with your eyes wide open.

That’s fair enough, if it worked for you then it worked, hey ho

 

[Ladder23]

A different era of course but being station master of a sleepy branch line station between the wars.

I can vouch for this also, dim lit lamps, stove, lovely

 

[trebor79]

Why would someone whose admitted to never being faithful to her boyfriends not influence your judgement on whether or not they'd be a good partner? In relation to the original subject of politicians and MPs you might argue that how they behave in their relationships won't necessarily reflect how they would do the job of an MP, but truth be told if they cannot be faithful to arguably the most important person in their life how can we expect to trust them to represent us as potential voters? Unfaithfulness shows that someone is seriously lacking in decent moral character, and I would certainly not want someone like that to be serving my interests in Parliament.

Because at the time I wasn't looking for a lifelong partner.
I just don't think an MPs sexualities proclivities are at all relevant. Not so long ago it would have been normal for people to say "I don't want a closet homosexual as my MP, you can't trust them sorts", a laughable notion now. Maybe in a couple of decades we will be having a conversation and missing how strange it was that people used to expect MPs to resign if they weren't caught having an affair.
I couldn't care less whether my MP is straight, gay, married, single or shags around. It has absolutely zero impact on how they do their job.

 

[Sorcerer]

I just don't think an MPs sexualities proclivities are at all relevant. Not so long ago it would have been normal for people to say "I don't want a closet homosexual as my MP, you can't trust them sorts", a laughable notion now. Maybe in a couple of decades we will be having a conversation and missing how strange it was that people used to expect MPs to resign if they weren't caught having an affair.
I couldn't care less whether my MP is straight, gay, married, single or shags around. It has absolutely zero impact on how they do their job.

The two things you have mentioned are not in any way comparable in this instance, but to go into further detail would risk derailing the thread from it's intended purpose, so for now I shall not continue this here any further.

As for another job I would love to do but can't, I wouldn't quite mind being a firefighter. I'm not sure this strictly counts though because I could become one, but I do not yet have a license and so am disqualified at this moment in time.

 

[Phil56]

For me it's the intense media scrutiny that puts me off.

The same applies to anyone in the public eye really, I'd much rather be financially comfortable and anonymous than rich and famous.

Tim Farron is a fine constituency MP and could have been a good libdem leader, but the media pounced on him being a practising Christian and he ended up resigning as party leader because of it.

 

[THC]

I work in local government but in another life I'd have been a professional footballer for Celtic and the Republic of Ireland. Roy Keane walking out at Saipan in the 2002 World Cup wouldn't have mattered as I'd have scored the winning penalty against Spain in the round of 16, then we'd have gone onto beat South Korea and then Germany before facing Brazil in the final... one can but dream

THC

 

[AlterEgo]

Tim Farron is a fine constituency MP and could have been a good libdem leader, but the media pounced on him being a practising Christian and he ended up resigning as party leader because of it.

Yes, the media pounced and the party turned on him, despite Farron never having allowed his religious convictions to affect his voting record. Farron abstained in key theological clash votes in the Commons, proving himself a true liberal (“I do not agree with this but see no reason I should actively block it”), unlike the party membership.