Like most millennials, I grew up hearing career advice along the lines of, “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” It sounded lovely. I mean, we spend 40+ hours a week working. Shouldn’t we want to do work that lights us up, work that doesn’t exactly feel like, well, work? This advice stuck with me. I come from a South Asian immigrant family (yes, my dad is a doctor), and as the stereotypes suggest, “find a practical, high-paying job in a stable industry” was the career advice I received at home. Ultimately, the “find your passion” ethos won out for me. So, I decided to pursue a career in magazine journalism. When the economy tanked in 2008, magazines started to shrink (or fold), and jobs began to disappear, I made a subtle pivot into digital journalism. That’s where I’ve been throughout my career.
Not everyone will equate passion with creative work, of course. There are people out there who find passion in traditionally “safe” industries like medicine, law, or business. But for many people, going into a field like media, fashion, entertainment, philanthropy, or even education feels like the “passionate” choice. The unfortunate reality of all those industries, though? They tend to be unstable, underpaid, or both. Now that I’ve experienced life in a “fun” and “exciting” industry, I don’t know if I’d recommend this path to people coming up behind me, especially young women (and fellow women of color in particular).
Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I’ve interviewed celebrities, written for every magazine I grew up reading, and I feel creatively fulfilled every day. But I’ve also been chronically underpaid. I’ve faced layoffs, intense competition, and workplace anxiety. And I don’t know what the state of my industry will look like in the future. That’s why, when I saw a report indicating that members of Gen Z are reviving jobs deemed “boring,” I found myself thinking, “You know what? Good for them.”
Which “boring” jobs are being revived by Gen-Z?
No offense at all to the accountants in the room, but when I saw a headline indicating that Gen Z is reviving “boring” jobs, my head went straight to accounting. Sure enough, that’s the job Gen-Zers are eyeing the most. According to a Fortune report, they are clocking this career path for its six-figure salary potential, and the fact that many Boomers are set to retire from their accounting jobs means there’s a lot of opportunity to fill those vacant roles. As the Fortune article points out, the tax system is more complicated than it ever has been, which means we need people who truly understand this world to guide others. In light of that, accounting feels like a pretty recession-proof career path.
“Doing work you’re passionate about is nice, but doing work that pays the bills is essential.”
It’s not just accounting that’s getting attention from younger professionals, though. In fact, some aren’t desk jobs at all. Many members of Gen Z are clocking the stability of trade jobs (think: electricians, dental hygenists, and plumbers). And listen, plumbing isn’t sexy, but it is stable and lucrative, and it allows people to avoid going into debt to put themselves through college. According to a report from Forbes, we’re in a “white collar hiring freeze”, with employers slow to hire and employees reluctant to quit their corporate jobs. So if you feel like you’re suddenly surrounded by college grads who are scrambling to find work, it’s not just in your imagination. Trade jobs, on the other hand, feel within reach for many young people, even those without degrees or padded resumés.
Why are Gen-Zers choosing “boring” jobs?
We live in a changing world, and that means the job market has evolved, and will continue to evolve. With AI on the rise, for example, some industries will shrink, while others will grow. It feels impossible to predict how it’ll all unfold. What’s certain, though, is that life is expensive right now. Groceries, rent, home prices—everything feels inaccessible. While millennials may have taken a more idealistic approach, Gen Z appears to be embracing this idea: Doing work you’re passionate about is nice, but doing work that pays the bills is essential.
Expert advice has shifted too. I no longer see Instagram graphics encouraging recent grads to “find a job they love”. Instead, I see takes like this one from Vivian Tu (@your.rich.bff), who advised young people to “pick up a hammer” rather than “a laptop” in a reel offering up advice highlighting the rising demand (and high earning potential) of trade work. Young people deserve this type of specific, forward-thinking advice before choosing their line of work. And while I’m not a finance expert like Tu, I can pull back the curtain just a little bit on what it’s like to work a “cool” job in a “glamorous” industry.
What its like to choose a job you’re passionate about
I graduated from the best journalism school in the world with my masters in 2012. Most of my classmates spent months (in some cases up to a year) seeking their first jobs in the journalism industry. Many have since made career pivots, and many more have faced multiple layoffs. I think the vast majority of us (myself included) would report that we love what we do, but we wish it came with much better job security, pay, and stability.
Today, as a freelance journalist, I truly enjoy my work. I love that I make a living as a writer, that I have lots of flexibility, and that I get to write about things I’m really interested in (like Taylor Swift and reality TV). But while there are a lot of good, exciting things about it, there are also a lot of negatives. For example: How discouraging it is when thousands of people apply for the jobs you’re eyeing (it turns out, exciting jobs excite a lot of people!). With that level of competition, it can feel like every job application you send is thrown into a black hole. And then when you actually land a job, you may feel like you’re always dodging a layoff. Publications are constantly folding or downsizing. This isn’t unique to media: My friends in fashion, entertainment, and even tech report similar sentiments.
“I think it’s healthier to view work as a thing you do for a certain number of hours per week, a thing that enables you to live a certain lifestyle, rather than the thing you hang your identity and self-worth upon.”
The uncertainty and constant competition can be rough on your mental health. When I was really struggling with workplace anxiety during my time as a staff editor, I’d wake up most days with a sense of dread, wondering if I was on the verge of being laid off. During that time, my therapist spoke to me a lot about how hard these creative, exciting industries tend to be on people’s mental health.
When you talk to people in more stable fields, you start to get a sense of how different their experiences can be. Once, I was chatting with a friend who is a physical therapist. She told me she’s only applied to two jobs in her life and has gotten offers for both. Like…what is that like?!? She also shared that she’s never worried about losing her job. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same. While I technically can’t be laid off or fired from my job as a self-employed journalist, it’s incredibly discouraging to see talented, brilliant people I’ve worked with along the way lose their jobs. Not to mention, before I became a freelancer, I faced more than one layoff myself.
So, should you choose a “boring” job over one you’re passionate about?
It’s complicated. I love my career. However, if I didn’t have a spouse who works in a much more stable, lucrative field, I think I would have probably switched fields years ago. Because I don’t have the stress of having to keep the lights on or put food on the table for my family, the pros still outweigh the cons for me. With that said, the adages that many of us grew up hearing, like “if you don’t wake up excited to go to work on a Monday morning, find a new job,” do make us feel like there’s one way to do things, but there’s not. The reality is this: That’s a bit of a privileged take—most people are working for survival, not for personal fulfillment.
“When you don’t tie your passion to the need to support your lifestyle, it has a better shot of remaining…well, your passion.”
I think it’s healthier to view work as a thing you do for a certain number of hours per week, a thing that enables you to live a certain lifestyle, rather than the thing you hang your identity and self-worth upon. Separating passion from your paycheck makes it much easier to compartmentalize and set healthy boundaries around work. Often when you turn the thing you’re passionate about into a job, it bleeds into all parts of your life—sometimes, it even takes the joy out of doing the work.
The bottom line? There’s no right or wrong approach here, but I do think there’s a a case to be made for choosing the “stable, boring” jobs. Because let’s face it: Work is something we do. It isn’t who we are. There’s more and more evidence to suggest that Gen Z is embracing “career minimalism.” According to a Glassdoor report, this means they’re opting for jobs they don’t necessarily love, and using those jobs for stability while pursuing passion projects on the side. In this job market and economy, that feels really smart to me. When you don’t tie your passion to the need to support your lifestyle, it has a better shot of remaining… well, your passion.
Zara Hanawalt, Contributing Writer
Zara Hanawalt is a freelance journalist and mom of two. She specializes in writing feminist, woman-centric content on motherhood, women’s health, work, entertainment, and lifestyle. She has written for outlets like Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Shape, Parents, and more. In her free time, she enjoys travel, cooking, reading, and a good reality romance show.
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