Dream Job: Why Expectations Don't Match Reality

A dream job is usually imagined not as a position but as a state: doing what you love, respect, good money, the feeling that you're in the right place. You get there — and a few months later you find routine, reports, other people's expectations, and exhaustion. The disappointment can be very painful, because what collapses isn't the job but your image of yourself in it.

Where the image of a dream job comes from

The image is assembled piece by piece from childhood. The question "what do you want to be when you grow up," adults' stories about a "real profession," books and films where the hero does what they love and looks happy.