Jobs that Provide the Most Burnout

Are you looking for a new career? Research these six jobs that provide the most burnout before you settle on something. Quality of life and work/life balance is very important to your mental health and happiness.

What is Burnout?

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.

According to ThisIsCalmer.com:

Burnout can affect anyone, at any time in their lives. However, a recent study has shown that the average professional experiences burnout by the age of 32. As with any illness, symptoms of burnout change from person to person, however, there are five stages that are commonly observed:

  • Honeymoon Phase. When we undertake a new task, we often start by experiencing high job satisfaction, commitment, energy, and creativity.
  • The onset of Stress. An awareness of some days being more difficult than others.
  • Chronic stress. This is a marked change in your stress levels, going from motivation to experiencing stress on an incredibly frequent basis.
  • Burnout. Symptoms become critical. Continuing as normal is often not possible in this state as it becomes increasingly difficult to cope.
  • Habitual Burnout. The symptoms of burnout are so embedded in your life that you are likely to experience a significant ongoing mental, physical or emotional problem, as opposed to occasionally experiencing stress or burnout.

Related: Things to Watch Out for While Working Remotely

Jobs that Provide the Most Burnout

#1. Social Work – typically due to the nature of the cases that cause an emotionally stressful environment and social workers often experience secondary traumatic stress.

#2. Emergency Response – typically due to long hours, a constantly changing schedule,  and lack of sleep.

#3. Design – typically due to unrealistic expectations, changing priorities, and not being sure of expectations.

#4.Business development and sales – typically due to a really high percent of work conflict with personal time. Sales-related jobs also typically require a lot of travel.

#5. Retail – typically due to no upward mobility opportunities, being undervalued, and not being fairly compensated.

#6. Public Accounting and Law-typically due to high workloads and the difficult nature of the work.

Burnout can happen in any industry. The best way to avoid it is to really think about your ideal work environment and what you personally do to manage your stress. The second most important thing is to know as much about the work culture of a company you are interested in before accepting a job there.

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2 thoughts on “Jobs that Provide the Most Burnout”

  1. Hi Peter,
    Loved all that you have shared, this will really helpful and informative. i think social work and emergency response are the most burnout jobs.
    Career decision is a very important step in the life of every student, because the happiness of the individual, the satisfaction at work, the well-being, the optimistic thinking patterns, the balance between work and professional life are achieved through an appropriate professional decision. The individual can then engage in the task of his interest and align her/himself with their personality and abilities.

    Tucareers.com is one such research based career assessment which has been built on data from O*NET the largest and most comprehensive career database in the world. The test has its research findings and psychometric properties published in an international career journal and as part of a PhD thesis. Tucareers provides AI and machine learning based career assessments for students as well as working professionals to decide on suitable career paths and you can try the assessment for free. A toolbox of other career tests are available which be helpful for understanding oneself and self-development.
    Thanks for sharing.

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