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Free lunch netflix careers7/22/2023 ![]() "I definitely love what I do, remote field work, and the science that comes with it. It's organized misery in service of science. Small cuts and abrasions don't heal properly, your fingers crack and bleed daily, you are constantly getting frost nip, and no matter how many socks and feet warmers you wear, you toes never get warm. ![]() You are constantly cold, hungry, dirty, and exhausted. Everyone I tell immediately gets excited and says something like, 'That must be SO awesome! I would LOVE to do that!' But for this kind of work, the novelty and 'cool' factor wear off after a couple of days, and the remaining two to three months of the work is absolutely brutal. "I've spent nine seasons working in Antarctica, both as a graduate student and now full-time academic/researcher. It started taking my sanity and definitely led to copious amounts of drinking and shit."Ĩ. I was in the kitchen for years because I loved food and learning to cook new things all the time. Been out five years now started making more money and working less hours within a year. I walked away with nothing other than the knowledge I gained, and then had to reenter the workforce at the bottom at the age of 30. Most people get into it because they're passionate about it, and most bosses will take advantage of this. And many people descend into alcoholism or drug abuse to cope. The only people you will see regularly are your coworkers. Megalomaniac/incompetent management and owners. If you're okay with a long-term transient lifestyle and low pay, you'll probably do fine."ĥ. One coworker did the math and figured out we didn't make enough to afford enough food to replenish the expended energy each day.īut I don't want to discourage anyone who is interested in the field because it's very important work and so undervalued. Alcohol abuse was rampant and celebrated. I couldn't have a pet, friends, or SO outside work. But I only lasted so long due to living out of shitty hotel rooms and not making enough to afford a permanent apartment. I was fortunate that I worked on mostly interesting sites where we found quite a bit, and I got to spend time outdoors in some gorgeous landscapes. "Yep, I was a shovel-bum for several years in the Southwest US. In spite of all the bullshit, I still love being an archaeologist and don't really wanna do anything else for a living, but I can't universally recommend this job to everyone in good faith." There are no benefits, you have to constantly travel, there's very little stability, I could go on. It's often physically demanding (sometimes grueling), and the pay is shit. 99% of the time, you find absolutely nothing. "Archaeologist, specifically field archaeology. ![]() ![]() I guess it's good that it's her dream job, but no one can really prepare you for that kind of lifestyle."Ĥ. Luckily, she has a husband with a solid job who can take care of things during those off times, but it just seems super stressful. Plus, when the shoot's over, she's unemployed, and there's no monthly salary she can rely on. And she always has to go to these desolate locations, which can be dangerous. and gets back in the early hours of the next day, only to sleep for maybe three hours, and then she's back on set. When she's working locally, her hours are wild. She hasn't seen her husband in six months. "A friend of mine works as a special effects makeup artist and is currently on set in the middle of a desert. Oh, and when the film wraps, you're now unemployed." If this is an indie production, you also may have to beg for/chase down your pay at the end of each week. You arrive well before everyone else and leave after everyone else. Long, long hours for what seems like very, very slow progress on the picture, lots of standing around waiting, etc. The end result is you're working at such a pace that even when you do have a good story to work on, you don't have the time and resources to actually do it well."Ģ. No more photographers, editors, sub-editors, and web managers. "The thing that killed it as a career for me wasn't the low pay or the high stress it's the fact that lean budgets mean that you now do everything. The names high up on the mastheads are usually those of rich people, and it's because they started off rich and could afford to stay in the industry." "It's usually a pretty corporate environment where you're tasked with multiple jobs for little hope of advancement. How many television shows and movies must I watch where the plucky young upstart graduates from college and gets a job at the magazine or newspaper of their choice and is respected and can make a living? In reality, the pay sucks, and you're in constant danger of being laid off (when your pub folds, usually). ![]()
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