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Are you stuck in a job you hate?

Are you stuck in a job you hate?

The rise of videogame jobs and how to escape them

Giammarco Pacifico
September 04, 2024

The more people I speak with about their careers, the more I realize how common it is to hate your job.

Even people who look content and fulfilled from the outside are secretly planning a job change or a career pivot into a different field.

I don’t know if this is a recent phenomenon or something that’s always been there but I’m glad nowadays it’s somewhat accepted to discuss and deal with it.

What’s undeniable is that a lot of people end up in a dead-end job they want to run from. I’m talking about smart, motivated and ambitious people who have masters and PhDs and who by all metrics should find exciting job opportunities.

If that’s you, I hope this article helps you get a bit of clarity on something more common than you think.

There are a lot of situations that bring people to this situation but my favourite is videogame jobs.

A videogame job is the perfect bait for high-achievers and over-ambitious people. After excelling in school and university, they decide to step into a role with similar conditions: a clearly laid-out path filled with quests and rewards to advance in the game.

There is no end to a videogame job with tasks and milestones carefully planned to get the max out of each player while keeping them from leaving the game.

I’m not saying there is an evil mastermind behind the creation of these jobs.

In the end, companies evolve to the optimal state to get the desired outcome and this gamification proved to be the best way to get the smartest people to give everything they have to the company, with a few people at the top ripping the benefits.

There couldn’t be something more alienating than living like this and after a while, maybe months or perhaps years, ambitious people realize that they are playing someone else’s game and start to hate their jobs.

Before getting into how to escape a job you hate, let’s look at why you got there.

How do you get stuck in a job you hate?

#1 Choosing the safe option

There is nothing bad with aiming at financial stability but most jobs that offer this kind of security are “good enough” at best. Over time, you convince yourself that the role is not that bad, the paycheck is good and you start repeating that you should be grateful for what you have, instead of wanting more.

#2 Sunk cost fallacy

This is a bias everyone has: investing more time into a role or career you don't like simply because you’ve already spent so many years to get where you are.

If you think about the time, energy and money that went into such a path, you’ll realize they are not lost. Instead, skills are transferrable and those investments are gone anyway while doubling down in the wrong direction will only worsen things.

#3 Ignoring red flags

Adapting to a new role takes time and often it’s not the smoothest ride but this is not about that.

It’s about ignoring signs of a toxic workplace, lack of growth opportunities or misalignment with the culture. Instead of hoping things get better, things remain the same and time goes by without any positive changes.

#4 Being complacent

Getting too comfortable with the status quo, especially within a role that does not challenge you makes your skills rusty and less adaptable to the job market.

In other words, we slowly become less valuable to new potential employees, not to mention the huge loss in confidence in ourselves we get as a result of personal and professional stagnation.

#5 Fear of change and uncertainty

This is quite straightforward but easier said than done. While these fears are part of human nature, growth only happens with change.

Here are a few tips to better deal with career uncertainty.

#6 Golden handcuff

The same benefits and rewards that initially attracted you to this job now keep you tied to a job that makes you unhappy.

As game designers have mastered their skills, these perks vary a lot: from high salaries, big bonuses and stock compensations to travel allowances, awards and other things designed to retain top talent.

All of this can quickly turn into a trap and as your lifestyle becomes more dependent on this income, the trap becomes exponentially more dangerous.

How can you avoid a job you’ll hate?

#1 Learning on your own

Find something you are interested in and dive into it.

Don’t stop at the superficial stuff but spend time getting your hands dirty. It will take time, maybe hundreds or even thousands of hours but it’s the only proven way to become good at something.

#2 Putting a leash on external validation

Family, colleagues and society play a huge role when choosing a career, whether directly or subtly.

The obvious solution you’ve probably heard too often is making decisions that align with your true self, which sounds as good as unpractical.

How do you find your true self? How do you get clarity on your direction?

The truth is that this is a lifelong journey and if you hope for an Eureka moment that will make everything clear, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

A good place to start is to think about how you’ve made decisions in the past, what led you there and how you felt as a result.

Here is an article on how to make better career decisions.

#3 Setting career goals

Many people take the first decent job available which might sound like a flexible and resilient strategy, especially in these changing times. In reality, you’ll almost always end up drifting from job to job without direction, feeling trapped into jobs that are not aligned with your long-term goals.

Ask yourself: what is your ultimate career goal or direction? What are your professional goals for the next 5-10 years?

Exploring these questions is the only way to know where you’re going and decide how to get there.

If you’re looking for a way to discover your natural attitudes before deciding which goals to go after, check this out.

If you enjoyed this issue, share it with someone who is stuck in a job they hate.

This week's top scientific reads

Socio-genomics: behaviours of people around us change our genes (American Journal of Psychiatry)
Academic freedom leads to more innovation (PLOS One)
The genetic underlying of myocardial ruptures (Nature)
Graph Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (Annual Reviews)
The first lung cancer vaccine trials launched across 7 countries (The Guardian)

Latest European funding rounds in health & bio

Amferia raised €1.2M for its antimicrobial healthcare solutions 🇸🇪
Thryve raised €4M for a B2B health data integration and analytics platform 🇩🇪
Mestag Therapeutics received a €1.8M grant from Innovate UK to develop new treatments using fibroblast-immune interactions 🇬🇧
Tiimo raised €4.3M for a visual planning app for people with ADHD and autism 🇩🇰
Nordic SeaFarm raised €2.1M to grow seaweed sustainably 🇸🇪