Here’s Why I Refused to Work in One of the Most Prestigious Jobs in the World

This is how I ended up with my dream-job(s).

I was sitting in my booth and staring at my screen when I suddenly couldn’t understand the speaker anymore.

Knowing that he was talking about dementia symptoms on an Alzheimer’s congress, the bad sound quality and strange noises made it impossible to understand the details. So I decided to do something no professional interpreter would ever do in this situation. I mumbled into the microphone:

“I can’t understand anything. I’m sorry.”

So I rushed out of my booth, crying and knowing that I have failed at least one of six of my final exams for my Master’s degree in Conference Interpreting. Afterward, the only thing my professor had to comment on my performance was:

“The video with bad sound quality was chosen deliberately. We have to know that you can work under pressure. We are sorry, but you’ll have to try again in three months.”

3 months later, I passed this examination part on the second try. I knew that I wouldn’t want to enter an interpreter’s booth ever again — even though I had studied six years to become an interpreter in an international organization like the EU, torturing myself with sleepless nights of generating glossaries and helpful notes for my exams and feeling bad every time I chose to read a german book or newspaper instead of improving my working languages.

According to the WHO, conference interpreting is the third most stressful job in the world behind being a fighter pilot or an air traffic controller. The job demands the utmost level of concentration as one has to listen, translate and talk at the same time while switching between the working languages constantly. That’s why simultaneous interpreting can only be executed for a maximum of 30 minutes in a row before your booth partner replaces you.

The life of conference interpreters, however, seems to be quite glamorous. They accept jobs in different countries, earn a nice sum of money when they do a good job, constantly improve their language skills, and always know exactly what’s going on in the world. Additionally, interpreters at international organizations work with the most powerful people worldwide and get current news first hand.

However, I decided to refuse to work in one of the most prestigious jobs to become a school teacher, yoga teacher, and writer.

Here’s why I made this decision after studying for 6 years and investing a high amount of time into my studies.

The job didn’t allow me to become the person I wanted to be.

Our society pushes us to become over-achievers but at what price?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m convinced that some aspiring conference interpreters absolutely fit into this job without having mental issues because of their stressful work.

However, during the last years, I realized that most people chose their jobs based on how much money they earn, how good their job title makes them look, or how secure their career seems.

Like many other people my age, I always strove for prestigious professions I didn’t want genuinely. Reasons like money, reputation, and power can keep up our will to achieve for a long time, or even a lifetime.

One summer, I worked as a translation-intern in a prestigious auditing company.

Honestly, I’m proud to say that I never had the feeling to fit in. I kept on feeling like Mike Ross on his first day at Pearson Hardman.

There was high social pressure among the whole team to dress up and squeeze into uncomfortable clothes for 12 hours. Bringing your own food was seen as weird, as it was an unspoken rule to eat in one of the restaurants nearby or the gourmet canteen in the basement. Additionally, there was a high rate of intrigues and talking behind each other’s back.

As I worked quite efficiently, I had achieved my daily goals after 6–8 hours every day. My boss was content with my performance and gave me positive feedback every time he evaluated my work. Still, it would have been impossible to leave the office before 8 p. m. According to my colleagues, it would have given the partners the wrong impression to leave before them.

One of the interns used to stay until 10 p.m, working 12–14 hours every day for the same poor numeration of $650 a month. The absurd truth was: I saw her texting on her phone every day for at least 3–4 hours. She had achieved her daily targets and wanted to make a good impression on the partners by leaving as late as possible.

And it worked. Her “diligence” was rewarded multiple times with comments like:

“Monica is very hard-working. She does a great job.”

“Yesterday, Monica didn’t leave the office until 10 p.m.”

“Monica, did you move into the office?”

I’m convinced that she did a great job and just wanted to have a chance to stay at the firm as a trainee. But at what price?

It was a great hot summer in Germany. All I wanted to do was meet my friends after work to go out, swim, or sit on my balcony reading a book. Can it truly be someone’s passion sitting in front of a computer in an office day-by-day, wearing uncomfortable clothes for 14 hours, and fill out Excel tables?

I cannot imagine that Monica’s efforts had something to do with personal fulfillment. She prioritized her career and wanted to become a consultant so badly that she ignored everything else that happened in her life. And I don’t think she’s the only one who acts that way.

With every career path:

• We chose a lifestyle (based on remuneration, working place, customs,…)
• We chose the people we work with (teachers, politicians, consultants,…)
• We chose values (humanity, security, wealth,…)

Monica wasn’t exactly the happiest person I’ve ever seen. Honestly, she seemed quite depressed and lonely. There’s maybe room for personal development in every job, but I’m convinced that many people chose their job for the wrong reasons and finally get lost in the world their career entails.

“Putting lifestyle first is how you find a job — not a calling.” (Paul Kalanithi)

Anyway, I knew that I didn’t have to work in an auditing company for the rest of my life, but I was convinced that this career path wouldn’t make me happy in the long term. I understood that I’d never find fulfillment in this job, so I decided to do something that would allow me to express myself and come into creative action.

My takeaways:

• I knew that I wanted a job where I could come into creative action.
• I realized that I was aiming for a career in which I had the possibility to express myself fully.
• I finally understood that it wasn’t enough to want a job because it sounds or looks good.

I didn’t want to sacrifice my happiness for my career.

Money, power, or prestige won’t make anyone happy in the long-term. And I don’t only speak from my personal experience. It’s a fact!

Harvard’s longest study has proved that human connection is the single most important factor to a happy life.

“Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, the study revealed. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. That finding proved true across the board among both the Harvard men and the inner-city participants.” Source: The Harvard Gazette. Good genes are nice, but joy is better.

After my internship, I felt the need to do something other than becoming a simultaneous interpreter. I knew that if I had pursued this career, my life would have taken place in the interpreter’s booth. Mostly, translators aren’t alone in the booth, but it’s not like they’d deal with many different people throughout the day.

And that wasn’t just who I was. I wanted to use my social and linguistic skills for something else that would give me the feeling to express myself and stay who I am.

My takeaways:

• I realized that I wanted to find ways to be in contact with people in my job.
• Also, I found out that I didn’t want to work in an interpreter’s booth the whole day. I love movement and being outside!

I knew that working under constant pressure would endanger my mental health.

During the last examination phase, my mental condition reinforced my wish to search for a job that gave my life meaning.

When my professor told me that they had to check if we could work under pressure, I was wondering: “Do I really want that? Am I willing to put my body and mind under constant stress for the rest of my life?”. The clear answer was “No.”

Somehow, it may be necessary to work under pressure in almost all careers, but I didn’t want stress to be my daily companion.

Also, I knew that I had to prove myself and my skills all over again for the next years or even decades. To become an interpreter in an international organization is a long and hard way, and only the best will make it. If you aren’t willing to improve your language and interpreting skills constantly, you will end up as a freelancer. As a freelance translator, the chances to gain enough money for the hard work you are doing aren’t exactly good.

My takeaways:

• I didn’t want to sacrifice my mental health for my career, as I knew that I’d be under constant pressure.
• Also, I didn’t want to challenge myself continually. I know that growth happens when we are out of our comfort zone. But I’m convinced that if we are forced to perform constantly, we can become unbalanced.

Final thoughts

During the last months of my studies, I got a job at an NGO that hires lateral entrants to teach at hotspot schools for two years. The decision to change my career path entirely was the best decision I’ve ever made.

I’m still teaching. Also, I completed my 200h yoga teacher training and set up my own online yoga business. Additionally, I started writing, and I’m aiming to evolve my career as a writer. In the next few years and months, I want to put more ideas and dreams into practice. I’m genuinely happy about the path I’ve taken!

At the end of your life, you won’t remember how hard you worked for a job you didn’t genuinely want.

Today I know that becoming who we are isn’t a linear process. We don’t have to feel forced to work in one job forever. If we feel the need for change, there are plenty of possibilities to create new career paths even if they don’t comply with what we thought we would do.

Be brave enough to change your life, career, and relationships if they no longer serve you.

At the end of your life, you won’t remember how hard you worked for a job you didn’t genuinely want.

You’ll remember the people you love, the time you spent creating new things, and the passion you put into becoming who you are.