# What's the most challenging job to keep? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 21, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862 "2012-06-21T17:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/21 "2012-06-27T20:40:13Z")
Non-union electricians. According to a friend of mine, when it comes to roughing out houses, the mantra is “Three a day or on your way”. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/22 "2012-06-27T20:40:24Z")
Show runner on any network TV series. They are prone to getting cancelled or replaced in the blink of an eye. In fact, [there was once a series that was cancelled before it even finished airing](http://movieline.com/2009/09/29/some-of-the-fastest-cancellations-in-television-history/2/). ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/23 "2012-06-27T20:50:05Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Show runner on any network TV series. They are prone to getting cancelled or replaced in the blink of an eye. In fact, [there was once a series that was cancelled before it even finished airing](http://movieline.com/2009/09/29/some-of-the-fastest-cancellations-in-television-history/2/). What is a “show runner”? ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/24 "2012-06-27T22:02:53Z")
I’ve got one for you - senior fundraiser for a major charity. Not the folks who stand on street corners hassling for your money, but the ones who look after major corporate and individual donors. Generally, the charitable sector doesn’t pay well, but competition for good fundraisers is stiff, so to have chance of recruiting you have to pay them well. Therefore because they are costing you more than 99% of their staff, you want a return on your investment pretty much straight away. If they’re not bringing in cash by your 6 month probation meeting, chances are they’re getting canned. Not that the successful ones stick around much longer - generally after a year or so they’ll move on to pastures new, for more money. It takes on average two years for a charity to make a profit from a senior fundraiser, especially as recruitment costs are usually also high, but the average length of service is a lot less than that. Jennyrosity, HR Manager for a major UK charity. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/25 "2012-06-27T23:23:49Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Al-Qaeda #2 lol… 😃 Leader of any democratic country is a pretty challenging job to keep. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/26 "2012-06-28T00:46:20Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > What is a “show runner”? [Showrunner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showrunner). > [@Wiki](#): > > Showrunner (alternatively, but not commonly, show runner) is a term of art originating in the United States television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television series—although such persons generally are credited as an executive producer[1] or supervising producer. (This should not be confused with runners, who are the most junior members of the production team, though sometimes showrunners are referred to as ‘runners’ in shorthand.) The term is also occasionally applied to people in the television industries of other countries. Unlike films, where directors are typically in creative control of a production, in episodic television the showrunner usually outranks the director.[2] Basically, the showrunner runs the show. Even though TV shows have directors for each episode, you could say the showrunner’s power/influence is much closer to that of the director on a movie set. Famous examples would include Vince Gilligan on _Breaking Bad_, David Benioff on _Game of Thrones_, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/27 "2012-06-28T20:35:53Z")
Typist for a highly educated charming quadraplegic. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/28 "2012-06-28T21:33:40Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Typist for a highly educated charming quadraplegic. Now now, Speech Plus has done wonders for Hawking. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/29 "2012-06-28T23:10:09Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > High pressure sales gigs where you’re paid only on commission, I’d think - I mean, I suppose you can keep _working_ if you’re not selling cars, but you’ll starve to death. You’re right in general about commission-only jobs. But car sales is notoriously low-security. It’s always “What have you done for me lately?” I’m including the sales managers in that group, by the way. Little security, lots of pressure, lots of ulcers. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/30 "2012-06-28T23:47:37Z")
Associate professorship (tenure) in a humanities department at a highly-competitive university. Five to seven years and you’re out, unless you’ve achieved publishing superstardom while managing to not piss off the tenured profs who vote on your tenure. I’ve always thought that car sales would be a difficult job to persist in (due to dependence on commissions and the requirement to be slimy to make a living and/or endure rude buyers who think you are slimy (even if you’re not). ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/31 "2012-06-29T00:22:16Z")
The vast majority of porn actresses do one video and then drop out of the industry. So that is a field with a pretty low retention rate. If you are looking for fields with a more socially acceptable title, I would think some high finance jobs can be pretty stressful since you are constantly under pressure to make your numbers each quarter. Also low paying service sector work, turnover can be 40-50% a year in those. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/32 "2012-06-29T01:41:07Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The vast majority of porn actresses do one video and then drop out of the industry. Really? The vast majority? Just ONE? Out of curiosity - have you worked a porn, or do you have a source for that? (besides being a consumer of it, naturally) Not trying to be a dick or anything, but I’m really curious if that’s actually true. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/33 "2012-06-29T02:28:45Z")
City managers tend to have short tenures. Firing comes with the territory, and many leave even when they might be in good standing, to fill the positions of others that were given the boot. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/34 "2012-06-29T02:32:25Z")
How about US House representative? They have to campaign for reelection _every two years_. Even senators get something of a break. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/35 "2012-06-29T02:46:24Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I’m specifically looking for jobs that are hard to keep even when the worker wants to stay. Basically, I’m talking about jobs where it is more common that a person who has already been hired is faced with _rational_ stress over getting fired or where an above-average number of workers who have already been hired are fired. E.g. a job/industry/company where 50 people are hired in September only for half of them to be “fired for poor performance” by December, even if they still want to stay, when it was the intent of the company to really only keep 25 by firing the lowest performers. In many jobs, it’s difficult to be fired for poor performance unless you do a really awful job - being mediocre or simply a below average producer simply means you will not get promoted (aka the Peter Principle). > > I suppose the commission-only salesperson might fit based on a different interpretation of the question. I’ve personally seen two low-rent jobs that are brutal in terms of survival. Call centers, whether they’re telemarketing or customer service typically have extremely high quotas for sales and/or call volume. You have to follow the script, and complete the call in X time. Pray that you don’t call someone who stutters - that person can blow your average for the whole day. When large retail stores open, they typically hire more staff than they’ll eventually need. After a month or so when the “new” wears off they cut staff to a more sustainable level. I’d estimate the odds of lasting more than a month at either job is probably less than 50% even if you don’t screw up. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/36 "2012-06-30T16:13:47Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Yes, this is more what I was looking for, basically a situation where making it through the interview is only the first step, for exampe a company treats the first six months leading up to the first performance appraisal as a second interview with the expectation that some significant portion of the new hires will be fired for poor performance, effectively meaning that they failed the six month “interview”, or otherwise hiring more people than they expect to keep indefinitely, waiting until after hiring to weed out lower performers that might otherwise have been weeded out during the “regular” interview process. The only job like that I can think of is a stockbroker like you see in the film Boiler Room. The company will typically hire a bunch of ‘trainees’ right out of school and pay them nothing for a few months until they pass the Series 7 exam. Then it’s basically sink or swim trying to sell their own accounts. I went on an interview at one of those places when I was right out of school. The guy said about half the people you see on the floor won’t be there in a 6-12 months. ---
**Author:** ![Animastryfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Animastryfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Animastryfe)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/37 "2012-07-29T04:48:41Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > Associate professorship (tenure) in a humanities department at a highly-competitive university. Five to seven years and you’re out, unless you’ve achieved publishing superstardom while managing to not piss off the tenured profs who vote on your tenure. > > I’ve always thought that car sales would be a difficult job to persist in (due to dependence on commissions and the requirement to be slimy to make a living and/or endure rude buyers who think you are slimy (even if you’re not). Did you mean assistant professorship? An associate professor already has tenure, at least in the US universities that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/38 "2012-07-29T04:51:38Z")
Moderate Republican politician ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/39 "2012-07-30T17:36:34Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Moderate Republican politician That is not a job. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862/40 "2012-07-30T18:10:55Z")
Failure rate for 9-1-1 trainees can be 75%. If you successfully complete training the job stress is extreme. Calls are reviewed regularly and anything less than perfect is criticize. Retention rates can be pretty low as a result. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-challenging-job-to-keep/625862.md?page=1)