Have you ever found yourself peeking out the window on a slow workday, daydreaming about a future where you feel truly fulfilled and excited about your career aspirations? Or stared at your phone, feeling a tiny pang of envy as you see family members and former classmates on social media thriving in their dream careers, maybe in some faraway country? Trust us, it’s an almost universal experience at some point. The question “What’s your dream job?” has the power to evoke a whirlwind of emotions — hope, uncertainty, excitement, or even a sense of melancholy about all the what-ifs and might-have-beens.
We understand the yearning to find that perfect career — the one that not only pays the bills but also fills your heart with joy and a sense of purpose. That’s why, here at Bored Panda, we’ve decided to take a break from our usual adorable animal content and embark on a mission to explore dream jobs. More specifically, what people revealed to be their dream job, no matter how crazy or unrealistic it may be!
We Pandas know a thing or two about dreaming big (and napping even bigger), after all. So, we’ve scoured our favorite bamboo forest, aka the internet, to bring you some epic, inspiring, and honest responses to the ever-daunting question, “What’s your dream job?” You’ll find dream career stories told by people from all walks of life — some heroes who achieved their childhood dream, others who are still chasing it, the ones who gave up and found another purpose, and a few who shared some unique jobs that we’re not even sure exist. This is our dream jobs list, and we can’t wait to hear your personal story of searching for what makes your heart sing!
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Xaraxa wrote:
"Park ranger would be cool. Nature cops are bad*ss."
Commenter No. 2 replied:
"I have a dormmate from college who became a state trooper and did that for a few years, then transferred and became a conservation officer. He seems to enjoy what he does. He drives around a big state-issued truck and sometimes a boat. Spends all day in nature. I'm sure that like any law enforcement job it can be high stress at times.
He was in the news a few years ago for being part of busting a poaching ring."
"This is going to be really specific but I've always wanted to be a caretaker at a red panda conservation facility."
"Forever student.
I would start with all the fields I couldn't study because I would not have a decent living with them:
Astrophysics, mathematics, Paleonthology, history, exobiology... So many cool stuff to learn!"
Lol this would be my nightmare. I was always really good in school but I didn't enjoy it. I was always very bored. I guess you can say we're all 'forever students' in a way, and I wouldn't mind just going to interesting lectures all day. I'd love to be a professional Ted Talk reviewer, lol. They're always interesting and fun and there are no exams at the end.
Commenter No. 1 wrote:
"I'd start keeping bees. I hear it's a very risky business now because populations keep plunging, but it'd be a nice way to preserve part of the ecosystem. Also honey."
hyenamagic replied:
"As a business it may bee risky but if you’re interested in beekeeping look up a local apiary group and your local zoning laws! There are tons of hobby beekeepers! The starting investment isn’t super high compared to some other hobbies, and bees are fairly low maintenance. If you’re not in a place where you can install your own hive, there might very well bee a group you can volunteer with (and get some honey out of). Save the bees!"
In the US, it's not the honey bees, it's the native bees that are at risk. Native bees are best at pollinating native plants, orchards, etc. So, make mason and carpenter bee houses and put them all over - you don't need any permits because they're for wild animals - not domesticated. And plant plenty of native pollinator plants. That said, honey bees can be a fun to maddening hobby - like a fish tank. Start with a top bar hive as you can build one for under $20(US) They're small enough and light enough to give you a good introduction to bee keeping without breaking the bank or your back. The difference between fresh honey and honey from the store is night and day. And having a never ending supply of wax for kitchen utensils and cutting boards doesn't suck either.
"My job is repairing cars and trucks for a big name manufacturer. If money wasn't a problem, I'd start a non profit and volunteer to repair the vehicles for those in need. Are you the single provider for your household and need repairs so you can get to work? I'd love to help. I know sh*tty things happen at sh*tty times. That would be my dream if money wasn't an issue."
That is a wonderful dream! I know that there are bicycle repair places that run non-for profit programs, so there should be car mechanics who do the same.
"I'd love to run a bookshop."
But,all the small/ indie bookstores have been run out by the BN in my hometown.
"Coral reef restoration."
"Mad scientist. I wanna engineer tissues for things like organ transplantation and improved cancer treatment. Giant robot can come later, but I married an ME, so that’s on track.
I’m applying for my PhD. Wish me luck, I’m terrified."
"Taking care of pandas or sloths."
"Honestly I'd love to just be like a free-range do-whatever-you-want inventor. Like to just have an engineering lab and getting funding from the government or private investors to just make whatever I come up with and bring all these ideas I have to life on my own schedule would be great."
"Wind farmer. I love wind turbines; would love to know how to do maintenance on them and then just spend my days driving around the country servicing wind turbines."
My state government is giving grants to people who move into the field of renewables, yet people say there are no jobs if you move out of coal production areas
"Full time crafting."
It's the life. I'm about to start rebuilding an 1879 rocker/glider and will get to learn how to upholster now. I rescued it out of an old house that was going to be torn down just because it looked like it had potential. Got it into my shop and it's solid walnut with walnut veneer accents that will have to be replaced. I've already had 3 customers tell me they're interested in buying it when it's complete.
PunkZillah wrote:
"I want to be a death doula."
JimmyFett replied:
"I thought I was the only one. My wife says nobody would want this but I've spent the last 16 years in the hospital watching people having their dream of a "good death" smashed. There is a need.
It's sad that we cleanse death from civilization to the point that people don't recognize the eventuality of it."
My mum did a bit of this when she was doing pastoral care at a hospital. One of her patients had cancer and my mum even officiated her wedding a couple of weeks before she died. She was able to help her leave the world the way she wanted.
"Snowplow driver for a small rural township. Just wanna get up at the crack of 1am with a thermos of coffee, hop in a truck with some music and plow the roads."
I haven't had much experience with snow but I did visit Canada in winter once. When I was on Prince Edward Island the day after heavy snowfall I was picked up by a taxi driver who said "you know you are in Canada when the snow plough doesn't clear the main street until after they have ensured there is access to Tim Hortens".
"A few years ago I would have said doctor. Now I am a doctor so if I had to pick another dream job I’m going wizard this time."
"Retirement. Just retire and work around my cabin in the woods. Cutting trees, splitting logs, cleaning, hunting, fishing.
Soon. Really soon."
"Water slide tester, I fear no slide."
"**Apparently you get paid around $70k per year."
HCgamer4Life wrote:
"Getting paid to do absolutely nothing. I'd love to wake up every morning and see 10,000$ has been deposited into my bank account. Ah, the dream."
am0x replied:
"I like working, but working on what I want to work on.
Even if I had this, I would still have a job of some sort, even if it is a failing Twitch streamer."
"I would be a storm chaser. Particularly, a storm chasing photographer."
monty2 wrote:
"Redevelop historic buildings in urban areas in a way that respects their unique features and history and also equips them to improve the surrounding urban fabric."
waitthissucks replied:
"Hey I'm a city planner and this is was historic preservation planners do. Make it so!"
"Wandering dude that parents tell their kids to avoid but they don’t listen and so he guides them in saving their town from an ancient evil with awesome kung fu lessons and occasionally wise yet comedic banter. He also can fly with his beard like ice king."
"At some point, I wanted to be a writer. Wandering places and writing about people, culture, history and experiencing them first-hand. Didn't get to be one. Now I wish to retire to a quiet forest life. Where it snows and I have a place to view nature. Where I cut wood to heat the place up and make tea. Where I could read, farm and hunt."
GamingBeluga wrote:
"Either a helicopter pilot, an F1 driver, or an F1 pit crew."
cannedrex2406 replied:
"I wanna be an F1 Engineer!
So far, I'm on my way to the goal by nearly finishing my degree in mechanical engineering and now I'm applying to graduate schemes at McLaren, Williams and some smaller supplier teams!
I've spent 6 years preparing for this sh*t so it better be worth it dammit!"
"Running a combo of a winery, brewery and coffeeshop at a beautiful location with easy hiking trails and fire pits outside, plus a built-in movie theatre with laying around room and a room for playing board games, pool, skiball, some arcade games, etc. Also, dogs are allowed and encouraged. There'd be snacks sold and some vendors could have trucks outside."
"Trick question, I do not dream of labour."
"Real answer, cat cafe proprietor. We would rescue cats off the streets and pull them from overcrowded shelters and let them live happily in the cafe where they'd get lots of pets and have lots of windows to sit in and also you could adopt them if you wanted to."
I try to visit a cat cafe in every city I visit if it has one. The first one I ever visited, I found when I got lost in Budapest, Hungary. Everyone is so happy in a cat cafe. Do it!!
"I've always been into cocktails. I always wanted to be them fancy bartenders flipping glasses and making cocktails, martinis and more. Would love to be a bartender for a big fancy wedding for someone famous. Play with fire and all of that. Something about it seems so fascinating to me"
Not too hard to get a Responsible Service of Alcohol licence and make the dream a reality. If the cost of cocktails is anything to go by, not a bad wage either.
"Author, but successful enough to be like George RR Martin, where you get so much from royalties that you don't actually have to write much anymore."
And maybe, you can come up with something original for the Hollywood movie people to get ahold of. So tired of remakes, sequels. Well,some of the remakes,and sequels.
"Stay at home dad without kids."
ILAND3R wrote:
"Professional sleeper."
dee615 replied:
"Maybe you could be the caretaker of an old building in a remote safe location, a place that only needs a warm body to occupy the building and notify owners in case of serious structural damage."
"Movie director."
Direct, act some of everything. I've done some local theater. Love to act.
"Celebrity chef… kinda like Anthony Bourdain where you get to travel the world just tasting all kinds of food. Or just someone who develops recipes for a TV show or cookbook.
I would not want to be the type of chef that works in a restaurant."
"Mountain guide and wilderness SAR. I'm pretty much doing my dream job."
"Pastry chef. I want to own my own little shop that can hold like 10 ppl. But I want it to be pastries that aren't common or have unusual good flavours. I've thought about it so much that I have a name and a logo in mind."
platoniclesbiandate wrote:
"Luxury travel critic."
bmeireles85 replied:
"Would it include food too?"
butthemsharksdoe added:
"If you dream it to, yes."
"Host on Top Gear. The original British one, not the new British one or the American one."
How are you at assaulting Production Assistants if there's no warm food?
"Depends on what dream I’m in. Sometimes I run a little shop, sometimes I’m a crime fighter. Last night, it was strictly about survival."
KittenMaster9 wrote:
"Video game designer or play tester as the first thing I do even when not trying is break games as soon as I start playing."
ChaoticArsonist replied:
"It's a fun job until you realize the full scope of what it entails. I was once assigned a crappy movie tie-in game that could be completed in about 10 minutes. I was expected to play this for 8 hours to find any bugs. It was rough. It was more like three identical 3-minute races, followed by a trailer for the movie. The trailer was the best part."
"A voice actor in video games."
There's freelance work for voice actors out there. I know a guy who got a job providing a voice for a mobile phone game.
"Owning my own used video game store selling only games that come from the PS2/Xbox era or earlier.
Coffee and snacks available with a retro arcade in the back."
"It'll probably sound boring to most, but being a mortgage Underwriter sure feels like a dream job to me.
Stimulates my mind every day, comes with a level of prestige that gives me a sense of pride/self-worth, and I am off by 5 every day with 10 paid holidays a year. Tons of autonomy and flexibility to take care of family business and appointments during the day without being treated like I'm not a team player. I couldn't ask for a more satisfying career."
"Indie Game Development. Always been interested and now I'm trying as early on as possible to succeed. Even if that doesn't work, I got a backup in software engineering so I'm not too scared, but still, I really hope it works out."
"Architect."
I have a relative who was studying to be an architect! Then he fell in with the drama club at his university, and ended up writing for TV instead. He created at least two different shows - "Mother and Son" and "Grassroots".
"A small video game museum. Just cool stuff from gaming history and legendary high scores. I’d love to just tell stories about gaming past."
"A candle maker. Picking out the vessel, mixing scents, pouring the wax— it’s just so calming to me. Now if I HAD to sell a thousand candles to pay my mortgage, it probably wouldn’t have the same vibe."
"Being an 8th-grade teacher. Fortunately, I have my dream job. Working with young adults is so much better than working with adult adults."
menino_muzungo wrote:
"Firefighter."
Commenter No. 2 replied:
"The job is great. Wouldn't change it for anything. The only thing you have to prepare for is long work days ( mine is 24 hours on, then 72 off ). I'm sure it varies by location. Some days are slow, and some are non-stop, but it's honestly the best job in the world. I wish you the best of luck, you got this!"
loztriforce wrote:
"Nintendo Game Counselor in the 90’s."
am0x replied:
"You would want to talk to 8 year kids on the phone all day?"
loztriforce added:
"I mean, while I never called into the hotline (*cough* never needed to), I can't imagine it was anything like tech support. Young kids who are really excited to know where to bomb on the map or how to kill the final boss? Sure! I'm not into kids and will never have one but I think it'd be kinda fun. Maybe the only reason I think it'd be fun is because I don't have kids."
"Probably like acting. And I'm actually serious about it. I'm doing a drama course in college."
Rusky82 wrote:
"Condom tester."
Equivalent-Ad-2503 replied:
"You'd probably be sitting in a brightly lit room putting condoms on bananas and j*rking them off to see how long they take to break."
I’d love to be a planetary scientist, discovering new things about the planets in the solar system and beyond. I could be an astrophysicist but I don’t think I could handle the amount of maths I have to do. I could even be a microbiologist observing the smaller world around us
As far as a real goal, I'd love to be a reviewer of some kind. Food reviews, travel reviewer. Alter it. Or I'd like to have an advice column. I wish I knew how to get into it more than just working for a local newspaper or something. If I didn't work as much as I did, I'd start and online review blog or video blog or something but I'm just so exhausted from the long hours I have. In terms of really 'fantasy' kind of thing, I'd want to be the best singer ever on American Idol/XFactor or something. It's such an ego fantasy, lol. I want to hear Simon tell me I'm the best he's ever heard. Go on to sell a huge amount of albums. Be respected throughout the industry as a great songwriter. I can't sing at all, lol, but it's fun to dream. I'll always be the best singer in both my shower and my car.
I’d love to be a planetary scientist, discovering new things about the planets in the solar system and beyond. I could be an astrophysicist but I don’t think I could handle the amount of maths I have to do. I could even be a microbiologist observing the smaller world around us
As far as a real goal, I'd love to be a reviewer of some kind. Food reviews, travel reviewer. Alter it. Or I'd like to have an advice column. I wish I knew how to get into it more than just working for a local newspaper or something. If I didn't work as much as I did, I'd start and online review blog or video blog or something but I'm just so exhausted from the long hours I have. In terms of really 'fantasy' kind of thing, I'd want to be the best singer ever on American Idol/XFactor or something. It's such an ego fantasy, lol. I want to hear Simon tell me I'm the best he's ever heard. Go on to sell a huge amount of albums. Be respected throughout the industry as a great songwriter. I can't sing at all, lol, but it's fun to dream. I'll always be the best singer in both my shower and my car.
