Welcome to Real Job Quotes, where the voices of workers from various professions echo through insightful and sometimes humorous statements. From the blue-collar to the white-collar, from the factory floor to the corner office, the world of work is filled with anecdotes, wisdom, and wit that reflect the diverse experiences of individuals in their careers. Whether you’re seeking motivation, a chuckle, or simply a glimpse into the lives of others, this collection of quotes offers a window into the daily grind, the triumphs, and the challenges that define our professional lives.
In these pages, you’ll encounter the raw authenticity of laborers, the strategic musings of entrepreneurs, and the reflections of leaders navigating the complexities of modern workplaces. These quotes capture the essence of dedication, ambition, perseverance, and sometimes the occasional office humor that keeps us going. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just embarking on your career journey, these words serve as both a reminder of the common threads that bind us in our work and an inspiration to forge our own paths with determination and resilience.
Scroll down to explore a myriad of quotes spanning industries and roles, ready to be copied, overlaid on images, or enhanced with stylish fonts to share, reflect upon, or draw inspiration from in your own professional endeavors. Let the voices of real workers guide, motivate, and entertain you as you navigate the intricate tapestry of the working world.
I kept thinking, I went to college and I have to get a real job. Mary Chapin Carpenter
My parents were always supportive. They didn’t say, ‘Get a real job.’ They believed in the arts, and they prepared me to be skilled. I’m lucky I can drop into these worlds – into a studio or onto a set or go on stage – and feel comfortable. Vanessa Williams
When you’re making a pilot, what you’re mostly thinking is, ‘Please let this be a real job, please.’ Hamish Linklater
When I first starting writing, and no one was paying me, in order to feel like I had a real job, I would get out of bed, put on a jacket and tie every morning, and sit down at my desk. Graham Moore
I’m still awaiting the idea of drawing comics for a living being a reality. I feel like I’ve been dodging work for 20 years, and at some point, I’ll have to get a real job. Adam Hughes
I was writing full time after quitting a job as a high school English teacher, and I hadn’t been able to sell anything, and my bank account was down to zero, and all of my friends were like ‘What are you doing in the basement, when are you going to get a real job?’, and my parents thought I’d completely lost it. Matthew Quick
I wanna be a manager, because that’s my day job. It’s my real job. Louis Walsh
Over the years, I have been a house painter, farm worker, paste-up artist, Easter Bunny, pizza delivery person, homeless shelter staff member, and counselor for adults and kids with mental illness – I quit my last real job in 2000 to work on writing full-time. Jennifer McMahon
At some point, I’ll have to go get a real job. Simone Biles
My real job is that I invent game shows for a living. Richard Bacon
I started out with comedy in college, but had my major in Recreation Administration – which meant I wasn’t going to get a real job – so I started doing a little standup. Carlos Alazraqui
Part of the job of a children’s author is to write books that will be remembered, definitely, but if I might go out on a limb, I will say that the other part, the more important part, is to build books that will help children fall in love with reading. That, to me, is the real job. Rebecca Serle
There’s just no real job security when you’re shooting a show about an apocalypse, and anybody could die at any time. Melissa McBride
People admire a screen actor if they have theatre skills, but it’s looked down upon by the industry as being not a ‘real job,’ in the way it isn’t in New York or the U.K. Robert Picardo
A real job is a job you hate. Bill Watterson
When I got out of college, I gave myself till I was 30 to invent a product. If I couldn’t do it by then, I would just get a real job. And that fear – the fear of a real job – motivated me to be an entrepreneur. Nick Woodman
I believe in teaching as a real job. I don’t think it’s a substitute for anything else. It’s been shown to me that teachers can help, and the writing today is just as good as it was when I started out. Technology hasn’t changed that. Ron Carlson
Climbing, as my grandmother said, it’s a pretty frivolous thing. She always wondered when I was going to get a real job. But climbing is a real job for me now, and I enjoy it. It’s a gift that I’m able to do it, share adventure and motivation with people. Conrad Anker
My family lived in Thousand Oaks. In 2002, when I was 17, I begged my parents to let me move out. I had money, a real job, and wanted to get my own place. Kaley Cuoco
Spending on largely ineffective programs – although well intentioned – is a detriment to fostering real job growth. Phil Gingrey
I have to focus and keep things together as much as anyone with a real job… It’s just that I know, from experience, that the more fun I have doing something that the more successful it will be. Lou Barlow
My first real job as a director was working with Robbie Baitz on his play ‘Three Hotels.’ It was an incredible collaboration. Joe Mantello
I see my real job now as – never mind ‘The Office,’ ‘Extras,’ film career, Emmys – I want everyone in the world to know who Karl Pilkington is. Ricky Gervais
One of my first memories of being a kid was, ‘I want to have a real job when I grow up.’ And to me that meant you wear a suit and a hat and carry a briefcase and go to your job. Will Ferrell
My very first real job in the industry was as a production assistant on a show called ‘Infinity Factory’ in 1976. Bonnie Hammer
Most women in pageants love the actual pageant – the competition, the show. They don’t understand that it is actually a real job that you are paid a real salary for. Shanna Moakler
I always loved singing because I grew up in a very musical family. My mom wasn’t able to do music professionally because her parents wanted her to get a ‘real job,’ but she played guitar. Jamila Woods
I don’t want to have a real job. No one wants to have a job. Ad-Rock
I love the fact that I don’t have a real job! Mike Posner
I used to tell my mother, ‘I’m going to have to get a real job one day.’ You keep saying this will end one day, but people still call us up and ask us to sing. It’s truly amazing. Dennis Edwards
I was raised as a real worker: you know, you get out and get a real job. Thomas Gibson
The first duty of a human being is to assume the right functional relationship to society – more briefly, to find your real job, and do it. Charlotte Perkins Gilman
I never heard of anyone saying they want to deploy their capital wisely and go buy a sports franchise. What you want to do is just not lose money. You see, I don’t have to work anymore. I tell people I don’t have a real job. On the other hand, I learned long ago that you can’t go broke if you turn a profit. Jerry Reinsdorf
If I were a serious person, I’d probably have a real job. Harrison Ford
‘The Voice’ was the first real job I’ve ever had that wasn’t just messing around with music. Adam Levine
This is what I would have done if I had to have a real job: I would have been a history teacher. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I’m a martial artist. That’s what I’ve been doing since I was three years old, and fighting since i was 15 and that’s all I know how to do. The money is just a bonus. It’s a bonus for me. I think my real job is teaching martial arts, it’s what I love to do. Stephen Thompson
Well, I never worked a real job. Kyle Larson
I am so excited to extend myself behind the scenes as a designer and to – as my father puts it – finally have a real job. Lady Gaga
My first real job lasted for three years. It ended the day I was unceremoniously fired. Marc Randolph
Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 at age 30. Somewhere around 1992, he should have had to go out and get a real job. Howie Carr
I was 19, and I thought I should settle down and get a real job, and what was I doing living this dream world? Becky Lynch
I always thought I’d go to university and then get a real job, you know. Now I want to do stuff that really makes me happy. Although I’m still trying to work out what that is. But for me there are always constants. Martin Henderson
What real job… would want Spencer Pratt, with the stigma I’ve attached to my name? Spencer Pratt
The work my mum does, a lot of it is re-housing homeless people, that’s a real job. I play make-believe and dressing up for a living! Jeremy Irvine
Yes, I would loved to have just sustained myself through my art, but less than one in a billion musicians gets that life. So rather than being like, ‘I’m an exception!’, like a moron, I thought I’d get a real job. Mary Lambert
We used to say when we were 20 years old, that when you reach 30, you gotta hang up your guitar and get a real job. J. J. Cale
It started back in 2002, when there was hardly any reality television. ‘Survivor’ had just started. My hope and dream was that ‘The Bachelor’ would last one or two nights on network TV, so I might meet somebody in the network and then I could get a real job. Chris Harrison
I was playing college football, and I hurt my knee very badly my senior year, and I didn’t want to get a real job. Kane
I went to college a little bit, and that didn’t work out, and I didn’t finish. So, I would play in bars until I ran out of money, and then I’d get a real job. Chris Stapleton
I think there’s always been a little performer in me. But having a family that are Jamaican immigrants, having this idea that, ‘Oh, that’s what you’re going to do for a living?’ seems kind of out of reach and not a reality. It’s like, ‘get a real job.’ Jodie Turner-Smith
I remember I had a low point when I was working on a soap opera, ‘General Hospital,’ five years ago. It was my first real job, and it was so overwhelming. You would work five days a week and have to learn sometimes up to 30 pages of new dialogue a night, then have one take to shoot it all, the next day. Lindsey Morgan
Shooting a movie should be fun! It’s not a real job. It can be hard, but at the end of the day, we’re dressing up and playing pretend. Taika Waititi
I had to quit a ‘real job’ to start my first company. David Cohen
I never thought about ‘being’ in comedy when I grew up, because I didn’t know it was a real job. But looking back, it’s the only thing I ever really cared about. Colin Jost
Growing up, I stayed in a child’s place. My father was murdered when I was 20. I was a model and never had a real job and my parents took care of me. LisaRaye McCoy-Misick
I really hope post-Covid no one asks me when I’m going to get a real job again. Carrie Hope Fletcher
Growing up, my dad was ‘get a real job, don’t go pursuing your dreams, that’s how you become homeless.’ So, do I pick my family or do I pick my own happiness, and how much does my own happiness depend on my family? Jimmy O. Yang
I think I’m probably the only person that, when the parents lent me money to make the movie, they wished I had not paid them back. They could have said ‘No,’ and it would have ended, and I would have gotten a real job. John Waters
My parents paid me small amounts for cleaning my room or cleaning the dishes and stuff, but I never really had a real job before I started on my professional tennis career. Caroline Wozniacki
Zombie books were going to be my passion projects, but certainly not pay the bills. I thought I was going to have to get a real job on a sitcom or something, and have my zombie books to remind myself I was still a writer at heart. I never thought I could actually pay my bills and write what I wanted. Max Brooks
I’ve never held a real job in my life. I’ve always just looked for a place to stay. And if I didn’t find it, I’d sleep in the streets. Johnny Paycheck
My first job ever real job in the field was as an airborne traffic reporter and producer in Los Angeles, but I was laid off pretty quickly – which was totally fair, because I’m terrible with directions, and that’s kind of the whole job. Kat Timpf
‘SNL’ is the first real job I’ve held for more than a month and a half. Hannibal Buress
I don’t know Laura Bush. But she seems to be calm, and she has a sparkle in her eye, which is good. But I don’t know that she’s ever had a real job – I mean, since she’s been grown up. Teresa Heinz
My dad showed me loads of films when I was young, but I never thought I would be in movies. That didn’t seem like a real job to me. Maika Monroe
I started taking acting classes when I was 14. That’s when I knew I wanted to try it professionally. Before that, I watched movies, always, but I didn’t think it was a real job. I watched Turner Classic Movies with my parents. I’ve always loved the old classics. Julia Garner
I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was training about six horses. I was feeling the pressure from the folks. You know, ‘When are you going to get a real job?’ I never considered training a profession. It was a hobby. Bob Baffert
No one in my family was a journalist, and it didn’t seem like a real job. Part of me still doesn’t think it is. Mary Pilon
You know how you’re in elementary school and the teacher goes around the room and, like, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I said, ‘NBA player.’ And she’s like, ‘Well, OK. Maybe pick a real job.’ But I really believed it. I felt like I was meant to be here. Kyle Kuzma
I got my first real job, one that didn’t involve wearing a hairnet or bending over the hood of a wet car with a towel in my hand, in the early ’90s working for CBS Records. While there, I started my first of several rock bands and eventually wrote my first book, the semi-autobiographical novel, ‘Don’t Sleep With Your Drummer.’ Jen Sincero
My first real job, I sold Christmas trees when I was twelve for extra money. I did that until I was fifteen. Then I bagged groceries, and I worked at the first Borders ever in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bill Hader
I never had a real job either. I sort of fell out of school and ended up playing guitar. Vivian Campbell
I grew up a happy kid in Toronto. I’ve never suffered. I’ve never even had a real job! But I understand sadness and striving, and those two things tie into all the roles that I’ve played. Alison Pill
I always say three things make a writer: inspiration, obviously; perspiration, doing the work. But the third is desperation. I’m not really fit for anything else, or to have a real job. That fear drives me. The pressure has always been self inflicted. Harlan Coben
There was one stage in my football career where I thought I wasn’t going to make it. We didn’t have much money growing up and my dad always said to me that football wasn’t a real job. Michail Antonio
I don’t call acting a real job, and writing is a hobby. Joel Edgerton
Parents will be parents. Even now, my mom asks me sometimes, ‘When are you going to go back and get a real job?’ Chieh Huang
I really don’t understand the idea of a celebrity stylist. Is it a real job? I know there’s unemployment, but frankly the railways need to be fixed, too. Daphne Guinness
One thing we see a lot is this – the idea kids have now that they don’t have to go to college. They don’t have to get a real job. They feel they can become ‘Internet famous’ by taking selfies. They think they can become a star through social media. We see that a lot. You can succeed. But it takes time and persistence. Max Joseph
College didn’t stick, so I worked odd jobs, but I’ve always written songs and played music. I actually met a guy who was a songwriter, which I didn’t realize was a real job. Chris Stapleton
I got a little tattoo on my face. I’ll never be able to work another real job, so I consider that to be kinda forcing myself to stick to music. Benji Madden
I got into retailing because I wanted a real job. Sam Walton
We all had jobs that were just fronts. I felt like I was in the mob. I had a job, but that wasn’t my real job. My real job was to be an actor. I always knew that and never forgot that. Jessica St. Clair
My father’s a taxi driver. Working in entertainment, is not a part of the culture. It’s something you try to do before you become an accountant or your real job. Naughty Boy
I’m lucky to not have a real job, to be able to express myself, be creative and be relevant. Gwen Stefani
That first company I started made a lot of money for the venture capitalists – nearly $30 million – but next to nothing for the founders. The companies I started after that varied between failures and mediocre successes. But at no point did I ever consider getting a ‘real job.’ That felt like a black and white world, and I wanted Technicolor. Michael Arrington
I can’t tell you how many people would say to me as a teenager, ‘Why don’t you grow up and start thinking about getting a real job?’ Rick Baker
I learned really early on that I had to treat it as if it were a real job. This might be my middle class background – the Irish work ethic, which isn’t quite the same as the Protestant work ethic – but still, it’s, ‘Get a job and show up every day. Be there. And don’t complain. Who do you think you are: you’re nobody special; go to work.’ Alice McDermott
I love that my dad has stopped asking me when I’m going to get a real job. Sarah Addison Allen
After I graduated high school and came out to do ‘Buffy,’ I was enrolled at my mom’s university, and I was going to go get a real job. I never thought of acting and never really wanted to be an actor. Eliza Dushku
I haven’t got a real job. Peter Jackson
I grew up making music in my mum’s basement, and I used to tell her I was going down there to work, and she’d say, ‘That’s not work. Go get a real job!’ It took me signing a record deal to change her opinion! Mike Posner
I guess there’s a sort of cycle with writing books. There’s all the researching and then the imagining and writing – which is the real job – and then there’s always a period when the book comes out and you have to lift your head and venture out. Monica Ali
My last real job was selling air time for CBS affiliates. I quit that when I was 28, and that was the last real job I had. I beat the system. I’ve been able to do this full-time for almost 15 years. James Denton
We want real job creation and a fertile business environment for small business owners. Chuck Fleischmann
For an entrepreneur with ‘improbable’ and ‘impossible’ dreams, the alleged stability that comes from getting ‘a real job’ is nothing but a sign of slavery. Fabrizio Moreira
I quit my last real job, as a writer at a magazine, when I was twenty-one. That was the moment when I lost my place of prestige on the fast track, and slowly, millimeter by millimeter, I started to get found, to discover who I had been born to be, instead of the impossibly small package, all tied up tightly in myself, that I had agreed to be. Anne Lamott
‘No Scrubs’ is a mean song for a lot of reasons. If you’re 18, 19-year-old guy, or even 17, your friend just got a license. You don’t have a real job yet. It’s like that song asks you to be an adult way faster than you should. Lil Rel Howery
My parents never told me to get a real job. They always said, ‘Go for it! If this is what you want to do, work hard.’ They were always very supportive. Imelda May
