Bullshit Jobs are Hard Work

Keeping a job you know doesn't need to exist might be harder than actually working

I’ve written before about my illustrious track record of getting fired (specifically, five times in thirteen years, three times for performance. I was also on the cusp of getting fired from one job that I quit in 2024.) But one thing I haven’t discussed in much detail is the fact that many of the jobs I had were bullshit jobs. This is partially due to my excellent skills as an interviewer- arguably I am too good at interviewing and have gotten fired only to fail upward into senior roles for which I was unqualified, which also didn’t have any real purpose (for those curious about details of my interview strategy, I’m releasing an interview guide later in January.)

Did Homer Simpson have the first explicitly bullshit job?

But anyway, when I say “bullshit jobs,” I’m not talking about jobs with lots of downtime (although I’ve definitely experienced that too, and I think almost every white collar worker has.) I’m talking about jobs that actually don’t need to exist at all—jobs where the employee, through no fault of their own, is providing zero value, not because they suck at their job (although in many cases, I did) but because their role should never have existed. The term came about in an essay and subsequently a book by anthropologist David Graeber.

I interviewed a few people about their own experience with bullshit jobs—especially the extensive effort that goes into keeping these jobs, arguably more effort and stress than just working in an impactful role. One surprising thing I discovered through these interviews: this article will not serve as a written “snitch” to managers, because managers often have the most bullshit jobs of all. Nobody is more keen to protect bullshit jobs than management.

But first, I’ll tell you my story with bullshit jobs.