Finished university and think the hard part is over? Not if your degree leads to one of the hardest jobs in the world.
Some careers demand more than long hours but can be extremely satisfying and fulfilling.
Here are 11 such lines of work.
TL;DR? Here’s the summary:
- This article lists 11 degrees that lead to the hardest jobs in the world.
- Some degrees lead to careers with extreme pressure, long hours, and high emotional or physical demands.
- People stay in these jobs because personal drive, purpose, and ambition often outweigh the stress and challenges.
The career of a doctor is one of the hardest jobs in the world. Source: Noah Seelam
11 degrees that lead to the hardest jobs in the world:
1. Bachelor of Medicine
A career in medicine is among the hardest in the world, and the difficulty starts before you even graduate.
Medical degrees are costly and competitive, and the toll isn’t just financial — it’s physical, mental, and emotional.
The numbers reflect this. Depression rates among US medical students rose 35.3% between 2019 and 2024, from 22.1% to 29.9%, according to higher education research group Degreechoices — nearly double the increase seen in law, the second-ranked field.
It doesn’t really get better when you progress into a professional career too.
Front-line workers are 61% more likely to suffer from depression and 33% more likely to suffer anxiety than their non-front-line colleagues, per a 2024 study from digital workforce resilience platform meQuilibrium.
That being said, working as a healthcare worker is often seen as one of the most rewarding jobs in the world.
A registered nurse on Reddit says, “For me, it’s having the ability and knowledge to help someone that REALLY needs it. I mean, they all do.. but the real sickies that I am worried about and needing to be extra attentive to make me feel like I’m doing something important for someone. It’s rewarding.”
2. Bachelor of Marketing
Marketing is everywhere — opening a browser alone serves up ad after ad.
Just take a look at your LinkedIn — while the world likes to roll their eyes at the social media executives making their colleagues do cringy TikTok trends to be, well, on-trend, it’s also a tough job to be in.
Social media strategist and speaker Shannon McKinstrie puts it plainly: “When someone asks ‘Can someone recommend a social media manager’ it usually means ‘We’re looking to hire a social media strategist, copywriter, videographer, brand coach, data analyst, editor, graphic designer, & community manager for US$10/hour’.”
However, if you succeed in this field, you will enjoy a high salary. Global Social Media Managers can earn US$91,000 to US$156,000 per year. Meanwhile, those in sales aren’t doing too badly, either — they take home their base salary and the commission they make, earning around US$74,289 per year.
3. Bachelor of Aviation
While working as a pilot sounds like a dream as you get to travel to many different countries, it is actually one of the hardest jobs in the world.
The biggest stress of this job is the responsibility that falls on the pilot. You are responsible for hundreds of lives at a time as you take them over vast lands and oceans.
Besides that, pilots also have to deal with weather delays, disgruntled passengers and jet lag.
To become a pilot, you will first need to complete a bachelor’s degree in aviation and then go through years of training to develop your experience and skills.
The upside to this career is that airlines pay pilots well, as they know how hard the job is.
While this job comes with huge risks and is one of the most dangerous, pilots are some of the highest-paid in the world. Pilots in the US earn around US$134,483 annually.
4. Bachelor in Engineering
A bachelor’s degree in engineering can open the doors to many career opportunities. This includes one of the hardest jobs in the world: an astronautical engineer or an astronaut.
Astronauts have stressful, high-pressure jobs that can be mentally draining.
While travelling to space sounds amazing, it takes a lot of hard work and determination. You need to be physically and mentally fit to withstand the psychological isolation of long space missions.
Those in this line need to stay calm in stressful situations and be prepared to face anything that might happen in space.
Given the high risks, it is no surprise that astronauts earn between US$104,898 and US$161,141 a year.
Working as a social worker is rewarding but can be mentally challenging. Source: Kim Won Jin
5. Bachelor of Social Work
To become a social worker, you must first obtain a degree in social work from an accredited university — and the degree itself takes a toll.
Research on social work students in the US found that 34% reported high levels of depressive symptoms, with 12% having a history of suicidal ideation.
The reasons behind these high rates could be emotional exposure to trauma, as social workers often work with vulnerable populations, heavy workloads and high expectations of empathy.
A career in this field results in the same problems, too — the combined physical and mental toll is hard to shake off. You will consistently find yourself in difficult situations, all while doing what is best for the child in question.
One social worker on Reddit says that those considering a career in social work have to put serious thought into what they hope to achieve and what they expect in return.
“Social work is a public service, not just a career,” they write. “By return, I don’t just mean finance and pensions, though they are important. It’s a two-way street. You help and protect people. There is a return in terms of personal growth, but it is impossible to predict what that will be.”
“Stress, emotional burnout and disillusion are constant risks. You will be expected to deal with the most difficult situations that people face and exercise profoundly difficult ethical judgment in doing so. Only the best of us can achieve that with success and also live with the consequences of failures. Be prepared for both.”
6. Bachelor in Culinary Arts
If you are someone who can work under pressure while taking orders and overseeing everything in the kitchen, then a career as a chef is exactly for you.
Imagine if you had to work under Gordon Ramsay. It’s no surprise that a career as a chef is one of the hardest jobs in the world.
Working in a restaurant is often hot, as there is always something boiling, baking or frying. As a chef, you will need to be on your feet for long hours while enduring hot conditions.
It’s always loud and can get overwhelmingly hectic during peak hours, with orders coming in like hotcakes.
Delivering orders on time while avoiding hazards throughout the kitchen can take a toll on you.
You have to produce the perfect meal every time. The customer expects no less.
Many teachers are often underpaid for the work they do. Source: Pavel Danilyuk via Pexels
7. Bachelor in Teaching
Teachers are the unsung heroes of our society. They are responsible for nurturing the minds of the next generation.
While many view a bachelor’s degree in education as easy, the job of a teacher has been considered one of the most difficult careers for centuries.
Teachers have to deal with many children who have different personalities and interests. They are also responsible for their students’ safety at all times.
And their job doesn’t end once the school bell rings. Teachers usually have a heavy workload with marking students’ work and creating lesson plans.
This has led to 35% of university lecturers in the US feeling burnt out. This number is higher among K-12 teachers, with 44% feeling this way.
8. Bachelor in Nuclear Science
A nuclear scientist plays a big role in ensuring a safe environment.
They are responsible for operating and maintaining nuclear power plants, researching new methods of generating clean energy, developing nuclear weapons and storing them safely, creating new drugs and medicine with atomic physics and making sure that all the waste produced by facilities is disposed of properly so it doesn’t contaminate the environment or harm anyone.
To begin a career in this field, you will first need to complete a bachelor’s degree in nuclear science to understand the skills and knowledge for a successful career.
In this area, you will be required to work with radioactive materials, which can be toxic and dangerous over time.
There is no denying that brain surgery is one of the most stressful and hardest jobs in the world. Source: Wang Zhao
9. Bachelor of Surgery
While surgery on its own is dubbed a difficult field to enter, neurosurgery has been recognised as one of the most difficult jobs in the world.
As a neurosurgeon, you are expected to have a wide range of skills and knowledge. Those who choose this path need excellent hand-eye coordination and organisational skills to perform surgery.
Neurosurgery is a demanding and time-consuming career. The process of becoming a neurosurgeon is also long and gruelling.
To become a neurosurgeon, you will usually follow this path:
- Four years of pre-medical education
- Attend a four-year medical school and graduate with an MD or DO degree
- One year of internship in general surgery
- Five to seven years in a neurosurgery residency programme
This is a journey of at least 14 years before being legally qualified to poke inside someone’s head.
Though a long and difficult endeavour, the result is rewarding. Neurosurgery is one of the most prestigious and highly paid professions.
Those in this line earn an average of US$267,660 a year and have the honour of saying they’ve saved plenty of lives.
10. Bachelor of Law
Law has been recognised as one of the most highly respected fields. Professionals in this field are renowned for being high-performing, intellectually outstanding, and hardworking individuals.
All this hard work comes with a high salary to match.
However, while being a lawyer can guarantee an elite reputation and plenty of cash in the bank, it is also one of the hardest jobs in the world.
Lawyers work on a billable-hours basis, which means every hour you’re not working, you’re not earning money.
This has led to a well-known culture of overwork among lawyers and legal professionals, who often find little time to rest or do anything else but work. That’s not counting the difficult clients, the increasing demands, and the daily mountains of paperwork.
On top of all that, aside from having one of the hardest exams in the world, law students in the US are ranked second for the most depressing major, with 29.9% reported in 2024.
11. Bachelor of Architecture
Choosing to be an architect means choosing one of the hardest jobs out there.
The journey to becoming an architect will test your patience, creativity, and mental strength. Studio life is intense. Deadlines are nonstop. Sleep becomes optional. In fact, about 7.2% of architecture students leave their programmes because the workload is simply too much.
And even when you graduate, you are not “done.” You still have to face years of internships, exams, and licensing before you can officially practice.
Getting a job is the next challenge. Architecture has always been a competitive field, with many graduates submitting hundreds of portfolios and receiving almost no feedback.
However, the good news is that architects are among the highest-paid, earning around US$111,580 per year.
At a glance: 11 degrees that lead to the hardest jobs in the world
| Degree | Core challenge |
| Bachelor of Medicine | Long training, emotional strain, high-stakes decisions, burnout risk |
| Bachelor of Marketing | Multi-role workload, constant content demand, performance pressure |
| Bachelor of Aviation | Responsibility for passenger safety, irregular hours, high stress environments |
| Bachelor in Engineering (Astronautics) | Extreme conditions, isolation, technical complexity, safety-critical work |
| Bachelor of Social Work | Emotional trauma exposure, heavy caseloads, high empathy demands |
| Bachelor in Culinary Arts | Intense kitchen pressure, long hours, fast-paced execution |
| Bachelor in Teaching | Heavy workload beyond teaching, emotional labour, classroom management demands |
| Bachelor in Nuclear Science | Strict safety requirements, hazardous environments, precision-critical work |
| Bachelor of Surgery | Extremely long training path, life-or-death decisions, high precision demands |
| Bachelor of Law | Billable-hour pressure, heavy documentation, high client expectations |
| Bachelor of Architecture | Long project cycles, tight deadlines, licensing pressure, competitive entry |
Why do people get in and stay in the hardest jobs in the world?
Happiness is subjective, and while the hardest jobs in the world come with enormous challenges, many find them rewarding.
Why would anyone want to stress themselves to no end?
Well, everyone is built differently. Our upbringing, strengths, and circumstances shape what drives us, what we’re passionate about, and how we want to make a difference.
For Aathira Preetha Rani, she wanted to go to space. Growing up in India, this wasn’t the easiest ambition to achieve.
She set her sights abroad and landed a partial scholarship to pursue robotics at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada.
A few years later, she was selected by the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences to pursue astronautics (also known as astronomical engineering) as part of Project PoSSUM, a programme that trains citizen-scientist astronauts.
But as awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping as the job sounds, there are downsides to it too. A high G-force environment can cause the loss of colour vision and peripheral vision (where you can only see your centre), which has led to countless military and civilian aviation disasters over the last century.
None of this sounds easy, but in Rani’s own words, she is “living her dream.”
What this story shows is that if you approach it the right way, the hardest jobs in the world may just be right for you.
Sure, you may encounter burnout, feel stressed, and want to quit sometimes, but you may also find your life’s calling.
Disclaimer: This article was last updated on May 18, 2026.
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