Research from jobs board fish4jobs says that despite most Brits not working in their dream job (86%), we are actually quite content with our lot. Most of those interviewed said that they wouldn’t retrain to get their dream job (57%).

The survey asked people what their dream jobs were when they were growing up and 22% wanted to become famous (actor/singer/TV presenter); 24% wanted to be professional sports people and only 10% wanted to work in the police force.
Other more ambitious dream jobs including a fighter pilot (1%), scientist (6%) and astronaut (6%). None of the respondents wanted to work in an office when they were growing up and teaching did not seem to inspire people either.

Out of those surveyed, 25% studied further to improve their chances of landing their dream job, with 4% still in training and 3% having given up the dream despite training for it. And 9% said they never had a dream job whilst growing up.

Joe Slavin, chief executive at fish4jobs said: “It’s really interesting to see the transition from our childhood dreams to adult reality. Many kids grow up wanting to be in glamorous careers but the reality is that it is very difficult to get that dream job when there is so much competition out there. People end up quitting college and their dreams to pursue something different and often more stable.”

The survey also revealed some of the regrets people had about their time at school – for example 20% wished they had concentrated harder, with 23% regretting that they had not taken better careers advice and 22% wishing they had gone to university or college.