What workarounds did people try for "Why do IT jobs require impossible skill sets?"?

Community members documented 75 workarounds: 1. studying for additional certifications like AWS 2. throwing resumes into job boards 3. putting homelab experience on resumes 4. applying directly on company websites instead of aggregate boards 5. building small personal projects and putting them on GitHub 6. embellishing experience and treating job requirements as wishlists 7. practicing interview skills and adopting a confident persona 8. doing physical manual labor like cutting cable trunking 9. juggling multiple major projects and daily operations simultaneously 10. traveling extensively to multiple store locations 11. quietly applying elsewhere while still employed 12. spinning the diverse workload into resume bullets about adaptability 13. staying a few more months to hit the six-month mark 14. Developing internal self-esteem and mantras 15. Creating organizational systems and emergency sub plans 16. Leaning on supportive colleagues for mentorship and venting 17. Focusing on small positive moments each day 18. Taking the mislabeled job to build resume experience and move to a better position later 19. Passing on the job and not applying 20. Telling the employer they are looking for an entire team rather than a single person 21. using another client as a reference 22. asking questions 23. Measuring the day by what fires were put out rather than what is left on the list 24. Looking for another position 25. Working late hours and weekends constantly to keep up 26. refusing to attend the interview 27. relying on staffing agencies to find positions 28. accepting administrative tasks if the pay is higher 29. Absorbing the extra work, handling tasks outside their expertise, and trying to maintain a positive customer service attitude despite being severely overwhelmed. 30. asking for a raise 31. looking for other jobs 32. using better systems or AI to help with tasks 33. Considering a move to rural or smaller schools 34. Accepting positions with more lesson preps at smaller schools 35. Limiting work strictly to 40 hours a week and letting things fail 36. Documenting concerns in writing to management and bccing personal email 37. Offloading tasks to AI or juniors and focusing on communicating small wins 38. Keeping a journal to track wins and taking plenty of PTO 39. Looking into pivoting to other fields like security 40. delaying extracurricular or volunteer activities until after the demanding work period concludes 41. trying to kindly say no to meetings about past teachers 42. agreeing to evening rehearsals to accommodate student schedules 43. leaving at 5pm anyway 44. leaving work on the desk for the next day 45. ignoring what others are saying 46. biting tongue to avoid speaking out 47. leaving the profession entirely 48. planning to learn as much as possible for a year and then find another staff job 49. leaving the nonprofit sector entirely to work in corporate or other industries 50. carefully assessing job descriptions before applying to see if multiple roles are being bundled into one 51. seeking employment through recruitment agencies 52. speaking up much sooner when feeling overwhelmed and asking for guidance 53. Taking mental health days off work 54. Passing on the position or hoping an organization understands they will only get a fraction of the listed tasks done. 55. venting online 56. reminding oneself of reasons not to quit immediately 57. considering quitting despite the fear of a resume gap 58. asking for clarification or actual workload numbers during the interview 59. comparing the job description requirements against typical team sizes in the sector 60. having a back up plan due to a saturated field and budget cuts 61. Relies on personal referrals rather than standard job applications 62. Applying anyway assuming the laundry list is just to weed out applicants or that only a tiny fraction of the spec is actually needed 63. Quitting the teaching profession 64. Trying to cram planning and preparation into limited time 65. Pulling pre-built software reports and interpreting them 66. Passing numbers to another department or manager responsible for formal reporting 67. Calling in sick or considering calling in anyway to avoid going back 68. Reminding oneself that it is just a job and trying to compartmentalize 69. Setting boundaries by refusing extra tasks or reducing effort on new standards 70. Ask your supervisor to clarify expectations and prioritize specific tasks. 71. Bring a ranking of your responsibilities to your manager and propose a lighter schedule for lower-priority areas. 72. Track your actual working hours to see if you are working beyond a reasonable workday rather than just looking at the task list. 73. Checking with coworkers to gauge if a manager's expectations are normal for the role. 74. Making a performance mentor aware of the situation and asking to be switched to another team. 75. Printing out workpapers and reading them backwards paragraph by paragraph to catch small errors.

Why do IT jobs require impossible skill sets?

Modern job descriptions demand expert-level capabilities across multiple disparate domains like coding, infrastructure, and security all at once. This creates intense anxiety for job seekers who feel entirely unable to compete with these inflated expectations despite years of hard work.

Overview

Last updated Oct 31, 2026

People affected42 accounts across 7 forums

Workarounds found75 items attempted

Community agreement1,019 total upvotes

What the numbers show

Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count

The most recent one is from October 2026.
This comes up 16.3× more often in r/nonprofit than across the site as a whole.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

75 items+ Contribute

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

1
studying for additional certifications like AWS
Did this help you?
2
throwing resumes into job boards
Did this help you?
3
putting homelab experience on resumes
Did this help you?
4
applying directly on company websites instead of aggregate boards
Did this help you?
5
building small personal projects and putting them on GitHub
Did this help you?
6
embellishing experience and treating job requirements as wishlists
Did this help you?
7
practicing interview skills and adopting a confident persona
Did this help you?
8
doing physical manual labor like cutting cable trunking
Did this help you?
9
juggling multiple major projects and daily operations simultaneously
Did this help you?
10
traveling extensively to multiple store locations
Did this help you?
11
quietly applying elsewhere while still employed
Did this help you?
12
spinning the diverse workload into resume bullets about adaptability
Did this help you?
13
staying a few more months to hit the six-month mark
Did this help you?
14
Developing internal self-esteem and mantras
Did this help you?
15
Creating organizational systems and emergency sub plans
Did this help you?
16
Leaning on supportive colleagues for mentorship and venting
Did this help you?
17
Focusing on small positive moments each day
Did this help you?
18
Taking the mislabeled job to build resume experience and move to a better position later
Did this help you?
19
Passing on the job and not applying
Did this help you?
20
Telling the employer they are looking for an entire team rather than a single person
Did this help you?
21
using another client as a reference
Did this help you?
22
asking questions
Did this help you?
23
Measuring the day by what fires were put out rather than what is left on the list
Did this help you?
24
Looking for another position
Did this help you?
25
Working late hours and weekends constantly to keep up
Did this help you?
26
refusing to attend the interview
Did this help you?
27
relying on staffing agencies to find positions
Did this help you?
28
accepting administrative tasks if the pay is higher
Did this help you?
29
Absorbing the extra work, handling tasks outside their expertise, and trying to maintain a positive customer service attitude despite being severely overwhelmed.
Did this help you?
30
asking for a raise
Did this help you?
31
looking for other jobs
Did this help you?
32
using better systems or AI to help with tasks
Did this help you?
33
Considering a move to rural or smaller schools
Did this help you?
34
Accepting positions with more lesson preps at smaller schools
Did this help you?
35
Limiting work strictly to 40 hours a week and letting things fail
Did this help you?
36
Documenting concerns in writing to management and bccing personal email
Did this help you?
37
Offloading tasks to AI or juniors and focusing on communicating small wins
Did this help you?
38
Keeping a journal to track wins and taking plenty of PTO
Did this help you?
39
Looking into pivoting to other fields like security
Did this help you?
40
delaying extracurricular or volunteer activities until after the demanding work period concludes
Did this help you?
41
trying to kindly say no to meetings about past teachers
Did this help you?
42
agreeing to evening rehearsals to accommodate student schedules
Did this help you?
43
leaving at 5pm anyway
Did this help you?
44
leaving work on the desk for the next day
Did this help you?
45
ignoring what others are saying
Did this help you?
46
biting tongue to avoid speaking out
Did this help you?
47
leaving the profession entirely
Did this help you?
48
planning to learn as much as possible for a year and then find another staff job
Did this help you?
49
leaving the nonprofit sector entirely to work in corporate or other industries
Did this help you?
50
carefully assessing job descriptions before applying to see if multiple roles are being bundled into one
Did this help you?
51
seeking employment through recruitment agencies
Did this help you?
52
speaking up much sooner when feeling overwhelmed and asking for guidance
Did this help you?
53
Taking mental health days off work
Did this help you?
54
Passing on the position or hoping an organization understands they will only get a fraction of the listed tasks done.
Did this help you?
55
venting online
Did this help you?
56
reminding oneself of reasons not to quit immediately
Did this help you?
57
considering quitting despite the fear of a resume gap
Did this help you?
58
asking for clarification or actual workload numbers during the interview
Did this help you?
59
comparing the job description requirements against typical team sizes in the sector
Did this help you?
60
having a back up plan due to a saturated field and budget cuts
Did this help you?
61
Relies on personal referrals rather than standard job applications
Did this help you?
62
Applying anyway assuming the laundry list is just to weed out applicants or that only a tiny fraction of the spec is actually needed
Did this help you?
63
Quitting the teaching profession
Did this help you?
64
Trying to cram planning and preparation into limited time
Did this help you?
65
Pulling pre-built software reports and interpreting them
Did this help you?
66
Passing numbers to another department or manager responsible for formal reporting
Did this help you?
67
Calling in sick or considering calling in anyway to avoid going back
Did this help you?
68
Reminding oneself that it is just a job and trying to compartmentalize
Did this help you?
69
Setting boundaries by refusing extra tasks or reducing effort on new standards
Did this help you?
70
Ask your supervisor to clarify expectations and prioritize specific tasks.
Did this help you?
71
Bring a ranking of your responsibilities to your manager and propose a lighter schedule for lower-priority areas.
Did this help you?
72
Track your actual working hours to see if you are working beyond a reasonable workday rather than just looking at the task list.
Did this help you?
73
Checking with coworkers to gauge if a manager's expectations are normal for the role.
Did this help you?
74
Making a performance mentor aware of the situation and asking to be switched to another team.
Did this help you?
75
Printing out workpapers and reading them backwards paragraph by paragraph to catch small errors.
Did this help you?

Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/nonprofit5 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“It included all communications and development work for an organization. Like everything under the sun -- email, website, social, gift processing, grants, appeals, stewardship comms, planning their annual gala, etc. OK, small enough org and that might all be feasible. I'm scrolling through looking for the salary. It's listed as a 10 HOUR PER WEEK CONTRACT POSITION!”source ↗

Competitive-Field744 · r/nonprofit · 276 upvotes

“I graduated a few months ago and went almost immediately into a nonprofit role. I was really excited about working somewhere mission-driven and feeling like the work I was doing actually mattered. My job ended up covering a LOT. Marketing, social media, communications, fundraising, donor outreach, grant writing, sponsorships, fundraising campaigns, event planning, volunteer coordination, and other random things that came up.”source ↗

“I got overwhelmed and I definitely made mistakes. There were things I procrastinated on because I didn’t know where to start, things I probably should have asked for help with sooner, and situations I would absolutely handle differently now.”source ↗

“What has made the whole thing harder to process is that during the termination conversation, they brought up things that I genuinely believe were untrue or described situations in ways that did not happen.”source ↗

“Part of me still loves the idea of working for a mission I care about. There were parts of the job that I genuinely enjoyed, and I learned an insane amount in a very short period of time. But another part of me feels completely discouraged from working for another nonprofit because I’m scared of ending up in the same situation: understaffed, wearing a million hats, constantly putting out fires, and eventually being blamed when I can’t keep up with all of it.”source ↗

BandEnvironmental442 · r/nonprofit · 46 upvotes

“I have to wear multiple hats which I know is the norm but at this point I have my hands tied with literally everything I’m the one manning the phone, I had to create the strategic plan 4 months in with zero help from the board.”source ↗

“I’m already burnt out and I feel like I have nothing to show even though I work until 10pm every night.”source ↗

“I’m just so frustrated and unsure of what to do.”source ↗

Over_Version2502 · r/nonprofit · 9 upvotes

“I came across this job description and it looks like it has lots of roles in one. Is this normal?”source ↗

confusedwbiochem · r/nonprofit · 4 upvotes

“Can anyone give me any sort of reassurance that I don't just suck and that I am actually being overworked? Or maybe that I do suck?”source ↗

goblinkingog · r/nonprofit · 4 upvotes

r/sysadmin7 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“They were looking for a Senior Systems administrator but labeling it as a Help Desk position so they could lowball whoever applied for it.”source ↗

SamOakTree · r/sysadmin · 230 upvotes

“I look at some of the posting out there now and the requirements for what they want are absolutely ridiculous. It's like this laundry list of 30 requirements for a nothing special salary.”source ↗

hiroller400 · r/sysadmin · 53 upvotes

“I am panicking about the job situation. I lost my job and feel like I am going to be unable to bounce back.”source ↗

“Looking at the job market though, I feel like I can't compete. I don't have experience with terraform outside of labbing. I don't know how to code very well. Every job seems to want someone with extremely strong skills across so many different domains”source ↗

“Everyone wants so much experience for everything that it makes me feel as if I have been slacking even though I have been working hard.”source ↗

SleepyReepies · r/sysadmin · 43 upvotes

“After 15 years I've hit the wall.”source ↗

“My company got "merged" a couple of years ago and my 3 person team is getting more and more added to our plate”source ↗

“When my boss told me this last week that I was going to inherit the care of our entire organizations data lake infrastructure, I felt myself break and check out.”source ↗

Goiko74 · r/sysadmin · 28 upvotes

“A manager position in IT by comparison looks like an inventory report from some network monitoring system.”source ↗

“It's depressing. Why can't we be like normal people?”source ↗

AIMuzak · r/sysadmin · 28 upvotes

“I am second guessing my investment into security certifications because I have first-hans experienced some very stressful security incidents.”source ↗

SleepyReepies · r/sysadmin · 1 upvotes

“Yeah, literally just went through this myself. Tier 2 and all thr job duties were senior sys admin/networking AND help users...”source ↗

pwnageface · r/sysadmin · 1 upvotes

“My last 3 jobs I was hired on for specific expertise (2 of them I had no idea I was an expert in or people wanted that lol) and I’m doing completely different tasks entirely.”source ↗

Signal_Till_933 · r/sysadmin · 1 upvotes

r/Accounting11 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“I'm working 12-16 hour days and it's been about 3 months since I took a weekend off.”source ↗

“It's destroying me mentally, physically, and emotionally.”source ↗

“I want to just quit so badly but don't want a gap on my resume.”source ↗

AdmiralTitties · r/Accounting · 81 upvotes

“oh god, I'm a Gen X accountant about to pull an all-nighter to meet the 9/15 deadline tmrw. IT'S MY OWN FAULT AND I HATE IT.”source ↗

Miserable-Arm-6797 · r/Accounting · 7 upvotes

“Hello, I’m going to be interviewing for this position but the more I look at the responsibilities list, the more I feel that they are asking for way too much.”source ↗

“They are paying $28/ hr and this is in California.”source ↗

Mittzyy · r/Accounting · 5 upvotes

“When they mention financial reporting, are they just expecting me to be able to understand the report? Or do some company’s want me to be able to create the report from scratch. And if so, how do I even gain that experience?”source ↗

“I currently feel stuck not being able to advance my career to the next stages, because I can’t learn what I’m not doing here, and any lateral title moves would mean a decent pay cut that I can’t afford.”source ↗

Low-Enthusiasm670 · r/Accounting · 3 upvotes

“What causes partners to set these extremely difficult deadlines in the first place?”source ↗

“I'm guessing they're afraid of the client getting mad. But why does that mean I get an impossible deadline that there's no way I'm gonna meet?”source ↗

Pleasant_Badger184 · r/Accounting · 2 upvotes

“two years in and you already got the full public accounting bingo card, bad manager, weird scheduling, vague "attention to detail" notes, and that sinking feeling you're not cut out for it”source ↗

WaterloggedBrewer · r/Accounting · 2 upvotes

“i feel overwhelmed and under appreciated as my 90 day review is put to the side due to other “critical” tasks being in the way.”source ↗

“is this normal or should i get out of here quick? I’m nervous about having a 3 month only position on my resume and am debating whether this toxic environment would be amazing for future job opportunities.”source ↗

“Payroll procedure and Accounting software is the worst thing I’ve ever laid eyes upon and I really doubt there’s any company that also uses it.”source ↗

its_not_me69 · r/Accounting · 1 upvotes

“I feel like I’m so overwhelmed at my audit internship. I’ve been here for about 3 months, and I still feel like I can’t grasp things on the first try.”source ↗

“I’ve also gone significantly over budget on my hours, which obviously isn't helping my confidence.”source ↗

Efficient-Issue7332 · r/Accounting · 1 upvotes

“I’ve interviewed for Staff Accountant positions three times and even with a degree, they have all told me I need more experience. Unfortunately I only have AP experience and a bit of AR”source ↗

Mittzyy · r/Accounting · 1 upvotes

“maybe I'll look into it when busy season isn't actively trying to delete my will to live”source ↗

Unusual_Currency_491 · r/Accounting · 1 upvotes

“Job and company turned out to be messier than expected, and I realized I’m definitely not ready for that responsibility.”source ↗

“A big part of why I took the job is that I was looking forward to mentorship from my boss, but often when I ask a question I leave feeling more confused.”source ↗

“It also seems like he offloads tasks and projects onto me when he doesn’t want to and/or doesn’t know how to do them, and will tell me to use chat gpt to work through it.”source ↗

“I feel like there is no way I’d want to or be ready to take over for him in 2 years.”source ↗

Jennaleigh1110 · r/Accounting · 1 upvotes

“I was getting along with everyone but now I am working for a manager who has unrealistic expectations... and who constantly seems annoyed at me and has an attitude for not meeting with them.”source ↗

“I also got a performance review from another manager stating I was okay but I need to significantly improve my self review and attention to detail. I want to work on that but I’m worried it’s not enough or I might not be able to improve it as much as I should.”source ↗

throwRA221679 · r/Accounting · 1 upvotes

“The manager wants me to do the entire audit, no matter what it takes time wise and she will just review my work. If I have questions, she is unable to answer them or will blatantly give me the wrong answer.”source ↗

“I’m trying to work on the attention to detail as much as possible but I wish it came more naturally to me.”source ↗

throwRA221679 · r/Accounting · 1 upvotes

r/PropertyManagement2 people · September 2026

“Every day I‘m drowning in a sea of urgent repair, legal and maintenance emails and no matter how productive I am at the end of the day I never feel accomplished because I might have done 30 things but 300 are outstanding.”source ↗

“I feel like a failure at the end of every workday.”source ↗

pinkportfolio · r/PropertyManagement · 44 upvotes

“I manage several properties ALONE. no team. No staff, just me. I get the feeling of not finishing tasks. People are always upset, but I am one person😭 I am in search of advice too, a career change is not currently in the cards for me.”source ↗

Independent_Top_9808 · r/PropertyManagement · 3 upvotes

“I don’t know how we still have our sanity at this point I feel like the worst person on earth daily for years”source ↗

pinkportfolio · r/PropertyManagement · 1 upvotes

r/humanresources2 people · September 2026

“The phone rings and I want to cry.”source ↗

“Employee has a computer problem? We’re supposed to troubleshoot it.”source ↗

“We take the frustration. We take the complaints. We try to explain something we don’t control.”source ↗

Fantastic-Calendar31 · r/humanresources · 24 upvotes

“I work full-time as an HR Admin for a corporation. About 4 months into my role, it expanded to absorb a coworker's full-time HR Admin role.”source ↗

“They acted like I was being ridiculous and over stepping by asking for any additional pay.”source ↗

“Fast forward a few months, I'm still drowning in work and just treading water...there's always new projects to take on along with daily competing priorities.”source ↗

“There is just too much work to complete in my 40 hour work week, and I'm hourly.”source ↗

Lonely-Courage-9782 · r/humanresources · 6 upvotes

r/Teachers13 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“I’m on my fourth mental health day already and feeling guilty and anxious and ashamed but I really truly cannot handle the pressure and expectations and deadlines.”source ↗

“I’m in way over my head and feeling guilty like there’s no way out.”source ↗

“I hate myself for taking days off but I don’t even feel like myself.”source ↗

“It’s behavior and parents and deadlines and emails and the never ending to do list and zero time to actually do anything at work.”source ↗

Mean_Stand_1906 · r/Teachers · 20 upvotes

“I'm being asked to successfully direct three productions a year with only 3 rehearsals every two weeks.”source ↗

sara938433 · r/Teachers · 16 upvotes

“I have over 170 and a coworker has over 200 this year with 6 sections. Where in public education are middle school teachers having less than 150 or even 100 students? I am considering a move and that may be a driving factor.”source ↗

inoturtle · r/Teachers · 14 upvotes

“I’m feeling very burnt out already. and hopeless.”source ↗

“How do I survive 31 more weeks of this 😭”source ↗

orderforblarn · r/Teachers · 11 upvotes

“I am 4th year history teacher in middle school. First three years had its ups and downs, but mostly I felt good about my job.”source ↗

“It feels like I can't keep up with anything anymore, the quality of my lessons is constantly dropping, and I’m no longer that cheerful, relaxed teacher that I was before.”source ↗

RubDeep3769 · r/Teachers · 11 upvotes

“I’m a first-year teacher in upper elementary (I am teaching a split this year).”source ↗

“I just realized I am not experiencing the joy I see others around me experiencing, and I’m not looking forward to the next day(s), and I am worried I made the wrong choice.”source ↗

“It’s awful and I just want to cry.”source ↗

Plus_Molasses8697 · r/Teachers · 8 upvotes

“Well, I consistently feel valued neither as a person nor teacher from my job.”source ↗

“They acknowledged my burnout and then piled on more work and told me to view it as a leadership opportunity.”source ↗

Tee_Red · r/Teachers · 3 upvotes

“I second guess my career choice every day.”source ↗

Duke2814 · r/Teachers · 2 upvotes

“I have 190 in high school. I did have around 145 a few years ago, but that was the year we lost three positions a month into school.”source ↗

ADHTeacher · r/Teachers · 2 upvotes

“we are overburdened, we are undervalued and certainly underpaid.”source ↗

loveshoes1 · r/Teachers · 2 upvotes

“I’m starting to realize pretty quickly just how much work teaching is.”source ↗

“the amount of extra work, the PLCs, the observations from admin, the students learned helplessness and behavior issues. It’s all just SO MUCH.”source ↗

“I have 8th graders who are reading on 1st grade reading levels. It is seriously, seriously bad and I truly do not see how someone can do this as a career for 30+ years.”source ↗

Greedy-Discussion327 · r/Teachers · 2 upvotes

“Up until last year I was okay with going back to work on Sundays. Now I dread it.”source ↗

GrandSlam127 · r/Teachers · 1 upvotes

“I quit teaching after my second year because of all the expectations I was expected to follow, both for myself and for what my students were supposed to achieve.”source ↗

“teachers would actually have more time to plan and prepare instead of constantly trying to cram everything in.”source ↗

FrostyMonkeys · r/Teachers

r/ITManagers2 people · September 2026

“I manage IT for a retail business with multiple stores and brands. It’s me, one junior technician and external vendors.”source ↗

“Right now, I’m juggling a server refresh, app integration problems, connectivity changes and compliance requirements alongside normal operations.”source ↗

“Is this reasonable for our team size, or am I covering too many roles?”source ↗

Ok_Talk_7259 · r/ITManagers · 18 upvotes

“I have 5, soon to be 6 locations across 3 states in the southwest... Just me and a junior doing everything you got + cameras.”source ↗

“I am stretched too thin by a good amount.”source ↗

ScottIPease · r/ITManagers · 1 upvotes