Police detectives have lousy jobs. There is no fixed work hours. The pay is low. You spend time looking at graphic scenes all the time. And not to mention you spend most of your working hours with the biggest scums on planet earth.

Considering this, why should people choose police work as a profession? What kind of people really should choose police work because clearly it’s not for everyone?

Police work makes sense probably for people who feel they can play an active role in making society a better place. If you have a penchant for helping people but your overall personality is pleasant rather than aggressive, maybe not police work; but nursing is your thing. If you have a sunny, extroverted disposition and you genuinely like talking to people, you should work in sales or customer service.

Now imagine a situation where someone meant for police work ends up in sales and someone meant for sales ends up in a job in funeral parlor. It may sound implausible and impractical, but that’s happening all over the world every day. Every time when someone chooses a job for pay alone or for family pressure, they end up making these wrong choices. Then society as a whole suffers from getting corrupt policeman and grumpy customer service executives.

Not only psychology, but sometimes you have to read your physiological strengths to understand what you can be good for. If there is person who is over 7 feet tall in America, there is a 17% chance he is in NBA right now. If you belong to Kalenjin tribe in Kenya there is a high chance you will be a world class Marathon runner because of the unique and thin leg structure that those people have.

This is how society can help people become happier. By understanding what they are good at and helping them choose profession accordingly.