I very rarely get asked that question but when I do I just tell them, not sure why it’s a problem question.
I skipped through the video, I really don’t treat everyone I meet as someone who can change my life. They’re just people I meet Why do those 3 new people he claims we meet every day need to be treated as possible beneficial relationships.
I do enjoy talking to new people but I don’t get the need to always impress people or sell myself. That’s entirely too much work.
Mitch has a great reply:
“I do all the work round here”
Sir, I’m a Wendy’s employee…
Describe oncologist in three words.
“I study cancer”
True, but that’s only part of the job.
My dumb brain read proctologist, and I found 3 words for that 
I just say that I function as Fizard for a Fortune 500 company.
That’s true for (almost) all jobs. There would be a subspecialty within oncology, depending on whether you’re dealing with research, patient diagnosis or treatment. But the common thread amongst anyone calling themselves an oncologist would be the study of cancer.
In the same sense, a plumber is definitely not a bullshit job (IMO), but I’d have a hard time describing the job in 3 words beyond something like “control water flow”.
I agree with you that the “3 word test” is pretty arbritrary and incomplete. A better determinant would be something like “describe your occupation (or avocation) in 25 words or less using only words from the most-used-1000 words in English” (and no acronyms).
Oncologists also offer palliative care to people with cancer, at which point the focus changes from the study of cancer to improving the quality of the patients life. A better description would be “I treat and care for people with cancer”, but that goes well over three words.
Agreed. My initial suggestion would be the explain it to a five year old test, but even that doesn’t work with some highly specialised jobs that do make the world a better place.
Yeah, have to confirm that explaining cancer and death to 5 year olds does require an ability very few people posess, least of all me.
Wow, I just realized that the captain was too rotund to fit into the uniform, and therefore had to wear it like a cape, clasped with the 2nd or 3rd button from the top, and even the hat was too small for his head. ^____^
“I help people who are ill” would be where I would start with my example.
ETA: ELI5 points out it isn’t about explaining it to literal five year olds.
LI5 means friendly, simplified and layperson-accessible explanations - not responses aimed at literal five-year-olds.
i used to have a job explaining grammar. and then everyone on the internet started doing it for free. now i can only cry into my beer glass. and there is no beer
The entire point of giving a long, incoherent, boring answer to this question is so the person will go away and stop talking to you. Anyone who opens a conversation with “What do you do for a living?” sucks, and you should end that conversation asap.
Yeah, it’s a weird situation, explaining that someone they loved isn’t around, and that death isn’t a bad thing per se, and that we, and other people will die, but not yet…
Kind of easy to understand why religion came about.
“cancer patient healthcare”?
( and sometimes probably “patient cancer healthcare” )
