Is it normal to struggle with phone-heavy work when starting your first stable job at 30?

Hello! I’m recently started my first stable job, and I’m feeling quite conflicted about it.

My background is a Master’s in Philosophy. After graduating I did two full-time internships in the public sector (together about a year). After that I had a long period of unstable work and low income, so I never really managed to save money. Finally getting a permanent government job felt like a big step forward for me in terms of stability.

The role is a c level administrative position dealing with social security. I actually enjoy the analytical side of the work and figuring things out in files.

The difficult part is that a large part of the job involves answering phone calls from citizens. Something I didn’t expect to be an every day task. The questions are often quite complex because the legislation and calculations behind it are complicated. Colleagues say it can take years to fully understand the system.

The thing is: I already knew from past experiences that taking phone calls are not really my strength. In the past I even turned down a few positions because they involved a lot of calling. Now I finally have stability, but the phone part is exactly the kind of work that drains my energy. Because I’m still new, the calls can feel stressful. People expect answers in real time, while I’m still learning how everything works.

So now I feel a bit torn. On the one hand I’m grateful for the stability after some difficult years. On the other hand I’m wondering if this role might simply not be the right fit for me long term. I feel a bit trapped.

For people who have worked in similar environments:

• Does phone-heavy administrative work usually get easier after a few months?

• How do you handle calls when you genuinely don’t know the answer yet?

• And if you realize a role might not be the best fit, how long would you normally try to make it work before looking elsewhere?

I’d really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences.

🩵 thanks