The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the most well-known and influential RPGs in the gaming industry. Fans who have played the game know that the people actually living in the province of Skyrim have it pretty rough. There are dragons rampaging and literally setting people on fire, bandits running rampant, and of course, there are sweetroll thieves on the loose.

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To put it bluntly, life in Skyrim would prove uncomfortable for most (excluding the Dragonborn, naturally). Even if prospective residents could get over the freezing weather and poor living conditions, there is also the fact that everyone would have to get a job — and frankly, making a living in Skyrim seems much easier said than done, considering the options.

10 Hunter

hunter skyrim

Meat doesn't grow on trees, after all — in addition to farming, hunting is a vital industry in Skyrim when it comes to providing food. The only problem is that the deer aren't the only things running around in the wilds. Hunters have to face off against things like bears, trolls, and ice wraiths, depending on what area they live in.

It's no secret that many hunters in the game have ended up wounded or eaten by one of the many monsters roaming the lands. In fact, the hunters seem to end up the hunted more often than not.

9 Housecarl

Lydia in Breezehome

Housecarls swear an oath to serve and follow their charges into battle, whether it's against an unruly bar patron or something immensely more terrifying — like a vampire or dragon. As gamers have seen, it doesn't take very long before companions are knocked out in the middle of battle.

Unless you want to spend most of your time laying on the ground unconscious, becoming a Housecarl isn't going to be much fun. You end up carrying most of your Thane's garbage, to boot.

8 Alchemist

The everyday alchemist is relied on by the people of their town to make much-needed medicine. With all the people that get injured, though, having to make health potions sounds like it would be a full-time job. Alchemists likely have to work long hours trying to make their potions so that they can meet demand.

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Unless fans of the series are looking for a job to keep them constantly busy and without rest, being an alchemist seems like too much work for what they likely get paid.

7 Bandit

A group of skyrim bandits standing by a tree

Bandits are one of the weakest enemy types in the game and find themselves being killed on the regular. If one decided to become a bandit, they would have to live in caves, risk being killed by trolls, and likely be taken down by the Dragonborn sooner or later. Banditry is a vocation with little to no reward — and what little reward there is will likely draw some enterprising young adventurer into butchering the entire hideout and taking it for themselves.

There aren't really any benefits to choosing to be a bandit, beyond not having to obey laws as long as you can stay on the run.

6 Miner

miner skyrim

The mines in Skyrim are in pretty rough shape. So many of them have skeletons littered around former work areas that it's abundantly obvious the industry isn't big on safety. On top of that, Markarth shows just how poorly miners can be treated. Have a visit and complete the "No One Escapes Cidhna Mine" quest for an in-depth look.

Being a miner in Skyrim likely isn't rewarding even if you do strike it lucky and find a vein of gold, as only the owner will really benefit from the find.

5 General Store Clerk

merchant skyrim

There are general stores in just about every town to help provide the residents with their basic needs. General stores, unfortunately, seem to get robbed with alarming regularity. It's also been proven that a simple bucket can render shopkeepers unable to keep themselves from being robbed of all their wares, strangely enough.

Unless you want to deal with constantly replacing stolen merchandise on top of dealing with rude customers, avoid this job.

4 Innkeeper

Inn Skyrim

Some really strange things go down in the inns of Skyrim — everything from murders to secret meetings go down within the walls of the local inn. To be honest, being an innkeeper seems like a dangerous job between the drunken brawls and various factions pressuring you for the wealth of information you'll be privy to.

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Not only are the guests a huge problem, but think about all the messes that patrons of the inn are likely to leave behind!

3 Bard

bard skyrim
via: SkyrimForums.org

While being a bard likely isn't as bad as other jobs on the list, it probably gets to be a little bit annoying. As a bard, you would have to stand around an inn constantly singing, just hoping a kind soul is feeling generous enough to furnish a tip for the performance. Going off of the economy of the game, this likely doesn't happen often, and the tips themselves are often meager.

This is a job that entails long hours with little pay, if there's any pay to be had at all. In fact, you will probably even get insulted for your work quite often. Though you could get a leg up on your competition by learning literally any song that isn't "The Dragonborn Comes."

2 Thief

Given that the Thieves' Guild harbors one of the most interesting and fun questlines in the entirety of the game, this one might seem strange. However, it's the Dragonborn that returned the guild to its former glory. Before that, they were in dire straits and few people took them seriously.

In fact, most thieves that aren't the Dragonborn or higher-ups within the organization seem pretty terrible at the job. And unfortunately, as can be seen in Riften, the consequence for bungling a job is often an unceremonious death beneath a hail of arrows. Even if you do slip away, guards have an uncanny ability to instantly communicate your crimes to the entirety of the local hold, so it's not worth the risk.

1 Guard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUADzvP3b5s
Via: Waifu Simulator 27 (YouTube)

Being a guard is probably one of the better-paid jobs in the game, but at what cost? Guards have to deal with everything from dragon attacks to the Dragonborn deciding that he wants to destroy an entire town. It's likely that many guards find themselves with tons of trauma at the end of each day.

Being a guard is only for the type of person that doesn't mind sacrificing themselves for others and can deal with constantly breaking up petty squabbles over sweetroll theft.

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