Are you lucky enough to be working in your dream job? Or are you facing the reality that living the dream is harder than expected.

Research from fish4 jobs has found that despite most Brits not working in their dream job (86 per cent), we are actually quite content with our lot. Most of those interviewed said that they wouldn’t retrain to get their dream job (57 per cent).

The survey asked people what their dream jobs were when they were growing up.

A total of 22 per cent wanted to become famous (actor/singer/TV Presenter), 24 per cent wanted to be professional sports people and intriguingly only 10 per cent wanted to work in the police force, which must be bucking the trend from previous generations when it was considered one of the best professions.

Some slightly wacky dream jobs included a fighter pilot (one per cent), scientist (six per cent) and astronaut (six per cent).

None of the respondents wanted to work in an office when they were growing up and teaching did not seem to inspire them either.

Out of those surveyed, 25 per cent studied further to improve their chances of landing their dream job, with four per cent still in training and three per cent having given up the dream despite training for it.

Strangely nine per cent said they never had a dream job whilst growing up!

Joe Slavin, CEO www.fish4jobs.co.uk said: “It’s really interesting to see the transition from our childhood dreams to adult reality. Many kids grow up wanting to be in glamorous careers but the reality is that it is very difficult to get that dream job when there is so much competition out there.

“People end up quitting college and their dreams to pursue something different and often more stable.”

He said: “This doesn’t mean that we are encouraging people to not have a dream but if you want to make it on TV or in the music industry or in fact want to be an astronaut you really need to be at the top of your league. Our advice is to work really hard at school, go to college to get the right qualifications, and make sure that you take as many opportunities that come your way regarding work experience.”