What do you do, and how did you end up there?

I'm an attorney, presently specializing in plaintiff's personal injury work. In other words, I'm an ambulance chaser . I started undergrad as a general mech engineering major and realized way before icaneat50eggs that I could do the work easy enough but I'd hate the job and switched to political science. Took a year off before law school and worked retail management which was plenty of motivation to work hard in law school...

Started out in a small firm doing high end health care law related work - I was the incorporator of a large multi-hospital health care system, I did sophisticated litigation, I was a registered lobbyist and lobbied on health care issues. I liked the work but not the firm or the location, and I got recruited to a very large (200+) firm to do what I went to law school thinking I wanted to do, corporate transactional law. I was involved in billion dollar bond deals where everyone at the table waited for me to approve the deal so it could close. I did mergers and acquisitions contracts. And I hated it. When the wife sat me down and told me I was clearly miserable and was taking it out on her and the kids I quit the next day.

I spent almost 2 years away from the practice of law before I was recruited to my current firm where I have been for 9 years now. I get to help people who need help and I have a lot of job satisfaction because of it.

So now when those idiots get you guys hurt in car accidents you know who to call...

I design fireplaces, decorative fireplace surrounds, and BBQ grills...As a youngster, I never would have imagined that I would ever do such a thing, but that's what I've been doing for the last 7 years or so. It's a strange industry but there are some interesting aspects to it and it pays the bills.

I don't want to recount my background story because it just reminds me that I haven't lived up to my dreams. But I am able to support my awesome family and that's what is most important.

pigeon wrote: I started undergrad as a general mech engineering major and realized way before icaneat50eggs that I could do the work easy enough but I'd hate the job

Dang it, I always thought i was smarter than my lawyer friends.

JamesMcD wrote: I don't want to recount my background story because it just reminds me that I haven't lived up to my dreams. But I am able to support my awesome family and that's what is most important.

That is what maturity is all about......

I started in a grocery store when I was 14, and transferred to a store near school once I started university. I burnt myself out during the fourth year, and I left in the middle of the fall semester, and didn't re-enroll for the spring. I started working full-time, got my first management position, and then started back at school part-time the fol. I'm still with the same company 9 years later, now a produce manager, and I'm still in school. I've been doing the work full-time/school part-time for two years now; I really dug myself in deep with grades and such.

I'm still debating my next step. I'm just trying to make the most of the year I have left at school.

Got an associates degree in electronic engineering technology straight out of high school(my parents gave me an ultimatum to either get a job, enlist or college, I couldn't find a job and didn't want to cut my hair). I was a shy kid with no social skills, but ended up with a factory job after college. Spent 5-years doing that, learning what I was good at, what I loathed, and how to deal with people. Got fed up and quit, bounced around a couple jobs and ended up as a copier tech. Worked from the ground level up to service manager, picked up IT skills along the way, but finally got tired of spending all day dealing with other people crisis'. Took on a new role a year ago as Managed Print Specialist - basically I'm a business analyst that focuses on costs associated with document output and document management. We're a small company though, so I also schedule and perform all new equipment installations to ensure everything is networked and configured to the customer's satisfaction, as well as give the end-users training.

I also started a business a couple years ago. I hope to be able to take it full-time in a few more years, once the two oldest kids are on their own, and we're in a better financial position.

I am an Electrical Engineer, however I did mostly mechanical and civil work. Like a lot of Engineers, I have moved in to working in Management.

I am currently the Director of Facilities in a Community College. My department manages Caretaking, Security, Maintenance, Parking and a bunch of other stuff.

Sales, service and installation of automatic pedestrian doors, like you see in grocery stores and hospitals. We also do a lot of ADA door operators and access control systems. Presently self employed. It keeps me busy and pays the bills. I've been doing this for about 6 years.

No college for me, I hated school with a burning passion. I even bailed before I finished HS. So far, I haven't missed it. In the last 25 years I've done everything from run a shovel to run a retail store. I ended up in the door industry by answering a help wanted add 10 years ago. I ended up working for myself because I got tired of the corporate bull crap that comes from working at a large company. They were pissing off customers faster than I could find them.

Here's one of my jobs. Sold it and installed it. This one is at a McLeod Medical Center satellite office in Florence, SC.

I was an Arizona Highway Patrolman at 21. Met a french model at 22. Took a leave of absence to get married and moved to France. At 24 was on a trip to LA with my 2 year old daughter and wife. While helping a broken down truck my daughter woke up from a nap, got out of a rear mounted car seat, climbed to the front floor, pushed the throttle to full and pulled the gearshift into gear. I was rammed full throttle by my 69 big block Chevelle into the parked truck.

My legs were split above and below my knees. Only skin holding my right leg together. My wife moved to France with my daughter. I had 5 surgeries to walk. I didn't have money to live on so I sold a house that I had built and moved into a TIPI while recovering. I was flat broke and went to not eating every day.

Not having money for my daughters Christmas I made her toys. I ended up inventing a coin bank in the shape of a Dinosaur that had a track that let kids see the money get eaten. I took them to a craft show and sold 970 of them at $30 in 4 days. I patented them and set up a small business to sell them. www.bigbellybanks.com. In the past 19 years I have sold over 800,000 of them and license them in Europe as well.

I got remarried and have 5 children total. While they were young I made a fishing pole for them that was tangle free, didn't have exposed hooks, and was self launching. I sold over $1,000,000.00 of them in 48 minutes on the TV shopping channel QVC..

I make my living from my inventions and licensing of my patents. This has allowed me to pursue my passion for cars. I am working on developing a kit to convert a Miata into a 50's inspired lightweight sports car.

Truly living the American dream.

PS my daughter from my French wife ended up moving to the States and lives close to me. Thank God for that.

I was in television Broadcast Operations (known as "Master Control" when I started). Long story short, the folks that assemble all the different parts of TV (shows, commercials, graphics, etc.) to create the signal folks see on their set at home. I'd been a radio DJ as a teen, but my Arbitrons were too low (Program Director said my humor was "too dry"). Moved to TV because it still required dexterity then--I had the physical skills to run the on-air control panel since I worked in radio during the pre-automation days (late 1970s). The process has been automated for quite some time, IMO the only reason I can use a computer is because automation and video server technology came along so many years ago.

I was actually laid off last April after 20yrs. with a major cable broadcaster here in Atlanta. I'm kind of tired of TV, it seems to be dying from lack of content (much like commercial radio did 30yrs ago). Got a great severance package, but it has ended and I honestly don't know what I'm going to do next. I never finished college, so I really don't know how to do anything else but this thing I've learned to hate ("reality" TV, anyone? ).

Thought about going back to school..but I'm turning 50 this April, and I'm also part of the "NO DEBT EVAH!" crowd.

Multi-Line Insurance Adjuster here.

I argue with Pigeon and make way less money. I also come out and write an estimate for the damages when your water supply line burst.

Went to school for Graphic Design while working in mechanic and body shops. Graduated with a BS in Art-2D Graphic Design and a minor in Business Management. Realized before I graduated that I was not talented enough nor had the desire to do design work. Since I worked at Body Shops I had a good deal of interaction with auto appraisers. Moved to Charlotte, NC working for Hertz in the meantime. Put in applications with the big name insurance companies both in Charlotte and DC. Got hired at a third party adjusting firm doing casualty work in the DC area.

Moved down and worked for GRM for a year or so doing ad sales. Realized I was not a sales man. I had kept in touch with a few co-workers and my manager from DC. I had told a co-worker I was not enjoying sales. He told the manager who knows the manager down here and put in a good word if they needed anyone. A month or two later I get a call and ended up going back to work for them.

I get to work from home and handle and see interesting things. One downfall is that you are essentially always arguing with someone. You also deal with quite a few people who are running scams or at least inflating claims.

jmc14 wrote: I was an Arizona Highway Patrolman at 21. Met a french model at 22. Took a leave of absence to get married and moved to France. At 24 was on a trip to LA with my 2 year old daughter and wife. While helping a broken down truck my daughter woke up from a nap, got out of a rear mounted car seat, climbed to the front floor, pushed the throttle to full and pulled the gearshift into gear. I was rammed full throttle by my 69 big block Chevelle into the parked truck. My legs were split above and below my knees. Only skin holding my right leg together. My wife moved to France with my daughter. I had 5 surgeries to walk. I didn't have money to live on so I sold a house that I had built and moved into a TIPI while recovering. I was flat broke and went to not eating every day. Not having money for my daughters Christmas I made her toys. I ended up inventing a coin bank in the shape of a Dinosaur that had a track that let kids see the money get eaten. I took them to a craft show and sold 970 of them at $30 in 4 days. I patented them and set up a small business to sell them. www.bigbellybanks.com. In the past 19 years I have sold over 800,000 of them and license them in Europe as well. I got remarried and have 5 children total. While they were young I made a fishing pole for them that was tangle free, didn't have exposed hooks, and was self launching. I sold over $1,000,000.00 of them in 48 minutes on the TV shopping channel QVC.. I make my living from my inventions and licensing of my patents. This has allowed me to pursue my passion for cars. I am working on developing a kit to convert a Miata into a 50's inspired lightweight sports car. Truly living the American dream. PS my daughter from my French wife ended up moving to the States and lives close to me. Thank God for that.

YOU ARE AWESOME!!!! Now I really want to buy your kit!!!!!

In reply to jmc14:

Holy crap that is one hell of a story.

I was blown away reading that. How inspirational, I take my hat off to you sir!

I wanted to be a car designer but then I had a professor talk me out of it. Jerk. I then became an audio engineer and did music recording for years. It finally got to the point where I had to where I needed to find other audio work as the long hours of doing music makes you a crap hole Dad. I ended up at a large Redmond based software company where I run the audio group at our amazing video production facility. It is a great job where hard work is required and every day is a challenge. Image working with at a company where everybody is trying to run faster than you. Tough but so rewarding!

Oh and through my job I got to meet Akio Toyoda and at the end of this month I am going on a tour of NASCAR productions in Charlotte. So cool!!

Worked in a body/restoration shop to pay for college - got a degree in journalism, worked for an ad agency as a media planner, but it wasn't going anywhere. Landed a gig at an insurance company writing health plan policies - the lawyers just gave their input on what I wrote. Hated having to write in the clauses that screwed people over.

Did some marketing for a music/broadcast console mfg for a while, then some work for an association - web content, education...also freelanced helping a physician run a training program for a medical device.

From that, landed a gig at a cancer hospital as a part-time web content manager and event planner. At the time an airplane crashed into the hospital and their marketing director walked off the job. They offered it to me. Did that for a few years, then I moved into operations - been there 12 years - now on the management team, but want to go do my own thing. Last year wrote a book for cancer patients and families - shameless plug: Cancer...The Insider's Guide.

Also developing a pneumatic/hydraulic clutch control for amputees - so they can drive a manual transmission. Still working out a few details, but should be operational/able to duplicate in a couple months. Probably not much of a market, but means a lot to me.

Indeed, incredible story.

After a short spell at a factory that is now closed, I decided that I needed to get into school. Needless to say, I went in ill-prepared, not much money saved, and bad money skills. This was a very prestigious automotive school, that requires you to have an apartment and a job. Lost my job, ran out of money, had to come home. That combined that on a trip home, my now wife came down with a case of pregnant. So I quit.

Two weeks later she miscarries.

Here I am, college dropout, with a hurt girlfriend, and damaged ego. Then act two begins.

Anyone who knows me at all knows that monster trucks are my THANG, ever since the age of two. Fall 2007 I get the chance to do my dream, to drive one. I get to work my dream for almost six weeks, when my she and my parents came down to watch me race in Mississippi, she gave me and ultimatum. Her, or this.

I chose her, and I don't regret it.

I still think of it often, and when I tell people I used to drive a monster truck, nobody believes me. Now we've been married for a year and a half, daughter will be three in two weeks, and I'm loving being a father.

I currently work full time at an auto parts store. Worked my way up from a part time pee-on, now basically assistant manager. The cost of living here is low, so the pay is okay, and I enjoy the job, I just know I can't do it forever.

Taking it one day at a time.

Wow, there are a lot of smart people here with cool jobs.

I just drive a city bus. Which is an improvement after driving a taxi for 16 years. That was only supposed to be a temporary job.

But I love my job. Its not rocket science, pay is good, benefits and a pension.

There are some very interesting people around here.

I'm a liability technical specialist for an insurance company. I also argue with Pigeon's colleagues, but only when the cases are in active litigation, or are for serious injuries. I deal with the litigation hell hole of Philadelphia, so I have plenty of work and job security. I'm fortunate to have a company that values my work and has promoted me twice in 3.5 years, with a new training program starting to line me up for another one.

After college with a business degree, I got into selling cars as I wanted to work for an auto company, and wanted some experience that I could relate to the industry. That was a very eye opening 2 years, I did well, but it wasn't for me. I then took a year and a half off and unfortunately wasted most of it being indecisive and unhappy. We moved to CT, and I then started working for a different auto insurance company as an adjuster, hired basically because of my customer service skills and automotive knowledge. I did that for a year, but that company was not well run, so I quit again for a year, did some offshore sailing, moved to Montana for a while, had fun. I then had to really settle my life down, that's when I found a job with the company I work for now, moved to PA, bought a house, etc.

I went to college for a semester after high school. Wasn't really interested in it at the time and my grades reflected that. Left college and kicked around for about 6 months and several crappy jobs, then enlisted in the Navy to be a nuclear trained Electronics Technician. Did well in the training program and was selected to become a staff instructor at the prototype (land-based version of a naval reactor plant, used for testing and training). While there I applied for and was selected for an officer program, so I was sent off to college. Had to get a technical degree and only had 3 years to do. Wanted to go into electrical engineering, but the way the courses were structured, there was no way to do it in 3 years. Ended up getting a Chemistry degree. Back through the navy nuclear training pipeline, and then off to the world of submarines. Ended up serving on 4 different submarines and got to do and see some spectacular things. Retired from the navy at my 20 year point, then worked for the Missile Defense Agency for almost 3 years. Got a masters degree in Engineering Management. Last fall, I made a change, and now am back in the nuclear world, working at a power plant as a electrical and control systems design engineer. I'm the only one in my group without an engineering degree, but with 20 years of experience in the operation and maintenance of nuclear plants from my navy time I can hang in there just fine. Currently trying to juggle over 10 major projects, including 5 that involve changes to allow the reactor power to be uprated. Interesting stuff, but sometimes miss the non-nuclear world. Rocket Science doesn't involve nearly as much paperwork and procedures.

This is the GRM version of LinkedIn.

Most people posting are significantly older than me, so they have a lot more depth to work with. I am not worthy! But I'll post anyways.

Went directly out of high school into a 5 year co-op engineering degree program (standard 4 year program with 12 months of work terms designed into it, almost guaranteed job placement after graduation).

I couldn't handle it. The program was super competitive with the entrance average being in the 90's. I was only a high 80's coming out of high school, and coupled with my poor performance and the curve, I was screwed. After getting past mid-terms in the second semester, I gave it up.

I had been doing plumbing during the summer, and got on with the same company doing HVAC full time. Was pulling down good coin, and then got offered another position for more money by a competitor. Oversold myself, employer wasn't happy with how much he was paying me vs work output. I resigned. Longtime family friend was HR manager for the city I lived in, took up a position in the Water Distribution section. Earned good friekin coin, but knew I had to go back to school. Probably could have been head of the department (was where I was going) but didn't want to. When offered training in my final summer, I declined and they appreciated it as I was going back to school. Worked my summers there earning close to $25/h.

In the meantime, I had started co-driving in performance stage rally. I wouldn't say it was actually going anywhere, but I got lots of calls and participated on some very cool teams who went very fast. Would have been interesting to persue that in a more serious manner, but I have other plans. I'm a driver at heart!

Graduated from Instrumentation Technology Engineering, a unique field that is extremely important yet not well known (yes, engineers "work" on/with instrumentation, but most come from other backgrounds).

Bounced from the city position to a sales position in Calgary (good coin!) and quit while boarding a plane for a race. The reason for quitting? Where I am currently at, I do research and development on industrial instruments for the government of Alberta. We do "everything", but our specialty is in-situ analyzers, specifically spectrometers. As a tech, I do a lot of the hands on (assembly/maintenance) and documentation of the development process. Some drafting as well, but the heavy theoretical stuff gets left to the PHD's and P.Engs. I also tend to build miniature processes to test and develop our equipment on.

Earned a Bachelor's of Science in Automotive Technology which, by the third semester, I figured out I didn't really want because of the jobs it "automatically" set me up for. And I stayed with it anyway, picking up a Computing minor along the way. After graduating I spent a year out working and trying to figure out the next move, went back to the same university and pulled a Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering in Technology. It's sort of like an EE but slightly different and most HR departments think it's an associates and won't talk to me.

Went to work for an aircraft company out of school, laid off a few years later, stumbled from aircraft to aircraft company, now back at the original joint. It's... okay? The money is decent and there are days I like it. It's a lot of paperwork and acronyms and I don't really relate that well to most of my coworkers.

I very recently was asked what I'd suggest a younger person study and I said 'a second language, and a business degree'. Only I don't really want to do that for myself either so, eh, what do I know? I don't think I'm working to my fullest potential but it's just comfortable enough for me to stay with it, and I don't want to go back to college again.

I hated high school and left halfway through grade ten. After a few years of factory work I got a job as an apprentice auto mechanic in a corner garage. I loved it for a few years, but working on junk got tired so I went back to the factories, and worked my way up through setup, and into the maintenance department. When that place closed, I got a job at a small, really cool R&D facility as their maintenance guy, saw an oppurtunity, and returned to school part time. I was working days there, taking my millwright schooling 2 nights a week, and machinist all day Saturday. Within a year I was their machine builder, and a few years later was running the maintenance department. Awesome job, but I got a really good offer from an automotive parts plant that would allow me to do everything for my family that I was not currently able to do. So after 15 years of the R&D place, I went back on the tools maintaining heavy presses and CNC machining centers. After a few years I worked my way into maintenance management there, but after 11 years took a transfer close to home, and went back on the tools again. Thats where I am now, and probably will be until retirement. I used to do fleet maintenance for a few local contractors on the side, but now only do custom camshafts, and cylinder head work.

There are some very cool people on here.. it also explains why we can answer most any question

I usually manage auto repair shops.

I have a music/theater degree. I have a passion for anything automotive. I actually turned down a job at Hollywood Hotrods in Burbank because they wanted me to work the office. I wanted to get greasy. Instead, I worked for a while at a hot rod shop (www.sakowskimotors.com) and it was pretty much a dream come true until he moved the shop from L.A. back to the Carolinas.

After that I was kinda in trouble for a job so I applied for a tech position at a small garage. Turns out they were looking for a new manager/service writer and wanted to size me up for a few months before putting me in the office. That particular job was intense; I paid the bills, negotiated bulk deals, hired and fired... I was the top gun. From there I moved on to manage a small chain of 13 repair shops and now I'm being called for an interview at a large Pittsburgh chain of dealerships. I have no idea if they want me to wash cars, sell cars, or fix cars. Maybe they want me to be a sign-spinner out front. Not sure, but I'll find out soon.

In between those, I've been a general contractor, a voice-over actor, a film actor, and generally anything that paid the bills.

At the ripe age of 38 I finally found my calling, though. I'm going back to school for Therapy and Counseling with a particular nod toward alternative relationships. I haven't enrolled yet, but I have the financing lined up.

General links to some of my stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kXA6cdfkcc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VdSmfBufRA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SoYcoVD6NM
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2208525/