What do you do for a living and why do you like it?

I started out working in a production machine shop. My father had taught me how to run a lathe and drill press as a kid. So when I got in high school it was easy to get a part-time job in the neighbors machine shop. I used the money I made at the machine shop to pay for a college education to be a shop teacher.

Once I graduated from college is when my work history gets unusual. I taught middle school shop for 18 years and then switched over to teaching introductory computer courses to middle school students for 10 more years. Of course, teachers don't teach in the summer so I always had a summer job and some of those carried over to part-time work during the school year.

My part-time jobs ranged all over the place.
Auto Mechanic
Motorcycle Mechanic
Gunsmith
Security Guard/PI
And at least one summer in every skill area in the construction trades.

After retiring from teaching I got an IT job with a hardware wholesaler. It was the beginning of the office PC era so I ended up being the "PC" guy. "We think our salesmen need computers. You need to figure out which ones to get and get them ordered. And when they come in you can teach the salesmen how to use them." "The salemen would like to have the catalog (40K items) on their computers and to be able to use them to place orders. Write something up so they can do that." The job was interesting, lucrative, and stressful all at the same time. Unfortunately the company got bought out after 5 years.

So I got a job working in an old fashioned hardware store owned by a friend. I ran(ordered, stocked, etc.) the fastener department(two full aisles) and a little bit of every thing else you do in a retail store. I liked the job but decided to quit when I reached S.S. retirement age.

34 years old , been doing construction most my life with concrete being my speciality.

Run my own business now and can say without a doubt that trades are a great thing to get into. I work with people that are almost always 10 years older than me , no one young is doing concrete anymore around me.

So it's a job that you can never ever outsource,will always be needed and is losing it's workforce year by year

In reply to Marjorie Suddard:

Thanks.

GSmith wrote: If you're getting bored doing IT... you're doing it wrong.

Or you're cleaning up databases x_x

Ian F wrote: In reply to pheller: A friend of mine is a GIS Specialist/Application Developer for a utility company in CT.

I'm at the (or that) fork in the road in terms of career development. I could become more valuable or marketable in the broader job market with programming, coding, development skills, or get into management and gain more skills within the industry. Neither really interests me.

Thing is, my career aspiration aren't about more money. I'm not motivated by a bigger paycheck, I'm motivated by a fun life doing things I want to do. That means more vacation, more time off, more flexibility. I don't want to be so poor that I can't live that life, but I also don't want to work so much that my family travels without me (my wife gets nearly 5 weeks of a vacation a year plus holidays). If someone said "here is a job that guarantees you 6 weeks of vacation a year and a $50,000yr salary, but you need to learn this programming language", I would start learning it immediately.

I'm thankful and incredibly lucky to have my job, live in a beautiful place, and make good money, but I also took this job because if I hadn't I would've never seen the southwest. I would've never had the time. I can catch the sunset at the Grand Canyon after work during the summer. I can drive to Zion on the weekend. I can go to San Diego with a 3-day weekend and ride Sedona every weekend if I choose. These are things I would've never done on my previous employers 2-weeks of vacation.

Regardless of how much technology makes our lives easier, corporate America still wants us sitting in a chair 5 days a week, 261 days a year.

I keep looking at education as a future career because it's just assumed that teacher will get summers off. I've worked with kids in that type of environment (summer camps) and absolutely loved it.

I'm also trying to save as much money as possible to potentially buy rental properties or other ways of generating income.

EDIT: Sorry, this was an unrelated rant. One thing I'd suggest to a lot of young people is travel while you can.

pheller wrote: I keep looking at education as a future career because it's just assumed that teacher will get summers off. I've worked with kids in that type of environment (summer camps) and absolutely loved it.

Teaching is a vocation, not a job. If you go into it for the vacation, you'll burn out in no time. The classroom is very much not summer camp. It can be hugely rewarding (I come from several generations of teachers and almost went there myself) but it's not for everyone.

Keith Tanner wrote:

pheller wrote: I keep looking at education as a future career because it's just assumed that teacher will get summers off. I've worked with kids in that type of environment (summer camps) and absolutely loved it.

Teaching is a vocation, not a job. If you go into it for the vacation, you'll burn out in no time. The classroom is very much not summer camp. It can be hugely rewarding (I come from several generations of teachers and almost went there myself) but it's not for everyone.

I teach. High school Driver Education. I thoroughly love it. I am at my most Zen while in the passenger seat instructing. There are no summers off for me. I get two weeks in August which is spent mostly doing house projects.

Keith Tanner wrote:

pheller wrote: I keep looking at education as a future career because it's just assumed that teacher will get summers off. I've worked with kids in that type of environment (summer camps) and absolutely loved it.

Teaching is a vocation, not a job. If you go into it for the vacation, you'll burn out in no time. The classroom is very much not summer camp. It can be hugely rewarding (I come from several generations of teachers and almost went there myself) but it's not for everyone.

This is what has kept me from going into the field. I think I'd like it, but I'm not sure I'm not doing it for the time off. Part of that is the extra work I'd be able to do in the time off that I don't get to do now, things that I love but really cannot make a living off of.

vwcorvette wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote:

pheller wrote: I keep looking at education as a future career because it's just assumed that teacher will get summers off. I've worked with kids in that type of environment (summer camps) and absolutely loved it.

Teaching is a vocation, not a job. If you go into it for the vacation, you'll burn out in no time. The classroom is very much not summer camp. It can be hugely rewarding (I come from several generations of teachers and almost went there myself) but it's not for everyone.

I teach. High school Driver Education. I thoroughly love it. I am at my most Zen while in the passenger seat instructing. There are no summers off for me. I get two weeks in August which is spent mostly doing house projects.

I always like to ask this question to teachers. Most I know freak out and say they don't get time off!, but I think they make it sound worse than it actually is.

How much time off do you actually get? By my count, it is something like this:

2-4 weeks off in the summer (weeks that are truly off, and not Continuing Education/prep/etc.)
1 week off for Spring break
2 weeks of for Winter break
All the holidays (7 at my moms school that are not institute days or part of a break)

Is that close to accurate? Also, are you part time in the summer?

My brother is a high school history teacher. He loves it but watching him I could never do it. The time off is nice but he puts in fairly long hours and besides teaching he has to be part social worker, cop, and therapist and there's a never ending parade of bullE36 M3 that comes down from his supervisors.

I used to think that teaching would be awesome, age and experience have combined to teach me otherwise. Nothing about teaching is appealing anymore. Not the teacher blaming parents, the capitulating school boards, the surly children, none of it.

OTOH,if your goal is substantial time off, then working for Uncle Sam isn't the worst thing ever. I get 5 weeks vacation a year and all the holidays off.

Someone asked me back in '02 what my dream job would be. At the time I was a CNA working in the ER while I went to nursing school. I said handyman for a rich guy taking care of his estate. A couple years later an opening came up in the engineering department of our facility and I beat out 200 other applicants for it. It's fun to have the run of the place and a sense of ownership. Fixing things has always been my interest and as the years went by I found myself specializing more and more on doors and locks. Now I'm the locksmith and THE authority of the facility in my field.

50Yr old Jack of a lot of trades. I always tell my nephew to pick a craft and learn it. Now a days there is no employment stability so if you have a basic craft like electrician, plumbing, wrenching then you will have something to build on.

I have bounced around a lot, Have 3 jobs now. Main gig is Low Voltage for rich people, I still train animals and work for a couple bands.

I work as an electrical engineer. I like it because I get to solve problems. Been doing the job for about 5.5 years after serving in the Navy for 20 years and then spending about 3 years learning what I did (and didn't) want to do for my second career.

My wife has been a teacher in an inner city elementary cool. She teaches self contained special needs children.

She berkeleying HATES the bullE36 M3 that comes with being a teacher. The children are the only reason she lasted this long.she is job hunting now. After 11 years. A completely different field.

mtn wrote: I always like to ask this question to teachers. Most I know freak out and say they don't get time off!, but I think they make it sound worse than it actually is. How much time off do you actually get? By my count, it is something like this: 2-4 weeks off in the summer (weeks that are truly off, and not Continuing Education/prep/etc.) 1 week off for Spring break 2 weeks of for Winter break All the holidays (7 at my moms school that are not institute days or part of a break) Is that close to accurate? Also, are you part time in the summer?

My wife is an elementary public school teacher here in Ohio.
I would say the above is pretty correct with the summer portion only amounting to 3 weeks when you factor out required additional training meetings and etc.

So, that is a total of 5 weeks and all the holidays.

I myself worked most my days in corporate middle management. That typically resulted in 2 weeks paid vacation and all the same holidays. Stick around long enough and you gain a couple more weeks.

Not that much different now that she has 20 yrs of teaching in and has never seen an increase in her vacation days.

I also have to say the math doesn't work out. Her amount of unpaid overtime (paper grading and class prep) does not compensate for the additional time off.

The worst part of the whole "teachers get so much vacation" statement is that 100% off all the time they get off is Prime Vacation season. That means no discounted rates and crowds are at their maximum.

35 year old aircraft mechanic (Avionics).

I got my start with an enlistment with the Navy. After which I juggled school and work on commercial aircraft for 3rd party maintenance facilities. The pay was good, but the benefits were not.

Continued working on school, and licensing (A&P, FCC, etc) until I got to where I am now (Military contractor, employed by an aerospace company that rhymes with "going"). I've finished my education but still fix jets.

What I like:

the pay is great. I'm married with 2-kids and can still buy everything I need and a little bit of what I want (but only just. and that's nice too because I appreciate what I have more now). The work is great. I derive a great sense of satisfaction when I fix a problem that's plagued an aircraft for weeks, months, or even years before I got it. The potential travel is amazing. I've worked in 6 different countries for short periods of time, lived in 2 different countries for longer periods of time, visited more than 20 different countries in between, and I'm about to move to a new country again. The travel is probably my favorite part.

What I dislike:

When I worked 3rd party maintenance houses I had the best bosses, great pay, and no benefits (seriously, if you called in sick when you were needed you better plan on packing your bags when you got back).

Now that I'm where I work now, I have great pay, great benefits, but I have yet to have a boss that didn't screw up every good thing at every turn for reasons that seem to be beyond any logic or reason I can think of. Seriously, if there's a smart way of doing something or a dumb way that's going to piss everyone off, guess which way we do it? It drives me crazy, and I'm mentally exhausted from the proverbial BS when I get home every day.

My advice:

Take what dreamed of doing as a kid and start looking at the chain of command. When I was a kid I wanted to be a pilot. As I got older I realized that probably wasn't going to happen so failing that I wanted to be an aircraft engineer. When I graduated high school I realized that college wasn't quite for me so failing that I really just wanted to be around jets. Jets make me happy, and I'm happy I get to play with them.

Good times

KyAllroad wrote: I used to think that teaching would be awesome, age and experience have combined to teach me otherwise. Nothing about teaching is appealing anymore. Not the teacher blaming parents, the capitulating school boards, the surly children, none of it. OTOH,if your goal is substantial time off, then working for Uncle Sam isn't the worst thing ever. I get 5 weeks vacation a year and all the holidays off. Someone asked me back in '02 what my dream job would be. At the time I was a CNA working in the ER while I went to nursing school. I said handyman for a rich guy taking care of his estate. A couple years later an opening came up in the engineering department of our facility and I beat out 200 other applicants for it. It's fun to have the run of the place and a sense of ownership. Fixing things has always been my interest and as the years went by I found myself specializing more and more on doors and locks. Now I'm the locksmith and THE authority of the facility in my field.

I guess I envy the teaching schedule because I've never lived it. If I ever did teach, it would be in some sort of non-core subject like technology or shop. Most every teacher I've met who teaches those subjects (shop, computer classes, tech classes, etc) absolutely loves their job. Every teacher I've met who teaches English or Math can't wait to get out.

My plan is to continue gaining skills, and hopefully building my education to the point where I could teach if I was in the situation that allowed it. If a utility industry job comes up before then that provides my vacation satisfaction, I'd certainly jump on it.

Having previously worked in government, I know it's pros and cons. Right now is not a good time to be in government. in 4 years it might be.

Hungary Bill wrote: I've worked in 6 different countries for short periods of time, lived in 2 different countries for longer periods of time, visited more than 20 different countries in between, and I'm about to move to a new country again. The travel is probably my favorite part.

I always thought that type of job would be cool. Where youre essentially living differences places on assignment for a few years at a time, and the company pays for you to move every couple of years. It's like working for military without being military for better or worse. Although I could see once the kids are in school that it might become burdensome.

Industrial Maintenance Mechanic / Millwright (and soon to be Electrician), been at it for 8 years now. Just a few months shy of 30 years old.

Ended up here by accident. I went to the local Community College straight out of high school for "Digital Systems Technology", which was an Intel sponsored program that was heavy on electrical theory and semi-conductor manufacturing processes. Dropped out of that a few months shy of graduating to work under my father in a machine shop. After that, Jumper K. Balls got me a job at the facility he worked at, which essentially made industrial strength hot melt adhesives and adhesive coated products, and I have been a knuckle dragging mechanic since.

Pros: Compensation and benefits are good. Business is booming in the industry I work in, so overtime is encouraged. The skills involved are more or less universal, so new job opportunities exist. I am the guy management comes to when there's a mechanical problem that needs to be solved, or when someone has an idea for a process improvement/new part/etc.. There is nothing I enjoy more than going from loose idea to working prototype in a day.

Cons: I work with the same 15 operators every day; some I agree with, others not so much. The work can be very repetitive. When it's slow, it is SLOW.

There's an odd thing about this type a job that is worth mentioning. I could make nearly twice what I make now if I went to work in a lumber mill or paper pulping plant. There is a few good ways tof get hurt in the Glue Mines, but you would be hard pressed to get killed. The same cannot be said about paper and lumber mills.

Major maintenance planner at a pulp and paper (yes both) mill. I definitely don't hate my job, which is saying a lot as it took along time to reach this point. 16yrs in paper mill maintenance in 4 different mills - 12yrs of which were in vibration analysis (still have a valid ISO Cat3 certification). I made the switch to planning for 15,000 little green reasons, and it's been a pretty tough learning curve. I finally feel like I'm "getting it" so to speak. It's a lot less boring than vibration became, but that also means it's more stressful at times.

One thing that's been mentioned a few times is life outside of work.

One must be honest- do you live to work or work to live.

I'm the latter. And while the idea of making huge money making your own business sounds appealing, like others here, I went more for the flexibility that one gets working in a BIG company. Moreso the position I'm in- I'm so far away from production that taking time off for vacation is rarely critical.

While there are natural limits and politics to deal with, the benefits that come with it seem to be worth it. If there's a family emergency- I can leave. And vacation lets me recharge.

I'm 41 and I'm a global program manager for an IT company. I've my BS in Business. I work with our distribution channel with my primary focus on our partner driven programs. For one of the largest IT OEM's out there, our distribution business in under developed and needs a lot of work.

For me, I like to fix stuff and build things. Since I didn't like to do work with my hands full time, this was a good way for me to build things and fix problems. Also as part of the job, It satisfies my thirst for knowledge as I have to keep up on the competition, world events, and global business news.

Working a global role is always a challenge. The cultural differences involved and trying to reach a consensus from all 4 regions of the world.

Overall, I've truly enjoyed my work even though it's been hard and challenging. At the end of it all, seeing the progress of the business is a driver to continue me hard work.

30 years old.

I package drugs for a living. No really. I package drugs in a pharmacy. I'm licensed as a pharmacy technician, but I do more warehouse type stuff.

When I get off work at the pharmacy, I often go out and serve legal papers. That's where I enjoy myself, because I get to drive around and sing really loud. I sing really loud at the pharmacy too, but it doesn't go over as well.

Then when I get a chance, I do some private investigative work. That's what I'd really like to do, but in order to do that full time I need more clients. In order to have more clients I need to be available. In order to be available, I'd need to leave my job at the pharmacy where I'm making the money and insurance. On the bright side, lawyers who I get to serve for will sometimes toss me some simple jobs to do, but I'm lucky enough to have some good investigative resources for when I need them.

It'll do for now... It'll do...

Lots of good info in this thread!

I've spent more than half a century on this planet (geezer?) and I've spent the last 20 years as a civil engineer involved in design of bridges in the public and private sectors. I find my work to be very rewarding for the following reasons:

1. Mentally challenging.

2. Work/interact with other intelligent humans.

3. Rewarding to see something that started as an idea in my head turn into a physical object.

4. Provides a benefit for our society by maintaining/improving the transportation system/infrastructure.

5. Pay is decent and my family has a comfortable lifestyle. I'll never be rich, but we're not struggling to get by.

6. Job security...never enough engineerds in the US, so finding/keeping a job hasn't been a problem.

Current work is Boiler Operator/ Mechanic, took a long time to get there from a grunt pipe fitter in '83 to powerhouse repairman to stationary engineer, just didn't walk in to it. Our plant supplies high pressure steam to a 180 acre campus w/ nearly 40 separate buildings. We monitor equipment 24/7, maintain boiler and water chemistry w/ tests, chemical adjustments and wasting water to maintain TDS. Record all. Off season is tear downs, maintenance and repairs. Most laid back place I ever worked, best gang, best boss, best working conditions and best money. I'm the midnight operator so it's a whole lot easier. No shirts lookin' over your shoulder, no BS, just make steam. Payday is good.