Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic What do you do for a living?

Maybe this thread has been done before but I never saw it so... I thought I'd start one. What do you do for a living? You don't have to say the company name or anything personal but what your day to day duties include or maybe even what career you would like to go into...

I'll start... I work for a company that sells medical equipment. I do all of the quotes, and purchasing (besides some certain manufacturers). I also do a whole bunch of office admin stuff all the way from answering phones to keeping up with service calls. Sounds interesting doesn't it. I actually majored in Accounting in college but decided I didn't like accounting and stumbled upon this job. I've been here for about 3 years now. It's pretty cool. Only 3 of us in the office and I get to wear jeans and flip flops to work. That's pretty cool!!

However, my dream job would be someone who travels for a living and then writes about all the places they went and things they did. I think it would be awesome to write those travel books we all see.

What about you?!!

Yes, this or something similar has been done before. But what the heck... It was fun. Let's do it again.

I'm a registered nurse with widely varied experience. I'm currently working in a psych hospital. Very rarely, I work with adults, but I almost always work with teenagers and occasionally small children. Teens can be very volatile (ask the parent of any teen) so working with them can be VERY trying but it also has its rewards. Most of the problems that we see are behavioral problems.

My biggest complaint with the job is having to work full time when I want to work part time. That seems to be a growing trend. The other is an awful schedule. I was working 16 hour shifts (quite against my will) until I went to my boss' boss and found out it was illegal. And since there is a shortage of nurses all over the US, we tend to work short handed. Oh, we often have enough mental health techs, but there is some stuff they can't do. I work 3-11, and it's not at all unusual for me to work until 12:30 or 1 am.

I don't wear a uniform, and I get to wear jeans to work. That's a plus. It takes me an hour to drive one way to work. That's a negative.

And like so many other RN's, I'm tired of it and have thoughts of leaving the field. The stress is enormous. And even though nurses make good money, for what we do, we don't get paid enough.

If I had my 'druthers', I'd just read and write LnC fic.

I have about the most hated job in all the world...I'm a collections agent!!!! GRRRR FEAR ME!!!
What makes me mad is this means I have no excuse when MY bills are late.

TEEEEEJ

We already feared you, TJ!

Me, I've sort of stumbled onto my dream-job. Ever since my first job at the amusement park, I've wanted a "9-5 Mon-Fri office job." Had one of those for a while, until I had kids. Then last year I had to find a new one. I do accounts receivable, but without collections calls (the credit dept. deals with customers, so I don't have to do much on the phone at all). I have a nice office (with a door!) all to myself.

I've got two main duties -- input all the payments that come through the company's p.o. box, and check the sales reports from each of the 14 store locations. They're not all that similar to each other, so when I'm sick of one, I can just move to the other for a while. Since I'm not on the phone, working set hours isn't all that important -- as long as I get my 40 hours in, my boss doesn't much care when I do it. Which is a big plus since I have to arrange my schedule around what my kids are doing.

Since I don't deal with customers, and since this is a manufacturing business, I can wear jeans and flip-flops, too, though I prefer sneakers. My co-workers -- well, the people in my department are great. My boss is awesome. The lady in the office next to mine can be kind of obnoxious -- likes to talk and talk loudly. she's on vacation this week and I'm enjoying the quiet -- but I'm contemplating calling off sick on Monday so I don't have to listen to her tell the same vacation stories to everyone all day. But most of the time I'm okay with her.

And did I mention I have an internet connection? I can't watch videos and certain sites are blocked, but I can still read a lot of them.

So -- good hours, working conditions, co-workers, location ... I could not have found anything so perfect if I'd tried, so I thank God for setting me up with it!

PJ

Oh, how I would love to be able to say that I'm a novelist... I can't. Mind you, what I do is still kind of impressive. Even after 8 years I still get a little starry-eyed when I think about what I do for a living.

I work for a software company. My job title is "Automated Tests Specialist." -- sounds intelligent and wonderful, but really, it isn't all that impressive.

I'm a computer programmer (or at least, that's the best way to define what I do) - I write code and scripts so that the software testers (whose job it is to find bugs!) don't have to do the same long, repetitive and boring tasks every day. (For example, sending 500 small video clips to a tape and then capturing them all back again)

We develop software for the video/entertainment industry here.

One is a video editing application (like Movie Maker, but a gazillion times better) which is used among other things to bring you wonderful TV shows, such as Heroes, for instance. It's also the product that was used to edit the Donner cut of Superman II.

The second is a 3D modeling/animation product. I'm sure you've all heard of Happy Feet? Well, the tool they used to make the penguins is the application that we create here. (and this, in a way, means that about thiiiiiiis small of the Oscar they got for Best Animated belongs to us - and a small portion of that is miiiiiine! since I was on the R&D team for this application, at the time.)

There you go. That's what I do.

Classicalla - Wow. I think that is so awesome that you do what you do. My husband tried nursing for awhile (in school) and it wasn't for him. I know quite a few nurses and they say the same thing as you, "the job is so incredibly stressful but it has it's rewards too." But driving an hour one-way; ouch. And the late hours. I couldn't do it for a week. I salute you!

Teej - I pay my bills on time I promise!! So do you also repo possessions and stuff like that if they don't ever pay?

PJ - Your job does sound awesome. How great that you get to schedule your work around your kids. I hope I have a job like that someday when I get around to starting a family.

Lara - What a fun job! I think I remember a thread on here a long time ago where you kind of showed the movie maker type thing (I think it was you but I may be wrong). You won an oscar?!!!

DH was a psych tech at a psych hospital for kids years ago. Now he's a licensed therapist who works at a residential facility for kids in state care - more long term than the psych hospital and these aren't usually dangerous to themselves or others on a daily basis [they all have their days but that's not why they're there like at the hospital]. He does individual, family and group therapy with the kids there. Most are 8-9 or older up to 18 [if they're still in HS] and many have behavioral problems. You guys have my utmost respect.

I teach part time [online] at a community college and am home with 4 kiddos most of the time as I work from home.
Carol

Ah, to share or not to share...

I do live-in care work. Yes, people actually trust, and pay me to look after their sick or elderly relatives!

What Classicalla said regarding nursing and it's drawbacks and rewards applies here as well. The hours are lousy and it's terrible for your social life(my what?). My next client, for example, has multiple sclerosis and requires absolutely everything to be done for her. It is hard work!

But this is a very popular choice of job for foreigners in the UK - your room and board is provided, so you have few outgoings and you decide when you want to work or not so you have freedom to do other things when you choose. Lots of young people come over here for a couple of years to earn pounds and travel, then go home. I've been doing this for nearly 4 years (wasn't supposed to be that long!!! Procrastinators unite. Tomorrow, right? ), but my visa is nearly up, and a change is seriously overdue.

I studied law at university btw. Not really the same field, is it.

TJ I had to crack up about your late bills.

I'm a graphic designer. I pretty much draw for money. I make logos--drawing two for a new school tonight. Okay maybe I'm procrastinating...
What I really want to do is join a big company like Target or Hallmark or what-have-you where's there's a lot of different departments and jobs for the artists to do, but I'm stuck in freelance till I finish grad school (hopefully next year).

JD

Actual Job title:
Senior Programmer Analyst
Hyperion Enterprise Database Administrator

Which is geek speak for I am the financial database nazi for my work.

"You didn't log out of the system last night. I got a bad backup. No, access for YOU! Bwahahahahahaha!"


I have worked with Hyperion Enterprise for the last 12 years. I am ready for a change.

James

I almost decided not to post after reading some of the responses, lol!

Anyway, I work at a library. Before anyone starts thinking, "What's wrong with being a Librarian?" I should also say that I'm not, I'm just a technician. I check things in and out, I sort and shelve. I am the unofficial tech support person for my branch, but since it's unofficial, I don't get paid extra or anything for it.


Tara

My official job title is Senior Technician in the department of Internet Tech Support.

My unofficial title is everything else. I track employee scheduling (such as noting when someone calls out), I update our knowledgebase (web programming work), I do the Lead Tech's jobs when one calls out, occasionally listen to calls, occasionally take calls when we get busy. Some days I'm incredibly busy, and others I'm sitting here going out of my mind with boredom and playing Griddlers all day.

My aunt does that. She's a Comfort Keeper, and she often talks fondly of her "old ladies" that she helps. She even won an award for it in 2005. From the way she talks about it, it sounds like a really great job.

Erm... It can be a wonderful job - gives you a warm fuzzy feeling knowing you've made somebody's life better in some way.

But there are those rare occassions when I just want to hold a pillow over someone's face until the twitching stops...

Let's see I don't have a job. I wish I did, Wish i'd gone to college to. No i'm just a very bored housewife with to much time on her hands. Although My dream along time ago and still is Was to go to College and become a Journalist but I was told People who have Some disabilities can't Go to college or take on any kind of career like that so I became a housewife.

I am an articled clerk and work with taxes. In an office of a tax consultant. And I love my job but the laws make it harder every day to do your job like it should be.

I am a cash manager for a nationwide real estate company, but my career started in banking and I still consider myself a banker. In fact, I have an interview for a treasury management job at a bank on Friday afternoon! *fingers crossed*

LLLovesCK, I hated reading what you wrote. Colleges have Disabilites office, that if you qualify they will offer many accomodations for what you have problems doing. My son has brain cancer. He can take his tests in the Disabilites office. He will take 3-4 hours to take a one hour test. It has taken so much stress off of him. Other help he could have but doesn't use is books on tape, teachers notes, another students' notes, there is all kinds of help. I hate seeing you putting yourself down. Even just one course a semester, you may never get to your goal but you have something to work for.
Sue

Didn't mean to offend you Sue. But I do understand what your saying.

I am currently waitressing while I finish up my bachelor's degree in Criminology and Sociology. I go to school full time and work part time.

I work at a higher end 1920's themed steakhouse and I have to wear a uniform that includes a tie. :p

I'm graduating in May and getting married in August so my time left at the restaurant is limited. I have no idea what I want to do after graduation, haha.

I'm an educational laboratory technician at a London school, with a sideline as a semi-pro role-playing-game designer. This is currently taking most of my spare time, which is why I'm not getting much fanfic written.

I'm the secretary for the head of the Maintenance Department for a school district. It's not glamorous or anything like that, but it pays the bills and I usually can squeeze out at least one hour each day to surf the internet.

I'm a homemaker. It is my dream job. I actually dressed up as a homemaker for Halloween one year when I was about eight or nine. I wore an apron and carried a whisk broom (although my mother never wore an apron); I got so mad when people kept telling me what a pretty witch I was.

My second job is as a school teacher. I homeschool preschool, kindergarten and second grade.

I am not a housewife. My house is obviously not married. My house usually is clean (which means there isn't a thick level of dirt), but cluttered (but there is a constant covering of projects and toys, no matter how hard I work). Oh, well! It's just for a short season of life.

Elisabeth

These days I'm an employment counsellor (the link says most are employed by government, but these days most in Canada are employed by not-for-profit agencies). I work with an agency which specialises in helping newcomers to our city find their way around the labour market and get jobs. Our services are free to anyone who is unemployed and seeking work.

So most of my clients are from other countries (mostly Latin America, the Middle East and China, with some from Eastern Europe, Russia and elsewhere). Today, for instance, I saw a Lithuanian, a Croatian, a Canadian who lived in Israel for ten years, a Chinese man, two Colombians and two Iraqis. Many of them are learning English as a second language, and most of them have very high levels of qualifications and hugely impressive experience... except it's not in Canada. And they know very little about looking for work in Canada, or what a Canadian resume looks like.

What do I do? I find out their needs and their barriers to employment, assess their situation and work together with them on a plan to help them find employment, drawing on my knowledge of community resources (as many of these free as I can find) and my own agency's services to help them move forward. Sometimes they also have personal issues which they need to deal with - especially if they're refugees who have escaped from life-threatening situations (I have clients whose relatives or spouses have been kidnapped or murdered), and I work with them to find ways of dealing with these as well.

And I love my job


Wendy

I'm a software engineer (aka computer programmer) in the communications industry. i've been working for QUALCOMM (yes, the name on the San Diego Chargers' football stadium) for 13 years and am currenty working on a product that tracks the hours that truck drivers spend driving and on-duty using a satellite communications device.

I am a librarian. I spend my days helping children find books they like to read. Best part is when one of them returns the books and says how much they liked it.

I finally got a job that I really feel happy about it. I'm a Child Development Program Assistant in a military base. I always loved kids so this was just perfect for me. Not to mention that I get weekends off!!! I work 6h and a half everyday, sometimes more when they need more help. I work with preschoolers ages 3, 4 and 5. My room has 40 kids and 6 teachers but not all the teachers are there at the same time... normally we have 4 or 5 during the hours we have more kids since my room is a full time preschool. I'm getting a lot of training and practice and it's really interesting! At the end of my 1 year and a half training I will have the equivalent of an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Developmet. The best part of the day is when my kids come and hug me and say they love me or when I can see I taught them something

I have a 25 minutes drive to work but I have to wake up at 5:40am so I can be there at 7am (I'm not a morning person so I'm really slow in the morning ). I love what I do and I'm planning on going back to college and get an English and Literature Bachelor degree because I'd really like to become a teacher So keep your fingers crossed for me

Raquel

I’m also been involved with dancing for many years. I’ve been a professional dancer, owned my own dance studio (which I only recently passed on to two of my pupils) and have adjudicated and lectured all over Australia. I love adjudicating and lecturing and still take an occasional booking.

Tricia

Interesting thread! It's neat to find out what other FOLCs do in their non-L&C time.

I'm a mainframe computer programmer for an insurance company, which means that I don't get to use my creativity at work very often. I have to save it all up for writing fanfic and feedback. I'm also an amateur musician who plays bass in a gospel/bluegrass band. We play twice a month at a local restaurant and at churches in our local area. It's just pocket money, but the other people in the band are so nice that I'd probably do it for free if they asked me to. We have a lot of fun and make people smile.

Not long ago, our fiddle player (she plays "fiddle" and not violin - it's a very important distinction) started a piece called "Ashokan Farewell" and an older couple began waltzing to it between the tables. And they weren't one of our regulars! That was one of the many really good memories from this gig.

Dang, Elisabeth, I totally envy you. I'd give anything to be able to make my home my job, but hubby says we can't afford it yet.

LOL! I get what you mean, my hubby says we need to belong to the Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things.

I have two jobs:

The first is as a substitute teacher (pays well, but theres a surplus of subs in my school board right now, so I don't get called much). My favorite question I get asked nearly everytime I'm in a class I've never been to before is "Ms. Smiley, is that really your name?"

My second job which I've held since second year of University to pay for school is as a jewelery salesperson at the largest Canadian owned jewelery chain. I've worked now at three different locations in this city ( I get traded about and fought over when a store needs extra bodies- it's great to feel loved!) Favorite question here? "Wheres the washroom?"

I have two jobs. I am a franchisee for a small retail store and I'm also the Admissions Officer for a small career college. Weird mix, I know, but it's working for me and I love it.

Irene

I'm work at a major metropolitan newspaper.

But unlike Lois, I don't have a death wish, so I became a news copy editor instead of an investigative journalist. I edit stories for spelling, grammar, content issues, ethical issues, make sure we aren't libeling anyone, etc., and I also write headlines for the stories I edit.

Copy editors are basically the unsung heroes of the business. WE put the paper out every night, 365 days a year (unlike the Planet, we haven't closed because someone blew up the building) but we don't get our names in the paper.

I recently left my 2 year preschool teaching position due to circumstance and also my desire to finally go for my dream of becoming a doctor. I start premed classes in a couple weeks-which means I have to find some work!

Mona

Mona confessed:

A doctor! That's a tough row to hoe, but if that's your dream then go for it with all the gusto you have! And I'm not sure I could go for a pre-med degree and work at the same time. You have my best wishes and my sincere encouragement.

Hogwash! Don’t you believe it. Many years ago, when I had roommates, one of them had Cerebral Palsy. She could walk but her walk was ‘bouncy’. Her speech was quite difficult to understand. She was definitely challenged, and even though she was told that going to college would be a difficult thing to do, she plunged ahead and went anyway. She now has a master’s degree and has a very successful career working at a major university. This lady has always been an inspiration to me, and so I’ll say again, “Brava, Pat, Brava!”

So if you want to go to college to be a journalist, go for it. You are never too old. I don’t know what kind of disabilities you have, but there are many ways to work as a journalist. Go for it!


Oh, I don’t think you offended her. I think, like me, she is trying to encourage you!!


I will.


Mine, too. It didn’t work out that way for me, but I’m glad that some people still have and realize that dream. That bit about the pretty witch was so funny. It reminded me of Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched. You should have carried a mixer or a toaster...


I’m so glad that you are going for this dream. I thought about doing this several years ago and I kept putting it off. And now I’d be hard pressed to pay for medical school. And at my age (don’t ask), I never get the loans paid off. I am, on the other hand, preparing to work on my master’s of nursing. And you do need to work as much as possible while in pre-med, because at some point, you won’t be able to work while in med school (if you are in the US). And did you know Bakasi is a medical student?


I always like finding out what everyone does. I hope we get more replys.

I'm a physicist. *pushes glasses up nose*

Actually, I'm in my last year of undergrad @ MIT and I'll be going off to grad school next year. Who knows where. <-- big point of stress in my life until spring

The plan after that is to be highly underpaid as a postdoc and pay off loans, work like mad on pumping out publications so I can get a faculty position, then spend the last of my child-bearing years trying to earn tenure instead.

I figure, I'll be ready for all that personal life stuff when I'm fifty. My family plans hinge on a combination of deep-freezing eggs, possible clones mixed with frog DNA, and a cure for death within the next 30 years. I'm optimistic.

Well, I retired (early ) over a decade ago now (gosh is it really that long ago?), so I've achieved a long held dream of being at home, too. I was never one of those people who worked for social reasons - it was always just to pay the bills - so first chance I got to stay at home, spending time with hubby and Homer, I leapt at it.

But, back in the day, I worked as a court clerk for a legal firm. Positives were that I more or less worked on my own - really, I was the only one who understood what I did , so my bosses just let me get on with it rather than admit they were lost . Mostly preparing court papers and liasing with the courts on gaining decrees.

The negatives were that it was in the area of debt litigation - we prepared court cases against debtors for major utilities and loan companies - and my sympathies were usually more with the debtors than the companies. Now and then it was a little depressing aggressively chasing people for payment who were in dire circumstances through no fault of their own. It wasn't so bad when you were chasing the obvious scroungers.

LabRat

I have the same job Elisabeth has - wife, mom, & homeschooler - except that my kids are fourth graders this year. I've been home with them for eight years now and formally homeschooling for five. I also teach two classes at our homeschool co-op - grammar and composition on the 4th-5th grade level.

Once school is out for the day, I transition from "teacher" to "chauffeur" and spend my afternoons in my car, running the kids to their various activities. And throughout the day, I'm also "cook", "housekeeper", "pet care-giver", "nurse", etc., just like any stay-at-home parent.

There are definitely good days and bad, and there are some days when I really miss working - being around adults, chatting around the coffee pot in the morning, having projects with a beginning, middle, and end, being thanked by the recipients of my efforts. (And my husband does thank me. My kids might thank me one day, but right now, making them do math does not inspire much in the way of gratitude. Go figure.)

But there are also plenty of days when I'm bowled over by how very privileged I am to spend my time learning and laughing with my children every day. When I see their eyes light up as understanding dawns. When we're able to snuggle up on the sofa and read one more chapter, just because we want to. When they ask some question or make some observation that makes me realize that I have as much to learn from them as they have from me. That's good stuff .

Caroline

You guys all have the coolest jobs, I envy some of you greatly. I work for a marketing reasearch company. I used to do surveys over the phone, but now I supervise a team of interviewers. Not glamorous by any means.

LLLovesCK, I was trying to encourage you.
I also stay home. I always did clerical - bookkeeping work. When my son took sick I became his caregiver, giver of medicine, in charge of Dr visits and orderer of medicine. He is off chemo and doing very well right now, but I don't think I will ever work again. I make quilts for kids. Not bed size quilts, although I do make them for my family. I also have a beagle who loves to have the ball thrown for her ALL day.
Sue

I work at a newspaper/printing press that handles several regional daily papers and a host of smaller papers as well. It's fun reading the news before it hits the stands...

Suez,
I am glad to hear your son is doing well. And thank you for your encourgement.

I'm a registered nurse and I used to be an OB specialist, although I've worked in a number of other fields, but I've been retired for a number of years. My second job was raising 7 kids. I came out of retirement last year for 5 months to take care of my mother, who had Alzheimers, and it was the hardest job I've ever done. I am now comfortably back in retirement from nursing again, and I hope never to go back.

I'm still a homemaker and still very busy. I always thought that after I got the kids graduated from school my life would slow down a bit. Hah! Now I take care of my handicapped brother, babysit my grandkids several days a week, and am trying to handle a house renovation so we can sell it and move out of California so my hubby can retire. Maybe someday things *will* quiet down, but I don't see a lot of chance for the near future. In the meantime, I'm trying to write fanfic just to relax!

Nan

I'm a systems engineer for a nationally ranked hospital corporation. I work on the clinical lab/anatomic pathology side of things keeping three systems afloat. I do a lot of programming for cancer research/reporting, which has afforded me the opportunity to travel to a lot of meetings in really awesome cities on my company's dime.

I write fic because, otherwise, I'd have programming code rambling around in my head at night.

My fancy title is "Clinical Coordinator of Behavioral Therapy Services", which basically means that I'm a therapist who supervises other therapists in a psychiatric center at a local hospital. Well, that and whatever other jobs my boss has me do. Currently that means I also "unofficially" supervise all of the nursing staff and techs as well. I still keep my hand in direct service though and I do on-call work for a local mental health center, which has resulted in numerous visits to some of the finer jails, hospitals, and personal care homes in the area.

I originally intended to enter law enforcement and actually took the civil service exam for the U.S. Marshall service just a few weeks before being offered my first job in mental health. I liked the work and dove into it full time, but 18 years later there are still times when I ask myself..."How did I get here again?"

I take pocket money from my grandparents.

Seriously, where are all the students?

I'm a second-year Pharmacy student (expected studies time is 5 years). I haven't decided what I'm going to do next; there are good career prospects, though. I may work for some pharmaceutics company, or open my own pharmacy (I think that would be a good idea once I'm ready to get married and have kids... not as stressful).

I've had two paid jobs so far... one was act as a translator/intermediary for some friend's company during their collaboration with a Spanish-speaking company. The other one was tutor a girl in English. It lasted two months, until it was obvious our personalities didn't match, to put it nicely

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

I just saw Mrs. Mosley's sig line:

Gee! I've been quoted.

I write for a living. Not full time but enough to earn me a couple hundred dollars a month on average. Were I more disciplined, I could probably earn more, but I'm enjoying my empty nest.

And Mercy said:
ROFL! I hear you. I have the same plan, just in the humanities. You think it's bad in science, try being one of us. Although, I have been fortunate to not be in debt up until now thanks to killing myself for fellowship money and the occasional chance to teach the ungrateful masses how to communicate outside the country.

I actually had a real job once. It was a great job, lots of opportunities and wonderful people. But, it wasn't for me. I decided I'd like to be paid a mere pittance to speak more languages than a UN translator. I also traded a personal life for the chance to tip-toe through the political minefield that is academia in the hopes of someday achieving that gold medal that is tenure.

Strangely enough, I actually love what I do...most days. I wouldn't mind a raise, though.

It's so intriguing to see what you all do all day! And I'm impressed by all of you! I haven't been around a lot lately because of what I do all day.

I'm a third year pediatric resident at a large tertiary care Children's Hospital - and am currently interviewing for a pediatric cardiology fellowship position. They keep assuring me that at some point in the future I WILL get my life back, but I don't think I believe them anymore. <g> This year has been a little bit better time-wise because I've had a few elective months. But spending the last 2 and 1/2 years on 30 hour in-house call shifts every 4th night has been tiring.
I have to say a huge "Thank You" to all the nurses in the group...and everyone else working in anything psychiatric/beahioral or healthcare related. You make my job doable and bearable!!!

But honestly, I love what I do, I adore the people I work with (most of them), I love the kids and the families that I take care of ...and though I'd like a little more sleep occasionally, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Hey Mona, if you've got any questions about pre-med/med-school, etc. let me know. I worked during pre-med, but not during med school. It's definitely doable.

Jill

I'm a second-year civil engineering student.

I've been in telecom for most of my career doing a variety of jobs, mostly in operations and development. Right now, I'm a Business Analyst, which involves gathering information about how people do their jobs, making job flows and suggesting to management how to make the jobs better/more efficient. I've also done quite a bit of technical writing when procedures need to be written for training.

As for the future... I'm a bit opposite Mona in that I *want* to become a preschool teacher. I've done the academic coursework in Montessori early childhood education and am just waiting for the opportunity to do the student teaching to earn my certification. Mostly, I'm stuck for now because of financial concerns.

BJ

At the moment I mostly panic.

I am a student just finished my BA in Geography and English Literature and I am reading for an Honours year in Historical Geography.

I have published a book before and I am slowly working on a novel but college has to come first. Everyone thinks I will be a writer but I don't see how I can support myself that way unless I write pulp fiction or Mills & Boon. The former would kill me, the latter would be doable but might bore me.

I want to go into publishing but I might have to move to do so and I like where I am. :-(

And I don't get paid for it but I have a weekly column called Perth Diary in a newspaper in Sri Lanka. If you want to read it you can subscribe to it at http://www.sundayleader.lk or you can read it for free at my blog at http://www.xanga.com/ladykiadri .

Cheers, The Little Tornado.

The Little Tornado

Well I see that this thread still hasn't died out. I hadn't planned on participating, but thought that if I couldn't inspire anyone with what I do, I could perhaps be an object lesson for those on the boards who are still in their studies.

STAY IN SCHOOL LEST YOU END UP LIKE ME!

I did okay in high school (I was valedictorian of a class of 500) but that don't mean nothing in college. I enrolled at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Technology. I won't bore you all with the details, but due to a combination of financial concerns and a failure to find a focused course of study, I didn't finish.

So for over thirty years now I've been a classic wage slave. Currently I work for a company that sells and installs commercial furniture systems. I work in the warehouse. That means I unload trucks, check in and put away the product, then I later pull the product from the racks to load our own trucks for jobs going out the next day. Sound like fun?

The daily workload is not consistant. Somedays are fairly reasonable, then the next you'll be inundated with trucks and product. It's the nature of any service oriented business. You are at the mercy of your customers and have to make hay when you can.

The job is quite physical in nature. I am required to be able to consistantly lift heavy boxes and objects, and I am on my feet walking on a concrete floor all day. When it's really cold, unloading a trailer at an open dock door can be a treat. One that is only topped by unloading a metal trailer in the high heat of mid summer. Our warehouse is NOT air-conditioned.

The sad part of this whole thing is... I don't hate my job. It's probably the best job I've had to date. The pay isn't particularly good, but I get by. The most attractive part of the job is that I like the guys I work with and we get along quite well. My immediate boss is a good guy and is someone who will back up his people as opposed to his predessesor who would only worry about covering his own butt.

Last time I was in Chicago for the Con I got Fred (my boss) a statue of Mr. Incredible because he looks just like him. The statue sits on his desk.

So, while it's not the end of the world if you find yourself as one of the myriad of those who don't have careers but merely have to 'work for a living', it's better to find what you really would like to do.

In that regard, take your schooling seriously. College can be a lot of fun, but don't loose sight of the prize at the end.

Not everyone is cut out for college. But there are several good alternatives, like trade schools and tech centers. Do you know how much a plumber or an electrician makes?

Money is nice, but the most important thing is find something you enjoy doing and be happy doing it.

Tank (who steps down from his little soapbox)

Tank sagely said: Amen. I wish someone had gotten that into my skull when I was in school.

BJ

Your hubby may know what he's talking about. It took a few years of planning to get me home. Before the kids came around, we put the grand majority of my salary into paying off college and medical loans so that we wouldn't be bogged down with debt when I wanted to come home. We also selected a smallish home to begin with, one we could afford on one income. I love staying at home, but I hate stressing over bills. We choose to live poorer than we have to since the kids will only be young once.

Elisabeth
who is also stepping off of her soapbox (and wondering why Tank's soapbox is prettier than hers)

You'd also be surprised at how much work costs sometimes. By the time you count daycare for kids [especially if you have 2 or 3], extra gas, possibly a more reliable car if you have a commute, work clothes, lunch out, etc., it's not always financially the best decision. There's a lot of expenses that aren't always immediately apparent. There may be other reasons, but sometimes, the financial aspect of it isn't as big as you might think.

I teach parttime at a community college. Last fall, they gave me three online classes and one seated. I turned the seated one down flat. From a purely financial standpoint, it wasn't worth it. That doesn't include that DS was due the week classes started, though he was early and I would have had to put him in daycare for 9-12 hours a week by the time it was all said and done. After daycare [3 kids] and gas, I would have brought home less than $10 a week which was totally not worth it. And DD6 started kindergarten and I would have gotten out of class less than an hour before her bus would arrive and that would have been pushing it at best.

I'm fortunate in that I can make decent money working from home but I am so ready for our finances to be such that I can stay home and not work at all or work for DH if he starts a private practice etc.

Food for thought .
Carol

I just graduated from college in 2004, so I can't necessarily call what I have a career or anything yet, but I work in the digital forensics field. It isn't anything like CSI portrays it, let me tell you. Things don't take five minutes to process. They take weeks/months to get accurate analysis. I never thought I'd be at a place in my life where I can honestly say working with 25,000 HTML files is a small matter barely worth a ho-hum. That being said, the work can be very very tedious, or extremely interesting. It's really fun running into new problems to solve almost every day. It's not really fun reviewing years worth of deleted computer data looking for the veritable needle in a haystack.

I'm an environmental sanitarian specializing in restaurant inspections. I've done this for 18 years, and really enjoy it. My job is a combination of training, inspection and enforcement (when necessary). It's one of those jobs that everyone knows about but very few people actually have *gasp* a health inspector in their family. Quoting my youngest daughter, "Dad, I really don't want to know how bad this place is. Just tell me if the food will kill me or not."