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What is your career, what do you do for a living, etc... (could really use input)

Foggydog

Foggydog

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2014
408
492
Left Coast
iososx said:
Ph.D. specializing in GBCB.
Genomics, Bioinformatics & Computational Biology.

A very challenging / interesting career that keeps me stimulated, busy and brings great satisfaction.
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This may well be the most interesting subject I have ever heard of. I am almost speechless.

7 Years ago I got my class A license. 4 years ago I was unemployed because of my own mistakes, but today I own my 18 wheeler, gross almost a quarter mill a year. I'm on the road about 330 days a year though. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I loath it. But, what a great income that I never could have dreamed of without a college education.
 
E

eduschean

macrumors member
Jun 11, 2014
41
26
I'm 25 and am just about to start carpenters apprenticeship classes on the 19th. I went to community college and although I was a very smart student, I never grew a passion towards anything. After C.C., I started working at baseball field and did that for 4 years until this winter. I've come to the realization that my current job in not what I want to do the rest of my life. Sometimes you never know where life will take you, you just have to enjoy the ride.
 
M

moonman239

Cancelled
Mar 27, 2009
1,541
32
Eggtastic said:
As the title states, what do you all do for a living??

I am 27 and HATE where I am right now in life, I have a teaching degree (gym, big mistake i know. I went because I had no clue what I wanted to do back in 2006 and at the time it was interesting and it was before the economy crashed so figured a degree in anything would account for something) and work as an aide right now. I hate it, I hate ignorant kids, and I hate the lousy pay that comes with it. I have a girlfriend, she's great, but refuse to propose or even entertain the idea of settling down with kids until my mid 30's WHEN I AM MAKING GOOD MONEY.

I stroll through some of these forums, and see newer, brand new cars, nice houses, etc. and I hate to say it but get extremely jealous.

Now, back to me, I want to make a career change but I don't want to dump more money into college as the rates are ridiculous. If I have to, then so be it but I would like input on your careers, what it took to get there, and if you would recommend it in terms of money, openings, and good work/life balance.

Also, I would really like to hear any career changers and anyone who had a decent job, and left to do something more fulfilling.

A bit of a rant, but I could use some help from you guys if you could provide any input on your careers, career changers, recommendations, etc.

Thank you.
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If there's a community college or university near you, see if they offer a career & life planning course. My local community college offers such a course, and I attended it last semester. One of the things we did was take some career & personality tests.
 
iososx

iososx

macrumors 6502a
Aug 23, 2014
859
6
USA
Foggydog said:
This may well be the most interesting subject I have ever heard of. I am almost speechless.

7 Years ago I got my class A license. 4 years ago I was unemployed because of my own mistakes, but today I own my 18 wheeler, gross almost a quarter mill a year. I'm on the road about 330 days a year though. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I loath it. But, what a great income that I never could have dreamed of without a college education.
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Congratulations on your very impressive success story... :)

We share some common traits.

First, we both have learned the priceless lesson that nothing, but nothing beats a positive attitude, never quitting, and the power of determination.

That no problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.

And finally, nothing is sweeter than the satisfaction of victory after a struggle.

Cheers to you!
 
mrex

mrex

macrumors 68040
Jul 16, 2014
3,458
1,527
europe
What is your career, what do you do for a living, etc... (could really use in...

a chemist, specilized in an organic chemistry and been working with drugs (for heart and parkinsons disease) earlier...but right now im teaching natural sciences and computing (i have a teacher degree too). i teach 24hours in a week and it is 12hours less than i did earlier. well i do work at home too, so i think i do about the same hours still. i have same holidays as kids have (schools are closed), so i dont complain about holidays, hah.. i love my work, althought it is quite stressful sometimes, and long holidays are needed for sure. I like that i can do what i want, nobody says how to teach or how i should do my work, no timecard, no deadlines, a salary is good... something i dont like so much is that im quite binded to my timetable: i cant leave earlier or come later, cant do my job beforehand to take a free day or so... but again, i still like my job =]

I stroll through some of these forums, and see newer, brand new cars, nice houses, etc. and I hate to say it but get extremely jealous.
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and mostly bank owns them. you can have the same, if you take the same amount of loan(s!)... having a nice car doesnt mean that you afforded it in the first place. unfortunately many people have more loan than they should have...
 
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Foggydog

Foggydog

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2014
408
492
Left Coast
brentmore said:
Wow - I thought I traveled a lot. That sounds rough, but I bet you've seen a lot of the countryside.
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Yes I have. Most of it now a bit boring but once in a while, I do get on a new highway that I have never been on. At the same time, I cannot get to places that many would consider sightseeing such as national parks. At least not in my 18 wheeler. I can however get a load going to a major city, rent a car then go sightseeing. That is something that I would like to do more of.

----------
iososx said:
congratulations on your very impressive success story... :)

we share some common traits.

First, we both have learned the priceless lesson that nothing, but nothing beats a positive attitude, never quitting, and the power of determination.

That no problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.

And finally, nothing is sweeter than the satisfaction of victory after a struggle.

Cheers to you!
Click to expand...

thank you. :)
 
Mr. Buzzcut

Mr. Buzzcut

macrumors 65816
Jul 25, 2011
1,037
488
Ohio
Scepticalscribe said:

Well, as a start, my first response would be to ask what it is that you like to do? What interests you? And then, I would seek to advise you try to find a way to do that and make some sort of a living from it.

To be honest, your post is a howl of frustration, and writing about jealousy and cars and houses - to my mind - sort of misses the point.

Are being able to afford those your goals, or is your goal to try to do something for a living which you find interesting, stimulating, challenging and fulfilling & rewarding both professionally and personally?

Speaking - or writing - personally, I could never work at something I do not find intellectually stimulating, and challenging and interesting. Money is not my god, and never has been, but a large degree of professional autonomy and intellectual challenge most certainly is and I could not ever work in an environment which I found suffocating or boring.

As a child I loved history, and later, as a teenager, I developed a fascination with politics. These were the areas I studied at university, and later taught for a living, which was something I loved doing and derived enormous professional and intellectual satisfaction from so doing. However, when I worked as a university teacher, I was not especially well paid, but I enjoyed my work.
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Great post. Wish more people had such ideals. The world would be a happier place.
 
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Natzoo

Natzoo

macrumors 68000
Sep 16, 2014
1,986
631
This is the reason i love macrumors, its just truly an amazing website with amazing people. Well i don't work yet but i do community stuff such as tutoring people for free
 
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WinstonRumfoord

macrumors 6502
Mar 27, 2014
482
1,174
Eggtastic said:
thank you ALL for the replies so far, i know i need to soul search to find what interest me the most. I am quoting you because you brought up IT. I did media, television, and video editing in high school. I always had a fascination for technology growing up, problem is my math isn't strong. it's not terrible, but it doesn't come natural to me. everything their is a computer issue or something is needed to hook up at our school, i eagerly jump on the issue every time.

i've been searching and found with that a few certs i can break into the IT field. Only thing holding me back is the threat of H1B visas (is that correct?), and the fact that i might get passed over for some with the computer science degree.

so what is your thought on the future of IT and if certs will cut it vs a full blown computer science degree? again, thank you ALL for replies.
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1. Don't bother with media/video/graphics unless you plan on owning your own shop or you are very passionate about the work and would be ok with an average pay.

2. Get into IT, specifically security. Or Web development (NOT design), and learn as much about secure development as possible. Don't worry about h1B visas, just be good at it.

Best,
 
S

shawnpuerto

macrumors member
Dec 2, 2014
70
2
I'm self-employed. I make all my money on amazon and ebay.

Did you ever see the movie "40 year old virgin"? If so, the main female in that movie runs a store called "We sell your stuff on ebay". That's me.
 
Stooby Mcdoobie

Stooby Mcdoobie

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2012
834
45
It's never too late to switch fields. I graduated with a CS degree and worked as a software engineer for a few years. Spent the majority of my time rewriting old legacy apps and figuring out how to get them to interface with newer systems like SAP. I enjoyed it at first but ultimately got burned out and started looking for opportunities in different fields. I started talking to pretty much anyone I could at my company, inquiring about their specific job responsibilities, asking if they knew of any openings, etc. Finally talked to the right person and landed a position as a financial analyst, doing EV scheduling. I've been in finance for 5 years now and am so much happier than I was before. I still do a bit of programming but it's incredibly less stressful when it's just a hobby. :p
 
smitty8202

smitty8202

macrumors member
Jan 18, 2011
82
12
Okinawa, Japan
I have seen this topic in quite a few of the forums I frequent. Always cool to see what people do for a living and maybe start some net working.

So as the title states post what you do for a living. So ill start. Currently on active duty in the Marine Corps.
 
kilcher

kilcher

macrumors 65816
Jul 3, 2011
1,269
326
IT for a large insurance company. I don't live it and breathe it like some people do but I've been doing it for about 15 years and it's a nice paycheck.
 
rhett7660

rhett7660

macrumors G5
Jan 9, 2008
14,224
4,304
Sunny, Southern California
Crisis intervention specialist that also handles IT and Project Management duties. Currently going back to school, looking to get into career number two after this one is finished (retire from) in six years 10 months. Then I want to become a full time Project Manager for a brewery or consulting firm.
 
Eldiablojoe

Eldiablojoe

macrumors 6502a
Dec 4, 2009
952
70
West Koast
smitty8202 said:
I have seen this topic in quite a few of the forums I frequent. Always cool to see what people do for a living and maybe start some net working.

So as the title states post what you do for a living. So ill start. Currently on active duty in the Marine Corps.
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I like how you resurrected a thread 1.5 years after its last post. :)
 
Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,983
46,447
In a coffee shop.
Zaap said:
EDIT: yikes! didn't realize this was a necro thread!
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Not every necro thread deserves to die, (permanently) not least because some are dealing with stuff that is still relevant to our lives which means that new readers, and new posters come across it and can add their thoughts and experiences to the thread.
 
AustinIllini

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,682
10,517
Austin, TX
I'm a control systems engineer in the biotech/pharmaceuticals industry. It's a heck of a lot more IT than what I trained for in college.
 
ActionableMango

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Sep 21, 2010
9,612
6,907
Eggtastic said:
I am 27
....
I stroll through some of these forums, and see newer, brand new cars, nice houses, etc. and I hate to say it but get extremely jealous.
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I know this is a really old post, but I'd just like to step in and point out that many of us are older than you and we have earned these great things over time. Yes I've bought brand new cars, motorcycles, and own a house I love, but I sure as heck didn't do all that in my mid to late 20s.
 
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