# Poll: SDMB Careers. What do you do for a living? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282 "2003-01-22T20:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/21 "2003-01-22T22:14:45Z")
The wild and wonderful world of Electrical Engineering. I love my job, and I’m glad to just have one at the moment. I design microchips for cellphone towers. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/22 "2003-01-22T22:17:09Z")
Geological / Geophysical Processing & Interpretation Software Guy ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/23 "2003-01-22T22:28:48Z")
Corporate cop - I work for a financial regulator. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/24 "2003-01-22T22:32:11Z")
I’m a Political Operations Assistant for the largest lobbying company in the state. After a year on the job, I’m still trying to figure out my job description. I’m also a full-time student studying for a degree in eCommerce. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/25 "2003-01-22T22:35:25Z")
Quality Assurance for yet another surviving dot-com. Been here since the heydey of 1999. There’s a bit of downtime while I calm down enough to rephrase “Dear developer, this interface blows. It’s like trying to get a monkey to eat bananas while manipulating its ass with a pole. Who designed this piece of shit?” into something a little more professional. Perfect time to roam through the Pit and let my rage flow. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/26 "2003-01-22T22:41:01Z")
I research potential donors for a mid-size private university. So, essentially, my _job_ (half of it anyway) is to mess around looking at things on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/27 "2003-01-22T22:51:06Z")
I’m a lawyer. (= bad guy) But . . . I help people lower their tax bills! (= good guy) But . . . these “people” are really only extremely large corporations. (= bad guy again) But . . . corporate income taxes only constitute about 7% of all tax revenue so by decreasing the amount of corporate tax revenue I’m really not increasing individuals’ tax burden all that much, plus I’m really having fun doing it. (whatever) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/28 "2003-01-22T23:21:39Z")
Exploration geophysicist; I don’t come here from work anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_Mork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@Son\_of\_Mork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_Mork)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/29 "2003-01-22T23:24:12Z")
I’ve been doing my “job” for 6 months and still don’t know what it is. Clarification will come eventually…I hope! ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/30 "2003-01-22T23:25:05Z")
Great thread–I am always curious about what people do for a living. I am a psychologist specializing in clinical rehabilitation psychology, which means I spend my day with patients who have recently-acquired spinal cord and severe orthopedic injuries. Think gunshot wounds and traumatic amputations in motor vehicle accidents. It is, contrary to popular belief, a very uplifting and inspiring field. I get to see how strong people can be. ---
**Author:** ![Osip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Osip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osip)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/31 "2003-01-22T23:28:55Z")
I work as a locksmith 🙂 Till I win the lotto then I am going to become a cult leader! ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/32 "2003-01-22T23:29:16Z")
…I’m Head of Chess at a top English Private School. I have diversified - I also teach roleplaying and computer games. Yes, really! ---
**Author:** ![Pencepon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Pencepon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pencepon)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/33 "2003-01-22T23:33:48Z")
Graphic designer. I’m Art Director for a retail packaging company. Now that the holiday box/bag/tissue/ribbon rush is over, there’s a lull in the workflow for a couple of months. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/34 "2003-01-22T23:48:08Z")
I’m an environmental project manager and part time aerobics/dance instructor. So, how do I post so much? Well, during the winter months in AK, the environmental industry is slow. So I post a lot during the day at work. Yes I work too, but take a lot of “chat breaks”. Even in the summer when we are in full on “field season” we still have “slow days”. When the University is on christmas, spring or summer break, I can post more. Also, I don’t watch a lot of TV. ---
**Author:** ![Broodha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@Broodha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broodha)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/35 "2003-01-22T23:50:48Z")
Graduate student in comparative literatures, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/36 "2003-01-22T23:53:40Z")
I have a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering and I’ve done software development in lots of different industries: defense, health care, market research, publishing, telecom. I’m currently designing data warehouses for a health care institution. ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/37 "2003-01-22T23:57:01Z")
Second Secretary, US Foreign Service. Awaiting posting to Colombo, Sri Lanka in March, where I’ll be second-in command of the Political section (Ok, so there’s only two people) for a year, then Assistant Public Affairs Officer for another year. I’m in language training now, so I only work half-days. ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/38 "2003-01-22T23:58:47Z")
Geology professor. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/39 "2003-01-23T00:11:30Z")
I work in the electronics department of a major east coast bank. My function is to repair wire transfers to be sure they are formatted correctly and reach their destination in a timely manner. Something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/40 "2003-01-23T00:17:14Z")
I was a high school English teacher in the inner-city for twenty years. Now I sleep in, drink lots of coffee, watch the snow and laugh a lot. As long as I stay on my meds… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282.md?page=3)