# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![it\_sjustme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/da6949/32.png) [@it\_sjustme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/it_sjustme)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/161 "2003-02-02T21:56:07Z")
I’m an oncology nurse. I infuse chemotherapy in an outpatient clinic. I know that sounds depressing, and it truly is at times. But even more than that, it’s inspirational to see how brave people are and it’s humbling to be able to help my patients (and their familes) through such a scary time. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/162 "2003-02-03T04:13:27Z")
I’m a high school student. It might not pay anything, but I sure as hell work my ass off. If I want money, I petsit. I am the best petsitter you could hope to hire. Not only am I able to feed/water/walk/clean your pet, I can also administer medications, including pills and shots. Also, petsitting is easier than babysitting and it pays better (I usually get $5-$15 a day, depending on how many pets, what kinds, what I have to do, etc.) And I like pets better than kids. I also stuff envelopes and sort files and stuff for my mom so she doesn’t have to do it at work. I get $10 an hour for that. What I’d like to do is work at a children’s bookstore, because I read like crazy, and I also remember what I read–I remember authors, titles, and stories from books I read years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/163 "2003-02-03T04:23:28Z")
I’m a graduate student in English, with a concentration in Renaissance literature. Also work at a Med/Ren studies journal as an editorial assistant. Next year, I’ll be teaching freshman comp – oh bliss, oh rapture. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/164 "2003-02-05T01:12:54Z")
I’m a mercenary teacher. I’m the person teachers call when they need a sanity day. The work ranges from “I’m getting paid to sit on my butt and read” to “I am going to kill each and every one of these little bastards and leave their remains as a warning to others.” Soon I’ll dust the ol’ resume off and start looking for work as a real teacher in h.s. English. Where the work will range from “I can’t believe I’m getting paid to sit here and watch the kids work on projects” to “I am going to kill each and every one of these little bastards and leave their remains as a warning to others.” ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/165 "2003-02-05T02:24:11Z")
Systems Analyst, Server Admin, Network Analyst, Directory Services Specialist and Six Sigma Black Belt (which means I do statistical data driven analysis on IT processes and problems) ---
**Author:** ![Anaxagoras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b77776/32.png) [@Anaxagoras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaxagoras)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/166 "2003-02-05T04:31:01Z")
Database Programmer ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/167 "2003-02-05T04:59:41Z")
Unemployed Big-4 management consultant. When I am working, I’m basically a cross between a Bob from Office Space and a gibberish speaking MBA with a laptop. Much of my work involves helping company streamline their operations…which usually results in layoffs. Now I have tasted my own medicine and it is bitter!☹ I think I may go to law school so I can put my moral ambiguity to good use. ---
**Author:** ![petcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5fc32e/32.png) [@petcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/petcat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/168 "2003-02-05T05:30:55Z")
IT Infrastructure, data migration specialist, DNS, NIS/NFS admin. I work for a gumn’t contractor. Only Mac specialist left, though I deal mostly with Suns and NTs. But I printed T shirts for fifteen years. ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/169 "2003-02-05T05:46:00Z")
Software Engineer; Video Slot/Poker Machines. And I don’t buy lottery tickets, either. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/170 "2003-02-05T06:49:36Z")
I work at a university where I maintain computers, a couple of small networks, flight sims, flight engineer sims, air traffic control sims, our wind tunnel, etc. I’m building time and ratings to become an airline pilot (Yo, **Pilot141** ) ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/171 "2003-02-05T07:11:25Z")
I’m Batman. ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/172 "2003-02-05T08:22:23Z")
Damn, how do you follow that? I’m the House Manager of a movie theater in St. Louis, soon to be unemployed in Chicago. The movie theater job is usually a lot of fun, especially the one I’m at, but the pay is unfortunate and the crap you gotta take from the myriad of bosses and the customers is…also unfortunate. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/173 "2003-02-05T08:41:47Z")
In the AM, I am that striker of dread in the hearts of housewives everywere - the Dreaded Telemarketer! Actually, I make calls to repeat customers for a carpet cleaning compamy. “Hi, it’s February again. Ready yet? April? Of course I’ll call back then!” Repeat every three months or until they finally get it done. In the PM, I’m a zookeeper. (\<- See name.) I look after the mammals, arachnids and amphibians and also give tours at a local zoo. I also do a little writing and indulge in Motherhood. I have teenage boys. Help. Oh yeah, and I help out with the ten - twelve year olds at Church. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/174 "2003-02-05T18:07:06Z")
Rodeo clown.[sup]1[/sup] [sup]1[/sup] [sub]Though everyone _thinks_ I’m an electrical engineer. If they only knew the truth…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![minega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@minega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minega)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/175 "2003-02-05T18:07:58Z")
I am doing my final year of High school…dammn i must be like the youngest member of this board! You lucky people have finished school and are doing your thing…sigh. ---
**Author:** ![keithnmick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@keithnmick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keithnmick)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/176 "2003-02-05T18:49:30Z")
Industrial Designer, for a mid size consultancy. That doesn’t mean I design factories, it means I design products for mass production. Mostly medical products, but with a few consumer and industrial projects thrown in. I do the “arty stuff” and some (not all) “engineery” stuff. Then I present the concepts, and the client and I decide what their product will look like, work like and how it will be made. Some days I spend all day sketching. My website is linked from my profile - it’s old though, all of it is from before I graduated college in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/177 "2003-02-05T19:39:49Z")
Howyadoin, Software/controls engineer, specializing in interfacing with factory automation systems, for a semiconductor equipment manufacturing company in the Boston area. We’re the US subsidiary of a biggish Japanese corporation which keeps us on life support because they need a US presence to handle their customers here, and want access to US engineering resources. In addition to acting as a sales/service organization for the Japanese corporation’s products, we design and manufacture a tool that performs one of the many steps in producing chips. It’s claim to fame is that it does this process without using any of the toxic chemicals our competitors use. It sells for ~1.5 million dollars. Assuming, of course, we sell anymore. ☹ -Rav ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/178 "2003-02-05T21:01:19Z")
I am the Director of Operations for a start-up Hedge Fund. I’m one of 3 guys (Research, Fund Manager, Ops) that are crazy enough to try and start an investment fund in the worst markets in 30 years. We are down to the nitty-gritty, we need seed money and assets to manage. We have some promises for when we launch the fund July 1 for assets to manage, but if we don’t get the seed money by June, then…then…well…Then my job description will be along the lines of used office equipment salesman. Then I don’t know what I’ll do…but it might be moving back to the States and helping my friend expand his magic and costume shop. -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282/179 "2003-02-05T23:25:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coda \* > How does one get a job at the UN? \*\* For the UN [https://jobs.un.org/release1/vacancy/vacancy.asp](https://jobs.un.org/release1/vacancy/vacancy.asp) For the CIA [http://www.cia.gov/cia/employment/positions.htm](http://www.cia.gov/cia/employment/positions.htm) I guess you just apply like any other job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-careers-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/150282.md?page=8)