I’m a drilling engineer and while the pay is nice the best thing about my job is getting to argue with environmentalists during my off time, mostly my family, who think that I go out of my way to ruin the earth. I really enjoy messing with them.
Antitrust litigation. I find it rewarding because it is one of the areas of law that is in a state of flux pretty much constantly, that gets changed heavily by each administration, that provides global work opportunities, and, bottom line, is litigation. I’m glad there are transactional lawyers around, I just don’t want to be one.
It’s also rewarding because the firm I work for is wonderful about pro bono, and has given me a chance to put my (limited) skills and our firm’s (much less limited) resources to work for people genuinely in need. I still get Christmas cards from the asylee I represented who was looking down the barrel of an apostacy charge if he got deported.
I’m a database developer and programmer, and I love it.
While I work on fairly small-scale stuff, as others have said, it’s marvelously creative work as well as challenging, and it suits me perfectly. I used to be an interpreter and tour escort living in Hawaii, but, even though the weather isn’t as good here, I’m a lot happier and better at my job. I like the way my mind works when I’m coding and I like it when people realize I really have made their jobs easier.
A couple of years ago, I was working for a small company in a job I hated. I took a step back, looked at my life, and asked myself what I wanted to do, not ruling out any possibilities. I realized I wanted to keep doing what I was doing, only for a company which would treat me better. Lo and behold, here I am, doing the same job for a company which not only treats me much better, but which pays me much better, too. Life is good! 
My son had ashirt that you might like it on the front “Earth First” with a picture of the earth, and on the back it said “We will harvest the other Planets Later”. He like to wear it around flamming environmentalists.
Geo-computer geek for small local government. “Geographic Information Systems”, which is maps and spatial databases and computers and GPS and… I also designed our county website and am the webmaster. I help out with IT, too.
I love it when I’m busy - lots of different tasks and projects, since I’m a one-person show. Could be a huge address map or a bit of Python coding or putting up press releases on the website. Or providing maps for a wildfire. Or implementing a new software system. I really like to multi-task, and work with computers. I don’t have to talk on the phone too much, or deal with people. (The software implementation was the hardest thing I’ve done for a while because of the personality conflicts and resistance.) My dream would be to spend half my time writing code, but there isn’t much need for it right now. It’s been slow lately, which bores me. I’m not one to sit around and collect a paycheck.
Pay is not terrible, especially since I’ve been there 10 years, benefits are fine, and my schedule is flexible, up to a point. I usually work Mon-Thurs, 30 hrs/week. If I want to take 3 weeks to go to Indonesia, or down the Grand Canyon, I just make sure that everything can either go on without me or wait.
I’m grateful to have such a great job, and I love my boss and (most of) my co-workers. The two IT guys and I share an office, and we work together seamlessly. So yeah, it’s good.
Rural mail carrier.
Bought my first house, fed my kids. Being rural, we have minimal management on a daily basis. I get to see several elderly people that might not see anyone else this week.
But when it’s actively raining, the wind is blowing, or when it’s over 100 (and it IS here…a lot) the job mostly sucks!
I’m the Director of Software Development for a medical imaging software company in Cleveland. That sounds more impressive than it really is, since we only have about 50 full-time employees, but I’ve been working here for 5 years (started right out of school) and I enjoy it a lot. While my title says Director, I do a lot coding - although this can vary. Some weeks I’m doing 80% coding and 20% other stuff, and other weeks it’s flipped. After this week it will probably be more in the direction of coding, as most of our summer interns are going back to school.
There’s a fair bit more paperwork involved in doing medical software (what with the FDA and such), but I get to work on software that helps with patient care and to save lives. Also, I was a coin-toss away from being on stage with Steve Jobs last summer’s WWDC (the Director of Software Architecture won the coin-toss 
). The pay is good, the hours aren’t bad (I work from home a fair bit in the evenings, but primarily because I want to, not because I have to - I love programming, and would do it for free).
It can be frustrating at times, especially when I’m putting out fires and dealing with less-than-intelligent customers, but I know I’m indispensible and appreciated. I’m also sort-of the backup sysadmin, as we’ve had several come and go, but our current sysadmin seems like he will be around for a while, so I don’t do too much of that any more.
Plus I have an iPhone, MacBook Pro, and Mac Pro with a 30-inch display and 2 24-inch displays. In case you couldn’t guess, I’m a Mac guy, although it’s primarily because there’s such a robust Unix environment underneath. We get to choose our OS of choice, which is a nice perk as well.
Of course, today was pretty miserable in general, since the A/C in our building blew a fuse on the hottest day of the summer :mad:. But that could happen anywhere. 
First job is as a custodian, lets me live in a house instead of a car. I like how nice the building looks after I’m done cleaning. The bad part is that some people are pigs and don’t know what the handle on the back of the toilet is used for. Second job is as a beadwork artist, which definately does not pay the bills, but I like doing.
I’m a Paralegal working in Real Estate Finance and Dispositions at one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the world.
I work on buying, selling, and re/financing malls and community centers. Mostly contracts, title and survey work fill my days. I like it. I’ve been doing it a year so I still am learning.
The pay is decent, benefits great, and people are pretty good.
Not nearly as exciting as rebuilding the judicial system in Nineveh but pays my bills and bought me a Buell XB12R =)
I might have to find one. Right now I have a bumper sticker on my motorcycle that says “Prevent forest fires - Support Strip Mining” and my license plate is ERTHRPR for earth raper.
I’m a veterinary technician, I work full time at a feline rescue (shelter) and weekends at an animal ER.
The pay pretty much sucks, but I get by. Nobody does this for the money! The work couldn’t be more rewarding. The rescue specializes in sick and injured strays, and of course that’s all we see at the ER, too (well, owned, but sick and injured). It’s so great to be part of nursing an animal back to health, and to see them adopted from the shelter or go home with their family from the ER.
The shelter gives me 5 weeks of vacation/personal time a year and a pretty good health plan, so that helps a lot in making up for the pay.
No day is ever the same, this is the first job I’ve had more than 3 years without becoming bored to tears. Been doing this for 8 years now and I’m still constantly learning new stuff, which I found out I really need. Jobs before this were more like, “OK, I know all this and it’s a daily grind now, what’s next?” Not any more, and I love it!
Most people have no idea my job exists unless they know a court reporter fairly well. Basically, I edit court reporters’ transcripts for grammar and clarity (former English/French/History teacher), making sure that what’s on the page is what’s on the audio. I do a lot of research. I’m not a transcriptionist, and my typing usually sucks. I really enjoy it because every case is different and I learn about something new nearly every day. I know a little bit about a lot of things… I kick ass at Trivial Pursuit and pub quizzes!
It’s rewarding because I work for myself from home. I have a fireplace in my office. I haven’t worn pantyhose in five years. I am my son’s homeroom mom, and I get to go on his field trips and stay home with him if he’s sick. It’s also nice that I’m not getting told to “ef off” on a regular basis, which is not true of my teaching days. Also, the amount of money I make and my standard of living are directly proportional to the amount I work (or don’t). Also not true of my teaching days.
It’s tough because, as all self-employed subcontractors know, if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. Being a single mom, I never take a full-on vacation because I have a fear of turning down work. If I get sick and seriously laid up for several days, it’s tough. OTOH, I make more money than I did as a teacher, so I guess I’ve kind of traded my safety net for the cash.
I love it and don’t think I could ever go back to a regular job… and certainly not teaching (shhhhudder).
I’m a product manager and healthcare policy “expert.” It was rewarding because I got to think of tons of ways to use government-funded healthcare programs to help people who need it most. Right now it’s absolutely maddening with all the mudslinging back and forth. I actually preferred reading the bill that was floated in Congress recently to all the media I’ve had to follow lately. I’m kind of looking forward to another 1,000+ page bill so I’ll have something else to read than the totally-disheartening crap I’m reading in the news.
I’m a music teacher / Band director. Working for and helping people is rewarding I think regardless of the profession. However I’m lucky to be able to teach what I’m also very passionate about in my personal life. Also I find communities really respect the band teacher as a role model for kids, and also a job they somewhat wish they could have. I can’t remember how many times an adult has come up to me saying how much they wish they could play an instrument.
I am self-employed. I specialize in rebuilding steering boxes and power steering components, mostly for old Ford Mustangs, but also other old Fords and some industrial equipment. It doesn’t pay much, but I manage. I work out of a shop at my house and only have to drive about 50 miles a month now.
It is rewarding to have someone ship me the old, greasy, nasty 40-year old power steering system off their old car, and completely rebuild it and return it to them looking better than new.
It is rewarding when I can fix parts and problems that others have tried to fix, and failed - customers elated to have their parts finally fixed right.
It is rewarding to go to several car forums and see that someone asked about a steering problem, and see that a half-dozen people replied to the thread and highly recommended me to do the work or answer their questions.
It is rewarding to talk to and email people around the country and around the world and help them with their questions and “talk cars” with them.
It is rewarding to be complimented on my website since it provides people with more information on the subject than can be found anywhere else.
It is rewarding that a self-built website and word-of-mouth brings me more business than I can handle.
When people ask me why I got into this business, I like to tell them “The fame, the glory, and the women. What else?”
I’m a working musician and music teacher (private).
I play whatever they pay me to play - guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, piano. I specialize in bluegrass and jazz, but whatever pays the bills. I have two regular working bands, and I do a lot of sub work, both live and in the studio.
I teach all the above instruments, plus music theory, arrangement, and production.
As a sideline, I do some voice-over work, mostly for corporate training videos and whatnot. I’d love to do commercials and movie trailers, but I mostly take the jobs that fall into my lap - not that interested in hunting down additional work (no time)
My fallback job is driving a cab, which varies from 1-3 days a week depending on my teaching and gigging workload.
Wouldn’t trade it for the world. Most days I get up with the wife, see her off to work, spin the dogs around the block and either work on the house or surf the net til noon, practice 12-4 or 5, then rehearsals/students/gigs depending on the day of the week.
downside: thank god my wife works for the state (WI DNR) so I have solid health insurance.
I’m a data warehouse database administrator for a mega-large medical-services-company. I totally love it.
Financial journalist, specifically editor on a team covering commodities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for a well-known provider of financial news and information. It’s nothing I ever would have expected to be doing for a living, though.
I like the job because it’s fast-paced, very creative and calls for skills that I happen to possess. There’s no doubt that I’m adding value by being there, the reporters appreciate my efforts, and the pay is good.