# So, what do you do for a living? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687 "2006-07-09T01:11:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/1 "2006-07-09T01:11:23Z")
I’m a full-time student. How 'bout you? (If you’d like, you can also tell us how you got there, what degree you had to get if any, how many times you changed your mind, what made you decide on that career, what kind of careers you’d had before that if any, what it’s like working in your field, etc. Or not, that’s cool too.) ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/2 "2006-07-09T01:17:34Z")
I was a housewife for two and a half years. Please welcome me now into the wonderful world of retail and consignment! Started a couple weeks ago. Doing well. Loving it. Pays well. Thank you, thank you. Writing in my spare time, half finished my first youth fantasy book. Sold a few articles in the meantime. Go, me. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/3 "2006-07-09T01:18:47Z")
Heh. I am an executive assistant/office manager/general slave. I am overpaid for what I do, but I put up with a lot of bullshit- I work for my mother-in-law and husband (not necessarily in that order)- we have a consulting company. I went to college but left prior to receiving a degree. I have worked for my MIL since 1997, and will probably never have to find another job. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/4 "2006-07-09T01:18:56Z")
Oh, happy, happy golden time. I’m retired, just collect my pension and SS. So, every day is a holiday! Sorry about that guys. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/5 "2006-07-09T01:19:23Z")
In order, I have been a Wendy’s Grill & Prep guy, A Friendly’s Grill guy, briefly as a dishwasher, a Math Tutor at the Community College I attended, Driver for a Pharmacy, Navy Electrician including a short stint Baking for 5000 men. I then worked briefly as a Security Guard. A longer stint as an HVAC mechanic working mainly on chill water system and heating but specializing in Computer & Pneumatic controls. Finally I went back to school, giving up my ambition to be an Electrical Engineer and became a Computer Programmer. I have now done this job for various companies for 14 years. [The details of why I gave up on engineering and chose Programming are here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7550121&postcount=10) Jim ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/6 "2006-07-09T01:23:34Z")
I work full-time as a Business Process Analyst for a software development firm. I’m also a full-time student pursuing my BS in MIS. Previous jobs I’ve held include Political Operations Manager/Governmental Affairs Coordinator for a business association, Office Manager for a lobbying firm, Store Manager for a video store, short order cook at a bowling alley, various fast food and retail stints, and (my favorite job of all) marshall/arcade tech at a laser tag/video arcade establishment. Someday I hope to open up my own laser tag place. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/7 "2006-07-09T01:26:08Z")
I’m a medical assistant in a dermatology office. I room patients, perform all kinds of procedures on them, write up biopsies, call in and fax prescriptions, phone patients with results, and a thousand and one other things. I like the health care field, and I have experience in a variety of settings. My job is fairly complex and it takes even an intelligent person a couple of years to master it, so I’ll probably stick around for a while as to not waste my extensive training there. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/8 "2006-07-09T01:28:33Z")
I’m a nurse. I just sort of fell into it. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do after school, and I took a while off doing various nothing jobs (cocktail waitress, record store clerk, yada), and got tired of having no money. I vaguley wanted something in medicine, but I couldn’t decide. Joined the Navy as a corpsman and got my paramedic’s license. Got a transfer down to the E.R., and decided that nurses have a really wonderful, fulfilling profession. Went to school while I was active duty (best thing I could’ve done, there was a program that helped pay my tuition and the only thing I used my GI bill for was my books & my labs), and finished my tour a Warrant Officer. Went into gastroenterology after I left the Navy, didn’t care for it, but I didn’t especially wante to go back to the E.R., switched to dialysis in the end. Left for a brief period to do Utilization Review for an insurance company that waved an embarrassingly large pile of cash at me, quit because I couldn’t keep telling people why they couldn’t have the treatment they needed, and went back to dialysis. Much happier now. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/9 "2006-07-09T01:30:10Z")
Currently working at a lip balm factory as a summer job before I go back to school for my master’s this fall. I started off just doing generic “line production” work. Putting tubes in boxes, loading tubes onto a conveyer, putting boxes into boxes, but luckily I was given a special summer project in the warehouse. I now have the fun and glory of cataloging every item in the warehouse inventory and making sure it gets put onto the new inventory system. It’s _exactly_ as fun as it sounds. Granted, it’s better than standing in one spot for hours on end packing lip balm tubes, but not by much. The warehouse gets very hot, especially since the two small quasi-offices and the quasi-lab that were built into it have their AC vent _into_ the warehouse. But, come this fall, when I head back to school, I’ll get some part time job doing…_something._ I don’t know what yet. I hate retail (done it twice, hated it twice) so that’s out, so probably delivery boy, dish washer, McJob, or what have you. ---
**Author:** ![mrald](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mrald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrald)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/10 "2006-07-09T01:31:48Z")
Certified Nursing Assistant, in school to eventually reach my BSN. My favorite job was a bouncer at a pool hall, I was to round up unruly and/or underage girls, we couldn’t have the guys mess with them, so I got the job. That was a fun summer. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/11 "2006-07-09T01:32:51Z")
Right now, I’m a temp looking for something permanent. And I write, though nothing’s finished enough to try to get published. I have a BS in accounting and this particular assignment that I’m nearly done with actually had me using what I’d learned in school. I’ve worked in retail, been a full-time student, and worked at the university switchboard as well. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/12 "2006-07-09T01:33:09Z")
I’m a medical technologist, working in a hospital blood bank. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/13 "2006-07-09T01:33:12Z")
And the livin’ is easy. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/14 "2006-07-09T01:39:17Z")
I’m a civil engineer (actually, I’m technically an Engineer-In-Training until I get my Professional Engineering license in the fall, hopefully). It took me about 17 years of sporadically attenfing school to finally get my degree as I worked a variety of retail management jobs. I picked engineering 'cause I wanted a field where you could make decent money and I picked civil because it seem to be a bit more stable than other fields. Plus bridges are cool. 🆒 I go back and forth about my job. Somedays its great, other days I feel like I’m trapped in my cube. I sometimes consider chucking it all and moving to Japan to teach English… ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/15 "2006-07-09T01:53:27Z")
> [@XJETGIRLX](#): > > and (my favorite job of all) marshall/arcade tech at a laser tag/video arcade establishment. > > Someday I hope to open up my own laser tag place. That’s so cool! I’m looking for a part-time job for when I move out of the family home in a few weeks, and your post reminded me to inquire at the local Ultrazone. Sounds like a kickass job, plus the hours are great for going to class and such. > [@tremorviolet](#): > > and I picked civil because it seem to be a bit more stable than other fields. Only if it’s planned right. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/16 "2006-07-09T02:00:37Z")
I’m a radio announcer; I record, produce, edit and assemble programs and promos, operate the mixing board live sometimes (the stations are 99% automated), and work on the daily playlist to make sure things happen when they’re supposed to. I take other peoples’ work and essentially make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. I also restore old recordings, transferring them to digital format and removing all extraneous noises and anomalies and saving the newly pristine results on CD. I’ve wanted to work in radio since my voice changed from boy soprano to deep baritone. I discovered Top 40 stations when “personality” disc jockeys were the norm. They were extremely tight operators and funny people with hilarious bits. That’s what I wanted to do. Radio doesn’t sound like that anymore, but I understand it, know it and love it. I was a starving musician for 25 years, too. Keyboards, bass, drums, guitars, recording. This means that I also did dozens and dozens of other jobs for money to eat and pay rent. And hey, this was my four thousandth post! ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/17 "2006-07-09T02:07:08Z")
I’m a stay-at-home-mom/homemaker/butt-wiper/cleaner-up-of-messes. I used to be a music critic, journalist, graphic artist, secretary, shoe salesperson (ugh), radio DJ, and college admissions rep. Not all at the same time, though. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/18 "2006-07-09T02:08:41Z")
Damned glasses, it was my 3600th post. I mistook the 35 for 39. Sorry, I’m not playing post-count. Hon, please remind me to call an optometrist on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/19 "2006-07-09T02:10:03Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Hon, please remind me to call an optometrist on Monday. Wait a while, one may pop into this thread sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/20 "2006-07-09T02:11:03Z")
I am a stockbroker. I’ve taken a lot of strange turns since college. I spent 5 years working in standardized testing and then finally left a couple of months ago. A brokerage firm hired me on and thus I’m here! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687.md?page=2)