# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/81 "2006-07-10T00:55:52Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > I am guilty of reacting to his post before I read on and I still saw Guest under his name. I guess we both thought the same thing. šŸ™‚ > In Theory this should give our new friend 2 years on the dope. Worse things could happen. How about we call it great minds thinking alike. > > Jim As long as I am in great company, Jim, mā€™boy, I think we can indeed call it that. šŸ™‚ I sure hope you like this place, **Clockwork and Candy**! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/82 "2006-07-10T01:04:53Z")
I am an actuary. Iā€™m also studying law part-time and should finish my degree by mid 2007. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/83 "2006-07-10T01:05:01Z")
Imā€™ a proffesur teching kidz mad riting skilz, plus wich I rite storys and pomes and shit. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/84 "2006-07-10T01:23:21Z")
Iā€™ve been working as a writer, editor and native language advisor for a major Japanese publisher for six years now. I love this job but also have a couple of side freelance jobs including an online exporting business. In the past, Iā€™ve worked as a movie theater usher, cafeteria dishwasher, media library clerk, record/CD shop clerk, software company customer support, system engineer and technical writer. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/85 "2006-07-10T02:48:31Z")
Wow, some of you people have interesting lives. I worked in, and then ran, gas stations for about 9 years until I found out Mrs. Optimist was pregnant. I decided I wasnā€™t going to be a father and work those crazy hours, so I started fixing computers at a retail electronics store. Kind of bounced around assorted computer related jobs (IT, tech support, QA, etc). During this time I managed to get a degree in Environmental Science, which led directly to what Iā€™m doing now \* - Iā€™m a Systems Integration Engineer, which means very little, but what I do is confirm that my companies product (fibre channel switches) works with their product (ā€œthemā€ being large companies that rebrand and/or sell our stuff). This involves a lot of finding problems with other peoples stuff and having to prove that it is, indeed, their problem and not ours. Long before this point, the listeners eyes start glazing over and I say ā€œI do computer stuffā€ The place Iā€™m working has a history of reliability and a great product assurance department, so most bugs are found long before I get the stuff, but big companies that are usually known by their initials never take our word for it, so we have to prove that we do, in fact, follow FC specs, even if they donā€™t. \*Yes, that was sarcasm, Iā€™ve worked in the environmental field for a grand total of 4 months. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9c0ed/32.png) [@El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Perro_Fumando)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/86 "2006-07-10T02:55:49Z")
I teach high school math. ---
**Author:** ![mlerose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@mlerose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlerose)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/87 "2006-07-10T03:06:00Z")
I run/administer/etc. a statewide program for the state department of education. Mostly, I hold school districts that participate accountable for how they spend the money associated with the program, and I train new people in the districts on how the program works. In other words, I am a bureaucrat who plays with paper and I sit in a cube in the basement of a state office building unless Iā€™m running trainings around the state or doing site visits. ---
**Author:** ![Ring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ring)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/88 "2006-07-10T04:59:03Z")
**Education** BSEE MBA **Work History** ā€“ Very Large Electrical Equipment Manufacturer Field Sales Engineer ā€“ Industrial Products Division Sales Engineer ā€“ Industrial Products Manager College Recruitment Product Line Manager ā€“ Electrical Products - Small Product Line Manager ā€“ Electrical Products - Large Start Up Plant Manager ā€“ Electrical Products - Small Plant Manager / General Manager - Electrical Products - Large Accepted position with new company ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/89 "2006-07-10T12:49:25Z")
I am a research analyst at a university. I donā€™t do much scholarly research, but rather research on the operations and administration of the institution itself. Both parents are educators and I grew up thinking I didnā€™t want to do that (too little monetary reward, too little appreciation, etc). I majored in econ. But towards the end of college I realized I couldnā€™t see myself anywhere else but in education. I started out working in admissions after college and it cemented for me that I wanted to work in higher ed (although not as a recruiter). I went back to school for an MA and PhD and started working in the job I have now. ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/90 "2006-07-10T13:18:20Z")
My career history has been pretty mundane up until now. Throughout high school and college I was either unemployed or working in retail or as a lab monkey somewhere. But as of a month ago I am now employed as a Database Manager with a Department of Defense contractor. Starting fall of '07 I will be using this job to put myself through grad school for a masters in Criminal Justice with the goal of eventually getting a job as an intelligence analyst ---
**Author:** ![SeaDogSteve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@SeaDogSteve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDogSteve)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/91 "2006-07-10T13:34:04Z")
Ok Iā€™ve lurked long enough on here and this looks like an easy one to start with šŸ™‚ Iā€™m a manager at a rendering plant in Baltimore. Weather is a bit hot today so the atmosphere in the plant is a bit ummmm thick shall we say! Spent most of my previous life at sea (hence the name) on submarines and ships. Wifey told me to grow up and get a real job so here I am. P.S. I never have and never will spell well, please be gentle with me! ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/92 "2006-07-10T13:41:44Z")
For the past eighteen years, Iā€™ve been a mainframe software developer (programmer). Iā€™m also a part-time musician. I started college in 1972 studying pre-med. The rock band I was in started to appear to be verging on success, and the recreational pharmaceuticals that I was using made college more of a challenge than it otherwise might have been. I quit school, bound for rock and roll glory. A year later, I was driving a truck, still playing music, and married. Between 1974 and 1987, besides having a child and getting divorced, I had the following jobs, playing music all the while:venom technician, printing press operator, salesman (many times), furnace mechanic, customer service rep, warehouse door mechanic, carpenter, warehouse manager. In 1987, I was fired from a really lousy job. I was a little behind on child support, driving a car that was threatening to die at any moment, and somewhat depressed. My parents convinced me to move back into their house to save money(I was 33) and pursue some kind of useful two-year degree. I did that, and became a programmer. Things have been pretty good since then. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/93 "2006-07-10T13:42:35Z")
Iā€™ve been a freight train conductor for about 8 months now. I think Iā€™m starting to get half decent at it finally. Some days I love it and some days I hate it. Iā€™d probably like to own a shop or bar on some island somewhere nice. It doesnā€™t really matter what, as long as Iā€™m there. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/94 "2006-07-10T13:45:41Z")
Another software developer here. Actually trained and qualified as an electrical/electronic engineer which has no relevance at all to what I do now, which is making stuff happen on Oracle databases. Whatā€™s it like? What **engineer\_comp\_geek** said, see Dilbert. I have on more than one occasion worked for the best part of a year on a project to have it stop dead and never get either completed or delivered. Spent several years running a sound system (PA) hire business\*, which means Iā€™ve seen thousands of bands and dozens of raves. And gone a bit deaf. Spent a while working as a technician on a seismic survey ship, trolling round the North Sea looking for oil. Probably my most ā€œinterestingā€ job\*\* \*which was two of us driving the van(s) carrying the gear and doing the mix. \*\*actually it was often _very_ boring and occasionally dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/95 "2006-07-10T13:53:38Z")
farm worker land surveyor heavy construction project engineer heavy construction estimator blaster (explosives) homemaker encyclopaedia salesman architectural draftsperson reinforced plastics technician kayak production manager multiple unit residential construction project manager heavy construction project manager proprietor of marine repair shop ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/96 "2006-07-10T14:00:30Z")
I answer phones and do unskilled clerical work for a medical laboratory. One of our specialties is dermatopathology, so I speak with people like **trublmaker** on a daily basis. Maybe I even talk with \*\*trublmaker \*\* herself without knowing it! We also do parentage testing here, so I get to deal directly with those clients. Interesting, to say the least. We do get some Jerry Springer guest-types occasionally. Before this job, I worked in fast food and retail for an embarrassing number of years. I also spawned and took night classes at a wee business college. That degree and my high school diploma is all the education I have. If I had it all to do over again, I would like to do some kind of work with the dead, such as preparing bodies for autopsy or even working in a funeral home. To people who think thatā€™s weird, I say, ā€œIt has to beat working with the living!ā€ šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/97 "2006-07-10T14:28:49Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Iā€™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 theyā€™re supposed to. I take other peoplesā€™ work and essentially make a silk purse out of a sowā€™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. > > And hey, this was my four thousandth post! A fellow radio guy! How kewl! Iā€™m operations manager for a tiny (3 stations) broadcasting company in northeast Colorado, nowhere near Denver or mountains. I spent last Friday afternoon on a small hill out in a cow pasture trying to get the temperature in our main transmitter building below 100 degrees. (No, donā€™t pity me ā€“ Iā€™m having a blast!) I started in radio back in 1968 when I was in high school. After screwing around radio and TV for way too long, I joined the Army and discovered newspapering; when I got out, I got my journalism degree and became a ā€œreal journalist,ā€ vowing to never again set foot in a broadcast station. After almost 25 years of newspapering, I burned out like an ungreased bearing on a Goss Metroliner. I spent six or seven years in a cubicle in a call center, learned a lot about myself and people in general, and realized I was spending every day just waiting for the day to pass. Finally, about two years ago, my younger brother, who is program director at a local radio station, told me his boss was looking for someone with management experience. I applied, got the job and am having more fun than should be legal. I do rip-and-read newscasts in the morning, get to clown around during the Morning Circus, write ad copy and record it, produce commercials (this digital stuff is WAAAAYYYY more fun than the old cut-and-splice tape in the old days!) and go to long lunches paid for by the Chamber of Commerce. Oh, yeah, and take my big yellow Lab four-wheeling across the sagebrush-covered sandhills when the A/C goes out in the transmitter building. I donā€™t even know how much I get paid ā€“ I just know itā€™s too much for the work I do. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/98 "2006-07-10T14:34:32Z")
Hey, Jeff, nice to hear from you! Only people who work in radio know what kind of fun it is, and how unlike any other kind of work it is. I was always an equipment-head. It still kinda blows me away that I can go to a place where thereā€™s a couple million dollarsā€™ worth of heavy-duty audio gear and computers and mixing boards, play with them all day, and get paid for it. Sure beats work! ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/99 "2006-07-10T14:47:38Z")
Iā€™m a baker/cake decorator/supervisor for a medium-sized supermarket chain. I was a bakery manager for another chain a few years ago. Never expected to be in this line of work for the long haul, but the more I stuck around, the more I loved it. Several members of my family were in the restaurant/food service biz, so it must be in the blood. I graduated from culinary school in '99. Before all this? I taught 6th-7th grade English in a major urban school system for three years. I have a Ed.M. Around that time school systems in this area were laying off people left and right because of budget cuts, and I was caught in the fray. I took a PT job as a cashier at my local supermarket (the ā€œdepartment managerā€ chain mentioned above) to earn some $ while I looked around for any teaching position. I suppose I couldā€™ve persevered with the teaching gig, but I didnā€™t. I was quickly promoted from cashier to floor supervisor, then I transferred to the bakery. If you stick around long enough in the supermarket biz, you can make quite a decent livingā€¦so yeah, the $ is what kept (and still keeps) me there. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687/100 "2006-07-10T14:48:07Z")
> [@brachyrhynchos](#): > > Perks of the job: I catch my own [pets](http://www-rci.rutgers.edu/~lreed/gandm.htm). They are currently on the tree in my bedroom, yelling at the televised soccer game. šŸ˜ƒ Adorable little guys! Lucky you; Iā€™d love to catch a few wild parrots. My job is to take all of your money and give you a slip of paper in return. Sometimes, if Iā€™m feeling generous, you give me the paper and Iā€™ll give you money. Anyone want to take a stab at it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/363687.md?page=6)