# What do you do for a living? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 12, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436 "2010-11-12T16:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/81 "2010-11-14T00:28:35Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > All true - so that must mean that you are in with a good crowd within your firm, or you like consulting despite the negative stuff you describe above (and which I agree with)…that is certainly a big reason why I moved on, along with wanting to feel that the buck stopped with me. I left my last job after a year so I didn’t like it that much. 😉 When business is good and you have projects to work on, it’s great. When the economy tanks, half the group is on “the beach”, management starts initiating lots of “here’s our plan to drum up business” initiatives and you have nothing to work on but RFP responses (why don’t they just call them “proposals”?) and busdev decks, it’s terrible. A lot of it is timing. I started working at one of the Big-4 right after business school and a week before half the World Trade Center fell on our office. Between the econonmy, the dot com bubble bursting, 9/11, and the collapse of Arthur Andersen, it wasn’t a great time to be there. But when I started at my next firm in 2004, it was 4 years of lots of billable hours, rapids raises and promotions out the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/82 "2010-11-14T01:22:54Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > …I did _very_ well in Criminal Law, and Torts is really doing it for me, too… Torts never really thrilled me, but I did well in Criminal Law and enjoyed it too. I did some criminal defense through my law school’s clinical program, and after graduating in '92 worked briefly in private practice, then spent 2.5 years in civil Legal Aid, and then six years as a prosecutor (a little child support and juvenile court work, but the great majority of my time in the felony trial division) before becoming a magistrate. I’ve always enjoyed criminal law the most - high stakes, serious issues, often some drama. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/83 "2010-11-14T02:20:32Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Torts never really thrilled me, but I did well in Criminal Law and enjoyed it too. I did some criminal defense through my law school’s clinical program, and after graduating in '92 worked briefly in private practice, then spent 2.5 years in civil Legal Aid, and then six years as a prosecutor (a little child support and juvenile court work, but the great majority of my time in the felony trial division) before becoming a magistrate. I’ve always enjoyed criminal law the most - high stakes, serious issues, often some drama. There’s some pro bono work I might do as a student, further down the track, which is Criminal Law work in indigenous communities in the Northern Territories. I’d have to take a month off by that’d be cool on a school break - I’ll either just take the vacation time or take a career break of a month, both are open to me. But it just seems ages away. And now I have to go study instead of mess around on the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/84 "2010-11-14T03:13:46Z")
I am an Applied Behavior Analyst (aka behavior therapist) working with autistic children. I wish I had known that behavior therapy even existed when I was getting my degree, otherwise I would have gotten an earlier start in this career. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/85 "2010-11-14T03:16:38Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > That is a really cool job! I bet it’s tiring and sometimes bizarre, though. (and I always thought that spiel was complete BS, added as a tactic to stop verbally abusive customers and/or crap employees. Kind of like a house that has a "this house protected by X alarm system, with no actual alarm system…) You’d be surprised how many people do think that, and are surprised when I tell them what I do. For some, this may fall into the job-not-a-career category, but I am so passionate about good customer service that I feel this is my calling right now. I’ve been doing QA for five years and still going strong. And my blog really helps relieve some stress too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/86 "2010-11-14T03:26:18Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Are you a traveling adjuster or an inside adjuster? And do you work for an insurance company or an independent company that works with multiple insurance cos? Just curious 🙂 > > I work in commercials claims for an insurance company. It’s an inbound call center (we don’t place calls, we just receive them–and we don’t sell anything!). We take calls from people with commercial policies who either need to file a claim or need information on an existing claim, in which case we direct them to the adjuster on the case file. My department specializes in work comp claims but we also take auto, general liability, and property. We also handle misdirected calls and have a pretty good general understanding of the relative company department layout, since we need to direct calls all over the place on occasion. > > Mine is a good entry-level job. Does not require any experience or degree, and it’s a leg up to other jobs (like claims adjusting). And we started at $12.50 an hour when the local minimum wage was $8.50. I just passed my 2 year anniversary, and while the work is repetitive to the point of numbing your mind, it’s not particularly difficult unless your caller is being difficult. > > (In case you were looking for options that don’t require a degree 🙂 ) I’m a field adjuster working out of my home for a large regional carrier. I’ve worked out of my home for all but the first 5 years of my career. Has its good parts and its bad…I can leave whenever I want but I never get to go home from work. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/87 "2010-11-14T04:41:57Z")
I’m a registered nurse for 13 years, and have never looked back. I work in an ER and worked in Peds ICU in the past. Took 4 years to get through school. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/88 "2010-11-14T04:48:36Z")
I’m a translator specializing in tax law. About half of my work involves transfer pricing and related issues, like thin capitalization, debt pushdown, etc. I also do a lot of work in environmental and health policy. I’m self-employed and work under contract with a handful of law and accounting firms, corporations and a couple multilateral organizations. Though I thought I was on a tourism/hospitality industry track when I graduated from college, I was hired as an editor at a legal publisher. The starting pay sucked but I now look at it as paid training. Eventually I was asked to move back to Mexico to handle local author relations and content development. I eventually left the publisher with a view to starting my own editorial services company but ended up focusing on translation only. Self-employment is generally wonderful, although clients sometimes have trouble understanding that I work at home, rather than live at the office. Typical work hours are 10 am to midnight, and I’m usually working two weekends per month. On the other hand, I can take as much time off as I want whenever I want. The variable pay aspect is sometimes stressful… In the 13 years I’ve been doing this, my worst month’s billing was one-tenth of my best month’s billing. The uncomfortable prospect of farming work out to others or taking on an assistant is looming. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/89 "2010-11-14T11:32:50Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I left my last job after a year so I didn’t like it that much. 😉 > > When business is good and you have projects to work on, it’s great. When the economy tanks, half the group is on “the beach”, management starts initiating lots of “here’s our plan to drum up business” initiatives and you have nothing to work on but RFP responses (why don’t they just call them “proposals”?) and busdev decks, it’s terrible. > > A lot of it is timing. I started working at one of the Big-4 right after business school and a week before half the World Trade Center fell on our office. Between the econonmy, the dot com bubble bursting, 9/11, and the collapse of Arthur Andersen, it wasn’t a great time to be there. But when I started at my next firm in 2004, it was 4 years of lots of billable hours, rapids raises and promotions out the ass. So - how long have you been at this firm? And yeah, when business is slow in consulting it can be quite yucky. What I really didn’t like was the Flavor of the Month - the hot trend that some companies did very successfully and which consulting firms then try to sell to EVERYBODY. Reengineering. [Dot.com](http://Dot.com) / Clicks and Mortar. M&A Post-Merger Integration. Outsourcing. ERP / SAP. All good ideas that have their place, but should not be pushed onto every company. Is our high-school OP \*\*may\_be\_ignorant \*\*still around? I find this thread interesting - a way to learn about what a lot of Dopers do, kinda like finding out the origins of usernames - but I have no idea if the OP is getting any insight… ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/90 "2010-11-14T12:47:33Z")
I’m an opera singer. I have also sung in musical theatre productions, orchestra concerts, I teach voice and guitar, I write poetry and prose (though nothing I’ve written has yet brought any money in.), I arrange music, I’ve played guitar professionally, I’ve been a subway musician and when times have been lean, I’ve filled in with odd jobs. The times haven’t been lean enough for long enough to make me quit over the last 28 years. The main requirement for any career in the arts is - do you have the passion for it that will keep you in the biz despite long hours, long periods between paying work and the constant need for self-improvement and re-discovery? It is not a career path for the faint of heart, but it is endlessly rewarding for those who persist. The “[Ask the Opera Singers](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=471848)” thread from 2008… ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/91 "2010-11-14T16:59:04Z")
I’m a self-employed graphic designer, specialising in branding, although I have also worked in advertising (as an art director) and design for print (brochures etc). Art was my favourite subject at school, and design represented a viable career proposition for exploring my artistic tendencies as a career - I had no desire to be a starving artist. I took a one year foundation course in art & design - obligatory in the UK to qualify for entrance onto an arts-based degree. Then a four year honours degree in Typography & Graphic Communication. I worked for roughly 15 years for design and advertising agencies before having enough ‘clout’ and contacts to go it alone. Positives: it’s a very creatively rewarding career, and it’s satisfying that my work results in a physical ‘product’ at the end (be it a new brand, brochure, marketing campaign and so on). It provides a very comfortable income but will never make me wealthy. I feel privileged that I can work for myself and make a good living without completely filling my week with work. I’ve worked with a lot of interesting, fashionable people. The job gives you a very broad insight into a LOT of different business and non-commercial sectors, as you need to understand your client’s business very well. Negatives: competition for jobs is fierce, particularly for graduates - it becomes easier when you’ve built up a strong reputation and portfolio, which takes many years. My job ties me to London if I want to work on the best projects. Employers often take advantage of intense job competition with low wages, long hours and few, if any, employee benefits. Creative block can make work very stressful - it’s sometimes hard to be creative on demand. Family and friends frequently take advantage by requesting free business card/birthday cards/wedding invites/website designs. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/92 "2010-11-14T17:50:33Z")
I’m a writer, writing test grader and writing tutor. I primarily write articles for professional publication and grade writing tests online at home. At present I’m working on a book proposal I hope to have in front of a publisher by early next year. As someone who loves to read and write and hates to commute my jobs are nearly ideal for me. My biggest frustration is that I really wish more students would treat writing as a wonderful chance to express their passions and innermost thoughts rather than as just another boring hurdle to get over. I often see papers that depress me because the student obviously hates writing. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/93 "2010-11-14T18:26:54Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > There’s some pro bono work I might do as a student, further down the track, which is Criminal Law work in indigenous communities in the Northern Territories… Good for you! I can’t encourage you enough. Go for it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/94 "2010-11-14T20:10:51Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > So - how long have you been at this firm? And yeah, when business is slow in consulting it can be quite yucky. What I really didn’t like was the Flavor of the Month - the hot trend that some companies did very successfully and which consulting firms then try to sell to EVERYBODY. Reengineering. [Dot.com](http://Dot.com) / Clicks and Mortar. M&A Post-Merger Integration. Outsourcing. ERP / SAP. All good ideas that have their place, but should not be pushed onto every company. I’m not currently working. I was at my last job for about a year. Terrible group in one of the Big-4. Complete waste of time professionally. Unless you just want 2 years of “Accenture” or “McKinsey” on your resume, to be successful in consulting long term, you have to be on projects with some longevity. You need to be going to the client site, meeting with clients, developing relationships and identifying oportunities to bring in more consultants. That just wasn’t happening there. Really it’s quite frustrating watching senior management trying to grasp at straws to sell work. ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/95 "2010-11-14T20:35:35Z")
I’m a lab based organic chemist in a smallish contract research/custom synthesis company in the UK. I wouldn’t recommend it, the industry is in meltdown in the west 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/96 "2010-11-14T20:39:29Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I’m not currently working. I was at my last job for about a year. Terrible group in one of the Big-4. Complete waste of time professionally. Unless you just want 2 years of “Accenture” or “McKinsey” on your resume, to be successful in consulting long term, you have to be on projects with some longevity. You need to be going to the client site, meeting with clients, developing relationships and identifying oportunities to bring in more consultants. That just wasn’t happening there. Really it’s quite frustrating watching senior management trying to grasp at straws to sell work. Oh yeah, I was an Associate Partner; I know how that works. ---
**Author:** ![prettydorky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@prettydorky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prettydorky)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/97 "2010-11-14T21:19:43Z")
> [@Ann\_Onimous](#): > > You’d be surprised how many people do think that, and are surprised when I tell them what I do. For some, this may fall into the job-not-a-career category, but I am so passionate about good customer service that I feel this is my calling right now. I’ve been doing QA for five years and still going strong. > > And my blog really helps relieve some stress too. 😃 This is what I do too- it is job-not-career for me- but I also just left a good call center that was managed poorly and paid poorly, for one that is managed better and pays better but is unsurpassed in the many ways they can stick it to their employees. **Ann Onimous** , do you coach your agents? I used to, but we don’t in my new company and it makes all the difference. Going to college in the meantime for I don’t know what yet. Probably speech therapy or linguistics. What I want to do is be an interpreter or English teacher for hard of hearing ESL kids who don’t use sign language, if such a thing exists. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/98 "2010-11-15T03:40:09Z")
I’m an actuary. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/99 "2010-11-15T03:51:50Z")
> [@may\_be\_ignorant](#): > > What do you do for a living? As little as possible for as much as I can get them to pay me. ;)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436/100 "2010-11-15T07:25:37Z")
Degree in Chemical Engineering; 4 years doing research (most of it not in “chemical labs” but with computers) in the USA, then 4 years as a quality tech in Spain (where people are finally being able to wrap their heads around the notion of “female engineer” but “chemical engineer” still gets filed with “chemist”), and for the last 8 years I’ve been a “SAP Functional Consultant”, meaning that I teach people how to do their jobs using this clunky, huge database which isn’t anywhere as bad in its natural state as after people mangle it… (and boy, do they mangle it). **Elendil’s Heir** , I just discovered your job and that it involves a false friend in Spanish. In Spanish, “magistrado” is equivalent with “judge”, so now I’m trying to come up with a way to translate your position which doesn’t require an explanation (our legal systems are as different as can be but both grew up speaking Latin, lots of words and titles sound like they should be the same but are not). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-for-a-living/560436.md?page=6)