# What is your profession? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 2, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685 "2004-09-02T01:05:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/161 "2004-09-04T17:40:15Z")
I’m a grad student - doing a PhD in astrophysics, and TA-ing undergrad maths classes on the side to make some cash. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/162 "2004-09-04T20:07:55Z")
I am a wetland scientist who just got hired for a position down in the Everglades. I feel very blessed to have a job now. For a while I was scared I’d never find work. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/163 "2004-09-04T23:39:41Z")
Congrats, **monstro**! What an awesome, other-worldly place to work. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/164 "2004-09-04T23:52:28Z")
Institutional researcher. This means I am employed by a university but instead of doing scholarly research in a discipline, I do research on the university itself. I get information to the administration to (hopefully) help them make better decisions about admissions, financial aid, budgeting, student programs, faculty resources, etc etc. I wish I did more research, actually. I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time making data look purty in excel. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/165 "2004-09-05T00:04:15Z")
Though I’ve been kicked into management and am now the director of a medium-sized public library. That translates into endless meetings, budgets, faciliities repairs, bids, contracts (including a labor contract), city council, various boards, and did I mention endless meetings? ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/166 "2004-09-05T00:54:48Z")
Yet another librarian checking in. The senior classification specialist (cataloger) of a small Idaho library. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/167 "2004-09-05T01:01:48Z")
Software engineer at Lockheed. Mostly nav algorithms and modeling for various simulations. Flight instructor in my other life (the one away from work). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/168 "2004-09-05T01:03:34Z")
I am the Watch Commander at the largest medium security prison in New York State. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/169 "2004-09-05T01:32:36Z")
I’m a first year nursing student. I also work part time as an orderly, mostly at the only private hospital stroke ward in Queensland (How’s that for narrowing down my location? :)) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/170 "2004-09-05T05:01:46Z")
I’m currently doing usability engineering on enterprise software at a well-known software company. I’ve also done interaction design and program management (liked the design work; hated the management work), and if you beg nicely enough I’m also pretty good at tech writing. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/171 "2004-09-05T05:32:04Z")
Another teacher checking in. Oh yeah: English. Mostly intro-type courses (Analysis of Poetry/Prose Fiction/Non-Fiction Prose; British Literature I; World Literature I) along with lots of Freshman Comp. Occasionally they’ll throw me a bone and I’ll get to teach something really fun (Monsters; Arthurian Literature). All of this at a medium-to-large State school. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/172 "2004-09-05T08:26:01Z")
I’m an engineering laboratory technician (ELT) for the US Navy’s nuclear propulsion program. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/173 "2004-09-05T13:34:34Z")
Thanks, **brachyrhynchos**! If you ever want to come down and study mosquitos (God knows the Everglades has a bunch of them), let me know! ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/174 "2004-09-05T13:55:05Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Thanks, **brachyrhynchos**! If you ever want to come down and study mosquitos (God knows the Everglades has a bunch of them), let me know! There should be plenty of skeeters after all this rain! ---
**Author:** ![WCStyles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7cd45c/32.png) [@WCStyles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WCStyles)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/175 "2004-09-05T14:11:00Z")
I’m a winemaker at a small winery (three to four thousand cases annually). It wouldn’t be mere hubris to claim that I have developed abilities far superior to those of the average layman when it comes to cleaning things with a brush and a hose. ---
**Author:** ![bigdfrombigd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bigdfrombigd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bigdfrombigd)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/176 "2004-09-05T14:59:24Z")
I’m a RNMH, Registered Nurse Mental Handicap. I work in a residential center for elderly people with a mental handicap. (and I love my job!) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/177 "2004-09-05T15:48:29Z")
Chief information officer for an insurance company. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/178 "2004-09-05T16:23:33Z")
Well, I majored in Anthropology and Sociology, so of course I work in ecommerce now. I manage a small team that makes sure the web-based tools we use to make our website go are still working. I’m not in IT, which kind of amazes me, since I spend all of my time dealing with making software work, and have spent much of the past decade working directly with software develpment teams. So my profession is “Manager” which means I attend meetings, write and respond to a lot of email, draft proposals and plans and answer questions. My secondary role at work is “guru,” since after 4-1/2 years there working on the development of two versions of our site (and another site we launched as well), I have acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of how stuff works, and a partly-deseved reputation for knowing the answer to almost any question. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/179 "2004-09-05T16:24:45Z")
You know usually, my job is pretty near the top for interesting and exciting. I am (slightly) humbled to be counted amongst the Dopers. ---
**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:** [September 5, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685/180 "2004-09-05T19:40:56Z")
My degree says “Electrical Engineer.” I’m a program manager. While it pays rather handsomely, I really miss doing bench work (i.e. electronic design). Some advice for recent EE grads: if you want to design circuits, don’t let management know you can write. Because as soon as they discover you can write a proposal they’ll make you a program manager. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-profession/262685.md?page=10)