What is your career, or if you prefer, form of employment? How did you get involved? Why are you doing the work you do now? These are just general questions to anyone that wants to answer. Tell me about the work you do in your life, I always find it interesting to see a persons reasons and motivation for their line of employment.
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Broadcaster. That includes announcer, sound editor, mixer, producer, director, writer, the guy with the endless supply of jokes.
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I used to be a boy soprano. Then my voice changed to deep baritone at 13. I was already interested in radio as a listener, but now that I could do the voice, I started to hang out at radio stations. There were lots of years when I didn’t work in radio, but I’m back now to what I love the most, and I’ll stay in it until they drag me out, kicking and screaming.
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Because it beats the hell out of everything else I’ve ever done, with maybe the exception of playing on records (in the recording studio - I’m a musician, too). Maybe there’s a better job, but I can’t think of one! I really, really like it and understand it, and I can say without a shred of ego that I am very, very good at it. That’s why they keep me.
What is your career, or if you prefer, form of employment?
I’m a technical writer and editor; I’ve been in this field for almost 7 years.
How did you get involved?
Completely by accident. I graduated from college with a B. A. in Communications and a concentration in Radio Broadcasting, with a plan of temping for a bit while working my way up to a full-time position at the radio station I was working at part-time. But, shortly after I graduated the station dropped a couple of weekend shows and didn’t need as many board ops anymore, so I was “let go.” None of the other area stations needed entry-level help, and I had no idea what else I wanted to be when I grew up, so I floundered for several years and eventually found myself temping at an office that was getting a new computer system. I’d already discovered my knack for learning software quickly, and when the contractor installing the system needed help writing a site-specific user manual I discovered that I had a knack for that, too. Back then I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a “technical writer,” but that contractor wound up helping me get my first tech writing job.
Why are you doing the work you do now?
Because I enjoy it, and I’m good at it.
(But I still pine for the radio business every now and then … fishbicycle, you lucky bastard… ;))
Woa, I think Misnomer is my bizzaro world twin.
I am a technical writer and editor.
I graduated with a degree in media communications with a focus on copy editing with the plan to work at a newpaper. That didn’t pan out for various reasons and I ended up at a testing laboratory doing what I believed was a in-the-meantime job. I’ve been there just over five years now and I’ve moved up from doing the random office grunt work to reviewing the data collected in the laboratories and writing the reports for our clients. (I just moved into my new office from my latest move today, and it has a window!).
Why–? I’ll be honest, a big part of it is needing the steady money. I’d make less starting at a paper than I do here now, and being a single mom that’s not really an option. And while it’s not the work I’d ideally be doing, it is interesting and always challenging.
What is my career?
Information Security Analyst
A what?
Reduced to simple terms, I help ensure that your money stays where it belongs by keeping “bad guys” out and controlling/monitoring activities of internal users. “Your money” can be anything from your checking account and ATM card on up to a home mortgage.
How did I get into it?
Serendipity. I used to make motorcycle leathers. After a life-changing injury at work, I got out of that and bumbled around for a while as a temp here and there at this or that law firm or bank operations department. What started as a temporary assignment as a help desk agent resetting passwords for an internal purchasing card led to full-time employment and I’ve worked my way up. Short-range plans include obtaining CISSP Certification.
Why do I do it?
Why not? Someone has to do it, and I appear to be pretty decent at it. My employer seems to agree that I’m good at this. Beyond paychecks, they’re an amazingly good company to work for, WRT benefits and policies.
What am I?
I’m a medical laboratory technologist. My job is collecting blood and body fluid samples and then running tests on them. I’m trained in 5 disciplines: immunohematology (blood banking), chemistry, hematology (the study of blood cells), microbiology and histology (the processing, cutting and staining of srugically removed tissues for review by a pathologist). Basically I’m a guy who runs big, complicated analyzers and make sure the results that come off the machines are consistent with the other results and also consistent with the clinical information available to me. Then off to the doctor they go. It’s sometimes exciting work (when something really wonky comes in) but mostly it’s just tedious and repetitive.
How’d I get into it?
I had quit school to join the military when I was younger, when 9/11 happened my dad started freaking out about me being in the military and said that he’d pay for me to go back to school, and why don’t you take what your old man took, son? Having no better ideas, I did.
Why’d I do it?
I always liked and was pretty good at science and stuff and was gently nudged by my dad. Lab teching is not for me though, I get too bored with the mindless repetition. That’s why I will be going back to school in the fall. I figure now that I’m older I’ll have more appreciation for school. Pays pretty good too, especially up here.
What am I?
I am a reference librarian with a subject (business) specialty at a state university. I have time at the reference desk answering walk-in and phone questions, I do online reference work through the state chat service, I work on collection development/maintenance for the reference and general collections, I serve on committees, I teach bibliographic instruction (how to use the library) classes, provide one-on-one research assistance and I serve as the library liaison to specific departments in the university.
How did I get here?
In a previous career, I was an internal auditor. As an undergraduate, I worked in the college library and enjoyed it, and meant to get my master’s in library science within about 3 years of graduation. At 7 years post-graduation, I realized how miserable I was in the auditing field, and that it was time to make the switch. So I applied to graduate school, got accepted, moved and spent two years there. I worked in the reference department of the university I attended for grad school while taking classes and realized that was where I wanted to be - not necessarily at that university, but in an academic reference environment. The business background made me a good candidate for business reference positions in the academic world.
Why do I do it?
I do it because I love it. I am involved with students, I have a lot of contact with people. I love the academic world, but I am in no way cut out to do a Ph.D. - and I don’t want to grade students, though I don’t mind teaching them. There are aspects I don’t like about it, but compared to auditing, where I hated most of it and only liked bits and pieces, this is wonderful.
I’m a USAF officer, pilot, and flight instructor.
I initially got into this because of a registration error my freshman year of college. I couldn’t fix it and finally had to show up for ROTC, where they told me to cut my hair. A couple years later they asked me if I wanted to be a pilot.
I’ve stuck with it because I really enjoy working with the dudes I work with, and also have discovered that I like flying and instructing too. Plus, I’d never be able to afford flying this kind of stuff with a real job.
I’m a radiation oncologist, which means I’m a medical specialist who decdies whether people should be treated with radiation. Usually, my patients have cancer, but not all of my patients do.
I got into it after an undergrad science degree, med school and then applying for the residency training for this field. Pretty much a “connect the dots” sort of approach, so I really like hearing how others ended up in their fields by more circuitous routes.
I knew early on in my med school training that I wanted to be able to help cancer patients, and unlike many of my classmates, it did not bother me that many cancer patients cannot be cured of their illness. I’m a good communicator ; I like helping people who are overwhelmed with their diagnosis (and often their symptoms) understand what is happening, what their options are, and what the likely results are. Not to mention it is hugely gratifying to take someone who is in really bad pain (or whatever other horrid problem) and be able to help him to get our of that bad situation.
As to what I do in my job: I assess patients to see if I can help them with radiation treatments in some way. If I think I can, and they are OK with the expected side effects etc, then I plan the radiation treatment (with some help from radiation therapists) and prescribe the treatment, which is then delivered by radiation therapists. I treat both hospitalized patients as well as clinic patients. I have put further information in the following post: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6177593&postcount=104
Another writer checking in, though I do primarily marketing and now pharmaceutical communications, plus the occasional fiction piece (I don’t get paid much for those, but I do get paid sometimes).
When I was little, I either wanted to be a writer or an archaeologist. I got an archaeology degree and my masters, and while I contemplated the school that had accepted me for PhD candidacy, I realized a) I was tired of being in school, b) archaeologists don’t make a lot of money and c) I was in love with someone who lived in the U.S., and being a South American archaeologist meant that I would spend months and months at a time away from this person, living in a tent and eating Ramen noodles. So at first, I got a better-paying full-time job as an assistant for someone; then I worked my way into marketing; then I got a better job somewhere else in marketing and got a promotion, then I finally decided that I could probably make a living off my writing, as long as it wasn’t fiction. Because fiction writers don’t generally make a whole lot unless they’re NYT bestsellers or something similar, I decided to start my own copywriting company instead.
I love the work I do now. Of course, any work has its mundane points, no matter how much you love it, but there are so many things about my current situation that I appreciate, and I wouldn’t have those things unless I had taken the leap to do what I’m doing now.
What am I?
I’m a travel agent, and I guess you could say my “specialty” is emergency travel. I work in a small department of a large travel call centre, doing overnights, and I’m the guy that gets the call if someone’s stuck somewhere, literally anywhere, or needs to book or change a trip at the last minute.
How did I get here?
Long story. I bluffed my way through High School - sleeping in, late on assignments, fake excuses for being sick, etc. Then I slept my way out of three attempts at higher education. In desperation, while working dead end part time jobs, I applied for an internship program offered by the Government of Canada. I spent a year working full time, not really doing much, for really crappy money. While there, though, I got into geography in a big way. Wrote a paper on Intelligent Transportation Systems, that I actually got to present at an international conference. Internship ended, and I was mired again in dead end part time jobs. I finally decided, at 26 to make something of my life. Quit my supermarket cashier job, moved in with my Grandmother, and went back to school, in Travel and Tourism, with the hopes of getting a job with an airline. Now it gets funny. Did well in school, for the first time ever, no sick days, no lateness, no slacking. Graduated, and figured I’d look for a job after taking three weeks off. Then came 9/11 
Travel jobs tanked. :eek:
I spent 6 months doing tech support on contract for a cable internet provider - best call: the guy who said “Hey I spend good money to surf porn and download music. I don’t need these network problems. What are you going to do about it?” He got a credit.
I kept trying and finally got hired at a travel agency. I worked my way from the “after hours” line to the emergency line - they shared the same space, and had the same hiring problems, ie: who wants to work those hours?
It’s been three years now, and I gotta say, it’s challenging. I’m not an order taker in a call centre, but if you’re stuck in Zagreb, then I’m your guy 
Why do I do it?
It gets in your blood. Yes it’s a call centre, but at night, I’m in charge. I can fix any travel problem, and like I said above, I’m not an order taker. I’m a trobleshooter, and that feels good. 
I am the operations superintendent for a large petrochemical facility.
I started here 25 years ago (yesterday). I had just graduated college, and wanted to take some time off. I bummed around for a month or so, and I discovered that my car insurance ran out, so I needed to get a job. My next door neighbor was a HR associate at this large petrochemical facility. So she got me a job as a summer laborer. I did not stay in the labor gang long, and went into the operations side of the business. I really enjoyed the work, and stayed another year. That year, I made more money than my mother who taught elementery school for 30 years, and the second year I made more than my father, who had a doctorate in education and a high school principal. So, I figured, where was I going to go and make this kind of $$$$. So I moved up the ladder, and now I run the joint.
I’m here for the $, but mostly 'cause I love my job.
**what?**i am the lead technician for a small fire alarm and equipment firm
**how?**i was a journeyman carpenter during the carter recession. when interest rates hit 18-19 percent building came to a screeching halt. i was filling in running the tongue saw at a slaughter house, when the slaughter house closed, the first job i could find was recharging fire extinguishers. a couple of months later, a systems tech quit, and my boss gave me a shot at the job. 26 years later, here i am…
why? i am paid pretty well for doing a pretty interesting job
What?
I’m an investigator for Child Protective Services. If I don’t already have 40 cases that I’m coping with, I’m pretty much in and out of a family’s business in fewer than 30 days. If it’s more complicated (e.g. needing to open for services or having to remove), I may be involved a little longer until it gets transfered to the ongoing caseworkers.
How?
I’ve been a secretary for 23 years. The last 4 years of that career were spent at the University of Texas at Austin, where I was involved in the certification program whereby employees of CPS, Adult Protective Services, Child Care Licensing, and Statewide Intake would get certified. When I graduated last August with an English degree, I was determined not to work as a secretary anymore. Since I’d been involved in a roundabout way with CPS, I decided to go ahead and apply. I was planning to work the job until I finished teacher certification classes, and would then go teach. Surprise, surprise! I found that I LOVE my job, most of the time, and ended up withdrawing from grad school.
Why?
As I said, I love my job. It truly was a shocker to me, because I’d honestly expected to completely hate it. There’s not one learning curve, per se, but lots of smaller learning curves. I got over the first major hurdle, when I was dealing with some compassion fatigue. Now I’m in another hurdle, where I’m trying to learn how to manage an inordinately high caseload. I’m doing my best, working 50-60 hours a week right now. I hope that as I get some of the older cases out of the way and become more familiar with what I’m doing, I’ll do a better job at managing the caseload. I also started taking Adderall this past Tuesday for ADD, and have been studying ways to cope and organize with ADD. I’m very hopeful that I will find some good techniques.
I am a manager of software developers.
I got involved in software through an odd backdoor. Years ago I was in love with a woman who thought I was the “perfect man” except I was two years her junior and I only made minimum wage. Not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, but wanting to marry her, I decided to try to become an author (I loved to read and have always had an good imagination.) So sat down and wrote a book. I got a computer so that I could type it up and print it out. It was a very bad book, and I’m not that skilled a writer, but I did find that I had some skills on the computer. I figured, what the heck, I might as well do that while I look for my life’s work. I had heard it might pay well. I went to school and found that I quite enjoyed it. And almost 20 years later, here I am.
What am I?
An astrophysicist. I work on clusters and groups of galaxies, investigating their properties in the X-ray and radio wavebands. The stuff I’m doing at the moment should help us to further understand how galaxy groups and clusters evolve, and how galaxies effect their environment. I also make pretty pictures.
How did I get into it?
I did a degree in Natural Science, specialising in physics and astrophysics, and I’m just completing my PhD in astronomy, and hoping to stay in astronomy. Now I just need to find somewhere that’ll fund me to do a postdoc.
Why I’m doing it.
Its certainly not for the money! More for the love of finding things out, and discovering the wierd and wonderful ways of our universe. Essentially, I enjoy prodding the universe and asking it “why”. As a kid, I’d always been interested in stars and the night sky. My dad, and my late uncle were the ones who introduced me to the idea of star gazing, comet, meteor and eclipse watching when I was very young. Of course, being the inquisitive person that I am, I would always ask why? And now I get paid to ask why. 
What Am I?
I’m a dialup and ADSL technical support/customer service rep for one of Australia’s largest ISPs. I answer phones all day, fielding and solving tech support issues, and taking care of billing enquiries. I work a 24 hour rotating shift roster, and I’ve been employed here for a year come Tuesday.
How did I get here?
In high school, I got hooked on the internet when we got a home PC for the first time, and when I discovered the wonderful world of freeform roleplaying chatrooms. Towards the last year of HS, I’d spend about eight hours a day in the computer labs, not doing any work and just sitting online, browsing and chatting. I picked up some basic troubleshooting skills from those stupid school-issue PCs, mainly ways to circumvent the filtering software and the security, but other bits and pieces as well. I decided then and there that in the future I’d like to get into computers in some fashion, but knew I couldn’t do it just then, as I’d just failed out of high school.
My first full time job was outsourced customer service for Australia’s largest Telco. We weren’t employed by the company, but by a 3rd party provider. We had to take all the shit for none of the benefits. I discovered that I had a knack for taking calls, and liked the idea of getting $27k (AUD) for a straight out of school job. But I hated the job itself, and after about nine months decided to move from Adelaide to Sydney. I spent the next 2 years bouncing between temporary jobs, until I decided to move back home again. I picked up an ongoing full time temp contract in the mobile phone financial services department of the company that I now work for, and while I was there a position in the dialup internet department opened. I mainly bluffed my way through the interview - I got in on customer service and bullshitting my way through the tech-based questions.
Why I’m still here
Benefits, mostly. $40k for an unskilled 21 year old, plus 5 weeks leave and a bonus scheme that could net me anywhere up to another $8k. I love technical support, but I’m getting a bit worn from being on the phones all the time. It’s fine until you start trying to troubleshoot something, and then get a user who’s decided that they know what’s wrong and that you don’t know shit and should do everything their way. That gets on my nerves a bit.
I’m hoping to work and train myself up to the second level support queue. They mostly deal with small business, don’t deal with ADSL and a lot of their support is done via email. Plus they have smaller queue times than us at the moment.
Right now I like my job more than I dislike the idiots, so for now I’m going to stay where I am. Things may change. We’ll see.
:eek:
That’s so cool! And also, somehow, so intimidating!
Thank you, for the cool bit that is. I’m really not a scary or intimidating person at all.
My career is also a great way to fend off unwanted interest in a bar/pub too.
Thanks to everyone that has responded. It has been enlightening.