What's Your Job?

[nissangirl74]

This thread is mostly for the benefit of our girls. They both really don't know exactly what they want to do as far as a job / profession / career when they grow up and they want to know what's out there. Pretty sure neither one of them is going to major in Math or Medicine but they have lots of different interests.

So I thought maybe you guys could give them some insight. If you would, list your (1) current job, (2) your favorite job, (3) your worst job, and (4) your dream job.

I'll go first:

1) Student Instructor at Glendale Community College
2) I worked for the National Park Service as a piano player at age 14.
3) Telemarketing. I was good at it but it's a shady business.
4) RN and Professor of Biology. (Yes, I am a nerd). -or- A consultant for a major automotive magazine / media group. I'd love to get paid to drive cars and write reviews.

[OriginalWheelman]

1) Homemaker
2) Delivery Driver
3) Cleaner
4) Orbital Telescope Design

If I ever finish college I hope to do #4, but it is, as you asked, a dream. Aerospace has always been a passion but it's such a small industry it's hard to get into.

[Bubba1]

1. currently retired, but part time high performance driving instructor and writer (chipping away at a book)
2. tie between the instructing I do now (adrenaline therapy+ meeting awesome folks + driving/riding just about every car imaginable), and Branch Ops manager at a semi trailer leasing company back in the early '80's. Great boss, great co-workers, honest vendors, it was not only fun and lucrative, it very visible to senior management. It enabled me to springboard up the corporate ladder.
3. Burger King in the early 70's. Horrible. I lasted a month, just long enough to get the funds to buy a fancy 10 speed bike (which I still have and is now an antique). Minimum wage (then $1.65/hr) , short troll of a manager with a napoleon complex who I hated, terrible hours, bad working conditions (I was usually working fries, which was hot and burned your arms from the hot oil splatters, or mopping floors/cleaning bathrooms. I boycotted BK for many years after quitting.
4. Lottery winner/philanthropist

[frapjap]

1) Food Scientist/Research Chef at an international seafood company. I develop many, many seafood products for a variety of customers. I also travel lots for capability presentations, and get to follow my products from conception to the product launch.
2) Same as above. Though working in Destin, FL as a bar tender for a few summer seasons was entertaining, too. Loads of money from auto gratuity. Paid off my first two years of student loans in one summer- and had fun doing it!
3) Red Lobster. One year as a server and then an assistant manager. Hated every minute of it. Awful hours, awful patrons, awful co workers. Go to college.
4) Owner operator of my own chain of unique restaurants and bars.

[MinisterofDOOM]

1: I'm in charge of training new hires for Operator positions at an alarm monitoring company. It's a "desk job" but every day is different. I meet lots of people. But the best part about the job is the satisfaction of saving lives every day. Training is an interesting challenge but one I enjoy. It's interesting to see the different ways people learn and apply what they've learned, and to see the way some people learn better alone while others learn better in groups. I like my job quite a bit, even though on the surface it sounds relatively boring.

2: Probably the technical theater work I did in high school. I worked for the school, but I also worked a show at a local professional theater (it was a run of Funny Girl). I helped build the sets (which included full-sized houses on casters to be rolled on and off the stage) and moved the sets/scenery onstage. It was a lot of fun, very interesting, and certainly not your average job. I was WAY to young to appreciate it, though, so I think I missed out on enjoying it more (and potentially making a career of it).

3: I've never worked a job I didn't enjoy. The least interesting job I've ever worked was pizza delivery. But I love driving and had good cars for it (Maxima, Ranger) so basically I got paid to drive and listen to music all night. Tips were amazing and, unlike restaraunt servers, I got minimum wage on top of them. I usually came home with $50+ in tips every night (I generally worked the late/closing shift that ended between midnight and 2). Occasionally I'd come home with upwards of $100 in tips after a night. Overall the pay was crap, but I was a teenager living at home with only car insurance and gas to pay for, so it was perfect for me at the time. Obviously it's NOT a career option. The managers at the store were all younger than me aside from the GM, and I don't think any of them made much money either (the GM drove a 90s Kia).

4: My ultimate dream job? Manned mission to Mars. I'd love it, and I handle isolation well, so I know I'm ideal for it. Being a part of the future of Humanity would be indescribably amazing. But there's also the thrill of leaving the safe, comfortable cradle that is earth for something untamed but with untapped potential. Then there's the scientific side...learning untold numbers of new things on a daily basis. I can honestly say that even if it was known to be a one-way mission from the start, I'd be interested in making the trip. But it wouldn't be a one-way trip, so there's nothing to lose.

On a slightly more realistic front, I'd love to own my own exotic car company. The kind that gives the middle finger to CAFE and CARB and sells made-to-order magnesium-and-aluminum packages of badass to high-roller customers. The kind that gets on the front page of newspapers because of the CEO's insane ideas.

[Nesquick]

1) 2nd year University student / tire technician
2) Have had many jobs, none of them my favorite haha
3) Worst job would have been hanging live chickens
4) Dont got a dream job...

Im boring...

[Zyphar]

1) Software Engineer for Disney Interactive.
2) My favorite job was actually my first. It was a die cutting machine operator. I setup, loaded, maintained, and unload one of these (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7obV9Y8vU) and a smaller version for business cards and such. All mechanical, no electronics. Amazing machinery! Would sometimes also be in charge of hand-gluing thousands of paper folders for extra cash on the weekends. Life was much simpler back then.
3) Worst job was a shop porter for a body shop in Phoenix. I hated having to broom ALL the dust that collected 3x a week. Sometimes I enjoyed it since I got to wash cars after the body work was done but I remember being told to not be so meticulous on certain cars because the payment to the stop was so cheap. f*** that place.
4) Dream job would be a detached freelance engineer and a successful options trader. Would love to have the ability to move where ever I want to whenever yet still make a good income.

[gmac708]

1)Presently the "Director of Technical Services" for an aircraft management company. That covers everything you could do to an aircraft. From pre-purchase, to sale, and everything in between. Working mostly with Learjets and Challengers.
2)Favorite job was being "Aircraft Crew Chief/Mechanic". Loved getting dirty, troubleshooting and repairs to aircraft. Miss those days.
3)Hated "Pool boy" for a large pool manufacturer. Had to keep all the pools in the showrooms spotless. Kept me busy. Too many chemicals
4)Dream job, restoring old WW2 aircraft. P51 Mustangs and F4U Corsairs. Stuff like that.

I think the aviation bug bit me when I was young. My father was a pilot and took me flying as much as he could. I liked being around the airplanes, but hated flying. I would recommend the aviation field to anybody. Maintenance wise, the avionics field is pretty advanced and changing daily. Military training a plus. Navy or Air force. (for your girls: One of the best Challenger wrenches I know is a female ).

Gord

[DJ_B_Easy]

1) Senior Buyer and Import Coordinator for an advertising agency. The majority of my day is quoting and spending piles of other people's money. The importing side starts as the same, but once I spend their money on product I also have to worry about quality control and logisitics. I work with QA firms in Taiwan and write inspection plans that they then carry out. Also a little bit with US Customs brokers and freight forwarders but not nearly as often as I used to.
2) I was a bagel baker for 2 years. I absolutely LOVED that job, if I could still live off the money I would do it in a heartbeat. We were one of the very few bagel shops around that actually mixed the dough from scratch, formed it and hand rolled the bagels, and then baked, all in house. Most stores use frozen dough. Awesome co-workers, many of which I am still very close friends with to this day (Im talking in my wedding party close).
3) DISHWASHA! I washed dishes/pots/pans in the kitchen of a retirement home. It was my first job, and it was terrible.
4) This is tough. I have a lot of hobbies that I could turn into a career, but Im not sure that having them as my career would be satisfying. Whatever this dream job may be, it would definitely be something where I was self employed or owned my own business type of thing.

[Dattebayo]

I want to say that the idea of having a single career or profession is probably outdated. My experience from ~15 years is showing me now that you may have to switch several times during life in order to actually make enough to live. Sure, there are jobs that you can get lucky with and stay in one career for a while, but I'm not seeing many people my age or younger keeping it in one profession, college graduate or not.

With that being said:

(1) current job: cable and security systems installer
(2) my favorite job: QC/site surveyor agent for a global network infrastructure company, 100% travel
(3) my worst job: Sexton for a local church (when I was 17, not sure if that counts)
(4) my dream job: Something with travel that people need everyday, something that makes a difference. I'm tired of working for useless companies offering products or services that the consumer could easily do without or do themselves if they just weren't so damn lazy. I'm sure you can understand...

[bigbadberry3]

1) Physics Teacher
2) C'mon, physics teacher
3) Short stint at an ACT prep business
4) Iron Man

[DJ_B_Easy]

I want to say that the idea of having a single career or profession is probably outdated.

I agree with this. I dont work in the field that the majority of my education is in (technical training). I did the whole school to internship to job progression, hated it, and went back to school just for the alternate piece of paper to do something else which at the time I had no idea what was going to be. Im 29 and have changed career fields 3 times.

[jdansmith]

1.Retail Manager (Big box store)- pays the bills
2. Stone mason - Hard physical work bur rewarding, always traveling
3. Machine operator plastic film- Hated every minute
4. Track tire tester-Love to go fast

[300ZXttZMAN]

The following all have to do with the salvage business since I have worked with my dad since I was old enough to figure out how to push a broom and have never worked anywhere else but here. I have done everything there is to do at a salvage yard thus working my way up to sales.

1. Automotive salvage yard, Sales/Part owner with my dad; We buy wrecked/broken vehicles and sell the good parts off of them bla bla bla.
2. Sales and buying new vehicles for our salvage yard.
3. Signing the check for a customer when I have to issue a refund. |||| Pulling parts sucks as well. ||| Loosing my a** on vehicles also blows as you can only imagine.
4. I'm doing it. I love being in the salvage business its always exciting plus I get to work along side my dad so I have no complaints...

Future plans: We plan to open up a wrecker business inorder to feed more vehicles to our salvage operation.

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Now say I was not in the salvage business. Then my dream job (which is realistic) would be to work at my local Nissan dealer and work my way up to sales and sell vehicles at Nissan.

[breadbox]

(1) current job... Retail for O'Connor Brewing.
(2) your favorite job... I'm not gonna lie, pretty much being paid to work at a brewery and drink beer with customers is awesome.
(3) your worst job...Helping anyone move
(4) your dream job... None/Living on a homestead

[Dattebayo]

I would like to add on a related note: What is with the recent trend of employers seriously thinking that it's OK to be thinking about or be at work all the time? There is a serious loss of respect from employers lately about respecting that people have separate lives to live. It's understandable to know that work life doesn't always fit into an 8 hour day, but to keep you all the time or expect to reach you at any time is BS. (all this, I mean, and not pay you honestly for it)

Eh, sorry for ranting about it, but I thought it needed mention here.

[DJ_B_Easy]

^I agree with this as well.

My mother (she is 62) was laid off of her job as the company dissolved about two years ago. She was upper management and had been with the company for 20+ years. She has NEVER had a Blackberry or any mobile access to email but did work the occasional late night or weekend just to catch up. She became employed again about 9 months ago at a much smaller company for a MUCH lower salary. She tells me that her new coworkers email her sometimes at 10:00 PM or later expecting her to reply. She cant fathom it, she thinks they are all insane. These people are working themselves to the bone because it is expected or somehow understood that you work until the job is done. Meanwhile she is watching Dancing With The Stars with 4 fingers of Glenlivet.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

1. I'm in IT at a small company <50 employees. I'm responsible for every aspect related to technology within the business. Also currently pursuing a graduate degree - Masters of Science in Information Technology.
2. Out of High School 10 years ago I worked for a company called Custom Enterprise. They owned and operated CustomMaxima.com and CustomAltima.com. Custom Maxima was an e-commerce store catering to Maxima owners. I had a ton of fun there. Unfortunately things started to go down hill for the owner and his methods of business. I got out before then.
3. I was a bus boy in high school. That sucked.
4. Dream job would be anything tech project related. Maybe CIO.

[300ZXttZMAN]

I would like to add on a related note: What is with the recent trend of employers seriously thinking that it's OK to be thinking about or be at work all the time? There is a serious loss of respect from employers lately about respecting that people have separate lives to live. It's understandable to know that work life doesn't always fit into an 8 hour day, but to keep you all the time or expect to reach you at any time is BS. (all this, I mean, and not pay you honestly for it)

Eh, sorry for ranting about it, but I thought it needed mention here.

I think it greatly depends on what line of work your in. For instance were in the retail business so we have no reason to want our employee's constantly thinking about work all day and all night. Honestly I would rather them not think about it when they get home they need some time to rest. (I pulled parts for 3 years from the begining of 10th grade to the end of 12 grade.) Pulling parts is hard I wouldn't want our guys to go home thinking about it because they will be mentally worn out when they come back to work the following day.

Dad and I however we do think and we talk about business constantly.

So I guess it just depends on what line of work your in.

[lovehateRBrelations]

1. Programmer and application developer is my current job (mega nerdy stuff lol)
2. I would say my current job has been my favorite, but I have been with the same company since I graduated
3. Worst job was delivering pizza in college, my boss was 19yrs old and had an attitude problem
4. Dream job would be to own a machine and fabrication shop with a garage. I love fabrication and is a big hobby of mine.

[ThatGuyRoger]

1) I work as a referee/coach, groundskeeper, boxing fitness trainer, and a home school PE teacher the the YMCA
2) I enjoy coaching and boxing training.
3) the summer job I had at Mc D's...only lasted a few months
4) I'd love to be a professional boxing trainer or a firefighter

[Looneybomber]

So I thought maybe you guys could give them some insight. If you would, list your (1) current job, (2) your favorite job, (3) your worst job, and (4) your dream job.

1) Logistics/Dispatcher, Student (hey, it makes me money because of military and other benefits)
2) Sales at The Buckle. (What kind of females shop there? giggity )
3) Sales at The Buckle. (Sucky pay)
4) Weapons development for the DoD or alternative energy research. (Kill everyone or save earth, either way earth wins)

[SoCal-S13]

1. Ferrari technician
2. Medical marijuana grower
3. Pressure washing grease traps
4. Medical marijuana grower

[gwoods]

I'm a trophy husband

[alms24sebring]

1) Mechanic at a big money making independent shop in the city.
2) This may be my fav job. Good people, good money, good work. Although I had a slightly better job doing big warranty work. Engine/transmission/transfer cases/rear ends all day, and the bossman payed me under the table for 3 months and always payed for lunch.
3) I would say that my worst job was snaking and camera'ing sewers. I came across some pretty awful smells but I liked the work for something new. So, worst job was another independent but small shop where the boss was constantly down my back about every little thing and treats all of his employees like poop in a stick with no respect at all. F that guy.
4) The only job Ive ever really had was workin on cars. I would love to have started circuit racing early in life. I would love to race professionally in the ALMS. Later in life now my dream job is to be a Astronomer or a Cosmologist. Unfortunately I am not so gifted in the math department. Been fascinated with space my whole life and keep it as a hobby.

As a side note I cant agree more, Bayo. I just took off last Saturday for some tattoo fixings (which looks sexy now), and some other side jobs and just to have time off. One of my service writers was trying to put me on a guilt trip when me and another guy are the only ones that have to work EVERY Saturday 730-5, while he and every one else get to rotate weekends. So, he can suck it. I have a life too.

[Metal Man]

I am a mechanic ,operator on machinery that makes aerosol cans.Not as exciting i guess as some of the other jobs i see here

[numbnuts240]

current: scaffold builder (we like to refer to ourselves as "scaffologists")
favorite: estimator for a sub-contractor in the finish trades
worst: sales associate at express men
dream: professional boy toy

[mmkeller]

1) Porter at a major used car dealership, love it but you are on the go and on your feet allot.
2) The one I'm doing now, I get to drive all kinds of cars, just today I drove '12 vett grand sport.
3) my first job 39 years ago - McDonalds, what a joke of a company.
4) dream job(should be profession). test driving new vehicles at a track.

I was semi retired for 27 months and found this job - I guess I nailed the interviews. Don't get in the food industry, government is making that not a happy place.

[skydragoness]

Current: Service advisor (not at a dealership at least) at a European/American restoration/repair shop. Some days are good, some days are s***-fests.
Favorite: I wouldn't really call it favorite, but it suited my introverted personality. My previous job managing a department at a organic grocery store had some awesome perks but low pay. I was alone and was pretty much given full autonomy. It wasn't what I wanted to be doing though, it was peaceful but boring.
Worst: All of the food-service jobs I had in high school.
Dream: Freelance artist/photographer *or* working behind the scenes in the race car industry or for a tv show like Motorweek. :P
I really like working behind the scenes and being an organizer. It doesn't suit my personality to deal with whiney/angry/dumb people on a hourly basis, it's mentally tiring. I like to work alone for the most part. Definitely find a job that suits your habits/personality...

[MinisterofDOOM]

It doesn't suit my personality to deal with whiney/angry/dumb people on a hourly basis, it's mentally tiring.

Sadly, I've found that this happens whether I'm getting paid for it or not.