Your Job and how you chose it

[WaterWayne]

Graeme, you're asking at a point a few years earlier than many do. Don't stop asking, either, at whatever age. That's what separates humans from oysters: the capacity to be surprised. Have you taken any aptitude tests that have surprised you with your own talents?

Start with doing what you love, and the money will follow -- enough money, anyway. Don't choose a career, especially early on, just for the income potential. And if you're stuck in a career that you don't like, remember that you're a human, not an oyster, and you can surprise yourself.

As for me, it took many years to figure out that I enjoy instructional design. (I also delivered papers as an adult, BTW.) I get to use both sides of my brain, both the analytical and the creative parts. Instructional designers use cognitive (learning) psychology to figure out how to pass knowledge to people efficiently. Besides knowing people's learning styles, we also have to know technology, both what is to be taught and how it can be taught. Other job skills are budgeting and statistics -- how to analyze and measure. It's important to know also how to schedule your travel (may or may not have to travel as an instructional designer) to get yourself close to a dive spot for the weekend. :10:

Last but not least, here's a lesson for you no matter what you do: any rocket scientist can talk to any other rocket scientist, and any ditch-digger can talk to any other ditch-digger. However, it takes a REALLY smart person to talk to BOTH of them.

--Wayne

 

[RiverRat]

I made a lot of mistakes in my early years. I was always told to work hard (not smart) and believe me you're better off working "smart"! Not that a strong work ethic isn't required and that one should not work "hard" in whatever they do. But use your brain and you'll reap more financial rewards, have money to play with, less stress paying bills, etc.
I started out in an Orchard at 15. That was fun.
After a few various stints here and there I got into tree work, landscaping. Bust *** work, dangerous, but I really miss being outside working in nature. My friend I worked with has a BS in Forestry and is an Arbhorist. Learned a lot from him.
Got tired of lack of benefits though and needed more income as I got older so I got a job in Autobody. More money, insurance and had fun learning a new trade. I learned how to paint, weld, mechanics, you name it. Toward the end I even got into writing estimates and managing people. After awhile I got tired of the hearing loss and paint fumes. Really a nasty work environment. So then I decided to go into Computer Networking school and got into computers and networks. Again, learning something new was challenging and exciting and I got to use my brain more to make more money for the companies I worked at and to better myself.
Now I'm faced with Corporate outsoucing and offshoring and I'm too expensive in today's market unless I can really prove myself in project management and basically help to eliminate US jobs, like mine. So stay tuned. I could be working McDonald's next week

 

[Dive-aholic]

I'm a registered nurse. I enlisted in the army at 19, got out after 3 years and worked as a police officer. I was also an EMT/First responder with the force and made a move to the Fire Department. I started working in the ER for extra cash and saw the flexibility and income potential of nursing. Nursing is not a bad job, but it also wasn't my life long dream. I went to nursing school because of the flexibility and money. I stay in nursing for the same reason. 12 hour shifts - full time work is usually 3 12 hour shifts a week and 4 days off. The nursing shortage is also running wages up in some places. Like I said, I don't do this because it's a calling. I do it because it supports my lifestyle and addiction. I love to dive and have more time to do that by working less for more. I'd love to dive for a living, but I can't afford to! Find something you like to do. Just remember - work to live, don't live to work!

 

[hdtran]

Wanted to be a particle physicist, but didn't have the math...

Thought about med. school, but decided that it wasn't 'fun' enough...

Became an engineer, and discovered that I *REALLY* like measurement science, so now, I'm a metrologist.

I still have daydreams about throwing subatomic particles at each other at ridiculous speeds, but in reality, I know better, and I get a lot of satisfaction in figuring out how to measure things more accurately!

 

[do it easy]

I graduated college with a math degree, but I didn't want to get a real job right away. So I put my other skills to use and I worked as a roadie- I got to travel all over the country, see lots of concerts and shows. It was a great adventure, but after a few years I realized that I wasn't saving any money and I didn't have any time to spend the cash that I could hang onto. I realized the value of a real job and I'm glad that I finished my education before I hit the road. I work as an actuary now, so it's quite a change- I have more free time and the means to enjoy it. Best of all, it pays for my scuba habit.

 

[Seadiver5]

Scuba Marketing Consultant specializing in helping diveshops build a strong customer base, Increase Gear Sales, Increase certification numbers, etc.

I also dabble in marketing of dive products to the diving industry.

I started with getting my degree in marketing and then applying it to the sport I love.

 

[Darnold9999]

Last but not least, here's a lesson for you no matter what you do: any rocket scientist can talk to any other rocket scientist, and any ditch-digger can talk to any other ditch-digger. However, it takes a REALLY smart person to talk to BOTH of them.

--Wayne

Good advice - I speak lawyer and computer, doesn't make me rich, but does keep me in demand Fairly rare, most math types don't do law (no right and wrong answers) and most law types can't do math (can't fake math ).

 

[OE2X]

I'm a professional photographer taking pictures of extreme sports, people and landscapes for advertising and magazines. Occasionally I get to travel all over the world for my work.

My advice to the originator of the thread: Find something you are passionate doing. It will make you rise to the top of what you do. It will get you through tough economic times and will make the work politics less difficult to put up with.

 

[Peter_C]

I did not choose my career it choose me! The only thing I am good at is cars. While still in HS I started working on cars and finished 15 years later, when offered a job in sales. So now I sell diagnostic equipment and software for a living in the automotive field. I can not leave cars behind ever, it is my destiny.

 

[DennisW]

I am an Engineer. I had a very special Math teacher in High School tell me that I had the right kind of mind for engineering. So, I majored in Electrical Engineering because I truly knew nothing about electricity and electronics and wanted to learn something. I have designed integrated circuits, managed avionics development programs, worked on aeronautics research with NASA, and for the last 5 years have been a Systems Engineer working on NASA and FAA programs.

I have never stopped learning my profession. And it's mostly been a lot of fun. One thing you will learn as you go through life, whatever you choose as a profession, it's not the job, it's the people you work with that makes things interesting.