What do you do for a living?

[ir_cow]

I've been a line cook in a high class restaurant, graphics designer, TV station engineer, video editor, professional writer, professional photographer, Technical Director (TV Station) and nightly newscaster (Directing the TD lol), a dishwasher, PC tech for a recycling center and now working in a newspaper place.

I get bored and change it up every few years. Only thing that has been consistent is the pay keeps going up.

I make money so I can do the fun stuff on my days off. Work is work and that is all.

 

[kiddagoat]

I am an Environmental Engineer. Didn't finish college until my early 30s, took quite a while to for me to finish because I would lose motivation to continue. I have worked IT and computer sales/repair, retail, and loading/unloading cargo aircraft. Been at my current place for 12 years. They helped with school and my current position.

 

[Outback Bronze]

Run my own Retic & landscaping company. Been landscaping for almost 30 years : (

Mostly do homes but have done biggish commercial jobs. Landscapers still ask me how I get the M.C.G. effect (I call it that) on my freshly laid grass. Thats the easy part. Getting it level with the land takes several years of skill.

Retic is mostly my love. Some jobs are worse than brain surgery. Prob why I enjoy water cooling so much : )



And front of my own house under lights : )

 

[de.das.dude]

currently a Software developer for big EU financial institution. I usually work with java and sometimes angular too.
Its okay. Because my B.E is in mechanical engineering i think what could have been if i stuck to that stream haha. But i like computers so its fine.

man, read through all the posts. its amazing how varied we are haha.

when i joined TPU i was completing highschool

 

[Space Lynx]

I retired a couple years ago. I went to a vocational tech school for HVAC. I spent about 40 years working on air conditioners, controls and building automation systems in commercial office buildings. My rotator cuffs and lower back are happy I'm not doing that anymore.

I have a cousin who does this for a living for about 20 years now, he has traveled to every state and made insane amount of money. I think he got offered a 70k a year permanent gig in Hawaii recently, but turned it down because cost of living in Hawaii is just too much so 70k is more like 50k or something. Probably a smart move, he bought a house in cash out in the country here in the midwest for cheap, can retire earlier that way. His brother was the smarter one though, electrician and welding, makes six figures and hasn't even hit 25 yet. if I could go back to being young, I probably would have done electrician and welder and just retired at age 40, and lived more simply. problem is when you are young and make that kind of money, you can't see that far ahead, so you blow the money on stupid shit that doesn't last or mean anything (or you buy a giant house or a expensive car that just means you have to work more and longer) so eh, everyone has a different life path.

to OP: i worked in some factories/warehouses from age 17-21, hated it. bosses treated me like shit, etc. just overall had a low quality of life during that time of my life. now i work in academia, and my life is much better, bosses are nice as can be, etc. I have heard from colleagues that not every school is as nice as mine though, so maybe I just got lucky. I don't make much money though, so eh.

 

[joemama]

I'm a product development engineer working on AR stuff in a small company. The job is interesting but the salary is pretty shitty compared to the semiconductor industry in Taiwan.

 

[Why_Me]

I'm also in a similar situation as the OP at 34, worked various kind of jobs but nothing really stuck with me.
I've been a factory worker mainly and a few years ago I've worked at a local historical dig site which I've actually liked/found interesting even tho it wasn't that easy physically but at least it kept me in a good shape huh.

Ever since the covid lockdowns hit my county I've been working a home part time job in our garage, basically a factory job just from home.
In short I'm making small parts for other machines or whatever the hell they use them for. 'I'm not even making the minimum wage btw, it pays based on how many I make so if I'm sick or take some days off then I get nothing for that..'

I wasn't planning to do this job for this long but eh idk it just stuck with me but I really want something new cause its kinda driving me crazy and its also a lonely job on my own. 'hey at least I can watch dumb TV shows meanwhile I work'

Other reason for all that is because of where I'm from, sadly if I really wanted to change my life around I would have to move cause my options are very limited around here. 'its factory on factory here, thats all you get or work in a shop/do physical labor kind of work'

Now that sounds interesting. I've watched a lot of vids on historical digs and it looks like hard work but worth it imo for what they find.

 

[Space Lynx]

Run my own Retic & landscaping company. Been landscaping for almost 30 years : (

Mostly do homes but have done biggish commercial jobs. Landscapers still ask me how I get the M.C.G. effect (I call it that) on my freshly laid grass. Thats the easy part. Getting it level with the land takes several years of skill.

Retic is mostly my love. Some jobs are worse than brain surgery. Prob why I enjoy water cooling so much : )

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And front of my own house under lights : )

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I would rather do this than be stuck in a cubicle all day, so hey you are doing good in my eyes. Not sure about being a landscaper in Australia though, have you been bitten by anything? Any horror stories of some weird critters? lol I want to know

 

[TheLostSwede]

I'm 47 and went back to school last year after the pandemic killed my own business that I'd been running for over five years.
Obviously putting up some news content on TPU as a side gig and have over a decade worth of experience as a tech reviewer/writer, but it doesn't really pay the bills.
Also worked for a router manufacturer, a NAS manufacturer and all kinds of other tech companies.
No idea what's next really, got another year left in school, so we'll see after that.

 

[Hyderz]

Does jobs count when you are really young? Hehehe i will be 38 very soon .. heres my list from very young to current lol
Delivered Newspapers, Restaurant Helper, Construction Worker, Security Usher (Concerts), Hardware Store staff, Salesman at Electronic Store, Customs Officer
and now a Teacher teaching English in Korea

 

[sam_86314]

I currently design roof and floor trusses. We mainly do residential and commercial buildings, but sometimes we get interesting custom projects. One of my coworkers got to design a footbridge, which was pretty neat.

I started at the bottom as a builder, worked my way up to a sawyer, and then was brought in as a designer.

When I joined TPU, I was fresh out of high school and had just started an internship at a 3D-printing startup. Really cool subject matter, but after months of mismanagement, a bunch of people were laid off, including me. I suffered through several retail jobs before finally getting where I am now.

Of course, I'm young, so who knows where I'll end up. My dream, of course, is to land an IT-related job somewhere. Maybe I'll move into IT with my current employer; I've built up a bit of a relationship with the IT department and I'm unofficially the main IT guy at my facility (for better or worse).

 

[Why_Me]

I would rather do this than be stuck in a cubicle all day, so hey you are doing good in my eyes. Not sure about being a landscaper in Australia though, have you been bitten by anything? Any horror stories of some weird critters? lol I want to know

I was thinking the same thing when I read his post. I've seen youtube vids on Australia and just about everything there kills.

 

[lowrider_05]

Now I'm 38 and work as an IT-Admin for a Research Institute with an average German salary. I myself would say, this is a successful career. But in the eyes of others, I don´t know.

Many years ago, I started as an Intern for a Videoproduction company, then worked as an apprentice for an Online media/content-online company for 5+ years and got in contact with the IT department there and, over the next 10 years, I worked more and more as an IT-Admin and got good experience this way. From there, I got to where I am now. In the near future, I will get some Cybersecurity training (paid by the company) and will be working in a split role as an IT-Admin and Cybersecurity-Officer and hopefully get a raise too.


As an endnote, I would say: "You need time to learn and then you can get the job you want".

 

[Eskimonster]

Am 48, been working as a contractor hole life, various companies. Tryed everything from landscaping to building houses, and or their sewers. I love my job varies so much, the best thing about my work is making people happy.

My hobbies are building pc´s for friends and families, Gaming and enjoying my famely, also i especially enjoy learning about physics and theoretical physics in my free time.
Atm, im reading Leonard Susskind & Art Friedman´s Quantum Mechanics, for my great pleasure. Lastly im a sucker for tech news, my fave sites is TP and Ars Technica.

First pic im helping building europa´s biggest truck central, second pic is some of the machines i use, third pic im helping building a railroad brigde, fourth pic im trying to find a public sewers system, it was at the bottom. Fift pic im putting down some slabs at a friends house.

 

[Space Lynx]

my dream is to work fully remote, but hundreds of applications later... crickets chirping sadly.

 

[the54thvoid]

Graduated Uni in 1995 (studied mostly archaeology & psychology), then obviously followed that educational route and worked in a gym from 1995-2022 I became the gym manager in 2006/2007 but quit that job in Dec 2022 because it was killing my soul and wasn't conducive to what I wanted to do. I'm now writing full-time but without actively marketing my books, it's not a career. I used to earn a decent wage. Now, I don't earn anything. But I'm happier, I think. My wife encouraged me to quit the gym job (saw how miserable I was) and I'm lucky that she supports us both.

 

[Space Lynx]

Graduated Uni in 1995 (studied mostly archaeology & psychology), then obviously followed that educational route and worked in a gym from 1995-2022 I became the gym manager in 2006/2007 but quit that job in Dec 2022 because it was killing my soul and wasn't conducive to what I wanted to do. I'm now writing full-time but without actively marketing my books, it's not a career. I used to earn a decent wage. Now, I don't earn anything. But I'm happier, I think. My wife encouraged me to quit the gym job (saw how miserable I was) and I'm lucky that she supports us both.

none of my business really, but I think you would make a pretty good teacher. you already have the education uni level, I am sure there is some kind of licensing path.

 

[kurosagi01]

Have a guess at what I do.
I like to read 1000+ lines and scream at the monitor..only to realise there was a typo or incorrect entry has messed the whole thing up.
I also like to sit on my bum and wait 5-10mins before it runs, test and crash and repeat.

 

[Space Lynx]

Have a guess at what I do.
I like to read 1000+ lines and scream at the monitor..only to realise there was a typo or incorrect entry has messed the whole thing up.
I also like to sit on my bum and wait 5-10mins before it runs, test and crash and repeat.

I tried coding at around age 17 or 18, visual basic. net just one class I took on it, and I hated my life. I don't know how anyone can stare at lines of code for 8 hours day and keep their sanity. Not only that it just hurt my head and my eyes.

 

[Lei]

never too late

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Also depends on market -- it's way easier to build in places with demand. no demand = gotta move.

Thanks for sharing Vlad story.
I got inspired to impale a mango with my screwdriver

Cnc operator currently.... Lots of warehouse jobs in the past. Office work is not for me can't sit still.....

I got my phone an aluminum back lid yesterday, which was cnc processed. I sent them the measurements et voilà

I'm running a technology team at a healthcare company.

Are you a dermatologist btw
You know, impaling industry

So much this. Learn on the job, take that knowledge with you and switch when the new knowledge in a company runs dry, its how I roll too now

Sergey Brin said, in this book : "google talks"
The more you stumble from bough to bough, the more likely you come across something of true value.

Also, what you need to learn to avoid is how to become known as the expert on a subject you don't like. Don't find yourself doing all the shitty stuff one day just because people said how great you did it and kept giving you more. Keep the initiative on that, to keep the D&D references going

Oh yeah, don't get good at something you hate.
Probably people said you're great, bcz no one else wants to do that shit.
People are like penguins pushing you down the pit with their bellies, telling you : go go you're great

 

[de.das.dude]

my dream is to work fully remote, but hundreds of applications later... crickets chirping sadly.

oh i forgot to add in mine, i get to work remote 40% of the time

Have a guess at what I do.
I like to read 1000+ lines and scream at the monitor..only to realise there was a typo or incorrect entry has messed the whole thing up.
I also like to sit on my bum and wait 5-10mins before it runs, test and crash and repeat.

haha same.

dont know which is worse, going through soneone elses code to find fixes for bugs, or reviewing PRs written by people who dont give two shits about standards.

 

[kurosagi01]

I tried coding at around age 17 or 18, visual basic. net just one class I took on it, and I hated my life. I don't know how anyone can stare at lines of code for 8 hours day and keep their sanity. Not only that it just hurt my head and my eyes.

I think its the end result when its finished it feels satisfying lol, also it gives you a better understanding and more appreciative on the amount of work behind game development and other general software. But at the same time complain more if it's broken.

oh i forgot to add in mine, i get to work remote 40% of the time




haha same.

dont know which is worse, going through soneone elses code to find fixes for bugs, or reviewing PRs written by people who dont give two shits about standards.

I work remote 99% full time at the moment and I don't mind that process, it's the process(admin side) before getting to it is what bores me the most.

 

[Sithaer]

Now that sounds interesting. I've watched a lot of vids on historical digs and it looks like hard work but worth it imo for what they find.

Funny thing is, it was my least hated job I've ever worked.
Honestly I kind of liked it except for when I was working there during winter..That was rough, never do that if possible.
At least I've met a really cute girl there, one of the 'museum' workers. 'too bad she vanished a few months later but still that surprised me cause I've never expected to find someone like her there/middle of nowhere'
Anyway I'm gonna put some pics under a spoiler tag:

Spoiler: Digsite pics

That last big hole was right before we finished the job there, I've dug out that on my own.. Took me 2 days of work.
The head of the place/boss from the museum actually checked it out and he was pleased with my overal work and told me that he can see potential/fantasy in me.
I had the chance to actually study and become an archeologist but I just don't know how I would manage that kind of life cause its not a fixed job more like all over the place/country and that I can't really do.

Oh well, ofc at that place now a factory stands 'some battery related one' so maybe I can work there instead.

 

[Why_Me]

Funny thing is, it was my least hated job I've ever worked.
Honestly I kind of liked it except for when I was working there during winter..That was rough, never do that if possible.
At least I've met a really cute girl there, one of the 'museum' workers. 'too bad she vanished a few months later but still that surprised me cause I've never expected to find someone like her there/middle of nowhere'
Anyway I'm gonna put some pics under a spoiler tag:

Spoiler: Digsite pics

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That last big hole was right before we finished the job there, I've dug out that on my own.. Took me 2 days of work.
The head of the place/boss from the museum actually checked it out and he was pleased with my overal work and told me that he can see potential/fantasy in me.
I had the chance to actually study and become an archeologist but I just don't know how I would manage that kind of life cause its not a fixed job more like all over the place/country and that I can't really do.

Oh well, ofc at that place now a factory stands 'some battery related one' so maybe I can work there instead.

Is this in Hungary?

 

[Space Lynx]

@Sithaer why can't you not live a fixed life? Traveling would be epic. those pics are epic btw.