What do you do for a living?

[Readlight]

Growing potatoes, tomatoes, with airship repair service sertificate.

 

[Cvrk]

Be careful with that. Almost everyone I know that did that found a different hobby - when they no longer enjoyed the hobby they made into a career.

You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain ...is what you just said.
So I will work in filmography, get bored of it but eventually turn it into a career? That's what you're saying?

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain ...is what you just said.
So I will work in filmography, get bored of it but eventually turn it into a career? That's what you're saying?

View attachment 310171

I'm just saying a lot of people end up ruining hobbies they love by trying to make money with them. They end up losing all enjoyment and it becomes just another job.

Sounds like you might be able to make it work though.

 

[silentbogo]

Be careful with that. Almost everyone I know that did that found a different hobby - when they no longer enjoyed the hobby they made into a career.

It depends on the hobby. My current job(s) is(are) pretty much a collection of my hobbies.
Another thing to consider is that it's easier and less painful to pick another hobby, rather than try the same thing with your job.
All of my friends I listed in my early post pretty much did the same, or if you are scared of going all-in, it's always feasible to try it as a side-hustle while you still have a day job.

What is this CNC? Can you elaborate, on what do you do in those 8 hours? Do you need a degree for this?

It's a milling machine with a computer strapped to it instead of a human.
Regarding degree - yes and no. If you try to get a job at a semi-decent manufacturing company - you need a degree, and preferrably some CAD skills to go along with it. If you want to start your little business or you find a listing from a small company (e.g. some small custom furniture shop or whatever), then you'll get by with rudimentary knowledge and no paper to confirm it. But since you don't even know what CNC is, I'd rather have you take at least a certificate course instead of a full professional degree. It'll take you 3-4mo, but the good news is that it does not require any prerequisite knowledge.

 

[freeagent]

As I said, I am just an operator. There are all kinds of tools that can use CNC. I’ve worked at world class companies making world class parts for machines everyone has seen and I didn’t finish high school.

 

[AusWolf]

By now I should have been married with children and already should have paid 40% of my house mortgage.

Who said that? I'm 33, still renting with no plan to jump in the mortgage game in the current unpredictable economic climate, and we're never gonna have children because of my girlfriend's medical issues. And we're happy.

Happiness is not about the cards life has given you. It's about playing your cards the best way you can.

I am single. I feel the reason why I never did anything important with my life is because I don't have a woman. Many guys, get motivated and step out of their comfort zone and sacrifice because they have to feed the family.

That's not how it works. Get motivated by something, live your life, be happy, and then you might find someone compatible. Sure, having a family gives your life some meaning, but you can't have someone to have a family with until your life has meaning.

My dream is to turn my hobby into daily work. it would be the best thing that can happen to me.
The way I see it. We hate our jobs, right? But you take the hobby and now you get paid instead, also because you work that hobby every day.... basically you get good at your hobby. Years pas by, and all of a sudden you are an expert in that field. Experts get paid more etc... It's amazing.

Normal humans do this: go to work. Hate. Get paid. Put that money into life + hobbies. I love photography. So wi ill invest in software, cameras, lenses etc. never make a single $ from hat, put I keep putting money into it. Imagine the hobby you already invest time + money to ear a living. Now that is SUCCESS.

That's risky. Chances are, you'd be happy for a short time, then the "why do I have to do the same shit every day" would kick in after a while, just like it does in any other job. You could end up hating your hobby because it's just work. At least I would. I love cooking because I cook what I want to when I want to, but if I worked at a hotel, and had to make eggs, bacon and toast every single morning and then the same pizza and burger every night, I'd hate it.

You like photography because you take photos of the thing that interests you. But would you be happy if you had to take for example, passport photos for 8-10 hours a day every single day?

 

[rockit00]

I was a drag chute recovery technician for KA-3b pathfinder Skywarriors. That job stank like kerosine and burnt diesel. Some sh*t comes with the territory!

 

[R-T-B]

After many years of insisting "I know what I'm doing" someone actually believed me, and put me on retainer as a fulltime security consultant for their network.

 

[A&P211]

After many years of insisting "I know what I'm doing" someone actually believed me, and put me on retainer as a fulltime security consultant for their network.

Cool, hope it pays good and you can finally find your female/male frog.

 

[Frick]

It's a milling machine with a computer strapped to it instead of a human.
Regarding degree - yes and no. If you try to get a job at a semi-decent manufacturing company - you need a degree, and preferrably some CAD skills to go along with it.

Degree in what, specifically? A CNC operator surely wouldn't need one?

 

[R-T-B]

Cool, hope it pays good and you can finally find your female/male frog.

That's none of your business son.

 

[silentbogo]

Degree in what, specifically? A CNC operator surely wouldn't need one?

Why not? A professional degree, usually 18-24mo. My landlord's oldest kid just finished his(18mo at local tech school, specifically CNC operator), went on to work for a local manufacturer first as post-graduation unpaid practice, and now as a full-time job.
Not sure if education works differently where you are from, but besides operating a CNC you also get a bunch of unrelated subjects to keep you busy at school.
That's why I mentioned paid courses, since those take around 3-4mo with provisions for "slow learners". You can do it on your own in a couple of weeks, but you need to gave at least some prior knowledge and you don't get a piece of paper at the end.

 

[Frick]

Why not? A professional degree, usually 18-24mo. My landlord's oldest kid just finished his(18mo at local tech school, specifically CNC operator), went on to work for a local manufacturer first as post-graduation unpaid practice, and now as a full-time job.
Not sure if education works differently where you are from, but besides operating a CNC you also get a bunch of unrelated subjects to keep you busy at school.
That's why I mentioned paid courses, since those take around 3-4mo with provisions for "slow learners". You can do it on your own in a couple of weeks, but you need to gave at least some prior knowledge and you don't get a piece of paper at the end.

Ahh I thought you meant degree as in like Ph.Ds and stuff or equivalent. Yeah trade schools rule.

 

[Cvrk]

Is anybody here in the military?

 

[oxrufiioxo]

I'm not but if I was a young dude I would really like being in the Navy. I was in a pretty bad car accident at 18 so that pretty much eliminated my ability to pass a physical to join the armed services. It's never effected me in my normal life but it is what it is.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Is anybody here in the military?

I think @Kissamies was but no longer is.

 

[TxGrin]

I work in the aerospace industry repairing the turbine airfoil blades that go in jet engines. Love doing this kind of work. Been with the company 25 years. And the pay is great.

 

[Bobaganoosh]

Electrical Engineer. I'm 36. it's mostly a good job, but at the end of the day it is still a job. I love the work when I get to design things, but it's hard to do that well without being bogged down by paperwork, management, bureaucracy, office drama, etc. so I feel like you're always going to have days where you go home after and you're excited about what you did as well as days where everyone in the office drove you nuts and you want to find a different job or different career path.

I've had a couple different jobs in this field (and one in a different type of engineering field (electrical safety testing)) and I always tell people to think about what they really want out of a job. I think "the perfect dream job" is usually a dream because no job is perfect lol. It sounds pessimistic, but the goal is realistic expectations. You need to find a job that makes adequate money, is non-stressful enough that you can go home and separate yourself from it at the end of the day and enjoy your personal life, and gives you enough fulfillment in some way to make it worth doing (do you enjoy parts of it? Is it satisfying when you accomplish things? Does the community/workforce/culture feel good to be a part of? Does it help society? etc.).

The "feel good" part is important to different people. For example, I know therapists (both mental health and physical therapists) who have years more college than I do, actually help people get their lives in order, and they get paid quite a bit less than I do while living in the same area. Is that fair? not really, but that's life. They have jobs that give that unmistakable evidence of improving other peoples' lives and health. I make cool science stuff that makes my company money. Both are great in different ways, but I don't often go home and have that warm feeling of getting someone their life back. I also don't have nearly as much stress (or vacation time) as the mental health therapist. Sooo the point is, you have to find something that fits your personal needs.

Then you'll be in a job somewhere and sometimes it'll be good but other times it'll suck. Then you have to do the whole "crap, do I stay here or find something else?" problem solving. It's good to remind yourself that the grass always looks greener on the other side, but once you're there, you'll find out that the other place has problems too. Every company has problems. So again, you just want to figure out which problems are going to be easier for you, personally, to deal with and still live your life.

Also, sorry, this ended up being a longer post than I thought it would be when I started lol.

 

[davido_labido]

I've done a lot in my working 'career' because a lot of things overlap.

I started as a KP in a kitchen and worked up to be a Sous Chef.
Then I moved to DHL as an engineer. I worked there for 9 years. I was fixing automated systems. Whilst here, I was doing my modding stuff and writing for eTeknix, then TechPowerUp. I left TechPowerUp to work at Bit-Tech full time. Whilst there, Alphacool picked me up. I was at Alphacool for 5 years and then moved over to EKWB.

I say it often, but TPU was probably my favourite job overall! No stress, a boss that had your back and you could earn what you needed to. I do miss it! Maybe one day, I will get the bug to write again

 

[Solaris17]

I have done a lot in my career, My main focus's are Virtualization and big data. I had have? my MCSE and spent a lot of my early career in windows and migrating SMBs to virtualization and off of the "one metal box for %thing%" mindset.

I did that for just about a decade. Then I worked in the datacenter space as a devops engineer doing some pretty sweet projects. I recently left AWS; I was a systems engineer in the intelligence division and now I work at META as a systems engineer for production capacity. Dealing with core service capacity so FB, instagram etc.

I make enough? alot? it doesnt really matter, my wife can pay all our bills and we have fun, but Im almost bored with what I do. The grass isnt always greener. It started as a hobby many many many many moons ago and I had the young naive mindset of "make what I like a job" all that accomplished is now I have a garage full of tools, guns and time to play with neither.

I considered joining the merchant marine on more than one occasion. I love the sea but as much as my wife said she might support me, I know 4-6months on the water wouldnt be good for us.

Don't get me wrong I love what I do. I turned down some pretty big names before META, but I think I don't want to do it forever, or eventually slow down and do more science work. I've gained a lot of skill, everywhere from coding, to physical machine architecture and circuit design.

The money doesn't bring happiness though the bills just have bigger numbers.

 

[Chrispy_]

I work in the aerospace industry repairing the turbine airfoil blades that go in jet engines. Love doing this kind of work. Been with the company 25 years. And the pay is great.

Sweet, before I landed in IT, I did some engineering work for Howmet with their tooling and automation for casting turbine blades, mostly Rolls Royce and Airbus.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Is anybody here in the military?

Not now, left 19 years ago after a 28 year military career.

 

[Why_Me]

Is anybody here in the military?

I did one hitch in the army.

 

[A&P211]

Is anybody here in the military?

I was in the US navy for 4yrs, worst 4yrs of my life.

I work in the aerospace industry repairing the turbine airfoil blades that go in jet engines. Love doing this kind of work. Been with the company 25 years. And the pay is great.

And I fix those engines when something brakes, well I mostly just install the entire engine when its under heavy maintenance. Also great pay at a major US airline.

 

[Tomgang]

Cheating, stealing and threatening innocent people to give me money. Stealing bags from old ladies and candy from children. Rob banks and selling stolen cars... ops i have maybe played to much grand Theft auto.

More seriously i work as a car mechanic at a small workshop.