Who does what for a living?

[Ralph Sir Edward]

"Warm winds blowin',
Heating blue skies,
And a road that goes forever. . ."

Chris Rhea - Texas

 

[Krteczech]

I have been happily retired for past 5.5 years and moved twice since. First time about 1000 miles West, second time just a half mile East.
My first real job after graduating from Business Academy (accounting, statistics) was at a state owned travel agency. Very disappointed with the fact that travel agents were allowed to travel in Eastern block only, I quit after a year and found great job in entertainment industry. My husband and I left Eastern block behind in 1983, yes, 40 years ago, and spent a year in a refugee camp in Austria. I was washing dishes in dirty industrial kitchen and he got some short term painting jobs. A year later we were resettled to Northern Minnesota where jobs didn’t exist even for locals and shortly after were relocated to North Dakota. Following year was an eye opener for both. Working in substandard conditions at manufacturing facility on three rotating shifts we saved first 1000$, bought a used car and left for Minneapolis in October 1984. Here is a list of jobs 1984-2017:
Almond Rocca counter sales clerk before Christmas
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Retirement Plan Coordinator
Sales Incentives Administrator
….adoption of our daughter required a change in lifestyle for both of us and I quit my well paid job and became Front end (cashier and customer service) clerk at Whole Foods
School clerk in public schools (to get summers off)
Finance clerk at schools district office
Budget specialist at school district office and finally a
Retiree
I am loving my current position and cannot believe I survived number crunching for so many years. Cheers!

 

[Eggrollcreative]

Direct mail copy writer. Used up most my words so now retired.

 

[ChicagoDave]

First of all, thank you to everyone for sharing your impressive life stories - it’s amazing to read about all of the diverse experiences and backgrounds from everyone in the group! I’m in my mid-50s and still working (jealous of all you retirees!) with retirement still 8-10 years away for me. Graduated from the University of Georgia with a BBA and started working in the insurance industry after college. The company transferred me to Chicago in 1993 where I’ve lived ever since. Along the way I’ve changed jobs several times, picked up an MBA from the University of Chicago, married, divorced and since remarried (her second time as well) with five adult kids between us.

In terms or work, my first job was mowing lawns in the neighborhood while growing up in Atlanta. After spending 30 years in corporate America, I became tired of the constant business travel, restructurings, leadership changes, laying people off, being laid-off, etc. and decided to join the ranks of small business owners. I purchased an insurance agency at age 50 and have acquired 2 more agencies since then. I took a cut in pay and benefits, but it’s been extremely rewarding and fun building something. I have 10 employees and wear many different hats. There are certainly challenges and frustrations, but it’s given me the flexibility to travel and do things that were nearly impossible in my other jobs. My only regret is not doing it sooner, but guess I should be thankful because the alternative is not doing it at all.

 

[SandyPGravel]

My first real job (not-babysitting) was cleaning hotel rooms at 15 years old. Trust me that experience made me a very appreciative guest in hotels and TS's. I do not leave a mess & have trained my husband to do the same. I gather all towels into the shower stall. I make sure the trash is in the trash can. I wipe up spills, and make sure the remotes are back where they started. You would not believe the messes I would encounter. (Very traumatic for a 15 year old You have 30 minutes to clean the entire room from(hypothetically) the cast of Animal House) I learned at a young age people are horrible slobs when they don't have to clean it up. Also learned that no one appreciates the clean up crew that they do not see.(No-tipping)

Still working. I started at the Pharmacy America Trusts, At the Corner of Happy & Healthy while still earning my Data Processing-Computer Operations degree now called Computer Information Systems -Computer Systems Administration Specialist (which I cannot remember and have to look up) I've been at the same job, will be, 35 years in August.

About 23 years ago I worked an additional part time job to support my then(drug addicted) , now ex-husband, at Home Depot as a cashier. Kind of a fun job, barring the circumstances that required it.

Current hubby just retired last month. He was a steam fitter at UW-Madison. He's the reason we can afford to enjoy our TS.

 

[SusanRN]

My first job was subbing for my friends paper route when he was on vacation. Unfortunately, I had to do the collecting too. I also did babysitting and dog sitting. My first W-2 job was washing dishes and cleaning at a summer camp in 1965. My paycheck for the whole summer was $65. At least my parents didn't have to feed me when I was gone.

When I was a live-in "mother's helper" for the summer at 15, I convinced my parents to pay me $25 per week since I wasn't eating at home. With that and the pittance of pay I made, I was able to buy my first pair of contact lenses for $250 (in 1966), so it was worth it.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

My first real job (not-babysitting) was cleaning hotel rooms at 15 years old. Trust me that experience made me a very appreciative guest in hotels and TS's. I do not leave a mess & have trained my husband to do the same. I gather all towels into the shower stall. I make sure the trash is in the trash can. I wipe up spills, and make sure the remotes are back where they started. You would not believe the messes I would encounter. (Very traumatic for a 15 year old You have 30 minutes to clean the entire room from(hypothetically) the cast of Animal House) I learned at a young age people are horrible slobs when they don't have to clean it up. Also learned that no one appreciates the clean up crew that they do not see.(No-tipping)

Still working. I started at the Pharmacy America Trusts, At the Corner of Happy & Healthy while still earning my Data Processing-Computer Operations degree now called Computer Information Systems -Computer Systems Administration Specialist (which I cannot remember and have to look up) I've been at the same job, will be, 35 years in August.

About 23 years ago I worked an additional part time job to support my then(drug addicted) , now ex-husband, at Home Depot as a cashier. Kind of a fun job, barring the circumstances that required it.

Current hubby just retired last month. He was a steam fitter at UW-Madison. He's the reason we can afford to enjoy our TS.

When I was about ten years old, my mother got a job as a maid at a motel a few blocks from our - close to where Lyndale Avenue South crosses I-494 in Bloomington, MN. It was an old-style 1950 motor inn motel, where the office was attached to a residence where the motel owner lived (Hello, Bates Motel), and the motel rooms were in pods, with two to four units per pod. The headquarters for Toro (lawnmowers, snow blowers, rototillers, and similar house and yard equipment) and ThermoKing were nearby, and the motel had contract relationships for motel room accommodations with both companies.

They hired my Mom to support/relieve the wife of the owner couple in house-keeping activities. A few times, when my Mom was overwhelmed and I wasn't in school, she had me help her. My job was to strip the unit of linens, towels, trash, etc., so that when my Mom came in all she needed to do was vacuuming, wet cleaning, and fresh linens and towels.

And cleaning out the stuff that guests (almost all male in that era and those circumstances) left behind when they vacated rooms was my first introduction to porn.

 

[jabberwocky]

First job was delivering papers on my bike. At one time was managing to do four routes in a morning.

Worked as an accounting clerk at a drugstore chain HQ while in high school, then moved on to work as an systems analyst for a hospital while in university.

Got a bachelors in business with an IT and accounting focus. Picked up a CPA (did tax and audit) and then decided to do a PhD.

Finished that up and entered academia where I now am on the dark-side (administration) supervising graduate students in business. For fun I do corporate training for senior executives and board members in finance, accounting, strategy and governance.

Still 20 years left to go before retirement…

 

[SandyPGravel]

First job was delivering papers on my bike. At one time was managing to do four routes in a morning.

Worked as an accounting clerk at a drugstore chain HQ while in high school, then moved on to work as an systems analyst for a hospital while in university.

Got a bachelors in business with an IT and accounting focus. Picked up a CPA (did tax and audit) and then decided to do a PhD.

Finished that up and entered academia where I now am on the dark-side (administration) supervising graduate students in business. For fun I do corporate training for senior executives and board members in finance, accounting, strategy and governance.

Still 20 years left to go before retirement…

I'm worn out just reading what you've done...

 

[Passepartout]

 

[SusanRN]

I've been debating whether to share...but here goes.
First, the fun and interesting early and "second" jobs:
1. four summers serving at Howard Johnson's Restaurant
2. walking around a General Mills factory delivering mail
3. interviewing women 14-44 about their intention to have children and what kind of birth control they use (for a state health dept. - I was in
psych grad school)
4. secretary to the program director of an ABC-TV affiliate. Got to preview "The Muppets" and recommend whether to acquire it [yes].
5. while temporarily unemployed I delivered The Washington Post newspaper (by car) -- see, it's not just the guys!
6. called to persuade people to participate in Arbitron radio ratings. {won awards for my success}
7. my favorite -- interviewing renters in person to find out housing unit data (SF, BR, baths, etc.) and monthly cost to feed into the Cost of Living
Index computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
8. Realtor -- part-time work does not breed success

My real jobs
1. individual and group therapy as a crisis counselor for an urban county (I have an M.A. in psychology from Vanderbilt). Decided to go to law school to help mental health patients, but switched to business law
2. associate {attorney} at two large urban law firms. Interesting work but hours were not compatible with wanting to have kids. There was one six-month stretch when I worked 9AM - 11PM M-F, plus Sat morning, and I know some firms were worse than that. My husband worked the same hours in his own solo practice, which is the only reason it was acceptable for a while
3. in-house counsel at a $12B insurance company for eight years. "Corporate downsized" (along with 5,000 others) when it was acquired in the early '90s. Was my favorite job ever, because of the variety of interesting work, the nice people, and the perquisites -- tickets sitting in the box over the stage at the symphony, membership at a private club, officer's dining room with, e.g., crabcakes available every day -- total dues were $25/month -- maybe one reason they had financial difficulty. Oh, and most officers had a cocktail at lunch (drinking was de rigueur in insurance back in the day...and some had two -- but that has never been my thing}.
4. in-house counsel at a much smaller public company for three years. "Corporate downsized" upon acquisition. Tired of this s***. Also the stress caused three minor brain bleeds over three years from a congenitally weak blood vessel in my head. Left me slightly weak on my left side and feeling somewhat less "smart" [was a National Merit Semi-finalist in HS with M/V SAT>1500; LSAT 751 -- just lucky, I know]. Decided to step back to lessen stress and hopefully live to see my [future] grandchildren. Went to nursing school, which was more difficult for me than law school. Became an RN at 54 and certified in psych nursing at 56. Felt I was contributing more to society in this role than I did earlier.
Became a clinical instructor, then coordinator of nursing clinicals for my college. Retired at 68 when Covid struck and the students were not permitted in hospitals. I have not had another brain bleed in 23 years and have six beloved grandchildren 13 and under, four of whom I see daily.
I feel blessed.
Susan

 

[Superchief]

My real jobs
1. individual and group therapy as a crisis counselor for an urban county (I have an M.A. in psychology from Vanderbilt). Decided to go to law school to help mental health patients, but switched to business law
2. associate {attorney} at two large urban law firms. Interesting work but hours were not compatible with wanting to have kids. There was one six-month stretch when I worked 9AM - 11PM M-F, plus Sat morning, and I know some firms were worse than that. My husband worked the same hours in his own solo practice, which is the only reason it was acceptable for a while
3. in-house counsel at a $12B insurance company for eight years. "Corporate downsized" (along with 5,000 others) when it was acquired in the early '90s. Was my favorite job ever, because of the variety of interesting work, the nice people, and the perquisites -- tickets sitting in the box over the stage at the symphony, membership at a private club, officer's dining room with, e.g., crabcakes available every day -- total dues were $25/month -- maybe one reason they had financial difficulty. Oh, and most officers had a cocktail at lunch (drinking was de rigueur in insurance back in the day...and some had two -- but that has never been my thing}.
4. in-house counsel at a much smaller public company for three years. "Corporate downsized" upon acquisition. Tired of this s***. Also the stress caused three minor brain bleeds over three years from a congenitally weak blood vessel in my head. Left me slightly weak on my left side and feeling somewhat less "smart" [was a National Merit Semi-finalist in HS with M/V SAT>1500; LSAT 751 -- just lucky, I know]. Decided to step back to lessen stress and hopefully live to see my [future] grandchildren. Went to nursing school, which was more difficult for me than law school. Became an RN at 54 and certified in psych nursing at 56. Felt I was contributing more to society in this role than I did earlier.
Became a clinical instructor, then coordinator of nursing clinicals for my college. Retired at 68 when Covid struck and the students were not permitted in hospitals. I have not had another brain bleed in 23 years and have six beloved grandchildren 13 and under, four of whom I see daily.
I feel blessed.
Susan

You experienced a similar life in the corporate world as I did, and often worked multiple jobs. Twelve hour days, office politics, and corporate takeovers really ruined corporate life. I understand now why young people refuse the long work days and have no loyalty to their companies. I would recommend young people today to pursue a trade so they have more control over their own destiny. Even doctors and other medical professionals now have to work for large corporations and often have to follow their protocols.

 

[WalnutBaron]

First, thanks to @heathpack for starting this thread! It's so interesting to learn about how so many of us have made a living over the years--and many thanks for your stories and insights.

I grew up on a farm in the San Joaquin Valley of California. I'm a 5th-generation Californian and began working on the "ranch" (as we call it, even though we've never raised cattle) when I was 8 years old. My brothers and I worked on the ranch most days after school and most summers until we were old enough to go to college. It was hard work (I've hoed about a million weeds and moved about 10,000 sections of sprinkler pipe in my day), but my dad told us the effort was worth it--he called it "college appreciation work". A few years ago, I recalled for him what he paid us when I was about 11 years old--90 cents/hour in the late 1960s. His good-natured response? "You were overpaid."

My best job came when I was in college, and for which I was very lightly compensated. I served as "the voice" of the college radio station for our football and baseball teams--and had aspirations to become a sportscaster. The pinnacle of my "career" was when I interviewed with ABC Sports for a job as their college-age sideline announcer for their college football Game Of The Week. I say the pinnacle was that I interviewed for the job, but was not selected. Nonetheless, I still have the rejection letter that I framed. Ultimately, I gave up my dream of sportscasting because of all the travel that kind of job entailed--and that the travel would conflict with my other great goal in life of being a husband and dad. I wasn't dating anyone at the time, but I knew that being a family man would not work well if I was on the road for 50-75% of the time. Later--when the kids arrived--my boys would love it when we turned the sound down on the TV and I would do some play-by-play announcing of the action during a game.

After earning my MBA, I went to work as a marketing executive for packaged foods companies like Ocean Spray, Heinz, and Sara Lee (@Cornell, I used to work with folks like you when we conducted market research studies--and I always appreciated people like you who could translate complex statistical results into digestible action steps for knuckleheads like me) before leaving the corporate world in the early 2000s to return to my roots to found a sister company to our family's farming business. My company processes, packs, and markets our specialty crops to customers around the world--and we buy farm products from about 100 neighboring growers in our area.

My DW and I have been married for 43 years and, very gratefully, two of our three sons work with me in the family business--one on the farm and one in the processing business (the third is a schoolteacher in San Diego). I also work with my two brothers, so it truly is a family effort. My parents--both in their late 80s--still attend our monthly board meetings.

As for non-paying avocations, I have written a couple of screenplays, several short stories, and a history book dealing with the advent of irrigated agriculture in California around the turn of the 19th and early 20th centuries. I'm still working, but retirement beckons, probably sometime in the next couple of years. In the meantime, I'm working less and traveling more--and feel very blessed to be surrounded by family and friends at this later stage of my life.

 

[joestein]

Sadly Minneapolis is not coming back. My firm purchased 3 apartment buildings for one of our funds with the plan to update the units, raise rents and then sell. However, the market is just not supporting this now. It is a bad scene. At this point, investors want to get out and are willing to take a bath to do so.

NYC is even worse. Wait another 10 years - NYC will turn back into what it was during the pre-Guliani days. It is already sliding that way. Housing policies that punish owners unrealistically and do not encourage investment and crime that is becoming rampant and is not prosecuted.

As an update to this... I am seeing contract prices and the average sales prices of a rent controlled building these days is about 50% of what was paid for it 10 years ago.

 

[Kat05]

Retired Registered Nurse here

In my teen years I babysat probably every weekend before working at the local McDonalds. During college I spent one summer as a "Mother's Helper" working for a very wealthy family in Connecticut. My job was basically taking the children to the club every day for swim and tennis lessons. On our days off my friends and I would take the train into the city.

My goal was to be a traveling nurse but love and marriage happened.
I stayed at the local hospital and worked orthopedics and maternity units before moving to rehab and long term care. After 20 years I left clinical nursing and went to work for BlueCross BlueShield basically for the benefits and schedule!

I took advantage of an early retirement package 6 years ago and time has just flown.

This year my daughters convinced me to start working as a substitute teacher at the elementary school because of the staffing shortage. I just love it and hope to continue!

 

[The Colorado Kid]

I raise salamanders.

 

[Big Matt]

I started working at 14 at my dad's restaurant. I did that off and on through high school, college, and grad school. Also worked as assistant manager at a mini golf course for two summers (great job). After trying insurance for a year, I switched to working in Mortgage Finance. I spent 17 years at a major company in that industry and have run a management consulting company in the same space for the last 17. I could retire any time, but love my job.

 

[aroundtheworld76]

Did all the standard jobs as a kid. Fast food, paper route, etc. Got my EMT at 19 in 1995, then became a nurse (LPN in 2001, RN in 2006) and have been incredibly lucky in my career. I was a traveler for several years, doing 3 month ER contracts in places like Alaska and the US Virgin Islands. I worked as Ships Nurse for a cruise line and spent a year working at a clinic in rural Ethiopia. For the past 12 years I've been a flight nurse. I work a two week on /two week off schedule flying sick and injured folks around in a tiny little jet. It's a great schedule for one week timeshare usage! My wife likes the two week rotations, gone enough to miss each other, but when I start to get underfoot too much, it's about time to go back to work . I finished a Master's in Global Health about two years ago though, so it might be time to get a grown up job..........

 

[x3 skier]

My wife likes the two week rotations, gone enough to miss each other, but when I start to get underfoot too much, it's about time to go back to work .

I certainly recall my late wife commenting every so often saying “Isn’t it time for you to go TDY again?” ((TDY short for Temporary Duty or an assignment away from my home Air Force Base)

 

[Icc5]

I'll give you a good one that my brother did before passing away. After graduating from college while working at Safeway grocery store he worked his way up to store manager then stepped down to go to work for Entemens/Boboli routing trucks. When he hit about 58 they decided to reorganize and his position was let go. Not greatly interesting. The job that got me was his hobby. He learned about worms, yes worms and started selling them. He also became a middle man and would take orders for worm growers and set up the transportation. He became famous as The Worm Dude with his own line of shirts,hats,worm bins etc. The worms are used mainly for composting (which he taught), some for fishing and he donated some to schools so kids learned about composting and using the worm poop for fertilizer in growing plants. The best part of the hobby/job is several years it earned him an extra $125,000+ a year. A good paying job all by itself.
Bart

 

[Jbaker1859]

Operations Manager for an iron ore mining company.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jme]

Age 16…….......Sears Department Store—started out in the Toy Department on December 10, worked through Christmas, continued for 2 months.
Age 16-18….....Advanced to Sears Garden Department…full-time summer months and some weekends during the school year.
Age 19-22….....Worked in Golf Pro Shop at a local Country Club during summers when home from college.
Age 23 ............Processed blood samples at a major hospital laboratory.
Age 24-26…..Phlebotomist/major hospital laboratory, "evening shift" 5:30pm-12:30am (summers) while attending dental school freshman + sophomore years. (We went year-round.)
Age 26-28…........Phlebotomist at same hospital laboratory, evening shift 5:30pm-12:30am (5 days a week,12 months a year) during dental school junior + senior years.
Age 28-present…….General Dentist in private practice, still working full time, 4 1/2 days a week.
2014 - present+ ……..Creator & maintainer of the "Hilton Head Restaurant Guide" for a popular timeshare website……LOL

Can you guess which job I call my favorite?

 

[VacationForever]

2014 - present+ ……..Creator & maintainer of the "Hilton Head Restaurant Guide" for a popular timeshare website……LOL

Can you guess which job I call my favorite?

Did I guess right?

 

[jme]

Did I guess right?

You got it......(what took so long?) .........far and away my favorite.
******************************************************************************************************************************************

BTW, Very interesting thread------- I'm not only impressed by so many posts, but truly inspired by so many.
We have such a talented and diverse group "somewhere out there" (as a wise philosopher once said),
and I've really enjoyed reading about each and every one of you. I've learned a lot.
It tells me one thing----everybody is important and serves a valuable purpose.

 

[jp10558]

Dang, I'm kind of blown away from all the people here. Way more accomplished than I am. I went to college for IT work, starting in 1999. College required a paid internship after 2 years. Well just in time for the dot com bust lol. No one was hiring someone without a degree and offering to pay them. So I left and worked at a call center for MCI doing collections and payments. This sucked. After a year and a half of this, I went to another college fair locally and transferred most of my credits to a college that had no internship requirement. Graduated from there in a year and a half.

Then finding work was still difficult, ended up having my sisters boyfriend help me get work at the Geek Squad. (I couldn't pass their personality exam). I ended up being one of their best at fixing computers and such, given my education and hobby of computers when I was younger. Then I got lucky - one summer my cousin said, "hey, we should go on this local tour of a science lab at the University. It looks interesting." I went, it was fun, thought nothing of it. About 6 months later I was looking for jobs better than Geek Squad and came across an ad for a desktop support person at this lab. I think I was hired because I interview well, and because of that tour!

Well, that was in 2006, and I still work there today, now doing server specifications, automation and management of the Windows fleet of desktops and servers, and design and planning for all new services, and cybersecurity. A bunch of promotions and pay raises keep me there, along with a University having really good benefits, probably the best pay in the area, and amazing work/life balance. Every time I've even tried to leave checking the market they decide to give me a raise. I just wish I didn't have to get a job offer every few years to get them to do so. Oh, and because we're a lab - it's more employees than students. In fact, since COVID I've been WFH 99% of the time, and only go in when there's something very specific I need to do in person. Because of this, I plan to try working while travelling like some of the other posters - I have approval, so we'll see how it goes. I have an inordinate amount of vacation anyway, so I probably could just take the weeks off. I want to try and get in more travel than I did before, but don't have to laze around the whole time. We've got a wifi hotspot with unlimited data and I have a work laptop. I'm going to try working during the day and vacationing at night! Also, because I'm salary the hours are very flexible, and my bosses care about the work getting done, not how long I sit online or in a particular chair.

The timeshare system seems to be enabling the travel so far. I went from at most one trip for 5 days every few years in the summer and a winter trip for a couple days to NYC around Christmas to 3 week long trips this year and one already scheduled for next year. The buy in is a little steep, but I did resale - and after that the deals if you're just willing to go where there's a deal in RCI are just too good lol. (Well, from my perspective). I tent to travel with family, my sister, my mom, some family friends, my cousin. While we made hotel rooms work for years, it's easier to go to 2BD timeshares let me tell you.

The travel is both because I've always enjoyed seeing new places but also to build on my latest hobby in photography - got over $11,000 in gear, and want to use it for lots of different things - but landscape is my first photo style and I'll probably always enjoy it - and to do that, I have to go places with different landscapes!

I'm in my early 40s, never married and probably will work till I have to retire. Most of the last people who retired did so at 70ish because the job is mostly fun, and doesn't need a lot of physical ability so you can just keep going, and unlike lots of IT, it's not ageist - in fact the institutional knowledge and experience is prized. I find it sad so many other places think everyone should job hop every 3 years or less, and would rather pay more every couple years to hire outside people than just offer raises to keep existing employees. I also wish more places understood that for salary people, it's about the work getting done, not exactly where or when someone is in a chair or on the computer. I can tell you that even though the University doesn't pay top dollar, the flexible work and general lack of stress makes up for a lot of it.