What do you do as a career?

I need a career, and I feel the best way to gather some information would be to go directly to real people and ask.

So, this thread is a Q and A type thing:


What do you do as a career? How is the job on a daily basis?

How is the income in terms of dollar amounts? How much 'play money' do you end up having when all is through and through?

Are you happy with your choice? If not, what would you have picked?


Now these questions might be a bit personal, and if you don't feel like sharing online you can PM me --I won't tell.

Being a borg queen is quite hard some days. Thinking for everyone else...

Yes but you must get a collective warmth from knowing you helped the hive?

Sorry, couldnt resist the puns but as you know, resistance is futile

I run a mobile (cell) phone repair shop in a busy shopping center (mall) .
I repair phones, laptops and ipods ect day in day out 6 days a week.
Soon to be 7 days during the Christmas (holiday) period.

I need to rest.

But the money isnt so bad, My salary is roughly £24,700.00 pa ($38,794.00 USD) and I spend it far too easily.

Nice ped if you lived here i could use a ipad2 repair. No one dares to repair the back of it since the battery is glued to it.
Im right now a everythings do-er in a big production company.
They use me for almost anything wich i like because i have something else to do every day.
Cant complain about money while i live with my parents.

Whats up with it?

With what??? Dont understand..

Hes asking whats wrong with your iPad. lol

^^ sorry Borg, should of made it clearer

Technically nothing is wrong with it. Fisically the back is scratched as shit and even lost paint on some spots, and the front glass is broken.

I load and unload milk/cream ect tanker trucks.
Work 8 days then off 6.
around 45k in a year.

Depends on how hard u rape them for overtime.

I got enuf play money, as i am on this forum.

Now as to being happy. Yes i am i get a check it pays the bills.
So i am good.

I am a teacher of Japanese language (up to University level 300) and Fine Arts + Digital imaging. I also have EFL/TESOL TESL certification and currently working for LG +U in South Korea.

Ah koto mosho blablabla impossible launguage^^

borgqueenx said:

Ah koto mosho blablabla impossible launguage^^

Click to expand...

?? Japanese is definitely NOT impossible. Out of all Asian languages, it has the largest non-native fluency percentage. It is also monotonal.... That says something.

I'm like 'The Wolf' from Pulp Fiction. I solve peoples problems & get things done, often best when folks dont know how I do though

Before that I was a PC Tech, building and modding computers while working with an IT team for a major online travel company. The money was good, ~ 60K a year Though on a daily basis I had to deal with other peoples computer problems, often being blamed by the less educated ones for their mistakes. It was stressful for awhile but it helped me learn to deal with people in any situation from just about every walk of life. :beer:

Seoul_lasers said:

?? Japanese is definitely NOT impossible. Out of all Asian languages, it has the largest non-native fluency percentage. It is also monotonal.... That says something.

Click to expand...

i was joking everything's learnable....but its the launguage that makes the less sense of all launguages i ever heard ^^

Aaahh Dane'.
Those problematic 1d10t errors, eh ?
Never done it. But have a friend who does and understand it.

Career you say...
Well I have been in warehousing for the last 15 years or so.
From being an insignificant pleeb to running a multimillion dollar operation with a crew under me to now being the only one for all operations in a fairly small business.
Like every job it has it's pros and cons.
Regular hours. Usually inside work. Some computer work. A quantity of physical work. (less as you work up in position) You need an eye for detail. Lots of mental work. Must be a good thinker with solid knowledge base to be good at this job ! Some require forklift certification and training. Safety training. Problem solving skills out the a...rear needed.
Meticulous record keeping. (So many documents and multiple copies to deal with.) Filing, labeling, packing, etc. etc .etc. Organizational skills are so important and frequently overlooked.
BUT the pay sucks ! And I hate the tedium of warehousing. It's just that I am so good at it.
If this position wasn't within 5 minutes of my home...the pay wouldn't cover commuting costs farther away. (I did the number crunching before I took the job.)
I do have 10 years of theatre arts experience. Everything but performing on stage. Lighting, audio, construction, painting, graphics, printing (programs have to be made) and everything else needed for putting on performances.
I loved the work but got edged out of the position by a less than scrupulous competitor.
The money could have been good but the lifestyle and hours don't translate into a good thing when you get older and want a home/life with kids & such.
Not to be put off, I went into television production with the local production fascilities. (Turned out to be one of the best operations in the province for part of the time I was there.) Most of my skills from the theatre arts were transferrable to TV. And then there was all the technology coming out. High end audio equipment training. Top notch TV camera training. The editting, dubbing, re-recording, mixing, graphics with the then new Amiga computers. The introduction of video toaster and the new computer generated effects...learning and getting hands on experience with it all.
Then there was the diagnosing and repairing of the equipment. The last minute fixes on location just moments before going live on air...tons of stuff. And I did everything involved with it all except performing in front of the cameras.
I was good enough at it all that for the last few years I was the one training everyone else including all the new arrivals. I enjoyed every minute and helped a lot of others learn and enjoy it too.
If you can get a paying position the money can be great.
But it is hard to do, very hard work, and takes a long time of ass-kissing to get there. (It turns out that I'm not much of an ass-kisser.)
It also is another position that can be hard on relationships and family life. Lots of hurry-up-and-wait in TV and movie making. (BTW I helped to train a lot of the first crews involved in the "Hollywood North" beginnings up here in BC.) You spend weeks on the job without living at home.
I've worked as an auto painter and if you get proper protection it can be a great job. You need really great hand-eye co-ordination and superb work ethics to be good though. Soon you learn that every car and color has it's own unique characteristics. Learn them and you will master the art. I did some incredible paint jobs but didn't have protection so now I suffer in ways that would never have been predicted. Health issues take time to show up. Sometimes years. Many years even.
The pay isn't bad and if you get good you could end up being somewhat famous with a great pay rate to match. (Damn I miss that job !)
I've bounced around the auto industry and it isn't great paying but the perks can be worth it. Free access to complete shops and mechanics, first pick of new or used cars, the tips & tricks of auto detailing, trade discounts (a lot of auto related businesses give 10-25% discount to those in the field) and parts for cost...all good things. Had a great reliable older Datsun for 10 years because of a job for 3 in the industry. The car should only have been good for the first couple of years but I was able to really do things up while working for almost no cost and it extended the life of a 10 year old import by almost another decade.

The best thing for you to do is to figure out what you like to do, what is most important to you in a job, and find out what careers include those things. (Start by looking at your hobbies. The things you like to do when you don't want to do anything are a good indication of what you really like to do.)
Don't get too hung up on the details and little things as every position has some "cons" to go with the "pros". Try to make sure that the good things far outweigh the bad.
And realize that in ten years all your priorities will be different. Chances are that you will be looking for something new before then, according to the people who take statistics and chart these things.

Good luck and if you get famous/rich doing it remember me and my advice. Return the favor to someone else who needs it.
If you get really rich/famous then look me up and send me something nice.