Thread: How did you come into your career? Do you feel it is your "calling?"

Yep 10 year cycle sounds about right.

10 years working in an operating suit, now 10 years in IT programming ASP & now .NET, and I'd be more than happy to walk out of here today and become a dairy farmer, or work in a nursery propagating Australian natives or an organic farmer ... yeah an organic farmer that would be nice.

Unfortunately I have 2 small children and 1 BIG mortgage to look after. I might have to look at spanning it out to a 20 year cycle.

Lets see I went to college for four years, got a degree and then couldn't get any kind of job in my field. Jumped around a little then settled for about five years in a dead end job with a s#$t schedule and a A@#H#$E for a boss. Then I jumped ship to a job that is a least a little fun with a good schedule.

The first question is not which career, but do I want a career. I basically don't like my job and it really isn't a career but it gives me the money and free time to pursue my hobbies get better at them and maybe one day turn them into a paying proposition.

Though lately I have been thinking about trying to go back and get my law degree.

I took the long road through college, meaning that I graduated with a bachelor's 9 years after I graduated from high school. I always hated math, but somewhere along the line I sort of figured it out and eventually settled on mechanical engineering.

I worked as a process/manufacturing engineer for about 3 years and as a design engineer for about 3 years before quitting to run the company my wife and I started two years ago. Doing what? Making girly lotions and creams and stuff! Most days I smell real purty too. Someday, when my kids ask me why I smell like a girl, I'll tell 'em "That's the smell of money, kid!"

I have felt very strongly that my life has led me through certain turns and passages to end up where I am a business owner. I can't see myself doing anything else. The thought of working again for someone else seems totally out of the question (at least for now).

FUD, speaking of selling stuff on ebay, I have a TON of music gear being auctioned right now! (ebay name: spacetoast)

Originally Posted by spacetoast

FUD, speaking of selling stuff on ebay, I have a TON of music gear being auctioned right now! (ebay name: spacetoast)

Had a look at your auction, May I say you have done a very professional job, at first glance I would have thought you were a dealer.
Good luck
Tony

Originally Posted by portal5

Had a look at your auction, May I say you have done a very professional job, at first glance I would have thought you were a dealer.
Good luck
Tony

Thanks! I've been working on product photography lately because of my business and I think it was Tony Miller who said in some other thread that "ebay isn't an auction site, it's a dating service". I tried to keep that in mind when writing the descriptions.

Oh, and to keep it on topic...perhaps my calling is to sell stuff on ebay!

Sorry I didn’t mean you were off topic I meant it was me!
Misread the smilie.
The thing I was impressed with was that I felt I could trust you just by the appearance of your adds.
I suspect this will come across in your main business.
Tony

Originally Posted by spacetoast

Thanks! I've been working on product photography lately because of my business and I think it was Tony Miller who said in some other thread that "ebay isn't an auction site, it's a dating service". I tried to keep that in mind when writing the descriptions.

Oh, and to keep it on topic...perhaps my calling is to sell stuff on ebay!

No worries, Tony. I knew that off topic smilie wasn't for me. I said that about keeping it on topic at the bottom of the post so I didn't have to use the "I hijacked this thread" smilie. In a joking way of course.

Thanks for the feedback on my auctions. I rarely sell stuff on ebay, so that really helps me know that I come across as trustworthy.

I loved working in the road construction business. It was my first "real" job not bagging groceries or washing dishes. I left the field as a certified worksite traffic control supervisor. Fancy way of saying I knew how to properly setup signs to close lanes of traffic down, protect the public from dangerous areas in construction zones. It didn't pay well, but I will say it was the most fulfilling job I've had. If they would pay me what I make now I'd go back in a second.

I left there and entered the white collar world. A friend of a friend was looking for a solid, reliable, entry-level person to basically do helpdesk stuff (Susie can't print, etc.) I got my first PC in about 1980 in 6th grade (an Apple ][+). I was good at playing with PC's. I was the first kid in town to have an autodial modem, and wrote a wardialer (see WarGames) that summer. That led to networking (Ah... ThinNet) and managing their phone system (moves/adds/changes, programming & wiring).

My supervisor left, and provided me an in a few months later with an online information company. Network stuff, routers, firewalls, PBX admin, structured cabling, etc. Fun place, great people. It was the dot-com boom. Money was everywhere, people were calling you offering jobs. It was great. I doubt it will ever happen again. The company was bought, and a year later we were all laid off.

Which led to where I am now: telecommunications. I like what I do. I get to work inside the central office, a place most people never get to see the inside of, much less touch anything. I also get to work in the field, installing equipment & clearing trouble. I've been laid off once, and quit a 2nd job before I was laid off. It's the industry. DSL hit big, and everyone tried to do it. Oklahoma City averaged one DSL provider going out of business every month for a year. Telecom is highly competitive, and I don't much care for the rat race and non-existant raises. I haven't had a raise in about 3 years. Probably won't see one anytime soon either.

Do what you love. It takes money to pay the bills, but don't take money over a job doing what you love.

If I leave... hard to say what I'd do -- I've been through too many layoffs. I'm tempted to check into being an electrician, because they always have work and I find some aspects of it interesting. I've thought about being a police officer, except there are times where the weight of the badge would be too much. I've toyed with the idea of going back to college to pursue a degree in psychology.

ooooh, I have a degree in Psychology, see my above post. If you don't have a Phd you don't have a prayer.

Lets see...I have done many things...I have done everything from bouncing at clubs and doing VIP security to working on computers. I dropped out of college to take my current job, and I find it every enjoyable and interesting, the pay is good, I travel all over the country, get an expense account and have tons of time off...but at the end of the day I dont feel like I have made a real difference and feel like I am only usefull in my particular industry. I have no plans to ditch this job as I do enjoy it and I could never go back to an office, but I have some stuff on the side I plan on building up over the next 10 years or so and if nothing else it will give me something to do