What do you do?

[Joe G]

[Todd Black 88]

I'm 35 and still have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life :p

I can only tell you what NOT to do.

1. Do not rack up a bunch of debt. it will haunt you for years and years afterward, even if you're good about paying the bills on time.

2. Do not go to school just for the sake of going to school. College these days is mostly financed, so you'll end up with a bunch of debt for a degree you may not even want. see 1.

3. Don't get married for the wrong reasons and for god's sake don't have kids until you do. Wear a condom or don't screw any chicks. also, see #1.

4. If you have a job, start putting money away into your IRA accounts now. even if it's a small amount, by starting now, you'll be miles ahead of most other people by the time you're my age.

5. If you don't have a job, get one, any job will do. Don't be afraid to work shitty jobs. If you think the job market sucks now, try waiting until you're 25 and have no work experience.

6. See #1.

This 100%, although, I am 39.

[Todd Black 88]

I made mistake #1. I avoided the other mistakes mostly out of luck. But there are definitely people who've done all of those things.. I have friends who are my age and have NEVER had a job! I know way to many people who had kids really young or got married for the wrong reasons, or got worthless degrees and have no way to pay for them. or all of them combined..

One one hand there are my sisters who have never worked and they have zero job experience. one was fortunate to marry and move to Japan. The other got pregnant at 18. Neither will likely ever have a job because they refuse to work at places like McDonalds or anywhere really. I have a half sister that we saw panhandling in town with a sign saying she had 4 kids to feed (a total lie). I don't talk to her for obvious reasons.

then there's my brothers, one who went to the navy and busted his ass, was top in his class and is now living in Hawaii, the other who busts his ass with 2 jobs working through school. I have no idea how they turned out the way they did considering their parents are total losers. thank god we were blessed with relatively good genes for intelligence, it's just too bad it was totally wasted on our father..

I have way too much first hand experience with sucky life choices, lol.

You and I seem to be living the same life.

I also fell to #1. Bought a house and had a $400k mortgage on it.

Up until last year, my family had 6 generations alive at one time. That does not happen unless kids are having kids.

[Colby.325e]

I'm 20 years old and I work for TD Bank at a call center, trying to explain to adults who cannot manage their finances, how to manage their finances.

Right out of Highschool, I got a full time job for Capital One making $10/hr selling credit cards. This job gave me a LOT of valuable experience and advice most people will never learn until they rack up their debt and can't pay it. It's because of this job that I don't own a credit card. My ONLY debt is the $2K unsecured loan I got. The only reason I got it was to have a bill under my name and build credit.

Then I got a job I really liked at 19, worked at O'Reilly Auto Parts. I just liked being around cars on the daily. My hourly wage saw a huge increase going from $10 to $10.25. (lol)

Now I'm here, at TD Bank, making a little more, sitting on my ass on the phones again. I only left because I finally moved out from my mother's house, any paying the bills was more important then working around cars.

Every summer I tell myself I will go to college and get out of these random shit jobs struggling to feed my E30 addiction and make ends meet. Right now I'm driving an un-inspected E30 with 3 bald tires and blown suspension, and it's winter. It's dangerous, and not fun. I really want to try and make it to college this fall and get my life "on-track". But I'm not 100% committed yet. I don't want to end up in lots of debt. I was planning on getting a BA in Accounting. Decent wage, and pretty reliable profession.

[mrsleeve]

I am going to resoundingly say go read nandos 1st post over about 15 times.

As for what I do..........................

But I dont work for RTD out of rotterdam, or for any of their subsidiaries. Our equipment is much better to use in the field, though very similar this is about the best pic I can find of it on line. I cant really post pics of ours due to propitiatory concerns

Though I am running a conventional unit right now. If you dont ever want to be home living out of hotels or campers but want to make lots of money its a good gig. When I say never home, I have gone 13 months with only 6 days at home, have spent 2 or 3 Christmases away IN A ROW, had 1 thanksgiving at home in the last 7 years, and normally work about 10 months a year.............................................

The shit we do to make a living and provide a decent life for our families

[Zreberlcoe]

Oh and I'm 17 and I'm a tire tech at discount tire!

[noid]

I have three recommendations.

1. Don't waste your time getting a shitty degree. Get a degree that is logic based: Economics, Engineering, Mathematics, Bio-med, etc

2. While in school do entrepreneurial things that will give you experience or knowledge in the field you want to get into it and use it to fill your resume.

3. When applying to jobs at fortune 500 companies remember that:

i) They don't give a shit about your mcdonalds/kmart experience, remove them from your resume.
ii) Your in a competition and the goal is to put in 10% more effort than the other guy.
iii) Input is output, the more you apply the better your cover letter, resume, and interview skills will become. Its key to keep focused and not become discouraged.

[payney8]

23
Diesel fitter ( heavy vehicle mechanic ) at the mines.
Went through all of our high school and got my year 12 cert (AUS crap)
Worked at various jobs till i scored my apprenticeship.
Worked with shit pay till 2 years ago when i scored my current job.

I work 4 days on/ 4 off/ 4 nightshifts/ 4 off, I get around 152k AUS a year.
Finally pulled my finger out and got accepted into doing what i really wanted, which is mech engineering. So i am doing this distance ed while i work.

Also agree with no getting any debt. I have made some shit choices so i have about 12k off debt not on anything. Plus 25k for a new ute I bought, and 400k mortgage on a property worth 550k. So overall I'm finally getting towards where i wanted to be in high school.

[Ryan Stewart]

3. When applying to jobs at fortune 500 companies remember that:

i) They don't give a shit about your mcdonalds/kmart experience, remove them from your resume.

Only thing I disagree on if you were a teen and were longstanding at those companies. I got compliments on the fact that I held my high school job 4 years and moved up within the company. It may have been retail but it helps show that, deep down, you aren't a flake.

Now, if you worked 47 jobs between 16-19 then you might want to be more selective.

[BobombETA]

23
Diesel fitter ( heavy vehicle mechanic ) at the mines.
Went through all of our high school and got my year 12 cert (AUS crap)
Worked at various jobs till i scored my apprenticeship.
Worked with shit pay till 2 years ago when i scored my current job.

I work 4 days on/ 4 off/ 4 nightshifts/ 4 off, I get around 152k AUS a year.
Finally pulled my finger out and got accepted into doing what i really wanted, which is mech engineering. So i am doing this distance ed while i work.

Also agree with no getting any debt. I have made some shit choices so i have about 12k off debt not on anything. Plus 25k for a new ute I bought, and 400k mortgage on a property worth 550k. So overall I'm finally getting towards where i wanted to be in high school.

Wow, that is excellent pay for a 23 year old. Congratulations.

[Thizzelle]

Senior Mech/design engineer, 6 years xp.
I manage a shop, schedule it, design our products, and our machinery.
Make smart choices about school. I went to junior college to get all the GE crap out of the way and was payed from scholarship to do it. Then just transferred to a state college.
After 6 years I only have a few k left in college debt.
Right out of school I got hired and next month bought my M3.
Then market crashed and I was paying rent in what a mortgage is so I bought a house :) giving money to someone else while I could be paying for something of mine didn't sit right.
Invest your money wisely, save money now and get in when things are low ie, my M3 and my house.
M3 has doubled in price since I bought it and house went up 150k in 2 years.
Lastly don't get married or have kids till you're set.

[F34R]

27, no debt, no kids and for the last 15 years, I have worked for my Father's construction company(I was homeschooled). I love fashion and working leather, so I started my own leather company August 2013. Going extremely well so far, I need to get bigger to make it a full time thing, for now it is a profitable hobby.

I also make furniture on the side for extra cash.

I live a very happy life, I wake when I want and do what makes me happy in life. I believe life is about finding happiness, when I die I know I did not waste it chasing money.

[13bpower]

Corporate Relocation

[keine30]

18, in my last semester of high school.

next fall, i'll be attending one of the top engineering schools in the US (MS&T) to pursue ME, and be getting a full ride there from athletic/academic scholarships.

right now, i detail cars at a chevy dealership. it's mind-numbingly boring and blows dick. but, because i got my foot in the door here and made friends with all the salesmen and managers, once school is out for the summer i'll be selling car there. if all goes well, i'll make about $20 grand this summer before i leave for school.

while i'm only 18 and definitely don't have the experience that a lot of the guys on here have, i have been constantly employed since i was 14, sometimes 3 jobs at once, all while taking the toughest classes my school offers and varsity athletics on top of that.

my advice to you would be to don't settle for less than you deserve. shitty job? find another one. there are countless opportunities out there for those who apply themselves. not being challenged enough mentally? find something that's tough for you to do. tough as hell; the more it pisses you off the better. own that shit. prove to everyone around you (and more importantly, yourself) that nothing can stand in your way if you want it badly enough, and go get it.

from "Desiderata": Be careful. Strive to be happy.

[kendogg]

I'm 30 (31 next month) and I work as a dispatch manager for one of the cell phone companies in their corporate office. I hate it, and hope to be out of here within the next year, but it pays far too much to just walk away from. I also own V8Volvos.com, do various mechanic stuffs and engine swaps on the side. UTI graduate, although in hindsight I wish I would've picked a different school, based on cost and lack of opportunities alone.