What do you do for a living?

[decay]

these days, software engineer.

[long tall eta]

i was a chef at the showboat in atlantic city. they closed down so it's a career change for me. now i'm driving a tractor trailer hauling dry bulk cement.

[Keith M]

I make ice cream.

[AdironRider]

Knifemaker

[shameson]

Work in the receiving department, so I drive a forklift (electric Toyota top speed of 9mph!! Lol)

At work I drive an electric Hyster, unfortunately tops out at about 10mph on a full charge. But still enough power for burnouts when wet lol

[Smelser]

I drive a Ready mix concrete truck to pay the bills. One of the ONLY jobs that can NOT be outsourced to another country for cheaper.

also a volunteer fire fighter (3rd generation) for the last 15 years

and a dirt stock car racer






Helmet got stained black from a greenhouse fire that was in the tens of millions in damages (there is a thread here with the aerial pics "Rosa Flora") it never came clean

[myinfernalbmw]

I'm an ASM for a local dealership. Work is unfulfilling.

[BlackSpeed66]

I'm an appraiser for one of the larger auto insurance companies. Most of my estimates I write in the 'hood here in Cleveland's east side. With fraud and all sorts of other craziness going on there.... yeah it keeps me pretty busy.

I did have to write an estimate on a Lambo this week though. Ugh what a PITA haha....

[e30onBBSs]

What do you do for a living?

Can this thread also have background info on how you guys got there? I need to decide a major and I want to have a wide range of careers I could go into. I'm doing an automotive program for BMW with mostly academics and after the 2 years here I am going to transfer to finish up my degree

[geoffp]

USCGC RUSH by geoffp516, on Flickr
Sunrise over Oahu by geoffp516, on Flickr
DSC_0118 by geoffp516, on Flickr
Day 088: Great sunset after a rainy day. by geoffp516, on Flickr

[Exodus_2pt0]

Can this thread also have background info on how you guys got there? I need to decide a major and I want to have a wide range of careers I could go into. I'm doing an automotive program for BMW with mostly academics and after the 2 years here I am going to transfer to finish up my degree

Worked on cars for peanuts for about 10 years. Took classes in high school, and my teacher got me an apprentice position at Ford. Paid attention and learned for about 2 years while acquiring my ASE master tech status. Then about 2 years ago I got sick of busting my ass for 35-40k a year. Put my resume on career builder with a cover page that read something along the lines of "Experienced ASE master technician, looking for a career change.". Got a phone call about 3 weeks later from a headhunter offering me a job in Virginia working on a commuter rail.

I signed the lease on an apartment the day before I started work. I was on a mission to climb the ladder to the top, and so far it has paid off immeasurably!

Its not going to be easy for you, but if you keep your head up and your mind in the right place, you will do fine. Don't get caught up in workplace drama, it will only hurt your career. Whatever you find yourself doing, remember that YOU agreed to do the job so do it well. Keep your mind open and always be thinking about how to advance.

I have found that there are 2 things that have contributed most to my personal success:

Attitude, and Attendance. Get those two right and you will be good to go.

[Joe G]

'Business Advisory Service Associate'....I'm a consultant at a public accounting firm.

[Red_liner740]

Field Service Tech in the food packaging industry. Basically i fix, install and train operators/maintenance on large scale industrial food packaging machines

Ground beef/steaks/chicken etc. in foam trays and clear film wrapped? Most likely it was done on our machine. Plastic trays with sealed top lids? Yup thats us too. A lot of our packaging is done behind scenes for transportation from kill facilities to packaging facilities and from packaging facilities to stores.

Basically there are only a few manufacturers of these machines and i happen to work for the North American division of one of the largest.

With that being said i'm the Canadian division tech.

I basically sit at home making base salary until i get a phone call to go to xx. I book my own travel/lodging and make my way to wherever the company requires me to be. So whether i work 8 hrs or 40hrs i get paid the same. Above 40 i get OT.

I have one boss who i have to call once a day to check in and thats about it.

How i got here is kinda weird.

I went to University for IT and hated it, i then worked as a baggage basher at the local international airport and fell in love with planes. I went back to College to be an A&P tech for you US guys (Aircraft and Powerplant), AME in Canada (Aircraft Maintenance Engineer).

Worked that job until 2008 when the economy crashed and half our guys got laid off. Was bumming around when my motorcycle riding buddy said they're looking for techs to fix and install food wrapping machines. I thought to myself "People gotta eat, thats a good recession proof industry" so i jumped ship.

I miss fixing planes, a lot, but i dont miss the overnight shifts, the nasty chemicals and hacking up black spit from all the diesel/jet fuel always floating in the air.

Two companies later and 4 years later and massive learning curve in PLC, Robotics, Electronics etc i am where i am.

Love the job. Pays very well, cant see doing anything else for a while.

If i was gonna give a younger guy advice. Go to college for PLC and Robotics. Automation has and will be the future and good knowledgeable guys who can fix the ever complex machines are a rarity and extremely sought after. I have numerous standing job offers at any one time.

The people who are in this industry are all baby boomers, there is not enough people coming out of schools/younger who can fill their shoes and its going to be an issue soon.

[bmwman91]

Mechanical engineer here. I work on consumer electronics. Much of my job these days it's program management and electrical engineering lol. I thank the E30 for my career choice. Toward the end of high school I was getting into cars and loved my E30. Add far as careers went, I was thinking of being a graphic designer or mechanic and getting certified by BMW, and my dad asked me if I thought MechE might be of interest since it had to do with cars. A scholarship came through and I figured I'd see how engineering went. 13 years later here I am.

[Swendog]

Business Development for an independent power generation company.

The company I work for owns a number of power plants throughout the US. I work with the asset managers of these plants to structure power sales agreements to utilities and retail electricity providers. I also work with large commercial and industrial plant owners to help them sell excess power to market.

I started my career almost 30 years ago (ouch) working for large air conditioning companies (Carrier and York) before getting into the power business. I've been in other technical sales roles as well.

If I had any advice for the guys (and gals) that are starting out with a "technical itch", like many of us have, is to pursue a technical education in a field that you like. I know that's easier said than done, especially with the stratospheric cost of college these days. An accredited trade school is a very good option too. I have an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. It was a BITCH of an education and I nearly quit a number of times. But if there's one thing an engineering education teaches you is to solve problems logically. This is good for ANY field of business...even if that business is your own.

Don't be afraid to make moves. I was never a "company guy", but managed to work in a number of very rewarding fields (including addiction medicine, building automation and even a short stint with Dinan!)

Swen