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Old 08-11-2016, 05:42 AM
 
269 posts, read 134,128 times
Reputation: 182

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Quote:
Originally Posted by lwilson80 View Post
Currently, I work in the mortgage industry for a major banking institution but this was never the plan and I needed a job as I was laid off at eighteen. Now ten years later, I'm still at the same company (laid off once and came back because the city I reside in does not have job growth) and consistently doing entry-level work that leads to career path that I could care less about.


I know that most people typically have an idea as to what they want to be when they grow up. However, I think we can all agree that life happens and sometimes we find ourselves going in a different direction. My reason for this post is because I wanted to see how many people stuck to their original career goals and how many people just took a job because they needed one. And then job turned out to be a long drawn out career, in a field that you had no aspirations to pursue.


Thanks!!
Work, for me is not a passion. I have never had aspirations of being an owner of a business or being a physician, lawyer, etc. I went to college to be an engineer, but lost interest.

So basically my first full time job was due to my father getting me a job as a janitor at a fitness center. Worst job I've ever had by far. Nasty, filthy, hard labor for extremely low pay. My dad was trying to get me to see how tough work could be without a degree, but it didn't work to get me back in school. Obviously I wasn't interested in being a janitor.

Next job I had was one my mother helped me get. It was a roadway construction engineering company. I was an observer/inspector. This job paid $2 more per hour than the janitor job.

I stayed at the observer/inspector job much too long given the pay, though I didn't realize it at the time their benefits are excellent. I found this job ok and even liked it at times because of the freedom I had to roam during working hours, but I wanted more money, and they basically told me, given my skills I couldn't earn more money.

Next job was working at a railroad(first job I got without help) as an apprentice freight car repairer. I took this job strictly because it paid about $3.50 more per hour then my last job. I knew nothing about railroads or repairing freight cars. I didn't stay long enough to get a feel for it though cause I left while I was in training.

Next job which I got like 3months after the freight car repairer railroad job was working at another railroad as a signal repairer/installer.

I took this job because it paid more than the other railroad job, and I thought by dealing with electricity, circuits, learning how to drive a boom truck/earning my cdl license, working a boom, running a back hoe, that the job would give me more marketable skills.

I liked this job. I was the truck driver/backhoe operator and I had a fair amount of freedom in that job. I probably would have stayed there for the rest of my working career, if they hadn't started abolishing jobs and forcing us to bid to places far away from home.

I got a good feel for this job and felt a sense of accomplishment when we installed crossing guards, power switches, railroad signals, etc, or when I'd troubleshoot a problem and come up with a fix.

Next job I got was because I had to get away from that railroad job. I was lonely cause I was away from family for weeks and months at a time, plus I was paying for hotel rooms or sleeping in rat infested trailers at the railroad yard to save money. No job has made me as angry as that one towards the end. I truly realized for the first time that my employer didn't give a f about my life. They didn't care if I saw my children, my wife, my parents, nephew, nothing.

So I saw an ad to be an operator at a petroleum refinery. The hourly pay was initially a slight pay cut, but once I was qualified it paid $7 per hour more then my current job. So that was the number one reason I picked this job over other job offers, the money. I had no idea about petroleum refineries.

The refinery job is one that's ok.

The main benefit and it's a huge benefit is that this job's pay has significantly upped my standard of living.

Downsides are huge or can be huge too. I'm breathing in cancer causing chemicals, and there is danger that things can explode and kill me, I work swing shift so it's tough on my body.

I was an hourly outside operator and recently took a inside board operator job. This job is just a big baby sitting job if the baby could explode and kill a ton of people. I'm stuck at a desk with a bunch of monitors.

I'll probably stay here until I retire. The money is very difficult to leave.

Last edited by refineryworker73; 08-11-2016 at 06:03 AM..
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Old 08-11-2016, 06:38 AM
 
445 posts, read 766,897 times
Reputation: 522
Started out the day after high school working in construction at the place my brother worked. Climbed the ladder from there.
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Old 08-11-2016, 08:10 AM
 
Location: NE Mississippi
25,420 posts, read 17,095,857 times
Reputation: 37103
Quote:
Originally Posted by lwilson80 View Post
Currently, I work in the mortgage industry for a major banking institution but this was never the plan and I needed a job as I was laid off at eighteen. Now ten years later, I'm still at the same company (laid off once and came back because the city I reside in does not have job growth) and consistently doing entry-level work that leads to career path that I could care less about.


I know that most people typically have an idea as to what they want to be when they grow up. However, I think we can all agree that life happens and sometimes we find ourselves going in a different direction. My reason for this post is because I wanted to see how many people stuck to their original career goals and how many people just took a job because they needed one. And then job turned out to be a long drawn out career, in a field that you had no aspirations to pursue.


Thanks!!
It was all a happy accident for me, but I followed up accidents by enrolling in classes, working hard and - most of all - relocating to where there was opportunity.

I made by career in sales and traveled the world. I became an expert in whatever I was selling; whatever I was doing.

I retired in 2010.
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Old 08-11-2016, 09:32 AM
 
Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,023,462 times
Reputation: 3995
I wanted to be a programmer after I saw my first Apple II computer in Junior High. 1977. I wanted to know how it worked, and once I figured out BASIC, I wanted to write stuff myself.

After high school, I got my BS in Comp Sci, got my first programming job a year later as a contractor at a major US airline, and 28 years later I'm still writing code in the airline industry.

I've been laid off twice (once during the airline industry slowdown in 1992, and once after 9/11), and I thought my career might not recover the second time, but I found a good job 1000 miles away (well, they found me) and I relocated.

I love my job. Always have.
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Old 08-11-2016, 09:33 AM
 
541 posts, read 1,991,231 times
Reputation: 440
My dream was to be a photojournalist or do SFX for movies in high school. I wanted to go to CA (UCLA) for college, but my parents would not pay for me to go. I was also not allowed to work during high school (parents were very controlling) so I was not able to save my own money to pay my own way. My father was really moody and stressed and not a nice person to be around, so I went to the only college they would "let" me go to out of state. It was not a good fit for me at all (all girls Catholic school) and I left after a few years. I worked in catering/waitressing and bartending while in college (fun and good money.)

After college I worked in retail/merchandising/sales in NYC (where I was from) for a while. I was an assistant Montessori teacher for a bit. Then I met my husband and moved to MA. I did sales and then asst. teaching again. Next I managed a clothing store. Then I saw an ad for a Travel Agent position and applied. I got the job because I had great sales experience. I loved it and wound up helping manage the store. We got to travel a lot cheaply.

Then my husband and I went to work for a local internet company. We wanted to learn all we could. This was 1998, so not a lot of places like this were around at the time He did networking, web design, sales and tech support. I was the office manager. We learned a lot and got to work together for years (we loved that.) The owners were not good business people though and we got laid off when things started to go downhill. Good and bad things happen when you work for a small company!

We decided to start a pet sitting company (no one was doing this at the time.) We had the company for 10 years and loved it. We also did contract web design/programming, etc. for a while. Made good money. Then my husband got another tech job (sales/support/networking) for a local company. I went back to the same travel agency and managed it while the owner was going through cancer. I LOVED it. They offered me my own location, but we had our hearts set on moving to FL and working for Disney. So we did!

We started in concierge and learned a ton. We got to work together again because the manager loved us both. We learned ticketing, sales, front desk, reservations, dining, etc. Then my husband moved to Marketing and I moved to Disney Cruise Line sales. Then I moved to Marketing and finally we both moved to PR. We loved working for Disney, but a lot of the positions were temp/contract. My husband took a banking position back in MA 6 years ago. We really moved back for the health insurance! The bank pays all medical/dental and vision. This was right before the ACA and we probably would have stayed in FL if we were able to buy into cheaper insurance at the time. Now we are trying to get back to FL or work in our National Parks and travel with an Airstream!

My husband never thought he would work at a bank. Our friend told us about the position so he interviewed for it. It is back office support for online banking, credit issues, etc. They keep it all running. He does not love it, but it was something new for him to learn. I still book travel and do contract work from home. Time to move on though! We were much happier in FL.
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Old 08-11-2016, 10:39 AM
 
Location: Glen Burnie, Maryland
2,033 posts, read 4,537,059 times
Reputation: 3085
I made the mistake of taking a typing class for two years in high school. It was the one skill that got me working in an office and after 35 years, I'm still typing in an office.
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Old 08-11-2016, 11:00 AM
 
436 posts, read 518,797 times
Reputation: 502
Craigslist!
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Old 08-11-2016, 11:11 AM
 
1,115 posts, read 2,491,077 times
Reputation: 2134
Mine is so sadly ironic. I always had a big plan drawn out and big career dreams and so far everything has fell through... Taught me you can't plan anything in life.

My biggest career dream was to work in game development, I planned to go to a school for game programming, a Computer Science Bachelor's degree. Unfortunately, after lots of family resistance I ended up going into different programs and colleges, before finally years later pursuing game development anyway but down one of the worst routes to go down - audio.

At first everything seemed great, I even got an audio internship at a well known AAA developer and loved every minute. But very quickly I learned about the cutthroat and unstable nature of the video game industry and found myself getting laid off, having immense difficulty getting rehired, and many months of unemployment. I continued doing this for 5 years, working various freelance and contract jobs in game audio that were exciting and very well paid, but equal time spent unemployed with no transferable skills or options for work in other industries. I had already relocated 10 times in the those 5 years and almost went homeless during one particularly bad period of long unemployment in a higher cost of living area. I ultimately decided to go back to school for an Accounting degree in hope of more stability. I honestly only picked it because I knew I had most of the natural aptitudes for it and it would be an easy transition, it offered a variety of employment, and was technical enough of a major to be attractive to employees. Little interest in the field, but 100% a necessity to pay the bills.

Currently, It's been about 2 years now since I've done anything with game development. I'm just sort of floating through my new career in the business world. I have a Bachelor's and Master's degree (Accounting and MBA), but I'm working for 38k a year in a demeaning pre-entry level accounting position and been desperately trying to find something different. I really don't even know what I'm looking for, I just want something more challenging and something that actually makes use of my skills! I'm one of the few people who actually likes working! I would love to find some type of Analyst position, as I love exploring data and interpreting it, but no one so far will hire me for those roles... I would also love to find a more business oriented position in video games, but my family is not in a position right now to relocate to an area with those opportunities. I guess you could say at this point I'm just open minded and hoping for things to fall into place and eventually I'll find a career that "fits". Still think about going back to the game industry in audio when I see open positions as people told me countless times to not give up,that I was almost there, but after 5 years of struggle, I guess I did throw in the towel.

EDIT: Always wished I could still go back and be a programmer, because I find it fascinating, but I've tried to self teach multiple times and failed. I also have a lot of self doubt about doing it because it doesn't come naturally to me and I feel the only way I'll learn it is through a controlled environment (school). That was my whole reason why I initially wanted to go to school for Software Engineering, but my whole family was technology illiterate and ultimately steered me into health and business majors. I'm at the point where I feel like I don't have the money or time to commit towards a structured education, but I lack the capability to learn it on my own.. Ugh.

Last edited by the_grimace; 08-11-2016 at 12:32 PM..
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Old 08-11-2016, 01:31 PM
 
4,059 posts, read 5,599,125 times
Reputation: 2892
Quote:
Originally Posted by the_grimace View Post
Currently, It's been about 2 years now since I've done anything with game development. I'm just sort of floating through my new career in the business world. I have a Bachelor's and Master's degree (Accounting and MBA), but I'm working for 38k a year in a demeaning pre-entry level accounting position and been desperately trying to find something different. I really don't even know what I'm looking for, I just want something more challenging and something that actually makes use of my skills!
Have you looked at auditing jobs? Just as food for thought, there is a potential career path for what you're talking about in starting with auditing, and then a few years down the road moving into management/Controller type positions at whatever type of business you spent those years auditing.

It's a lot of hours, typically, and it's not always glorious (though usually much better-paid than what you're getting), but it would tend to give you a view of the regulatory and business environment for the sector you were auditing [and also potential contacts].


I've also enjoyed many stories here, particularly the pilot turned sprinkler systems designer.
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Old 08-11-2016, 01:54 PM
 
Location: Chicago
3,339 posts, read 5,969,337 times
Reputation: 4241
Quote:
Originally Posted by lwilson80 View Post
Currently, I work in the mortgage industry for a major banking institution but this was never the plan and I needed a job as I was laid off at eighteen. Now ten years later, I'm still at the same company (laid off once and came back because the city I reside in does not have job growth) and consistently doing entry-level work that leads to career path that I could care less about.


I know that most people typically have an idea as to what they want to be when they grow up. However, I think we can all agree that life happens and sometimes we find ourselves going in a different direction. My reason for this post is because I wanted to see how many people stuck to their original career goals and how many people just took a job because they needed one. And then job turned out to be a long drawn out career, in a field that you had no aspirations to pursue.


Thanks!!
You've pretty much described my life up until now. I majored in finance under my parents' direction. I needed a job for when I graduated, so I was very aggressive with the on-campus recruiting at my school. I went on a ton of interviews. The problem was, I was terrible in interviews then. I became so nervous I could barely see straight.

Luckily, I did get one job offer, from a self-regulatory organization, to be an auditor. I took it. I started 2 weeks after I graduated. From there I became a compliance officer for the companies I audited. I switched my focus a few times, but stayed in financial industry compliance. It's an incredibly boring field. No one here has any passion for their job (if they do, they are seriously crazy and lacking a personality).

It's been 12 years and I am very happy to say I'm done with this detour. I never had any interest in finance and probably should have listened to my gut 16 years ago when I was entering college. I've always been interested in art/creating, but I do have a busines side and enjoy being in charge, I guess. I've finally made the conscious decision to go in that direction and am buying a company in a somewhat creative field. I can't wait.

I started looking at franchises and businesses for sale years ago. I got quite far in the franchise process with two different franchises (did the discovery day thing, had the agreements in hand, etc.). But, then I found this non-franchise existing business with an owner who wants to retire. It's pretty much perfect for me. Now all these years of compliance crap seem more worth it because they allowed me to save enough to purchase this business. So, I guess sometimes things work out.
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