Your Job

[MoparMotel]

I graduate from high school next year and cannot figure out what I want to do. What does everyone on the board do for a living and are they happy with it? Wanted to get an idea of some good jobs. And yes, I am planning on going to college and getting my degree.....not sure in what yet though.

[Big Lebowski]

  I'm an out of work comedian in the twilight of a mediocre career. Well ok, I've built 3 houses and countless 2nd story remodels, and I spend the rest of the time restoring Chargers, and a Roadrunner, etc.

[Silver R/T]

It matters what youd like to do for rest of your life, something that youd like to get paid well for too. But you should be able to survive on side jobs. Pick something that would make you happy and is in demand. Dont be going in for school for 'beauty technician"

[Telvis]

Sit down and think about what you truly like to do. Then think about all the things that make you miserable. Then think of the thngs you are good at. Be honest with yourself. Then go to school and choose a career path that allows you  to get better at what you already do well and allows you to do what you like. Stay away from career paths that make you do things you hate. I don't care how well it pays. If you don't like what you are doing you will be miserable. It's your life. Be happy and make lots of money!

I was a cop. I retired a little over a year ago. Now I am self employeed. I get to do a lot of interesting things and spend time with great people. I'm not getting rich but I'm pretty happy. I will be very happy when this Toyota contract is over.

[MoparMotel]

I was thinking of getting some type of Government job for the benefits, and then go realestate with my dad. My dad did realestate, and is really good at it. I was thinking we could start something like that on the side and have my main job with the Gov.

[Telvis]

There are a ton og Gevernment jobs aout there. They usually pay fairly well and have good benefits. If you get the right job you can even retire early like me. I'm 40 I can still have a whole new career. Just make sure you get the education. Even if you think you don't need it. I promise it will make a difference in the long run.

[73dodge]

Sit down and think about what you truly like to do. Then think about all the things that make you miserable. Then think of the things you are good at. Be honest with yourself. Then go to school and choose a career path that allows you  to get better at what you already do well and allows you to do what you like. Stay away from career paths that make you do things you hate. I don't care how well it pays. If you don't like what you are doing you will be miserable. It's your life. Be happy and make lots of money!

I was a cop. I retired a little over a year ago. Now I am self employed. I get to do a lot of interesting things and spend time with great people. I'm not getting rich but I'm pretty happy. I will be very happy when this Toyota contract is over.

Good advice. Figure out what YOU like to do. What interests YOU even if it does not look like a career.

In other words figure out what you absolutely love to do and find a way to get people to pay you to do it.................

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

I was thinking of getting some type of Government job for the benefits, and then go realestate with my dad. My dad did realestate, and is really good at it. I was thinking we could start something like that on the side and have my main job with the Gov.

Ahh yes nothing like a city job.  The pay might not be the greatest compared to the private sector but the health benifits & pension out weigh all that especially if you have a family.

[Shakey]

I graduate from high school next year and cannot figure out what I want to do. What does everyone on the board do for a living and are they happy with it? Wanted to get an idea of some good jobs. And yes, I am planning on going to college and getting my degree.....not sure in what yet though.

Try your luck in research.

You can get some practice by looking up the two threads that have touched on this before!   

[Orange_Crush]

My job consists of basically masking my contempt for the assholes in charge and, at least once a day, retiring to the men's room to jerk off while I fantasize about a life that doesn't so closely resemble hell.

                                                               --Lester Burnham

[Brock Samson]

one word:

Apptitude test... 

[41husk]

My job consists of basically masking my contempt for the assholes in charge and, at least once a day, retiring to the men's room to jerk off while I fantasize about a life that doesn't so closely resemble hell.

--Lester Burnham

That was a great movie.

[MyMopar]

Ah city jobs are nice.  My wife landed a job for the town as a senior accountant.  She has more paid time off, better healthcare, guaranteed minimum yearly raises, pension and very good job security.

Me on the other hand, I work in a family business and I can tell you that working with family SUCKS!

[Old Moparz]

If you do find something you like to do & can get paid for it, another thing that's important would be to hopefully end up working with, and for, decent people. My last job was good as a land surveyor & draftsman for a civil engineering firm, but the person I worked for was a total A-hole. (Note the capital "A" in a-hole.) The plus side was that I was out of the office 90% of the time so I didn't have to deal with her. When the company was sold to an even bigger A-hole, working outside the office was irrelevant. It went from bad to worse, & people started to bail out & go elsewhere.

The place I'm at now is great. I'm doing estimating with a site construction company that's been around, & in the same family for over 80 years. The people I work for are great, & the coworkers also know a good thing & it reflects on all of them. It was less money than the last job when I took it, but it's made up for it in other ways. Heavy equipment & materials can be very handy at the house sometimes, & I feel I'm treated like a person & not something expendable & replacable. It gets a little boring & tedious at times, but the salary & benefits are just about the best you can find.

Besides, I'm 3.5 miles from home, have high speed cable on my computer in my office, & get to hang out here. 

[RD]

http://www.assessment.com/MAPPMembers/Welcome.asp?Accnum=06-5049-000.00

http://www.careercolleges.com/career-assessment-test.jsp

or go to a local employment agency or your school counselor and do some career aptitude testing to see where your interests lie.

[golden73]

It's not always the best thing to pick something you love as a career. Although you shouldn't get a job that you hate either. I loved working on cars, so naturally I became a mechanic. Well that got old real quick. I got so burned out on working other peoples cars, I couldn't even work on my own car. I used to work on my charger as a way to relax, but I just couldn't do it anymore. I quit being a mechanic... but it still left me burned out on cars... so my car has sat for almost 2 years.

I had to find a new way to relax and get rid of my stress... still haven't found a good way to do that yet.

I'm currently doin crappy warehouse work, until April, when I will be joining the Marine Corps.



Good luck in your search dude... just thought I should weigh in and maybe have you look at things from a different angle...

[TK73]

I took an aptitude assessment about 15 years ago in college, the results indicated I would work well in an office setting processing paperwork, I work in an office setting processing paperwork for the State of Washington now... good job, decent pay, good benefits and job security.

[Brock Samson]

 In my college aptitude test I scored highest in outdoor forestry and it said i should be a forest ranger.... HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA!!!!

I've been working in a office for 25 years now. 

[Duey]

Good point, Golden 73!

Take an aptitude test, bya ll means, but also don't limit yourself to that, because you can always challenge yourself with something that the test may not know is hiding inside you.  I joined the Air Force as a pilot and fly helicopters in support of the Army and other organizations...doing it for 21 years....love it!  I would have to find something else very exciting to replace what I do now an not go stir crazy.

Assess what you think you'd be good at but don't be afraid to take a chance...the only thing you would regret was not knowing "whether I would have liked to do that?" (whatever "that" might be...).

Cheers,
Duey

[Dodge-Charger]

Sign up for the Military, serve your country and let them pay for you to go to Collage. NOT only will you have a edumacation ( LOL)  but when you go to get a job they will hire Ex Military before they will just some kid out of school.

Me, I am a welder/iron worker. I Love my job ! I do everything from handrails and car haulers to Wal-Marts and 18 story Buildings. If you have kids or are scared of heights do not go into Iron working   Every day on the job could be your last. ( but with the way people drive nowa days, I guess every job is like that.)

[Chryco Psycho]

well I started out as a Mechanic , never got signed up as an apprentice & wasted a lot of years , still enjoy doing it & still get paid poorly
then I became a locksmith the job is challenging & there is constantly stuff to learn lots of fun but the hours & pay SUCKS
worked as truck driver for a while , not bad , your boss connot look over your shoulder constantly but the hours & pays sucks & there is no challenge to it 

[bull]

What ever you do don't screw around and wait to go to school. If you're undecided just take some general-type classes and get the Bachalelor's degree out of the way asap. It pretty much does not matter which study it is in but I would make it something generalized like business or something of that nature. Most people don't know what they want to study at first but later, if/when you get your Master's, you'll have a better idea. And I would imagine a Master's degree is what you'll need these days.

[derailed]

What ever you do don't screw around and wait to go to school. If you're undecided just take some general-type classes and get the Bachalelor's degree out of the way asap. It pretty much does not matter which study it is in but I would make it something generalized like business or something of that nature. Most people don't know what they want to study at first but later, if/when you get your Master's, you'll have a better idea. And I would imagine a Master's degree is what you'll need these days.

  Thw whole "im gonna take a year off" thing ends up getting alot of people into trouble and they never end up going back, or at least not for a long time. Get your bachelors out of the way, youll have to take those courses sooner or later.

[TK73]

What ever you do don't screw around and wait to go to school. If you're undecided just take some general-type classes and get the Bachalelor's degree out of the way asap. It pretty much does not matter which study it is in but I would make it something generalized like business or something of that nature. Most people don't know what they want to study at first but later, if/when you get your Master's, you'll have a better idea. And I would imagine a Master's degree is what you'll need these days.

Yep.  Psych is not a good BA to earn unless you love the whole "I'm helping people" sheet.  Took me nltil my Junior year to figure out what I wanted to major in.  Should have finished that damn Masters, that would have opeed up more doors... 

[Drop Top]

Get a "job" that you really enjoy. Then it wont seem like work. Thats what I do now. I play all day and get paid for it. It has its draw backs. But all in all the good out weights the bad.

[volk68]

I agree.  Being able to enjoy your job is important, because you are going to spend more time at work than at home.  If you hate your job, you're basically going to hate 70 hours of your life every week (and in some cases, more).  On the other hand, it is called work for a reason, and very few people will ever have a job that they love ALL the time.  It's a balance.

Myself, I work in radio.  I have been in radio since I graduated from college almost 9 years ago.  The pay isn't going to make you rich, but the work (up until recently) has been pretty diverse and interesting.  The plus side of this business is that it is possible to get payed to talk, play music, build/repair computers, hang out at parties, and get lots of free stuff.  The drawbacks are long hours (as everyone in the chat room can attest to), low vacation time, huge egos, and at the management level, very high corporate pressure.  Corporate pressure has really cranked up at my job over the last several months, and several of us are contemplating a mass exodus.

If I could do things over, I would probably have pursued my video editing/animation skills a little harder than I did.  I have always enjoyed video editing and 3D animation, but the market was very hard to get into.  I just missed a position at NBC and have been in radio ever since.  I'm not sure the market is what it used to be though, since it's pretty easy to create high quality video work from almost any new PC these days.  Still, if I could get into that business, I would do it in a heartbeat.

[ChgrSteve67]

I think for a lot of us our current job chose us, we did not choose it.
The lucky ones got chosen buy a job that they love to do.

The suck part of life is that the job we think we would love to do usually requires lots of money to learn how to do it or knowing the right people.

Try to find a job that you would love to do and see how much it pays, then find another job to live on while persuing the job you would love to do.
When the job you would love to do supports your life style quit the other job.

The sad part... You usually don't get a life during this time.

As for myself.
I worked as a warehouseman and went to school to learn computers. Now I work on computers for a living and hate it.
I think how great it would be to work on cars (restoration or custome) for a living but I hate working on cars.
I would love to be a Billionair but that takes money.
Going back to school to learn something else? I'm not willing to give my life back up at this time so I guess I'll continue working on computers.

My 2 Cents

[BigBlockSam]

a lucky man is a man that is happy when he gets up to go to work. try to do something that makes you happy. Rene

[69bananabeast]

the best thing like a lot of people have said is find something you really like to do and run with it. I love working  with cars so here I am half way donw with my associates in autobody collision/refinishing technician. One of my teachers already offered me a job in the summer to be an Estimating Apprentice for$30K a year in his shop.  I wouldn't recommend waiting to take school either , but I also wouldn't recommend taking too many classes without knowing what direction you want to go in.  1) You waste your own time by taking classes that you dont really need  2) Also wasting money by taking classes that you dont need 3) Finally , by  being in a class that you dont need keeps another student from participating in that class who actually needs it.
One thing to keep in mind , My dad once told  me " Son , if you ever wake up and say Oh $hit I have to go to work is the day that you need to look for another job"

Hope some of this helps

[hemihead]

Army,Navy,Air Force,Marines...

[ChargerBill]

This is about the BEST resource I've found for listing majors & various careers...I've spent about 5 hrs on this site. It explains what you will be concentrating on in the major course of study you choose and also describes the basic ins and outs of a a particular career, how in demand it will be and the average income you can expect to make. I really wish something like this existed when i was heading off to college.

Suggestion: Look at careers FIRST to figure out what you might be interested in and then find the major course of study needed to get into that field.

CollegeBoard.com
http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/

[dkn1997]

be a pimp.  bitches, bentleys, and benjamins....

[Lowprofile]

a lucky man is a man that is happy when he gets up to go to work. try to do something that makes you happy. Rene

Well said, Rene.  I have been a Truck Driver/ Owner-Operator for over twenty years. For me, there's probably nothing else I'd like to do. I don't think I could ever "punch the clock" again. My advice, like Rene's........find something that you love to do.   Good Luck!

[hemi68charger]

After high school, I joined the Air Force active duty, got out after Desert Storm and went to school to become a geophysicist... That's what I do and am.. A geophysicist working in the oil/gas service world...

I'm also a Air National Guardsmen,,,,, couldn't get the military out of me when I separated from active duty.. Been able to take advantage of trips to Spain, Hawaii, Denmark and more recently, Iraq.. 

Definitely take an assessment test or at the very least, talk with your college counselor...

Good luck...
Troy

[HAZZARDJOHN]

 I work at Kentucky Fried Chicken, I sell biscuits and gravy all over the Southland. 

[472 R/T SE]

I, too, agree with bull.  I thought I was burned out from school and turned down a free ride thru school drafting, architectural. 
At least try and go one year after high school to help make a better decision if you have any doubt.

My choice wasn't too bad for not heeding my peers advice.   I started moving heavy equipment in the oilfield out of high school.   Before I retired, the last ten years I worked as an Operating Engineer, fancy name for a crane operator/oiler.  I most definitely would have retired at retirement age if I had a choice. Something different everyday which is a plus for me.  I get bored quickly.  Plus,I got to drive a new 2 million dollar crane around.  I think I enjoyed the physical aspects of building the cranes and dismantling them the most.
The pay wasn't too bad either,  .