The older I get, the more I become interested in the way people make their way in the world. Here's your chance to talk about your livelihood, the IV that feeds your hobby. Love it? Hate it? What would you rather be doing, if not the job you're in? Is it your job? Is it your career? Is it a stepping stone to where you want to be?
So, dakkanauts the world round: What do YOU do?
I'm a Mountie here in Kelowna, BC. It's a career. I love it, best job I've ever had, and the long laborious process it took to get to where I put on my serge for the first time was worth all the sacrifice and training. I work with great people, and even though I took a big pay cut to get where I am, the return on job satisfaction isn't quantifiable in dollars. I get to be a role model for my sons and other kids, help people out, try to solve problems and use an enormous amount of judgement and discretion in how I execute my duties.
I cook on a grill, The guy there has worked in big kitchens, he is teaching me how to run a kitchen by myself and how to head one, I can cook anything from burgers to Reubans. I can empty a fryer, clean a grill. Anything to work in a kitchen.
Atleast i hope he isnt just telling me this so he doesnt have to do it.
Best Two moments was someone asking if the hot dog would make them fat, and someone wanting a burger with cheese, i told her to get a Cheeseburder, but she said she wanted a Hamburder with cheese on it. In the end she got a hamburger with extra cheese that cost her 5$ while the cheeseburger is 4.50.
Well if I go into detail...I make people either jealous, scared, worried, reinforce their perception of me, hate me, love me, envy me, cry, laugh, impress, and/or consider me lucky. In a nutshell. I'm just an average guy doing a Hero job
Got out of the Marines about two years ago, I'm a full time College student and an apprentice to a local gunsmith.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I have worked as a barista, a book seller and a security guard. The first job was terrible, the second job allowed me to be a proper biblophile constantly and the last job made me personally despise wealthy people and never want to be an employee to any primarily civilian background organization again.
I'm an HVAC apprentice for now, not sure if i want to stick with it or join the Canadian armed Forces (would go Armored soldier). I like my job but i feel like i could be doing something better with my life so that's why i would switch over to the military.
Tazz Azrael wrote: I'm an HVAC apprentice for now, not sure if i want to stick with it or join the Canadian armed Forces (would go Armored soldier). I like my job but i feel like i could be doing something better with my life so that's why i would switch over to the military.
I don't think I could ever do a job where I get paid to kill people.
dish washer
working with severely disabled children
making neon signs, twice at the same place
making furniture
installing carpet
cashiering at a co-op and a book store
salesman for a logistics company
now I'm working on my dream. I'm gonna own a bar and something else next to it that a lot of people need. I also want to own a food cart or a few of them really, all different cuisines
Tazz. One of the things you come to know real well. Is "camaderie". My advice though. Don't go combat arms unless you make a career of it. Learn a tech trade that transfer into the civilian world and get a security clearence. Higher pay then a Joe Average
Jihadin wrote: Tazz. One of the things you come to know real well. Is "camaderie". My advice though. Don't go combat arms unless you make a career of it. Learn a tech trade that transfer into the civilian world and get a security clearence. Higher pay then a Joe Average
Thanks for the Info Jihadin, and if i do join the forces id plan on making it a career
Jihadin wrote: Tazz. One of the things you come to know real well. Is "camaderie". My advice though. Don't go combat arms unless you make a career of it. Learn a tech trade that transfer into the civilian world and get a security clearence. Higher pay then a Joe Average
Thanks for the Info Jihadin, and if i do join the forces id plan on making it a career
Tazz a good mate of mine is a senior infantry officer in the Canadian Forces, I can put you in touch with him if you'd like.
Basically I create people's budgets by consulting with them and the executive team, and then sit down with managers to explain to them that the amount they spent is more than the amount they budgeted, and that's bad thing. It's very boring but they pay me to do it, so you know, whatever.
Currently I travel the country driving a mobile dental clinic that visits national guard bases to fix soldiers' teeth. Up for promotion soon though that will bring me to a desk job in the company in NYC. Before I started this I was a substitute teacher, dishwasher, worked in a hobby store (all at the same time), and have also been employed in KB toys and various college jobs as a youth.
Currently I'm an advanced remote support IT technician that supports 5 different companies at once. They're all multinationals, and my regional coverage usually goes from Australia to South Africa to the UK to US as my night, and their days, progress. I've done this for about 6 years.
However, I'm a week into my 2 week notice on that job. I'm switching to a new position which only supports one company (and hence only has one boss, instead of my current 8 bosses and pseudobosses) and I'll no longer talk to end users ever. It's strictly mainframe babysitting - when jobs on the mainframe abend, I restart them, and if they abend again, I wake up an analyst (or increasingly, an Indian). It's much different, and my average 10 hour shift will now entail about 45 minutes of actual work in it. I'll miss talking to the UK and Australian people though, but it looks like this new gig will allow me to work from home sometimes, which will be nice.
My other hobbies include smoking meats, eating them, and keeping fish. I have koi in a pond in my yard, and african ciclids in the house. I also play a lot of video games. I love RTS, and also play a lot of shooters. Playing Borderlands 2 right now.
changing diapers and taking care of kids takes up all my time. being a dad of 3 year old twins takes a lot but i do get time to read every once in a while.
I did a few years at various colleges studying engineering (1 year of practical stuff, 1 year of CAD), completed 2 apprenticeships (The first college didn't get me a job at the end, as they said they would, so I got another apprenticeship, and they did.) I went to the company I'm in now as an Estimator, did that for about 18 months, and recently transferred over to Projects to basically be the office bitch It's actually more enjoyable than estimating though, and it seems they don't want to give me back to the estimators, so that's something
I've also now started another college course, part time, do work my way up to a degree in engineering, and my company is paying for it.
In short, I'm happy where I am, pay isn't great, but better than most, and it's a career I've always wanted.
Currently working as a geoscience technologist for a large Canadian oil and gas company.
Pretty happy where I am, got here more or less by accident by working my way through a few jobs in the uindustry over the past 2 years, studied Geology for my BSc and Palaeontology for my MSc, so kind of relevent too. Also the pay feeds my plastic crack addiction quite nicely so I can't complain really!
Had some interesting (boring) jobs in the past, KFC, Gardener, Shop floor work, call centres etc.
Night staff wage slave at a large well known supermarket in the UK.
Used to be a "Would you like to try?" wage slave but got made redundant from that job last Feb.
Up until recently I was a signed recording artist, which is a lot less grand than it sounds. I quit that band a couple of months ago, and I'm now working for a university on an archiving project.
Albatross wrote: Up until recently I was a signed recording artist, which is a lot less grand than it sounds. I quit that band a couple of months ago, and I'm now working for a university on an archiving project.
I provide 3rd level support infrastructure software used internationally by banks and investment firms to deliver stock market information.
Which basically means that I sit on my ass most days until something the regular guys can't handle. This happens so infrequently that I can only describe myself as the guy who makes the coffee, racks new testing servers, and does menial cabling work.
Frankenberry wrote: Work in the server room that controls/maintains every casino, sports betting, and lottery system in my current state.
The hardest part of my day? Staying awake.
Most server rooms I've worked in have sucked because they keep them cold all the time.
Do you have to bring a jacket and mittens to work? That must make typing on the computers hard.
daedalus wrote: I provide 3rd level support infrastructure software used internationally by banks and investment firms to deliver stock market information.
Which basically means that I sit on my ass most days until something the regular guys can't handle. This happens so infrequently that I can only describe myself as the guy who makes the coffee, racks new testing servers, and does menial cabling work.
Hey! I work support at a vendor that provides infrastructure software to banks, investment firms & insurance companies. Which means basically I spend my time explaining to folks about really basic mistakes they've made in setting up their environment, installing our product or even just basic math. Maybe I've even dealt with your coworkers before.
Graduated with a degree in Industrial and Management Engineering, working as a construction project manager in downtown manhattan, applying to the Air Force for Officer Training School (I wanna fly planes), trying to motivate myself to work out more so I can apply to the Marines for officer training as well.
Software developer. My division (of a much larger company) sells tools to other companies (like google, microsoft, ibm) that are used for file viewing, conversion and extraction.
If you've used google, or hotmail, and received an attachment, then if you use the 'View as HTML' feature, that's stuff I've done.
Crappy jobs I've held:
Paper boy
Cook's assistant/dishwasher at a summer camp
Camp Counselor/Director
IT technical support at college
Web Services Intern (was simply the title, but I managed content on my university's website)
Went to school for a degree in education, got my license work complete except for the 160 bucks and the paperwork... That was the plan.
In actuality, I work for software company in California that has a branch in Ohio. The company I work for deals with Environmental health & safety regulations for manufacturing companies. The office I work for specifically develops and maintains a piece of software that manages and authors MSDS and SDS (Material Safety Data Sheets and Safety Data Sheets) for American and international clients and regulations. My job specifically is lowbie on the totem pole atm. I do a little bit of SQL development for Sql Server and Oracle Sql, but mostly my job entails doing grunt IT work. It's not bad, I can listen to music and I get to play with computers. Recently they've been having me do client upgrades here in the office to prep them for on-site upgrades with their system.
Currently we're hosting the one of the largest IT equipment and services company in Japan in our offices because they want us to license our software to them in Japan. They would sell it, actively develop it, and maintain Japanese standards for our product, and in turn we'd make a nice cut. So in like 3 weeks (assuming this deal goes through) they will probably have a better version of our product than we will lol
Albatross wrote: Up until recently I was a signed recording artist, which is a lot less grand than it sounds. I quit that band a couple of months ago, and I'm now working for a university on an archiving project.
A shame that, you did some damn good tunes
...And I will again, probably in the new year. You'll be the first to know.
Frankenberry wrote: Work in the server room that controls/maintains every casino, sports betting, and lottery system in my current state.
The hardest part of my day? Staying awake.
Most server rooms I've worked in have sucked because they keep them cold all the time.
Do you have to bring a jacket and mittens to work? That must make typing on the computers hard.
I go to many, many datacenters...
They're all fething cold... for good reason.
The worst is during the hottest of summer in the mid-west (like swimming through hot wet noodles), then going into one of these datacenters. I swear, the worst colds I ever get is when I'm going in-and-out of these datacenters during the summer...
I never understand why people dont want a job while in college, Im taking 3 classes, Ten units, and i work 14 hours a week, Last semester i worked sometime 20 hours a week with 14 credits. Isnt College the time you most want a job?
hotsauceman1 wrote: I never understand why people dont want a job while in college, Im taking 3 classes, Ten units, and i work 14 hours a week, Last semester i worked sometime 20 hours a week with 14 credits. Isnt College the time you most want a job?
Having a job is useful, but it takes up time you could use to having fun. For many people during college this is priority. Particularly those who have another source of disposable income to have fun with.
hotsauceman1 wrote: I never understand why people dont want a job while in college, Im taking 3 classes, Ten units, and i work 14 hours a week, Last semester i worked sometime 20 hours a week with 14 credits. Isnt College the time you most want a job?
This neatly summarizes everything I want to say about this:
hotsauceman1 wrote: Im a college student, and i will admit, I know very little about sentence structure.
If your ask me, I think its because of how flipping bad English teachers are.
That and you're a sociology major. I considered attaching a meme.
hotsauceman1 wrote: I never understand why people dont want a job while in college, Im taking 3 classes, Ten units, and i work 14 hours a week, Last semester i worked sometime 20 hours a week with 14 credits. Isnt College the time you most want a job?
Having a job is useful, but it takes up time you could use to having fun. For many people during college this is priority. Particularly those who have another source of disposable income to have fun with.
Yeah... college is a fun time of your life and should be...
But, there's nothing wrong with working too Especially if it's in the same industry you're going to school for...
hotsauceman1 wrote: I never understand why people dont want a job while in college, Im taking 3 classes, Ten units, and i work 14 hours a week, Last semester i worked sometime 20 hours a week with 14 credits. Isnt College the time you most want a job?
This neatly summarizes everything I want to say about this:
hotsauceman1 wrote: Im a college student, and i will admit, I know very little about sentence structure.
If your ask me, I think its because of how flipping bad English teachers are.
That and you're a sociology major. I considered attaching a meme.
Ok, why do you, at every chance you get, try to put me down or insult me? What have i ever done to you?
You always go back to extremely old posts and bring them up. It makes me think you save every single thing i say as evidence, like some crazy girlfriend.
I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row.
I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.
I have a degree in Chemical Engineering. In my current roll, I'm a Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement Engineer.
I find ways to reduce waste and save the company money. No, I don't cut positions or reduce headcount, which is what people thought I was brought in to do. No job has been lost as a result of one of my projects.
No, Im just curious about why you try to belittle me every chance you get. Also can be please be quiet about my lack of intelligence. I have been a special education student for most of my life, I have an inability to retain knowledge and I have problems forming cohesive thoughts. That is why English is so hard for me.
hotsauceman1 wrote: No, Im just curious about why you try to belittle me every chance you get.
Also can be please be quiet about my lack of intelligence. I have been a special education student for most of my life, I have an inability to retain knowledge and I have problems forming cohesive thoughts. That is why English is so hard for me.
I didn't belittle you, and as I've said before when you get your feathers ruffled, I go out of my way not to. You just shouldn't think your comments go off into empty space. Taking what you've said about education before and what you just said about jobs now; do you really expect me to take that seriously?
Let's hold aside for the moment you aren't going full time either.
hotsauceman1 wrote:No, Im just curious about why you try to belittle me every chance you get.
Also can be please be quiet about my lack of intelligence. I have been a special education student for most of my life, I have an inability to retain knowledge and I have problems forming cohesive thoughts. That is why English is so hard for me.
You're posting on the internet, a communication medium based on the written word. We have no way of knowing anything about you, except for what you choose to post, and the manner in which you write it. If your chosen posts are poorly written, and not well thought out, it stands to reason that people will think of you as less intelligent. If this means you need to spend more time proofreading your posts, correcting your grammar and your spelling, so be it. That you're a special education student doesn't excuse your lack of writing skills, it just means you have to take the additional time to address a deficiency that you already acknowledge exists. If you cannot put the time and effort into making yourself understood, why should any of the rest of us put any time or effort into understanding you? If you don't care enough about what you have to say to make that effort, why should any of the rest of us care about what you have to say either?
Im a service associate at the 5th largest Honda dealership in the US. Best job Ive ever had. Im fat paid and Ive always been big into cars and worked in the industry so I get service on my Cobra for cheap. Basically I do troubleshooting, recall contacts, appointment setting, all sorts of stuff. So relaxed, good pay, and Im right in my element. Even have a Burna, Termagaunt, and Khorne Zerk at my desk!
I work as a Collections Representative for the Internal Revenue Service. I take inbound calls from people that owe anywhere below 6 figures and tell them how to fix it so they don't continue to owe, then set them up on some sort of agreement to get them out of collections so we don't have to talk to them again. Its a stressful job that happens to pay well, and one that I never imagined myself doing, but when your unemployment is almost up you get what you can.
My primary field before this was emergency services radio and equipment installation and service. I made crown vice into police cars and cool seized drug dealer cars into DEA undercover rigs to name a couple things. I would also service tower equipment for local PD and FD, climbing towers up to 360ft to put up a 2 ft antenna, fun but cold in all seasons and dangerous.
So until I find a job that pays as well as the one I have with the IRS I'll keep doing what I am doing.
hotsauceman1 wrote: I never understand why people dont want a job while in college, Im taking 3 classes, Ten units, and i work 14 hours a week, Last semester i worked sometime 20 hours a week with 14 credits. Isnt College the time you most want a job?
This neatly summarizes everything I want to say about this:
hotsauceman1 wrote: Im a college student, and i will admit, I know very little about sentence structure.
If your ask me, I think its because of how flipping bad English teachers are.
That and you're a sociology major. I considered attaching a meme.
I would like to point out that I held a job for all 5 years of college. Now before you (all) go ripping into me about my length of time spent at Uni, my degree program is impossible to complete in 4 years without AP credit, Post-Secondary work, or summer classes, a fact they failed to mention to me. During that time, I worked on average 20 hours a week, maintained a solid GPA hovering right about 3.0. I never have been an ace student, but I did work my arse off, and am proud of my college career. My final three semesters were all above a 3.6. I agree that students in college should spend their time going to class, doing well, and having fun at the same time. I just cut 20 hours of fun or studying out of my week. It happens, but it can be done. Looking back, I would probably have attempted to have more fun, and less money, but that's life.
IronWarLeg wrote: I work as a Collections Representative for the Internal Revenue Service. I take inbound calls from people that owe anywhere below 6 figures and tell them how to fix it so they don't continue to owe, then set them up on some sort of agreement to get them out of collections so we don't have to talk to them again. Its a stressful job that happens to pay well, and one that I never imagined myself doing, but when your unemployment is almost up you get what you can..
I might have talked to you once then .
Of course I was a nice person on the phone, no point in being a jerk to the people that have the power to help you.
I would like to point out that I held a job for all 5 years of college. Now before you (all) go ripping into me about my length of time spent at Uni, my degree program is impossible to complete in 4 years without AP credit, Post-Secondary work, or summer classes, a fact they failed to mention to me. During that time, I worked on average 20 hours a week, maintained a solid GPA hovering right about 3.0. I never have been an ace student, but I did work my arse off, and am proud of my college career. My final three semesters were all above a 3.6. I agree that students in college should spend their time going to class, doing well, and having fun at the same time. I just cut 20 hours of fun or studying out of my week. It happens, but it can be done. Looking back, I would probably have attempted to have more fun, and less money, but that's life.
Lord knows I've got crazy college stories.
No shame there dude. I was dual major philosophy/computer science, taking usually 4-5 classes, and working a (thankfully) easy laid back job 20 hours a week that I could study at while working. I had a bit of a breakdown somewhere around my graduate level compiler construction class, and never finished.
It's part of the army's new correspondence course program. Basically, take a crap load of classes by computer instead of in a classroom.
Same system we steal promotion points out of for military Ed?
yep, they cut out "ass in seat" courses, put them there, and then cap the number of correspondence points you can get.... sheer brilliance in MOSs like mine, where you need 1 million points to even get looked at.
And to the OP... I am in the army for the time being, round abouts July I will be leaving, and finding work elsewhere while pursuing an EE degree.
It's part of the army's new correspondence course program. Basically, take a crap load of classes by computer instead of in a classroom.
Same system we steal promotion points out of for military Ed?
yep, they cut out "ass in seat" courses, put them there, and then cap the number of correspondence points you can get.... sheer brilliance in MOSs like mine, where you need 1 million points to even get looked at.
And to the OP... I am in the army for the time being, round abouts July I will be leaving, and finding work elsewhere while pursuing an EE degree.
In that case it seems likely my certificates in small team management, project management, and managerial budgeting are from LSS...or not who knows?
Automatically Appended Next Post: Its seemed like a good idea at the time they were like 20hours each.
Being as I never even bothered to tell potential employers about them, you might say I had guessed that.
They sound good at the time, but I didn't take them to get hired later, I was looking for a raise.
AustonT wrote: Being as I never even bothered to tell potential employers about them, you might say I had guessed that.
They sound good at the time, but I didn't take them to get hired later, I was looking for a raise.
I think the segment might have been more about the general "jobs" in the military. He had a couple combat medics whose training and experience in keeping our soldiers from dying qualifies them to take vital signs and to drive an ambulance in civilian life.
hotsauceman1 wrote: I never understand why people dont want a job while in college, Im taking 3 classes, Ten units, and i work 14 hours a week, Last semester i worked sometime 20 hours a week with 14 credits. Isnt College the time you most want a job?
This neatly summarizes everything I want to say about this:
hotsauceman1 wrote: Im a college student, and i will admit, I know very little about sentence structure.
If your ask me, I think its because of how flipping bad English teachers are.
That and you're a sociology major. I considered attaching a meme.
I would like to point out that I held a job for all 5 years of college. Now before you (all) go ripping into me about my length of time spent at Uni, my degree program is impossible to complete in 4 years without AP credit, Post-Secondary work, or summer classes, a fact they failed to mention to me. During that time, I worked on average 20 hours a week, maintained a solid GPA hovering right about 3.0. I never have been an ace student, but I did work my arse off, and am proud of my college career. My final three semesters were all above a 3.6. I agree that students in college should spend their time going to class, doing well, and having fun at the same time. I just cut 20 hours of fun or studying out of my week. It happens, but it can be done. Looking back, I would probably have attempted to have more fun, and less money, but that's life.
Lord knows I've got crazy college stories.
Maybe I've been reading the wrong sources but isn't 5 years to complete a "4 year" program rather normal these days? I can only really think of a handful of people I know who didn't make it to being a Super Senior, or more. Hell I graduated from high school in 2004 and didn't graduate from college until 2010. Granted that included pretty much a whole year off school smack dab in the middle of it to deal with a family crisis, but still. I can't really see realistically ripping into someone for taking a few extra semesters to finish a program .
AustonT wrote: Being as I never even bothered to tell potential employers about them, you might say I had guessed that.
They sound good at the time, but I didn't take them to get hired later, I was looking for a raise.
I think the segment might have been more about the general "jobs" in the military. He had a couple combat medics whose training and experience in keeping our soldiers from dying qualifies them to take vital signs and to drive an ambulance in civilian life.
First I'd like to circle back to the part where a comedian who claims he doesn't do news is now producing articles wit journalistic integrity. It's not a slight on Jon, it should be on the MSM.
Yeah, I get where that happens and it's frustrating. By especially in the medical field .mil experience doesn't transfer over into comparable jobs. A medic in the field has significantly more decision making latitude than the EMT job he is nominally comparable to. That's why a lo of them become Nurses or PAs, and relatively easily given thier experience.
AustonT wrote: Being as I never even bothered to tell potential employers about them, you might say I had guessed that.
They sound good at the time, but I didn't take them to get hired later, I was looking for a raise.
I think the segment might have been more about the general "jobs" in the military. He had a couple combat medics whose training and experience in keeping our soldiers from dying qualifies them to take vital signs and to drive an ambulance in civilian life.
First I'd like to circle back to the part where a comedian who claims he doesn't do news is now producing articles wit journalistic integrity. It's not a slight on Jon, it should be on the MSM.
The comedian often has more real news and often much better and hard hitting interviews than any of the talking heads on the MSM. I don't know if that says more about him or the MSM, but it is a bit sad. I do think that his interviews in particular seem much better and less reserved than actual "news people".
Yeah, I get where that happens and it's frustrating. By especially in the medical field .mil experience doesn't transfer over into comparable jobs. A medic in the field has significantly more decision making latitude than the EMT job he is nominally comparable to. That's why a lo of them become Nurses or PAs, and relatively easily given thier experience.
I work with a combat medic, he is an LPN at our hospital which is a very basic nurse and he officially can't even assess a patient, let alone do many skills. As an RN I have to do a lot of stuff for him just because they are outside his scope of practice. If it wasn't for what he was "allowed" to do he could out-nurse me on most days.
My mother was an LPN in a NICU back when she was in college. Because of the shortage of RNs her responsibilities were identical to RNs on the floor. Now LPN is basically a prerequisite for a lot of nursing programs and LPNs get treated like PCTs which is ridiculous.
TLDR: I know what you mean.
Maybe I've been reading the wrong sources but isn't 5 years to complete a "4 year" program rather normal these days?
It is. 4.5-5 years sounds normal. I only graduated in 4 years because I took a full load of night classes every summer while I worked during the day. I also took one quarter off to internship as an Engineer, too. That was Fall 1994 through Spring 1998, though. Now, that's more of the exception than the norm.
In that case it seems likely my certificates in small team management, project management, and managerial budgeting are from LSS...or not who knows?
As for your classes you took in the military, AustinT, I don't know if they were "LSS classes" or not, but I doubt it. Those sound like general project management courses. You'd know if it was LSS. They will generally have some Belt associated with the training. Yellow, Green, or Black.
As for hiring military vs non-military, we've generally had more success with the folks from the military than those that weren't. Disciplined, think on their feet, potential shift supervisors and so on. Of course, we have a few guys we hired that are lumps, but you get that in every group.
As for education, if you have a chance with the GI Bill to get a degree, take advantage of it. College is freaking expensive, and everyone wants to see a degree (right or wrong), unless you're just going for a general manufacturing job.
hotsauceman1 wrote: I never understand why people dont want a job while in college, Im taking 3 classes, Ten units, and i work 14 hours a week, Last semester i worked sometime 20 hours a week with 14 credits. Isnt College the time you most want a job?
This neatly summarizes everything I want to say about this:
hotsauceman1 wrote: Im a college student, and i will admit, I know very little about sentence structure.
If your ask me, I think its because of how flipping bad English teachers are.
That and you're a sociology major. I considered attaching a meme.
I would like to point out that I held a job for all 5 years of college. Now before you (all) go ripping into me about my length of time spent at Uni, my degree program is impossible to complete in 4 years without AP credit, Post-Secondary work, or summer classes, a fact they failed to mention to me. During that time, I worked on average 20 hours a week, maintained a solid GPA hovering right about 3.0. I never have been an ace student, but I did work my arse off, and am proud of my college career. My final three semesters were all above a 3.6. I agree that students in college should spend their time going to class, doing well, and having fun at the same time. I just cut 20 hours of fun or studying out of my week. It happens, but it can be done. Looking back, I would probably have attempted to have more fun, and less money, but that's life.
Lord knows I've got crazy college stories.
Maybe I've been reading the wrong sources but isn't 5 years to complete a "4 year" program rather normal these days? I can only really think of a handful of people I know who didn't make it to being a Super Senior, or more. Hell I graduated from high school in 2004 and didn't graduate from college until 2010. Granted that included pretty much a whole year off school smack dab in the middle of it to deal with a family crisis, but still. I can't really see realistically ripping into someone for taking a few extra semesters to finish a program .
5 years is becoming the norm. Most of the people I knew and went to school with were in college for 4 years. Only the education majors I went to school with were the ones possibly taking it to 5 years...
My English Lit / Liberal Studies (don't laugh) degree took me 6 years or so, but I went about it in a roundabout way. Graduated high school in '97, worked at entry level unskilled jobs for a year or two, went back and upgraded math, physics, chem, and biology, then went into BA English around 2001. Some years I worked, and some years I did school full time. I didn't go to college to party, but I did have a pretty good time. College kids tell themselves that they're too busy to work while they attend school, but for most programs, that's bs. I thought I was busy being a parent and working, until I started running my own business. And I thought that was busy until I went to Depot and worked 17 hours days 7 days a week for six months. Being out in the field on shift work and doing up to 8 files a night is pretty busy, though.
Currently on my 5th year of college but I will be leaving in Dec with my Masters in Computer Science. My job includes keeping a small (5 switches/routers and 15 machines) running on a network made to let networking students dink around with CISCO switches and routers. This means I have a lot of downtime (like right now and earlier when I played a game of Supreme Commander). I was going to shoot for State Farm for my "career" (as they call it). Over the years I've worked as a seasonal janitor at my local high school, a dishwasher (two times at different locations), a "Morning Stock Crew Member" at Menard's and the local computer guy. Lately I've been spending time on Civilization V, Dwarf Fortress and MineCraft.
I don't really have a hobby that I support, but I'm enlisted, waiting to ship out. I can't imagine what my hobbies will be within the limitations of Barracks life. Besides buying a brand spanking new computer and a couple new sets of clothes, I'll probably continue with being a wabo, which can be expensive, if you're a good person and don't just pirate everything.
I am starting my new job as a Health Care Assistant on Monday, it will be my first full time job and means the end of almost 2 years of unemployment.
Jobs I had before were as a party host then kitchen assistant at a bowling alley, sales assistant at a crummy store and a casualty simulator-basically got paid to pretend to be unconscious or hurt.
Samus_aran115 wrote: I don't really have a hobby that I support, but I'm enlisted, waiting to ship out. I can't imagine what my hobbies will be within the limitations of Barracks life. Besides buying a brand spanking new computer and a couple new sets of clothes, I'll probably continue with being a wabo, which can be expensive, if you're a good person and don't just pirate everything.
Depending on your drinking habits, you should have plenty of time and opportunity, plus money to game or whatever hobby you have Also, depending on what base you get first, you may want to pick up a car of some type, just to get around and get things done.
In that case it seems likely my certificates in small team management, project management, and managerial budgeting are from LSS...or not who knows?
As for your classes you took in the military, AustinT, I don't know if they were "LSS classes" or not, but I doubt it. Those sound like general project management courses. You'd know if it was LSS. They will generally have some Belt associated with the training. Yellow, Green, or Black.\.
LSS? As in Six Sigma? I'm a Six Sigma Yellow Belt, most of the naval aviation field is at least the same, it's all part of the "Airspeed" program which is designed to keep us cost conscious and efficient from a business/financial perspective.
hotsauceman1 wrote: It does take significantly longer to complete degrees. I'm in my 3rd years, and I am still in general ed.
Really? With the exception of an art and science class, I was only completely major specific work.
Well TBH i would be out of here now if i did'nt have to work my way up to transferable classes.
AustonT also informed me of your part-time student status, which is another way to explain the gen ed classes.
This semester I'm part time, other semesters I wasn't, only reason I am only taking 10 units this semester is math, Its not my best so I need to dedicate more time to it. I might go to part time for the next two semesters, I need 18 more units to transfer, which is a very bad idea for one semester, so I'm going to spread it out over the next couple of semesters.
Assuming that your classes are 3 units per class? With the exception of my second semester first year, my entire career was 17 and 18 credits a semester...
Well 12 is the amount needed for full time status. So they tend to be 4-3 units. And I doupt i could do that, I get stressed out now. I need a small workload.
I had Lean Six Sigma with me in Afghanistan for three months. Cannot believe I took them out the wire couple times with three shooter (not including myself) to view possible choke points for the incoming surge. One MRAP with a CROW system.
My job is to assess and catalog people's online names, as well as make notes and observations.
For example 'd-usa' works and is a fitting name, but if you remove the hyphen and get 'dusa', well that is just silly. Someone has to notice these things, for future generations.
Azza007 wrote: I am starting my new job as a Health Care Assistant on Monday, it will be my first full time job and means the end of almost 2 years of unemployment.
NO I don't!!
I did work at Cape Canaveral for a while supporting Atlas-V. But since that time, I have been mostly supporting Aviation. (Military and Commercial)
GG
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kronk wrote: I have a degree in Chemical Engineering. In my current roll, I'm a Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement Engineer.
I find ways to reduce waste and save the company money. No, I don't cut positions or reduce headcount, which is what people thought I was brought in to do. No job has been lost as a result of one of my projects.
Awesome..I'm a greenbelt!!
Six Sigma, if chosen correctly, can be very powerful.
for those of you wondering what SIX SIGMA is... enjoy
High school Senior. Currently I'm running a commission service, which I am hoping to take to the next level once I start using an airbrush. Less time painting + better results (with practice) = $$$.
I haven't decided what I want to do with my life, though. I could take up commissions full time and start hiring workers, or I could hit up college (bleh). Either way, I have a rather limited number of career choices, as I cannot go into any career that involves large amounts of math, a subject which I have struggled with since I was a little kid. Everyone that reads the works of fiction, poetry, or essays that I do says that I should consider becoming a writer. I would love to do that, though going that route would mean that I would have to (1) accept the fact that I will probably be very poor for a very long time if I attempt to do nothing but write, and (2) I will have to really work on chaining myself to my desk and writing until I have reached my daily goal of, say, 8 pages. I may just use my commissions to keep the bills paid while I work on my writing and attempt to get published.
Azza007 wrote: I am starting my new job as a Health Care Assistant on Monday, it will be my first full time job and means the end of almost 2 years of unemployment.
Mate, good for you. Best of British to you!
Cheers, it will certainly be a kick up the backside doing shift work but looking forward to it.
I was going to say Virology as I I don't recognise the analysers, not that there are many practical differences between the two
I work as a Biomedical Scientist for the British army, Basically I am one of the guys who makes sure that everyone who needs blood at a deployed UK medical facility gets the right blood and that it is safe for them, as well as performing all the other laboratory tests that you would expect from a trauma hospital. I specialise in Microbiology although that doesn't see much use on tour.
In the UK I am either embedded within NHS Labs or I waste my time (and tax payers money) at a field unit counting test tubes.
Before joining the army I did all kinds of minimum wage gak jobs that I will never, ever have to do again, thankfully.
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AustonT wrote: A medic in the field has significantly more decision making latitude than the EMT job he is nominally comparable to. That's why a lo of them become Nurses or PAs, and relatively easily given thier experience.
They do get a lot of hands on trauma experience but CMTs in the British army are rather hard done by as their quals are effectively worthless, they need to completely retrain if they want to be a civvie paramedic for instance. What usually happens is thet they end up working on oil rigs as an offshore medic or they do something non medical.
Not one of my military quals will be any real use to me as a civvie which is why I do as many civvie ones as I can get.
Currently I teach maths and biology in an International School near Dusseldorf. It's a pretty good job, especially compared to my last job teaching science in Essex. More money, more respect, less grief from management and the kids, and cheaper cost of living. Also, Dusseldorf is a really nice city.
Azza007 wrote: I am starting my new job as a Health Care Assistant on Monday, it will be my first full time job and means the end of almost 2 years of unemployment.
Mate, good for you. Best of British to you!
Cheers, it will certainly be a kick up the backside doing shift work but looking forward to it.
Mind if I ask a question? If I remember correctly, your old avatar used to be an ambulance right? Did you used to be a paramedic?
Ahtman wrote: My job is to assess and catalog people's online names, as well as make notes and observations.
For example 'd-usa' works and is a fitting name, but if you remove the hyphen and get 'dusa', well that is just silly. Someone has to notice these things, for future generations.
Truly noble work.
I'm a art student and planning to go to uni next year for game design, not as exciting as being a mad scientist or the army but it's alright.
I was going to say Virology as I I don't recognise the analysers, not that there are many practical differences between the two
I work as a Biomedical Scientist for the British army, Basically I am one of the guys who makes sure that everyone who needs blood at a deployed UK medical facility gets the right blood and that it is safe for them, as well as performing all the other laboratory tests that you would expect from a trauma hospital. I specialise in Microbiology although that doesn't see much use on tour.
In the UK I am either embedded within NHS Labs or I waste my time (and tax payers money) at a field unit counting test tubes.
Before joining the army I did all kinds of minimum wage gak jobs that I will never, ever have to do again, thankfully.
The closest 'line' of machines is our second line, it does stuff like high sensitivity CRP, PSAs etc. all the really expensive tests.
That sounds like a pretty cool job to be honest, much more exciting than working in a dreary Pathology lab. Where did you study?
Napier University in Edinburgh and Northumbria University in Newcastle. I also did a high intensity military BMS course when I joined the army, Nothing very indepth just lots of information and not much time to learn it.
To be honest the majority of my work is either pointless or its exactly the same as any other BMS. The only real difference is that military BMS are truly multi-disciplinary while NHS BMS tend to stick to one, possibly two departments. I have actually considered joining the Australian army, their lab rats seem to do a lot more research which is something that I am interested in and its a simple process (allegedly) to transfer over.
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AustonT wrote: You could always be a mad scientist FOR the army
Worked for 2 years as a shopfitter. 2 1/2 years making lounge furniture, 1 year making sinks, now i'm a historian. that doesn't pay much, so i may ahve to go back to bieng a shopfitter.
kronk wrote: I have a degree in Chemical Engineering. In my current roll, I'm a Lean Six Sigma Process Improvement Engineer.
I find ways to reduce waste and save the company money. No, I don't cut positions or reduce headcount, which is what people thought I was brought in to do. No job has been lost as a result of one of my projects.
Awesome..I'm a greenbelt!!
Six Sigma, if chosen correctly, can be very powerful.
Black Belt, here. My roll is about 50% Black Belt projects, with the remainder split between new product development and production trials (new raw materials) and safety projects.
necrovamp wrote: Worked for 2 years as a shopfitter. 2 1/2 years making lounge furniture, 1 year making sinks, now i'm a historian. that doesn't pay much, so i may ahve to go back to bieng a shopfitter.
necrovamp wrote: Worked for 2 years as a shopfitter. 2 1/2 years making lounge furniture, 1 year making sinks, now i'm a historian. that doesn't pay much, so i may ahve to go back to bieng a shopfitter.
Am I the only one who read Shoplifter
No but since this very nearly fits my current life in a little worried.
Automatically Appended Next Post: To be clear I meant no yiu aren't the only one.
necrovamp wrote: Worked for 2 years as a shopfitter. 2 1/2 years making lounge furniture, 1 year making sinks, now i'm a historian. that doesn't pay much, so i may ahve to go back to bieng a shopfitter.
Am I the only one who read Shoplifter
Nope, I read shoplifter the first time around as well...
Azza007 wrote: I am starting my new job as a Health Care Assistant on Monday, it will be my first full time job and means the end of almost 2 years of unemployment.
Mate, good for you. Best of British to you!
Cheers, it will certainly be a kick up the backside doing shift work but looking forward to it.
Mind if I ask a question? If I remember correctly, your old avatar used to be an ambulance right? Did you used to be a paramedic?
Or have I got the wrong person or something?
Your right, I volunteer for St John Ambulance and have reached the level of crewing the ambulances. Hence the medical related stuff, as its stuff enjoy. Not a paramedic as don't like/can't drive, so looking to train as a nurse in the next few years with some life experience instead. That all started today.
What I do is not nearly as interesting as what some of you guys do!
I'm a nurse in a Nursing/Residential Home, which means I'm basically a person who failed to become a doctor and now lives out his life being bitter about it and mumbling about 'flash bast***s in Porches banging my co-workers'.......
Seriously though, it's the most fulfilling job I've ever had and also one of the most frustrating. Trying to save a life and failing is by far the most awful thing I can expeariance, however, those days are few and far between and mostly I amble about dishing out drugs and occasionally flirting with the carers.....
Before this I was a carer and managed a nightclub, as well as odd jobs in Flower plants and pubs. It's been a strange life so far, and I'm enjoying it now more than ever!
Cool Marv. What company? You say AECOM I will do my best to get you to jump....Actually we've quite a few UKers with the Stryker programs...your not SUPREME are you?
I'm a nurse in a Nursing/Residential Home, which means I'm basically a person who failed to become a doctor and now lives out his life being bitter about it and mumbling about 'flash bast***s in Porches banging my co-workers'.......
Seriously though, it's the most fulfilling job I've ever had and also one of the most frustrating. Trying to save a life and failing is by far the most awful thing I can expeariance, however, those days are few and far between and mostly I amble about dishing out drugs and occasionally flirting with the carers.....
Before this I was a carer and managed a nightclub, as well as odd jobs in Flower plants and pubs. It's been a strange life so far, and I'm enjoying it now more than ever!
My girlfriend does the same kind of thing, even if you don't think it's interesting you are doing something to enable people to be able to live their life, i have nothing but respect for you.
I'm a trainer working in financial services - not a proper teacher, but with some consultancy and management instead...
The financial services bit isn't that interesting, but the training side of it is - it's a lot of fun, and very rewarding when you see a trainee progress in understanding and ability.
Your right, I volunteer for St John Ambulance and have reached the level of crewing the ambulances. Hence the medical related stuff, as its stuff enjoy. Not a paramedic as don't like/can't drive, so looking to train as a nurse in the next few years with some life experience instead. That all started today.
Cool, good luck with it. I've been considering training as a paramedic in a few years time, hence my interest. I need to sort out getting my driving license, as I'm guessing you need some years with a clean license before you can train.
I am currently a Data Manager for Clinical Trials in the NHS. Brand new at it so im currently up to my eyeballs in protocols and acronyms, but im loving it so far and really looking forward to getting in to it more!
Also, for the first time since graduating last year, im actually partially using my degree
Huh, I thought I had responded to this previously?
I work as an executive wage slave in the finaicial industry at a large retail corporations headquarters. I specialize in taking teams that are broken, then making them work and process improvements. Like Kronk and GG I also have a Green Belt in Six Sigma.
I am also co-owner of a small baking/cake dedcorating business. I mostly do grutn work and delivery, since I don't have the other skill sets there.
In the past I have done some fo the following:
Door-to-door funeral sales
Life insurance salesman
Appliance salesman
Call Center monkey
Higher level Call Center gorilla
Shop floor worker
assistant handyman (Which is ridiuclous considering my technical aptitude)
necrovamp wrote: Worked for 2 years as a shopfitter. 2 1/2 years making lounge furniture, 1 year making sinks, now i'm a historian. that doesn't pay much, so i may ahve to go back to bieng a shopfitter.
Am I the only one who read Shoplifter
I honestly had to look again to see that that didn't say shoplifter lol.
for the last few years i've been working as a mental health associate (ie floor staff grunt) at the residential psychiatric care facility for children 6-17
i do a lot of paperwork and help keep a group of generally around 10 kids in line along with some other poor bastard
By day, I assist patrons in accessing help in accessing the wonders of the library; better known as "Librarian Aide". I am applying for a different position here as a clerk being responsible for library catalog entry and ordering of new material.
By night I am an assistant dance instructor to my wife who teaches a variety of ethnic dances.
Squidmanlolz wrote:Student for now, going to college soon with ROTC. Hopefully after that I can maintain a job as an engineering officer in the Army
filbert wrote:I'm a GIS consultant - its a niche part of the IT industry that involves mapping software.
Kid_Kyoto wrote:I work for my rich uncle.
Some of all of the above. I love what I do and hope to get a few more years before trying something different in a nice, quiet, peaceful place where you can't smell raw sewage or stomp through trash on the street.
I somehow manage to take college courses in endless succession as well. I suppose I ought to get a certificate or degree out of it at some point but I usually just take what interests me.
AustonT wrote: You could always be a mad scientist FOR the army
DARPA has all the cool toys a decade before anyone else knows said toys are even theoretically possible
DARPA would be like a dream job, if only I were "qualified"
My high school engineering design and development class is working on a system to replace MOLLE webbing, at least for airsoft and paintball, but we are also looking towards more universal applications (mostly extreme sports and the like)
first job was front desk clerk/bell hop - extra minimum wage (5.25 at the time)
was an over night stock person while in the delayed entry program
air traffic controller while in the Marines
got stuck in the safety office for the last 4 months of term and decided to major in Environmental Management(EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health(OSHA).
almost done with said degrees, only associate science degrees though. planning to transfer and get a bachelors in rock collecting(geology). Found out I do not like to stay indoors after doing the air traffic control thing. I have 22 months or so left on the GI Bill and I plan on using it up.
I have been a Concierge,porter,receptionist,valet and trans Atlantic communications device operator for the last 11 years at my local Hotel/casino and I love it, it's a great job for a great company and like a lot of people I enjoy meeting such a diverse range of people and dealing with a range of problems and ideas and bringing them to fruition so everyone is happy
After the Gubment cuts shut down my department, and the foreign owners of my employer refused to acknowledge my part of the country, I 'branched out' a bit.
Networking is boring at this level :(
It has nothing on virus-splatting and signal herding.
Howard A Treesong wrote: I'm the senior technician at a secondary school and thinking of becoming a teacher because I quite like working with kids. God what's wrong with me?
djones520 wrote: I could have sworn I had replied in here before, but I just went through all 7 pages and didn't see a post.
11 years in the US Air Force, so far. I've spent all of it as a Weather Forecaster.
This is at least the third different thread on the subject that I've seen since joining Dakka, so it might have been a different thread. Thank you for your service.
I have a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering and a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma and work as a Process Engineer in a manufacturing plant. Love it.
I was a Satellite Communications tech in the Air Force (only 3 years, boo bum leg)
When I got out I joined the local IBEW for sound and communications, became a journeyman status for Installer, went into project management.
Then I hopped back into a field tech (WG-11) for the Department of Veterans affairs, then got promoted to my current position as a Physical Security Specialist GS-11 (security electronics really)
and I am waiting to hear back from the US Geological Service about a position back as a Satellite Communications tech in the civil service field working on the seismic research program for Northern California.
oh yea, I go back to school end of this month to continue to get my Electrical engineering degree.
Spoiler:
yea I also have a wife, 2 kids and a 3rd on the way, so no as a matter of fact I don't get to play 40K as often as I would like)
I work for the Cafeteria on my Campus. Hours are nice, People are nice, work is good. But my boss is scatterbrained. I have had to give him my schedule 3 times every semester. This last time he formulated my schedule when i asked him what time im working.
And I only get money 8 months out of the year.
kronk wrote: But...an escalator can never break. It can only become stairs!
They do, but I basicaly have a job because most shoppers turn round and walk out instead of taking the stairs, or even use a lift...so people who own shops with moving stairs pay money to keep them running, due to health n safety escalators are not fit for public use unless moving due to each step bieng to high..hence my monies for fixing them, to be honest, most of the time I walk into a shop when closed, open the escalator, and surf dakka..they dont break often, but I get paid to make sure they dont.
I could not do a normal job, 9_5, same place, same time...would bore me to death, instead I get to travel the country, plus the money is good..its a easy, but unsocial job with long hours and 1000+ miles a week on the road, but I manage myself to a degree which is cool, but liable in court for injury or death to public due to neglect, so responsibility too. Believe it or not, there is a guy on youtube who rides escalators and films it, and advertisement companys pay him to advertise, lol..i was like wtf.
Howard A Treesong wrote: I'm the senior technician at a secondary school and thinking of becoming a teacher because I quite like working with kids. God what's wrong with me?
You like not making money obviously...
Actually, I believe European teachers make more than ours. America is the only first-world country to treat teachers like crap. It's one of the things that's seriously wrong with us.
Howard A Treesong wrote: I'm the senior technician at a secondary school and thinking of becoming a teacher because I quite like working with kids. God what's wrong with me?
You like not making money obviously...
Actually, I believe European teachers make more than ours. America is the only first-world country to treat teachers like crap. It's one of the things that's seriously wrong with us.
And there's my jumping on point. I've been a teacher for the last few years. Dear Lord how I have become more bitter and cynical since I began teaching. It's not the students, mind you, but the parents who don't want to have anything to do with the school and the administrative staff who operate on the level of inept football coaches rather than professionals. This is doubly true in many of the school districts in PLA (persistently low-achieving) status, which are the districts most in need of strong leadership and community-wide involvement.
That being the case, I've been doing interviews to get into entry-level drug rehabilitation work with an eye toward getting a master's in social work once I get my foot in the door. Fingers crossed....
It's actually more enjoyable than estimating though, and it seems they don't want to give me back to the estimators, so that's something 
