Poll-describe your job (or lack of it)

[fluffy0]

I was recently thinking about how I know all these people who had kind of impractical majors in college, like theatre, philosophy, geology, etc. and didn't even work very hard at their studies yet somehow later in life were able to come out okay and buy a house and have nice cars and afford kids and everything. And yet there are others who worked very hard yet were never able to have a successful career and are now poorer than some of the people I know who just went to community college or job training. Also, it seems like everyone I know has this kind of obscure job like "team leader of sales" or "human resources analyst" and they seem to be earning tons of money, based on the things they own, yet I'm not sure what they actually do to get those huge paychecks.

 

I'm graduating from college soon, so i guess I've become pretty interested in how people begin to establish themselves in their careers and how they end up where they are. I guess for most of my life I've been fed this myth that if you work really hard and go to a good college then you can do whatever you want. But lately I've been seeing how thats not true, and extremely bright, talented people end up in call centers getting paid close to minimum wage while complete morons make huge money doing nothing. So my questions are:

 

What kind of job/career do you have?

 

Do you like it, is it the kind of job you thought you would have?

 

Do you think you are living comfortably, or do you live paycheck to paycheck? Do you constantly worry about your finances and how you would be able to pay for it if you had an emergency like a serious health problem?

 

Are you comfortable with the way your job fits into your life? Do you feel that you have enough free time, are you able to make adequate childcare arrangements, do you feel overly stressed, do you have time to take care of yourself, have a social life, have kids when you want to, etc.?

 

If you could do it all over again, starting from when you graduated high school ( or didn't) what would you do differently in terms of education and career choices?

 

I would like to hear from a wide range of people, so people who are unemployed or are homemakers please reply too! I just want to see how different people get to be doing what they do in life.

[quankanne]

interesting field of questions ... I never really thought about how many folks study for one thing and end up in a field totally different than their goal. Maybe it means they're amenable to change, or just changed their mind about what they originally wanted?

 

• What kind of job/career do you have? Do you like it, is it the kind of job you thought you would have?

 

I write for a diocesan newspaper. I didn't originally set out to work for the church, though I did go to college to be a reporter.

 

• Do you think you are living comfortably, or do you live paycheck to paycheck? Do you constantly worry about your finances and how you would be able to pay for it if you had an emergency like a serious health problem?

 

Historically, church jobs don't pay what a similar secular position does, but the benefits are pretty good (i.e., I was there less than a month and I was given two weeks vacation because that's what everyone got at the beginning of the calendar year. I've been here 12 years, have four weeks paid vacation PLUS anywhere between 13-17 holidays/holidays). If it weren't for my husband's pension, I couldn't afford to live on my salary alone, nor pay for health insurance. Thank God for veterans' benefits!

 

• Are you comfortable with the way your job fits into your life? Do you feel that you have enough free time, are you able to make adequate childcare arrangements, do you feel overly stressed, do you have time to take care of yourself, have a social life, have kids when you want to, etc.?

 

I'm able to live a "real" life with this job. Instead of working evenings/nights with odd days off and fighting for holidays and vacation, I work a regular day schedule. If I'm scheduled to work weekends or evenings, my editor is very fair about giving comp time. When there's a family crisis, I get told not to worry about the job, but to take care of family issues. That would never happen at a secular paper unless I was part of the good old boy system. A big plus about this job is that I work with people who have the same spiritual values as I do, and the work environment helps to maintain that aspect of my life. The other big plus is that I work with a group of people I consider family, and they me.

 

• If you could do it all over again, starting from when you graduated high school (or didn't) what would you do differently in terms of education and career choices?

 

for this particular job? Prolly be more active in church ministry, taken more classes dealing with people, like psychology and sociology and then thought of going to work for the church a couple of years earlier than I did. I'll still keep my first two cub reporting jobs, because I learned a lot of invaluable skills there.

[Curmudgeon]

Interesting indeed! Back in a former life I was the business and advertising manager of a diocesan paper.

[Trialbyfire]

What kind of job/career do you have?

Finance/Investment Industry

 

Do you like it, is it the kind of job you thought you would have?

I love the industry but find that what I've accomplished has taken a chunk out of my life. It's time to relax a bit and enjoy life.

 

Do you think you are living comfortably, or do you live paycheck to paycheck? Do you constantly worry about your finances and how you would be able to pay for it if you had an emergency like a serious health problem?

I'm living comfortably and have no financial concerns about emergencies.

 

Are you comfortable with the way your job fits into your life? Do you feel that you have enough free time, are you able to make adequate childcare arrangements, do you feel overly stressed, do you have time to take care of yourself, have a social life, have kids when you want to, etc.?

I've rolled back my excessive hours at work, to make it fit my lifestyle.

 

If you could do it all over again, starting from when you graduated high school ( or didn't) what would you do differently in terms of education and career choices?

I would have put a little more effort towards becoming an Architect versus a Finance/Econ major.

[Curmudgeon]

I still haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up, and whatever it is I'm retiring from it in three years.

 

When I was a child (back in the dark ages) there were four things that little boys wanted to be -- fireman, policeman, soldier or cowboy. I've been all of those but fireman.

 

My college major was in behavioral sciences and I have done counseling in the past (crisis intervention, suicide prevention and correctional) but currently work in legislation, public policy and politics as an analyst and a manager. As such I write statute, analyze bills, advise our governor on signings and vetos as well as testify before legislative policy and fiscal committees. I also "work" bills behind the scenes trying to either help bills get passed or kill them in committee.

 

Forty years ago if anyone had told me I'd end up doing this I'd have called them a liar. In fact, I was dragged into it kicking and screaming by a woman in a departmental office of legislastion because I was a policy expert in a very "hot" area and there were lots of bills to be attended to. I will have been doing this for 15 years years tomorrow and as much as I really dislike politics and politicians, I do enjoy the work and the opportunities to influence public policy for millions of people. I've written and seen signed and enacted into law bills at both the state and federal levels.

 

As for that woman who got me into this, I punished her horribly. She deserved it. Ten years ago I married her!

 

 

As far as time, pay and finances go, you'll never get rich in public service but that's not why either of us got into it to begin with. The pay is adequate and affords us a nice living, savings and investments. The medical (including full prescription), dental and vision care benefits are outstanding and extend into retirement which is a generous defined benefit plan. I am "slaved" to the legislative calendar in terms of time off but accrue about 30 days of vacation a year as well as 13 paid holidays. When I retire any unused annual leave will either be run out, cashed out or rolled, pre-tax, into my 401(k), my choice.

 

I work overtime occasionally but being in management, don't get paid for it as I'm salaried. At certain times of the year I'm on-call to the Governor's office 24/7 and there have been times I've been called back into work late at night. It simply goes with the territory. Thankfully, my wife was in the same field before she retired so the sometimes strange schedules were mutual and we're empty nesters so children are not a concern.

 

My wife retired early (after 15 years) four years ago and I lost half my retirement in divorce 12 years ago. Regardless, our combined, net retirement incomes, including Social Security, will be approximately 110% of household income while I'm still working. Hurt me some more!