What is your occupation?

I've always struggled with interests and what I want to do in life so I'm always curious as to what others do. Do you enjoy it? If not, what would you do if you could choose?

Up until very recently I was a project worker for a disability charity. I worked there for 18 months and I enjoyed it but it was very unstable and I ended up not being kept on because we didn't get further funding for the project. I have never had any real idea what I want to do work wise.

Due to a disability that I have, it's very difficult to find part time jobs with flexible hours so it limits my options somewhat.

I fix register equipment remotely for a chain of retail stores.

Which means I spend all day answering the phone and telling people which cable they need to unplug and plug back in. And then we turn it off and back on. Voila! It works.

...OK, sometimes things are a little more difficult than that.

Anyway, I was OK with it at first because you're kind of OK with anything when your bank account hasn't been above the double digits for a month and your college payments are going to start soon, but then I started to hate it a few months in. But then I moved to second shift. The call queue usually dies down to 0 an hour or two before I leave and there aren't many people still in the office by that point and the ones that are there are people that I like hanging around, even the night shift supervisor. Do you have any idea how much more bearable a job can be when you've got a bit more downtime and the people around you are likable?

Over time, though, I've become a little too complacent. I'd love to have a job where I don't have to answer phones, or even talk to anybody outside of the office that I work in. Those jobs don't really exist anymore, though, since long distance communication is incredibly commonplace these days. I'd really like to do something where I spend a lot of time working on computers of some sort, but that can just as easily put me in a different cubicle with a different kind of soul-crushing job.

It would also be nice if I could perceive management as something other than a group of people whose job is to find new ways to breathe down your neck.

Basically, I'm not a fan of service and I'm not a fan of management and I don't want to manage anybody so outside of winning the lottery or landing some incredible job, I'm probably going to have to be satisfied with my pursuits outside of work. Which is something I settled for some time ago.

I scrape coins from between couch cushions.

It's not as lucrative as I'd like it to be.

Engineering Manager.

It's a fun job, living in SF it's a bit weird since i manage a bunch of software engineers, while my background is in Mechanical Engineering.

@mandude: Got any advice on how to get into the industry?

I work as a mental health therapist for a community health agency. I've moved into a clinical supervisor position so I have a caseload of about 20-30 clients rather than 50-70 of a regular therapist and supervise the therapist at the clinic (10 therapists in total). Before the supervisor role I was a therapist for about 4-5 years. To get here I had to earn a Masters. I got my Masters in clinical psychology so I could more easily go back to get my doctorate if I really wanted to.

For the most part I really like my job. Seeing clients can be really satisfying, especially when they improve. It can be stressful but the hardest part is how the work makes you reconsider yourself over and over again. If you don't have a good understanding of yourself the work can be next to impossible to manage.

The part I like the least is all the logistical stuff. There's an insane amount of paperwork and too many clients for as few of therapists we have. So it gets a little hard to have good documentation and always give great service when you have twice as many clients on your caseload as you should. Therapists in private practice don't really have that problem. But that type of work has its own difficulties (trying to get pud by insurance companies, accounting, getting enough clients to make a good profit, etc.).

But I would imagine any job has ups and downs to it. I guess I would suggest trying to look at all the jobs you could reasonably get and seeing if you would want to be in that position or that field for a long time. And there's nothing that says you can't change careers if you discover that you don't like the job,

Software developer and I work from home. Its awesome.

I was a chef for fifteen years and now I am a middle-aged man in law school.

Computer Vision Engineer.

Which means I "teach" computers to see like people do.

I teach high school theatre. I love it! I act like a goofball with teenagers all day and have all sorts of great light and sound equipment to play with as well as a great shop that I totally never use for personal projects.

Leadman (supervisor) on the dock for a trucking company. Finally worked my way all the way up in just six years. I've always loved my job when I was loading and unloading trucks, but now I love it even more being a supervisor.

I work for Citizens Advice in the UK as a caseworker and do outreach projects. I enjoy it for sure, but it can be very stressful due to limited time and high demand on the service. It's certainly worth the trouble though.

History Teacher

I'm a 911 operator/dispatcher. Don't get into this field if you value having a positive opinion about humanity. Or do get into it and learn the wonderful sound of agonal breathing (the last air left in a corpse) and people talking about their sexual preference in infants. Fun times.

I'm a biologist but currently work as an industrial chemist. In general, if I'm in a lab, I'm happy. There's a good balance between working with your mind and working with your hands.

Bus driver. Kind of fell into the job. Not really what I want to do but it's easy enough and just about covers the bills. Not sure what I would actually like to do, which is the main problem.

I'm a licensed mental health counselor (aka therapist) in NJ. I like it most days, helping people with their personal problems. I didn't get in to it for the money. but non-profit work has personal meaning for me.

Making the world a better place, yada yada yada. That old jazz.

@jasonr86:Nice. What state/ territory do you practice? Excessive case notes do indeed stink.

I'm a licensed mental health counselor (aka therapist) in NJ. I like it most days, helping people with their personal problems. I didn't get in to it for the money. but non-profit work has personal meaning for me.

Making the world a better place, yada yada yada. That old jazz.

Junior front end web developer. I wouldn't do anything else.

I went to college to be an electrical engineer and found out in the first semester that the profession I was pursuing was not meant to be since I am color blind. The resistor color code can be an unforgiving master to me, especially when those things are so darn small. I switched to network engineering and now mostly do firewalls and wireless networks and love the puzzles that I am faced with every day. This is my 10th year at my job and I got my Master's a few years ago so when I no longer want to do the technical work, I can go back and teach in a university somewhere. Every time I hear about the Giant Bomb or GB East crew having troubles with getting their consoles online and getting to resources they need, I can hear those internal conversations and phone calls between the engineering department, information security department and HR. Usually the technical guys have ABSOLUTELY NO SAY in who gets access to what, but they almost ALWAYS get blamed for it. That configuration is not difficult. It is all of the red tape that goes along with it.

Anyway, love the job and probably wouldn't do anything else (unless I could afford philanthropy.)

I'm a neighbourhood housing officer for a social housing landlord.

Only just been fully trained to do the job, but you never really stop learning (thanks to UK legislation and the our ever-changing benefit system).

I'm lucky since the hires are few and far between.

Research fellow for ACES electromaterials, working on analytical devices for diagnostics. Mainly spend my time designing 3D printing very small things, science writing, and supervising PhD students. Time flexibility is awesome, but the work load is stressful. Double edged sword I guess, but I wouldn't do anything else.

Software Engineer, currently working on Android/iOS applications. Although I've only been doing that for about 2 months, so I am by no means an expert :)

Bartender at a neighborhood bar. It's only been open for three weeks so we have a lot of downtime where nothing is going on and that's a pretty big change from the two bars I worked at before this but I'm dedicated in helping build an understanding that we're about quality cocktail recipes at a fair price and bringing in craft beer that's a bit off the path of the norm in the neighborhood (currently we're failing at that second part, but that'll come with time) and each day's been better than the last. Plus! I get to plug in my own iPod again instead of relying on a corporate music service. That alone is worth the severe reduction in pay!

Systems Administrator at a local university.

Standardized Test Grader, Stock Marketer, and Youtuber, graduated from college in 2010, still haven't found a permanent job. I also volunteer at a hospital and have for four to five years now. I don't spend money and I make money off of the only thing I used to spend money on. Thus, I have money which calls into question at what point do I become a respectable member of society for having accumulated wealth despite still lacking any real security otherwise. Aspiring Revolutionary and/or Brilliant Strategist, just born at the wrong time.

I'm a home maker/self employed artist who makes and designs jewelry.

I work with/learn about audio equipment at an NFL stadium. Sometimes we work a lot harder than you might think but it's still the best job I've ever had.

@spartica:

I work out of Washington state for a nonprofit. What's your caseload like at your agency? My therapist hover around 60-75 which is way too many. I want them to be around 40-50. It's just that the demand is too high and we have too few therapists with too little space to expand. That's sort of the double edged sword that is expanded healthcare for all. We don't have the infrastructure to deal with the increase in clients.

Film History teacher and I love it. They pay me to talk about film all day and I can do that in my sleep.

I do pack and ship(aka Shipping Clerk) for a small dental parts company in Oregon. I actually really love my job, I just wish it paid better, but I don't hold that totally against the company, they've been awesome to work for.

I work night desk at a local hotel. I've only been here for about two months but I like it a lot more than my last job. The hours work better with my hobbies/actual aspirations. I do stand up and sketch comedy, so I go do mics and then head to work where I have a lot of down time to write. Although I've been watching more GB content over writing since re-subscribing to premium.

I'm a software developer working in healthcare.

I'm an English teacher working in Hong Kong. Came over nearly 7 years ago now, tried it out and haven't looked back since. I find it such a rewarding job and can stick with it as almost every day brings something different. Studied aerospace engineering at uni so that was the obvious path to take haha

I'm a Business Systems Analyst (Info Tech) for the risk solutions department of a Canadian Bank. It's my first office job post-undergrad, it'll be 3 years this October.

I like what I do for the most part. I work on a projects team so I implement new aspects of our data mart. What that entails is that I gather business requirements (i.e. what the end user ultimately wants to see), then implement those pieces and talk to various stakeholders -- business users, our development and QA teams, the team that picks up our data and runs calcs on them, etc. The financial industry in Canada is fairly stable, so I don't mind sticking around ... but I'm not big on the financial industry.

I initially wanted to go into video game development, and part of me still wants to do that. However, I see the amount of shit game developers get from a vocal minority and it turns me off completely. I think part of me wants to get into software development (apps, mainly). However, in order to get to that point I need to actually learn how to code and design... unfortunately, my current job isn't much of that. It's mostly SQL, which is a great skill to have but doesn't help me for my end goal.

I moved to germany last year and I run an Irish pub here. If yall are ever in Unna, near Dortmund, come say hi ;)

@monetarydread: everyone says it's never too late, and i try to be optimistic and believe them. have thought often about going back to school myself. i have my foot in the door with IT somewhat but have no real scripting/programming experience and limited system administration and networking experience, plus i think i'm already too old to be desirable to anyone. but never say never i suppose! i wish you luck.

Stay at home dad of a two and half year old which is great. On the side I edit videos for a private detective (Worker's comp/Insurance fraud) and do social media background reports on the people he is investigating. All around a pretty fun setup!

I am a structural bridge engineer. I design new bridges and repairs for older bridges. My company also specializes in movable bridges like drawbridge and we design and inspect things like sports stadium retractable roofs. It is a good job when there is a steady stream of work, but we go through periods of low work every once in a while.

I'm a lawncare technician.

My title is unrelated to my role, but I'm basically a technical writer. I work with application owners and service providers to take their super specific and jargon heavy processes and translate it into instructions that regular hands-on techs or Service Desk technicians can utilize. (Edit: Basically, I take crazy/lazy/"is this even English" instructions and turn them into legible steps for technicians or self help for end users)

I do enjoy my job, but moreso because I can help with process improvement when something really crazy is brought forward to be supported by our teams. (Or protect the technician's sanity by helping the requestor find a better alternative if the process can't be fixed).

Corporate finance at a bank. The work is ok, and my co-workers are pleasant.

Always wanted to do music as a kid, until I realized that my artistic friends doing art for a living grew tired of it. Rather than being fun, it became tedious work. So I'm happier with music being a fun outlet.

Past few years, I realized that what I do doesn't matter as much as the environment I'm in. I like a balance so it helps that when I leave at 5, I'm free to move on and do whatever I want.

@fodigga: i wonder if its possible to subtly engineer a bridge so it says FUCK BRIDGES if you look at it right.

you know what you have to do.

Previously a high school teacher in the US. Currently a high school teacher in Africa. It has its charms.

I'ma a Chef at Original Joe's. One of S.F.'s premier restaurants. And in my off time I kinda live in Dark Souls haha.

Estimator in a printing, fulfillment, pub management, and design company.

ATT/Directv Installation Technician. It's fine. Laborious and especially unpleasant during the summer months but I enjoy seeing new things and meeting new people every day. It requires technical knowledge and problem solving skills too so I haven't found myself bored with it yet either.

A very bored office guy.