What do you guys do for a living?

[LTEC!]

I'm a kept woman.

[SuperSneak]

I'm a Toyota salesman.

[orange]

Originally posted by SuperSneak
I'm a Toyota salesman.

say it with pride, sneak

how are you doing anyway?

[Jon Miller]

I am a student

honor's physics and math (will gaduate in a month)

then on to graduate school

Jon Miller

[Dr Strangelove]

I'm a physician, Board Certified in Internal Medicine. I practice in an ambulatory care setting because I'm a real ogre when I don't get a good night's sleep.

[Playa del Carmen]

Student, of the high school variety. But what I really want to do is direct.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by orange
I jump in front of moving vehicles and sue the drivers

How interesting . . . . . . .

[orange]

I play a millionaire at parties...

...at least...I'd like to...

[Ramo]

Undergrad Freshman Math/Physics student

[JohnT]

"So what do you all do for a living?"

I am Internal Operations Manager (you can just hear the capital letters!) for a company that delivers telephone books. I have 3-4 departments under me, and 50-odd different employees. My job is essentially to make sure other people get the work done... you see, I'm a Suit. Not by fashion, as we dress casual at the office, but by profession.

And, to be honest, I am quite good at my job. The work gets done, my people are happy, turnover is low, and operations are at least 3 times more efficient in each of my departments since I've taken over back in 2000, not to mention that costs per unit of output has fallen quite a bit. I have no formal training in business other than having an economics degree (Bachelor of Arts, nonetheless - my grades weren't good enough for a business department degree at UGA), but I have found that I am damn good at organizing groups of people so that they desire to get the task done, devising operations that get the job done efficiently and cheaply, and at dealing with people and their problems.

To be quite frank, my career path is to be a CEO or to own my own company. The latter is preferable, the former is my second-choice.

"How did you get into your present job and why did you choose to do it?"

My path to the top spot of this company is clear as I am the bosses son. The problem I'm currently having with my career path is that I am quite unsure whether I want the position: His wife, my stepmother, owns 51% of the company and she is a multi-million dollar drag on operations that cannot be avoided. Even worse, though my Dad is 70 and really comes into the office to be involved and to have something to do, she is 20 years younger than him and just 15 years older than me. Being 35, this obviously poses some problems, especially considering that I absolutely cannot stand working with or for her. The woman, not only being very, very incompentent in manners of operations, also is quite the harridan - and not a pleasant one at that!

I've been wrestling with the problem of what to do with my career since about last May, and I finally hit upon a solution in the past month and a plan of action. I'm going to enter the UT MBA school in August of 2003, finish the program within 17 months, and by December of 2004 I should be done.

After that... well, the loyalty I have to the company is to my Dad. But, you know, I have a wife and baby now and I have to do what is best for them. So, I have come to the conclusion that staying at the company with a MBA would be a bad, bad career move as long as the current ownership structure remains in place. If things do not change to my liking then I will likely leave and strike my own path in the industry (which, imho, is just ripe for the plucking for a company that wants to grow by going on a M&A binge. ).

Well, that's a while in the future... right now, I've gotta focus on making it three more years working with that woman. I've done it for 12, but now I'm to the position in the company where I have to interact with her on almost a daily basis. You have no idea what a dreadful prospect that is to me and to many others in the company.

[JohnT]

Sorry for the essay, folks.

[MichaeltheGreat]

I guess it's not a delurk if I haven't even been lurking...

I've got two "jobs" right now, I can't transition out of the first fast enough.

First one is the energy consultancy, which varies from feasibility analysis and mechanical and controls engineering for independently owned (non-utility) small power projects. Oh, yeah, and natural gas derivatives trading.

The second one is an integrated software / networked systems company, which I 50% own with my best friend, who is also an incredible software developer / creative collaborator. We have a basic split in the company where I take care of hardware, networking and systems stuff, and databases. She does all the software architecture and is in charge of the software development, but we overlap each other quite a bit. Demanding and challenging at times, and a lot of hours so far, but it's a lot of fun.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
I guess it's not a delurk if I haven't even been lurking...

How do you moderate then?

Good luck on the business!!!

[TCO]

Originally posted by steelehc
I'm in the Navy, and I work in the Pentagon. I don't really like my job; I want to go back out on the water.

Steele

Better to be XO of a garbage scow in Yokuska than in DC...

[Tingkai]

For lack of a better description, I'm a freelance journalist. Most of my work involves editing press releases and writing stories for boring trade publications. This isn't work that most people would think of when you mention journalism, but it pays the bills.

About once a month, I tap into a story that really sparks my interests. The story I’m working on now is about how expatriate parents in Asia can cope with potential drug problems among their children. Sounds kind of boring, but I managed to find a guy who was an ice addict at 15. It’s a great personal interest story and much more preferable, from my perspective, to stories about what Expert A has to say about Problem Z.

Although I do a lot of editing these days, my strength is on the reporting side. Editing is very precise work that is best suited to people who like to work in isolation. I prefer talking to people, asking questions, and learning new lessons every day. Learning something new is the great thing about journalism. I’ve been in the business for about 12 years and I’ve learned as much about the world as I ever did in school.