Author Topic: What is (was) Your Career?  (Read 54663 times)

Another Reader

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5327
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #150 on: October 31, 2012, 08:37:52 PM »
If your experience is anything like ours was, some of those recently immigrated applicants with accounting degrees will barely be able to explain the difference between a debit and a credit.  We would routinely have to consult the college equivalency publication to see if "College of ____"  or "______ University" wasn't really equivalent to a high school or a junior college when we hired entry level auditors.

liquidbanana

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 100
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #151 on: November 01, 2012, 01:18:54 AM »
Dang, after reading this thread, I really wish I had known about the job prospects of Geology.

I don't have a career. That word freaks me out. Hence, I am 28 and broke. High five to the low earners! You all are making more than me, I'm sure.

I'm a mostly a stay at home parent for now. I also average about $10-15 per hour writing spam (think ehow). But I work part time and have no benefits, so it doesn't amount to much.

I have dropped out of college three different times because I am flaky. But now I'm a student again working toward a BA in Special Education. It won't pay six figures ever, but I expect that I'll reach FI before 40 because I don't spend much at all. Unless a health catastrophe hits again (that's another reason I'm broke.)

Also, since I'm majoring in Special Ed, my degree is going to be essentially free after grants and student loan forgiveness programs for Special Education teachers. That will make FI a lot easier.

My SO doesn't have a degree either. He works in tech support for the evilest corporation in the world. (guess!) He makes like $25K or something. I'm not sure. He just quit a $40K management job with the same company because it was giving him ulcers.

We don't deal well with high demand jobs round here.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2012, 01:21:17 AM by liquidbanana »

arebelspy

  • Administrator
  • Senior Mustachian
  • *****
  • Posts: 28444
  • Age: -997
  • Location: Seattle, WA
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #152 on: November 01, 2012, 08:25:43 AM »
He works in tech support for the evilest corporation in the world. (guess!)

Monsanto?
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

TLV

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 492
  • Age: 36
  • Location: Bellevue, WA
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #153 on: November 01, 2012, 01:27:23 PM »
He works in tech support for the evilest corporation in the world. (guess!)

Monsanto?

I can picture that tech support call: "Hi, my soybeans aren't growing as well as they should be." "Have you tried defragmenting your pesticides?"

liquidbanana

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 100
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #154 on: November 01, 2012, 01:29:25 PM »
Oh yeah, you just reminded me that he doesn't work for the most evil corporation. It's not nearly that evil.

Jay-Fazed

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
  • Location: Colorado Springs
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #155 on: November 01, 2012, 03:17:48 PM »
6 Years US ARMY working as an Unmanned Air Vehicle Operator ( Drones), And 1.5yrs now doing the same thing as a civilian, But early next year I will be done with my current employment . I only work in undesirable locations ( Iraq/Afghanistan) and think its time to go home to Colorado.

cadamsgis

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 28
  • Location: Maryland (near DC)
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #156 on: November 01, 2012, 06:33:53 PM »
I have a BA in Geography. I currently work for local county government making 81K but that because they brought me in classified as an engineer (other people with geography degrees are planners and they have a lower pay scale).

my husband is a construction laborer

I have made a bunch of really dumb money decisions (from previous marriages) in the past and am currently working on my 5 year plan to be debt free. I'm one year in and have already paid off 36k.

my county has execlent benefits and I am eligible for retirement in 15 years. but as I told my husband after we dig out of the debt we then can save for FI. we are planning to relocate to mexico at that time.

mm1970

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 10880
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #157 on: November 03, 2012, 09:13:27 PM »
And that's how we started. ROTC scholarships then navy for five years to pay it back.  Worked in nukes, but at a desk.
Well, I'm jealous!

But then you're probably wishing that you had a chance to go to sea and run engineering drills...


Well, yes, kinda.  I was a nuke back in the dark ages (early 90's) before they let women on combat ships (and now, subs!)  So driving a desk was my only option for a nuke.
I think we both felt the grass was greener.

When my spouse (a meteorologist/oceanographer) was finally eligible for sea duty aboard a combatant, her detailer offered her the USS TRIPOLI.  She proudly relayed the news to the other surface warriors at her ASW training command, and they looked at her like she was nuts.  Once they'd explained to her what METOCs were used for on those ships (admin correspondence) and what TRIP's schedule looked like (shipyard), she was ready to try something else.  Somehow the detailer gave the impression that she'd be Horatio Hornblower...

Our daughter is dead-set on being a submariner (and a trailblazer living inside a fishbowl) because of the quality of the people.  I have to agree with her there.
I would totally agree with here there too.

YK-Phil

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1173
  • Location: Nayarit (Mexico)
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #158 on: November 04, 2012, 09:35:49 PM »
Cool, there are geographers here too!!

I am a geographer and environmental scientist (MSc.), had a fantastic career and life in the Arctic for 28 years, living among the Inuit in some of the most remote settlements in the Arctic. My last job, which I held for 12 years, was CEO of a federal agency. Dropped out of the rat race at 50, decided to try something new, as far away as I could from bureaucrats, lawyers, politicians, and their corporate masters. I now work about half of the month as a flight attendant, making about 12 times less money than my last "real" job. My wife owns a small clothing consignment store that pays a very modest after-tax stipend. We are happy (and well-dressed on the very cheap) not FI yet, but we have a very frugal but healthy lifestyle centered on traveling on the cheap (thanks to travel benefits) and good food (lots of home cooking, restaurants once a month), no consumer debt and a mortgage-free condo, which means that we can live on less than $30,000 a year in an expensive city like Calgary. In the current economic context in Alberta, I could easily find an executive job with any oil and gas corporation and make an obscene amount of money, but why work my butt off for the Man if I don't need to?

Ozstache

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 866
  • Age: 56
  • Location: Oztralia
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #159 on: November 05, 2012, 02:06:01 AM »
Started out as an electronics technician, switched to software engineering (seems to be a common theme here) and am now in project management. The closer I get to the front of the management bus, the less I want to go where it's heading and plan to get off pretty soon. I've just got to convince myself that I've hit FI already and cut the safety line of my stable, well-paying and relatively unstressful job. If I was advising someone like myself, I'd say just do it!

Allison

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 53
Re: What is (was) Your Career?
« Reply #160 on: November 05, 2012, 11:58:31 AM »
I buy robots and automation equipment for one of the largest car manufacturers in North American.  Started out with a BS in Marketing and kinda fell into manufacturing.  I make in the mid-50's with a 10-20% yearly bonus.  I should be FI by 40.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!