What do you do?

[DCJenn]

What I do?

In a nutshell, I work in Social Services. 99% of it has been with adults with developmental disabilities but I've sort of placed myself in a unique and hard to place position after my last few jobs.

Currently I'm working for an Opiates Treatment facility helping them rewrite their standards manual. Not thrilling for anyone but a dork like me. I know what it's like to have a manual that can help staff and a manual that you get on the first day of work and put on a shelf never to be seen again. It's a temp job but my boss has come up with two other projects for me to do- one temp, one permanent but I think I'll be able to do them both.

I LOVE social services, and am an extremely vocal advocate for disability services.

My dream career? I've had it. Sadly I've peaked at 39 at least in terms of the disability industry. Unless I open my own agency (not gonna happen with a toddler underfoot) or turn to lobbying, I'm kind of stuck. That said, this part-time gig has been a great re-entry into the working world after staying at home for the last year+. It's challenging to my brain, I get to work independently, and I still have time to go to the gym.

Social Services requires the following to be happy: 1) accept the fact that even if you're a CEO you will be making tens of thousands of dollars less than your MBA or MHA classmates. 2) Staff are the biggest PITA- not everyone belongs in the social services arena and either you're working with them or managing them.

Specialized training? Depends on what you want to do- management requires a Master's in something. If you're tending to management, KNOW fund-raising. (I don't and it's come back to bite me a few times). Any job that makes a decent salary will require a Master's or a license. A nurse will need a license and at the minimum a BA. My LVNs made 30k because there's a severe nursing shortage- but I was looking for a specific skill set and they had them. Any counseling job will require a license- and they require education. Social work, addictions counseling, 'professional counseling'- each state differs.

I would definitely recommend the social services arena to the physician companion because there are always jobs. The smallest po-dunk town will have a group home that needs staff, the Goodwill will need trainers, the therapy centers/VA's etc. will need counselors. Management positions, especially middle management positions are always available- it's still a female dominated field (except for upper managment- still a bit of a glass ceiling in some areas...like TEXAS) so there are people coming and going from the working world vs. other life areas.

Jenn

[Stella]

1. What do you do for a living?
I'm a Technical Recruiter for an IT Staffing company
2. How do you feel about it?
It pays the bills and it's okay.
3. What is your "dream" career?
I want to go back to school and (eventually) get my Ph.D. in English and be a professor. Or, I want to go to culinary school and be a chef. Anything creative.
4. Did you need special training to do your current job?
I've been in this field since I was 16 so I guess I didn't, no.
5. Would you recommend your career to others and if so/not, why or why not?
I don't know. Everyone who looks at my job thinks that you must love working with people to do it, but it's so not the case. In fact, my job has made me more jaded than anything else on human nature. Try having your candidates get hired and then quit in 24 hours, another get fired, and people just not show up for interviews when your reputation is on the line. I like it okay and I'm pretty good at it. But I don't want to do it for too long. I get bored quickly (hence the iMSN at 10am) because I like to feel like I'm DOING more. I dunno. I am only a true go-getter when I am really excited by what I am doing and this is neither bad nor stellar.

[Michele]

1. What do you do for a living?
I am a small animal veterinarian (internship broke...er... I mean trained)....though right now I'm not working in preparation for the baby. After the baby comes I'll be a stay at home mom until I feel ready to (or finances dictate that I) return to work.

2. How do you feel about it?
I like being a veterinarian. At least I think so. My "experience" was an internship whihc isn't quite the same as general practice. I like my patients a whole bunch and I like the medicine part....I'm not sure how I feel about talking money...meaning in my internship, people came prepared to spend on their pet...they knew that advanced healthcare costs...even for animals...I'm not sure I'm ready to be in the general popluation who doesn't feel comfortable with a several hundred dollar vet bill...and will compromise the care of the pet because of it. Which leads me to...

3. What is your "dream" career?
My dream job within vetmed is as a specialist...a surgeon...doing orthopedics and soft tissue....residency trained and boarded. I love being in the OR and all that goes along with it...even the crappy hours. Right now, going back for a residency and becoming a surgeon means making the transition from full-time mom/part-time vet to part-to-no-time mom/full -time vet. I don't know how I feel about that yet. It also depends on what Russ ends up with after this residency jazz. After a vet residency, I'll have more control over my hours, but really...it's still a full time job in medicine....

My non-realistic dream career is a back up singer/lounge singer/karaoke bar owner. But I don't sing well...I'm good enough for karaoke (i.e. you can recognize the songs I sing)...but not enough to do it "for real." Some day I do hope to own a bar with some karaoke nights...it's all a part of my island retirement plan...

4. Did you need special training to do your current job?
4 years of undergraduate, 4 years of veterinary school. After that, you have the option of internship and then the option of residency. To be a general vet, you just need the schooling...to be a boarded specialist you need the residency...the internship is "optional" for some residencies and WAY required (meaning may need more than one) for others.

Most days I wish there was some training for my soon-to-be SAHM gig. The more I read and try to prepare, the more it seems there just isn't any preparation that can really make you feel like you sort of know what you are doing. You all are so in for it when the baby comes and I don't know what to do or who to call!!

5. Would you recommend your career to others and if so/not, why or why not?
Yes if they want to work with animals and like medicine stuff. Besides general small animal practice (dogs, cats, pocket pets/exoctics) and large animal practice (horses, cows, farm animals), there are a ton of possibilities. Lab animal medicine deals with the human side a lot...some test more complicated procedures on rats/cats/monkeys etc before people...some just help make sure that the testing is humane and that the animals are well cared for and give care when needed, etc. The government uses vets for USDA meat inspections/farm inspections etc....vets deal a lot with public health (laws/regulations etc) and research with diseases...biosecurity/bioterrorism etc. The military (which will pay for school like the human med side) has a whole slew of things for vets, from small animal general for the bases to working animal vets (horses dogs mostly, but those seals and dolpins get healthcare too) to food safety and the government-y type jobs. Race vets work with greyhounds or horses and the training facilities..sports medicine stuff.

It's basically just like human medicine, except for a few differences:
*public vet school costs a little less
*vets get paid much less on average
*vet school is as hard or harder to get into (way less schools)
*MUCH easier to second career into vetmed
*internship and residency not required and can be done later
*less respect as a "real" doctor

[SuzySunshine]

1. What do you do for a living?
I am a Marketing Manager for a mall, I do event planning, public relations, advertising, all the things you don't think about when you're at a mall. Did you know malls aren't public property? I get that question all that time.

2. How do you feel about it?
It's a job...the company is great, great owners, great benefits, but the job just doesn't excite me on a day to day basis.

3. What is your "dream" career?
Philanthropist/volunteer - seriously. I want to win the lottery so that I can give most of it away. Reading grant applications and choosing who to give the money to would be a-ok for me.

I hope to be a great mom soon too.

4. Did you need special training to do your current job?
A college education is all that is required, I have an MBA. This isn't what I envisioned myself doing when I got that MBA but residency had other plans.

5. Would you recommend your career to others and if so/not, why or why not?
If you love working with people every day, doing fun things and living at a mall - sure! Its not for everyone but all in all its a good job.

[Vishenka69]

1. What do you do for a living?
Financial Analyst in the liquor industry for an international manufacturer/distributor.
2. How do you feel about it?
It's not bad. I don't like dry Finance, so this works. Plus the free monthly alcohol samples and expense paid trips to Vegas help sweeten the pill.
3. What is your "dream" career?
Personal shopper.
4. Did you need special training to do your current job?
Econ major helped but any BA would do (and some basic computer training).
5. Would you recommend your career to others and if so/not, why or why not?
For those who like working with numbers and spreadsheets, sure. The average pay is roughly what residents make but for much less hours. I'd need an MBA though to advance.

1. What do you do for a living?
I'm an interior designer & project manager for a commercial design firm.

2. How do you feel about it?
To tell you the truth, I'm quite miserable right now. The mainstream media has so over-glorified the field in the past 10 years with things like "Trading Spaces" that the public actually has less of an understanding of what designers do in the "real world" now than they did in the past. I spend much of my time gathering and organizing information and generally working out details, not accompaning clients to Pottery Barn to pick out the perfect ottoman. I hate to sound so cynical, but if one more person responds with, "Oh, how fun!" when I tell them what I do...If I was a decorator, then yes, I'd be spending my time choosing colors and decor. Being a designer is much more than that, and the misperceptions frustrate me to no end.

3. What is your "dream" career?
To use my artistic skills in an unconfined way. Right now, to me that means having a studio above the garage on our nonworking (and nonexistant) farm to do whatever feels right at the moment. So yeah, I have no idea, but I know it's not what I'm doing now.

4. Did you need special training to do your current job?
Yes, I have a BS in interior design from the University of Wisconsin.

5. Would you recommend your career to others and if so/not, why or why not?
That's a tough question. Yes, if you really know what the field is like and are up to being in a demanding job with little public understanding and appreciation for what you do. No, if you think that Grace on Will & Grace looks cute in her office filled with fabric swatches and sample throw pillows.

[Tenacious_D]

1. What do you do for a living?
I work for a business school in the alumni relations and development office.
2. How do you feel about it?
It's pretty exciting and I get to travel to London and San Francisco a few times a year. I really enjoy planning events
3. What is your "dream" career?
Homemaker and entrepreneur. I never thought I would say that (especially after getting a BA and Masters degree). I just feel like once we have kids, I want to be there for them and for DH. There are times now where I feel like my job gets too much in the way of my family life.
4. Did you need special training to do your current job?
They say you need a masters degree but a few years experience in fundraising and event planning would be most helpful.
5. Would you recommend your career to others and if so/not, why or why not?
I would definitely recommend this career BUT if you don't like asking people for large sums of money, traveling or planning events then this is not a job to consider. Being at a Business School makes the clients you deal with a little "tougher" as well.

[Vanquisher]

1. What do you do for a living?
I work part time from home doing medical transcription, but most of my time is spent as a SAHM.
2. How do you feel about it?
It sucks pretty bad. I get paid like crap. The perk is that I can do it from home, make the pretty crappy wage, and I don't have to put the kids in daycare to do it.
3. What is your "dream" career?
I have so many. I used to say that it was to be a dawkter. What was I thinking? My realistic dream career is PA. I vascilate between that and doing nothing, ever, again, for the rest of my life - you know - couch potato. I would like to travel on my terms for fun! I would like to know how to cook really well (go to culinary school), but I couldn't handle them yelling at me and telling me I wouldn't cut it in a restaurant. I don't want to! I just want to eat and learn how to make sauces. I'm a total foodie. Gee, you think I have a weight problem?
4. Did you need special training to do your current job?
Some people take special courses. I didn't. I'm pretty familiar with medical terminology and medicine in general. Plus I can type. That's about all it requires. Wahoo. Also, my job as a parent is harder, but should require that you pass a test, in my opinion.
5. Would you recommend your career to others and if so/not, why or why not?
Parent - only if you really want it.
Medical transciptionist - if you want something you can do from home, then yes. Otherwise, no.

[fluffhead]

1. What do you do for a living?
Stay at home dad, and part time high school teacher and tutor.

2. How do you feel about it?
It is the worst paying, most satisfying job I've ever had. And I've had alot of them. Well I guess it pays better than pizza making, but not as well as fish-delivery.

3. What is your "dream" career?
My dream is not to have a career. But if I had to have one, it would probably be a guitarist in a touring band, which would never play in the midwest.

4. Did you need special training to do your current job?
No - I teach at a private school, so I don't need certification. But my PhD and MS certainly helped me get the job, and the teaching skills were learned along the way.

5. Would you recommend your career to others and if so/not, why or why not?
Absolutely - it's great for people with kids, and I love being around young people. I imagine that public school teaching is a totally different ball game, so I can't speak to that. If you're looking for compensation of the material sort, this is not the field for you. But in terms of job satisfaction, having kids who get the "aha!" moment, is a great feeling.

[ides]

1. What do you do for a living?
Office manager for small and medium sized businesses. Currently between jobs due to residency move.

2. How do you feel about it?
Personally, I'm sick of it. It's borring, and I'm tired of the repetitive mindless tasks that make up the job. I also am sick of 'assisting' a*&hole executives who insist you be their mommy. Sometimes I feel like saying "do it yourself!"

3. What is your "dream" career?
No job, is my dream career. Free to pursue my interestes: sewing clothing, cooking, keeping fit, and chill'n. If I could do it all over again, I would have gone to fashion design or art school.

4. Did you need special training to do your current job?
No - I have a BA and started straight out of college as a receptionist/Admin Asst and worked my way up.

5. Would you recommend your career to others and if so/not, why or why not?
Not really. It's a thankless profession where you take care of everyone and do everything. Not many opportunities after the first few years. On the other hand if you get a kick out of organizing other people and doing lots of busy work/maintence tasks (ordering supplies, fixing the copier, taking messages, scheduling calendar's, etc) it would be a good place for you.

[ides]

opps duplicate post.

1. What do you currently do?

Currently, I'm job searching, as we just moved here 2 weeks ago. My last job, however, was as a legal secretary. The job before that was as a journalist. The job before that was operating room tech. I have a law degree (and worked these jobs after graduating law school), so as you can see my resume is quite puzzling to employers.

2. How do you feel about it?

I feel really bad about my resume. Employers reading my resume say what's up with this--i.e. the odd job history. I tried very hard to get jobs that were more challenging, but I ended up being underemployed over and over again, which is a huge part of why we left our last city.

3. What is your dream career?

My dream career is being a doctor. I did a post-bacc right after law school and took the MCAT twice and applied, but did not get in anywhere, so I've sort of given up on the med school idea for now, though I'm thinking about re-applying for a second time soon. My other dream career is being a dentist.

[Laker]

I have worked as an engineer for a major medical device company, a sales engineer/manager for a machinery company, and now I am attorney.

The B.S. was required for the engineering gig, the MBA helped me land the sales job, and the law degree helped me become a lawyer (that and passing the bar).

Currently, I work as a public defender making sure that the indigent members of our society have access to effective legal representation. I definitely get more satisfaction from serving the public than from my current paycheck. Once DW finishes residency and we move to our more permanent destination, I hope to open a solo practice and control my hours/schedule. I also hope to buy and manage real estate properties in the future.