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How many occupations have you had in your life?
Posted by SweetViolet • 9/07/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: jobs, occupations.
We go to college to get a degree that will help us establish a good career. But a lot of people I have known have actually had more than one career/occupation in their lives.
When I was young, my father told me that it was important that I be able to do more than one thing to earn a living, as you never know when the layoff will come and your occupation is no longer in demand. He's been a farmer, a logger, a flight instructor, a mechanic, a truck driver, a jig-and-fixture builder, taught automotive classes in a trade school, and went back to farming.
I got my first job when I was 16. By the time I was 40 I had worked in the entertainment industry, been a hospital worker, a factory worker, a secretary, a recruiter, and had run my own successful Desktop Publishing business, and become a graphic designer.
How about you and yours? What kinds of jobs have you had and which did you like best?
User Comments
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I dont have a job?
will u give me one?-
Are you willing to work outdoors 8 hours a day, rain or hot sun, sweating and getting dirty, digging holes and cutting limbs off trees, digging garden rows, weeding a huge lawn, watering 1/3 of an acre by hand, painting fences, cleaning gutters, weeding the gravelled areas, picking up dog poop and cleaning bird droppings from the railings, patio furniture and garden walls, all for $14 a day?
If you are, I might have a job for you. But first I'd need a resume showing your experience and references from previous employers. -
wrong spot .. sigh
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I first started working in a book store, textile shop, lotto sales shop, insurance company and lastly the press.
Now I am boss cum maid to my hubby and little boy-
I know that feeling!
I have a maid, but she only works 8 hours, 3 days a week. When she's off duty, I'll bet you know who fetches and carries for Hubby and the little dog babies!
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I got asked to leave High School, my option was go away and my records could be passed on to other schools or get thrown out and screw you.
I took option one. No other school came calling.
My father worked as a salesman in a wholesale florist, he made me work in some florist in the village with a crazy gay guy who also lived upstairs from the store.
The hours were 11 - 7. I would open at 11, we used to get our pot delivered by qt milk container, and my first mission of the day was to start rolling.
Jack, would finally crawl down around 12 - 1 and start smoking till the first hot guy walked in. That was that, upstairs he was gone.
Through all of this I still had to run the a shop I had no clue what so ever was going on.
2 Years later I was on Madison ave designing for Liza Minnelli, Halston, Andy Warhol, Ginger Rogers, etc. I was young and crazy so I continue to bounce in and out of the trade because of my roots in Brooklyn, but the trade has been with me and I turned out to be very good at, it must have been all that pot in the milk containers. lol-
That's totally cool.
What do you design?
I'd love to read stories about your past - I'd bet they'd sell!
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My resume:
10 years of experience in blogging...
Now give me related work-
amen!
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Ive had about 8 to 10 paid professions and a couple of those didn't pay so well... LOL!
1) Modeling (got out of that when I realized people were shallow/callous and screwed up mentally enough that if I didn't become just like them I would never succeed.)
2) Restaurant (fast food, high class - mostly as a server or manager - but have done just about EVERY position in "restauranteering"... LOL!)
3) Marketing/Sales
4) Cosmetics (Actually sold at a department store for specific brands and provided make-up artistry (facials, etc.)
5) Writing (paid for articles written and some other work)
6) Band Music/-singer/songwriter/guitarist - not a paid profession - but we've played venues and bars and have been paid ONCE for our services.
7) Poet - not paid, of course - if anyone ever needs me to write for them - I will gladly do so.
8) Telecommunications - cellular and regular
9) Emergency Medical and Police Dispatching
10) Emergency Services - EMT - FF and DPS -
I've worked as a grease monkey, assistant electrician, at a paper factory, telemarketer, flute teacher, video game tester, training agent, translator, and freelance musician. -
@ WW Floral Design Wedding, Events, Interiors, Holiday Installments, Window Displays Plus basic retail. Lately more retail cause I'm out of Manhattan and out on the Island and only doing part time, when I am doing anything. I actually start with a new company this Wednesday that wants to suck my brains for cheap, but I need the work till something else comes up. It's only 15 hours a week with Commissions and incentives.
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Floral design? whoa ...I consider myself lucky to find a mason jar for my wildflowers. You have my utmost admiration. What a neat skill!
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Dude - were gonna be moving to Maine as soon as my condo sells and I am going to be opening up a coffee shop - maybe could use you then. LOL!
No kidding.
Anyhow - that is some pretty cool stuff and I hope to goodness you start blogging about it. Maybe even sharing some techniques... GRIN -
That's Great Rosie818! Bon Chance.
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I began working when I was 14 during the summers. I worked for the city doing maintenance, as a teacher assistant, book editor (with out pay), restaurant worker, manager, teacher assistant again, community service worker.
I enjoyed doing the community service the most. -
First "job" about age 12. Sweeping the aisles after the movies at the Uptown Movie Theater and picking up crumpled popcorn sacks. A block from my house. (Actually a dirt street - I lived in a small Arkansas Ozarks town of 900+ population.) I wasn't paid a salary but I got free tickets to all movies - 5 different ones played each week, plus a soda pop and bag of popcorn for each I attended.
Age 14, Dad bought me a power lawn mower (one of the first in our little town) and I spent the summer mowing lawns for neighbors. I made about $15 a week. (quite a jump from my $1.25 weekly allowance.) This was when movie tickets were 30 cents, popcorn and colas were a nickle each, and paperback books sold for a quarter.
Age 16, family had moved to L.A. area in California. Got a summer job throwing clothes in the dry cleaner, pushing a start button, and folding and hanging 'em up after it finished. $30 a week. My first social security card.
Age 17. Private in the U.S. Army. 30 months in Germany. Marched and saluted on command. Made - wow - $78 a month at start, was making $125 a month when my tour ended. (plus room and board of course.)
Discharged age 20. Next 10 plus years a professional student. Attended four different colleges - from California to Missouri to Arkansas, plus 2 plus years attending 2 different private art schools in Chicago, plus night classes at the Chicago Art Institute.
Age 33 became a newspaper journalist. Reporter. Feature writer. Photographer. Layout artist. Illustrator. Feature Editor.
Age 48 - mid-life crisis. No marriage. No children. No binding relationship. "Is this what I really want to do...?". Sold house. Paid off debts. Quit job. Loaded up my car. Headed to the Southwest. Settled in Albuquerque. Got an Amiga computer. Joined a self-organized group of similar artists, spent 3 great years finding myself, my work, my identity. An ARTIST.
Not a worker. Not a seller. Not a promoter. Just drawing and writing.
Age 52. Returned to Fayetteville, Arkansas - Ozark college town - on Grayhound bus, with suitcase, my Amiga, and $75, and wearing my cleanest dirty shirt. Borrowed $250 from an old newspaper friend - now an editor - got a room in a rooming house, found a job as a janitor at the university, and swept floors, joked with professors, fantasized about young coeds, and continued my art. Retired at age 62 when Social Security would pay my monthly rent. No need for a car. (Free campus bus system). Found my favorite bar stool here and sidewalk coffee table there, and for 18 years now continue to fill my journals.
Good career(s). Have my voice. My vision. And enjoying it still.
A day at a time. And sober! for 16 months now! (Big Smile)-
wooohooooo! Congratulations on the 16 Month achievement. THAT ROCKS!
...and welcome back to the beautiful Ozark territory. Wonderful country, isn't it? -
Whhhooo and one day at a time is all any of us can do. Prayers and smiles!
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Barmaid, Kennelmaid (greyhounds at the racetrack), Usherette, Auxillary Nurse, Office Temp in London, Punch Card/Tape Operator (going back a bit), Shop Assistant Record Store,Croupier, Mother,Crisis Counselor, Board Member of Arts Council, PR for Jafagirls, Artist. -
You may be sorry you asked that question :'
Ready?
Started working with my parents company doing stage lighting & sound. As the boss's daughter, I had to learn all aspects and that included delivery, set-up, operation and maintenance of everything from WW2 anti-aircraft searchlights to carbon-arc stage lights to 63 Chevy 3/4 ton trucks (the same as in my Learning to Drive story) as well as industrial wiring, generators and various power supplies.
Also had to learn to maintain hundreds of residential & commercial properties: cleaning, plumbing, painting, drywall, roofing, plaster, electrical and even landscaping. In my off time (ha) I collected rents and helped Mom with the books (that didn't last long, thankfully...accounting, like the kitchen, is not my friend).
In the late 1970's I wanted a change of pace and went to work as executive secretary to Bergen-Brunswig's data processing chief. The drive to LA every day was a pain, though I did get to use the 180 wpm shorthand skills and type a lot :}
In 1979, as a newly-single parent with two kids, I enlisted in the Navy and became first a TD, or Training Device Specialist, operating and maintaining flight simulators and computers. When they found out I had stage experience, I was drop kicked into FASOTRAGRUPAC (fleet aviation specialized operational training group, pacific fleet) where I helped build their TV studio, carried a video camera and photographed training evolutions aboard ship and helicopters, then put it all together in post production, made zillions of copies of each production and sent them out to the fleet. Then TD rating was eliminated. Transferred to AX (aviation anti-submarine warfare electronics technician & instructor). Worked depot-level maintenance and supervised the 2M (micro-miniature repair-soldering to NASA specs) shop for years.
Closing in on the 1990's, Dad got a diagnosis of Alzheimers so I ended my active duty Navy career and went back home to take over the business. That's when I found out that he had hired a business manager. Um..let me rephrase that..he had given POA to a lousy, smooth talking Madoff type who took Dad for every penny he had .. possibly close to 50 million. Couldn't stand to watch Dad lose every cent, couldn't find the crook, got tired of fighting the gangs and hobos that were taking over the shop.
Went back to college for degree in social work. Worked in Child Protective Services. Retired, moved parents and entire family to Missouri. -
1st job: Dishwasher at an upscale Japanese restaurant. Worst job ever, mostly because Japanese restaurants use a seperate dish for everything.
2nd job: Worked in movie theater for a couple of years. Got promoted to assistant manager. Never walked into a single movie theater during my last year of work but not intentionally.
3rd job: Loan officer. Worked for a cold call shop in San Diego. Commission only. Because of this, most people in my shop chose to offer option arms with 2 points up front and 2 in the back for a quick profit. Worked out well for the loan officer, but not so much for the home owner. Had 2 nervous breakdowns, only managed to close 1 loan, got paid a few thousand dollars, and decided to move on.
4th job: Worked for Bed Bath and Beyond as a sales associate. Probably the easiest job I've had although the pay wasn't that great. Worked out well because I was able to focus on school, which I wasn't able to with the loan officer gig. Lots of hot girls that worked there too. Good deal.
5th job: Office administration for a general contractor. I basically did all the office work for a general contractor. Accounting, billing/invoicing, construction estimating, advertising, web designing. Was a fun job, mostly because I had a lot of responsibilities and a lot of say in everything. Unfortunately the business had to suspend operations due to the economy and people/companies to put remodeling and new construction projects on the backburner.
Current job: I am an outreach specialist for a low income weatherization program for an energy subcontractor for Southern California Gas. I sign up low income households with Southern California Gas accounts for the program in which we weatherize their houses for no cost. Pretty nice gig. I make my own hours. -
There are a lot of interesting answers here and progressions. Interesting how so many of us have not taken the "one career" path through our lives!
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2 many 2 count!!! Wooooooo hoooooooooo my girls just pulled up. I'm gonna have to catch y'all at their bedtime. OH I MISSED THEM SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!
C y'all in a little -
my first job was at a car wash, I have also worked in a kitchen briefly, did computer-aided-drafting for about a year and a half. Most of my adult life though, I have been a janitor/custodian. -
I've managed to avoid working most of my life and when I did work at a job it usually never lasted more than a week. Some things I have done for at least a year and actually got paid for are:
Deliver bread for a collective bakery
Coach gymnastics
Call substitute teachers
Therapist -
I started working quite young for my parents (about 14). During summer holidays I would help in my father's furniture factory, learned the trade and helped in paperworks (licked envelopes :P). I studied Hotel Management in Switzerland and after finishing I went to Austria to work in Hotel trade for 10 years. I have worked in service, in the kitchen and towards the end of my stay there, I was hotel assistant manager. After meeting my hubby on-line I came to Spain (where we live now) to meet him and after getting married 6 years ago, we decided to settle here. Since my Spanish was limited back then, I worked in a betting shop run by an English man. Later on, my hubby and I joined up together to run the bingo for tourists. It's great and I have a lot of time in the world now. I only work from mid- September until mid-May and have the rest of summer off. I live comfortably and I am happy and I am glad I got away from that 9 to 5 routine. -
I have the only job of handling 'datagrams', I have got to do it whole me life, no other way, But I do believe in work, whether it is cleaning or landing on the moon, to have a feel of the weather.
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I've been a carny, a babysitter, a waitress, a BK dining room hostess, a security guard & supervisor (which entailed many OTHER jobs, like receptionist, shipping/receiving, concierge, corn grader & scalehouse operator,) convenience store cashier & asst. manager, network admin, used car lot manager, girl friday & then switchboard/reception for an ins. co., general "labor" @ KFC, a factory laborer, driver, artist, computer parts purchaser, photographer and most currently, a librarian. I think that covers it. I loved working at the scalehouse, but there are definite benefits to my library job, too. -
Three: Student, Tutor and Warehouse Worker. I think I'm more proud of lifting 150-pound crates all day then I am of being able to outthink people on math proofs, though I do very much enjoy the other, perhaps more. -
I haven't even obtained a degree yet.. but here were my occupations
1. bill collector
2. travel agent
3. sex educator
4. freelance web designer
5. freelance writer
and now student & blogger -
My first job was working in an orange juice factory,
but I got canned...couldn't concentrate.
Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack,
but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the ax.
After that I tried to be a tailor,
but I just wasn't suited for it ...
mainly because it was a so-so job.
Next I tried working in a muffler factory
but that was too exhausting.
Then I tried to be a chef --
figured it would add a little spice to my life,
but I just didn't have the thyme.
I attempted to be a deli worker,
but any way I sliced it, I couldn't cut the mustard.
My best job was being a musician,
but eventually I found I wasn't noteworthy
I studied a long time to become a doctor,
but I didn't have any patience.
Next was a job in a shoe factory;
I tried but I just didn't fit in.
I became a professional fisherman,
but discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.
I managed to get a good job working for a
pool maintenance company,
but the work was just too draining.
So then I got a job in a workout center,
but they said I wasn't fit for the job.
After many years of trying to find steady work
I finally got a job as a historian until
I realized there was no future in it.
My last job was working at Starbucks,
but I had to quit because it was
always the same old grind-
You are very very clever!
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Your life career has certainly inspired! I love your resume.
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mwahahahaha
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I guess I was more of a one career gal.
I did work some at my grandpa's convenience store and I would go help my mom at the bookstore sometime. But, primarily, I have worked as a student. I earn my first scholarship when I was in middle school (kept that one all the way through college), I got another one in college and both my Master's and my PhD (this one partly) have been funded by the Mexican government.
I worked for a Clinical Lab (saw some horrible things) in college. Also in a State Lab, I got to be in charge of the lab (without payment) because the boss took a month vacation. I did my bachelors thesis at a research lab. I thought high school chemistry, physics, ecology and microbiology for a year.
After I finished my Master's I couldn't find a research job or a well payed teaching position so I ended up working for 2 drug stores. Then I was offered a technician position in a research lab at the U of A and here I am since then.-
Well, what I suspected seems to be the case: people like you and my husband, who've really only had one occupation (even though they may have had multiple jobs) are rare. My husband took a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has only worked in that field.
I wonder, though, if we expect that our degree path will also be our career path? For some people, like my husband and you, it seems to be true. But for most of us, it seems we do a wide variety of things to keep body and soul together, regardless of our educations.
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Three.
Process Technician
Radio Frequency Engineer
Computer Network Engineer
Due to the current economic situation I am currently employed in two of the three. Part time as an RF Engineer, full time as a Process Tech.
I had really thought my time as a Process Tech was long behind me, not altogether pleased to be doing it again but thankful I have full time employment none the less. -
waitress
communication illustrator
Financial counselor
personel manager
NGO volunteer
Personal coach
Gallery manager
And know graphic designer
However it is interesting to learn so many skills, it also makes it hard to defend a resume^_^.-
Well, that kinda depends on how the resume is structured, I would think.
Considering that so many people who responded here have had multiple occupations, it doesn't seem realistic for employers to expect a linear resume that reflect only one skill set, does it? -
I guess you are right!!!I'll have to think about a coherent structure:-)))!
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I've always been either a writer or an editor, though I've had to be a Jenn of All Trades at some of those positions, because of being in a small business or-- in a couple of cases, the people hired to do those tasks decided they didn't like them, and it fell to me.
At one point, I had to:
--Write the manuals
--Have the manuals mass produced
--Copy the software disks
--Package them
--Ship them
--Track them
--Test the software
--Answer the main line phone
--Design software icons/graphics
--Make coffee and check the voicemail/distribute phone messages
--Run the corporate newsletter
--Run corporate mass mailings
--Run the annual user conference
Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well with all that rolling through the ol' brain each day!-
Hmmm...I've done a lot of those things myself. Secretaries are kinda jills-of-all trades, too.
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I have had so many different jobs: actress, musician, taxi driver, cocktail waitress, fantasy phone call service manager, call girl, exotic dancer.
My favorite job is my current one--I teach adjunct classes for several different colleges and universities--online! Which means I get to work in my jammies! -
Before I graduated college, I was a restaurant table busser, fast food worker, day care teacher, college cafeteria worker, and tax preparer. After graduating, I was an accountant, until I got laid off last Dec. I just got married, and do not have to ever work again unless I choose to, which I don't. I may help some online with our business, or I may start my own business at some point.-
Congrats on your marriage, Calais! And also nice to see you back again. It's been awhile. Or perhaps I just haven't run into you.
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Starting my own business, that's what I like to do now! Calais, you inspire me very much
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SPAM SPAM SPAM
Reported
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I had two jobs and I'm looking for the third one :-) -
I agree, it's important to be able to do more than one thing. It's not just because the layoff may come anytime (especially these days), but some things you just can't do forever. For example my main occupation is software developer. That's something you can't really do at age 60 (and I wouldn't want to, even if I could, because it gets really tiring after a while). Besides that I've taught high school children, I've written a dictionary and done other minor things not worth mentioning.-
you have written a dictionary?? Awesome!
When I was a kid that was one of the things I considered for a career: lexicographer. Today, I'd rather be an etymologist, but still...writing a dictionary? How cool is that?!?
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I've had a boatload of jobs and/or career type work. Everything from fitness trainer to carpet cleaner/floor installer to bar bouncer, to artist, teacher, cigar taster, designer, landscaper - you name it
The one job I had consistently throughout my highschool and college days was waitressing. Truth be told - I loved the job depending on the place. But you can burn out so quickly....I prefer the freelance work of custom painting, pinstriping, and artwork to that today, though -
shoveled popcorn at movie theater
Engineering Intern
Assistant Cook at college
Professors Assistant
Waiter at Korean Restaraunt (for 3 days)
Installed insulation on paper mill
Warehouse worker
Auditor
Securitized subprime loans on wall street
Demand Planning
Analyst
Marketing Analyst
Product Manager
Head of marketing
Market Support -
Hmmmmm ....
1. Paper Boy
2. Fruit Picker
3. Dishwasher
4. Theatre Usher
5. Sports Equipment Salesperson
6. Military Logistics Officer
7. UN Procurement Officer
8. Analytics Director
9. Procurement Consultant
10. Software Account Manager
And now I'm looking at a new career ...-
I did the fruit picking thing when I was a kid...strawberries...ugh! backbreaking work! What did you pick?
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Middle school:
- I tutored! My first job. A whopping 5 dollars an hour
High school:
- shipping and receiving and gift wrapping at a china and silverware store
- freelance webdesign
College:
- indoor playground monitor
- babysitting
- target (for just a month, it was hard to go to my 8am class closing)
After college:
- pre school spanish and computer science teacher
- research coordinator/tech for an opthamologist
- clinical research coordinator for diabetes clinic
I resigned my job in May for a career change and am still currently unemployed. I'm occupationally lost in life currently. -
First I wanted to acknowledge that your father seems quite awesome to have explored the amount of fields he has, same for you.
My first work experience was a very short-lived summer as a lab monitor while at university. Afterwards, my work was mostly freelance designer doing rotoscoping, design, create dvds, compositing, and some small animations. Now I'm looking to entertain the web world, whether design, development, etc. I can't imagine trying anything else (unless I had to).
I'd like to work solely for myself because to put it bluntly, I don't really enjoy working for other people. I definitely want my own giant home office with a huge TV hanging on the wall whose sole purpose is to constantly distract me from my duties. -
Life is funny...I went to college to get a Computer Science degree and I've been working in retail ever since.
What the h#ll am i doing?
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