Xavion

I'm just curious you guys...i know that the majority of us are working stiffs around here. So what's your story?

Are you in school currently? Did you already graduate with a degree? Are you working in a field related to your degree? Where do you work? What's your title? What exactly do you do there?

I'll get the ball rolling...

1'm 20 years old. I haven't had the fortune of attending college yet. I didn't graduate HS (not my fault...long story...essentially, i dropped out to work and support myself). Got my GED and plan on heading back to school in the very NEAR future.

I work for The Home Depot (aka-The Orange Cage). I'm a Millwork Specialist and Lumber/Building Materials Sales Associate.

I'll break it down for ya:

MILLWORK SPECIALIST-I sell doors and windows. If a customer comes in and wants something special (something obscure, or something i just don't carry in stock) I 'Special Order' it for them. I sit them down and build whatever it is that they want in a program on my computer. Then i have to fax the order over to out Vendor/Manufacturer and then follow up to make sure that everything goes smoothly, as far as the product being built to the specifications i sent, the ship/arrival date, and any other problems that might rear their ugly heads.

I didn't really know much about windows and doors when i started, but now i'm a specialist...so i guess i learned a thing or two, huh?

LUMBER/BUILDING MATERIALS: I deal mainly with customers that come in and are working on small projects. I make recommendations on lumber, insulation, drywall, shingles, roofing products, concrete, etc. I also offer ideas on ways to help make the work they're doing more efficiently. I'm in no way a expert, but it never hurts to have an objective oppinion on something when you have questions about it...i'm just a objective perspective.

I also get to do manly things like drive fork-lifts and cool stuff like that!

I like my jobs. I actually have a lot more responsibilities than what i've listed here, but they're not relevant. My store is a relatively small one, so everyone does extra work to pick up the slack (we're understaffed).

But that's what I do in a nutshell...what about you?

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"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

dlish

Xavion , you seem like your enjoying yourself in your job

me, im a builder. i did a university degree for 4 years and ended up with a bachelor of building in construction management. i worked for a few big firms here in australia as cadet onsite, then a few boutique companies doing luxury homes, estimating project costs, contract/project administrator. in march i opened my own construction company. i now have 2 projects running concurrently...im now building 2 industrial buildings at one job site, and 11 townhouses at another.

i do everything from onsite management to contract negotiations to budgeting to payments. basically im a one man show, but lifes meant to be busy..the only detraction is sometimes im away from here for a week or two cos its so hectic.

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An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere

I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay?
- Filthy

Gilda

I'm 29, and an English professor at a major state university on the east coast.

I worked as a middle school humanities teacher for six years, taking advantage of my BA in English and history with a teaching endorsement, going on to earn masters degrees in reading and children's literature, and finally a PhD. in emergent children's lit.

I'll be teaching a World lit course, a freshman comp, and two upper division courses, one in children's lit and one in adolescent lit, and, I just found out in my e-mail last week, supervising six student teachers.

I've taught college courses before, but just now started doing it full time, or actually will next week. It's both an exciting and scary time for me.

Gilda

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I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that.

~Steven Colbert

flamingdog

Gilda's the brains of the operation.

I'm a journalist by trade, 'between jobs' at the moment. I'm trying to write something creatively that I can get published so I can get off the hamster wheel. A comic book script, actually. But first I need to learn to have confidence in what I write.

Sgoilear

College working on an electrical engineering degree. I did a stint in the Navy to get the GI Bill so I could afford school. Currently debating on getting a part time job and starting the search for internships.

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"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them." -George Bernard Shaw

tecoyah

Retail Manager on the Seventh Level of Hell......

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Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha

lurkette

I am making the transition between being a research administrator for scientists doing brain development research, and starting my own business as an organizational guru. I love putting things in order. It's nearly a compulsion. And I am very, very good at it. So after a trial stint pulling a "while you were out"-type transformation on a friend's house over winter break, I've decided that I could spend my life doing this. It's not going to save the world, but I get excited about doing it when I wake up in the morning, and it's a needed service. There are so many people out there who want to have an ordered environment and just don't know where to start or how to put in place a workable and sustainable organizational structure. And I'm tired of working at several removes from the impact of my efforts. Science moves at a snail's pace, and it may be years or even decades before the projects I'm helping to organize bear fruit. If they ever do. So this will allow me a bit more instant gratification and hands-on productivity. I don't know if I'll do it full time but we'll see how it goes!

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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

Fly

scumbag roofer here........


i'm one of the foremen for our company........got about 6-8 guys on my crew.


we all work like fucking pigs in the spring,summer and fall so that we can relax in the winter time.



.....and hang out on tfp more too.

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Xavion

Very cool man. I have several friends that are in the Army. They aren't gonna head to college though because they love the army and want to stay in for ever.

Good luck on your hunt for internships man.

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"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

Xavion

I know all about you roofer guys! I get to interact with guys like you at work on a daily basis.


Let me tell you though...i have the utmost respect for you and the work that you do. Roofing is tough as crap. You have to lug those shingles, and roof-tar and other supplies up a damn ladder on your back, then applying all that shit is back-breaking labor. On top of that, you have to work in all kinds of unsavory weather conditions.

Again i say, i have mad respect for your work. In comparison, my job is cake (and i know!)

KUDOS TO ROOFERS!

__________________
"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

Dragonknight

23 and been a Marine for 4 and a half no. I'm a network tec. Pretty low lvl right now, setting up the lines, users, switches. I know some tactical stuff so it's a fun job. I want to go to college and get into security and programing but we'll see what happens. I've started leaning towards working with my hands so we'll see.

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Freedom is NOT Free.

Fly

sweet..............wanna have a beer after work???/


hhehehhehehehe

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Xavion

I feel you pain my friend. I've worked nothing but retail since i've started working back in the day (i think i was 15 when i got my first job...it all blurs together now because once i started working, i never stopped)

I'm just a peon in the whole scheme of things...i couldn't imagine being a manager and having to be in charge of other people and what they do, or having to deal with the those fucking irate customers.

I mean, that's what happens right? You're job is to make sure that other people are doing their job. But if they aren't doing their job, then you get bitched out...YOU get bitched at for OTHER PEOPLE not taking the initiative and responsibility to do what their getting paid to do...correct?

Or my favorite is when there is a customer that's super-pissed and no one can appease them...they call you, The Manager. And you, The Manager, are suppose to find a way to calm this person down when nobody else could. I mean, it's easy for someone to suck you into a situation like that...all they have to say is "Hold on one second while i call my manager, he'll fix this situation." ...but it's not like you can pawn the customer onto someone else...you're it buddy! They're your problem now!

...at least, that's what i think when i call my manager to handle my light work.

All kidding aside...I know that you're over-worked and under-appreciated...with that said...

KUDOS TO RETAIL MANAGERS (on the 7th level of hell)


...although...i thought the 8th level of hell was officially renamed as "Retail"...oh well...my bad.

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"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

radioguy

i teach 4th graders in texas....been doing it for 6 years. it rules!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was on the radio for two years but quit just before thanksgiving.

xepherys

Xavion-

I had much the same fate as you from an education standpoint. I left High School and got my GED. I have some college but have yet to complete my degree. However, I was blessed with an affinity for comptuers and technology. During and immediately after HS, I was working in computer retail. Not ideal, but it was a start. I got a job later for EDS as a systems administrator, and just kept grinding my way up. Now I'm 28 and work at a local IT firm where my 'title' is 'Manager of Security Services' where I'm responsible for client security audits and also for R&D on our security products. I'd love to go back to school and get a degree, but it's hard to find the time.

Xavion

Very cool. I love kids. But i don't necesarily have the patience (or skills) to teach.

I pretty much raised my 3 younger sisters...the majority of my adolesence was spent taking care of them while my mother worked full-time. So that's where my love of children comes from. Whenever i get to interact with a young child, i get all misty-eyed from remember my sis' at that age.

KUDOS TO PRIMARY EDUCATION TEACHERS!

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"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

Xavion

As unfortunate as our educational misgivings might be, at least we MADE a way for ourselves. I don't know how other half lives...i couldn't be jobless, living at home with the 'rents...i'd go bonkers.

Your jobs sounds pretty cool though...very professional..."Manager of Security Services"'

...it's got a nice beat and you can dance to it.'

Congrats though on your hard work and perseverance. Keep it up.

I aspire to be the person that works his way up to an awesome position so that i can tell people, "yea, a diploma/degree is helpful...but don't let that piece of paper define you. This is america after all...you build your own success...you make your own destiny"


KUDOS TO US XEPHERYS!

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"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

Xavion

Hellz yea man! Let's go for it!

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"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

Xavion

Science is cool. Organization is cool. So that makes you Awesome by association.

Good luck on your endeavor...i'm sure you'll be great at it!

__________________
"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

xepherys

Haha, thanks Xavion. And yes, I think that may have been part of what drove me. All through school, everyone always said that without a degree you can't amount to anything. Teachers, counselors, parents... I called "bullshit" at an early age, and I've done everything I could to prove them wrong. I don't want to go back to college because of the paper at the end of the maze... I want to go back because of the maze itself. I LOVE learning... anything and everything that I can glean out of life is just an added success in my eyes. Of course, I'd never NOT get my degree with the opportunity, but even now it's not my primary focus. Without that degree, I have a good job, a family, a nice apartment, two cars and two dogs. What more could I really ask for?

At any rate, good luck Xavion!

flstf

I used to design computer based industrial control systems. I kept getting promoted until I reached my level of incompetance managing quite a few engineers and technicians. I eventually got downsized (laid off) and now survive by drawing money out of my IRA accounts.

FngKestrel

I'm 30 and make art for cell phone games.

After starting out in EE way back when and changing my major 3 times, I finally settled on something I could really enjoy doing, which was art. The day I told my mom, I nearly gave her a heart attack.

Knew I always wanted to be in the game industry; clawed my way to where I am now. Been doing it for 2 years officially as of today. Worked as a game tester for several years prior to that.

raeanna74

WAS a 4-6th grade teacher and high school choir director in 2000.

Currently (and for the past 3 years) Day care provider. Also homeschooling my daughter.

Considering putting my daughter into parochial school. No idea what I'll do then but I can guarantee I won't be teaching in PUBLIC school. I'd rather be a clean toilets than do that. Thinking about all kinds of possibilities - private tutoring, medical transcription, or any other various clerical jobs.

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"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

Daoust

Reanna, I'm a teacher in the public school system too. I'd love to hear why you have such strong opinions about it. Chances are good I'll agree with you 100%.

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I have faith in a few things - divinity and grace
But even when I'm on my knees I know the devil preys

snowy

I'm 23 and I work in logistics for a major big box retailer: I handle, process, and distribute freight at the store, right down to putting the product on the shelves. The hours suck and the money's bad, but I needed a job to get through Christmas and it seemed like a good option. Now my back is shot and I'm quitting in a week and a half with the hopes of finding employment somewhere else. At this point, anywhere else will suffice.

I'm a term shy of finishing my Bachelor's in English. Once I finish that, it's likely I will put off the actual graduation date in favor of completing the double degree program at my existing university. I'd prefer to do my degree at another school but my honey is here for another year studying chemical engineering, and I'm the one whose program is a dime a dozen. When I'm finished with that, I'll have my Bachelor's in English (emphasis in Elizabethan literature and Victorian novel) and I'll have my Master's in Teaching. Some day, in the future, I'll go back to school and do my Master's in Educational Administration, and then I'll get to pick where I go

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Xavion

Well that sucks man...i'm sorry to hear that.

But at least your not completely shit-out-of-luck. You had some money put away, which is more than i can say. I don't really make enough money to put any away in savings. I make just enough to pay my bills...barely!

So...are you actively job-seeking? Or are you just taking it easy and relaxing for a bit before you look into heading back into the workforce?

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"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

Xavion

Journalism is awesome dude. I wish i was creative enough to write. I hated english in high school. I was never really that great at expressing myself on pen and paper. Beside, i'm more mechanically inclined anyway, so it worked out for the better.

But i have a great respect for journalists and whatnot.

Working on a comic book script, eh? Sounds really inventive. I love to hear what your ideas are for it. I'd love to read the first drafts even...provided you're willing to share the wealth of you imagination with the rest of us.

I wish you the best of luck my friend. Keep us posted on your progress.


KUDOS TO JOURNALISTS! WRITTEN WORD IS KICK-ASS!

__________________
"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer!"

flstf

Well I was 52 when I got laid off and looked around for a little while. People are reluctant to hire you when you are over 50 and have a track record of high incomes.

My wife and I decided to sell our house in a high priced area and buy one for cash in the country and just retire. That was 3 years ago and we don't regret it. Putting away about 15% of our income over the years has made all the difference.

Willravel

VP of Marketing and Sales at a .com. I do boring for a living.

sprocket

I'm 27, and work in sales for an internet porn company. Been at it for a few months now, and I love it. I like going to work in the morning.. what a weird feeling. We dont produce anything, we're just an internet distributer of sorts, but it involves talking and making deals with all the producers out there, big and small. Its an interesting industry, I dont think theres anything quite like it. Never know who your gonna talk to in a given day.

Its really a unique place.. its an office but it has character.. people work hard but are still alive.. not your typical cubical rat maze hell and its not filled with bland boring corperate zombies.

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Remember, wherever you go... there you are.

shesus

I teach first grade for Chicago Public Schools in one of the most low performing schools in the state. JJ and I were brought it to help raise the scores. This is my 6th year teaching and my second year with Chicago Public schools. I can't figure out if I love it or not. There are too many factors. I will say that I love the younger kids more than the older kids. I also love teaching, actual teaching. I don't like our adminstration and that makes the job tougher and less enjoyable than it could be.

I have my Master's in curriculum and instruction and would love to work with curriculum development. I've done a bit of searching, but changing carreers is tough. Plus, I don't want to leave in the middle of the school year.

Public schools are crazy and there are many problems, but the inner city kids need good, capable, and caring teachers. That is what I try to provide them.

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Whatever did happen to your soul?
I heard you sold it

Choose Heaven for the weather and Hell for the company

xepherys

sprocket-

You don't happen to live in the Phoenix area, do you?

flamingdog

Part of my problem is that having worked among them for a couple of years, I don't really. Not anymore. It's a very... unscrupulous business. I do have an application in with another paper at the moment for an arts reporter job, but my heart's not really in it.

Thanks, man. I'm on the third draft of the plot outline (of the first story arc) at the moment. Going to break that down into individual pages shortly, then start scripting each individual panel. If I can muster up the courage, I might post something over in literature. Maybe... I have no idea if it's competent enough for publication, but I figure you don't get anywhere by not trying.

And welcome to TFP, by the way.

joemc91

I love how many teachers there are out there, although I don't like how all public schools are sort of put down. My school system did great for me coming from a middle-lower class small city in MA. On the other hand, I can fully understand it in some other areas. I have great respect for all of the teachers out there.

As for my job, I fly regional jets around the midwest for three legacy airlines. Well, that is when I actually work. Most of the time I spend my days flying the couch, gym, coffee shop... anything but a plane. But as much as I don't like dealing with the company and hate the pay, I wouldn't change my job in a second.

la petite moi

I'm 19 and I work as a Starbucks barista. Right now I'm on holidays from college, so that's nice.

uncle phil

this is difficult as i am currently semi-retired, but here goes...

- rite-aid store manager right out of college...
- claims adjudicator and management auditor for US Department of Veterans Affairs
- management analyst for Health Care Financing Administration
- administrative officer for the Food and Drug Administration
- self-employed legal researcher for law firms and insurance companies
- substitute teacher
- golf bum

life is good...

__________________
"We were wrong, terribly wrong. (We) should not have tried to fight a guerrilla war with conventional military tactics against a foe willing to absorb enormous casualties...in a country lacking the fundamental political stability necessary to conduct effective military and pacification operations. It could not be done and it was not done."
- Robert S. McNamara
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"We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches...
We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles."
- Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message"
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never wrestle with a pig.
you both get dirty;
the pig likes it.

sprocket

No, I live in NC.. but i was just in pheonix/flagstaff for the holidays. A very cool place.

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Remember, wherever you go... there you are.

thingstodo

Went from a musician in a band to retail while in college. Got bored with school and got married (at 19), went into making IV fluids for a company and started working electrical PT just to pick up extra money and learn something.

Someone convinced me to get in the newspaper business and the job didn't "exactly" require a college degree, so... 28+ years later and I manage a region for a national newspaper. I just fell into something I love...managing and leading people. Funny thing is, no degree but I teach college grads how to write business letters. Go figure!

Anyone want management advice, give me a yell.

P.S. Still married 30.5 years later - and to the same woman.

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If you're wringing your hands you can't roll up your shirt sleeves.

Stangers have the best candy.

Fire

I own my own company- we sell knives and swords, at ren fests, sci-fi cons, and just recently, at our store downtown- for the first time in years,
i love my job,and things keep looking better.....

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Thought the harder, Heart the bolder,
Mood the more as our might lessens

jhkayakr

Pilot...flying private jets

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........gotta need for speed....