Career Questions

[douchebaggery4ever]

What does everyone on here do for a living?

Do you like your job?

What schooling did you have to do to get that job?

And is your job secure for the next 5 years?

 

[LowPlainsDrifter]

I am self-employed... have a business fixing computers. I leveraged the knowledge I gained from seven years' prior IT/helpdesk experience, and built my client base one at a time.

I'll be frank - I essentially got myself fired from my prior job... I was insubordinate, and my followup with internal customers was too uneven.
Since my livelihood depends on continued high service levels, I do not falter now.

The takeaways from my corporate work experiences:

- Be social. I joked that the primary reason for my being fired was that I didn't smoke. I wasn't part of my boss' 'smoke break clique' - but no one that I used to work with laughed when I told them about this insight. I don't mean be a loudmouth... just be friendly to everyone. Don't be invisible...or a pain in the butt.

- Don't stand out in the wrong way. When we were given private offices - a rare perq - I went a little crazy making my new space "cool" - with lighting I brought from home, a painting, etc. People stopped by to admire the decor, but in the end, all anyone cares about is whether you show up at work (and on time), execute the job well, and behave socially acceptably.

- Display initiative quietly. If you have a better way of doing something, just try it/do it. If it shows up visibly in your productivity, it will be noted/noticed.

- Your outside interests can help...or hurt. It looks great if you have a life outside of work. It shows a healthy balance. If it's a bit offbeat, or is a second income, I wouldn't mention it at all. Personally, I wouldn't talk about sarging women, an interest in hunting/firearms, battlefield re-enactments, sci-fi conventions, etc. I also wouldn't mention a part-time job or business. The success I was having doing part-time computer repairs was definitely creating resentment among my peers.

- Use the security of your job as a base for other things. I know few jobs are truly secure, but my point is that while you have a steady paycheck and benefits, that's the time to build some sort of business on a part-time basis.

I'm very fortunate, and every day I am truly thankful. I'm sure I'll continue to have steady work for quite a while, since there's no longer one 'boss' that can fire me. I suppose there are 'threats' facing my business such as a mass customer defection or the invention of self-repairing/lower maintenance computers.

 

[douchebaggery4ever]

^^
cool story thx for the great deal of info and motivation

 

[ChrizZ]

I am working on becoming a golf pro and travel the world.

 

[Hooligan Harry]

Sales

Hate my job. Love the money. Cant do anything else. I have no real skills other then the gift of the gab really and an ability to read people. Job has allowed me to travel a hell of a lot though which has been a massive bonus. Bad thing is that dealing with people on a personal level daily means I have lost all faith in them. No matter what everyone is telling you, most are lazy as hell and not half as good at their jobs as they are telling you they are. Most are afraid to make decisions, most lie through their teeth. I also have zero respect for women when it comes to business anymore. They do immense damage to client relationships over the long term and the lack the decisiveness required for large projects or budget allocations. Not to mention the power trips they constantly go on.

No degree, although I wish I pursued one. I dont think it would have made any impact on my earnings, just have made my life a little easier. I dont know what I am selling half the time and have had to teach myself along the way. Could not be bothered with one now, no point.

I intend to be self employed within the next 12-18 months. Made a lot of money for a lot of people over the last few years and I have enough money put aside to cover my personal expenses for 5 years without an income. So I am going to be doing my own thing.

As for this economic climate? Good sales people never go hungry. I made more money in the last 3 months then I did the same period last year in the middle of the boom. But a sales job is never secure. You are only as good as your previous quarter. I have seen sales people who doubled their annual target the year before sacked because they only hit 30% of their target the following year.

Its also a thankless job. Very few people in management have the faintest idea of what it takes to develop relationships with people and keep them buying. They also dont understand how their fantastic business plans and product concepts may make perfect sense on paper yet fail to sell in the open market. Its always a lack of skill or laziness on the salesmans side, never a service or product that holds little value.

Would take my job over most others though. Compared to corporate jobs of course.