Describe some of your experiences in a career?

Question

Having trouble deciding what career to major in. Describe the careers that you have had or have. Pros and cons. Salary, hours worked.....etc.

Answer 1

I'm 53 and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up!

I mostly work in the technical side of television, which is surprisingly rewarding. Financially, it has been great. Since young people today all want to be either a celebrity or the next computer billionaire, there are few young people in the technical side of television. This has smartly pushed up salaries and made it difficult to find good employees. In addition, you get to see history from the back side of a TV camera, which is an interesting position.

I also am a freelance writer, mostly on technical topics and some car-related stuff. That's a lot of fun too, but the pay is so-so and it requires a strong technical background to make it work. I like where I am and I got here without a four-year college degree.

My salary is in the $100k range, and I earn another $10k from writing and photography. I was earning $60k at age 40 and it's been strongly uphill from there.

Answer 2

Dan: Making a career selection is not a matter of conducting a survey. One good thing we have going for all of us is that very seldom these decisions are ever final...changing jobs and careers are not uncommon; to give you a survey result (dah!) it will happen six times in your lifetime. So, at this point take an introspective look at yourself...the things you enjoy doing, what feels like "no work" to you and follow that path. More times than not, you will be successful in college and in life because you are following God's call for you.

Best wishes and live with passion!

Answer 3

I have over 33 years of work history and have done a number of jobs. For over 19 years I was a software engineer. It paid well and was a challenge, I enjoyed it and it was satisfying to do the job well. On the negative side, I worked for over 19years in a series of dark boxes (cubicles and hole-in-the-wall offices), with people yelling at me that I did not read their mind and guess what they really wanting but did not say (or just yelling at me becuase they were having a bad day), and I developed tendonitis and carpal tunnel in both hands then found that after 19 years I was too old for companies to hire or employ. My advice is to have a double major in business and engineering. That combination will give you the most bang for your bucks and pretty much guarantee you life-long employment. I am now working as a social worker doing psychotherapy. People doing social work are usually hired part-time with no benefits, have to work multiple part-time jobs to try to make ends meet, and get paid really bad. It is not unusual to work at an agency for 11 hours for a days work, and only get paid for 3 hours or less. Social workers doing psychotherapy around here only get paid when the client shows up. Insurance companies now pay social workers for doing psychotherapy because they don't want to pay the higher fees that are charged by Psychologists (PhD level) or Psychiatrists (MDs). Nowadays Psychologists mostly do testing of clients and Psychiatrists monitor psychotropic medications and are allowed 15 minutes per client by the insurance companies.

Answer 4

Get a degree in what YOU want to do and go from there. I will be getting a Master's in Kinesiology, Fitness Physiology, then possibly a Phd. Too many lawyers in Vegas, if you want to go to school for an extra 4 years I would recommend Law School after your Bachelors. Then you would be on top of the world!!!

If you play the market, here is a good website for penny stock picks...

http://pennypimps.com/

Answer 5

Ok, I thought I wanted to work on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC until I did it, and then I realized that I had a degree in American Government that I was not going to use because interning in politics is way different than actually working in it full time, and I had no idea what to do next.

So I started off as a corporate concierge (sort of like a hotel concierge but in a corporate office building). It was totally fun and I loved it, but the salary was low ($24,000 per year in DC) and company was totally bottom-heavy so after 2 years, I advanced as far as I could and moved into working for a hotel.

I was a front desk agent and concierge in a 4 star hotel in DC for about 6 months, got promoted to front office manager, then they put me on the overnight shift and I had just married my husband so I never saw him! Definite Con, although I liked the job. At that point I was making about $12 per hour. I moved into the sales department as a coordinator, which was great as well. That paid about $13 per hour but the hours were M-F, 8am-6pm which suited me much better.

After a year doing that, I was promoted to convention services manager, and made about $28,000 per year. Again, loved the job and did it for 4 years (over which time my salary increased to about $32,000). Got pregnant with our daughter and convention services became too difficult due to the long hours and physical demands (helping banquet department set up rooms, carrying boxes...) so I became a sales manager.

Shortly after 9/11/01, my position was downsized so I switched hotel chains and remained a sales manager. At that point my salary was about $36,000. Since then, I have remained in sales and been transfered/promoted three times, ending with me as a senior sales manager for a number of hotels in the DC Metro area with a salary just over $50,000.

I love my job, dealing with groups who come to this area, making sales calls, giving tours of the hotels, and doing the contracting. The hotel business is hard - high pressure, high goals, lots of turnover, and you either love it or hate it. Thankfully, I love it.

I hope this helps!

Answer 6

Finished University with lots of hopes and dreams!

Took 8 months to find a job, found a good one.

I worked there for 12 months in an office. It drove me crazy. I quit and now work full-time from home.

I run websites, create websites, sell products online, and make a killing!
http://www.rich-jerks.com
http://www.e-wealthology.com

Answer 7

JOHN W. OWENS
608 Denali Drive
Arlington, TX 76002
[phone]

WORK EXPERIENCE: THE MARTIN-BROWER CO., 1350 Avenue S #100, Grand Prairie, TX
Professional Driver - 01/03 to 09/06MOperated semi-tractor trailer line haul team to deliver Fast Food products to various Mc Donald’s Restaurants. Unloading by hand frozen, refrigerated and dry goods sorted by stop using rollers and stand. Maintain consistency of tally per delivery order. Performed yard jockey duties.

CIRCUIT CITY, 3737 Duncanville Rd., Duncanville, TX 75236Home Delivery Driver - 10/01 to 01/03
Operates a city truck to deliver home theater electronics in the city and rural areas. Perform installations of electronic equipments. Performed reading of a MAPSCO to determined the best rout to customer resident’s or businesses. Heavy lifting.

M.S. CARRIERS, Memphis, TN
Professional Driver - 12/98 to 04/01
Operated a semi-tractor trailer in 48 states and Canada. Maintain daily logs within D.O.T. regulations, trip inspection of tractor trailer upon each trip. Assigned to dedicated fleet - Sears Fashion account. Unloading of fashions and placing onto clothing racks.

TANDY TRANSPORTATION, 2357 E. Long Ave., Ft Worth, TX 76137
Professional Driver - 02/98 to 11/98
Over the road driver in 48 states. Hauling a 48 to 53 foot trailer containing dry
Freight commodities.

STEVENS TRANSPORTATION, 9757 Military Parkway, Dallas, TX 75227
Professional Driver - 07/97 to 01/98
Over the road driving in 48 states. Hauling a 48 to 53 foot trailer containing dry and refrigerated commodities.

AMERISERVE/PFS FOODS, 3901 Scientific Drive, Arlington, TX Shipment Handler - 03/97 to 10/97
Loading trailers of frozen grocery.

RPS, 4901Martin St., Fort Worth, TX 76119
Package Handler - Part-time 04/96 to 02/97
Loading & unloading packages on the trailers.

SEARS REPAIR CENTER, 3231 E. Abram Rd., Arlington, TX 76010
Sales & Service Technician - 06/95 to 06/97
Servicing lawnmowers and other electronic merchandise brought in my customers for repair. Customer service duties in assisting customers with merchandise within the repair center.

CERTIFICATES: Safety Award – Martin Brower
Natl. Safety Council - Def. Driving Course Prof. Truck Driver - Martin Brower
Quality Performer 3rd Quarter/2000 - M.S. Carriers
Hazardous Materials’ Training & Testing - Stevens TransportCertificate/Completion Phase IV - 4 Wk. OTR Training - Stevens TransportCertificate/Completion Phase I OJT Training Course - Stevens Transport

SPECIAL LICENSE: Class A CDL w/Hazmat, Double & Triple Endorsement

SPECIAL SKILLS: Operated Semi-Tractor Trailer
Home Appliances and Lawn & Garden Repair

Answer 8

Im a computer Engineer. The pay is quite ok... but the hours you invest are the big downside.