I graduated with degrees in marketing/graphic design.
Ended up in a sales job (making excellent money), but hated feeling like I was cheating people out of their money.
Hated working in an office. Hated the business mindset and felt like it was eating me from the inside out.
I walked out and never looked back.
I'm a journeyman carpenter now.
I build houses, custom homes, apartment buildings, bridges and viaducts (the concrete forms), churches, etc.
I work outside in the sun all day and the things I help create live on for many, many years and people enjoy them.
I make a lot less money now, but I'm much happier, in much better shape mentally and physically, and every few days the scenery changes. :)
Oh, and I get the winter months (mostly) off, from that job at least :X
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Really... Piece of mind, personal satisfaction and sense of achievement matters a lot.
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Definitely, bro! Any day you can't wake up with a smile on your face is a day not worth a damn. ;)
Glad to see you found something you enjoy, too. It's pretty rare these days.
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Wow, that's some change! It seems like you have a great philosophy too. How did you get into carpentry?
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I was in line at a convenience store buying coffee, and the guy in front of me was talking to the clerk asking if she knew anyone who was looking for work. I was.
He was a contractor for a construction company. Joined the union as an apprentice, been with them ever since. It's strange sometimes the places life takes us , eh? :)
Good luck on your promotion by the way, and it's awesome that you've found something you love doing. It definitely makes the days easier. :)
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That seems incredibly serendipitous! You've got to wonder if it was your destiny ;)
And thank you! Even though I'm not using my degree (although I use all the "soft skills", as they like to call them), I made incredible friends and met my wife during my studies, so it was definitely worth the detour to get where I am now.
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And I thought such things only happen in movies!
That's good though.
Also it's great that you are enjoying it!
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I'm a little confused. You went to learn marketing but felt bad for cheating people out of money. No offence, but this kinda fits the "if you become a whore, expect to be fucked" bill.
By the way, carpentry is a nice job. Sometimes a bit way too underappreciated, at least around here.
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Long story short -- I wanted to go to school for art (illustration), parents wanted me to go to school for business. Marketing/graphic design was the compromise, and since they were helping with some of the tuition (which I sorely needed), yeah ...
The original plan was to go into advertising -- things don't always work out as we plan, though.
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I did my bachelors in Telecommunications Engineering. Got my first paid internship as a graphic designer. Got my first job in a mobile service provider company as a software developer. Switched jobs and went to a software house as a QA engineer. Switched job again to pursue something that I wanted since last 5 years: now I am an Air Traffic Controller.
Btw I am also a freelance illustrator.
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Are you the Ash Ketchum of careers? :D
What are things that you liked and didn't like about your jobs?
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The internship was a fun experience. I was working for a politician so had all sorts of work to do.
My first job was OK. The work was very interesting, the colleagues were not very cooperative and the work environment was not very good. The pay was OK since it was my first job but the financial growth was completely abysmal so that is why I decided to move on to change my career.
My second job was good. I was very happy with the company and its policies. 100% free medical with no bullsh*t questions asked whatsoever. Colleagues were super nice. The pay was good. The increments were exceptional. I got a promotion after a year. But the work timings were a big issue. We had no fix time of leaving the office and we were often called on Saturdays or Sundays or both. And the final nail in the coffin was when my team was changed and I was thrown into permanent afternoon shift which went on from 2pm to 12 midnight or 1am. I really struggled to give my family enough time due to this.
So 1 day I found a newspaper ad for vacancies for ATC. I ended up getting selected for the 7 month training and now I am here. The job is super fun. We get paid to give orders to pilots xD It gets stressful some time but every day is a new experience. The best thing are the timings. We work in day, afternoon and night shifts 3 consecutive days and then we get 2 days off :) and the pay is really good!
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The timings of your second job sound really bad.
It's great that you like your current job (and the pay :P)
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I feel really blessed for having this job. You should apply for it in your country if you ever see an advertisement and if you have slightest of interest in aviation.
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I haven't seen an advertisement for it (yet)... I don't think I would be qualified though.
I don't know what I am interested in though ._.
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I'm really happy you like the job so much. Working for ATC is always said to be one of the most stressful jobs there is. Is that true? Or is it normally fine with some exceptional moments of high stress?
I live near my city's airport and there is a huge community of aviation fans - people who park by the airport to watch take offs and landings, people who listen in on the tower broadcasts, etc. Does that sort of thing exist everywhere?
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Where I live, the morning and night shifts are very hectic and stressful. The morning shift is hectic because of all the departures and arrivals at the local airports and on top of that there are active restricted regions where planes are not allowed to fly during certain timings. The night shift is hectic due to the transit traffic that flies overhead our FIR (Flight Information Region). By the way, I work at the radar where we deal with the traffic that is flying through our region. So in short, the job has its stressful moments.
As far as city's airport being crowded to see the aircraft departure and arrivals, there isn't much of a trend. And there are only about 50 arrivals and departures at our aerodrome.
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Have you had any brown-pants moments you would like to share with us? I'm fascinated by how much responsibility you have.
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Never had such a moment. It's only been a little more than a year for me since I joined this field. Everyone do have such moments and probably multiple times.
But since I have joined there has been a crash landing (not on my duty), an engine failure and subsequent emergency landing, and an aircraft that was unintentionally lined up to land on a highway that was parallel to the runway and thereafter had to abort the landing on the approach controller's observation. The latter two happened in my duty but the aircraft were in the jurisdiction of the approach controller.
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I can imagine how stressful it gets. Since I'm near the busiest airport in the country (small by international standards, I'm sure) I can see the planes at night lining up to take their landing spots from my bedroom window and there's rarely more than a few minutes between them. It definitely seems like a job where you can't daydream!
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I wanted to study medicine and since I was like 10 years old or so I was learning to achive my goal. And I've even maanaged to qualify but only for paid studies (don't know how it is in other countries but in mine you qualify for paid or not-paid studies). Unfortunately (or how it turned out later fortunately) my family didn't have so much money to pay for my studies and I had to choose something else. I finished studies but as Paramedic. Meanwhile I was on Philosophy studies for one year. I've worked whole 2 months in hospital then I had to resign as this was not a job for me - I knew it and my employer knew it. I ended up working in a bar but that's not what I'd like to do neither. Guess I still have to wait for my lucky plot-twist :)
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It'll come, I'm sure. I presume since you didn't like the hospital work that you don't want to pursue medicine anymore. Do you have something else in mind now?
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No, I don't see myself working in a hospital anymore for many reasons :) The thing that kills me the most is I don't really know what to do with myself for the first time since I was 10 :/ I always knew I wanted to be physician and it didn't work out and now I'm out of ideas. This really drives me insane sometimes.
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Everyone thinks they need a "career", but sometimes you just need a job. There's nothing wrong with working at whatever while you work out what you want. Sometimes those jobs can help you work it out faster too. They make you say "I hate this" or "I'm good at this". And no one has a job for life any more like our parents' generation - it's pretty common for people to change careers in their 40s and 50s now, so never feel like it's too late to get into something you're passionate about.
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These are some inspirational words, my friend. Thank you :)
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Editted.
Just in a stupid job which makes me depressed!
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You're just going to have to trust me when I say this --if a lowly loser piece of shit like me (or like I was, I guess?) can turn his life around, anyone can.
Your time just hasn't come yet. Stick around, because it will. ;)
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I guess you know this too but I can't really believe anything will get better... I don't think I even have any hope anymore x3
I brought this on myself, I don't blame anyone about it :/
Thanks though!
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I agree with Tzaar. It sounds like you've had a rough time but it won't always be this way. Have you long left with your current company?
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6~7 months more... I can leave earlier but will need to pay 3 months' salary =x
The company seems to be collapsing though, yay!
But, people used to say the company only exists to convert black money to white money so I am not sure about that ._.
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In the grand scheme of things, 7 months isn't that long. While you're in the middle of it it seems like all there is, but the fact that you have an end point is great - it can't last forever.
What do you hope to do afterwards?
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I miscalculated, it's actually 8 months. Your point still stands though.
I am not sure actually, the few options I think I have are
- Change field, but I don't know what I can get into, I don't really have any skill that I can rely on. I have just been thinking forever but can't really think of anything that I can do :/
- Look for a job in the same field but at a lower pay because I learned close to nothing, keeping the pay aside.. barely any "nice" company
- Try doing things on my own, risky but less mental stress... rather, different kind of stress at least
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It's very hard when you're in a rut like that to see a path forward.
In my own situation I got very depressed and convinced myself that I wasn't able for anything. To an outsider I'm obviously an educated person - good degree, multiple merit-based scholarships - but I had convinced myself that I couldn't do even the simplest of jobs. And then with the recession I was applying for dozens of jobs with a good CV and tailored cover letters and was getting nowhere, so that made it worse.
I ended up taking this job because it's the first one I was successful at interview at and it worked out lucky that I turned out to be good at it and that it made me realise that I have lots of skills not related to my degree that I can use. For example, my colleagues think I'm a genius because I know things like ctrl+F, copy and paste, etc., and I'm reasonably proficient in Microsoft Office. Those are things I took for granted before. This job has also helped me to get really good at talking to people, making small talk and helping people to feel at ease. That is more important than you would think.
So even though you think you haven't learned anything, you probably have picked up quite a few things that you don't even consider important. And there are resources like CodeAcademy and the like to help if you're interested in development or improving your skills that way.
And remember there's no shame in doing a "menial" job that doesn't further your career. Everyone has to eat and pay their bills. Just try to do something that gives you freedom to think.
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I applied to plenty before I got the current job. I did get through in two others but the requirement was inhuman.
The only thing I think I can manage to do may not even be a legit job, the advertisements are always so fishy!
(Converting image to text)
I was actually thinking yesterday that you are pretty good with conversations.
Although I think of learning/improving something, with the little time I have (roughly 2 hours of awake time at home.. not counting eating, getting ready, etc.) and my state of mind I manage to not do anything productive (or sometimes I practically do nothing!)
I don't think I am even qualified for the so called menial jobs xP
I wouldn't mind doing them if it only involved me and not the people dear to me =x
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It sounds like you're in quite a tight situation, especially when working a six day week. Small steps can lead to big changes, though. When I was unemployed I had to use a list system to ever get anything done because I was so demotivated and depressed. I even wrote lists about house work. My list would be things like:
- empty the dishwasher
- fill the dishwasher
- buy groceries
- put away groceries
- have a shower
- spend 1 hour looking for jobs
- apply to one job
- play computer games for 1 hour
It sounds stupid - even that I would have to put "put away groceries" after "buy groceries", but that's how low I felt. I needed the satisfaction of ticking off small things, bit my bit, to make me feel like I was achieving anything with my day.
So perhaps you could also start small with making changes in your life. Maybe every Friday you'll check what jobs are out there. Or look for extra classes you can take, etc. Anything to help you feel like you're taking control of your situation.
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I ran into people suggesting lists a lot so tried it myself before... It was rather depressing.. I was more worreid about the ones which were not done yet and didn't care about the ones which were.
I do look at the jobs available, although only online... That doesn't turn out well either.
Sorry, I know you are trying to help and I thank you for that but I do not want to discuss this any further, especially on a public forum. Also, I already regret making the first post it self.
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Try for an MNC BPO. Its a tough job but you will find like minded people and enjoy the work as well
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I know someone who doesn't enjoy it at all...
Also, I am sort of afraid of speaking with people...
Thank you for the advice though! :3
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You are talking on the phone and not face to face, so its different and you will be more at ease.
If you ask anyone. 90% of the crowd would not be happy with what they do, its in our nature to not be satisfied.
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Since you shared why you feel unsuccesfull maybe I shuld too
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There are other things that make me unsuccessful but I don't think people would like reading about all of it (nor am I sure if I can write xD) BUT, you should share! (unless you really don't want to =x )
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You're here and able to post. That means you're something. Maybe not what you thought you'd be, but something nonetheless.
Never believe you're nothing ;)
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I studied mechanical engineering and eventually dropped out because of the electronics line of classes were too complicated for me.
Now I write technical documentation on telecommunication equipment… ^.^'
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Since I spent a lot of time trying to get the same job after I was downsized, I can say that I think I do.
Although I have to admit, the part where I was editing spare part catalogues for trucks was better for me and even now I'm in a double job (telecommunications and truck service information).
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I have to admit that I never really thought about the fact that it's somebody's job to write all the instruction manuals that come with everything.
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It's a lot more beyond that. Instructions manuals would actually be significantly below our pay grade and skills. (Not that we are that well-paid…) The companies I work(ed) for rarely even take such jobs since those are almost cost as much to set up as the pay itself (although my current one is doing such a project for a global-scale customer).
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It sounds interesting. Do you need a detailed understanding of each thing you write up?
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Restaurants, dishwasher - doing sidework for cooks
Cleaning at a dementiahospital
Linework Potatofarm, bag 10k sacks and sealed (thats right, potato)
General cleaning at a paper shredding company
Self-employed cut greens (no, not those greens)
Work in a large retail store
Serve at a tennisclub
Harbourwork - dockworker
Linework - slaughterhouse
Linework - chocolate factory
gas pump employee
painting & construction (self-employed)
currently combining two educations, a general education + specialized chemistry (petro)
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So many!
Good luck with the education! :D (Unless I got it wrong.. in that case, sorry...)
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That's a decent collection of jobs! Anything you especially liked or didn't like?
What do you hope to get from your education?
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I always cried when working in Dementiahospital, it's a really depressing disease...
Serving in tennisclub was ok but I hate posh people
I REALLY liked the painting (15-20€/hour!!)
I hope to get a better understanding of life and it's buildingblocks so that in turn I might understand myself better.:)
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Dementia is an awful disease. It's very hard to watch your loved one disappear. I wouldn't be able to work in a job like that.
Ha, tennis is so posh. I find a certain type of posh person very hard to be around too.
Best of luck with the education. I hope you enjoy it.
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Once Ive got a psychological degree in University and now Ive been working as a shift technician at a sporting palace for 10yrs)))
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I sometimes think I should have pursued Psychology (Although I would not have managed to qualify) but that's a very bad profession over here (or so I think). =x
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Do you like it?
It seems to me that a psychology degree doesn't get a lot of people where they think they're going - they think they'll end up in a clinical set up but the vast majority of graduates end up working elsewhere. Did you have similar expectations?
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I had to go to the army service for 1,5 yrs when I was 18 so the only good way out seemed to get an education - that's really the main reason I studied at all! ) And yes, to practice as a psychological specialist you need not only the base courses but also a bunch of sertificates in narrow branches - that's the way to success, and I wasn't motivated enough.. But still I've learnt a lot about psychosomatics and eventually got to practicing yoga, which helps me greatly in maintaining more or less healthy life!))
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That's great. I used to think yoga was a bit nuts but a few people I know have taken it up and they all seem so centred. Maybe it's time I tried it out.
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If you suffer from scoliosis it is the only radical cure, I also almost got rid of migraine attacks, occasional gut pains and some other strange symptoms of neural nature but it demands persistance throughout years and maybe decades, it's not a quick path! I practice it for more than 10 years and Im almost able to stand on hands and do splits, but it was not easy (I was very unfit in the younger age), and there is still much to accomplish!)))
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Finished college standart school, wen't to universtiy on "computer software" dropped out, While at it, started to host a show on MTV "Anime Forum", started to work later on MTV at the desk for 5 yrs and moved up the ladder... Was a Scheduling and Programming Assistant at MTV, later on "SciTech TV" Scheduling and Programming Executive until a motherf** a*hole came and I left my job. Started to work as a "Video Editor & Curator" on a "sports News Website" ... Now I'm working as an Export Specialist, have slowed the pace of my life a little.
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could you expand on the ahole part? What made the person so bad, and why'd you leave your job?
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could tell you alot of things but lets just leave it that way... Could be that he was an a**hole but there are still things like "privacy policy" in which I believe..! at least sometimes =)
Actually the fun part wasn't that. The fun part was that when I was working as a "Video Editor & Curator" on a "sports News Website" we didn't get paid for 8 months =) Came out later on the court that "the main boss "of the company has fooled us all and ran away with the hole income =)
Had some miserable time..!
But hopefully things look like they're going to better ;)
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Do you miss your previous work? How do you find your current job?
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Well, yes. I do miss my job. But to be honest, there are 2 fact to that.
- In one way, I miss actually the crew I was working with... Had some wonderful mentors who thought me well about the job, (still seeing and meeting after all those years) wonderful co-workers which with some of them we had to spend 24hrs together when there was a festival or something that kind. People with whom, by any shitty reason after that much of working hours you could fight about something... but as soon as the job is done you could go and grab an after-work-beer...
- we had and still have some shitty events going on with censoring broadcasts! And that's why people like me -mostly- are not able/or don't want to work in the industry anymore...
Regarding my new job:
Well, it's nice =) Kinda slow paced after the "Television Market" but it has its ups =) Earning money, trying to get back on track=) Hope everythings gonna be ok =)
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I didn't see the actual jobs coming, or that I'll make a career working at failed startups, but I'm still a software developer as could have been predicted 40 years ago. Still, it was (and still is) mostly quite an interesting career, including working on an MMORTS, an AI chip, a many core CPU, ...
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Do you find it hard to keep up with the changes in your field? I would imagine it's a job that has changed significantly since you started.
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The "field" is rather vast, and I can't imagine keeping up with all the changes in it. It's like most jobs, you learn what you need for what you do, and find jobs that match your knowledge and interest. So sure, some things change, but I know people who make a decent living in the field with 30 year old technology.
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That's interesting to know. My sister is a dev and says she feels under enormous pressure to learn more languages and keep up to date. It could be that she's pushing herself to be hypercompetitive when she doesn't need to.
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It could also depend to an extent on what field exactly she develops in, and the work market in the particular country or area, but really I think that it's more valuable to have expertise in a field than keep chasing new things in general (learning new things in your particular field is good and expected). In particular I feel that learning new languages is not necessary, unless you're in a particular field where the language-du-jour changes every few years, such as web server side programming. You need to know that you're capable of learning a new languages and libraries more than learn them. My wife is also a dev and has worked in recent years in C#, Visual Basic, Java and Javascript. She had no real problem getting into them.
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I need track this but i need sleep, someone tick this in almost 10 or 12 hours, thanks
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Well life is strange I guess, it's good as long as you are happy :)
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Pusheen!
Yeah, it took my mum a long time to accept that I wasn't going to be Dr. Snugglor, but recently she has realised how happy I am and she's coming around. I'm 30, by the way. I didn't think I'd still be having to justify my life choices to my mother, but I guess that never really goes away!
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Hmm.I have a degree in Fine Arts and Majored in Advertising, I used to be a Graphic Artist for a famous local radio station but things took a turn and now I'm a tech-support/escalation agent for a telecom company. Could be worse but I'm thankful I still have a job.
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That's a good attitude to have. I think a lot of the time there's a huge focus on career and people having great jobs (and I personally know someone who chose to stay unemployed rather than choosing a job that was "beneath" him), but sometimes you just need something to pay the rent and keep food on the table. It's part of life and hopefully in the future you'll be able to find something you really enjoy.
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Yeah, work is work, money is money, and since we're all on steam, we have a habit (should I say addiction?) to feed haha
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I'm still studying, though it's something I would have never guessed I would study... But my father may have interesting job change? He used to be car mechanic and he ended up owning art gallery and framing art pieces. And snake skin. And cannon balls. So that's kind of interesting.
Well, you can't really plan your life, huh.
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I totally did not expect cannon balls, an interesting change indeed (not just the cannon balls).
Most people still plan their life, but I guess it never goes according to the plan.
Good luck with yours though!
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Wow, that's pretty interesting! How did that come around? Did he always have an appreciation for art?
Best of luck with your studies :)
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Degree in Mechanical Engineering w/ Nuclear Technologies.... IT Enterprise Systems Administrator.
Success in life is doing your hobby and finding a way to get paid (well) for it.
=)
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I didn't know degrees in nuclear technologies existed, but then again I live in Ireland where we have no nuclear power, so why would such a field of study exist here?
How did you make the transition?
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I was a Navy Nuc...basically we operate the nuclear reactors that power US aircraft carriers and submarines. The training for this rating involves a lot of school, and gives a lot of college credit which I turned into a degree. As for my transition, IT/computers/technology has always been a hobby/passion since high school so I just went back to what I loved. There is a lot to be said about not dreading waking up to go to work in the morning.
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When I worked at NASA the U.S. Navy offered me a direct commission as an O-4 to become a part of the Naval Nuclear Power School. (For a few years I thought I had made a mistake in not accepting the position (it would have been a cut in pay and responsibility.) But then I eventually left NASA for the KSA and after Operation Desert Storm started a whole new career that was lucrative).
What was so funny about this when I was in High School one of the fields I wanted to study was Nuclear Physics. I applied for a Nuclear Research Grant but I received a Computer Research Grant. lol Funny how your career or educational choices are sometimes made for you despite your plans.
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I was the laziest student in the class. And now I teach other lazy students. ԅ(≖‿≖ԅ)
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Haha... Do you like teaching the lazy students? :P
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Well, at least they make my work partially easier. As lazy as they are, they tend to make fewer requests and complaints, and I don't have to give them much homework because they ain't gonna do it anyways.
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For some reason I imagine you as Yukari from Azumanga Daioh.
Do your friends or family ever remark that it's strange you ended up as a teacher?
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Oh come on, I'm not that clumsy and dense. But I'm as hot-headed as her though. Students should look out :3
Well, I came from a long line of teachers: my parents, my two aunts, one of my uncles, and several cousins work as teachers in various subjects, so none ever remarks that it's strange for me to be a teacher.
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I teach English. But "English" here is divided into different subjects, e.g. Basic English lv. 1, 2, 3; Academic English and ESP (for students majoring in English Language), Business English (for students majoring in economics), etc.
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Interesting. Is there a big demand for learning English? Are there other popular languages that people study where you are?
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The government (Ministry of Education) has just enacted a law that requires every students to achieve at least B1 in the PET test, equivalent to ~450 in TOEIC, or other certificates for other languages to graduate, so the demand for English is huge.
Here, English is dominant. The second most popular is Chinese, because we have some history and part of our culture in the feudal period under China's influence. A few other popular languages are French, Korean, Japanese, German, and Spanish.
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i went to college for a masters in marine biology. ended up with an associates in art. a lot of stuff happened in between.
then after working as an interpretive naturalist at a local educational aquarium/rainforest greenhouse/museum (mostly, i was there to make sure people didnt touch stuff they werent supposed to, like the monkeys), a pizza maker (was a hellish job, my manager was a sexist jackass who was training an even more sexist jackass to replace him), a saleswoman at a kid's clothing store, and (currently) a cashier at a craft store, i saved up enough money to become a registered dental assistant.
currently looking for work in that field. i'm kind of interested in oral surgery, but i think i just want to start out as an assistant at a general dentistry office first.
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That's a pretty roundabout route. It got you to where you are now, though, so that's not bad.
Do you think people in general are made to choose a career too young or with too little life experience?
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i think so. you've got all these high school teachers and advisors pushing teens to know what they're going to do before they leave school, and then you've got the teens who think that they'll be perfect at their chosen major and therefore dont need to study. or worse, they start studying for their major and realize they dont like it as much as they thought they did when they were in high school. its just setting people up for failure.
i honestly think its better to work for a year in retail or something between high school and college. first year of college is just a review of high school anyway, and working a crap job helped me figure out what i really wanted to do (so that i'd never have to work a crap job again).
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I agree wholeheartedly. A bit more time and experience would mean much fewer people would waste time doing things they don't like.
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i wanted to be a scammer and ended up giving away games here.
it didn't work out as planned. ;_;
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trained as a teacher. realized you didn't actually teach knowledge, you taught them how to pass a test. made a VERY significant life decision and along with that change became a librarian.
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That is an important distinction. I had a seasonal job a few years running working as a biology tutor with students preparing for their school-leaving exams and the idea of keeping knowledge back because it wasn't on their course and wouldn't earn them any points just felt so wrong.
How do you find working as a librarian?
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Love it. I connect with different kinds of people every day and also get to be more of myself. Recommending books to people that they have never even heard of is awesome.
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I've heard a lot of people say that they think libraries will become defunct in the future but my local library is busier than ever - have you found that? It offers a lot of services apart from book and film loaning - classes, children's reading groups, support for older people getting used to technology, etc.
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I think libraries of pre-internet days are over. the ability to get books is a lot easier and faster plus you can still get them for free through pirating. also the need to go and do research in a library is not needed unless it is archived material.
i think the modernization/regression to something with more of a community or information center has kept them vital.
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You do teach them knowledge, it's just that most don't retain it. Which is fine because there's no point in overburdening the brain with knowledge that's not useful. A small percent of students will retain the knowledge and build on it in the future, and this is what you should care about.
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I didn't goto college and now I'm unemployed and... wait what was this thread for again?
TL;DR: I'm a bum.
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I have dropped out of the University a month before finishing my studies, was quite heartbroken; found a job as a phone customer support in a satelite TV company but left two months later cuz I did not like it. After four months of unemployment I am currently working as a customer support (written) in a company which develops games for iOS and Android (today is my 3rd day) and so far I am quite happy. I am hoping to gain experience here and possibly move to a more creative job in the company (something to do with development).
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It's great to have your foot in the door and you have a great positive attitude. It's not easy to leave your studies behind, but you can always hope to return in the future if it's what you really want.
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Started my adult life as a janitor (something that tend to surprise a lot of people, often when I mention it to someone who know me IRL but who have not known me for a long time they'll at first think I was trying to pull their legs), now I'm a chemical engineer.
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Wow! What sort of work does a chemical engineer do?
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That's a surprisingly hard question to answer.The work I've done thus far have been designing a facility that would be able to handle all organic waste produced on Åland and turn it into bio-fertilizers and during Autumn/winter, I've been going through the explosives used by one government body, making sure that they are as environmentally friendly as possible.
But that's just what I've been doing, a chemical engineer can do a lot of different things, from designing chemical industries, to analyzing water samples, to trying to create new kinds of paper to working with government legislation, it's really one of those kinds of engineers that can work almost anywhere.
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I guess I should have realised that - you could be working in anything from petrochemicals to cosmetics! It sounds like the sort of job where you should always be able to find work. Is that the case?
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Competition is a bit stiff right now, as a very large company decided to cut most of their research recently, so there are a lot of chemical engineers looking for jobs. It's stabilizing, but it will take some time before it's back to how it should be.
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Hopefully it will. Here in Ireland when school kids are doing their university applications there is always a lot of talk about "Do science! The government are trying to attract more jobs! We need to be competitive!", but what they neglect to say is that by 'science' they really mean 'chemistry'. Sad biology graduates everywhere.
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I started as web and graphic designer for IT offices. Worked in several projects in Brazil, such as mobile apps and funny (more like crappy) portals. Now I run my own tshirt brand and online store.
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Congratulations on starting your own business. That's a really brave step. I hope it's good for you.
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Thank you! It's not easy, and we're on our first year of busines so there's a lot of work to be done while the profits are not that much. But its good to work at home.
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Have you ended up in a job that you really didn't see coming? Let's share our stories!
Here is mine: I went to university and earned a first class honours degree in the life sciences. I went on to pursue a PhD but it turned out my supervisor was a sociopath, so after a few years I ended up quitting in order to preserve my mental and physical health. I didn't know that regular people who aren't combat veterans or victims of extreme natural disasters etc could end up with PTSD, but I ended up needing to take a year off to get my head straight. Nightmares, panic attacks and extreme unshakeable anxiety were commonplace, but luckily I have a beautiful wife who supported me through everything and worked hard to keep us ticking over financially.
After over a year out I went back to work as admin staff for a private company in a field completely unrelated to what I studied. And I'm happier than I've ever been. I've been with that company for two years now and I'm currently negotiating a promotion. I earn enough to keep my wife relaxed about her job (even though it's not much) and the nightmares are much less frequent. Looking back it seems crazy. I never thought I'd end up here.
TL;DR: Used to make genetically-modified plants for a living, now I'm a receptionist. Couldn't be happier.
Your turn!
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