What Careers Do You Guys Have?

[Engel]

i'm a software developer ... been doing it as long as or longer than many of you have been alive, 23 years now. my company (softmed) makes systems to help medical records departments of hospitals. we were recently bought by 3m.

i graduated from georgetown university with a bs in computer science. i worked there full time while i was going to school part time, so the tuition was free.

if you get a full time job working at a university, they will often pay your tuition if you can get accepted as a student. of course, you then have to juggle working full time and taking classes part time, but, well, there is no free lunch, as they say.

if i became a contractor, i could probably charge $125 per hour, but then i'd have to travel alot more and that is not what i want to do right now. maybe after the kids go off to college ...

the pay is pretty good (i make $135K), the hours are good, the work environment is pretty stress free, and i can work from home on days like today when the roads suck because of snow.

Im sure the money is good, but how is the amount of work you have to do?

Reason I ask is I was going for systems analyst, but then I realized I would be bored out of my skull doing that all day, I switched from CIS to CS and im looking into computer forensics but it is a specialized field and maybe a little harder to find a job at first.

I wish I could just try them all for a week

 

[Kevin R.]

I am attending Ohio University as a Freshman and am going Business, just undecided as to which part right now.

Yes, it is a big party.

 

[BlackVert]

Im sure the money is good, but how is the amount of work you have to do?

Reason I ask is I was going for systems analyst, but then I realized I would be bored out of my skull doing that all day, I switched from CIS to CS and im looking into computer forensics but it is a specialized field and maybe a little harder to find a job at first.

I wish I could just try them all for a week

i seldom have to work late or weekends, and there aren't many challenges left, so it is not very intellectually stimulating. programming used to be my passion, but over the years, the passion waned, and now it is mostly just a job that pays the bills.

my passion these days has moved more to music and building high performance engines. i still have a few years to wait though because my kids are not in college yet, so i don't have much free time at this stage of my life.

that is why i tell people now that when i grow up i want to work at precision-engine. for me, "growing up" now means retiring.

 

[crayonbreaking]

I'm a student art teacher in my last semester of college.

 

[DFG 5OH]

well living at home really isnt bad, i have no rules/restrictions and my parents are super cool, just dont have the extra money to pay for my college, but if i did decide to make the move to a university they would help as much as possible.

I've really been leaning twords starting my own buisness...i currently work at a screen printing shop, and the money is incredible they pull in...i might start my own...

 

[xr8d302]

Some great jobs in here!

 

[The Green GT]

Some great jobs in here!

I work at Sherwin-Williams (if you have any questions about painting your house let me know. )
And i attent the university of Louisiana @ Lafayette (ULL) anf am majoring in electrical engineering.

 

[xr8d302]

i shoot people! :SNSign:

 

[95five-oh]

I'm 19 and i just finished my first semester of college. I graduated from HS last june and didnt know if i was ready to leave yet so i went to comm. college as well, but ive already got accepted at several schools so i'm definately transferring after this year, hopefully majoring in criminal justice. Going to jr. college is smart from a financial standpoint, but you lose the entire experience of college still living with mom and dad. Its like high school with ashtrays.

 

[The Green GT]

i shoot people! :SNSign:

I wish I could do that "legally".

Man I would take out some *******s/idiots.

 

[tjh566]

i would love to do it but i dont want to die and i have a 3 month old baby and i would go nuts not seeing my baby boy grow up....



But im a union electrician...in my last year of trade school, i have a lot of training in auto parts sales did that for along time...in about 3 months, when a class opens up i will be getting into autobody and will be learning to do fab work and painting

Im a Union Electrcian too, Local 26, currently in the 2nd year of the program makin $16.23 an hour not bad for free school and PAID benifits and right out of high school

 

[GTA_V6_Mustang]

I go to BCC and I am in CAP (Daimler Chrysler College Automotive Program). Right now I work for a chrysler dealer and make about 20k but when I graduate in 2 more years I am supposed to jump up to 54k minimum. Only decieded to go with chryler because they pay very well. But after I graduate I am going on to get my degree in Automotive engineering. Thats when I can start buying the big toys for another 94-95 I plan on buying. I want to keep my current one as stock as possible.

 

[DFG 5OH]

I work at Sherwin-Williams (if you have any questions about painting your house let me know. )
And i attent the university of Louisiana @ Lafayette (ULL) anf am majoring in electrical engineering.

hey thats what i was leaning twords if i went to a university...EE...how do you like it, are the classes hard?

 

[vp6799]

This is true, and I do own more then one house (however its a rented two a nice couple) and that inturn puts a positive cash flow back into my pocket. Owning rental homes isn't easy! you've got to be able to read people and weed out the dead beats to make it work. One thing everyone needs to remember the more you make the more they take (goverment). Other then taking a few trips a year you wouldn't think that we pull in the $$$ that we do (wife works full time too) so combined we do quite well. We don't drive BMW's, don't live in a flashy new home either. Both of us came from lower income homes growing up so we both know the value of a dollar. And hopefully I'll retire @ 55 with a 7 figure nest egg, at least thats the game plan.

Man are you right with the goverment. Just last week's pay, they grabbed $210 for the Federal tax. Plus another $105 for the state tax, and medicare + social security taxes. They grabbed a total of about $430 just in taxes from me.

I started at the power plant last May and in 7 months I made 52K. Subtract about 14K from that for taxes.

I need to get stuff to start claiming for tax purposes, AKA kids bang, or property (house or land). I hate Taxes...crapola

Money doesn't bring me happiness, it brings me security and peace of mind.
Once my bills all paid off and I have enough saved to retire, then it will bring me happiness while i'm retired. Although by then, they will probably have virtual strip clubs so i'll save some money there....

 

[Iamapil0t]

I go to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona. I'm studying to be an airline pilot (Southwest, here I come!).

Right now, I'm a student, so I don't work much during the school year (Plus pay in AZ sucks). Right now, I'm waiting on my interview for a commision sales position at Sears, but I do most of my work in the Summer. During the summer, I work for Vector Marketing doing commission sales. During the 3 months that I worked last summer, I made just over $500 a week.

When I graduate next year, I'll have my BS Aeronautical Science and a minor in Aviation Weather and another one in Business Administration. I'll most likely won't be making the big buck right after graduation as a flight instructor (maybe 25k-35k/year). But I know once I get my flight hours built up and move on to the majors, flying bigger aircraft, the salaries soar well past the $100k/ year mark. The hardest thing is just getting that far without getting furloughed (laid off) in the process.

As far as getting rich, it's a lot about living BELOW your means. Check out this book called "The Millionaire Next Door", by Thomas Stanley and William Danko.

 

[DocZG]

Going to a Jr. College is an awesome idea if your strapped for cash. From my experience at UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) the community college students usually have better knowledge than the UTSA students do. A lot of people take all the classes they can at the comm college and then transfer if they have a good enough GPA.

A university is not all about parties..... Wait till you get to your Jr. and Sr. year and you will not be saying that.... ESPECIALLY if you have a techical major (engineering, physics, bio, etc.) Sleep is worth its weight in gold come finals time

Im right now going for a BS in Mechanical Engineering or maybe Biomedical Engineering, and strongly thinking about getting my BS in Physics and Math aswell because its only like 18 more hrs on top of a ME degree. If you plan on goin to anything Engineering you better like math cuz you will eat, sleep, and ***** it untill you retire.

Also as stated before do a job you first and foremost enjoy, and if it makes good money thats awesome then. So many people quit their majors in their 3rd year because they hate the work, and then have to start over. Even worse when you get the degree and then quit your high paying career because you hate it. You dont even need to go to college to make awesome cash....you can go work on an oil rig and start at like 60k a year.

Peace
Zach

 

[ProKiller]

Our company just went live with custom SAP software and it's been awful. We hardly got any training and everyone is basically just learning as we go. It's getting better, but the last three weeks have been a mess.

that doesn't suprise me one bit. That does seem to be the SAP way. It will get better though, trust me. after a couple months, you won't know how you lived without it.

as they say around here "SAP is SAP's biggest customer." we have to try everything before we sell it, so basically we get the crappiest beta versions to work with...

 

[Killercanary]

During the summer, I work for Vector Marketing doing commission sales. During the 3 months that I worked last summer, I made just over $500 a week.

LOL! I briefly worked for vector marketing too when I was in college selling cutco knives. What a racket that was! I quit after about 3 weeks and went back to working in the coal mines making $17/hour. I mentioned working for them on my first interview after college and the manager laughed about them too, it served as a good ice breaker if nothing else! I'm glad you are able to make a go at it, maybe things have changed in the last 10 years with them. When I worked there you were only allowed to sell to family and friends and then only to people they referred you to, there was no cold calling allowed. Looking back it was a smart strategy on their part as they had all of these college kids selling to their families so they felt obligated to buy, after a little while your leads dry up and they hire someone new.

 

[Black95GTS]

hey thats what i was leaning twords if i went to a university...EE...how do you like it, are the classes hard?

Yes. I hope you like Math and late nights. Chemical Engineering and Electrical Engineering were known as the two hardest majors at my college. Chemical engineers tend to make a bit more.

I can do all kinds of high math but if I look at a chemical reaction.. I start doing this:

To the guy that was thinking of getting his degree in math, its really not worth it. If you already have an engineering degree the math degree isn't going to get you more money. If you want to get another Bachelor's, get a business or economics degree. Or go for your electro-mechanical.

Adam

 

[Adam95GT]

Im still a chem major at richard stockton college of new jersey... but only thing that makes it hard is complex organic synthesis... other then that its easy