Career Interview.

I’ll bite...

1. I work in law enforcement. I’m a Deputy Sheriff in my 30th year on the job currently.

2. After coming off active duty in the Army, I gravitated in this direction between friends who were already or becoming cops, and a co worker who was a retired cop and suggested the career to me. Then it was hard work to pass backgrounds, get hired, and make it thru the Academy.

3. Not too much keeps me up at night anymore, but it will usually be due to major events that happened during a shift, or certain things left unfinished that need to be completed.

4. What do I love about it? An occasional true self satisfaction of setting something right, making a real difference, or simply a job well done on certain event, lots of autonomy and discretion and not being micro managed when not working a desk job, being outside to see a day or night happen... like in the Army (which I stayed in the Guard for another nearly 20 years in the Guard) I was lucky enough to get paid for doing things that you dream of doing as a kid. It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but the bad days fade away...

what do I hate about it: dealing with certain types of folks-they can vary by age, sex, ethnicity, intelligence, education, etc. Not so much hate, but it grows old due to many factors- hate is very self destructive, and those things are beyond my control...

Auto body tech for the past 40 years.

Got into it when my Mustang got re-ended and totalled.  Bought it back and worked out a deal with a local body shop for repairs in exchange for helping him out.  Enjoyed it enough to go into it when I got out of the USAF.

Usually happens when it suddenly hits me I forgot something on a vehicle or a problem that the solution all of a sudden hits me.

Not happy doing frame work after a chain broke a link and the link ticked my hat as it went by (had about 20,000 lbs pull in two different directions at the time).  An inch lower and my head would have looked like a watermelon after being hit with a .50 slug.  Also not real impressed with newer vehicles, getting to be almost impossible to work on, since I'm not much into the high tech stuff, never had much interest in most of it.  About ready to hang it up and retire, and let the new breed take over.

On the flip side, my last 3 bosses and companies have been out of the world to work for.  Had 3 heart attacks in 2010, an ICD/pacemaker implant, so my welding days were over, but all 3 employers have bent over backwards to work with the issues and keep me around and watch over me. Was out for 3 months back then, before I was released for even light duty, and he checked on me almost daily.

I also am on a citizen's advisory council for a federal agency (BLM) here in the states, and those same three employers give me the time off to attend the meetings, usually 3-4 times a year, at 3-4 days each.

I will bite too.

1. I work in a County Mental Health Department, and do quality assurance (make sure we are complying with State regulations, and are billing appropriately).

2. I entered college to become an engineer, but my lack of skills in math ended that in short order.  Decided I wanted to get into psychology due to a fascination with human behavior.  Got my 4 year degree in psychology, and realized quite quickly that without further education, the bills were not going to get paid.  Attempted to get into doctoral programs, but didn't get any bites, so went for a graduate program, and was offered tuition paid if I got a Rehabiliation Counseling degree with the agreement of 3 years public service.

Graduated, and started the next week with the County Department, and worked for 20 years as a counselor for individuals with serious mental illness.  At that point, the State decided my degree was no longer adequate for reimbursement from insurance, and I was switched to the quality assurance department. I have been doing that for 8 1/2 years.

3. When I was doing counseling, I had difficulty sleeping on many occasions due to worrying about clients I was working with.  Since the title switch, my sleep issues are more related to not being able to "turn my brain off", but usually has nothing to do with work  (thinking about my latest modelling project, however.....).

4. Much of my job is dependent on others providing me with information, and I really hate waiting on others so I can do what I need to do.  Much of what I do is critical of others, and I have never really enjoyed that aspect.

I like most of the people I work with.  My boss is the best, and we share the same sense of humor, so this makes life a lot better when at work.  I also have some IT responsibilities (due more to interest/ability than job title), and I really like being able to solve computer issues my co-workers are having.  Makes me appear a lot smarter than I am. 

For the interest of science I'll add my peice.

1. What is your job???

Cleared Software Engineer

2.How did you get started?

Graduated college with a B.A. in History with no prior software developement experience aside from making a few simple HTML web pages on my own. Got a job as a junior software developer at a small company doing simple HTML and Photoshop things. Learned actual porgraming through on the job experience and a lot of self study of several programming languages including JavaScript and Java. After becoming comfortable with Java and Javascript I applied for another job that specialized in those languages as an associate level developer and built up a career resume from there. 

3.What keeps you up at night?

Not much it's a pretty laid back job except for the deadlines. Out of all the jobs I've had (sales, chef, teacher, invetory stockboy) This is by far the least stressfull and more rewarding.

4.What do you love/hate about your job?

Like: The job requires a lot of problem solving and a creative mind. If you like detective work and building castles (so to speak) then this is a great  job. You get to build new and innovative software solutions and when you're not building something new you get to play Shirlock Holmes and discover solutions to challenging problems.

Hate: The commute 

Here's my two cents:

1. High School Social Studies Teacher

2. Originally I was planning on getting my bachelor's in history after I got out of the Army, then getting a master's in library science so I could get a decent job as a librarian at a law firm or something like that.  There were only two schools in Michigan with a library science program and I quickly determined that driving to Detroit from Lansing every day was not going to be something I would enjoy.  I had always thought about teaching so I decided to give it a try.  After a few introductory classes I was able to spend some time in a classroom and loved it.  At that point I threw myself whole-heartedly into the program and got my teaching certificate.

3. Many of my students are under-priviledged.  When I hear about particular hardships they are going through (which are many) it can stop me from sleeping.  A lot of kids will come to me to talk and hearing about some of what they have to go through hurts.  I used to stress out over administrative observations, but not so much anymore.  

4. What I love:  Most of all it's seeing the "I got it!" look on their faces, especially when it's something they have been struggling with.  I try to inject a lot of humor and energy into my lessons, and it's great when everything goes just as planned (or better).  I also love the other teachers I work with.  I teach in a smaller school, and we're a very tight knit group.  Most of the administrators I have had were very supportive of letting us run our classrooms how we want, or creating new content.  Like how I'm able to teach a class on how to build models...

What I hate:  Grading.  It takes forever.  But I have a plan to do a lot less of it next year.  I also hate standardized testing and all the political garbage that comes with it.  Lastly, I don't like how teachers are portrayed and talked about by people that don't fully understand all we do.  Many people think they understand what it's like to be a teacher because they spent time with teachers while they were growing up, but they actually have no idea because they only saw a tiny part of what teachers really do.

1:  I'm a 3D CAD Designer for a major commercial furniture company.  In other words, I work with the engineers to create all the parts, weldments and assemblies in 3D using a program called Creo (formerly "Pro/E")

2:  How I got started:  I've always enjoyed CAD work.  I think it's why I also enjoy model building.  It's the precision, the attention to detail, the creation of something whether it's real or virtual.  I started off my professional life doing patent drafting by hand.  Got my Associate's Degree in Architecture where I learned AutoCAD.  Did CAD spaceplanning for a while.  Got another Associate's in Mechanical Design which landed me the job I have now.  I really think my Bachelor's in Urban & Regional Studies was worthless.  Never get a degree with the word "Studies" in it.

3:  What keeps me up at night?  I assume you mean job-related and the answer to that would be "nothing really".  My job is one where I can leave all my problems at my desk when I leave work at the end of the day.  I keep my work life and my personal life as separate as can be.  When I get home, my wife and kids fill me with so much joy and laughter that I forget anything and everything while I was at my desk for 8 hours.

4:  What do I love/hate about my job?  What I love about it is the technical aspect of things.  I get to see the inner workings of things and knowing that I could "sculpt" them on a computer gives me a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.  Another thing I love is that it is pretty low stress and the pay is pretty good.

What I hate about my job:  Spending days or sometimes weeks creating new parts and assembly drawings and then, after I'm all done with it, having someone give me a bit of information that was never provided at the start of the project.  This, in turn, makes me have to redo a lot of drawings and upstream assemblies.  Life would be so much nicer if engineers would give you all the information up front the first time.

Hope that helps,

Eric

I'm a now retired stock broker with 40 years of experience. I got an interview in '76 that I did well on and was offered a job despite knowing nothing about the industry or what the job entailed but it came with months of training and I needed the paycheck. Best thing I ever did. There's an amazing sense of saatisfaction when someone you've worked with for decades acheives a financial goal and acknowledges your help in getting there. The worst part is when things don't go well and sadly that happens. When a customer loses money you die a little bit. It's something you never get used to or grow to accept. As for now I couldn't be happier I'm no longer doing it because the busines is under constant attack from economic illiterates and people who have zero understanding of how free markets work. AI will soon replace much of what we do and it won't end well for the customers who will eventually find out that we actually did know what we were doing and brought real value to the table. Momma don't let your kids grow up to be brokers because the industry is doomed and the average person doesn't understand why. 

1) Spent over twenty years as a bench jeweler/goldsmith, then tried smithing pewter for five years before becoming a production manager for a military aerospace electronics firm.

2) After college and military service, I was hired on as a salesperson in a jewelry store. The jeweler they had at the time rarely showed up to work sober and she didn't get along with the rest of the staff, so my co-workers talked me into trying things out on the bench during one of her extended absences. I did well enough to catch the attention of the executives and they paid for me to study gemology. Got hired on in my current role after the company discovered that their employees could not solder silver and gold components for satellites well enough to meet contractual agreements. It was supposed to be a temporary teaching position, but here we are...

3) If I make an error working on my car, I can pull over to the side of the road and figure out where I went wrong before repairing my mistake. If something I built breaks down in-flight or up in orbit where pulling over for repairs is simply not an option, someone might be seriously injured or killed. It has to be perfect every time, or else my next job may be learning to turn big rocks into little ones in a federal penitentiary. 

4) I love that I get to work with my hands and with a group of talented people. I hate the fact that my 8th grade algebra teacher was right and that I have to use algebra every day in order to make a living. Quadratic equations are just not that much fun

I’m winding up 40 years of designing really big buildings like high rises and airports, college campuses, museums and sports arenas.

I started in a large international firm and worked there for ten years before I was invited to partner in a number of smaller practices. Chose one. Married the President, and never looked back.

I like the industry of it all, the job sites.

I didn’t like a lot of my clients, but they come and go.

German Armour

1. What is your job???

Truck driver

German Armour

2.How did you get started?

I "floated" from job to job up untill I was thirty. I got married, and was about to have a child. That meant I was about to need more money than I had ever made before. I got a job at the Portland International Airport as a "Lot Attendant" The job duity's included, driving people around to help them find their car ( we had 4 parking lot's spread out over 4 mile's) I would also help with "jump starting "car's that had sat there for too long. Some of my dutie's took me into "Secure" area's of the airport ( the Air National Guard was part of the airport ,so I got to see some "COOL" plane's up close.) A posistion driving parking lot buses opened up, and since I already had security clearence, I moved up the "food chain". 

A car accident in 2000 changed EVERYTHING !!!

From April 2000 , untill September 2002, I was at the mercy of ,Doctor's ,Lawyer's, and Insurance adjuster's ( AKA   those "Dirty Rotten  Blankety Blank Blank's " !! ) After two year's of suffering thru All this , and a Divorce / Bankruptcy, I Finally got my settelment and paid EVERYBODY off. ( I was left homeless By all of this. Apperently if you want to "Rent " an apartment, you need proof that you have a job , and can pay the rent..... they dont care that you now have two fist-full's of cash.)

I used the little cash I had left and "Killed two bird's with one stone". I bought a Hearse.

I needed a car, and a place to live . The Hearse fit the bill. Me and my cat Max, lived in that Hearse for six month's , before I finally got another job. Driving truck's , cross country.

I worked at this trucking company ( Name withheld.... to protect the "Innocent" ?) from Sep 2002 , untill 2010. While working there , I met my Now Wife ( I "sexually Harrased" her.... and she "Grabbed" me !!!) We decided to move in July 2010.

I will spare you all the "stuff " that we went through during our next 3 move's but we wound up in Douglas AZ. I now drive Cement truck's , and I'm home every night.

German Armour

3.What keeps you up at night?

I worry that my Wife will figure out "New and Improved" way's of spending money.

German Armour

4.What do you love/hate about your job?

I love the fact that I'm sorta my own boss. I dont have to do too much, other than driving the truck. and occasionally interacting with the public / customer's.

I   H A T E    T R A F F I C  ! ! ! ! ! ! !  I have "Invented" several NEW Curse word's and If I'm driving with the window's down, the person in front of me / beside me / coming head-on at me ,  Get's it ALL !!!

WOW!  Big thank you for all your kind comments!!!  This is a big help for my course! 

Panther

OK, I'll bite too.

#1 - My job title when I retired in '98 after 36 years of service was Senior Lab Technician for a well known large chemical company.

#2 - When I was a junior in HS ('57), my dad took me down to the personel dept. of the company he, my grandfather, a couple of uncles and cousins worked for and said "This is my son and I want him to work here". Those were the days when Nepotism ruled. I had no choice. He was a tough old Irishman who didn't take no for an answer from his sons. The personel manager said "OK, the day you graduate, come on in and you'll start in the mailroom". Progressed through different departments and out to the refinery as unit operator then transferred to the chemical division as unit operator then into the labs as research technician. Senior technician for the last 10 years before retiring. Spent the next 6 years as a part time lab tech. for a School for Veterinary Medicine.

#3 - Nothing ever kept me awake until old age started creeping in with its accompanying aches and pains.

#4 - I loved every one of the jobs that I had. If I didn't like the job I  didn't apply for it,  I did hate one of the bosses that I had but he got what was comig to him. One day he threw my log book at me and missed. However, he didn't miss the V.P. who just happened to walk in the door at that time. The V.P. called security and he was given 10 minutes to empty out his desk. I waved goodbye to him as they escorted him out the door.

Jim  

   Aircraft Electrician, I do bench work on heavy, ( 737, 57, 47, 67, 77, 87), aircraft electrical components, no I can't wire a starship for lighting LOL,  started as ans Aircraft Electrician 30yrs ago in the Navy. Drove truck cross country for a bit.

     I know I do my job correct and legal but still get chills when an aircraft incident occures. Kinda keeps me up

 What I hate is I have to commute 138 miles one way and live in a motel for a week for my job. My wife WILL not relocate after school and nothing like my job exsists in Spokane or North Idaho.

OK, 

1. I was an electronic technician before my transplant, now I'm on disability but looking forward to getting back into the job force (looking for part time right now)

2. In the Coast Guard. The aviation field was too crowded and no room for advancment so I went for electronics. I should have stayed in aviation.

3. Nothing anymore, maybe thinking about my next build. 

4. I don't like anything about it. OK, maybe fixing a problem but I'm really not into electronics even though I have done it well for 34 years. I'm looking for a change but at 54 I don't have clue what to do next.

1. My job it's broke up into two parts chemical mill and waste water operator. Chemical mill is the removal of metal using hydrafluoric acid. This is done on titanium jet engine blades. The waste water side is the neutralising of the acid and water used in the chemical mill process through a four stage multi thousand gallon system to make it safe enough to go into the citys sewer.

2. I fell into it really my dad has been doing this job for 45 years and he had tried to train several people before me after the 3rd shift guy retired but no one could catch on. I was at a place where I was tired of working in a garage on other peoples cars so I applied and got it.

3. Nothin really keeps me up I work with great people and have the best boss anyone could ask for. He's a preacher and believes in making his own money and not having the people at the church pay for his living or housing, plus everything he does is as fair as possible to everyone on are shift.

4. Only thing I hate is the long hours it's 10 hour shifts Monday to Thursday then mandatory overtime 8 hour shift Friday and Saturday and has been that way for 4 years now. Love the people and  the ability to provide for my family

These are good stories.

GMorrison

These are good stories.

 

Yes. It’s good to see where some folks are coming from.

1. What is your job???Physiotherapist, working in a hospital.

2.How did you get started?

To make a very long story (involves an engeneering dergree, a war and 2 continents and the economic crisis) short, I was working as a personal trainer. When the company was facing bankrupcy, a client suggested to me to look into the physio colege.

3.What keeps you up at night?

My two year old daughter

4.What do you love/hate about your job?

Love: seeing patients improve and going home.

Hate: when a patient or a relative says "I Googled this condition and found..." "I read on an internet forum that the rehab should be...". Drives me up the friggin wall

Hi! I put my fork in here too.

1. What is your job???

In my primary job I´m set and prop builder in the biggest theatre in Finland.

And in the evenings I help my wife with her company also building sets and props, tricks for magicians, equipments for acrobats, costumes, restoring and building furnitures etc.

2.How did you get started?

When I was at school my teacher was asked to help build sets to Lord of The Rings play. He said that he couldn´t come, but will send three students to help. That was 30 years ago. And still feels that I´m a student 

3.What keeps you up at night?

Timetables of these kind of jobs are quite tight, so sometimes feels that I´m working 24/7. And when you are not working with something you are planing or trying to find materials for it. Still it takes time to finish those and basicly you get paid when product is ready...

4.What do you love/hate about your job?

Love? Definitely not a factory job! Every job is different with different challenges. Hate? See 3.

Thanks GA, this is helpful to me as I am wondering what I do next as I bounce around a few jobs recently.

1. What is your job???

Project Manager for the Environment Protection Agency, working on vehicle noise testing. I have been doing it for five weeks, contract finishes in nine weeks.

2.How did you get started?

At Uni did chemistry, got into a paper mill doing recycling. Worked my way through technical, operations, customer support, product development, safety, environment and technical management roles. The Mill shut down with plenty of warning and a severance. Got four years of consulting to other mills, but that work was drying up and I spent 6 months last year unemployed.

So I have been looking for roles in all areas, got this job and it is interesting but not challenging. Trying to get into sustainability positions, but it is not easy. Today talked to someone at a cosmetics factory to work on the factory floor, but I'd have to buy a car to commute, don't know if I want it, want to work in the environment sector, etc,etc

3.What keeps you up at night?

Not much about work. Used to when I was responsible for industrial safety. A heart attack ten years ago changed my perspective a bit. I do fret about getting the job I think I want, but currently I don't have the serious responsilities with work that others do.

4.What do you love/hate about your job?

The people. There are great people everywhere, and I have some lifelong friends from work.

Trying something new. In the new job, working in a new (female heavy, multi cultured) work environment after decades in manufacturing.

Don't like that this job is office based, upside is a 30 minute bike ride to and from work every day.  In the paper mills I was always up and around the place to see what was going on.

1. Retired military, but I build refrigerators for GE (in charge of putting doors on them).
2. Bored after retirement, opened up the paper to look for a Lowe's or Home Depot type part time job, saw a full page ad so I applied. Only planned on working here for six months or so, that was nearly six years ago.
3. Nothing at all. I get off work at 12:30 AM, get home about a quarter after 1 AM, shower and I'm out like a light.
4. Easy money, keeps me busy. I dislike many peoples' work ethic; absenteeism is rampant. Employee turnover when they get fired for attendance. The company's (HR) insane placement policy insures I have new people under me every month or so.

1. Storeman at a facility which cators to those held at Her Majesties pleasure. Also known as a prison.

2. After coming out of the army after 22 years i was self employed for a couple. Then got a job for a construction and maintenance company at the US airbase RAF lakenheath. When they lost the contract, i found out the same company were looking for a storeman at a local prison. having worked in stores for a couple oif years while in the army, i went for that.

3. Nowt, and certainly not work. As soon as i walk out the gate, the work day is over

4. It pays the bills/ its pretty routine and boring.

1. CAD/PLM Systems Administrator. Basically, I'm an IT guy who specializes in computer assisted design and engineering applications.

2. I friend of mine called me and told me about an opening for a shipping Manager at a computer consulting company he worked for. I got the job, then after a few weeks, the training supervisor asked me if I wanted to teach an AutoCAD classes; I said sure, if you teach me AutoCAD first. Well, she put me in one of her classes, and then a second class. Then I took a Catia V4 class. The Director of Tech Consulting saw me in the class and told me to report to the helpdesk the next morning, And, as they say it, the rest is history. That was 22 years ago.

3. I can't say anything keeps me up at night, but the company I work for is very cheap. And I have to deal with very old equipment that most is out of life and without support. And then I get repeatedly asked why we are not able to perform as well as our customer's equipment. A little more investment would go a long way in my stress relief.

4. What I like about the job is I get to see some really cool stuff being built. Rotor craft, jet engines, automobiles, over the years. I like to problem solve, and like to build things. What I hate about the job is summed up above in #3. 

1. High school chemistry teacher. I’ve been in education for 25 yrs. 16 yrs as an administrator. I returned to the classroom last year. I also serve as an assistant director of bands.

2. I got into teaching to work a little while and make a little (very little) money while waiting to enter grad school to work on a Masters in biochemistry. Well, I’ve been here ever since and earned a Masters in Ed.

3. Nothing really keeps me up at night. The pace of teaching 6 classes/3 preps per day will wear a person out.

4. I enjoy seeing kids when they finally grasp a concept or when a struggling kid works so hard and it finally clicks for him and they begin to improve. I enjoy working with kids, especially band kids-a truly different breed. The only things I don’t like about teaching are the long after hours stuff-prepping lessons, grading papers, and some of the decisions that are made for you by admin.

Hi,

For me

1. What is your job?

I'm a Naval Architect

2.How did you get started?

Long story short, is that by senior year of high school I had no idea what I wanted to do, and that, coupled with an accute case of appendicitus, led me to kind of putting off making any decision for a couple years while I attended a local state college with an "undeclared" major. 

Once I realized that I needed to get serious about a career, a chance find of an old naval architecture text book in my local library deep in the heart of Texas, plus a purchase of the book "Battleship Design & Development" out of the discount bin at a local book store, and the realization that there were actually schools that taught this kind of stuff, while looking through a book of colleges in the US, and the majors that they had programs for led me to applying to a school in New York 34 years ago 

(Interestingly, this school [Webb Institute] is actually used in both the "Gotham" TV show, and some Batman movies as a standin (for external shots of Stately Wayne Manor )

3.What keeps you up at night?

I'm not sure if you mean workwise or just in general, but  I do have occassional insomnia, and am never really sure why I can't get to sleep some days .  From a work point of view though, there are the occassional "did I make a mistake or do something uncorrectly, that I need to fix before leading the rest the team off track and/or make a fool out of myself" moments.  

4.What do you love/hate about your job?

Overall I mostly like my job, though there are occassional things that bring me down.  I think the biggest down points often involve either people "discounting my inputs because they believe that they "have a better idea" eventhough you may have spent the last 40-60 hrs developing your input, including trying to address multiple concerns, whereas the others appear to have only just sketched something (not to scale) on the back of an envelope, and have neglected to take into account numerous significant items and/or have radically undersized some key items . 

Other frustrating issues often involve customers who seem to be badly mis-interpreting requirements but you realize you can't really tell them that you think they are way off base (since they are the customer) so you end up struggling to politely convince them not to lead the design team off on a tangent, but sometimes fail .

On the plus side though, I have had a chance to work on some interesting projects, meet some interesting people, and travel to a couple different places like England, Norway, Canada, Japan, and South Korea .

PF

1. I'm a carrier for the USPS.  With some supervisor experience.

2. Graduated from a technical school for automotive bodywork.  Wanted to get into restoration and customizing. Got stuck doing mostly collision .  A friend's dad told me to take the postal test.  That was 22 years ago.

3. As a carrier not much keeps me up. When I was a supervisor you're never "off the clock" very mentally exhausting

4. I'm a people person. I've had the same route for 12 years. My customers really like me. I'm part of the neighborhood  I've been invited to block parties, birthday parties etc.I've made friends. 

The part I hate is the majority of the new people starting have no work ethics. The quality of work is terrible.

John

What kind of ships are you building? I used to sail on quite a few merchant marine ships (bulk carriers, general cargo, heavy lifter and a tanker)

I haven't built any ships yet, my focus is mostly military. Right now I'm working on tamiya 1/35 M8 howitzer , 1/48 SU-122, 1/35 dragon russian tank riders, tamiya 1/35 kubelwagen w/ verlinden stowage set, academy KTiger which I'm going to put in a dio.

On Britmodeler: 2 group builds Panther Group build, T-34 Group Build. For the panther group build, Maybe RFM new panther G or one of takom's new panthers? Or Tamiya Panther D?  T-34 Group Build, something T-34.

Maybe when all of that is done I might build a WWII ship or U-Boat.

Sorry GermanArmour, the question was directed at PFJN, he said he is a naval architect so I was wandering what kind of ships is he building?