Careers you have had in your lifetime...

[Zeb_Carter]

Careers, how many have you had in your life time and what were they?

I'll start...

Dishwasher - High School evening at the snack shop across the street. After 5pm the high school was used by the community college.

Office Clerk - work at the office after graduation from high school

Machine Operator - International Harvester tractor plant for two years.

U.S. Air Force - 4 year - Law Enforcement Specialist - Sgt. E4.

Security - Wells Fargo Security Services. Licensed to carry.

Student - Control Data Institute - learned to program computers while working at Wells Fargo

Computer Programmer/Analyst - coded business systems

Actuarial Programmer - life insurance illustration systems utilizing mortality, morbidity, turnover probabilities.

Floor Supervisor for ARA Services at the Rosemont Horizon/Allstate Arena. (part time at night)-saw a lot of DePaul Basketball games and concerts.

Software Engineer - complete life cycle of Asset management client server systems

Author - retired so now I write what I would like to read.

 

[sr71plt]

Child actor, Arena Stage, Washington, D.C./model, during high school

Cowboy, summer between high school and college, extended family ranch

German tutor to university basketball players/movie extra/instructional reality game staff member, in college

University library circulation desk librarian/national student movement magazine editor, as graduate student in one university

Instructor, as graduate student in another university

Photographic interpreter/pilot/operative/analyst/manager/news agency executive/diplomat, intelligence agency (for twenty-seven years)/actor, director, producer, casting, script editing on stage and movies/USO performer/writer/Chinese brush painting artist/male escort/prostitute (for career camouflage)

College instructor/novelist and short story writer/mainstream publisher book editor/anthology editor/portfolio manager (sixteen years in semiretirement)

Writer, anthology editor, traveler, portfolio manager, in retirement

 

[legerdemer]

In order:

- salesperson, of clothing and sundry (ugh, yuck, barf! my own personal view, not denigrating the talent it takes to be good at it, but me - I just sucked)

- student (forever)

- tutor of languages and math

- babysitter (no RL prurient tales; have to make them all up)

- teacher

- researcher (NERD)

- perfessor (quoting JBJ/NT)

- writer of nonfiction

- administrator/herder of sheep and goats

- back to perfessor

- artist of sorts, poet, writer of fiction

 

[Ewobbit]

I'll try not to bore anyone too much.

- Farmhand. (Mostly spray rigs.)
- Animal midwife and nursemaid. (In addition to orphaned calves, goats, sheep, pigs, puppies, etc., probably the strangest was a brown bat I nursed through an injured wing while she was pregnant until she and the baby could be returned to the nearby (six hours away) bat colony.)
- Pharmacy janitor.
- Actor/Model/Singer. (Only national or international gig was an uncredited three second spot on a television the main actors were watching in a movie. And it took twelve stinking hours for the director to shoot the three second spot. )

~~High School Graduation and into college where it looked for a while that I would be a professional student.~~

- Athlete. Football. Kickboxing (Pre-MMA. I might have done better than .525 a decade later when it wasn't all feet and fists against people a half foot taller.) Some body building.
- Cart return and parking lot grunt.
- Warehouse grunt. (Forklifts and crap.)
- Salesclerk. (bleargh)
- Grocery Clerk/ Receiving Auditor.
- Hotel Hell Room Service. Ok, technically "Crises Intervention Specialist" in lock down facilities. But, some of the guys didn't like being called "CIS-sys".
- Counselor/Caseworker/Therapist. (And I have paid good money to help me forget that time.)
- Hotel Night Auditor/Night Manager.
- Teacher/Trainer/Instructor/Professor. (Mostly computer type stuff and electronics.)

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but it probably isn't that important. I think those are most of the ones that were legal... uh, I mean like W-2s and everything.

edit to add; oh, and for college. I got the BullShit, the MoreShit, but never got around to Piling it Higher and Deeper.

 

[JKendallDane]

* Paperboy (remember those?) (yeah I'm that old)

* Soda jerk and world's best banana split maker

* Grocery store grunt and convenience store manager

* Youngest licensed real estate agent in Ohio ~ thirteen years in the business including owning my own firm

* Management consultant and motivational speaker and trainer

* Adjunct faculty in business and law for one of my alma maters

* A decade as General Manager of an industrial specialty metals distributor serving five states

* Antique store owner and eBay PowerSeller

* Now retired and writing when the Muse kicks me hard enough

.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Skipping the temp gigs (I once drove a taxi 3 days and a garbage truck one day).

Air Force aerospace ground equipment mechanic. Almost any airplane repair machine on wheels. The school trained me to fix gasoline engines, diesel engines, jet engines, electric motors, electronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, air conditioning, and refrigeration.

Union Sheet Metal Worker Journeyman: The patternmaking school was 4 years.

Architect: Residential and commercial designs and plans. 1000s of them.

Civil engineer: Plans for roads and bridges and underground utilities in industrial parks.

State of Florida: Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services. I started at the Juvenile Detention Facility, processing delinquents. Then I worked with severely disturbed kids (often kiddie killers). Then I did psychotherapy with families. Then I did admissions and emergency services at a local psychiatric hospital. Then I did child abuse investigations, Then protective services. Then hospital and child death investigations.

 

[Serafina1210]

Babysitter

Dog walker

Busser in a pancake house

Race track factotum

Various gradations of student

Very snotty junior professor

Somewhat chastened senior professor (aka babysitter)

Looking forward to retirement, if the grim reaper doesn't reap me first

 

[lovecraft68]

Vendor at McCoy stadium selling popcorn etc at Pawsox games

Vendor at the then Civic Center selling t-shirts during concerts(and getting to see a lot of shows for free)

Lifeguard

Comic book store clerk for Iron Horse comics, RI's first true comic store.

Cabinet maker for a 'company' that at the time consisted of the guy down the street his two daughters and their boyfriends and me out of a garage.

Shipping/receiving all things warehouse for the same guy when he went all in and bought a small display company going out of business.

2 year vacation in, um...well you had to wear a uniform of sorts

Back to the display company where I've been for the last 25 years now operations manager.

Part time bartender in my twenties and also....bouncer. And I swear the line from Roadhouse "I thought you'd be bigger" was stolen from people who met me.

2003-2008 owner operator of Shadowland comics worked 6-4 then would go to the store to take over for the kid working 12-4 and would stay there till whenever every night and the weekends.

Instructor in Kenpo and Wing chun at a local center.

Volunteer instructor at a shelter for homeless/battered women.

I make enough money on writing to consider it a job and also maintain an Ebay store containing mostly comics and comic related collectibles.

I'm also a card carrying member of the church of Satan a member of a dart team that went to national tournaments several consecutive years and a scourge to misogynists anywhere I find them.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

Paper boy (yeah, I was one too)

Dishwasher

Cook

Bag boy

Gas Station attendant

Research assistant

Law clerk

Attorney

 

[Rollinbones]

Wow, intimidating company, some very educated and experienced people lurking behind avatars...

I've tried on many costumes but none so interesting.

Cadet journalist,

Bar attendant,

Kentucky Fried Chicken cook...

Manager of KFC stores.

Petrol station attendant.

Police Officer

Auditor

Hobby farmer

Dad and Hubby. (The most rewarding and most difficult.)

 

[AlwaysHungry]

What the heck...

Paperboy
Jewelry store sales clerk
Intoxicants entrepreneur
Rock and roll star
Taxi driver
Rock and roll star
Revolutionary
Writer, director and editor of gizmo demonstration videos
Bureaucrat
Rock and roll star

 

[MSTarot]

Okay, let's see if I remember them all.

Landscaper ( I cut grass, and sundry, at a trailer park)

Mover

House painter

Carpenter, assistant.

Electrician, assistant.

plumber, assistant

(^^ was still trying to find a trade I liked ^^)

Dabbled in lawn sprinkler installation, elevator construction, drywall texturing and concrete finishing.

Masonry laborer (six months) Hated it, but it paid well.

furniture repair and general labor. (Swept sawdust up off the floors)

Masonry laborer/saw-man (ten years, 92-2002)

Mason journeyman (ten years, 2003-2013)

Restoration masonry (2013/2014-current)


So I currently stabilize and restore 100+-year-old masonry buildings, in the South-South-East.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Wow, intimidating company, some very educated and experienced people lurking behind avatars...

I've tried on many costumes but none so interesting.

Cadet journalist,

Bar attendant,

Kentucky Fried Chicken cook...

Manager of KFC stores.

Petrol station attendant.

Police Officer

Auditor

Hobby farmer

Dad and Hubby. (The most rewarding and most difficult.)

The dummest humans I ever met I knew in college or at court. The work and people I enjoyed the most were in the military and the construction industries.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Careers, how many have you had in your life time and what were they?

I'll start...

Dishwasher - High School evening at the snack shop across the street. After 5pm the high school was used by the community college.

Office Clerk - work at the office after graduation from high school

Machine Operator - International Harvester tractor plant for two years.

U.S. Air Force - 4 year - Law Enforcement Specialist - Sgt. E4.

Security - Wells Fargo Security Services. Licensed to carry.

Student - Control Data Institute - learned to program computers while working at Wells Fargo

Computer Programmer/Analyst - coded business systems

Actuarial Programmer - life insurance illustration systems utilizing mortality, morbidity, turnover probabilities.

Software Engineer - complete life cycle of Asset management client server systems

Author - retired so now I write what I would like to read.

Isn't an E-4 in the US Air Force called an Airman First Class? That's what they were called when I was a member, although sometimes they were referred to as buck sergeants.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Isn't an E-4 in the US Air Force called an Airman First Class? That's what they were called when I was a member, although sometimes they were referred to as buck sergeants.

The name changes. When I was in it started out Airman 1st Class and switched to Sergeant.

 

[Delilah_Night]

age 6/7-33---Amateur Writer
age 11-15-----babysitter
15--busgirl at a restaurant called Bonanza
16---cashier at a grocery store
17--retail--JC Penny's bed and bath department
17/18--Supervisor at D'Angelos (northeast chain of sub shops---overlapped with JC Penny's and convenience store)
18--Convenience Store attendant on the overnight shift. I was held up at gunpoint.
18-22---undergrad
18---Retail, gift shop at a Hyatt (summer before college)
18---Library help at my college (work study while also doing reservations in the hotel below and full time in college)
19---Reservations department at a Sheraton (while in college)
20---Costumed Tour Guide at Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum (plus college)
20-22--Phones/Front Office/Reservations at Best Western (plus college)
22--Receptionist in the Dean's office (work study plus college--Senior Honors Thesis)
22-23--Retail Manager at a Brookstone (after college)
23--Night audit at the Omni Parker House
23---Front office at the Omni Hotel in NYC (had moved for grad school)
23-24--Worked for a Broadway ticket discounter in NYC (plus grad school)
24--Teacher's Aide (plus grad school)
25--Student Teacher (plus grad school)
25-29--Teacher
30--present day, Stay at Home Mom
33--present day, professional author and freelance writer

 

[ishtat]

1 Unpaid farm worker - Brought up on farm - best practical training ever.

2 Machinist of Diesel Engine Cylinders - boring - literally as well.

3 Maths Student - very light workload - was paid a scholarship at Uni.

4 Mortuary worker. I mainly picked up dead people from various institutions and took them to undertakers. Out of normal hours, fitted well with student work.

5 Maths postgrad.

6 Truck driver delivering bread & cakes. Got fatter.

7 Tractor/Header Driver, Back on the farm - but paid this time

8 Finance, Banking, Financial Reinsurance and Risk management. 7 years.

9 GM of a statutory authority with a financial function- restructuring of same, 5 years.

10 Consultant- Re-organisation and restructuring. 3 years

11 Started own business doing same as 10, gradually morphed into direct management of invested/owned entities. 17+ years. Best job.

Jobs 2, 4, 6 and 7 were all summer jobs or part time jobs when I was a student.
8 through 11 have a lot in common

 

[Apisto42]

Landscaping and snow removal
Farm work
Ice cream shop
Paperboy
Farmhand
Summer camp counselor
Biotech assistant breeding corn
Horse trainer
Canoe guide
Research assistant
Bouncer
Bartender
Farmhand in France
Street light installer
Pallet maker/demolisher
Whore for grant money
Graduate level professor
Waiter/bartender
Career govt
Independent sales

Managed to pick up bullshit and more shit somewhere in the middle.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Isn't an E-4 in the US Air Force called an Airman First Class? That's what they were called when I was a member, although sometimes they were referred to as buck sergeants.

That's the designation now. But in the 70's an E-4 was a three strip sergeant. And that's what all my paperwork says.

An Airman First was a two stripper.

http://cartershideout.com/thumbnails/70AFERanks.jpg

 

[DreamCloud]

Caddy
Clerk
Cook
Sniper (the legal kind)
Computer store owner
Programmer
Database administrator
Franchise owner
Dir IT
Future plans: Starving writer

 

[Paul_Chance]

At the career level

-Cowboy (born and raised on a ranch, works hard, pay's crap, but you're outside)
-US Army
-Law Enforcement
-Corporate Security Consultant
-Systems Analyst
-Data Analyst
-Project Manager
-Project Management (Software) Consultant

There were a lot of other weird jobs that laid along those paths, but they were never career-path stuff.

-Radio DJ/Announcer (lots of fun, sex, drugs, rock & roll but paid next to nothing)
-Taxi Driver (always entertaining)
-Carpenter/Cabinet Maker (apprenticed, worked, kept as a hobby)
-Plumber (paid well, but dirty work)
-Book Store Clerk (the greatest job ever, but couldn't live on it)
-Bartender/Bouncer (always entertaining)
-Wildland Fire Fighter (great money, brutally hard work)
-Executive Admin (awesome job while in grad school, worked for a guy who did biomedical research for a think tank, I basically answered phones and read magazines in a beautiful building in the mountains)

 

[loquere]

Fixer.

 

[LIVINRFANTASIES]

Denny

Corn detassler several summers.
Paper boy
In highschool I drew sexy female cartoons and car pictures for lunch money.

First real jobs.
Grocery store carryout and stock boy.
After HS, worked one week as an order filler and trucker for local delivery of mostly tobacco items, candy, and gum. Got lost a lot.
Six years as a shipping-receiving-inventory clerk and part time malt syrup mixer. Company moved to NY. No thanks.
Also part time filling station attendant evenings and weekends. Great job for girl watching.
Sold life insurance one very very long year.
Sales route for a famous cookie and cracker company another long year

Family couldn't live on cookies. Got hungry.
Factory worker as small parts stock man, fork truck operator, then truck driver.
Now full time bull shitter.

 

[loquere]

Batman.

 

[LIVINRFANTASIES]

D(.)(.)

Dollie---------------------
Full time nursemaid
Babysitter
Mother
Laundry worker
House keeper
Gardener
Snow removal
Painter
Carpenter
Planner
Automotive assistant.
Cook
Dishwasher
Clothing designer
Lawn service work
Escort
Model
Sex toy
Lover
Wife---^^^^^^^^^^^^

Helped friends wait tables at a biker bar for over a year. Tips only and free food.
Less than two weeks as a waitress at a tiny bar and restaurant. Hubby got jealous.