Author Topic: What do you do for a living?? (Read 27825 times)

Goz · « **Reply #120 on:** August 05, 2005, 02:23:16 am »

I am a software engineer building custom communication packages to connect hospitals to suppliers.

-Goz

monkeybomb · « **Reply #121 on:** August 05, 2005, 02:44:05 am »

Teacher

DaemonCollector · « **Reply #122 on:** August 05, 2005, 03:38:58 am »

About to go into Freshman year for a Video Game Design major

Dexter · « **Reply #123 on:** August 05, 2005, 06:20:17 am »

IT guy for Irish civil service. Kinda hop between hardware support and database stuff with SAP and Oracle.

I moonlight as a DJ/producer but not as much as I used to.

Will basically have a go at anything and have had a wide variety of jobs in my 30 years.

Stingray · « **Reply #124 on:** August 05, 2005, 09:07:29 am »

I'm a slacker.

-S

DemonBrew · « **Reply #125 on:** August 05, 2005, 09:15:39 am »

IT Security Analyst

Effayy · « **Reply #126 on:** August 05, 2005, 09:35:28 am »

VB Developer.

Too lazy to learn C++ / Java

- FA

ChadTower · « **Reply #127 on:** August 05, 2005, 09:41:11 am »

That's pretty lazy, considering Java does 90% of the coding work for you.

Jabba · « **Reply #128 on:** August 05, 2005, 10:07:42 am »

Hair Wig Salesman...

Edit: OK. No one bit! Thought I'd get a comment from at least DK or BB...

Actuall, I'm a C/C++ Software Engineeer and Business Development.

M3talhead · « **Reply #129 on:** August 05, 2005, 10:25:25 am »

Network Sys/Admin: USAF

Effayy · « **Reply #130 on:** August 05, 2005, 10:32:12 am »

Quote from: ChadTower on August 05, 2005, 09:41:11 am

That's pretty lazy, considering Java does 90% of the coding work for you.

hahah Yeah, I know, I'm the height of laziness at times.

It shouldn't be too much of an issue for me to make the jump to Java, but I just need the motivation first.

- FA

chasmosis · « **Reply #131 on:** August 05, 2005, 10:36:10 am »

Unix System Admin

Harry Potter · « **Reply #132 on:** August 05, 2005, 10:43:35 am »

Print shop manager. Sometimes I moonlight as a graphic designer.

Stingray · « **Reply #133 on:** August 05, 2005, 10:56:02 am »

Quote from: bosss7 on August 05, 2005, 10:43:35 am

Print shop manager. Sometimes I moonlight as a graphic designer.

So you've totally got the hookup for printing your own artwork. Nice.

-S

Raleigh · « **Reply #134 on:** August 05, 2005, 11:06:28 am »

Quote from: Raleigh on August 01, 2003, 10:31:38 am

CPA - Auditor

Same job, new title and office. Haven't quite ~~embessled~~ saved enough yet to retire.

Q*Bert_OP · « **Reply #135 on:** August 05, 2005, 12:23:42 pm »

Still in School
Game restoration/conversions-part time

Wadeduck · « **Reply #136 on:** August 05, 2005, 01:00:55 pm »

I am a designer for a manufacture of heavy off road construction equipment.
which means I sit at my computer all day drawing purdy 3D pictures all day.

shmokes · « **Reply #137 on:** August 05, 2005, 01:02:34 pm »

Computer geek, but working on getting out before jobs start disappearing en masse, which I think is coming very soon. Gonna be a lawyer.

Harry Potter · « **Reply #138 on:** August 05, 2005, 01:28:31 pm »

Quote from: Stingray on August 05, 2005, 10:56:02 am

Quote from: bosss7 on August 05, 2005, 10:43:35 am
Print shop manager. Sometimes I moonlight as a graphic designer.

So you've totally got the hookup for printing your own artwork. Nice.

-S

Guilty

ChadTower · « **Reply #139 on:** August 05, 2005, 01:45:59 pm »

Quote from: shmokes on August 05, 2005, 01:02:34 pm

Computer geek, but working on getting out before jobs start disappearing en masse, which I think is coming very soon.

shmokes · « **Reply #140 on:** August 05, 2005, 02:08:14 pm »

Agreed, but what I do is network administration. I'm strictly a hardware guy. I make cables and set up fileservers and troubleshoot operating systems and hardware and applications.

Networking is moving into the mainstream in a big way. For it to go into the living room, companies have to make me obsolete. Networks have to be self-configuring and self-healing. The day-to-day need for me is disappearing with every new networking technology to hit the market. I won't be surprised if when I leave my current job I am replaced, not with another person, but with a large firm that will come down and get everything set up and then do 99% of the administration remotely from 150 miles away. They will run incremental backups on every workstation every night and if there's a problem they can't figure out they'll just reimage the machine remotely. When its determined that there is a hardware problem that needs fixed they'll just contract with someone local to take care of it. All of this will mean an enormous reduction in the number of people like me it takes to keep the networks around the country going.

So the demand for me is going to go way down. But at the same time, the supply of me is skyrocketing as everybody and their dogs are flooding into universities and trade schools because they think that computers are the future and they will be ensured high-paying jobs for the rest of their lives with these skills. High supply/low demand is not a friendly market to be in.

I'm good at what I do and could get a job working for one of these big firms (although with a pay-cut due to the supply/demand stuff), but I like what I do and have no desire to sit in a cubicle, in front of a screen all day with a headset on troubleshooting problems remotely for any one of the 100 networks that the firm is responsible for. I like the relationships I have with my users. I like the fact that I spend less than half my time sitting in my office and get to sit around and chat with co-workers while I fix their computers.

I'm okay with it. I'll make more money as a lawyer, and my Info. Sys. BA degree and certifications will position me well for a high-paying job as a corporate lawyer with a Microsoft or Cysco. I doubt that I will quit working in the industry altogether, simply because my current skills will probably still add a lot of value to me. I just won't be in the infantry anymore.

ChadTower · « **Reply #141 on:** August 05, 2005, 02:11:04 pm »

Oh, definitely in Networking, but my point was that you don't have to stay an IT admin... you could easily move into Development and do protocol layer programming, taking only a few classses and applying your existing networking knowledge.

Avery · « **Reply #142 on:** August 05, 2005, 02:45:42 pm »

Biochemist

picasso · « **Reply #143 on:** August 05, 2005, 03:26:49 pm »

Quote from: shmokes on August 05, 2005, 02:08:14 pm

Agreed, but what I do is network administration.

ChadTower · « **Reply #144 on:** August 05, 2005, 03:29:32 pm »

Quote from: picasso on August 05, 2005, 03:26:49 pm

I have to disagree.

picasso · « **Reply #145 on:** August 05, 2005, 04:09:10 pm »

I can see that is a good possibility.

RayB · « **Reply #146 on:** August 05, 2005, 04:28:17 pm »

Hi. I work for a living.

shmokes · « **Reply #147 on:** August 05, 2005, 04:35:12 pm »

Or a rural Health dept. like mine, with not much more than 100 employees and workstations who only employ one network guy -- me -- who will probably outsource the entire IT dept. when I leave. QOS, VPN, Firewalls. All that stuff just gets set up once and from then on it just goes, with periodic tweaking required, but nothing that can't be done remotely.

Network admin jobs will not go away entirely, but the number of them will shrink dramatically as technology allows non-humans to do the work humans used to do. Already the ubiquity of the internet and the existence of technology like PC Anywhere allow someone from anywhere in the world do the same thing that I used to have to be physically standing in front of a machine to do. In the past you had to have a physical serial connection between your laptop and all that Cisco equipment you're talking about to make changes to it. Now you can make those changes from a cafe in Paris. It's a one-two punch. Intelligent networks make some of my skills obsolete, and remote administration capabilities make outsourcing and economies of scale possible with network administration.

Software developers have it coming too. It'll be quite some time before software can write itself, but outsourcing is already starting. That's one problem I have with the outsourcing trend that's going on right now. The argument used to be that we outsourced textiles and manufacturing, which caused us to lose those jobs for unskilled workers, but that it benefited us economically in the long run as our kids focused on education and got better jobs because of that education. But we are now outsourcing jobs that require advanced education. CPAs and auditing work are being outsourced. Electrical engineering is being outsourced. This stuff requires advanced degrees. How are Americans supposed to compete. To make matters worse, Taiwan and Korea are beginning to seriously close the gap between America's technical superiority over other countries. India isn't going to be far behind. They have an enormous populous that is becoming very well educated, and they're starting to put out products on par with what IBM and Cisco are doing at a far lower cost. Sucks for us.

At least it is unlikely that some guy making $10/hour in India will be able to do what I do as a laywer......I hope

mccoy178 · « **Reply #148 on:** August 05, 2005, 04:36:23 pm »

I build swimming pools for a living, and have a decent amount of mechanical ability. I wish I knew more about software. I feel like my parents with the VCR.

coasternuts · « **Reply #149 on:** August 05, 2005, 04:48:53 pm »

Quote from: Odonadon on September 04, 2003, 09:39:52 am

Quote from: Howard_Casto on September 03, 2003, 07:43:37 pm
So we have a collection of special effects men, artists, network engineers, programmers and game developers.

Tell me why we haven't joined forces to make the ultimate online, multiplayer, old school, arcade-like, game yet?

I'd say that's one hell of a good idea. But somehow, I foresee the end product looking like E.T. for the 2600...

Odonadon

Would that be so bad?
<------Look!

Senior Software Engineer, UGS. I write application software for CAD.

At least until the next wave of layoffs, outsourcing, restructuring, or my latest favorite, best shoring.

M3talhead · « **Reply #150 on:** August 05, 2005, 05:38:01 pm »

Funny, nobody mentioned "p0rnstar" for their occupation yet.

ChadTower · « **Reply #151 on:** August 05, 2005, 06:12:46 pm »

Quote from: shmokes on August 05, 2005, 04:35:12 pm

Network admin jobs will not go away entirely, but the number of them will shrink dramatically as technology allows non-humans to do the work humans used to do.

Nonhumans like tommy!

GGKoul · « **Reply #152 on:** August 05, 2005, 06:38:29 pm »

I'm a Sales Engineer for a large ASP.

RayB · « **Reply #153 on:** August 05, 2005, 10:18:20 pm »

Quote from: GGKoul on August 05, 2005, 06:38:29 pm

I'm a Sales Engineer for a large ASP.

Where the **** have you been, Sales Engineer!

Patent Doc · « **Reply #154 on:** August 05, 2005, 10:34:20 pm »

I'm a former viral immunologist. Got a job as a patent agent several years ago so my wife (also a viral immunologist) could stay employed in the same city. Went back to law school to become a well paid whore.

Schmokes, regarding more money as an attorney, right now my billing rate is $225 an hour. IF I make partner, my billing rate will be in the neighborhood of $375-$450 / hour. However, that isn't what you make, that's what you are billed out as. Typically, attorney salaries are 30-50% of the billing rate. So, if what has been said is true and you could bill out at $250 as a designer and you get 100% of that...you'd make more. For me, viral immunologist...so little cash its embarrassing considering the degree and time spent working. Patent agent does better. Patent Attorney, same job more cash (ie., high priced whore)

Patent Doc

danny_galaga · « **Reply #155 on:** August 06, 2005, 12:05:20 am »

Quote from: Patent Doc on August 05, 2005, 10:34:20 pm

I'm a former viral immunologist.

danny_galaga · « **Reply #156 on:** August 06, 2005, 12:09:41 am »

Quote from: Stingray on August 05, 2005, 09:07:29 am

I'm a slacker.

-S

BROTHER!!

Raven.. · « **Reply #157 on:** August 06, 2005, 03:36:28 am »

Therapeutic Optometrist (and former Forensic Chemist)

kickngas · « **Reply #158 on:** August 06, 2005, 09:47:32 am »

Teacher

nostrebor · « **Reply #159 on:** August 06, 2005, 10:02:44 am »

My official title is Technical Sales & Estimating.

I actually do the following:

Project Coordinator, Estimator, Photographer, Computer hardware repair and network babysitting, Salesman, Graphic Designer, website development, etc., etc., etc.

All the above for a Prestressed Concrete company. The most interesting part is helping owners/developers/designers figure out how to frame structures during early design development.


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