Chat about jobs / the daily grind etc.

I have been noticing that there are a fair few "mature" people on here and didn't see a similar thread around. For many with jobs it is a massive part of our lives / routine so here is place to chat about work etc. I work as an English language teacher and also pick up some freelance admin work like proofreading. The pros are the pay is alright and it takes me between different countries. I enjoy it most of the time but it has its drawbacks have to deal with loads of paperwork / bureaucracy when moving countries. Also you can easily get screwed by foreign employers. Never planned to go into teaching but was somewhat influenced by the anime Great Teacher Onizuka, the idea of a career/life change from an office job to teaching / travelling seem like a way to break out of my shell. I plan to use it to spend a couple of years in Japan in the future. So people what do you do for a living? Do you enjoy what you do? Did you plan to work in the job you do?

Illustrator for a sticker company. It's pretty much a dead end job. The other illustrator has been at the same position for like 20 years. I don't dislike the work itself for the most part. It sure as heck isn't creative in any shape or form, since all we're doing is taking existing logos, warnings, ect and converting them into usable art for production. It's easy enough to do and I'm getting by just fine. But there are some people there, that I swear, are gonna drive me sane one of these days.

Network Implementation Engineer, that sounds boring so I say I am a digital plumber. =D I work for an international enterprise ISP. We own and/or manage thousands of miles of telecommunications transport infrastructure, our companies modest share of what people call the internet that now days takes you to a cloud?(lol at market buzzword creation) Within our network we provide some public internet data/VoIP/Video transport services but focus on private companies and healthcare. We build in parallel to the public internet multiple isolated private managed networks. This product has become more popular as hackers are not just bored smart kids anymore and the NSA only lets consumers have compromised encryption. It is one of my dream jobs so I enjoy it greatly. It is stressful sometimes when a customer is losing big money per minute and you have to solve a problem fast with panicked executives nagging you from within and externally while you work. Most of my normal job is aiding in planning, building, modifying, or repairing these private networks. While the science of networking is a dry read the way you apply it to each scenario is different much like computer programming and takes some creativity. I like that there is always a new problem to solve everyday. It suits my analytical mind and solving the problems is often educational and personally rewarding. I coordinate with IT professionals from many of the big name companies/ISPs and some are really fucking cool and some are fucking insane lol. I have been in and out of the IT/Telco industry since 1994. I landed my engineering gig by a chance career change returning to IT(why you need to build and maintain connection throughout life) and got promoted within to the position after 5 years of working/training in the repair team. I have to get off my ass and finish certain certifications that will afford me big money anywhere I want. Big money is no good if you don't have time to spend it which is a common problem in IT. I do not want to move away from where I live for now so I am coasting in a comfort zone for now. I am going to try and start a side business making apps in the new VR/AR arena and some smartphone apps. If anyone has questions about my industry or are thinking about a career in IT/Telco/ISP feel free to ask me. I have also thought about becoming a Great Teacher Onizuka myself.

I worked as a studio/session musician and as a songwriter. I have helped write a few songs that you may have even heard on the radio in the U.S. but I can't say what they are. I also released some stuff independently and made some change off of that. I managed to save up a bunch of money and right now I'm just living off of those savings. I still get checks in the mail sometimes but the amount I receive is less than 20 dollars each time, and it's dwindling, so it's not much to talk about. In about a year or two I'll have to start working again. I ended up hating the industry and have pretty much quit writing music altogether, so I'm not going back to that. I won't say what happened. Now I'm studying a couple languages and was thinking of becoming a translator or interpreter. This means I'll have to go back to school again but that's fine with me.

@rOBSCENE-pie - My first thought when you said illustrator was that it would be a creative role but the way you describe it sounds a little soul destroying. I know what you mean about working with some people who can drive you mad as well. In my last job there was one guy who could only be described as a "functional oaf". @DarkuSchneider - Digital plumber, sounds interesting and is definitely a solid career for life. Especially in this day and age. It seems like you really enjoy it which is one of the best things you can have with work since we all spend so much time doing it. Your definitely right about maintaining connections as well, in a lot of things its not what you know but who you know which can get you places. @donnie - I must say I am curious to know which songs you worked on / released but it seems like you can't say which is a shame. From what I know about jobs relating to music (which is not that much) is that you need to have the passion and drive for them. Languages are a hobby of mine and you can make a lot of money working as a translator / interpreter. Have you ever thought about teaching English abroad in a country which language you want to learn, its a way to immerse yourself into it. Also you can usually study a language abroad for cheaper / same the price as domestic school courses.

Well, my gig is by no means glorious compared to some of you guys, but I can't complain about it really either. I manage a GameStop in my area. I've been in retail for almost 20 years now and the degree in management I have helps a lot with it. I'm by no means making a killing, but for a single guy with no major debt, dependents, or other commitments, it's about as enjoyable as a "9 to 5" can be even if I do have to work most weekends and second shift once a week at least. One of my dreams was to eventually own my own game store, but until I could potentially make that happen, this hasn't been a bad alternative.

@Cecil - A good honest job is just as glorious in its own ways. It good that your degree is actually being used. I studied for a degree in economics which I have never used for an economic related job so in a sense it has been as waste for me. Owning your own game store seems like a great dream! I hope you will be able to make that happen :)