Work/Jobs

[Nish]

Well anticipating a move to another part of the country, and a likely career change to go along with it. I am going back to school to finish up my Bachelors degree.

Thanks to everyone who has participated in this thread so far.

[DocsMachine]

I am a sand crab. I love it but it's hot and dirty.

-Wait... cast or forged?

I see what look like risers and mold flash... but why'd you pull it out of the sand still red? I suppose it's going to be heat-treated anyway, and I'm going by knowing you wouldn't want to pull a cast iron mold out of the sand that hot... What's the alloy?

AND... I gotta ask, who's still making London-pattern anvils these days? I thought Peddinghaus had the new-anvil market pretty well sewn up with their German pattern stuff.

Doc.

[KMDPB]

It is cast, from my special ductile iron alloy, not to be confused with cast grey iron, completely different animals. Shaking out the casting when its still red hot allows it to cool faster and makes it harder, like heat treating (air quench.) In the US there is only me and a handful of other people making them. It is my own design, that one is 180lbs and I also make a smaller one.

[bellicose]

I'm a little late to the party, but thank you, Nish for asking these questions. I learned a lot about what you guys do, and I have so many questions I wish I could ask people without overloading them. It kind of leans into my career: education.

What is your current line of work?
High school business/tech CTE
I teach many different subjects, including marketing, accounting, programming, entrepreneurship, office software, graphic arts, intro to engineering, and more.

What keeps you at your current job?
Teachers don't get paid much, and being at a small rural district means even less. But, I will not change over to a better paying district (much to my wife's annoyance, she teaches 3rd grade) because I have so much support at my district. While other schools cut programs, and spend the government money allocated to CTE classes on more principals, our district spends it on me (my classroom), so I have a lot of cool toys for students to play with and explore. I have so much more freedom as an elective teacher, than a core teacher. I get to use any curriculum I want, don't have to hit any state mandated benchmark testing, basically get to be the fun classes kids want to take. It is also a new experience every day. Some teachers have the same class several times a day, where I have a different one every period. I love that. It is more work, but I can't stand to do the same thing over and over.

Do you like it?
It is rewarding. I don't want to come off as looking like I am bragging, but I help kids every year in ways you can't imagine if you aren't a teacher. Seeing their eyes open in realization is the greatest treasure. Showing them new paths when they thought there was a dead end is amazing. There are bad parts, and sometimes it hits you in the feels. I hate working with parents. 99% of parent communication is good, but that 1% is enough to make me dread talking to parents. Had a dad threaten to sue me a few weeks ago, because I kept encouraging his kid to pursue art. We have high homeless rates and it is super tough to see your students struggle to just get food, or a clean bed to sleep in. It is even worse when we lose kids to suicide, accidents, or murder (happened at the beginning of the pandemic, a parent killed his kids and himself...I can still see the student sitting in his chair in my classroom). But, it is the hands down best career to have while raising a family. The hours and vacation are the same as my kids, and I honestly don't know how any of you manage that with not being a teacher.

[Mcdizzal07]

I've always wanted to walk away from my profession and teach a personal finance or everyday finance class to high school kids. The only way I got this when I was in high school was being put into a "remedial math" class my senior year that was called Consumer Math. In that class I learned how to balance a check book, figure out APR %, and do a very small personal tax return. It was marketed to kids that "weren't going anywhere in life" and anymore it should be mandatory for everyone.

[bellicose]

Mcdizzal07, I used to teach Personal Finance in the past, and it was always a fun class. Kids are in to it because they see the immediate implications, not like a math or science that they don't see results until much later, if at all. Too much of the curriculum was being scooped up by the Econ teachers (who are history majors, and have never had an econ class in college...don't get me started, it's a sore spot), so the class got shelved. You would be hard pressed to find a high school that had a spot for just finance. You'd be teaching accounting, marketing, entrepreneurship, and probably all of the computer related classes as well.

[iamthelazerviking]

What is your current line of work?
"Support analyst" for a fintech (financial technology) self-service platform. If you own a company and have series of funding rounds, you may use a capitalization (cap) table on Excel, or pay out the ass to lawyers to do it for you. This platform, a Silicon Valley based start-up, solves all of those problems. Your cap table, investments, share certificates, option grants, financial reporting all in one easy to use platform. I help our users with using the platform, and have to learn some of the finance stuff too. I talk to CEOs, lawyers, employees alike.

What keeps you at your current job?
Although I am talking on the phone and answering tons of emails, it's not your run of the mill "customer service job". Much more technical and interesting, and I am treated like a human. I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home, although that was not by choice for the time being. The company really takes care of their employees. The pay is actually amazing in my opinion, for this role. I am not a college graduate, but I was smart/good enough to get in here and have busted my ass. There are far more difficult jobs that pay less so I am very, very fortunate.

Do you like it?
Like it, yes. Love? Sometimes. I know some people absolutely love their jobs, but I certainly do not plan to stay in this particular position forever. It's an excellent foot in the door and there are many opportunities available. I am about to be a father, and I get 3 months paid off for paternity leave. I am bragging, because that's just amazing. Mothers get even longer. Lot of great perks and benefits. My team is made up of great people. The overall company culture is what you expect from a Cali start up though, so sometimes that is annoying since I personally don't jive with much of that.

[Siress]

Congratulations on the family expansion! And that sounds like an amazing job. As an aside, I dig your under-avatar slogan; mine is similar, but geared for long-range accuracy instead of fill volume.

[belleville]

What is your current line of work? Purchasing Agent/Estimator for a family owned construction rental/supply company. Construction project manager background, but the 08 recession forced me to go a different route. I'm thankful for that actually, being a mid-level PM in the current construction world would have sent me to an early grave. (That's an entirely different topic though)

What keeps you at your current job? I'm good at it. Good owners, good co-workers, informal work environment, don't have to travel anymore, mixed with some laziness. I hate job hunting, interviews, etc. Pay is acceptable, there are jobs out there making more in my field. But, the stability just isn't there (constant boom/bust cycle). And if it is stable, it's maximum stress for not much more pay.

We are idiotically busy from May to November, and slow during the winter. No layoffs, which is nice, but, they use that as justification to keep us short handed. So we all wear a lot of hats around here.

Do you like it? Barely, but it's far better than my previous two jobs.

[DavidBoren]

BIM/CAD drafter for ISAT... a seismic bracing company.

Different projects can range from mind-numbing to tedious, but the pay is decent and I am relatively good at what I do.

[Magageddon]

Work as a commercial diver, mostly diving in water towers/tanks

The job is a travel company, so I'm getting to see a lot of the new england area I've never seen before and the I think the job is pretty badass

I think its pretty fun, the work underwater can get a little repetitive at times, but its definitely an interesting field of work

[Paintslinger16]

I work for the Dept of Defense, specifically the Defense Logistics Agency, in Disposition Services, old school name DRMO. It’s the Combat Logistics branch.
So this is were all government surplus is generated, everything from Battleships to Uniforms has to come to DLA DS.

its an federal job, pretty good gig.

yes, I like it , I mostly deal with tracks and wheels, from cars to heavy equipment, and I am also a heavy equipment operator, with multiple FE Loaders and Forklifts, I have 35k Hyster for the big stuff and work outside, not in a warehouse.
I am getting close to retirement so this is my last stop, been all over the county with one tour In Afghanistan.

[Mr. Hick]

they changed the name of DRMO? Course they did.... I loved out DRMO guys down at Bragg. I spend a month on base-wide detail Scooping up old equipment and delivering it to DRMO like a bunch of nutty repo men.

[Paintslinger16]

Yes we changed to bring DLA to the front about 12 years ago, DRMO has always been under DLA umbrella but the agency was kind of hidden.
A buddy of mine is the Chief at Bragg, just talked to him today.

[MattV]

I'm a pipefitter/supervisor with most of my work being in oil and gas, and pulp mills. My first job out of high school was as a labourer for a piping contractor, while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. The plan had always been to go to college (high school pushed it hard), but I didn't know what I wanted to do. After 3 years I still had no ideas, and I'd been working with lots of college graduates that either couldn't find a job or were unhappy with their field, I decided to go to trade school.

I'm at my current job because of covid. I'd landed a good paying, cushy job but the company wound up shutting down due to low energy demands, covid concerns and poorly run corporate management (they failed to secure sales contracts during a major boom, and wound up selling at a loss when prices fell). I'd worked for this company before and had a good name, so when I lost my job and they were looking for pipefitters, it just made sense.

Currently I'm only still here because the pay and benefits are better than the competition, and the pulp mill work keeps us working during slumps in oil and gas. I love the work, don't mind the industry, but absolutely despise the company. When I worked here before it was smaller and locally run, and management looked out for the workers. It wasn't perfect, but everybody was on a first name basis and they were fair. The company was bought by a corporation while I was gone, and now everything is about avoiding liability and scapegoating. I hate it, but at the moment it's the only way to keep up with the mortgage. I view it as temporary and keep looking out for something else but it's definitely not a good time to find work right now.

[Paintslinger16]

I spend 15 years on the pulp mill side of St. Regis then Champion Intl. I could see the writing on the wall and bailed in ‘99

[Tinybear]

310T licensed Truck mechanic. (Aka similar to having all truck related ASE Certificates which I have a bunch of too because company I used to work for could not figure out Canadians licenses encompass all required ASE certifications).

Done a bit of everything in the trade from trucks and buses to heavy equipment and even dabbled in cars and motorcycles. (though I not licensed for cars or bikes). Competed a couple times when I worked for Ryder for there multi national Top Tech competition(only reached level 3 of the 5, good for a $.50 raise and a hat lol.

Presently I senior tech at a school bus company. I stepped down from running a truck dealership for this job because it’s more fun to me and a whole lot less stressful.

Looking in near future to challenge the exam and get my 310s license (aka automotive and motorcycle) just for a new challenge, and so I can do my own safeties on my projects bikes/cars.

[ford]

I am going back to school to finish up my Bachelors degree.

I went back to school after feeling like I was in a rut. It worked out well for me, but I've had other friends where it was the wrong decision... and an expensive mistake.

My best suggestion is really review the degree plans you're interested in and try to track how long it's going to take you to get done. When I went back, my original degree choice was going to take 3.5 years even though I had completed a ton of basic college courses at a local community college. I found a degree plan that offered credit based on my work experience. That got me in and out in 2 years... That made a huge difference in student loans I had to take out.

Here's the degree plan I went with just to give you an idea. I'm sure 4-year colleges in your area offer something similar. https://www.owls.txstate.edu/undergr.../baasinfo.html

[Nish]

It's a bit more of a straight forward decision for me. I work in higher ed now and can finish my degree for little to nothing because of employee tuition benefits.

[Bow]

What is your current line of work?

I'm a Carpenter for Cirque du Soleil Ka here in Vegas. Basically a fancy name for Stage hand. I'm on the Night/Show crew and work Day shift when they need someone to fill in from time to time. I work with around 200 technicians and 100+ preformers


What keeps you at your current job?

The theater is amazing, I work with wonderful people from all over the world with cool stories. The work is very fun/sometimes hard but the pay is great and the benefits are really good too.

I volunteer for our First responder crew here at the show. We have PMed on deck at all times but obviously 1 or 2 people can't pick up a preformer safely.

Some nights I'm in my goody welder costume, others I'm in charge of clearing the lifts (super important) and protecting the preformers when they land near pyrotechnics.

Do you like it?

Best job I've ever had. I beat myself up pretty bad when I first started because I should've applied a year earlier when my buddy told me to, instead I stayed at my old job and wasted time. Covid sucks, it took down all the shows but we should be coming back at my show soon ish.

On day shift I get to listen to audio books and pretty much take power naps as long as I set a timer since I'm just filling cork.

On Night shift I get to get nice and sweaty climbing tons of ladders. I get to see one of, if not the world's most amazing stage at work. I get to watch world class athletes doing all kinds of crazy stuff.

I actually look forward to work. I can't say that about any other job I've had. Sure, some nights I just wanna die because I've been L2 for 4 days and it's my fifth day on the same track (hardest one I do). But others I get to make my friends laugh and do stuff like ride the flamethrowers on preset and reset.

Like, what other job would you actually want to do fire extinguisher inspections.

[Cunha]

Nice. Cherish the good times bud

[Ironnerd]

I am (technically) an aircraft mechanic. At this point, however, I write the manual for writing the work instructions for building C-130's, F-16's, F-35's, and performing F-22 modifications.

It is not quite as interesting as it sounds. To stay sane, I go to the local small airport and tinker on a friend's plane (an Grumman AA-1A).

[THE SHOOTIST]

I'm in sheet metal. After 30 years in the "Big Food" industry, my body gave out. My training was that of an Electrician. I owned my own Electrical Contracting/ Design Lighting business before actually falling into "Big Food" accidentally. I really loved it, but the body can no longer handle the cold. So, I got a job supposedly repairing machinery in sheet metal, but my abilities have have led me there to be the Machine Shop Foreman, Maintenance Manager and E/M assembly specialist. We build sub-assemblies for robotic materials handling equipment and MRI/ Medical/ Security machines.
I really like this job, I'm well-paid and well respected and appreciated. The company wishes there were more people like me.
I have 7 years before I can retire and hopefully my health holds out and I'm not force into retirement sooner.

[Tippster]

Currently in the Army as a mortarman (been in around 6 years) My contract/obligation is keeping me here lol
I've got a love hate relationship with it, about 90% sure I'm getting out in the fall to pursue becoming a lineman.

[Mr. Hick]

IBEW Lineman is one way to be solid 6 figures a year blue collar worker here in the North East. Solid choice, Airborne.