Escapist's Day Jobs

[devotedsniper]

Officially I'm classed as a Web Developer (at least thats my job title) but I work solely in the backend which means I'm more of a regular software developer than an actual web dev (meaning I can change the area I work in fairly easily, which is something that appeals to me).

I specialize in MVC, C#, SQL, Javascript, JQuery, Knockoutjs, Windows Services, and soon vNext when it actually gets released. I've built simple sites with CMS's to really complex custom software which processes fines for leasing companies.

Fairly happy with the job but it can be very stressful when I'm left in charge for the week or all the deadlines have managed to fall onto the same week but I like a challenge.

Also thinking about doing some freelance work, could always do with the extra cash considering I only have a years industrial experience so the pay while good isn't great for an actual developer.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Looking for work as a personal trainer. Got turned down by the biggest gym where I live because, to paraphrase my interviewer, I'm a good personal trainer, but a shitty salesman. Helping people get into shape, I can do. Trying to push expensive training session packages on people who can't afford them, like the gym equivalent of a used car salesman, is something I have no interest in, whatsoever (also I suck at it).

So while my efforts so far in the job hunt have ended in failure, my main methods of doing productive stuff include training in Muay Thai (useful experience for a personal trainer to have), Yoga (also useful for a trainer), and working on my own recipes for stuff like homemade hummus, almond butter, soups, etc. (helps me save money compared to buying pre-packaged stuff).

I feel you very much.

It's a very sorry world where people don't want to train with those who know how to give you what you'll need, but train with the biggest sleazeballs there are.

As one of my old mentors once said to me: There are two camps of trainers. The Doers and the Talkers. Sadly, the Doers have to learn to be talkers and the Talkers have to learn which clients to keep and which to let go... even if said clients are receiving no gains.

 

[ExDeath730]

I'm a Lawyer, for like one month, i actually graduated in January, so i was studying for the dreaded OAB (it's the Lawyer Association here in Brazil). got my card just 15 days ago and already found a job and i'm handling my first cases, being specialized in Administrative (dealing with the government) and Corporate (dealing with Commerce in general) Law.

 

[Darth_Payn]

I'm a Database Administrator at Apple, Inc. I finally have a job that puts my Comp. Engineering degree to good use!
What I do is, I'm given a list of parts (Resistors, Capacitors, Logic Gates, Transistors, Processors, etc.) and look them up in a database of parts from other vendors for their data sheets. I then look for the electrical data that another database that the engineers use to help design all the wonderful products Apple delivers. I've been doing it since April, every month we have a beer bash, and I get two screens so I can read/watch The Escapist while I work!

 

[Dalisclock]

Is there anyone here with a good paying job ?

That depends on a lot, which leads me into a kind of rambling rant....

I don't get paid that much by the Navy, and I'd get paid a lot more for doing my same nuclear job(and working fewer hours) in the civilian power sector. The military paid me some nice bonuses and I had extremely fast promotion because of how undermanned(and stressful and how long the hours are) the job is, which meant I was earning more money earlier in my career then most people. Also, the military can pay for a lot of your stuff, such as health care, moving your stuff, not having to pay state income tax(if you set your home as being a state without income tax, even if you've never lived there) and don't to pay income tax when on deployment. Not to mention getting your college paid for

OTOH, I work with people who make a lot more then me, have been in a lot longer....and routinely have no money to spend, or are in outright debt up to their eyeballs. Because I paid off all my debts ASAP once I had the money, bought a honda instead of a camaro(which I paid off immediately) and I really don't spend that much. I buy most of my games on steam sales or from GOG.com(and my backlog is so insane that I won't buy games anymore unless they're really cheap or I really want them. Not because of the money, but I just hate adding to the backlog). I don't have a mortgage or kids or feel any need to buy flashy expensive stuff just to show off. I also don't drink my paycheck away like some people I've worked with.

Would I mind making more money? Not at all. Am I killing myself to get promoted to the next paygrade? Hell no. I'm satisfied with how much I'm getting now. I'm happy with my working hours for the first time in a long time right now, even if I took a small pay cut to work at my current duty(AKA I had a pretty decent monthly bonus for doing a really stressful job, and when I came off the stressful job I'm no longer getting the bonus).

We could probably start a whole new thread on how much money is enough.

 

[Nomad]

Is there anyone here with a good paying job ?

From a cursory glance, I count almost a dozen people in this thread who should have what I'd consider "good pay". It all depends on where you set the bar, though. I consider mine to be pretty good, amounting to about $27/hour (I get paid by month rather than hour, so it's actually $4725/month). I'm fairly young and newly employed, though, so it's in the bottom bracket of the convention. I have a senior coworker (same title) who makes about $6500/month.

Hmmm...Your job?

It's on page two of the thread: comptroller at a university. Basically, I do forecasting and general analysis. Mostly the forecasting revolves around keeping track of how many students we have in different categories (and how many we're likely to have in the future), estimating the economic impact of the distribution and the relation between our capacity and our production. There are also elements of forecasting the production of research, but we have more of a laissez-faire policy in that area. The "general analysis" portion of what I do is very much governed by what appears to be important at the time: changes in organisational structure, results from national evaluation processes, adaptation to changes in government directives or labour market developments and so on.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

Just left a job where I had been providing Software QA analyst duties for a retail website . Corporate restructuring put the kaibosh on that so now I'm manning a tech support line for a telematics company. It's good work and it keeps me from having to walk Cletus Q. Bumblescump through deleting his browser history before his wife comes home.

Currently looking to get my Scrum Master certification to supplement my QA experience.

 

[jackknife402]

I work as a surveillance operator for a casino. Job is pretty kush but boring.

Do the exact same things everyday and after a certain point in the day I have nothing to do. Do get to do some investigative work for the state police or feds from time to time otherwise its just watching for cheaters or employees not doing their jobs correctly. I know 2 different card counting methods which is really not that difficult to do. Movies have really gotten that one wrong as the majority of card counters are dumb idiots who just don't want to work. Don't take a genious just a bit of repitition and memorizing basic strategy as well as a couple variations.

 

[Mahemium]

I'm a Carer for my father who's terminally ill with last stage cardiomyopathy, a heart disease. For those who don't know, in Australia; Carers are pensioners, typically family members or close friends of the disabled or ill, who are paid by the government to perform the same duties and care as a registered full-time nurse.

Prior to this, I had worked as a security guard and barman.

 

[rdaleric]

I'm Learning Zone manager in a High School. I am also the school photographer and editor and manage all the schools mobile tech (iPads cameras, Nexus, and video equipment)

 

[Super Cyborg]

Well It's not the usual 9-5 job, Monday to Friday deal. I work Offshore doing mitigation for seismic activities. I usually either visually look for marine mammals, or this year I've listened underwater using a hydrophone cable. While it can be monotonous at times, being able to see, hear various things is really neat. I've seen various whales, dolphins, turtles, and sharks.

Not really a job, but I'm currently in South Africa getting ready to start an internship helping with shark research, with an emphasis on Great Whites. Not something that's going to be a job or anything, but just something to gain experience and trying to learn what I want to do for my masters.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

My main job is a sales floor team member at a Target in a business park near me and I'm a substitute teacher for two different daycares. Although I have a feeling they might be letting me go or firing me from Target soon. They'rre always giving me shit for not being fast enough (and I'm "not fast enough" for medical reasons) I've been there for more than a year now so I'm kind of not upset if they do let me go.

 

[lacktheknack]

I've shifted from professional student to missionary-in-training.

Other than the location change, subject change and actually having to interact with people (positively, no less!), it's not really all that different.

 

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

Just started a job this week at Eircom. The biggest national communications network in Ireland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I work in a call centre.

Yeah but you work in a call centre for the people who run the phones.

Call centre extraordinaire!

Good point.

To be honest I can't really complain. Tenner an hour and that's not counting commission or bonuses, frequent karaoke nights on Friday, people are chill as fuck. It's totally not what I expected

Actually the one time Eircom fucked up my internet, every person I talked to about it (I was a confused 14 year old) was unexpectedly patient, nice and not a massive pube, considering how obtuse I was about following their instructions. I really feel like myself and Eircom Dude who was going to a BBQ that night really built a connection that can never be broken.
Ehm, I just started college. I'm studying Business and German, which, should I struggle through it should make me pretty employable. In the mean time I'm weary of taking a job with dodgy hours because it could swamp me, but I've thrown around a few CV's. No joy as of yet.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

I work as a Cashier in a Grocery store. People ***** about retail, but as far as jobs go what I have is a really easy job. It helps that it's a union job, though to be frank our union is terrible in terms of getting us benefits (we've actually lost more than we've gained)

I graduated college last December with my English degree, and I said I would give myself one year to just be a bum. But now that time is almost up. Going to need Health insurance, and a new car.

I've been a movie critic for the past 5 years. I like the job. You can watch anything you want weeks ahead of release, you get the movie theater practically to yourself and seat anywhere you like, if it's in 3D then you get to watch it in 3D, you usually get treated to breakfast (press screenings take place in the mornings) and sometimes there's swag. Five years later and I can't imagine a life where I can't go to the movies for free. I also love having passes to film festivals and interviewing celebs, moreso when I'm a personal fan of theirs. The biggest win of my career so far has been getting invited to film fests in Spain and France, everything from the plane trip to the hotel included. It's an amazing job.

Also I don't get paid any money for it. Not a single penny

So I manage a film studio's Twitter page and work at a bookstore on weekends.

But if you're managing a Film Studio's twitter page, isn't that a conflict of interest! Ethics! JARNALIZM! #MOVIEGATE!!!!!

 

[Gavmando]

Is there anyone here with a good paying job ?

Would you say that six figures is good paying? I could make more but I dont do overtime as I have a young family. And i'd rather spend time with them than be at work.

I'm a Workplace Driver Trainer in Sydney. I teach people how to drive passenger trains. It can be quite stressful depending on what your trainee is like. Most of them are pretty good. But sometimes you get someone who shouldnt even be allowed to look at a picture of a train let alone be behind the controls of one.
The shift work is hell. I finished work at 1:30am this evening. Which is a saturday night. So goodbye social life.
I'm also one of the youngest driver trainers that we've ever had. I got the job when I was 31, i'm now 32. I joined the job as a driver at age 22. I've just gotten my 10 year long service leave today.
So if anyone ever has any questions about the Sydney train network, just ask and i'll pretend I know the answer.

 

[rednose1]

Is there anyone here with a good paying job ?

That depends on a lot, which leads me into a kind of rambling rant....

I don't get paid that much by the Navy, and I'd get paid a lot more for doing my same nuclear job(and working fewer hours) in the civilian power sector. The military paid me some nice bonuses and I had extremely fast promotion because of how undermanned(and stressful and how long the hours are) the job is, which meant I was earning more money earlier in my career then most people. Also, the military can pay for a lot of your stuff, such as health care, moving your stuff, not having to pay state income tax(if you set your home as being a state without income tax, even if you've never lived there) and don't to pay income tax when on deployment. Not to mention getting your college paid for

OTOH, I work with people who make a lot more then me, have been in a lot longer....and routinely have no money to spend, or are in outright debt up to their eyeballs. Because I paid off all my debts ASAP once I had the money, bought a honda instead of a camaro(which I paid off immediately) and I really don't spend that much. I buy most of my games on steam sales or from GOG.com(and my backlog is so insane that I won't buy games anymore unless they're really cheap or I really want them. Not because of the money, but I just hate adding to the backlog). I don't have a mortgage or kids or feel any need to buy flashy expensive stuff just to show off. I also don't drink my paycheck away like some people I've worked with.

Would I mind making more money? Not at all. Am I killing myself to get promoted to the next paygrade? Hell no. I'm satisfied with how much I'm getting now. I'm happy with my working hours for the first time in a long time right now, even if I took a small pay cut to work at my current duty(AKA I had a pretty decent monthly bonus for doing a really stressful job, and when I came off the stressful job I'm no longer getting the bonus).

We could probably start a whole new thread on how much money is enough.

Hey, a fellow navy nuke! You're right, civilian side is so much better man. Currently making $38 an hour, and if certain conditions are met, it can get to $97/hr (although those are rare, and don't really last long). Biggest thing though is it's just so much more stress in the navy compared to civilian side. Tons of paperwork, but when I tell someone I can't do something because of reasons, they listen. The only time it seems we rush is during outages really. Keep up the good fight and I'll see ya on the other side!

 

[Lieju]

I'm studying paleontology, which will offer all kinds of job opportunities, I'm sure.

My actual paying jobs have been translating and editing-related.

 

[babinro]

Work at home part-time telecommunications rep. Currently I'm contracted with AAA/CAA emergency roadside. It's a sweet job but it's also pay per call so it's not uncommon for me to earn less than minimum wage.

Poor but happy, works for me.

 

[The White Hunter]

I work mostly night shift at a gas station/convenience store.
I make good money (few bucks more than minimum wage) considering I barely do any real work but its more or less a "baby's first job" thing. I was going to college to become a teacher to satisfy my family's wishes but then I remembered that I hated school and didn't want to be a teacher and dropped out.
Current plan is to schmooze my way up the ranks to become a GM of one of the stores and make a lot of money while doing even less work than I do now.

We must kindred spirits you and I.

I went to university to b ecome a teacher to appease family pressures, was fine with the academics but actually teaching is horrible and I hated every second of it.

Dropped out and am currently an assistant manager in a chain bakery, the pay is good, the hours are terrible, but it fills a gap while I find better things.