How did you end up in your job?

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Are you in a job/career that you aimed to be in or have you ended up there completely unintentionally?

Is anyone in an position/industry that is completly different to the one that they studied/trained for?

My current job in food retail was my part-time job when I was a student. Now it's my full time job as a search for a career path related to my marketing degree.

[tannat]

My degree is in psychopharmacology, but I am currently in virology.


In between the two are three stopgaps, I always pick up certain skills which make me marketable for the next job, and so on and so forth.

I'm far from 100% happy, but we have food, insurance and a home. The end justifies the means..

[gloomyDAY]

Just got fired today.

[Alexamateo]

I was a farm kid and truthfully, that's all I ever wanted to do, but my Dad told me that while he wouldn't tell me what I should do with my life, he asked me to not follow him into farming. I liked the outdoors, so I started by majoring in forestry, but changed after I ended up working for a landscape contractor in the summer. I doubled majored in Landscape Architecture and Landscape Contracting.

There was a brief interlude where I went to North Carolina and tried to break into racing, but truthfully it never amounted to much. I did work as an intern in PR for Charlotte Motor Speedway when Eddie Gossage and Susan Russo were there, so I'm glad I got that little bit of experience.

After that I worked for a landscape contractor doing designs, estimates, bids, construction supervision. Along the way, I became really good friends with a guy (and his wife) who worked for me from Mexico. I learned to speak Spanish. When they returned to Mexico, they invited me to come visit. I did and ended up meeting his sister who a year and a half later became my wife.

I liked the company I worked for, but it was a family business, and really wasn't a long term option for me being non-family. They knew it too. A company called McGinnis Farms was opening a Nursery (plants) distributorship in Memphis and the main manager was talking to my boss about no one in the company wanted to move here to become nursery manager. My boss recommended me and I went and interviewed and got the job.

That's where I really found a career, brokering and selling nursery stock. I loved it. I then progressed to another Southeastern distributor, and worked there for a while until I moved where I am now working as a 100% commissioned seller and broker of nursery stock. I never want to do anything else, and I would never want a job that wasn't commission based.

What I do is not something you major in in college. To be sure, business, and horticulture and landscape design classes all contribute to what I do, but where I make my money is based on connections and relationships. That does take time, but really find something you like to do and find a way to monetize it and voilà! you have a career.

[anderzon]

i submitted an immediate resignation knowing the benefits I signed when I was hired was not anymore available or me and my batch mate could not acquire it. It was like a batch resignation since there management told us they phase out that benefits.

[gadjo_dilo]

Jobs were always a problem in this country. I was never in a position to choose but to accept something to survive thinking it will be temporary. Even my studies used to be a compromise in order to get a "warm/clean" job.
I've been working in this institution ( which in my opinion is the most boring institution in the state and with the most insipid people as stuff ) for almost 20 years. Years ago, if somebody had told me I would end up here I would have had the best laugh. Now I've learnt to cope with the thought I'm a loser in everything I do.

[Mark]

Jobs were always a problem in this country. I was never in a position to choose but to accept something to survive thinking it will be temporary. Even my studies used to be a compromise in order to get a "warm/clean" job.

Back when I was choosing my degree course, I was actually most interested in doing Geography. But the fact is there was no clear career path after that, unlike Computing Science which was very well defined.

[MrJan]

I've got a Journalism degree, so naturally I work in construction.

[GridGirl]

I did an accountancy degree, then became a chartered accountant. Pretty boring really.

At the interview for my current job the first question I was asked was which football team I supported. I initially thought about lying but decided I had to tell the truth (you just cant lie about your team even in a job interview!). I said my club, and the partner interviewing me said good answer, you've got the job. Then we spoke about football and motorsport for a while and then the second partner came in. The first partner said to the second partner which team I supported and they second partner basically said I could have the job too and then we carried on chatting without without having any really speaking about accountancy at all. That conversation about football and motorsport eventually resulted in some of them becoming my clients when they gave me the job which was quite a shock. I thought I was doomed to failure after the first question about 30 seconds in.

[J4MIE]

I got fed up with computers about half way through my degree though I still graduated thanks to my parents. I haven't seriously looked at anything computing related in the five years that have passed, instead doing various low-paid temp jobs but managing to arrange plenty of time off when I need it has been worth it. I am currently working in an office dealing with gas connections, which I am really starting to hate as my dear colleagues are the most annoying people on the planet! I am paying off my debts, then after I travel the world I will probably do another computing course to get me up to speed and then settle down into a career in that.

:(

[gadjo_dilo]

I That conversation about football and motorsport eventually resulted in some of them becoming my clients when they gave me the job which was quite a shock. I thought I was doomed to failure after the first question about 30 seconds in.

Why? Grid girls are gorgeous and gorgeous girls are always getting jobs. :laugh:

Problem is that in my country they get important positions ( like ministers, president of a chamber in Parliament, managers in biggest state companies, etc. ).

[Drew]

I have a degree in foreign languages and I graduated in July, which explains why I have an interview tomorrow with a well-known window company to be that annoying a-hole that rings you at the exactly the wrong moment to try and sell you something you probably don't want. I can't wait to leave the country.

[J4MIE]

I have a degree in foreign languages and I graduated in July, which explains why I have an interview tomorrow with a well-known window company to be that annoying a-hole that rings you at the exactly the wrong moment to try and sell you something you probably don't want. I can't wait to leave the country.

Drew do it if you need to do it but whatever you do, don't get comfortable ;)

[Drew]

Drew do it if you need to do it but whatever you do, don't get comfortable ;)

I don't really have a choice, I need the experience and a bit of money too. I'm sure the turnover in this type of business is pretty quick, so I won't be there for long. Do they ever sell anything?! I guess I'd have to walk around an hour after and before work helping old ladies, to balance out my karma :p :

[gadjo_dilo]

I don't really have a choice, I need the experience and a bit of money too.


But you're specialized in foreign languages. Why do you need experience in selling windows?


Do they ever sell anything?!
Yes, if they run the business here. You're considered a " notorious nobody " if you don't have "termopan" windows. They give the person a certain distinction. :laugh:

[Brown, Jon Brow]

It seems that few people are working in the same field that they studied/trained in. Which is interesting.

[gadjo_dilo]

It seems that few people are working in the same field that they studied/trained in. Which is interesting.

And what a waste of money with education.... :laugh:

[Alexamateo]

It seems that few people are working in the same field that they studied/trained in. Which is interesting.

That's the point, Jon. A degree just proves you can learn and can accomplish a goal. For most positions, the actual degree is not that important. Your degree is in marketing, well I market myself, my company, my product every day. Even Mark would probably say what he actually learned at college is probably obsolete after 5 years, and he continually must learn and improve outside of the formal education system.

When I hired on at McGinnis, I trained in Birmingham, Alabama under another nursery manager who told me, "Hire for attitude, train for skill." I can teach you all about plants and trees, but I cannot teach you to be friendly, energetic, and pleasant to work with. There's plenty of people I know who started out as "grunts" loading or unloading trucks or as delivery drivers who later ended up highly salaried managers or highly commissioned salesmen.

Since you started this thread, I figure you must be having a, "What am I going to do with my life?," moment. That's why I gave such a long detailed post. I finished college in 1991, and didn't discover what I truly loved to do until 2000, and didn't truly carve out my niche and and place in industry until 2004. It's still a process of constant renewal. People who were once players, drop out, move on, retire, die, go out of business, etc., and new ones move into their place, and I have to reestablish connections and value.

[Mark]

Yep. My degree gave me the basic principles but little else. It is a cliche to say you learn something new every day but in my job you have to!

[BDunnell]

I studied German and Politics, and then worked in politics before being asked to come and work for the magazine I'd contributed to as a freelancer for many years. I'm still there.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Well, I have a BA in Geography. Since then, I have worked in the car rental business, was a draftsman/surveyor for a civil engineering firm, was an air traffic control trainee, and for the last 14 years, a commercial truck driver, 5 of those years spent going up and down the highway from one side of the continent to the other.

IN December, I told my boss (as many of you know from my thread on this "Take this job and shove it") to take the walk...and I am currently trying to figure a way into the TV business as a camera operator. AS someone who has been working as a volunteer the last 7 months broadcasting events in the community such as hockey games and lacrosse games, I know it is what I wish I went towards when I was 20...but the problem really lies it is a freelance business and I am not mentally used to trying to survive in that enviroment.

IN short...I don't know where I am going if I cannot find a way into TV...life is an adventure...

[Mark in Oshawa]

I had a knack for AutoCAD and SolidWorks and enjoyed designing. And I slept with the bosses daughter.

I was with ya right up to the Bosses Daughter...lol.
That was my civil engineering drafting gig.....except the daughter was too young and not my type...

[Eki]

I have a degree in foreign languages and I graduated in July, which explains why I have an interview tomorrow with a well-known window company to be that annoying a-hole that rings you at the exactly the wrong moment to try and sell you something you probably don't want. I can't wait to leave the country.
What are you going to do? Sell windows in Spain?

[Sonic]

Had my dream job as an ARDS instructor but had to give it up when the family came along - driving from Snetterton to Oulton and sleeping in my car between work days didn't exactly go hand in hand with being a Dad. I do miss it though.

[Drew]

But you're specialized in foreign languages. Why do you need experience in selling windows?


I don't need experience in selling windows, but having experience in anything helps you get a job. Atm I'm just looking for a temporary job so I can save up some money to do a TEFL course (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) , so that I am qualified to teach English abroad (I know, it does mean I have to improve my English :p :) So it makes no difference if I sell windows or photocopy, it's just for the money ;)

[Brown, Jon Brow]

That's the point, Jon. A degree just proves you can learn and can accomplish a goal. For most positions, the actual degree is not that important. Your degree is in marketing, well I market myself, my company, my product every day. Even Mark would probably say what he actually learned at college is probably obsolete after 5 years, and he continually must learn and improve outside of the formal education system.

When I hired on at McGinnis, I trained in Birmingham, Alabama under another nursery manager who told me, "Hire for attitude, train for skill." I can teach you all about plants and trees, but I cannot teach you to be friendly, energetic, and pleasant to work with. There's plenty of people I know who started out as "grunts" loading or unloading trucks or as delivery drivers who later ended up highly salaried managers or highly commissioned salesmen.

Since you started this thread, I figure you must be having a, "What am I going to do with my life?," moment. That's why I gave such a long detailed post. I finished college in 1991, and didn't discover what I truly loved to do until 2000, and didn't truly carve out my niche and and place in industry until 2004. It's still a process of constant renewal. People who were once players, drop out, move on, retire, die, go out of business, etc., and new ones move into their place, and I have to reestablish connections and value.


I am having a "What am I going to do with my life" moment. :laugh:

I'm just finding it difficult to get my foot into the door. Even placements are difficult to find in the current climate.

[Alexamateo]

I am having a "What am I going to do with my life" moment. :laugh:

I'm just finding it difficult to get my foot into the door. Even placements are difficult to find in the current climate.

It is hard to get a foot in the door. When I look at where I am now, I realize how much luck had to do with it. I was lucky no one wanted to move to Memphis. Now I was prepared when the opportunity came, but that particular opportunity came by pure chance.

Once you're in though, and can prove yourself, jobs come your way even when you're not looking for them:

"Have you ever thought about moving to.......?"

"Would you consider.......?"

"What would it take for you to.......?"

That's when you know you've made it. I wish you the best in your endeavors, and remember that contacts and relationships are the most important thing.

[Eki]

I wish you the best in your endeavors, and remember that contacts and relationships are the most important thing.
Yes, it's not about what you know, but who you know.

[Rudy Tamasz]

I majored in International Relations because I figured that would land me in a prominent international organization with a healthy salary. I had to wait for ten years before that happened. I was everything from a librarian to a waiter in the meantime.

I always dreamed of being a historian, though, and in my spare time I wrote and published a book.

[BDunnell]

I am having a "What am I going to do with my life" moment. :laugh:

I'm just finding it difficult to get my foot into the door. Even placements are difficult to find in the current climate.

Unfortunately, we now produce far, far too many graduates in the UK, as a result of there being far, far, far, far too many A-level graduates with high enough grades to go to university. As for whether this is because those taking A-levels have become cleverer over the years, I have my doubts.

[emporer_k]

I did an economics degree, after finishing which I was unemployed for about 18 months before ending up working in the civil service doing admin stuff.

[Hazell B]

... it's not about what you know, but who you know.


:up:

Almost everything I've had happen in my life that's been a push up the ladder has been down to knowing a friend who knows a friend. Now much of what I buy and sell is word of mouth too.

I've got bits of paper saying I know all about stuff from fish keeping to veterinary science. I think in all 23 bits of paper with assorted A to B grades or 1 and/or 2 written on them. Means nothing at all in my job - selling pet treats to people who pamper their pooch :p :

Saved me a fortune in vet bills and so on, though :D

[Eki]

:up:

Almost everything I've had happen in my life that's been a push up the ladder has been down to knowing a friend who knows a friend. Now much of what I buy and sell is word of mouth too.

I've got bits of paper saying I know all about stuff from fish keeping to veterinary science. I think in all 23 bits of paper with assorted A to B grades or 1 and/or 2 written on them. Means nothing at all in my job - selling pet treats to people who pamper their pooch :p :

Saved me a fortune in vet bills and so on, though :D
Maybe you could also keep fish as live food for cats?

On the second thought, although my cat likes tuna, a sight of alive tuna would likely scare the bejesus out of her.

[Hazell B]

Maybe you could also keep fish as live food for cats?

On the second thought, although my cat likes tuna, a sight of alive tuna would likely scare the bejesus out of her.
That was one of my problems - I refused to breed guppies to feed to the other fish :rolleyes:

Our cat doesn't do fish. He's a mouse man :p : No qualifications needed!

[gloomyDAY]

I got my job back and I start next Monday.

Work for Wells Fargo at a local branch. I used to work at Disneyland (yes, you can stop laughing now!) but much preferred to get paid to sit on my bottom and pretend to care about people's accounts. I get full benefits too!

Also, beginning my career as an officer in the U.S. Army. My official swear-in isn't until late September, so then my main focus will be on the military.

[Eki]

I used to work at Disneyland (yes, you can stop laughing now!)
goofyDAY?

[Eki]

Our cat doesn't do fish. He's a mouse man :p : No qualifications needed!
Tell the old Numbnuts I said "hi".

[gloomyDAY]

goofyDAY? :laugh: That's clever, but I wasn't tall enough for the suit. I worked in the parking lot.

My Calculus teacher from high school was Nemo. Funny, one day I saw this little Asian lady park next to me and it hit me that it was my former teacher. I called her name, we hugged, and chatted for a bit since it had been a while since we'd seen one another.