I make artisan chocolates and homemade fudge for a living. I've been doing it since 2002 and I absolutely love it. I have a website where I take online orders as well. I owe a lot of success to this ClutchFans site and a lot of money has been donated to the tip jar. I see this as God's calling on my life and I want to do this the rest of my life.
I work(ed) in QA doing automated testing and making developers cry. After being laid-off late last year, I just goof off now. I'm contemplating going into another line of work - QA is fun, but it's thankless and the world of IT/software development seems more corrupt as I get older. I can't comlpain, though - thanks to the dotcom boom, working nutty hours at hourly wages, I can technically be retired (mentally, I'd never be able to do it). Too much of the industry I worked in is dominated by nitwits more focused on deadlines than shipping a functioning product - so for all you that b**** about your apps, games, etc. not working, here's a secret - nobody seems to care. I may try to get into medical hardware/hospital software setting those up for customers (EHR/EMR stuff like Centricity, Nextgen, etc), but I'm not sure how to break into that yet. I want to work around hospitals again. I used to work in one for 3 or 4 years as a pharmacy tech making IV's in my early 20's. I think it would be a fun environment as long as I got to talk to doctors and nurses and not have to hang around computer dorks 8-12 hours a day. But ultimately, I think I'll be hanging around computer dorks as long as I work.
Day Trader. I am a terrible day trader, but I somehow make just enough to cover all of my and my girlfriend's expenses. If I can make enough in one week, I won't do anything for the rest of the month. Otherwise, I try to make money in any creative ways I can. Sometimes, I'll have a bright idea and feel lucky, and go to Vegas to play blackjack. Many times we come out on top by a lot... other times, not so much. I enter lots of sweepstakes and lotterys, but those have not panned out yet. I'm currently waiting on the San Francisco Dream House lottery... which will net me $1.8 mil if I win it... It costs $150 to enter. I bought two tickets. So, that's a 2 in 35,000 shot to win it. I feel pretty good about my chances with that. Hopefully I can do this forever cause I can pretty much do whatever I want, whenever I want.
I just recently graduated from college and started my first job as a Junior Software Engineer. I'm working for a company in Austin that is involved in the restaurant industry, although I think we're expanding to other industries as well (we help with forecasting, scheduling, etc., which isn't necessarily exclusive to restaurants). It hasn't been very long, but I've enjoyed my job so far. Lots of interesting things to work on, and I've definitely been learning a lot. I seem to work on different things every week, if not every day, so I don't really get bored with doing the same stuff. Even if it was the same stuff, the core job is programming, which I do enjoy. Everyone seems pretty cool and easy to work with (doesn't even seem like I have a "boss"), so that's definitely a huge plus too. Doesn't seem to be all that stressful either, but it might be too early to tell for sure (we've had deadlines, but mostly minor ones...don't know how things will get when we approach the larger ones). Pay is pretty good, about what I was hoping for given my credentials out of college (maybe even a bit better). I could see myself enjoying my work for a long time, although I will admit that the current circumstances probably aren't the best indicators of how my future will end up. Lots of newness still, so no telling how I'd feel 6-12 months down the line, when things start becoming more routine (although with the work we do, not sure how things could be all that routine). It is a small company, so I suppose I could end up unhappy with my position/salary/responsibilities/etc., but I don't think that would be much of a problem.
Day job: Senior Accountant for a state bond bank. Basically we are the financing arm of the state we do everything from roads and bridges to colleges, fire trucks and now we have moved into private lending and New Markets Tax Credits (which are incredibly difficult deals to get done especially these days). I do loan servicing, compliance, and the books for our subsidiaries that we had to create to do the NMTC program. Work is okay, some good days some bad. Will definitely stay for the 5 years to be vested in the 403B. EXCELLENT BENEFITS! Insurance is paid, constant raises, huge match in the retirement, great people. Not to mention they are paying the bulk of my MBA. Hard to leave but I really do not want to be an accountant my whole life. Evening job: Medical Billing and Coding instructor at PIMA medical institute. This is the foil to my bean counting day job. I get to stand in front of people and fool them into thinking I know what I'm talking about. It's satisfying to help adults go back to school and find jobs. Long term I'd like to be a CEO of a hospital, insurance company, something in the medical field.
I like my job but i'm about to become a Pro Wrestler (no joke) I'm attending Pro Wrestling school from March 2010.
Philly how do you find time to study for your MBA with two jobs? I have barely enough time with one job as it is. Impressive!
I am a trader. I work for a subsidiary of Merill, at a trading desk on Wall St. I got this job 2 years ago after college. During all of college and some of high school, I traded on my own. It started when my parents got me into stocks at a young age to "learn to save my money and invest". That certainly turn out well, since what I do now is probably is the opposite of "invest". I amassed my first trading account during the tech bubble of the late 90s. It grew to a height where I actually started thinking I was pretty good at this stuff. Of course in reality everyone and their grandmother was making money hand over fist, at a time when even a clueless teenager like I could. Reality hit home in 2000. And over the course of the next year my account depleted over 95%. Never did I even think of shorting the market. However I look back fondly at that time now. It was when many of the ground rules I trade by nowadays were set. After that initial debacle, I started another account, this time focusing on pattern recognition and timing, rather than .. blind luck and mass hysteria my first time, I guess. After months of trial and error, I started to have some success. Fast forward a few years and I was applying to Merrill. After detailing my past trading experience on my resume, they hired me to their training program on the trade desk. Most people I started with knew nothing about the markets. Nothing of substance anyways. The position was cut throat and almost none of them work for the firm anymore. Two years later, and I am still doing what I set out to do since freshman year in high school. I am by no means a huge trader. However I try to improve daily. The best part of the job is there is hardly a dull moment. Unless it's the summertime like now, with low volume and no volatility, we just play poker all day then. The nature of the job is like any professional sport or game. It is a zero sum game, and the object is to WIN. The prize is none other than $$$$. The swings I take are getting bigger and bigger. Financial and emotional. Though I try my best to block the latter out. At the highs, it feels like the top of the world. And at the lows, it seems like I will never be able to make a cent again. Like I said, at least it isn't dull. In the end, I am happy that I decided to pursue this line of work, through the good times and the tough. The Wins are fulfilling and satisfying. As for the Losses, well I have my Rockets when that happens. And when they lose too, well its suicide watch then.. starting to sound like JVG now
IT network geek. Love is a strong word. I like my job enough. Stressful and being a contractor I worry constantly about having a job. But I still got one so can't complain.
I love my job, I work at Wageningen University and I'm a student advisor for Biology students, so if students have problems studying or need help with choosing courses or other problems they come to me. Furthermore I do the recruiting of high school students, in order to get tehm to our university.
