Is your job your career?

[JGON85]

To all the older zilvians,
Is your current job your career?

Reason I ask is I just started a new job at a freight forwarding company, and it's a salary position that pays about 31k/yr. There are plenty of opportunities in this industry to move up, but I'm not sure if it's my career. But I definitely haven't thought/tried about going back to school to get a degree, so I'm still a bit scared/worried for my future.

How'd you know if it was your career?

[aNskY]

yep. im an electrician.

[stiizy]

http://zilvia.net/f/polls/193841-do-you-enjoy-your-chosen-career-career-field.html

[japslapsilvia]

god i hope not!!!! i went to school for marketing and i am working for a pharmacutical purchasing organization as a data analyist. i do ok money wise about 42K but i cant stand it. Its boring as hell, the people (for the most part) suck, and i just plain hate the monotony of the job. if this is my "career" im going to kill myself now.

[OptionZero]

By the time you get up to 25, you really should have started "career" mode, imo.

but then i'm 3 years deep in law school and too tired to do anything else if i flame out (knock on wood)

[WanganRunner]

I'm in Real Estate Private Equity, I'm an Asset Manager for a small Dutch direct-investment fund and I supervise all Development activities.

I'm pretty happy with it, I love the company, they're paying for part of my MBA. I expect to stay in REPE after grad school, although I may decide to defect to Carlyle as the comp will probably be like 2x what I'd get here.


Loving it now though, and it's definitely a career.

[Fat Felix]

I'm in Real Estate Private Equity, I'm an Asset Manager for a small Dutch direct-investment fund and I supervise all Development activities.

I'm pretty happy with it, I love the company, they're paying for part of my MBA. I expect to stay in REPE after grad school, although I may decide to defect to Carlyle as the comp will probably be like 2x what I'd get here.


Loving it now though, and it's definitely a career.

Can I have a job please:D

[180sExy]

Nope I'm in security but I'm taking the INS test on the 24th

[A Spec Products]

I sure as heck hope not.

LOL

To the OP though you should go back to school and get your degree

Before you work long enough to make yourself less driven to go back to school

[Pblesh85]

Please shoot me if I am, on second thought that might happen... or I could get blown up(yeah... that would suck a bit).

The army is cool in some aspect but its hard to feel like you have any say so in your life let alone how your family thinks of it. Im not sure, if I do 20 years I retire at 42 with 25k + a year I can start a new job for 50k + pretty easy.

Who knows.....

[airsoft]

Hilton and Supply Management can eat nuts forever.

[luckvx]

i dont have a job so i dont wanna stay like this forever school is the key!!!

[Bubbles]

By the time you get up to 25, you really should have started "career" mode, imo.



Some of the most successful people you will see were pretty much worthless at the age of 25.

[OptionZero]

1. I did not say you had to be a CEO at 25- just that you've figured out a direction and taken solid steps in that direction.

2. A vague unsubstantiated assertion of "some of the most successful people" sounds great and means nothing.

[tougemiata]

I'm a teacher..so yea. When I was on my second or third year of undergrad work, I thought about what I loved doing and how I could make it something I would do forever. I played rugby, soccer, track, love cars and LOVE SUMMERS.

So, I am a teacher. I should retire at around 110k a year if I stay in public schools and the secondary level, and when I retire I will make about a hundred dollars less per pay check until I die. Count it. Plus I work 180-220 days, only get paid for 175 but teaching is a lot more work than most think.

Think about people that influenced you/inspired you and look at their path through life. I was really good friends with my professors and we talked a lot, and they live great lives and can spend time with their families and are always happy. So I am stoked and really love what I do, plus I can make my classroom my own, no real boss and no real people looking over my shoulder, no TPS reports either.

[OptionZero]

Props for being a teacher

Mega props if you are a good one.

[ThatGuy]

I'm already half way to retirement, so yes, I'd say this is my career.

But by the time I'm 40 I can start a second career and collect 2 retirements. :D

[UNISA JECS]

Nope.

As soon as the firing freeze is lifted (January 09) for CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation), i'll be submitting my application to be Correctional Officer.

[Om1kron]

Nope.

As soon as the firing freeze is lifted (January 09) for CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation), i'll be submitting my application to be Correctional Officer.

That's good money right there, but I couldn't deal with being a corrections officer, shit like not being able to defend yourself against prisoners without going through a review panel to explain why you did what you did and worrying about the tenant suing you over officer abuse is godamned re-tarded.

But more power to you, my x-brother in law is like the fucking man up at lancaster, and his pops runs the operation. So basically they're desk jockeys now and don't have to deal with the criminals.

[brndck]

shit i hope so! i work for an engineering firm that does maintenance and testing at nuclear facitlities nationwide. great starting pay, travel pay, and housing pay. only downside is no benefits/healthcare. i'm only 26 with no college degree so i'm pretty stoked on it. (and it gave me an opportunity to get a florida drivers license and registration!)

[somovr4]

i think i would have to commit suicide if my current job was my carrer. I work at a grocery store.

[ManoNegra]

Nope but I love my job.
Hope to one day be self employed and break my back for my own benefit.

[jspeedm]

love my career. i am a master tech. decent pay and i get to work on cars every day.

if you can do what you love, you're good at it, and people will pay you for it. now that is a career.

[Xbroke_kidX]

target......:fawkd:
hell no its not a carrer!!!

[spikNspan]

I just got a job at kragen working part time and it's definitely not a career. I'm also going back to school to become a mechanical engineer so when I'm done with that then I'll have a career.

[duffman1278]

I was considering mine for a bit. I'm a CAD operator but my job would put me as a surveyor if I gave them the word and worked full time. Its what I did all summer, it was pretty cool.

[juice.def]

I just got a job at kragen working part time and it's definitely not a career. I'm also going back to school to become a mechanical engineer so when I'm done with that then I'll have a career.

haha i work at kragen partime too well used to be full time till i started going back to school. Defiantly not a career i would pursue.

[Flybert]

I'm a teacher as well. This is definitely my career. I love it. The vacation time is great. I get paid to coach soccer even though I would do it for free. I get paid to teach science, a subject that I love learning and sharing with other people. The job is extremely rewarding for obvious reasons. The pay gets better as you get more years under your belt and the retirement is awesome. I can get substitute teachers if I ever get sick. My administration at my school is very supportive. I can always go into administration if I want to make more money later down the road. My school district is awesome because they had the foresight to save lots of money and did not have to lay off any teachers this year. When I have kids, I will have the same vacation time as them. Junior high kids are hilarious.

Like Logan said, get a bachelors degree now before you get complacent with your position. Get a graduate degree that will put you high up in that freighting company if that's an industry you are interested in working in. And remember to always aim really high with your goals because even if you don't meet them, you will definitely end up a lot better than if you didn't make the goals in the first place.

[seps]

DoD contract worker. I guess its a career of bouncing around companies/contracts, but I like change and the pay is good. Been with EDS, CSC, DPRA, and some other multi-letter IT companies. Just gotta maintain the DoD clearance and its all good...oh yeah most companies won't hire if you don't have a bachelors degree. In the IT field, certs can get you pretty far, but I have yet to see a co-worker who wasn't a college grad (or was retired military, but that's another story).

My mom is still a teacher. Well, not really. In 25 years she's moved from teacher --> counselor --> library tech. All she does now is surf the internet in a nice library without having to deal with high school kids while getting paid bank. Sort of like pre-retirement I guess.

[WanganRunner]

Props for the teachers.

My mom used to be a lawyer, quit, and now she's a public school teacher (High School social studies and AP English). She'll be a principal next year.

Good teachers are hard to find. I hope that Obama can get himself elected and get good teachers compensated as well as they should be, which is WELL, and get the bad teachers replaced with better ones by motivating people with higher comp.

It's still just about the most important job anyone can have, IMO.

[OptionZero]

After my law career, I'd like to be a teacher of some sort as well. I did tutoring throughout college (taught HS and elementary kids), it was satisfying work.

the best lawyers are already good teachers

[MudRacer]

I do TPS reports all day.

I am almost certain this is not my career. But I've been doing this for about 6 years now.

[atutt]

Fabricator... that is my career. I love it....

Next work order at work? CF-18 Fighter Jet.... Yup... Pretty awesome.

[Mi Beardo es Loco]

I fix things. I'm a field tech, but really can't talk about what I do for a living over a forum but I made over 55k the last 3 years. There's 5 of us in the county and 2 of us make over 100k/year so it pays well. I'm not sure if it's what I want to eventually do for a living though.

[Mi Beardo es Loco]

I do TPS reports all day.

I am almost certain this is not my career. But I've been doing this for about 6 years now.
ummmmmmmmmmmmm yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....ssss ssssssssssss we're gunna need you wo come in on Sunday too...mmmmmmmkay. thhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhanks.