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What do you do for a living & do you like your job?

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
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I was originally a developmental psychologist, then moved into dispute resolute - family and divorce initially, then corporate, then government.

Then we moved to the Uk and I did part time work representing parents who were trying to get their biological children out of the foster system. (incredibly difficult in the UK!)

Then I came to the US and didn't want to re-license, so I now write young adult fantasy fiction. I'm currently on Book 6 of a series, tho this book is more a sideways diversion. I've also started my first adult novel. All of this has been hideously waylaid by being so ill for the last 18 months.

And yes, I love my job. I was wearing my pyjamas and working out of my office long before Covid was a thing!
 

jordyonbass

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Interesting! Real estate is going nuts right now, so I'm with you - may hay while the sun shines! But the opal business sounds really interesting - how wonderful that you are able to do something that makes your heart happy in that way :appl:. How did you get into that business?

Funnily enough - this very forum! It was quite the journey; going from someone who just liked gems and minerals, to standing in Justin Thomas' workshop and getting lessons. It was not something I ever thought would happen - but here we are.
 

1ofakind

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I am a retired SAHM. When we had our kids DH's career moved us around quite a bit. It would not have been easy for me to maintain a job much less so a career so my focus was to keep our family life as stable as possible even while we relocated. It was especially helpful for our HFA child to have as much stability as we could provide. For that reason we chose to home educate as well. We did finally settle down long enough for them to each attend public (but non-traditional) high schools and I did some at home work for a consultant firm during those years. We have moved again since they graduated.
Our HFA child still lives at home, just finished a degree and works full time. The goal is independent living and with those huge steps completed that is much more likely. Now we work more on life skills that will be needed. But it's more coaching/advising than parenting at this point. Our youngest is married, working, finished an MA and working on a PHD (taking a break...I do hope it is accomplished though!!) and expecting a first child. In that context I am very pleased with the outcome of my chosen 'career'.

Now I do a lot of volunteer work with local organizations that are meaningful to me. We are also remodeling our house room by room and only hire out stuff like plumbing and electrical. I lay tile and hardwood, finish drywall, paint....DH does most of the stuff you can't see behind the walls and under the floors but we work together. We are finishing a major bathroom reno now. I may have earned little income over my married life but I have contributed financially by being a good home economist/budget guru, an overall saver and, along with the labor we've saved on home reno I think I've earned my keep. I do run a small side business buying and selling mostly vintage items but anything like that goes into my sparkle fund.
 

anne_h

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For the past few years, I've been working in corporate strategy roles. Prior to that I spent the majority of my career in the technology / software space.

I do like strategy as a field. However, I work at a large multi-national and IMO, many people who are attracted to / hired in this arena are not my cup of tea. It's more political than I'm comfortable with. Lots of posturing, who looks good, who knows who, what can you do for me type of thing. There are lots of former management consultants and very ambitious people, which can make for some... interesting behaviours. Also, in these roles we have a lot of visibility into what's going on behind with scenes with senior leadership... which has been let's say... educational. :)

I'm not always comfortable, but I'm paid well and am making it work for now. Not sure what I want to do next...
 
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Beautiful-disaster

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I was a professional face and body painter before the crisis. I ran my own business for over ten years offering face and body painting, airbrush tattoos and balloon twisting at a with a team of artists working for me. I got to cruise on Royal Caribbean painting on cruise ships to the pacific islands and had large contracts with the city and other international companies.

I could talk more about it but I’m still mourning its death actually. Everyone in my industry is hurting very badly at the moment - in Australia we have been full stop since early March.
I miss the excitement of never knowing where the next phone call or email inquiry may take me but after more then a decade giving up weekends and family events I really needed the break. Still hoping things will recover next year.
 

jaysonsmom

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I work in the food and beverage industry, and part of the New Product department of a globally established company. I make sure that our products are formulated and labeled in accordance to regulations of the country and are properly registered for sale. I absolutely love my job, and troubleshooting different issues in different countries each day, and I get
to travel Internationally as needed, allowing me to visit countries I probably would have never visited on my own dime. I have always wanted to be a SAHM, but was unable to due to be a huge financial contributor to our family, but due to this pandemic, I’m finally able to do both! Be 100% present for work and and for my husband and kids. My house has never looked better, my meals have never been more home-cooked and working from home these past few months have shown my employer that my department and position can do majority of our work remotely!
 

Slickk

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I stayed at home until my youngest went off to first grade. I have been teaching middle school special education since. I love the ‘tweens’ and my job, though I am apprehensive about going back with Covid.
 

KristinTech

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Aug 7, 2013
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1,863
I loved my career of almost 30 years.

I was an optometrist working at a non profit multidisciplinary health clinic. My patients were children and adults with developmental disabilities.

It was challenging but rewarding beyond words. Professionally and emotionally fulfilling. My patients were among the best people I know. ❤

I am now retired but will always value the time I spent with these wonderful individuals I had the honor and privilege of knowing and helping.

I didn’t know that about you!
I’m a pediatric speech-language pathologist & feeding therapist in early intervention. I have worked with many babies and toddlers with visual impairments. We love our vision specialists! :)
 

kb1gra

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Jul 6, 2012
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I am a senior director at a boutique IT firm that hosts and manages complex databases.

I came here from IT consulting, and I've been with the company six years.

I like what I do, but it's been incredibly stressful with Covid and the rapid changes in the business/what our clientele wants/what our board thinks the clientele wants and admittedly, I am tired.

The money is good (great, actually) but I could really, really use a break.
 

ringbling17

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2,808
I’m a nurse! For 18 years I worked as a NICU nurse taking care of extremely sick infants.
About 2 1/2 years ago I joined the IV team of a large hospital and started working there part time (6 shifts a month). I never in a million years thought I would leave NICU nursing to work on an IV team. Previously, I didn’t even know that IV teams existed! In the NICU we always started our own IVs.
This January I accepted a 60 hour biweekly position on the IV team at a children's hospital. Thank goodness too bc my husband stopped working in March. I’m not sure when he will be returning.
Love love love my job! Everyday I’m at work is a challenge, but also a blessing. I get to meet so many patients and families and it’s just an honor to be able to work and help them.
I can’t decide if I love being a NICU nurse or being a VAN (Vascular Access Nurse) more, but for now I’m enjoying what I do very much.
 

Daisys and Diamonds

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I’m a nurse! For 18 years I worked as a NICU nurse taking care of extremely sick infants.
About 2 1/2 years ago I joined the IV team of a large hospital and started working there part time (6 shifts a month). I never in a million years thought I would leave NICU nursing to work on an IV team. Previously, I didn’t even know that IV teams existed! In the NICU we always started our own IVs.
This January I accepted a 60 hour biweekly position on the IV team at a children's hospital. Thank goodness too bc my husband stopped working in March. I’m not sure when he will be returning.
Love love love my job! Everyday I’m at work is a challenge, but also a blessing. I get to meet so many patients and families and it’s just an honor to be able to work and help them.
I can’t decide if I love being a NICU nurse or being a VAN (Vascular Access Nurse) more, but for now I’m enjoying what I do very much.

That sounds a really important job from the perspective of peoole with sick little kids
You hear some real horror stories about kids and needles
I understand why it would be a specialist nursing position
 

canuk-gal

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Apr 19, 2004
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25,646
I’m a nurse! For 18 years I worked as a NICU nurse taking care of extremely sick infants.
About 2 1/2 years ago I joined the IV team of a large hospital and started working there part time (6 shifts a month). I never in a million years thought I would leave NICU nursing to work on an IV team. Previously, I didn’t even know that IV teams existed! In the NICU we always started our own IVs.
This January I accepted a 60 hour biweekly position on the IV team at a children's hospital. Thank goodness too bc my husband stopped working in March. I’m not sure when he will be returning.
Love love love my job! Everyday I’m at work is a challenge, but also a blessing. I get to meet so many patients and families and it’s just an honor to be able to work and help them.
I can’t decide if I love being a NICU nurse or being a VAN (Vascular Access Nurse) more, but for now I’m enjoying what I do very much.

Thank you for doing what you do. I could never work in Peds--I'd be crying all the time and completely ineffective.

cheers--Sharon
 

Bron357

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Jan 22, 2014
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I’m retired now but I worked in finance, insurance/ investments / financial planning. I was first in client service and then specialised into writing financial plans and compliance. It was very technical and with changing legislation the expansion of my knowledge base was never ending. My specialty was retirement plan / superannuation/ deceased estates. Vast quantities of reading and interpretation. My favorite was when I went into dispute resolution. Basically when someone received poor or inappropriate financial advice that caused them a financial loss they needed someone to review the advice, find the “holes and mistakes” and prepare a case for restitution against either the adviser and/or institution. I was very good at this, I got back hundreds of thousands of dollars for my clients. I’d go into meetings with fancy lawyers and laugh inside as their mouths opened as I rattled of section after section of legislation Verbatim. Im on the spectrum, so I’m hard to match with my ability to read incredibly fast and remember it all. I didn’t do law at Uni (I did business finance) but my sister did and so I’ve read all her textbooks ha ha.
very happy now to be a home body and look after crazy dogs and a DH that needs a cook, cleaner and chauffeur ha ha.
 

stracci2000

Ideal_Rock
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Jun 26, 2007
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8,345
I am a food broker, working for a large international company that represents major food lines. I travel to retail stores everyday, within a 300 mile radius, checking product lines and distribution.
It's the best job I ever had. It really doesn't feel like work. I spend a lot of time driving, which would be the only down side.
 
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Polabowla

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Nov 15, 2019
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1,866
What a fascinating array of jobs mixed with stahm! Opera singers, financials, museum directors etc. I'm impressed!

I'm a stahm for 17 years, we have 6 kids. It's very challenging as some of them have different needs (learning disabilities or other issues.)
 

paragon1234

Shiny_Rock
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Mar 8, 2020
Messages
206
I was good at mathematics and science subjects at school so I studied computer science at uni and I've always been a software engineer. Right now I'm a senior software engineer at a large multinational company in the manufacturing industry.

I took 3 years out to have my 2 children and didn't know whether to stay as a SAHP or do something completely different, but I found childcare tedious and I missed the adult conversations so I decided to go back to work. I didn't want to retrain and I left at a senior position in IT so it was easier to just go back to the same kind of role. It pays well and since my income wasn't necessary we use it to have nicer holidays and buy nice things, such as my bling.

I've worked in many industries, such as finance, media, where the software wasn't being used to produce anything tangible, more software for software's sake or making rich people even richer, but now I'm in the manufacturing industry making CAM and CAD software and I find it more interesting.
 

Dandi

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I'm a nurse in the operating theatre. Here in Australia we are expected to be multi-skilled, so over the past 16 years I have trained and become proficient in scrubbing, scouting (circulating), anaesthetics, and PACU. I love everything about my job, especially the phenomenal team I work with. We lean on each other in hard times, teach one another and make each other laugh. So many of us are friends outside of work...it's a massive team, and I love them all (well, most of them) :lol-2:

I love the variety that theatre offers, I wouldn't want to stick to only one area of theatre all the time. Anaesthetics, robotics and urology are my specialties, and I really love scrubbing for major open urology cases, which are few and far between, now that robotic technology has taken over. My job is incredibly challenging and very rewarding. We have an emergency department and I like the rush of emergency cases and overnight on call responsibilities. I am constantly learning and love the vast array of cases I'm exposed to, from emergency delivery of babies at any and all hours of the night, to holding patient's hands in PACU and having a good old chat. I am fairly certain that I will never do anything else!

Oh, and I'm a mummy too of course! I only work 2 12 hour shifts a week, so I'm thankful that I can be a SAHM on the other 5 days to my babies (7 and 4).
 

mellowyellowgirl

Ideal_Rock
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May 17, 2014
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6,176
Stay at home mummy here!!!!!

I didn't think I would but I love it so much and I'm pretty good at it too I think! I enjoy reading children's books. I think of very rogue and messy activities to do. My mind is always churning and thinking of ways to invent new activities to get up to. I looooooove children's shows and concerts. It always amused my son when I used to lose my mind at some of the kids concerts I took him to, especially when they performed one of our favorite songs.

I love buying books for him, mixing up his bookshelf with different genres and seeing him read and enjoy each book.

I've given up on adult books now and am reading children's books only. I love discussing what we read afterwards (haha like a book club but with a kid instead).

In another life I was a finance girl, mainly property development. I did a law and finance degree (was rubbish at it, never at University, always working) and when I landed a graduate job out of university I thought all my dreams had come true. It was everything I'd ever wanted for myself, all part of my life plan.

I hated it! Hated it with every fibre of my being. I was just so unmotivated. The people were nice and I enjoyed the work functions (free food!) and the money but I was always so stressed. I don't know how to describe it. I was a combination of both stressed and uninvested at the same time. Very odd. I moved from one workplace to another every two years for more money and it was always the same. I never liked it.

I sometimes wonder if university was worth it for me since I disliked my job so much. But I guess it was one of those things I had to get out of my system so I could move on.

I worked as a legal secretary for a few years while I was at University. I would like to get back to that again or be a receptionist when the kiddo is in highschool. I would like to wear my gems to the office!
 

Ally T

Ideal_Rock
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Oct 24, 2012
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I started life in Admin for an engineering company & worked my way into Management after 4 years. From there I became the manager of 2 departments overseeing engineers & admin, a total of 127 staff.

From there I moved to Wellington in NZ to take up an Operations Manager post for an engineering company, which I loved everything about - the guys & girls, the chatter, the clients, the workload, the climate, the money, my home etc.

I came back to the UK & moved into managing an IT department who oversaw the software for an engineering team & from there, into managing & overseeing IT for EA Games, which is where I met my husband. Two babies swiftly followed & I was a SAHM for 7 years.

When my youngest started school I retrained in Safeguarding & Advanced First Aid, taking a job at their lovely little Primary School (Kindergarten) for 2 hours a day, term time only. I oversee the catering & midday staff (10 lovely ladies) before, during & after lunch, providing a much needed break for the teaching staff & the 5 other First Aid trained teachers. My husband is still in Gaming & apart from the Covid interruption, he spends lots of time in Eurpoe & the US, so running the children & house is my domain. My job allows me to drop them off each morning, pick them up each afternoon, get them to after school clubs, be with them during school holidays, do the supermarket shop & fit my running in too. My work life balance is perfect for this stage of my life.
 

Austina

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I was the sales coordinator for a company that sold specialist materials to the building industry. Lots of the products we marketed were used on major buildings in London, and other major cities in the UK (including the nuclear power plant at Windscale).

I gave up work when DS was born and didn’t go back till he was 16, (although during that time, I was involved in lots of volunteer things as well as the schools he was at), I retrained to be a dental nurse, and worked part time, which I did till I retired a couple of years ago.

I love being retired.
 

violet3

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Dec 18, 2007
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This is awesome!!! I'm still reading through these, and I will reply - thanks everyone for taking the time to answer. I knew there would be a variety of jobs on here, but this range of careers is so interesting - I'm enjoying reading all of these answers, and I really like that overall people are reporting job satisfaction (when times are normal, and not in a pandemic).
 

violet3

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I've had two careers and now retired from both, LE and roadway design/transportation planning. Both were stressful and I am now able to enjoy the things I wanted to do but never had the time or stamina after work.

Those do sound stressful - yay for retirement!

SAHM of 13 years, I've always wanted to be home with the kids so this is my dream and I love it. I love that I have been present for every milestone.

Prior to this I worked at an insurance agency as a customer service rep, I was good at my job but insurance is one of those things that people more or less have out of obligation, so it can be an unpleasant job.

I did get a job as an administrative assistant in March of this year, worked s few weeks and then the state shut down and so did that job. Still a SAHM and it doesn't appear that job will be in jeopardy for the next 12 years :D

Finding a job right now cannot be easy - glad you are able to stay home with your kids. My mom was (more or less) a SAHM and she was at every event we ever participated in - we were always very grateful for that.

I am (?) was (?) a dental hygienist for 42 years before Covid. Loved my job. Because I’m immune compromised I can’t go back until there is a vaccine. I’m not sure if I want to go back.

I'm sorry - that must be stressful!!! A good hygienist is hard to find, but I totally understand the trepidation of going back to that job. Would there be any other job you would like, or are you considering retirement? (42 years is a long career!)

I am a former math teacher in Ukraine, grades 5-12. Stressful but rewarding. The school I worked at was great. Happy years! In the US I worked as a babysitter making $2.50/hour at the beginning, then got a raise and made $4/hour. After moving from NC to CA, I attended vocational school and after "graduation" worked as a pharm tech at a busy retail pharmacy for nearly12 years. Stressful but rewarding. Quit when we got a GSP that required 24/7 attention. He is 6y.o. and has never spent more than 5 min. being alone at home (the situation when I go outside and talk to a mailman or a neighbor for a short time). I am a full time nanny/grandma now. Stressful but extremely rewarding. Especially when the toddler speaks Ukrainian and understands what we are talking to her.
You've had a heck of a ride, in terms of jobs! I bet being a grandmother is the best one yet.

I am a RE broker but only handle transactions for DH. We are landlords (commercial and residential) and flip houses. So I am semi-retired. I do anything from listing properties for sale/rent to cleaning up the landscape and parking lot at our commercial property. Clean out rentals and flips and do demo, painting. landscaping. I really enjoy it (most of the time).
Prior to this I was a manager in Supply Chain in the tech industry. Which I enjoyed but it was stressful. I only miss the cheap health insurance.

I also had 7 years as a FT SAHM, then worked part-time for 7 years before going FT. Before kids I was in procurement in the steel industry.
I've enjoyed each stage in my life/career, and during each period felt it was my favorite. So I feel fortunate.
That's wonderful! Most cannot say that last sentence :kiss2:

Wife and I are both retired and now babysitting 3 grandkids full time. Yes we love our job.

That must be a great way to spend your days!
 

lilmosun

Ideal_Rock
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Jun 30, 2014
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2,394
Software Engineering Manager.

I love the teams I've built and what they've accomplished. I hate company politics. I like being strategic but close to the ground. I stepped my toes into the executive leadership level and realized I hated it (and wouldn't be particularly good at it). So I've been in Sr. Manager or Director roles for decades. It's where I feel I function best. We aren't all meant to be President :)

I believe one spends too much time at work to be unhappy there -and- it impacts your life outside of work as well. When it gets to that point with no end in sight (usually because of company politics or boredom), I change jobs. My son commented once "you are the only person who keeps taking jobs for less money". But to me, I know what I need to live on and would rather be happy. Plus I think I perform better when I like what I am doing (in all cases, any loss was negated within 2 years with beyond average increases after that).

My husband was miserable in the white collared world and did a complete career change when he turned 50. It was hard for a few years as it cut our family income in half and I had to step up as the primary bread winner and benefits holder - a role he had. Admittedly, he couldn't have done that if I wasn't earning decent money. But that was probably the hardest part of my career as I suddenly felt the pressure of having to work and had to consider more than my own happiness/satisfaction. So I do understand how people feel/are locked into their jobs for financial reasons.

Once the kids got out of college, the financial burden eased and more importantly, my husband loves what he does and continues to work past his full retirement age. And realistically if he hadn't made the change, he probably wouldn't have lasted this long in his old field as unhappy as he was.

I made what I hope is my last company change 2 years ago and company is exactly what I hoped for at this stage in my career. Admittedly, I hate working from home during covid. I miss going into the city and seeing people (in person). But know that I am lucky that I am still employed and can work from the safety of my home during this time.
 
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violet3

Ideal_Rock
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I work for a digital healthcare consulting firm as a Knowledge Manager and specialize in Human Computer Interaction (like user experience design). After a string of terrible jobs, I found a really great job and am very grateful. Although business has been tough, so time will tell if the company can keep itself afloat.

It is like library science, except I have to develop my own ontology and instead of organizing books, it is strategies consultants create, and instead of being in a library, it is housed in a web-app - and I have to make sure the "flow" of the digital space is tidy, organized and easy to navigate.

It is an exciting role - but also really draining / challenging. But it is such a rare type of job.

It has been a long and weird road for me. I trained first as an opera singer, then as a fine artist & painter, taught painting & drawing to middle schoolers (tremendous RESPECT for educators), worked at a cat rescue, then did business writing to pay the bills -- blah blah.

Took a while to find the shoe that fit. And who knows, it may not fit in 5 years :lol:
This job sounds interesting! Hooray for finding a shoe that fits :appl:

I was originally a developmental psychologist, then moved into dispute resolute - family and divorce initially, then corporate, then government.

Then we moved to the Uk and I did part time work representing parents who were trying to get their biological children out of the foster system. (incredibly difficult in the UK!)

Then I came to the US and didn't want to re-license, so I now write young adult fantasy fiction. I'm currently on Book 6 of a series, tho this book is more a sideways diversion. I've also started my first adult novel. All of this has been hideously waylaid by being so ill for the last 18 months.

And yes, I love my job. I was wearing my pyjamas and working out of my office long before Covid was a thing!
Whoa. That's a lot of different jobs, all of which sound fascinating! Would you share your books with us? If that's too personal, no worries at all. I'm an avid reader, and would love to look them up if so!

I am a retired SAHM. When we had our kids DH's career moved us around quite a bit. It would not have been easy for me to maintain a job much less so a career so my focus was to keep our family life as stable as possible even while we relocated. It was especially helpful for our HFA child to have as much stability as we could provide. For that reason we chose to home educate as well. We did finally settle down long enough for them to each attend public (but non-traditional) high schools and I did some at home work for a consultant firm during those years. We have moved again since they graduated.
Our HFA child still lives at home, just finished a degree and works full time. The goal is independent living and with those huge steps completed that is much more likely. Now we work more on life skills that will be needed. But it's more coaching/advising than parenting at this point. Our youngest is married, working, finished an MA and working on a PHD (taking a break...I do hope it is accomplished though!!) and expecting a first child. In that context I am very pleased with the outcome of my chosen 'career'.

Now I do a lot of volunteer work with local organizations that are meaningful to me. We are also remodeling our house room by room and only hire out stuff like plumbing and electrical. I lay tile and hardwood, finish drywall, paint....DH does most of the stuff you can't see behind the walls and under the floors but we work together. We are finishing a major bathroom reno now. I may have earned little income over my married life but I have contributed financially by being a good home economist/budget guru, an overall saver and, along with the labor we've saved on home reno I think I've earned my keep. I do run a small side business buying and selling mostly vintage items but anything like that goes into my sparkle fund.

I have a friend who is a military spouse, and she has spent her adult life relocating with her family over and over. It cannot be easy to do that, particularly if you have a special needs child. Kudos to you for homeschooling - that is not for the faint of heart - I've had many friends who have done this!

For the past few years, I've been working in corporate strategy roles. Prior to that I spent the majority of my career in the technology / software space.

I do like strategy as a field. However, I work at a large multi-national and IMO, many people who are attracted to / hired in this arena are not my cup of tea. It's more political than I'm comfortable with. Lots of posturing, who looks good, who knows who, what can you do for me type of thing. There are lots of former management consultants and very ambitious people, which can make for some... interesting behaviours. Also, in these roles we have a lot of visibility into what's going on behind with scenes with senior leadership... which has been let's say... educational. :)

I'm not always comfortable, but I'm paid well and am making it work for now. Not sure what I want to do next...

Your job itself sounds really interesting! Honestly, I hate jobs where politics are involved in the workplace, so I feel you on that. The one reason I'm more or less okay with remaining an adjunct professor, and not a full time professor, is the politics that comes along with higher academia. For the most part, if you are part time, you have autonomy, but who knows how long it will stay that way.

I was a professional face and body painter before the crisis. I ran my own business for over ten years offering face and body painting, airbrush tattoos and balloon twisting at a with a team of artists working for me. I got to cruise on Royal Caribbean painting on cruise ships to the pacific islands and had large contracts with the city and other international companies.

I could talk more about it but I’m still mourning its death actually. Everyone in my industry is hurting very badly at the moment - in Australia we have been full stop since early March.
I miss the excitement of never knowing where the next phone call or email inquiry may take me but after more then a decade giving up weekends and family events I really needed the break. Still hoping things will recover next year.

Wow! This is fascinating - what a life you have led! I'm very sorry to hear your industry is hurting currently - my husband is in hospitality and they are really hurting too. Sending loads of dust that things return to (some state of) normal soon.

I work in the food and beverage industry, and part of the New Product department of a globally established company. I make sure that our products are formulated and labeled in accordance to regulations of the country and are properly registered for sale. I absolutely love my job, and troubleshooting different issues in different countries each day, and I get
to travel Internationally as needed, allowing me to visit countries I probably would have never visited on my own dime. I have always wanted to be a SAHM, but was unable to due to be a huge financial contributor to our family, but due to this pandemic, I’m finally able to do both! Be 100% present for work and and for my husband and kids. My house has never looked better, my meals have never been more home-cooked and working from home these past few months have shown my employer that my department and position can do majority of our work remotely!

Sounds like you are living your best pandemic life! This is inspiring to hear - I won't read it to my husband though, or he'll ask why the pandemic had the opposite effect on me :lol:

I stayed at home until my youngest went off to first grade. I have been teaching middle school special education since. I love the ‘tweens’ and my job, though I am apprehensive about going back with Covid.

I would be apprehensive too. My college roommate is being forced to go back, and teach in the class and remotely at the SAME TIME (high school English). I wanted to cry for her the other day just thinking about it! Does your district allow you to choose? Or at least put in a request to be remote?
 

violet3

Ideal_Rock
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Software Engineering Manager.

I love the teams I've built and what they've accomplished. I hate company politics. I like being strategic but close to the ground. I stepped my toes into the executive leadership level and realized I hated it (and wouldn't be particularly good at it). So I've been in Sr. Manager or Director roles for decades. It's where I feel I function best. We aren't all meant to be President :)

I believe one spends too much time at work to be unhappy there -and- it impacts your life outside of work as well. When it gets to that point with no end in sight (usually because of company politics or boredom), I change jobs. My son commented once "you are the only person who keeps taking jobs for less money". But to me, I know what I need to live on and would rather be happy. Plus I think I perform better when I like what I am doing (in all cases, any loss was negated within 2 years with beyond average increases after that).

My husband was miserable in the white collared world and did a complete career change when he turned 50. It was hard for a few years as it cut our family income in half and I had to step up as the primary bread winner and benefits holder - a role he had. Admittedly, he couldn't have done that if I wasn't earning decent money. But that was probably the hardest part of my career as I suddenly felt the pressure of having to work and had to consider more than my own happiness/satisfaction. So I do understand how people feel/are locked into their jobs for financial reasons.

Once the kids got out of college, the financial burden eased and more importantly, my husband loves what he does and continues to work past his full retirement age. And realistically if he hadn't made the change, he probably wouldn't have lasted this long in his old field as unhappy as he was.

I made what I hope is my last company change 2 years ago and company is exactly what I hoped for at this stage in my career. Admittedly, I hate working from home during covid. I miss going into the city and seeing people (in person). But know that I am lucky that I am still employed and can work from the safety of my home during this time.

I like your style. I agree that life is too short to waste it at a job you hate. I've had jobs I hated, and they were torturous. I'm so glad your hubby found something that he loves! Would you be willing to share what he switched to? I'd be interested to know what you can pick up in your 50s, because my husband probably physically cannot do his job forever, and might need a change at some point.
 

violet3

Ideal_Rock
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I didn’t know that about you!
I’m a pediatric speech-language pathologist & feeding therapist in early intervention. I have worked with many babies and toddlers with visual impairments. We love our vision specialists! :)

One of my friends is a speech language pathologist - you all work so very hard, and are so important to children!!! I'd imagine that is a really rewarding career.


I am a senior director at a boutique IT firm that hosts and manages complex databases.

I came here from IT consulting, and I've been with the company six years.

I like what I do, but it's been incredibly stressful with Covid and the rapid changes in the business/what our clientele wants/what our board thinks the clientele wants and admittedly, I am tired.

The money is good (great, actually) but I could really, really use a break.
Oh! I bet you are overwhelmed. Anyone in your field is probably aching for a break, during this mess. Sending prayers that you get one soon!

I’m a nurse! For 18 years I worked as a NICU nurse taking care of extremely sick infants.
About 2 1/2 years ago I joined the IV team of a large hospital and started working there part time (6 shifts a month). I never in a million years thought I would leave NICU nursing to work on an IV team. Previously, I didn’t even know that IV teams existed! In the NICU we always started our own IVs.
This January I accepted a 60 hour biweekly position on the IV team at a children's hospital. Thank goodness too bc my husband stopped working in March. I’m not sure when he will be returning.
Love love love my job! Everyday I’m at work is a challenge, but also a blessing. I get to meet so many patients and families and it’s just an honor to be able to work and help them.
I can’t decide if I love being a NICU nurse or being a VAN (Vascular Access Nurse) more, but for now I’m enjoying what I do very much.
Thank you for all that you do!!! My college roommate is a NICU nurse. I used to cry just when she told me the stories about the babies. I can really understand where an IV team would be really helpful and I've never heard of that before! I bet the families just love you for what you do for their children :kiss2:

I’m retired now but I worked in finance, insurance/ investments / financial planning. I was first in client service and then specialised into writing financial plans and compliance. It was very technical and with changing legislation the expansion of my knowledge base was never ending. My specialty was retirement plan / superannuation/ deceased estates. Vast quantities of reading and interpretation. My favorite was when I went into dispute resolution. Basically when someone received poor or inappropriate financial advice that caused them a financial loss they needed someone to review the advice, find the “holes and mistakes” and prepare a case for restitution against either the adviser and/or institution. I was very good at this, I got back hundreds of thousands of dollars for my clients. I’d go into meetings with fancy lawyers and laugh inside as their mouths opened as I rattled of section after section of legislation Verbatim. Im on the spectrum, so I’m hard to match with my ability to read incredibly fast and remember it all. I didn’t do law at Uni (I did business finance) but my sister did and so I’ve read all her textbooks ha ha.
very happy now to be a home body and look after crazy dogs and a DH that needs a cook, cleaner and chauffeur ha ha.
This does sound fascinating! I'd like that type of job - like putting a puzzle together. My oldest nephew is on the spectrum, and his brain is like yours - absolutely unparalleled in retention. I've been amazed by him since he was 4 years old, and could tell me that 64+64 = 128. I bet your DH is happy you're a homebody now too - sounds like he has a good gig!

I am a food broker, working for a large international company that represents major food lines. I travel to retail stores everyday, within a 300 mile radius, checking product lines and distribution.
It's the best job I ever had. It really doesn't feel like work. I spend a lot of time driving, which would be the only down side.
I would love a job like this! I like to move around a lot - I've never been a person who would have been good at sitting 9-5 at one desk. Are you out in the field currently? How do you feel about working during the pandemic?

What a fascinating array of jobs mixed with stahm! Opera singers, financials, museum directors etc. I'm impressed!

I'm a stahm for 17 years, we have 6 kids. It's very challenging as some of them have different needs (learning disabilities or other issues.)
I agree with you - this thread has been so interesting to read! 6 kids??? Wow - that is awesome! My mom was one of 6 kids, and I've always had a big family as a result, which I love. I don't have any myself sadly, but I've had some really amazing aunts in my life, so I try to imitate them and be the best aunt I can be to my 4 nephews (and 2 more on the way)!

I was good at mathematics and science subjects at school so I studied computer science at uni and I've always been a software engineer. Right now I'm a senior software engineer at a large multinational company in the manufacturing industry.

I took 3 years out to have my 2 children and didn't know whether to stay as a SAHP or do something completely different, but I found childcare tedious and I missed the adult conversations so I decided to go back to work. I didn't want to retrain and I left at a senior position in IT so it was easier to just go back to the same kind of role. It pays well and since my income wasn't necessary we use it to have nicer holidays and buy nice things, such as my bling.

I've worked in many industries, such as finance, media, where the software wasn't being used to produce anything tangible, more software for software's sake or making rich people even richer, but now I'm in the manufacturing industry making CAM and CAD software and I find it more interesting.

Oh I bet you are busy!!! I sure wish I was good at science and math - I'm the exact opposite. You will always be employable in your field!

I'm a nurse in the operating theatre. Here in Australia we are expected to be multi-skilled, so over the past 16 years I have trained and become proficient in scrubbing, scouting (circulating), anaesthetics, and PACU. I love everything about my job, especially the phenomenal team I work with. We lean on each other in hard times, teach one another and make each other laugh. So many of us are friends outside of work...it's a massive team, and I love them all (well, most of them) :lol-2:

I love the variety that theatre offers, I wouldn't want to stick to only one area of theatre all the time. Anaesthetics, robotics and urology are my specialties, and I really love scrubbing for major open urology cases, which are few and far between, now that robotic technology has taken over. My job is incredibly challenging and very rewarding. We have an emergency department and I like the rush of emergency cases and overnight on call responsibilities. I am constantly learning and love the vast array of cases I'm exposed to, from emergency delivery of babies at any and all hours of the night, to holding patient's hands in PACU and having a good old chat. I am fairly certain that I will never do anything else!

Oh, and I'm a mummy too of course! I only work 2 12 hour shifts a week, so I'm thankful that I can be a SAHM on the other 5 days to my babies (7 and 4).
That's a great schedule if you have children, and sounds like a wonderfully fulfilling job. Thank you for what you do, particularly in this time of need. I am in awe of all healthcare workers right now.

Stay at home mummy here!!!!!

I didn't think I would but I love it so much and I'm pretty good at it too I think! I enjoy reading children's books. I think of very rogue and messy activities to do. My mind is always churning and thinking of ways to invent new activities to get up to. I looooooove children's shows and concerts. It always amused my son when I used to lose my mind at some of the kids concerts I took him to, especially when they performed one of our favorite songs.

I love buying books for him, mixing up his bookshelf with different genres and seeing him read and enjoy each book.

I've given up on adult books now and am reading children's books only. I love discussing what we read afterwards (haha like a book club but with a kid instead).

In another life I was a finance girl, mainly property development. I did a law and finance degree (was rubbish at it, never at University, always working) and when I landed a graduate job out of university I thought all my dreams had come true. It was everything I'd ever wanted for myself, all part of my life plan.

I hated it! Hated it with every fibre of my being. I was just so unmotivated. The people were nice and I enjoyed the work functions (free food!) and the money but I was always so stressed. I don't know how to describe it. I was a combination of both stressed and uninvested at the same time. Very odd. I moved from one workplace to another every two years for more money and it was always the same. I never liked it.

I sometimes wonder if university was worth it for me since I disliked my job so much. But I guess it was one of those things I had to get out of my system so I could move on.

I worked as a legal secretary for a few years while I was at University. I would like to get back to that again or be a receptionist when the kiddo is in highschool. I would like to wear my gems to the office!
I like this story. My life too, became far different than I'd imagined it would become once upon a time. I think we have to try things out to figure out what you DON'T like, just as much as what you DO like. Great thought for the day!

I started life in Admin for an engineering company & worked my way into Management after 4 years. From there I became the manager of 2 departments overseeing engineers & admin, a total of 127 staff.

From there I moved to Wellington in NZ to take up an Operations Manager post for an engineering company, which I loved everything about - the guys & girls, the chatter, the clients, the workload, the climate, the money, my home etc.

I came back to the UK & moved into managing an IT department who oversaw the software for an engineering team & from there, into managing & overseeing IT for EA Games, which is where I met my husband. Two babies swiftly followed & I was a SAHM for 7 years.

When my youngest started school I retrained in Safeguarding & Advanced First Aid, taking a job at their lovely little Primary School (Kindergarten) for 2 hours a day, term time only. I oversee the catering & midday staff (10 lovely ladies) before, during & after lunch, providing a much needed break for the teaching staff & the 5 other First Aid trained teachers. My husband is still in Gaming & apart from the Covid interruption, he spends lots of time in Eurpoe & the US, so running the children & house is my domain. My job allows me to drop them off each morning, pick them up each afternoon, get them to after school clubs, be with them during school holidays, do the supermarket shop & fit my running in too. My work life balance is perfect for this stage of my life.
Great story! My mom was always really involved at my school, and I (mostly) loved seeing her there, when other kids didn't get to see their moms during the day.

I was the sales coordinator for a company that sold specialist materials to the building industry. Lots of the products we marketed were used on major buildings in London, and other major cities in the UK (including the nuclear power plant at Windscale).

I gave up work when DS was born and didn’t go back till he was 16, (although during that time, I was involved in lots of volunteer things as well as the schools he was at), I retrained to be a dental nurse, and worked part time, which I did till I retired a couple of years ago.

I love being retired.
I bet you do love being retired! I love the idea of it, and I'm about a million years away from it!
 
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mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
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11,542
Whoa. That's a lot of different jobs, all of which sound fascinating! Would you share your books with us? If that's too personal, no worries at all. I'm an avid reader, and would love to look them up if so!

Not really a lot. Up until I began writing, everything was just an arm of psychology. If you work with kids in psych, you'll ultimately work with disputing families. So dispute resolution was inevitable. While working on custody disputes, I worked with a lot of lawyers, who asked me to consult on various cases. That led to corporate work, and from there into government work. The work with fostered children was just another arm of the same. When I first started in dispute resolution, it was a fairly new field and had only recently become government regulated, so not many people were qualified, and a lot of us moved around a fair bit. A lot of us also knew each other, so we cross-consulted often. My masters in dispute res. is through the law faculty, so my qualifications are largely psych, with an overtone of law. I originally began a law degree when I left high school, but ended up switching to psych, so making my way back to a law faculty was profesisonally satisfying. I was offered a PhD with part time lecturing at the end of my master's, but that's when DH and I moved to the UK, so I had to decline. The PhD was at Harvard and I lived in Sydney at the time, but, as it turns out, I now live just outside Boston. So talk about a classic example of the timing being off....

The books are about kids in conflict, and I'd been planning to write a series of books all my life, so it was no huge step. I don't want to be seen to be promoting this on PS, but if you contact me via my listing on LT, I'll email you details. The listing is in the loose diamonds section and the title is something about a pair of ACA's.

And this is a thread I've wanted to see for ages! I'm so interested to know more about my PS friends! What an impressive bunch!
 
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stracci2000

Ideal_Rock
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Jun 26, 2007
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8,345
stracci2000 said:
I am a food broker, working for a large international company that represents major food lines. I travel to retail stores everyday, within a 300 mile radius, checking product lines and distribution.
It's the best job I ever had. It really doesn't feel like work. I spend a lot of time driving, which would be the only down side.
I would love a job like this! I like to move around a lot - I've never been a person who would have been good at sitting 9-5 at one desk. Are you out in the field currently? How do you feel about working during the pandemic?

Yes, I've been out in the field the whole time!
I was annoyed at first and frankly quite upset that I had to continue to visit grocery stores. But I've gotten over it. I can't be afraid to be out among other people. As long as everyone wears the mask and social distances, I'm OK.
The job doesn't pay very well, but there are so many perks, I just don't want to think of doing anything else. They pay our gas, meals when we're out of town, and I get a car allowance that covers insurance and maintenance. Plus, my awesome boss lets me work four 10 hr. days, so I always have 3 day weekends.
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Yes, I've been out in the field the whole time!
I was annoyed at first and frankly quite upset that I had to continue to visit grocery stores. But I've gotten over it. I can't be afraid to be out among other people. As long as everyone wears the mask and social distances, I'm OK.
The job doesn't pay very well, but there are so many perks, I just don't want to think of doing anything else. They pay our gas, meals when we're out of town, and I get a car allowance that covers insurance and maintenance. Plus, my awesome boss lets me work four 10 hr. days, so I always have 3 day weekends.

Very nice, @stracci2000!
 
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