OT random thread- What does everyone do for a career?

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Off Topic
Oct 14, 2012
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I want to know what y'all do as a career or previous careers. How you got there, schooling, etc. Im seriously having a mid life crisis and am burnt out from my job, but i only have an associates degree in something completely unrelated, and wondering if there is anything else out there that will bring me more joy.
 
I am a teacher. Sadly, I don’t recommend going into education. The system is very broken. At least it is in Texas. With that said, Schools definitely need good people.
 
I'm a physical therapist. It's a Doctorate degree. And the pay doesn't match up with the debt, so not something I always recommend unless it's something you really want to do. Definitely an incredibly fulfilling career though.
 
I work for a non-profit planning fundraisers as part of their development team. Most NPs only require a bachelors degree and a lot are flexible on that even. Event planning and constituent engagement experience matters more. While my events have income targets, most of my role currently is strictly event planning. As a side gig I work for Varsity as a part of their all star event staffing, normally as an announcer but this past weekend I worked warm ups all weekend.
 
I work for a non-profit planning fundraisers as part of their development team. Most NPs only require a bachelors degree and a lot are flexible on that even. Event planning and constituent engagement experience matters more. While my events have income targets, most of my role currently is strictly event planning. As a side gig I work for Varsity as a part of their all star event staffing, normally as an announcer but this past weekend I worked warm ups all weekend.
Hi! Fellow non-profit (well, higher ed University) here. :)

I work in Alumni Relations for a top-10 university. I second what @ct_dad says, most jobs of this type typically only require a bachelors degree, although a masters is encouraged. I work with volunteer leaders to plan events across the country. It's part volunteer management part event planning.

I will say, I'm a little burnt on on the customer service aspect of my role after 7 years in the field, so I'm hoping to pivot to something more behind-the-scenes next year.
 
I’ve heard about people being social media managers. That’s something I would love to get into, but I’m not sure how you go about it. You might enjoy that.
 
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Retired May Corp (now Federated) manager, buyer, and customer service exec. I landed in it by changing my major three times and finally decided to work FT until I found out what I wanted to do. They were opening a store nearby, so I applied for a commission position and 10 months later was asked to go into their management program.

Is there any part of your current job you enjoy?
 
If I followed in my parents foot steps and what was their dream for me I would still be in college, medical school at that to eventually be a Neurosurgeon…but that wasn’t my dream or goal in life. I am a traditional college dropout. I am currently a part time life guard in Hawaii. I also invest in stocks and bonds and crypto, this is something I got into when I convinced my parents to give me a large lump sum at 16. I am also in the process of opening up a clothing boutique . My biggest piece of advice to anyone who is questioning their life and career, so what makes you happy. Your happiness and mental health is more important than anything else.
 
Former gym owner and just started teaching this year. Everyone is complaining about education right now, but I absolutely love it. I teach eighth grade science, which sounds terrifying but it's SO much fun. I thought middle school would be a pain, but it's the best because they are old enough to get the joke but not totally grown and set in their ways yet. I'm mad that I didn't jump into teaching sooner, because I've always thought about it and wanted to do it and it has been a great fit.
 
I am glad you enjoy teaching. Kids deserve teachers that love it! I am in Texas. TEA - Teacher Education Agency keeps adding stuff to our workload like Reading Academies, they add and add but never take away. I love my students but am burnt out.
 
I'm a security guard, and I've worked in multiple locations. I will never forget that one night shift in the office building which at that time belonged to a well-known telecommunications company. The night shift started off as usual, checked all floors to make sure everyone went home before locking up (the building has four floors - we were instructed that we don't have to check the fourth floor because there's always someone on duty there in case phone lines get overloaded or something - they slept there on a sofa when working night shifts). Everything went as usual until 3:30am, when I heard the elevator doors opening somewhere and elevator starting to move. The noise of the elevator at that time of night was enough for my brain to go into full "Thriller" mode, imagining everything from a simple malfunction to various paranormal creatures, but it turned out that the guy from the fourth floor decided to leave early (he was usually up there until 7 - 8am).
 
I was in the exact same spot you're in two and a half years ago. I had a good paying job for the state and only an associates but was super burnt out. Did some research and found out about school psychology which really drew my interest.

So now I have two associates degrees and will be getting my bachelor's in December. Hopefully next January I will be able to start on my masters and three-ish years later will be a school psych. Currently still doing computer aided drafting for the department of transportation until I have to do practicum/internship.
 
I am in catering and over see weddings and parties, last few years of course have not been great, so have been babysitting for the past year but I am going back soon to teaching gymnastics after 7/8 years off. I am excited to return to that!
 
I am a data scientist for a financial company! I got my BA in math, my MS in stats and graduated in summer 2020 which was not great for job hunting… But I got my current position in early 2021 and I love it. It is stressful at times, but I love being able to dig into data and finding meaning in numbers.
 
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