I thought it might be nice to have each member briefly describe what they do/did for a living. Personally, I find it very interesting to talk to people about their work/career/job. I find that I learn many new things and understand people a lot better when I know "where they are coming from". IMHO - diversity is the most important aspect when communicating thoughts & opinions about various subjects. Please share - I think this could be fun. After all, who doesn't like to talk about themselves?

I use to work in retail. Now I'm a stay at home Momma.

Consigliere

I guess you don't Mark.

All our jobs might be fun...

In high school I worked summers at a family-friend's rental store in South Jersey first as a babysitter for his toddler for a whoppin' $3/day, then I started working there for real putting up party tents and other party setup (chairs/tables/dance floor/etc), sharpening chainsaw blades, fixing lawn movers, stuff like that.

Next was my convenience store days, first 7-Eleven and then WaWa. Those were fun, especially the 11pm-7am shifts. All the crazies would come out after the bars closed.

After college I worked about 5 years as a mental health and recreation counselor for troubled teens which was the best job of my life, but sadly they closed down our program. [Edit] After that, my old boss opened up her own counseling and learning center, where I mostly tutored in English and Computer Programming, (after helping with the reconstruction of the building) but the business never picked up before she ran out of dough and had to close shop. I also did some work with some marketer we met writing/editing/designing and soliciting ad and article space. I quit when our "partnership" ended up being one-sided.

At the same time,[/edit] I spent a lot of time online and began making crappy websites. I soon got a temp (and later permanent) job working on PolyGram Record's websites in NYC. But sadly they closed down our department after I was there 1.5 years.

After some freelance work from home with my PolyGram connections, I ended up back in NYC for another year and a half working on Marvel Comic's website. Great job, too. But sadly, they downsized before moving their location, and my over-paid contracted position was eliminated. (See a theme here? lol)

Back to freelancing from home for a while, then got into wedding video editing, and then videography as a freelancer for a company that closed its doors out of the blue and screwed all the brides and grooms, and photographers and videographers. That was all over the news, and still hasn't been fully resolved.

Still freelancing, but not as busy as I once was. With my track record, is anyone hiring?? Maybe I should work for BP or something...

Information Technology.

But that's really just a cover because one day very soon,
"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge!"

Now that's what I'm talking about! Great posts. At 12 I delivered newspapers - a lot of fun during the bizzard of '79 in Chicago! In high school I worked in a pizzeria, detasseled corn and waited tables in a Chinese place. I was a cook & a baker in the Navy for 6 years. When I got out I worked as a theatre usher, printing pressman and editorial cartoonist. Now I am a prepress manager in a printing plant and work @ the local radio station on a part time basis. I love my part time gig - it's a blast! Sorry, MaryCas, I guess I should have got the thread started with my 411... BTW - Lilo, my son is an IT Specialist in the Navy. He loves it.

I'm still a student (2 years left!) but work full time as a custodian at an area elementary school!

I graduated last July, moved back home in search of work in the film industry or something to do with film journalism. Neither were found so I walked back into the job I did before moving away to university: I promote a bar and nightclub. I work every weekday morning and afternoon, plus late Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

There are worse jobs out there, all things considered, though due to the nature of it it can be very lonely. I had to endure a very harsh winter and am currently anticipating another one coming up. At least I have a tan right now.

Earlier this year I volunteered as a creative writing mentor to teenagers at a local publishing agency, which was good. Their funding fell through though after our first publication.

Hopefully by this time next year I'll be in a better position with regards to further study, possibly film production in London.

Mark, it's good your son loves his job.
I used to love IT as well before the "suits" decided we made too much $$$ and either moved just about everything overseas or invited more workers over here.
Now I'm just biding my time. Short term (1-3 years) I intend to switch over to the business side but longer term transition out of corporate America entirely..

As an adolelscent, I worked in grocery stores and on the boardwalk of Rockaway Beach, NY, as a knish-maker. After I graduated from HS at 16, I worked for many years in journalism (Wall Street Journal, NY Times, etc.) while attending undergrad and grad school at night. Later I joined AT&T and retired 13 years ago as a vice president. Now I write and give lectures on themes in American history.

Worked the usual teenage jobs - camp counselor, cashier, etc. I wanted to be an English teacher, but there were no teaching jobs to be had in the early 1980s when I went to college, so I majored in marketing. I went into copier sales and sales management, then economic development for the county where I live. In between I worked for a test prep center in customer service, sales, teaching the classes and eventually training the new teachers. Now I sell industrial and office real estate.

Outstanding! I didn't realize how many interesting people are on the BB. I'm really enjoying learning all about "youse" (Sorry - I've been watching a lot of "Cake Boss" lately!) Keep the responses coming, this is great. Now you know why I want Larry King's job...everybody has a story that is worth hearing. Thank you all.

Deliveryman. Had all kinds of "teen jobs" in the past.

I'll make sure to post here in the future if some day I'll have what people call "a real job".

FAME how you doing, long time no see... Are you well???

Yeah Fame, it's good to see you back with the BB family. Are you feeling better?

Well,being retired from municipal government for almost a decade, I now teach college. However, I've been a parking lot attendant, elevator operator, painter, construction worker, steelworker, teamster, hospital orderly, fast food worker, police officer, janitor, assemblyline worker ... God, that's enough to make me tired.

Fame!! Hope you're doing well my friend!

Haha, yeah and you're probably very wet as well as tanned at the moment. Sucker!

I love these types of threads and getting to know people better.

I work in bereavement banking. *wooosh - everything goes quiet, tumbleweed rolls by...* I'm the line manager to a telephony support team. My customers are dead but we help the bereaved relatives know what they need to do in order to administer estates/execute Wills etc. Personally I think it's bloody interesting and you'd think whilst on holiday it'd be quite the conversation killer when you meet people. Turns out it's not. There's sad moments, of course I get the major complaints handed over to me but in the end it's quite rewarding. The really sad moments aren't the bereaved relatives struggling, i's the money grabbing ones that are chasing the banks for their inheritence before their relative is buried. I've even had people get in touch with the bank before their parent is dead wondering how easy will it be to get the funds in the soon to be deceased parent.

Niro, Mig and JG: thanx a bunch! I'm doing fine now tho it's been shitty for months, I'll write more about it later tonight.

Right now I'm an unemployed bum, but I worked at a gas station for for my last job. I basically sat on my ass behind the counter and read magazines off the rack the whole time. Plus I got free car washes and all the drinks and coffees I wanted. I miss that job now.

So glad to hear you are doing better Fame.

Jet engine mechanic.
Currently working F16's for the Italian Air Force in Cervia Italia.

All my jobs have been office work. I started out working for an Insurance Company in Michigan (receptionist/typist), worked for Kelly Girl when my kids were little working off/on doing office work for extra money. I worked for 5 years in the office of a Sign company in Tustin, CA.

My last (and best) job was for the school district in Moreno Valley, CA in one of the Middle Schools. I was secretary to the Assistant Principal and handled the discipline paperwork. After 22 years at the school, I am retired now (for a year) and loving it. Even tho I was burned out and ready to retire, it really was a decent job with decent benefits AND I liked working with the kids.

TIS

Hospital porter. I work shifts and get a fair bit of over time so even though the job can be a bit mundane at times it pays the bills and i actually enjoy it!

Now that's different. Very cool l.b. My dad taught airplane engine repair back in the 50's at the Academy of Aeronautics in Queens, NY.

This past year marked my 40th year in the telecommunications business. Currently I design and plan fiber optic distribution cable systems for the Verizon FiOS projects. I work for a small contracting company based in South Jersey. I've been doing this for the past five years. But going back to the beginning.....I dropped out of college in Jan. 1970. In December the US of A held a draft lottery and I was 20 years old and got number 348. My chance of being drafted was just about zilch, so I dropped out and got a job with NY Telephone as a lineman. I had this girlfriend at the time who I wanted to marry, so I needed some money. What a crazy idea, but she's still my wife today. Anyway, after being a lineman for a year, I "upgraded" to splicer, 6 years later I was promoted to "engineer". 14 years of engineering and I was promoted to corporate staff because I was a smart ass and now had a Bachelor's degree. 5 years of staff work (which was great), I had the dumb idea to get another promotion and became the Engineering/Construction manager in Westchester/Rockland county. 4 years of that shit and I had enough....30 years in, 50 years old, retired with a dream job.....Consultant with Telcordia Technologies (the old Bell Labs). A year later got laid off. Got a job managing a collocation site (telecommunications) in downtown Manhattan, just in time to witness 9/11. Three years there and then onto FiOS.

In this career I've seen a lot. Been to England twice, Texas, Cleveland, Boston, Baltimore........many places. Neat thing about having a company car is you get to go places the average person doesn't get to see. West Point was my turf; drove all around the base. Walked around the backlots of Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn. Got a Masters degree at night. Gave presentations to hundreds of people, taught classes and conducted seminars. Negotiated with unions. In all, I loved interacting with people and finding the common ground. What next? I'm looking to get into renewable energy...something green.

Thank you, and finally! I had FiOS installed last week, after waiting a couple years for it. So far so good, even re-learning channel numbers lol.

Just when I designed the layout for your condo, you had to up and move to a house. I had to pull a lot of strings to get cable to your old place. The pezzanovantes of Verizon didn't want to service that area until I made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

When I was younger, I used to teach taekwondo (in lieu of paying the monthly fees). In college, I used to shelve books in a library and in my fourth year, I was a teaching assistant teaching calculus to freshmen. I'm currently in finance.