Your career - expectations vs reality etc

[BeeR]

AS A KID:

The first "serious" aspiration (ie after the astronaut etc stuff) was I wanted to be a vet. Love animals plus vets make lots of money, why not? Then I got older and saw how much schooling you needed and that was that...

 

In HS I was up for a career as a writer - either journalist or in marketing/advertising. I liked it and was pretty good at it from early indications. Then I saw that jobs didn't seem too easy to come by and money was pretty low, long hours etc.

 

AS AN ADULT:

I went for IT, then in its infancy and exploding and also interesting to me. With many jobs and pretty lucrative pay, hard to resist. That's where I've stayed.

 

IN HINDSIGHT:

Mixed feelings. I did find good jobs and made good money, and initially liked the work - but that has faded over the years and IT jobs themselves have for the most part become painfully uninteresting. Also corporate America on the whole hasn't helped, a soul-sucking environment IMO. But with a long career built up into it, I'm afraid I'm in it for the long haul and have to hope for better positions going forward.

 

WHAT ELSE?

What else would I have liked to have done or even do instead now? If I could have found (or now find) even semi-comparable job security and money doing something like landscaping I'd be all over it. A million times more interesting and satisfying. Love doing it and something about seeing that tangible result of your work is extremely appealing. Unfortunately, then the reality of job security/pay/etc kicks in

 

If we were talking a generation or 3 ago when teachers had real authority and weren't scared to death of being fired/sued due to some snotty out of control brats, being a teacher would have been fantastic, but no way could I do it today.

 

 

You?

Edited May 17, 2011 by BeeR

[Seahawks21]

As a kid---never thought for a moment about being anything but an athlete until roughly five years ago. I briefly spent time scouting and coaching, but that only made me more miserable. About two years ago, after my handicap stopped going down, I finally looked in the mirror and faced the fact that it ain't gonna happen. What do you do when your only dream doesn't come true?

 

My next thought was to write. So I wrote, and wrote. I wrote a novel that I later adapted to a screenplay. Got an agent, never got a publisher to bite. Neither went anywhere.

 

As an adult--I've been selling golf equipment for five years now. I've got not no other marketable skills and really nowhere else to go, so I keep showing up every day. I'll probably end up teaching and coaching at some point, if I can find a job with better hours that would allow me to go to school in the morning or at night.

 

In hindsight--I should have started playing golf at ten instead of 27.

 

What else?--I really have no idea. Nothing has ever interested me in the slightest besides playing sports. Athletic competition is the only place I've ever felt truly comfortable. In athletics, I'm confident, I'm a natural leader and I feel like there isn't anything I can't do, or anybody better than me. In the rest of life I've always been timid, awkward, and kinda lost to be honest.

I guess I'd like to build a website and sell something so I could work from home and travel.

[Square]

Never really knew what to expect. Never would have guessed I'd end up doing what I'm doing. Make more money than I ever thought I would at this age. All jobs are a pain in the ass and that is why they pay us to do them. You just have to find some environment or mix of reasons that make it bearable. If you don't like your job, there is a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY and they meet at the bar.

[BeeR]

Never really knew what to expect. Never would have guessed I'd end up doing what I'm doing. Make more money than I ever thought I would at this age.

So what drugs do you deal?

[Square]

So what drugs do you deal?

It's actually kind of funny because I'm in sales.

[matt770]

AS A KID:

Never thought too much about it. When I was little I wanted to be a cop because I loved the show CHiPs. Not Ponch like everyone else though, I liked Jon because he seemed like the voice of reason and plus I had blond hair like he did.

 

In high school I wanted to be a gynecologist, and went about doing as much AP work toward that profession as possible. Then I realized it would take a lot of schooling to do it professionally. Sometimes I look back on how obsessed I was with girls and I find it almost disturbing. Maybe chalk it up to being raised by a single mom and not having a man around to smack me into line and get me focused on the right things. My role model was Sam Malone.

 

AS AN ADULT:

First two years out of HS, I remained as aimless as before, working on a loading dock and partying my ass off. Then finally took one of those 1-year computer operations courses and got a job in a tape library. Learned mainframe operations which I thought was pretty cool. I worked in one of those massive farms with a sea of tape drives and silos. I thought it looked like the inside of a spaceship. I worked the second shift, 4 to midnight. Two of the other operators would get drunk on the job most nights. Then they moved the whole datacenter to Alpharetta, GA.

 

Next got a job with GE Capital as a temp, basic office work, filing, gofer duties, etc. They were trying a new venture, reselling telecommunications services to businesses. They were completely clueless about telecom, and it was very chaotic. That worked in my favor, because after a year I knew as much as anyone else in the company about what the hell they were trying to do, and they really needed me to train new people. They ended up moving me to Atlanta when their office relocated there and hired me on full time. They still never got their heads out of their asses, and their asinine corporate culture made for a really absurd and dehumanizing work experience. But, what I learned was invaluable and I was able to land a better position with a bona fide telecom giant in '98.

 

IN HINDSIGHT:

I've made a solid career for myself in a field that I fell ass-backwards into. Not too shabby for someone with no degree. I've found that there is always room for someone willing to work hard, treat the boss with respect, be professional at all times and know what the hell they are doing. I am glad that those attributes are in such short supply, as it makes me more desirable by comparison. And I really love my job, because I feel appreciated and valuable, I'm challenged enough without being pushed to the limits, stress-wise (too often), and I get to use my problem-solving abilities. The job is different every day too, so it keeps things fresh.

 

WHAT ELSE?

Turns out I would have been better suited for the trades, maybe plumbing or landscape design. I also enjoy building computers. I wish I had gotten more encouragement in my childhood and teens to try different things and figure out what I liked to do and what kind of work would have suited me.

[BeeR]

It's actually kind of funny because I'm in sales.

If you have the talent and drive, that is definitely something you can score huge bucks in. I knew a guy or 2 like that who did just that.

 

their asinine corporate culture made for a really absurd and dehumanizing work experience.

They're far from alone. Seems to be the norm IMO. At least I know a number of other huge IT corp's where either I or people who's judgment I trust can vouch. Didn't always used to be, either. Basically regarding IT, the thrill is gone IMO.

[matt770]

They're far from alone. Seems to be the norm IMO. At least I know a number of other huge IT corp's where either I or people who's judgment I trust can vouch. Didn't always used to be, either. Basically regarding IT, the thrill is gone IMO.

GE has a factory of little management clones that they handpick out of college and groom to be future leaders of their various businesses. Once or twice a year these eggheads would breeze into town to learn our business for a few months before moving on to their next assignment. As if we weren't busy enough, we'd have these people sitting with us asking questions, then coming up with charts and graphs with greek letters on them to improve our quality and efficiency. They knew jack sh!t about what really went on.

 

The people out on the floor, in operations, the customer service, provisioning, billing drones were treated like replaceable office equipment and paid a pittance. It was pretty sweet to leave there and make almost 40% more at my new job, and be able to collaborate with other humans.

[Square]

GE has a factory of little management clones that they handpick out of college and groom to be future leaders of their various businesses. Once or twice a year these eggheads would breeze into town to learn our business for a few months before moving on to their next assignment. As if we weren't busy enough, we'd have these people sitting with us asking questions, then coming up with charts and graphs with greek letters on them to improve our quality and efficiency. They knew jack sh!t about what really went on.

 

The people out on the floor, in operations, the customer service, provisioning, billing drones were treated like replaceable office equipment and paid a pittance. It was pretty sweet to leave there and make almost 40% more at my new job, and be able to collaborate with other humans.

I worked for GE for a bit. I remember the black or green belts coming in and doing some pet project for the higher ups. Basically so they could find some tweak and pass it on and then move on to another job that had nothing to do with the earlier position. Unintended consequences didn't mean a lot if you could recite enough six sigma BS to get it passed through. The corporate talk at that place is like another language. The conference calls were unbearable as you could tell who the real as#kissers and corporate goons were from just the vocab they spewed.

[matt770]

I worked for GE for a bit. I remember the black or green belts coming in and doing some pet project for the higher ups. Basically so they could find some tweak and pass it on and then move on to another job that had nothing to do with the earlier position. Unintended consequences didn't mean a lot if you could recite enough six sigma BS to get it passed through. The corporate talk at that place is like another language. The conference calls were unbearable as you could tell who the real as#kissers and corporate goons were from just the vocab they spewed.

If I had a nickel for every time I begged them to leverage synergies in the wholesale space and drive win/win solutions with our stakeholders that would show real movement in our key measurables, I'd be a rich man. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin', I'd say. I'll be damned if they didn't just plum ignore me.

[Rovers]

Wanted to be a forest ranger as a kid. If I weren't such a f up in school. might have realized that goal. I had the passion for it, but not the school work ethic. Been an airborne radar tech and a Vietnam era vet, then a E Tech in the DOD contractor world, went into sales, became a 6 figure sales exec, got burnt out, became a train conductor and then an train operator, got hurt (spinal fusion surgery), ran (owned) a landscaping (successful) company, became ill, and now just have a job, a paycheck.

 

It's more about just getting by now I suppose. Dreams have faded. Living and surviving is my mantra now. Doing what has to be done. Happiness and joy come from family and hobbies now. Youth is wasted on the young, at least in my case, what could have been, what I might have done.... too late now. Despite my history, I'm not down. I have a very different perspective on "success" now, and am more or less content. Life is more about living it and doing it as well as I can.

[BeeR]

If I had a nickel for every time I begged them to leverage synergies in the wholesale space and drive win/win solutions with our stakeholders that would show real movement in our key measurables, I'd be a rich man. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin', I'd say. I'll be damned if they didn't just plum ignore me.

I'm really starting to think they have some secret "culture club" going with Cap One. Do they call powerpoint presentations "decks" and do they start almost every sentence with the word "so?" Oh and most importantly do they absolutely LOVE Indians?

Edited May 18, 2011 by BeeR

[SEC=UGA]

Kid- wanted to be a vet, also. Love animals, but life just ended up not leading me down that path.

 

Adult - Have worked in the commercial real estate industry (Brokerage, property acquisitions, development, finance, construction....) for most of my professional life, which started a bit late due to greatly extending my years in under grad and then finally going to graduate school.

 

In hindsight, well... I'd probably enjoy archaeology and being a professor a great deal. I could also see myself potentially going back to school to go into an engineering type field, I've always found things like aerospace, structural or mechanical engineering very interesting.