I have been a Registered Respiratory Therapist for 20 years. It was a pretty good gig and I got to help save a lot of people over the years. We put people on and off of life support ventilators. It was great to know you saved someone’s life but there was plenty of death, dying, and human tragedy.
I kept all of that compartmentalized in my mind just to deal with the stress of the job, but the older I got the less I wanted to be around all the life or death human tragedy.
I’m now retired and I have to say I’m happy to be away from it all.
For my next job I plan on being a multi Grammy winning bassist by… say… next year. Hey I’m working my way to badass. It could happen.
That must be an interesting job. After I retired I thought about getting into that field but I just couldn’t justify getting into that much student debt at my age.
Since the early 80s I have been in IT. Developer/Systems Programmer/Network Engineer/Development Manager/Project Manager. Right now the senior project lead in a hospital working mostly with clinical systems, labs, cancer center, sleep center, and so on. Keeps me busy
I have worked for the biggest corporation in the world, but happier in a regional medical center
So wombat and Howard… you guys have a similar background it sounds like. I guess with technology being as prevalent as it is these days you guys stay real busy.
I’m about to come out of retirement soon. We are signing the new lease between the first week of July or the middle of the month. I cook for a living, lol.
That’s awesome! Good luck on your cooking profession. Are you a chef? Ever since watching Hells Kitchen with Gordon Ramsey I have a new respect for you guys!
I’m a creative director. I ideate, write, produce and direct marketing videos, Web, and print communications for multinational high tech clients, including PayPal, Dell, IBM, and several others.
I majored in music theory and professional photography. That led me to working in broadcast television and advertising agencies. I now run my own creative agency.
Wow Mikec. I think it’s awesome to work in a field like you where you get to regularly exercise that kind of creativity. It seems to me that being able to do that everyday must keep you “alive!”
I’m a mechanic by trade. I worked for the RAC as a breakdown patrol for nearly 20 years until one day I had a massive stroke and very nearly died at 49 years old.
Somehow I recovered almost 100% (the doctors still don’t know how) and began looking for a more laid back job due to fatigue issues after the stroke. I finally got a job as a field based forklift technician (they call us engineers but I refuse that title as I don’t have an engineering degree) four years ago and am finally working for a company that values it’s employees.
I’m disabled but my career was in IT. Mostly routers and firewalls but I worked with lots of different communications equipment over the years. I enjoyed the problem solving aspect of the job. I liked doing construction when I was younger, but I was drawn away by the opportunity for higher pay.
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, I was part of the team that got communications back up and going for the railroad. Before that, the only way most supplies were getting in was through military helicopters. As soon as railroad communications came back up, they could clear and repair tracks. That meant the rest of the country was able to start supplying New Orleans with thousands of tons of supplies, every day, till the roads were clear enough for trucks.
That synopsis was terribly over simplified and my part was pretty small, just one late night making a few changes and coordinating from an operations center in Atlanta. But I’m more proud of that than any of the “big” stuff I ever worked on.
That can be a real tough and thankless job. My ex-wife was an RN for 25 years. According to her, during her years in the ICU, 50% of her patients didn’t make it. She had to learn to compartmentalize also.
V8Volvo I’m sorry to learn of your massive stroke. As bad as that is I think you are really lucky to have made a full recovery (as you said). My stepbrother had a massive stroke at an early age and he is now permanently disabled.
So cool that you have found work that suits you and treats you well.
Eric that’s such a cool story! I have no doubt that your actions probably saved lives after Katrina. I imagine that was a thankless job too.
Yes I worked in the ICU alongside RNs like your ex. Lots of death and dying. All day everyday. But there was also the times when lives were saved too. You had to dwell on the successes and compartmentalize all the death and tragedy. After 20 years I’ve had enough.
Now we have to concentrate on becoming bass guitar stars! Haha
but professionally, i am a tenured associate professor in the college of art & design at rochester institute of technology (@John_E’s alma mater, but thats just a fortunate coincidence and not why i took the job). this is my 10th year coming up. it is, without a doubt, the best job in the world (for me.)
fyi in academia in the states, it goes assistant, then usually when you get tenure you get a title and pay bump to associate, and then optionally i can go for “full” professorship which is another title and pay bump, tho technically that title is just “professor.” i will probably put in for that in the next couple of years.
i am also a published author and a practicing artist - i have a big show coming up in fall of '24 i need to get working on.
Mgoldst that sounds like a great job. Another one where you get to be creative and be around others (your students) who are striving to be creative. I wish you well on your road to full Proffesorship. ( is that a word? Haha)
And congratulations on being a published author! More creativity. You’re a lucky man. And one who knows how to get a job done. Impressive.
I’m best called a process engineer but electrical engineer by degree. Been in the beverage and food industry for over 30 years designing and building processes that make the thinks you drink and eat (or shouldn’t, lol). I’ve done stints in product & packaging development but mostly have done two things - built factories and designed new equipment for innovative products or just to save money in manufacture. Spent a lot of time in the dairy industry.
After long stints at Cadbury Schweppes (now Keurig Dr Pepper) and Pepsi, I’m working for myself and loving it. Currently designing and building a for hire research pilot plant for some specialized beverages that cannot be made at small scale anywhere today.
Funny thing is my grandfather had a cheese factory and then became an electrician. Guess I followed his path a bit.
Mechatronics engineer, I used to work as a constructor/design engineer but after 3 years or so I realised a desk job is not something I want to do for the rest of my life.
Switched to field service engineer/technician 6 years ago and haven’t looked back, I work for a major global injection molding machine manufacturer. Every morning I get in the car loaded with tools and drive to whatever job was assigned to me. Electrics, hydraulics, automation - diagnosis, repair, or modernising machines, you name it, I do it.
Best part of this is no routine, no two jobs are exactly the same. I work alone most of the time, and get a lot of freedom in how I want to plan and carry out my work. It’s a bit like running your own one-man business but with stable pay and benefits, what’s not to like lol.
I work for a clandestine government organization… no, wait, let’s start over - I wasn’t supposed to say that (d’oh!).
OK, my cover is that I am a (full) professor at the University of Copenhagen, doing research and teaching (and lots of paperwork…). My research is at the cross-section of micro- and nanotechnology, analytical chemistry and applications in the life sciences (hey, you asked!).
It’s a “publish or perish” world, so I have about 140 publications that I wrote or co-wrote. Been doing this for 30+ years, and if I had the financial security, I’d retire rather sooner than later and focus on bass and golf
