Why Did You Choose Your Profession?

[xSilverPhinx]

Did you feel you had a choice?

[joeactor]

Ok, I'll play...

In high school, I was doing plays and taking computer classes. Also lots of the sciences.
So, when I graduated those were the three main fields that interested me.

I had an Atari computer at the time (16k ram, tape storage), and met a Case Western computer engineer while doing a play. When he found I was interested in programming, he gave me a thick book to read. I think it was "Interactive Principles of 3D Computer Graphics". Heavy on math, and just plain heavy too. After a week with it, I'd written a rudimentary 3D wire-frame graphics program in basic, with only 16k of ram. When I showed it to him, he offered me my first programming job.

So, for the next 25 years or so, I was a programmer by day, actor by night. (also kept up with the sciences on the side).

About 10 years back, I got laid off from my computer job and switched to voice acting.

And "Did I have a choice?" Absolutely. There are always choices... we just may not like some of them. I chose computers first because I felt it would provide a better income. It allowed me to advance as an actor until I was over-ripe, er, ready!

Next!

[Dave]

I was analytical as a kid, took everything apart tosee how it worked! Loved designing things with Meccano, enjoyed chemistry, adored my little microscope, cane first in science every year and was pencilled in for a whole crop of exams for certificates.

Then my father pulled me out of school almost on the first legal day he could do so. No cerrs, no chance of an apprenticeship or further teaining. Joined the RAF as a wireless mechanic. Big mistake.

Left RAF and felt like square plug in round hole. Took psychometric aptitude testing  (1972) - came out as law, social work, editing, teaching and similar. Engineering had negative scores. But I was good at it so got a job in applied research. Did great until the department boss retired and the new one took a dislike to me because I had no formal qualifications. Then worked as sales coordinator for small instrumentation company for a while, but the CEO was a monomaniac.

Eventually got another job as senior lab tech for a larger instrumentation company. Was left alone so long as nothing went wrong that I could not fix.

Got made redundant in 2004, took early retirement and did an adult prep course for uni. Whilst on the course I took another psychometric test. Results said I should be working in law, social work,  editing, teaching . . . This despite achieving a score on the "mechanical" aptitude test that literally went "out of the box" on the graphical representation of the results!

I have always enjoyed writing techical/historical stuff at the"popular" level, explaining complex concepts in simple terms. But I also really enjoyed solving engineering problems. Perhaps, if I had managed to get a degree, I would have been happy as a science journalist or similar.

Anyway, almost full time sci-fi reader niow . . . But still cannot read any book without wanting to proof-read, edit or even re-write it!

[Arturo]

I don't have a profession. I had what the doctor called a "mental breakdown" and was in and out of hospitals for a few years to which the insurance company said I should relax for awhile. So I got on disability real fast and have been taking g it as easy as possible ever since. Although I do get told by my family to "get a job", I'm not going to take some McDonald's occupation where I'm over worked and under paid. So off to school if they ever award me my damn money like they're supposed to.

So I didn't chose to be where I am now but I'm choosing where to go from here.

[solidsquid]

Did you feel you had a choice?

I think there's always a choice - we may not like the choices we have or even regret some of the ones we've made but there are always options.

I've been working pretty much since I was 14 and got my first job as a janitor's assistant.  I worked at a grocery store through high school and after I graduated and started college I snagged a job as a pager salesman and repair technician - such massively useful skills now.  The sad part is that wasn't the only time the progress of technology made my skill set useless.

After a three semesters of college majoring in art and design, I joined the Navy.  I was assigned the rate of lithographer - offset printing, camerawork, photo development, some desktop publishing, bindery work, etc.  I did that until I was medically separated for nocturnal epilepsy.  At the time I thought I still wanted to pursue something in art and design and figured those lithography skills would be useful in the civilian sector - I was wrong.  After a couple of years working in a commercial print shop, technology took over my job.  So I went back to school and decided to go into the field of psychology - in retrospect, a bad decision.

I worked all throughout school as a loss prevention specialist, a domestic violence advocate, and a computer lab assistant at my university.  I graduated with my B.S. in psychology in 2006 and went off to study neuroscience.  Straight outta school with a fresh bachelor of science and I was able to snag a job as a Starbucks barista.  Later I found a part time job as a media services technician. 

I then switched schools and programs - another mistake and went off to study health psychology. There I was able to find a job as a residential advisor for a Job Corps center.  That didn't last very long and I then took a job as a service learning coordinator for a local school district part time, then as a research assistant at my university which was a temporary position and then I finally landed a job in the field of research as a lab technician for a defense contractor working for the Army - pretty much just dumb luck.  Their web crawler found my resume online and I had enough keywords that it popped up in their feed.

That job was great and I learned a lot but funding ran out and I was laid off.  I ended up taking a job with the the health and human services department doing Medicaid eligibility for nursing homes - long hours, terrible pay.  At that point I finally completed and defended my thesis and received my masters.  After a year of working for the HHSC and applying for hundreds of jobs, I received an offer for a consulting project and jumped on the chance.  I did that for a while and the company I was consulting for offered me an employee position so I took it and have been with them since - the last five years.

I have tried to find some more lucrative positions (when I was hired, they lowballed me on the starting salary - extremely lowballed) but nothing so far.  To make myself more marketable, I started another masters program which I will finish next spring in human resource development and will jump directly into an MBA program aftward.  I have also been working on putting together my own consulting company focusing on organization wellness (occupational health psychology) and performance improvement (business process and human capital).

For me my goals have changed over time.  Originally I pursued what I thought was my passion at the time and then thought I could work that into a more applied skill.  It was essentially made obsolete by technology - who needs a professional lithographer when you have a high school kid behind the counter at the Staples print center.  I then, again, decided to pursue a passion - strike number two. I've gone about as far as I can in this field with my education - to go any further I'd need a doctorate and that is not financially and logistically possible.  However, online masters programs are accessible.  So I've made a change to pursue more lucrative, in demand education and skills - human resources/marketing/consulting areas.  It's essentially my last ditch effort in hopes that I won't have to work until I die.

So, did I have a choice? Absolutely, I had a lot of choices.  Did I make the right ones for me? No, in hindsight I made a couple of big mistakes and also was blindsided by some bad luck - medical discharge from the military, technology reducing my skills to a McJob level, being laid off and so forth.  But the important thing is that I still have a couple of decades worth of work time left in me and that I learned from my past and used that to direct my future.

Sorry for the long story but I felt some context would be helpful.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Going to law school and becoming a lawyer hit me in a flash of inspiration - I can still remember it.  The inspiration got me through law school, and this is about all I know how to do now that makes me any money, so I stuck with it.  But the initial moment was pure inspiration - almost revelation.

[Dave]

Going to law school and becoming a lawyer hit me in a flash of inspiration - I can still remember it.  The inspiration got me through law school, and this is about all I know how to do now that makes me any money, so I stuck with it.  But the initial moment was pure inspiration - almost revelation.

An epiphany? A "Road to Damascus" moment?

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Going to law school and becoming a lawyer hit me in a flash of inspiration - I can still remember it.  The inspiration got me through law school, and this is about all I know how to do now that makes me any money, so I stuck with it.  But the initial moment was pure inspiration - almost revelation.

An epiphany? A "Road to Damascus" moment?

Not that dramatic, but sort of, yes.

[Firebird]

Choice? Sure. Focused on my one choice right off the bat, and while I wouldn't call it a mistake, I do think I limited myself a little too much.
So I was always interested in computers once my father brought one home. I was 9 and I loved working on it, figuring how to write scripts, install new hardware, program  a bit, and most importantly, play games. And once the internet came along, I knew it, that's what I wanted to do. Music was my other passion at the time, I played clarinet and saxophone and I was pretty good at them, so I decided that those were going to be my exclusive focuses. I went to engineering undergrad majoring in computer science with a second major in music. And those were most of the classes I took, computers and music. Didn't take another language after a bad experience in high school with French. No writing papers in liberal arts courses. Nothing else really.
I've been out of school for 15 years now and I've carved out a very nice career managing large-scale server farms (tens of thousands of machines at a time) that pays very well and allows a lot of flexibility. So I'm pretty content. That being said, focusing only on 2 things was not a great idea. I burned out on music and stopped playing after college, except for an aborted attempt at learning piano, and lately I've found myself feeling somewhat stale with my career too. I've basically been doing the same thing for the past 6 or 7 years.
So yes, I had choices and I don't regret what I did, but I didn't really explore my other choices as much as I could have. If I had to do it over, I would have branched out a little more. Maybe dabble in some other courses just for the hell of it (economics? Some other sciences?) I think part of my problem is that I found a couple of things I was really good at and focused only on those because I was afraid of looking bad starting something else. I still struggle with that to this day.
Not sure if that answered the question.

[Icarus]

I did not choose, apparently some other set of circumstances chose me.  My father was a bright, inventive, restless man who was a skilled mechanical guy, superb machinist and tool maker, race car driver and builder, (Indianapolis 500, 1930, the year I was born) and a lot of other factors that made me a genetically disposed to being a  gearhead. 

I ran a garage in my backyard when I was 15. I repaired Cushman scooters and also ran a backyard bicycle shop.  Some people are born with a silver spoon in their mouth. I was born with a wrench in my hand. Somewhere along the way I realized or was advised by a wiser person that the possibility for advancement for  a mechanic is limited.  Korean war.....I enlisted in the Coast Guard to avoid the draft. Was sent to gunners mate/ fire control school. (fire control is the art of aiming big guns in such a way as to hit the target) Lots of math involved. We did not have computers in those olden times of the 1950s. I did well in the classrooms and also on the actual mechanical and hydraulic parts of keeping toys like a quad 40 caliber anti aircraft gun working. There were bigger cannons like what was known as a three inch 50. A big three inch bore deck gun. Primitive piece of gear but deadly for the enemy when used well.

For whatever reason, I was made into a classroom school teacher for the fire control school. I never did get shipped off to the Korean theatre of operations. Lucky me. I was a school teacher that taught some math subjects and some electricity and ancient electronics, such as they were in the 50s.  After discharge I was blessed with the G I Bill that paid my college tuition and supplied a very small stipend while in college. My college, University of Florida, prided itself in conferring education on the students as opposed to training.  I was not allowed to start my serious pursuit of an engineering degree before I earned my associate of arts degree. Arts my ass, I am a gear head. Nonetheless I was required to learn some things about the finer arts like music, philosophy, literature, and such, I wanted to be an engineer.

I finally got out of school and had no problem finding a job for shavetail engineers who did not actually know his ass from second base even though I had the diploma and a good background in making and fixing things, even designing and building stuff.  I worked in an industry whose main thrust was building forms for prestressed concrete elements. A form is a huge steel mold.  I worked at that profession for several years until I could tolerate the management style of my arrogant employers no more. I quit and started my own little business.  Sewing sail covers? Yes sail covers and other canvas items mostly for sail boats.  That business took off and developed into a much larger business that at one time had 45 employees, 75 sewing machines, plastic welding equipment, die cutting machinery, and a screen printing department.  In the mid 80s the competition from China and Taiwan began to eat my lunch.  After a time it became clear that this business is going to fail. I sold the equipment, my beautiful building, and everything that had anything to do with Rosson Company Inc. 

I had a little bit of money then but no job.  I needed to earn some money to keep my self afloat for the long haul. What the hell I will take a flyer and do something that no one else is doing on an independent basis. I will travel around the country and repair screen printing machinery. That worked out pretty well and I was gone to Denver, or Philadelphia, or Miami, or parts unknown, damned near all the time.  Well that became a bit tiresome. Being on the road, living in hotels, or flea bag motels was not my cup of tea.  Started another business, inventing, patenting and manufacturing self tensioning frames for the screen printing industry. That led to the design of a few precision measuring instruments that were  needed tools for the screen printer.  That business went pretty well for nearly 30 years when another industry participant offered to buy the business that was then called by the name RST. (Rosson Screen Technologies)  I sold out and it was about time. I am sad to say not wealthy, but reasonably secure at age 86. Lucky as hell that I am still healthy and free of the need for medications.....well there is Bourbon and Scotch if that counts.  Throughout my several careers I have utilized my skills with machinery, hydraulics, control circuitry, machine shop practices and some engineering disciplines that used some math and a lot of imagination. There was always the element of damned uncommonly good luck.

My only regret is that I sold all of my machine shop tools like lathes, milling machines, surface grinders, anodizing equipment and all the rest except the pile of hand tools that live in my garage along with my dragon. I surely do miss the facilities for making almost anything my little brain might conjure.

Sorry (not really...you asked I told) about the lengthy reply. Some of you, the ones not completely bored by all that descriptive stuff, will know the old fool a little better now. I did not even regale you with my exploits as a professional motorcycle racer, or a hydroplane racer along the way.

Tank: at one time my highest ambition was to race at the Isle of Man GP. A potentially suicidal thing to do but the stuff that young racers are made of. I did have semi  competitive equipment and some limited factory sponsorship (NSU of Germany)   

Before I close, let me go on record as being grateful for the inclusion that you have allowed me with these several years of HAF membership. Thank you for your acceptance and may the FSM bless you one and all.

[Firebird]

Sorry (not really...you asked I told) about the lengthy reply. Some of you, the ones not completely bored by all that descriptive stuff, will know the old fool a little better now. I did not even regale you with my exploits as a professional motorcycle racer, or a hydroplane racer along the way.

Damn, that was a fascinating read, thank you for sharing. You've had quite the life, Icarus.

[Tom62]

Sorry (not really...you asked I told) about the lengthy reply. Some of you, the ones not completely bored by all that descriptive stuff, will know the old fool a little better now. I did not even regale you with my exploits as a professional motorcycle racer, or a hydroplane racer along the way.

Damn, that was a fascinating read, thank you for sharing. You've had quite the life, Icarus.

Hear, hear!

[joeactor]

This is a great thread... So many interesting people, choices and jobs here.
Seems to be a lot of arts/science mixing as well.

Never too late to make a new choice if you feel the need.

Nice to know you all a bit better.

[Dave]

Sorry (not really...you asked I told) about the lengthy reply. Some of you, the ones not completely bored by all that descriptive stuff, will know the old fool a little better now. I did not even regale you with my exploits as a professional motorcycle racer, or a hydroplane racer along the way.

Damn, that was a fascinating read, thank you for sharing. You've had quite the life, Icarus.

I'll go with that as well!

I think you were born in a time when there was less regulation, more self-reliance, perhaps more freedom to do things that would be frowned upon now (or in the UK.)

Still something of that in America it seems with the Maker Fairs etc. We have one in the UK at the moment, in Newcastle this year. Maybe we can promote more, I hope.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Sorry (not really...you asked I told) about the lengthy reply. Some of you, the ones not completely bored by all that descriptive stuff, will know the old fool a little better now. I did not even regale you with my exploits as a professional motorcycle racer, or a hydroplane racer along the way.

Damn, that was a fascinating read, thank you for sharing. You've had quite the life, Icarus.

Yes, I agree.  Quite interesting.  86 and still going strong!