What Careers Do You Guys Have?

1TallMF · Jan 22, 2007

I'm an intern working as a metallurgist-in-training so to speak at a rolled aluminum R&D facility. They pay $3200/month which is decent for still being considered a student, and it certainly pays for the toys. But I have 4 super tough years of university behind me that got me where I am now. In 12 months from now I'll be starting an entry-level engineering position at $63,000/year to start and with lots of benifits. Hard work and many sleepless nights truely do pay off in the long run.
But whatever you do, doesn't matter if you make tons of money, if you hate the job then you'll hate your life more than you would at a job you love but making less money. Find something you like doing and work your way to the top. Don't settle for a ****ty job even if the money's good. You can always have the best of both worlds if you are willing to work for it.

Green 94 5.0 · Jan 22, 2007

im a network administrator in a casino. the pay could be better, but the way i look at it is, i got brought on right before the floor started being prepped for the machines, and we are about to break ground on a 300+ room hotel and an outdoor shopping/enertainment complex so the room for advancement is a given, its only a matter of time.

STM1965 · Jan 22, 2007

Chemical Plant - Production Supervisor: 90K & climbing. 42yrs old with 20yrs in the industry. I got into this line of work right out of college and never looked back.

cbarr300 · Jan 22, 2007

Tis true...sometimes you do get hosed with a salary. But, I'll be going to school full time come fall and they're more than willing to work around my schedule. More school means less hours at work. If I were to get paid hourly then I'd really be missing out on some money.

I agree 100% with 1TallMF. Find a job you like doing..and do it. As long as the pay is halfway decent you'll like it more. A HUGE part of getting rich has to do with your skills to budget. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS!!!! I'm not saying that making 20000 a year will get you through your life comfortably...I'm just saying that one has to have good money management skills. I've seen people who make over 100000 a year who are neck deep in debt....because they HAD to have that beach house as well as 4 different mercedes and who could forget that motorcycle.

STM1965 · Jan 22, 2007

cbarr300 said:
I've seen people who make over 100000 a year who are neck deep in debt....because they HAD to have that beach house as well as 4 different mercedes and who could forget that motorcycle.

This is true, and I do own more then one house (however its a rented two a nice couple) and that inturn puts a positive cash flow back into my pocket. Owning rental homes isn't easy! you've got to be able to read people and weed out the dead beats to make it work. One thing everyone needs to remember the more you make the more they take (goverment). Other then taking a few trips a year you wouldn't think that we pull in the $$$ that we do (wife works full time too) so combined we do quite well. We don't drive BMW's, don't live in a flashy new home either. Both of us came from lower income homes growing up so we both know the value of a dollar. And hopefully I'll retire @ 55 with a 7 figure nest egg, at least thats the game plan.

Engel · Jan 22, 2007

lol money does not bring happiness but for me it brings security/peace of mind.

im completely satisified with a good car/pc/food/shelter/gf (thats not crazy)

making money is easy, saving it is the the hard part..

Killercanary · Jan 22, 2007

I'm in medical sales. I sell everything from band-aids to diagnostic equipment. Hell, I even sell $100K cosmetic lasers for hair and vein removal. I LOVE my job. I'm 100% commission paid, but I get to make my own schedule and pretty much do as I please (within reason). Its as close to being my own boss and running my own company as I feel you can get without actually doing so and having all of the headaches that come with it. It allows me to have a very flexible schedule, and there is no limit to my earning potential. We have reps in my branch that make over $300K/year. My company claims that the average income for sales reps is $120K/year, but I think that is scewed by those that make $300-$500K/year. I don't make anywhere near that, and neither does most of the reps i know. I could make more money doing other things, but the flexibility, the fact that my earning potential is only limited by me, and the overall nature of the job make it too hard to switch to something else. I spend my day in doctor's offices talking to nurses and doctors, many of which I now consider friends since I've been doing it for 6 years in the same territory.

I graduated with a BS in Biology, and I never really considered a career in sales, but I knew I wanted to be in the medical field. In hind site, I wished I would have got a business/marketing degree. I would have had a lot more fun in college and I feel in my career it would have helped me more.

DFG 5OH · Jan 22, 2007

Killercanary said:
I'm in medical sales. I sell everything from band-aids to diagnostic equipment. Hell, I even sell $100K cosmetic lasers for hair and vein removal. I LOVE my job. I'm 100% commission paid, but I get to make my own schedule and pretty much do as I please (within reason). Its as close to being my own boss and running my own company as I feel you can get without actually doing so and having all of the headaches that come with it. It allows me to have a very flexible schedule, and there is no limit to my earning potential. We have reps in my branch that make over $300K/year. My company claims that the average income for sales reps is $120K/year, but I think that is scewed by those that make $300-$500K/year. I don't make anywhere near that, and neither does most of the reps i know. I could make more money doing other things, but the flexibility, the fact that my earning potential is only limited by me, and the overall nature of the job make it too hard to switch to something else. I spend my day in doctor's offices talking to nurses and doctors, many of which I now consider friends since I've been doing it for 6 years in the same territory.

I graduated with a BS in Biology, and I never really considered a career in sales, but I knew I wanted to be in the medical field. In hind site, I wished I would have got a business/marketing degree. I would have had a lot more fun in college and I feel in my career it would have helped me more.

now that doesn't sound too bad

BlackVert · Jan 22, 2007

i'm a software developer ... been doing it as long as or longer than many of you have been alive, 23 years now. my company (softmed) makes systems to help medical records departments of hospitals. we were recently bought by 3m.

i graduated from georgetown university with a bs in computer science. i worked there full time while i was going to school part time, so the tuition was free.

if you get a full time job working at a university, they will often pay your tuition if you can get accepted as a student. of course, you then have to juggle working full time and taking classes part time, but, well, there is no free lunch, as they say.

if i became a contractor, i could probably charge $125 per hour, but then i'd have to travel alot more and that is not what i want to do right now. maybe after the kids go off to college ...

the pay is pretty good (i make $135K), the hours are good, the work environment is pretty stress free, and i can work from home on days like today when the roads suck because of snow.

ProKiller · Jan 22, 2007

hey Chris, you have any openings in your data center?

Currently work as a contractor at SAP in their americas headquarters. I'm a data center services administrator. I went to PSU for 4.5 years and got a BS in Information Systems and Technology and a minor in business. Worked a hardware store for the whole time pulling down $9.50/hour.

Making 40k/year right out of school. Not too bad, but SAP has major chances for advacement, but then again, i have to become an employee first, this contractor stuff sucks monkey balls. i don't get any benefits, which really really sucks

Green 94 5.0 · Jan 22, 2007

trav_19 said:
SALARYS suck!!!!!! you so get hosed lol

well salary works both ways. for the first 2 months before opening, i was putting 90 hour weeks in and getting no days off. salary sucked like you wouldnt believe at that point. now that we are open though, im seeing the benefits of salary. basically, most weeks now im putting in a bit less than 40 hours and my check is always the same. it really is a double edged sword.

BlackVert · Jan 22, 2007

ProKiller said:
hey Chris, you have any openings in your data center?

if you forward me your resume, i'll pass it on to the human resources folks here.

curlbud-stangnet@yahoo.com

fwiw, we are not far from where 95 hits 495 in silver spring md, not far from the university of maryland in college park.

Killercanary · Jan 22, 2007

Off topic:

Chris, do you write EMR (electronic medical records) software? The reason I ask is because I sell that too, and this is a HUGE market right now.

I sell Greenway and Centricity by GE.

BlackVert · Jan 22, 2007

yes, that is actually my area of expertise. my main focus is on the document storage and retrieval aspect. we have one hospital in north carolina that has 80,000,000 documents in our system. that is about 10 terabytes of sql server databases.

http://71.224.35.252/pcmh/

i'm not on the sales side though, i'm on the development side

our emr products is probably one the main reasons why 3m bought us

Killercanary said:
Off topic:

Chris, do you write EMR (electronic medical records) software? The reason I ask is because I sell that too, and this is a HUGE market right now.

I sell Greenway and Centricity by GE.

Black95GTS · Jan 22, 2007

I have a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering from WPI. I'm actually in the process of quitting my current job and moving into something more into transmission design. Stuff like 345KV high power lines that you see across the highway.

Adam

Killercanary · Jan 22, 2007

That's very cool Chris. Everything is going this way now due to HIPPA and such. It seems though that most offices either have it, or those that don't have it yet are not going to get it until they are forced into it by the government which is rumored to be happening in the next few years.

Most of the EKG's I sell now are all PC based because of EMR's. Its just much easier.

bit · Jan 22, 2007

I think you have the wrong idea about a university. It is not partying all the time by any means. It is lots of hard work, long nights, and below poverty living. There are exceptions to every rule and it is very major dependent. For instance, I had a friend in college that started out as a business major and he was playing golf for the school. He had to go to class and he had practice golf 4 hours a day and 6 hours on Saturday. He switched to Mechanical Engineering and quit golf. He told me he had more free time before the change. If you think you are going to go to school and party the whole time or even 2 or 3 times a week just stay home. You will not last two semesters in any mayor that will make you any money.

I have been out of college since May 05 working as a Product Development Engineer and I really like my job. My main focus is new product ideas and ways to make the new products. In the end I spend a lot of my time doing small machine design. I have a Mechanical Engineering/Motorsports Engineering Degree and a Mathematics minor. I originally went to school to become a racecar designer, but all the NASCAR shops around here work 12-hour days 6 days a week, that is not for me. I may still yet pursue a job in Motorsports but I like the job I have for now.

Brent

Yobi1Kanobi · Jan 22, 2007

I am in the Real Estate title insurance Biz. And I do mortgages as well , very good pay but alot of work...People skills are a must...It makes me happy though.

95strokerPSU · Jan 22, 2007

I went to PSU for 4 years and graduated with a degree in Supply Chain and Information Systems in May 2005. I was fortunate enough that my parents could afford to pay for my college, but if had to do it all over again and pay for it, I would still go. There is nothing comparable to living at a major university and I think it would be well worth whatever students loans needed to be paid off after.

I did an internship between my junior and senior year and then was asked to come back after graduating.

The company is called Elmar Window Fashions. They were an independent full-line Hunter Douglas window blind manufacturer until last January when Hunter Douglas bought us out.

My job title is called a Managament Trainee, and I basically do 6 month rotations in different departments to learn all aspects of the busniess. Right now I'm in shipping and logistics. I should have another 6 month rotation, but I just found out last week that my boss is being moved to a different department and that I'm going to take his job as the shipping, packing, and distribution business unit manager.

I currently make just under $50k with full bonus, but when I get the new title it should be bumped up quite a bit.

My advice is to at least look into getting student loans and going to a real college that you can live away from home.

95strokerPSU · Jan 22, 2007

ProKiller said:
Currently work as a contractor at SAP in their americas headquarters.

Our company just went live with custom SAP software and it's been awful. We hardly got any training and everyone is basically just learning as we go. It's getting better, but the last three weeks have been a mess.

What Careers Do You Guys Have?

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