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What do you do for a living?

buckfever321

buckfever321

Member
I'm curious what everybody on IW does for a living. Do you enjoy what you do? Do you feel like it's rewarding work? Is your work/life balance okay? Did you go to school to do what you are doing now?

Yesterday, I was unfortunately let go from a job I enjoyed. It was in the precision ag industry and I'm not sure if I want to continue to look for employment in that area or if a complete change in career paths is something I should think about. I've got that "now what?" feeling and just trying to figure out what I should do. Never thought I would have to go through a job change in this manner.

So what do you do?
 
I am a construction manager/osp supervisor at a local telecommunications company. I love my job...well, I have loved my job for the most of 14 years (and is the only place I have worked since high school)... We recently bought a company in South Central Iowa, traveling back and forth between companies. Our new "upper" management makes for some days of extreme headaches... Hope you find what makes you happy, I know if I was let go, I think I would change my career path..
 
I’ve been a power lineman for almost 17 years now. I love my job and don’t know what else I’d do if something like that happened to me.
Sorry for your loss and good luck in whatever path you choose.
 
I am a partner in a CNC machine shop and the sales guy for the company. We manufacture custom steel and plastic parts for OEM products and maintenance parts for other manufacturers. I went to school for marketing, never would have guessed my career would have led me hear but I love my job. Was a case of who I knew and not what I knew at the time of college graduation. All the best in your next venture- no better time than the present to go after your dream job
 
I’ve hung my hat at the same employment for 37 years with hopefully two years to go then I’m bowing out.

26 years ago I started a business in let’s say animal science:D that consumes every free minute that I have for 9 months. Burning the candle at both ends are taking its toll but the home business supports my addiction that’s called bowhunting.
Sure would suck to start over but just stay positive as things will work out.
 
I’m a supervisor/mixer operator at a feed mill. It’s actually not a bad job. I am just not a fan of the hours I work. No where near what I went to school for. Currently looking for a new job.
 
WHAT DO U DO? I am not going to give cliche answer of: “just do what you love”..... RIGHT NOW: do what makes $ and pays bills. It has to be something you can tolerate and a good fit. Make a list of 25 random job fields or types that interest you.... then- pick the top 10 paying ones and go after them. Go interview, network & polish yourself. You will figure this out BUT- make “finding a job” your job right now. All you concentrate on right now.


ME:
I collect pop cans & beer cans. Working on scheme to get my buddy’s “mail truck during Mother’s Day time” & bring them to Michigan to double the $!!!! :)
Was going play in the NFL or MLB but the travel part just turned me off. Too much time on the road. ;).

Beyond that..... farm, have a tree nursery. Do a little bit of habitat work for friends when cost share in place & few other things. Taking care of farms gobbles up a ton of my time but I love it! (Well most the time ;) ). My job kinda in way revolves around “everything conservation” you can think of.... whether it’s doing crp planting’s, building terraces, cover crops, seeding waterways, no till farming, food plots, doing timber stand improvement, planting trees, whatever - I’d say the word “conservation” touches my job every single day. Kids & fam occupy all my non work time. :) This is my Dream job but I spent 10 years old to 35 Doing a lot of jobs I hated. As a teenager- I really took on the crappiest jobs. I apparently was the exception to “immigrants do all the jobs Americans don’t want to do”. Which is crap- I did em. Didn’t like it but did em & made $.

**& for fun, my past employment: helped my mom clean houses & offices from 8-14 years old (embarrassing!!!) then starting with lawn service too (ok, like 6-7 lawn jobs) at 11 years old all the way through high school on top of other jobs... then worked in flower fields pulling weeds by hand or tools with a crew as farms could hire 14 year olds. At 16.... factory work assembling car parts for GM vehicles for a summer. Delivered pizzas. Bought cars that needed work, fixed em & sold em. Worked at car dealership detailing cars. Worked at Walmart as “stockman Skip” (cart boy, clean up nasty stuff no one else would do, whatever). During college- Waited tables & more factory jobs. Then internships in business & engineering. Then medical field. Then everything farm. Fun road!!
 
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After many years working as a carpenter out of school I went back to farming with my dad. We milk cows and put in robots 2 years ago. I love the freedom of not having a boss and enjoy the type of work I do. The family/work mix isn't ideal. It's starts wearing on my wife and kids. My younger brother is coming back to work so that may get better or I might step aside so he can take over if he wants. Not much money in dairy many years and the restrictions and regulations gets tougher and tougher.
 
Water treatment industry for me; been on the operations and maintenance side and operations is where I'm at now with no plan of leaving. Not at all what I went to school for, but I love it, the pay is good and the job security is guaranteed.
 
Sorry about the tough luck.

This is an interesting thread. I work as a project manager for a commercial construction company. The best part is I work from home most of the time. My home sits on of my farms, so that is a major bonus to me. The field has really changed over the last 10 years and not for the better in a lot of ways quite frankly. It pays the bills, but I would not say I love it by any means.

Growing up it was painting, framing, building houses, etc. That led into flipping houses. That in turn led to rentals. I have one left, in Grand Rapids MI of all places. Haven't seen the place in 5 years! Not kidding. Flipping house led to buying dilapidated land in Michigan and completely converting it to a wildlife oasis. That process and exploration of the whole habitat "game" was and is super rewarding. I quickly learned that was my passion... if I could only make a living at it I would be all set. But, that whole thing led me to Iowa 4 years ago and doing some small things here.

Good luck getting back at it.
 
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Sorry about the situation.

I work at a transportation company on the operations side. It is a field in the realm of what I went to school for. Not the degree or field I thought I would end up in. After a couple years of college I changed degrees to something I knew that I could, A. actually pass, and B. get a job. So many college degrees there is little to no jobs. I don't love my job, but I do enjoy the daily grind and knowing things and decisions I make matter and have an impact on the drivers we have. It is rewarding to see many drivers be successful and grow and have a good income. It can certainly be stressful and hectic, but I enjoy it overall and it pays the bills and then some.
 
Journeyman electrician. I went to school for other stuff and worked in this field in high school and college and enjoyed it so I took night classes and took the test. Some days I do love it and some days it is less desirable. It pays the bills, we always have plenty of work, and there seems to be a shortage of workers in the trade fields so I have no regrets.
Good luck in your search
 
I feel for you Buckfever. I worked for a fortune 500 confectionery manufacturing company for 41 years as a pipefitter as well as a supervisor for tradesmen and utility operations for over 15 years. They gave me the boot over 5 years ago and it was a struggle finding a job at my age. Thought I'd have to sell the property at one point! After many months I finally scored on a job installing irrigation systems. I enjoy the job even though it can be brutal digging trenches in the middle of summer. You have to do what you have to to survive. Just like an old whitetail, adapt and live on.
 
Laundry, thats what i do for living. I work for Dexter Laundry, we manufacture commercial and industrial laundry equipment. example laundromats, hotels, hospitals, prisons, etc. I have worked there 17 years now, 11 of those years on the manufacturing/assembly side of things. i went back to school in 08 and hammered out my BA in business. I then moved up into the technical service department where i help solve the worlds problems one phone call at a time. I have since traveled all over the world teaching our customers how to improve their businesses, work on equipment, train technicians etc. It been great, and lets face it regardless of where you are located on this planet there is dirty laundry that needs cleaned.
 
IBEW Power lineman. It’s a great trade to be in and it’s an earn while you learn kind of apprenticeship. About 3.5-5 years to make journeyman depending on work load. I’m away from home the majority of the time but it’s part of the job and I’ve traveled all over most of the central and eastern side of the country and have met some extremely interesting folks along the way. All kinds of equipment to play with in all types of scenarios and terrain. I’ve stayed with the same contractor for multiple years and have worked my way up the chain thanks to the good lord. This job landed a Florida boy in this fine state and I’m hoping to settle here for awhile to come. Sorry about your situation and hope you find some good fortune in the near future
 
muddy said:
I'm a stay at home dad currently in the market for employment... maybe. If it ain't broke don't fix it right?
Click to expand...
Hey that sounds like a pretty good gig. I'd sign up for that but the wife don't think I'm certified. She's prolly right, I couldn't handle it. :rolleyes:
 
Self employed remodeling contractor. Started helping my dad when I was in high school and been doing it ever since. 12 years now. Love what I do, some days more than others. Work outside majority of the year so the single digit days can get kinda old, but usually try to schedule some inside work this time of year. Install a lot of windows & doors, siding, and build additions/porches/decks. Like being in different places doing different jobs, I know I couldn’t hack it siting inside all day at a desk. Could have went to college and ended up with a ton of student loan debt and most likely still be doing what I’m doing now.
 
I put in 10 years as a contractor doing rental property repair/maintenance for investors. When the housing market crashed in 2008, I jumped in the foreclosure game contracting work for banks on foreclosed homes. It was quite the rat race for a few years, good times and good money. Now this fellow named Trump is in the White House and people seem to be able to pay their bills again. Foreclosures are grinding to a halt. I'm in the same boat as you Buckfever. Kind of at a crossroads right now. Back to rental property management or something new....don't know yet. Really I just want to go fishing. :)
 
I started out as a Fisheries Biologist in South Dakota. Went to school from Conservation Management because like most of you its what i love to do and truly enjoyed learning from my professors for 4 years. Wouldn't trade college for anything. I then moved on to County Conservation. That was a fun job but felt like i was a park janitor rather than making a difference in conservation. Then i did what any stupid kid does and chased money. I went to work for a landscaping company out of waterloo. Was a Maintenance Manager. I tell you what that was a hard job. I was literally in charge of ex cons. It was TOUGH. Then my wife got a job offer in Des Moines to work for a company called TMC transportation. So we moved to Des Moines and I was trying to find a job. Took awhile and turned down quite a few labor intensive jobs. Now im the GM of Golf Galaxy. Love what i do. Only thing that sucks is sometimes weekend work gets old but what do ya do. Eventually i would love to get into outdoor sales. Like work for a company like vortex, hoyt, muddy, any of those.
 
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