Hey guys! As a pesky student straight out of uni, I am trying to make up my mind about what I should do for a career. I am interested in what people here do for a day-job. It would be quite cool to work in electronics/audio, don't enjoy office work much, so trying to get out there and do something I like!
Anyway,
What is your current job / occupation;
What is your best job that you have done; 😎
What is the worst job you have done;
and what advice do you have for someone straight out of uni! 🙂
Cheers
~h~
Anyway,
What is your current job / occupation;
What is your best job that you have done; 😎
What is the worst job you have done;
and what advice do you have for someone straight out of uni! 🙂
Cheers
~h~
When not listening to music or cycling I write
software for a major corporation, where the pay is
low and the pressure high.
But at least there's plenty of abuse to go around!
Erik
(perhaps I should have become a goat-herder)
software for a major corporation, where the pay is
low and the pressure high.
But at least there's plenty of abuse to go around!
Erik
(perhaps I should have become a goat-herder)
When not browsing the internet I make x-ray's; CT scan etc..
So when it comes to radiation, I you're guy
But at night (like it is now over here) it can get so lonely I'm even allowed to make use of our nice inetrnet connection 🙂
So it's a nice job which pays so so but it's enough to maintain a nice life and get into this money absorbing hobby
Ralph
p.s. anyone got an idea how to make our 1 Tesla MRI (biiiiiiiig coil) into a nice high sensitive loudspeaker 😉
So when it comes to radiation, I you're guy
But at night (like it is now over here) it can get so lonely
I'm even allowed to make use of our nice inetrnet connection 🙂 So it's a nice job which pays so so but it's enough to maintain a nice life and get into this money absorbing hobby
Ralph
p.s. anyone got an idea how to make our 1 Tesla MRI (biiiiiiiig coil) into a nice high sensitive loudspeaker 😉
Well if you don't enjoy office work, then you are a bit sol w.r.t. electronics\audio, unless you want to sell it. If you want to design it, it is predominantly an office job. Lots of time in front of the computer, some time in the lab, and a lot of time documenting. However, if you like to create, it is still a lot of fun.
Alvaius
Alvaius
<b>current</b>Nearly full time loafer (semi retired). Electronics Engineer by training and profession.ShiFtY said:Anyway,
What is your current job / occupation;
What is your best job that you have done; 😎
What is the worst job you have done;
and what advice do you have for someone straight out of uni! 🙂
Cheers
~h~
<b>best</b> instructor at a TAFE College in electronics. Best by far.
<b>worst</b> Field Service Engineer for a small electronics company. The work was OK, but the boss was a misery. And it was shiftwork.
<b>advice</b> Follow your heart, and try to do something you love to do, even if it goes against all the advice of family and friends. You'll be happier long term, and the money will come. It's <i>your</i> life after all. Avoid shiftwork. Enjoy the money you make, but don't **** it all up a wall. Get a home, and pay it off as soon as you can, even if it's modest. Gives you a base of operations, and a lot of flexibility wrt to work. Laugh a lot, minimise stress (a lot of this is attitude). Experiment; don't be afraid to try lots of jobs till you find something you love. Walk away from stuff that doesn't work for you. Make sure you know how to say no. Avoid work politics. Don't work yourself into the ground. Take holidays.
Cheers
Re: Re: Careers, or: What do you do for a crust?
100% agreed on the advice part........ 🙂 it's totally my motto....
I have friends who always ask me what they want or should do in life... i'm like "that's the easiest question to answer!" then i simply tell them to do what the love doing! some respond with drinking... lol... I ask them, what did you love doing as a kid?
me? It was messing around on my old Vic20 computer... just doing simple stupid programs... as i grew older I still played with them... now i'm a computer programer...
follow what you've always loved doing! 😀 screw anyone else who tells you anything otherwise...
Brett said:
100% agreed on the advice part........ 🙂 it's totally my motto....
I have friends who always ask me what they want or should do in life... i'm like "that's the easiest question to answer!" then i simply tell them to do what the love doing! some respond with drinking... lol... I ask them, what did you love doing as a kid?
me? It was messing around on my old Vic20 computer... just doing simple stupid programs... as i grew older I still played with them... now i'm a computer programer...
follow what you've always loved doing! 😀 screw anyone else who tells you anything otherwise...
My boss says I'm a ICT Service Engineer.
Guess that's what I do.... at the moment my customer is the Dutch highcourt.
Most fun customer, guess it was a dutch marketing firm with loads of good looking girls
Guess that's what I do.... at the moment my customer is the Dutch highcourt.
Most fun customer, guess it was a dutch marketing firm with loads of good looking girls
well, im only 22, still in college (go buffs!), but ive done my share of stuff.
current job: electronic sales (higher-end but not exotic stuff.) the discounts are NICE, hours, boss, customers suck.
best: assistant tax manager for a nationwide corporation. very cool job. nice cubicle, respect, etc... 🙂
worst: transitional consultant for worldwide corporation. they thought i was young, so all i could do was stack boxes and clean shelves... even though i was hired to oversee a software conversion project... needless to say i just left after a couple weeks.
advice? find what you like, and try to make money at it. cant find anything you like? find what makes the most and learn to like it 🙂
current job: electronic sales (higher-end but not exotic stuff.) the discounts are NICE, hours, boss, customers suck.
best: assistant tax manager for a nationwide corporation. very cool job. nice cubicle, respect, etc... 🙂
worst: transitional consultant for worldwide corporation. they thought i was young, so all i could do was stack boxes and clean shelves... even though i was hired to oversee a software conversion project... needless to say i just left after a couple weeks.
advice? find what you like, and try to make money at it. cant find anything you like? find what makes the most and learn to like it 🙂
To answer an earlier question. I tried to modulate a 2.5 T coil as a loudspeaker. Modulating 1.2 MW is fraught with peril!!!! Sure glitches CRT's and moves things that shouldn't be moved.
Best done late at night when a powersupply crowbar won't muddle too many things up.
Cyclotronguy
Best done late at night when a powersupply crowbar won't muddle too many things up.
Cyclotronguy
Re: Re: Careers, or: What do you do for a crust?
i'll 2nd Brett + don't be afraid of having multiple part-time jobs. Don't let the money drive you -- it is only an unfortunate side-effect of doing what you want.
I got out of University with an Honours degree in Statistical Mathematics and immediately jumped into the retail HiFi business where i started the process of forgetting most of the details of what i learned. I did retain, most important of all, an attitude of continued learning & striving which has been invaluable.
<b>current</b> i call myself semi-employed -- except for being poor and having little spare-time, it is probably my most satisfying employment to date. Mostly i recycle old hifis and sell the bits on eBay, plus a little bit of Mac computer support, training, & sales, some graphics work, some web work, some programming, and some manufacturing & selling of custom speakers (which will extend into building some tube amps as i get more comfortable with them)
<b>best</b> tops were the jobs at the hifi store (right after university) and working at HD3D (some of my web work & graphics work there). Hopefully this one will come out of hiatus (ie get more funding) and i can have fun & not be poor.
<b>worst</b> I never stuck to any job that i didn't find fullflling in some respect. The least liked times thou are/when i'm under pressure to get someone elses computer running and it is being a pain in the butt (i could still be doing a job that involves this and making really good money, but it just isn't worth it)
dave
Brett said:
i'll 2nd Brett + don't be afraid of having multiple part-time jobs. Don't let the money drive you -- it is only an unfortunate side-effect of doing what you want.
I got out of University with an Honours degree in Statistical Mathematics and immediately jumped into the retail HiFi business where i started the process of forgetting most of the details of what i learned. I did retain, most important of all, an attitude of continued learning & striving which has been invaluable.
<b>current</b> i call myself semi-employed -- except for being poor and having little spare-time, it is probably my most satisfying employment to date. Mostly i recycle old hifis and sell the bits on eBay, plus a little bit of Mac computer support, training, & sales, some graphics work, some web work, some programming, and some manufacturing & selling of custom speakers (which will extend into building some tube amps as i get more comfortable with them)
<b>best</b> tops were the jobs at the hifi store (right after university) and working at HD3D (some of my web work & graphics work there). Hopefully this one will come out of hiatus (ie get more funding) and i can have fun & not be poor.
<b>worst</b> I never stuck to any job that i didn't find fullflling in some respect. The least liked times thou are/when i'm under pressure to get someone elses computer running and it is being a pain in the butt (i could still be doing a job that involves this and making really good money, but it just isn't worth it)
dave
Brett, you summed it up well
Current, Just about surviving through the major recession in the corporate events market, no thanks to belligerent uncle Dubya, but I might give it all up and go build green oak timber framed houses in Wales....
Best job, Loads, but the ones that come to mind at the moment are three, designing the lighting for one of the first exhibition stands I did, for Avid, that one best stand on the show, a certain Liverpudlian's wedding in Ireland this summer, and watching the punters dance for 18 hours nonstop to my lightshow at an illegal rave in 1989.
Worst, When I left Uni I went to work for a major share dealers in the City of London, very,very well paid, but the atmosphere and the people were appalling. I left as soon as my student overdraft was paid off, calculated to the hour...😉
Current, Just about surviving through the major recession in the corporate events market, no thanks to belligerent uncle Dubya, but I might give it all up and go build green oak timber framed houses in Wales....
Best job, Loads, but the ones that come to mind at the moment are three, designing the lighting for one of the first exhibition stands I did, for Avid, that one best stand on the show, a certain Liverpudlian's wedding in Ireland this summer, and watching the punters dance for 18 hours nonstop to my lightshow at an illegal rave in 1989.
Worst, When I left Uni I went to work for a major share dealers in the City of London, very,very well paid, but the atmosphere and the people were appalling. I left as soon as my student overdraft was paid off, calculated to the hour...😉
Current: designing the hardware for modems. When not behind PC, working in the house etc.
Best: see above
Worst: see above (not altogether truthfull, in my previous job there was a very bad spell, made me quit.)
Advise: Brett summed it up very nicely. One thing, never let you guide by qualifications asked in job advertisements. If you want to do it, go for it. Your enthousiasm may overcome lack of correct qualifications.
Also when you are in a job and you don't feel good and start thinking about leaving, doing interviews etc....and then something is presenting itself, don't hesitate (too long). Never feel too loyal, they would fire you just as fast. After all, you have already left in a way. (don't know if I make myself very clear here, difficult to explain textual)
Oh, and getting a home is very good advise, but get it big enough. People with our hobby tend to fill all available space. But you know that already probably......
Best: see above
Worst: see above (not altogether truthfull, in my previous job there was a very bad spell, made me quit.)
Advise: Brett summed it up very nicely. One thing, never let you guide by qualifications asked in job advertisements. If you want to do it, go for it. Your enthousiasm may overcome lack of correct qualifications.
Also when you are in a job and you don't feel good and start thinking about leaving, doing interviews etc....and then something is presenting itself, don't hesitate (too long). Never feel too loyal, they would fire you just as fast. After all, you have already left in a way. (don't know if I make myself very clear here, difficult to explain textual)
Oh, and getting a home is very good advise, but get it big enough. People with our hobby tend to fill all available space. But you know that already probably......
Hmmm, jobs, lemme see...
Current Electronics technician for the whole of Port Alberni, nice cause I get my own hours, good pay, and I do what I'm really good at and I like.
Best Most likely this job right now, haven't had a better one so far, but hey!, I'm only 16 yrs old, how many jobs could I have had?
Worst This is the technical/Engineering job I had at a radio electronics and service store in Campbell River. The job really wasn't that bad, part time, cozy work area. Boss was one sleezy sucker and the pay was s**ts @ $7.60/h whereas now I make about $25.00/hour.
Current Electronics technician for the whole of Port Alberni, nice cause I get my own hours, good pay, and I do what I'm really good at and I like.
Best Most likely this job right now, haven't had a better one so far, but hey!, I'm only 16 yrs old, how many jobs could I have had?
Worst This is the technical/Engineering job I had at a radio electronics and service store in Campbell River. The job really wasn't that bad, part time, cozy work area. Boss was one sleezy sucker and the pay was s**ts @ $7.60/h whereas now I make about $25.00/hour.
While most of my adult life has been in the Navy, I had more than my share of part time and 2nd jobs.
Current 19 year veteran of US Navy. Been on every continent on the planet (and drank beer there). Slept in some of the best and worst hotels imaginable. Been shot at and returned fire. Hated the guy who slept three feet from me in the next rack but would have risked my life to save him. The best sunsets are at sea before a storm, miles from land. Heavy weather really sucks and seasickness sucks even more. Seen the best and worst that people can be to one another. Wished I had started my career out differently but at the same time I wouldn't trade anything for the memories I have of it. (if that makes any sense).
Best See current. Close second. Commercial diver. Very hard work but the pay is great, the recognition is impressive and I was lucky to work for a great company with great benefits and commeraderie.
Worst See current. Close Second- Construction worker. The total opposite of my second best job except it was still hard work.
For what it's worth... If you like structure in your life at the same time you don't know where you'll be living next year, all the while ,you know you'll always have a place to live and a pay check, the military is the place for you. You'll see the world, have a lot of different jobs and live in a variety of places. And woman really do love a man in uniform, if I had a quarter for every time... well, I digress. Anyway, if you want to be able to change your life when you please. Can't stand people yelling at you or yelling at someone else. Don't like an immense amount of responsibility and situational pressure. Would rather go home to your friends and family everyday. Like to sleep in you own bed everynight or call in sick. And like being sure someone won't be shooting at you... forget the military! Bretts advice is very wise, don't be afraid to pursue your dreams, but remember one thing, if you get a job doing your favorite hobby, it's now a job.
Current 19 year veteran of US Navy. Been on every continent on the planet (and drank beer there). Slept in some of the best and worst hotels imaginable. Been shot at and returned fire. Hated the guy who slept three feet from me in the next rack but would have risked my life to save him. The best sunsets are at sea before a storm, miles from land. Heavy weather really sucks and seasickness sucks even more. Seen the best and worst that people can be to one another. Wished I had started my career out differently but at the same time I wouldn't trade anything for the memories I have of it. (if that makes any sense).
Best See current. Close second. Commercial diver. Very hard work but the pay is great, the recognition is impressive and I was lucky to work for a great company with great benefits and commeraderie.
Worst See current. Close Second- Construction worker. The total opposite of my second best job except it was still hard work.
For what it's worth... If you like structure in your life at the same time you don't know where you'll be living next year, all the while ,you know you'll always have a place to live and a pay check, the military is the place for you. You'll see the world, have a lot of different jobs and live in a variety of places. And woman really do love a man in uniform, if I had a quarter for every time... well, I digress. Anyway, if you want to be able to change your life when you please. Can't stand people yelling at you or yelling at someone else. Don't like an immense amount of responsibility and situational pressure. Would rather go home to your friends and family everyday. Like to sleep in you own bed everynight or call in sick. And like being sure someone won't be shooting at you... forget the military! Bretts advice is very wise, don't be afraid to pursue your dreams, but remember one thing, if you get a job doing your favorite hobby, it's now a job.
If you hate offices and enjoy the smell of burning components, field service might be a fun thing for you. Design engineering would not!
I'm straight out of the University as well, but rather than head for real life I dove back under the blankets of Grad School. So far, I'm happy with my station in life. I get to work on my speakers and with my free time do Physics research. I've gotten tons of help from the experts running around the basements as well as plenty of raw materials and supplies. Plus I get access to a machine shop and wood shop for next to nothing. It's great. I don't know what I want to do with my life in the long term, but while staying in school my options are wide open. That way I don't have to make a decision any time soon. I wish you luck in your quest.
-Dan
-Dan
Thats for sure... I am in a crappy job at the mo, this last week is dragging on and on... ugh
And Philo that is an interesting idea... hadn't thought of the .mil.nz before... one more option
I am definitely getting the vibe that money is not a big deal- A lot of people advise you to go where the money is, but I think I would rather be doing something I like...
Thanks 4 all the responses so far...
Current
Student, EE
Best
I cannot stress enough how cool it can be to work in a small manufacturing facility. Find a small company that makes a product that you like (for me it was mountaineering) and find out what they need. In my experience they are very dyanmic environments. Everything is seat of the pants...very exciting. Everybody does everyting. And access to lots of cool machinery. What to do with a 100 ton hydraulic press?
Worst
US Army - Lots of mean stupid people making you do stupid things
No offense to any military people out there🙂
Student, EE
Best
I cannot stress enough how cool it can be to work in a small manufacturing facility. Find a small company that makes a product that you like (for me it was mountaineering) and find out what they need. In my experience they are very dyanmic environments. Everything is seat of the pants...very exciting. Everybody does everyting. And access to lots of cool machinery. What to do with a 100 ton hydraulic press?
Worst
US Army - Lots of mean stupid people making you do stupid things
No offense to any military people out there🙂
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