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[geetface9]

I was just browsing through some of the career oriented topics and I figured maybe we could get to know each other a little better by discussing what our careers and educations levels are. I'm sure at some point or another many of us have stated our job descriptions/education level/etc. scattered throughout the forum but not in a concise space such as this. I think many members would find it interesting as there are some of us interested in new career paths and educational goals, such as jabberwocky, LRW, and myself to name a few. Another goal of this is to maybe give some knowledge to some of us who are looking at changing careers and just having an idea of what other people do that they might want to look into doing themselves. This is something I look forward to because I am looking to make a significant career/education change within the next year and I love hearing about other people's jobs because it gives me ideas on other things I could do for a living that maybe I hadn't thought of yet.

1) What level of education do you have? (High school, some college, bachelor's degree, masters, ph.d., etc) and if you have a degree, what is your field of study? (i.e. math, law, engineering, english, etc.)

2) What is your current occupation? And what education/certificates/experience/etc. is necessary to hold such a position?

3) What do you like and dislike about your current occupation?

4) What are some of the day to day duties of your job? And what do you find difficult or easy about it?

5) What is the entry level or average salary of someone in your position? (You don't have to state your salary - unless you absolutely want to - just what one could expect to make if they entered that field/occupation)

6) How long have you held that position?

7) Are you trying to attain more education, another job, a new venture (such as starting your own business) etc.?

8 ) Anything else you'd like to add? (advice on how to break into the field, what you'd do differently if you could start all over - I'm pretty sure most of us would say "start karting at age 5 so I could be an F1 driver now" )

I'll start!

1) I have a Bachelor's degree in Justice Studies

2) I am a senior production clerk for a censored called Express Scripts (perhaps some of you Americans receive medication from us) and you just need a high school diploma, low self esteem, and a love for alcohol because you're gonna f*ckin' need it to stay sane at that job.

3) I dislike standing for 8 hours straight (we aren't allowed to sit down) and I like the fact that I don't deal with customers/patients face to face. We are purely a production facility and we mail out all of the prescriptions. I dislike my bosses and I like my coworkers I also dislike how easy the job is and unchallenged, unused, and unfulfilled I feel. I could do so much more, which is why I'm considering going back to school because I am wholly underutilized and I'm smart

4) I fix automated machines involved with bagging prescriptions and labeling vials that go to get filled with drugs. I also package orders and such and help other production clerks with the same thing. It's very mindless work.

5) It's bottom b1tch type sh1t, started out at $12.25/hr, which is $2/hr more than the average because my facility is contracted with the DOD (department of defense) so they require us to be paid more than average.

6) I began at express scripts in july 2012 as a production clerk, and became a senior production clerk about five or six months ago

7) I am currently in the background check phase for a local police department. I am trying to become a dispatcher there, which is $15k/year salary increase for me and some towards what I'm actually interested in career-wise. I am also going to start going back to school likely in January for mechanical engineering because I am great at math and I want to make $80k/year

8 ) If I had known better when I started college at 18, I would have gotten an engineering degree in the first place!! Not some dumb liberal arts degree in justice studies. I was trying to be a cop but they just aren't hiring because the economy is in the sh1tter which means cities don't have the budgets for new officers. I've wasted seven years of my life on this venture (four years in college on a degree that I thought would help me get the job, and three years of consistent testing at different departments, yet being turned down every time). It's hard to compete with all the ex-military guys coming back from iraq/afghanistan for paramilitary jobs like the police. My degree has done more harm than good in the sense that I'm paying over $300/month to my school loan debt and I can't get a job that is paying me enough to have made it worth my while!!!!

[What's Burning?]

Nice idea for a thread Geet... I'm going to hold my response until I have some play time, and that won't be today. Looking forward to reading though.

[Hammer278]

1) What level of education do you have? (High school, some college, bachelor's degree, masters, ph.d., etc) and if you have a degree, what is your field of study? (i.e. math, law, engineering, english, etc.)

Bachelor's and half a masters. Bachelors was in mech engineering, masters in finance....from now till next July will be me working on my thesis.

2) What is your current occupation? And what education/certificates/experience/etc. is necessary to hold such a position?

Unemployed bum. Oh you can hold any cert or no cert for this position.

3) What do you like and dislike about your current occupation?

I was doing event management straight after bachelors....it was fun for a while but I wanted to get out of it partly because I couldn't see myself doing that for too long even if the money was good, but mostly because I developed a real interest in the finance sector such as investments/trading etc during my free time and practicing it small scale.

4) What are some of the day to day duties of your job? And what do you find difficult or easy about it?

With my previous job...event management was about getting the right content for the event by doing desk/phone research and then getting the speakers together and making the event happen along with the operations/sponsorships/sales teams. Anything wrong with the event will automatically be my fault though even if another department messed up.

5) What is the entry level or average salary of someone in your position? (You don't have to state your salary - unless you absolutely want to - just what one could expect to make if they entered that field/occupation)

Salary was not that high, I was getting almost USD1.5k (which is actually respectable in msia since costs are low here) but the commissions were why I stayed in the job for so long.

6) How long have you held that position?

Almost 3 years. Been out of it for over a year now though.

7) Are you trying to attain more education, another job, a new venture (such as starting your own business) etc.?

NO MORE education....certainly not a phd or what not..I just want to get into a bank and work my way up for a bit and see where that takes me. Currently studing for the CFA level 1 which is in december....but if I get absorbed into a bank and they sponsor me to take on the level 2 and 3, I'll go for it.

8 ) Anything else you'd like to add? (advice on how to break into the field, what you'd do differently if you could start all over - I'm pretty sure most of us would say "start karting at age 5 so I could be an F1 driver now" )

Yes I would say that, most definitely. But although I don't regret my path so far since I learned a lot from it, I wish I could've broken into finance much sooner in my life (say right after graduation) so I could be on the path already by now. But better late than never I guess.

ok bye.

[stonemonkey]

1. Ummmm higher education at school, some engineering stuff from college, started 2 degrees electronic eng/applied physics both for 2 years but never finished them, 3 years college for stonemason (4 year apprenticeship)

2. Stonemason - City&Guilds or CITB certs. experience? you get taken on, if you're any good you sometimes get kept on.

3. Love the dressing, not so much the building side, weather and dust can be a pain (trust me, unless you have done it you have no idea about the dust, it gets into and destroys everything and it's a killer)

4. dressing stone, building stone, pointing, restoration

5. probably starting around £12/hr (£24kpa) pricework is good if you can get it regularly

6. 18 years, off for 1 1/2 years thanks to edinburgh council who pretty much destroyed the local industry, just started back recently.

7. in my time off I tried various jobs, wasn't too surprised to find I am not suited to call centre work.

8. Don't quit a degree.

[racechick]

Good thread! Needs some thought. Will try to reply later this eve.

[Jabberwocky]

Will do this when I get to a computer. Using a phone and remembering the questions will do me in

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[zurich_allan]

Great idea for a thread - will really give a good idea of how varied a background different members are coming from.

I'll try and keep my responses brief:

1) What level of education do you have? (High school, some college, bachelor's degree, masters, ph.d., etc) and if you have a degree, what is your field of study? (i.e. math, law, engineering, english, etc.)

- Dioloma level in I.T., Accounting & HRM (completed two years of degree but did not continue on to degree year after work placement year back in the late '90's)
- Professional finance qualifications (FPC), after passing CII exams
- Undergraduate law degree with first class honours
- Additional undergraduate modules in psychology passed for fun / hobby
- PgC in Research Methodology
- PgC in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Member of the Scottish Public Law Group
- Member of the Society of Legal Scholars
- Currently in final write-up phase of PhD I have been completing part time whilst working.

2) What is your current occupation? And what education/certificates/experience/etc. is necessary to hold such a position?

I currently hold more than one position:

- University lecturer - Law
- External Examiner - Another Scottish University
- External Examiner - Another English University
- Registered potential committee advisor and research consultant for a number of areas of law - Scottish Parliament

As for education / certificates etc. necessary for these posts - my education above is pretty much the standard. The days are pretty much gone where you can walk into a lecturing role with experience alone, or even an undergraduate degree alone. Generally now you'll need a subject specific degree, some sort of postgraduate qualification, either have or be working toward a PhD, qualifications in or evidence of ability to carry out research of a high standard, some kind of teaching qualification - if not then a co-requisite of getting a job will often be that you have to complete this during your first year or two in the job.


3) What do you like and dislike about your current occupation?

Seeing over recent years a large increase in bad / misplaced attitude amongst a large number of students, where they seem to view Higher Education as a consumer product, when it isn't. Can partly levy the blame for this at the UK government with fees increases. Infuriating increase in students who communicate via email, but in text speak (using things like 'u', 'lol' and smileys...) - I literally refuse to answer emails like that as it is utterly disrespecful and inappropriate.

4) What are some of the day to day duties of your job? And what do you find difficult or easy about it?

I don't even know where to begin here. The obvious things like designing and delivering lectures, tutorials and seminars. The job goes way beyond that though. Designing and implementing research projects, writing assessments, moderating assessments written by others, marking and grading, writing feedback, supervising honours dissertation students, supervising students carrying out other forms of research, utilising and directing teaching teams if at module coordinator level (I am), continual revision and redesign of modules throughout the year and between years, new course design, validation and professional accreditation, writing up research and submitting for publication, conference presentation, media duties if requested, attendance at various exam and other faculty boards etc. etc.

For external examiner roles - in a nutshell is scrutinising assessments from other Universities prior to them being given to students, to ensure that they are appropriate for the level of study, don't overlap with other assessed areas, and are worded in a clear and unambiguous way, as well as being an appropriate workload for students etc. Then once assessments are complete, to look at a sample from each module you are responsible for and ensuring that the marking is fair and appropriate, as well as being comparable with other Universities. Senior external examiners (I am), also have responsibility for assisting with conferment of awards, especially where discretion has to be applied and the University in question wants to be seen to be acting fairly (so borderline cases, other complex cases such as early exit awards where a student is seriously / terminally ill etc.), or University regulations requiring to be interpreted.

5) What is the entry level or average salary of someone in your position? (You don't have to state your salary - unless you absolutely want to - just what one could expect to make if they entered that field/occupation)

Salary is middle of the road in Higher Education. Not too low, but not too high (comparatively). For a junior lecturer starting out, the salary could be between £24k - £35k. An ordinary lecturer is usually around £35k - £45k. Senior lecturer is around £40k - £55k. Professor / Dean is around £50k - £75k.

External Examiner positions are very poorly paid (though all expenses are paid including usually hotels, meals, travel costs etc.) at only around £500 - £1500 per year, but you don't take those positions for the pay, you take them for the esteem and to build a reputation and network in the field, as well as making a name for yourself and gaining experience in scrutinising and approving the work of others, this ensures that you meet the person spec for any future career advancement in your own institution. Plus, the work you do for these posts you just fit into your own working week, so it's really just a bit of extra pocket money on top of your ordinary wage.

Because of these combined incomes, I honestly don't know my exact income, but it's somewhere in the region of £46k - £47k pa currently.


6) How long have you held that position?

I've been lecturing since 2007, and externally examining since 2011

7) Are you trying to attain more education, another job, a new venture (such as starting your own business) etc.?

As above, I'm currently finishing off a PhD part time. Beyond this, I am currently due to leave my University in July 2015 after provisionally applying for and accepting a package. This is with potentially starting my own business, though I'm in the very early planning stages. My plans could change and I could stay, we'll see.

8 ) Anything else you'd like to add? (advice on how to break into the field, what you'd do differently if you could start all over - I'm pretty sure most of us would say "start karting at age 5 so I could be an F1 driver now" )

I wouldn't change anything. Currently I have a very happy life, a challenging but rewarding job and have gained a huge amount of experience that should stand me in good stead no matter where I go from here. So overall, no regrets!

[geetface9]

Great stuff! I'm glad you guys like the idea and I look forward to more replies

[racechick]

Well I stopped working at my full time job a couple of years ago, but I'll answer as though I'm still doing that, probably be more relevant.


1) What level of education do you have? (High school, some college, bachelor's degree, masters, ph.d., etc) and if you have a degree, what is your field of study? (i.e. math, law, engineering, english, etc.)

certificate in education.....same as a B ed. main subject was English lit and of course education


2) What is your current occupation? And what education/certificates/experience/etc. is necessary to hold such a position?

Foundation co-ordinator . You need a B ed or any other degree and a pgce ( post graduate certificate in education)

3) What do you like and dislike about your current occupation?

DISLIKE: ridiculous amounts of paper work and bureaucracy. And a system that measures success by box ticking excercises and values teaching children to jump through hoops rather than enabling them to think and problem solcve . Epitomised by the OFSTED system.
LIKE: inspiring children through holistic teaching, interacting with them and their parents. Watching them blossom. Giving them memories.

4) What are some of the day to day duties of your job? And what do you find difficult or easy about it?

I teach four and five year olds, so I do just about everything. We do shows, where the children are involved in every aspect of the production. We go in the woods. We have exciting topics which link the whole curriculum ( it was f1 one year and we had a Grand Prix for sports day. The kids designed the team shirts and the track on the playground. We had a drivers parade, safety cars, pit stops, I tried to get go carts but the safety rules were too silly, so we did it on scooters). Anyway, all that is easy, I love it. Difficult? Fitting everything in I guess, and horrid form filling.

5) What is the entry level or average salary of someone in your position? (You don't have to state your salary - unless you absolutely want to - just what one could expect to make if they entered that field/occupation)

well, you don't go into teaching for the money. But it's secure and has a good pension. Don't know what the starting salary is now. Mid twenties maybe? Not sure what mine is/was just over 40 I guess

6) How long have you held that position?
i was in that role for about 10 or 11 years I think

7) Are you trying to attain more education, another job, a new venture (such as starting your own business) etc.?
i did some in service training and am a qualified forest school practitioner. I wasn't interested on being a head teacher, wanted the hands on with the kids. I have run my own business, only small, but not teaching

8 ) Anything else you'd like to add? (advice on how to break into the field, what you'd do differently if you could start all over - I'm pretty sure most of us would say "start karting at age 5 so I could be an F1 driver now" )

a dancer would have been good. Or something with property. But I have had lots of satisfaction and pleasure from teaching.

[Jabberwocky]

1) What level of education do you have? (High school, some college, bachelor's degree, masters, ph.d., etc) and if you have a degree, what is your field of study? (i.e. math, law, engineering, english, etc.)

Diploma in electronic/electrical and mechanical engineering.

2) What is your current occupation? And what education/certificates/experience/etc. is necessary to hold such a position?

I am a Ronin, Chief Executive Officer of name to be decided.
I am ex military, give the civilian job thing a go, for various reasons decided it was not the way for me.

3) What do you like and dislike about your current occupation?

The military was amazing, it took me out of my comfort zone and showed me the person I could be. Something I do not think many other places would of helped me in the same way. The bad side of it is that some people in the military are very "odd" and would not survivie outside of the "I hold a higher rank than you so you must do what I say" where I was seemed to collect them (I might be part of that oddness time will tell) in the end I had had enough of these people, and my working relationship with them destroyed any chance of advancement.

As for my civilian job, I learnt a lot, words like integrity, looking after each other and respect were foriegn concepts. Where as one up manship, backstabbing, and horrendous management was common place.

So now I work for me. I am finding it difficult at the moment to "find the time" to do any work as it is school holidays. So the initial business revenue has not been that good.

4) What are some of the day to day duties of your job? And what do you find difficult or easy about it?

Everything, at the moment it is all interesting as I am trying to start as I mean to go on and have robust procedures in place for when the company grows.

5) What is the entry level or average salary of someone in your position? (You don't have to state your salary - unless you absolutely want to - just what one could expect to make if they entered that field/occupation)
Military was 33k
Civie was 38k
Now, I am on benifits.

6) How long have you held that position?
17 years military
Couple of weeks self employed

7) Are you trying to attain more education, another job, a new venture (such as starting your own business) etc.?

Yes

8 ) Anything else you'd like to add? (advice on how to break into the field, what you'd do differently if you could start all over - I'm pretty sure most of us would say "start karting at age 5 so I could be an F1 driver now" )

Join the military, get a trade, see the world. Become who you can be.


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[LRW]

1) What level of education do you have?
A HNC in Mech. Engineering & a HNC in Building Services

2) What is your current occupation? And what education/certificates/experience/etc. is necessary to hold such a position?
Applications Manager is my official title, working in a BMS controls company. (BMS=Building Management System) You really just need experience in the industry, and some manufacturer product training.

3) What do you like and dislike about your current occupation?
I love the people, I love the fact that 95% of the time I can do it on my standing on my head, so if Im having an off week, or a hangover, I know that if I take it easy for a couple of days it wont take me long to catch up. The flip side of that, and the thing I dislike is, Im not being pushed and I am easily distracted / find it hard to get motivated.

4) What are some of the day to day duties of your job? And what do you find difficult or easy about it?
Duties: Compiling 'software' for the BMS systems, engineering the graphical interfaces, compiling system manuals for end user, compiling testing documentation for site engineers, managing team of 'application Engineers' (although in this company, I have no team to manage yet, as we are a new company - but was managing 8 engineers in last company), technical support to project managers, sales team, site engineers.
Easy: Most of it. Difficult: dealing with wanky clients within the construction industry who think everything is a chicken competition.

5) What is the entry level or average salary of someone in your position? I started as a junior 15 years ago on £12k. As a manager I now earn £50k.

6) How long have you held that position? In this company, 1yr. But been doing same role, for different companies, for about 7 years.

7) Are you trying to attain more education, another job, a new venture (such as starting your own business) etc.? Ideal world - new job. But with current life situation, Im making do where I am.

8 ) Anything else you'd like to add?
Uni is not always the answer. A lot of my peers went to uni, got a degree, and have been in average paying jobs ever since. The two most successful (in monetary terms) people I know, never went to Uni.

[racechick]

LRW...no wonder you think I'm an absolute crap idiot at computers! I can't even understand your job spec.

I agree with your last point, unless you're absolutely sure you want to enter a profession like teaching, medical, law etc, a degree is not always the answer, especially with the current prohibitive costs of uni. Uni used to be a nice finishing school, place to grow up, not anymore. I know plenty of people who have either learnt a trade, or found a role they can excel at without a degree.

[LRW]

I agree with your last point, unless you're absolutely sure you want to enter a profession like teaching, medical, law etc, a degree is not always the answer, especially with the current prohibitive costs of uni. Uni used to be a nice finishing school, place to grow up, not anymore. I know plenty of people who have either learnt a trade, or found a role they can excel at without a degree.

Of course, yes there are professions its a must.

I do find it funny, how certain companies view degrees:

Example 1)
When my wife applied for her current job at British Gas, working within the PMO (Project Management Office), she HAD to have a degree to apply. Didnt matter that she didnt have the management experience they would of preferred. Didn't matter that her degree was in Physics and Space Science, so totally unrelated to her job. It was a degree and that'll do. If I had gone along and proven I had the experience in a similar role, but didnt have a degree, I couldnt apply. So they prioritise gaining a totally unrelated degree, 10 years prior, more important than current real life experience.

Example 2)
A good friend of mine, who I went to school with, and used to work with, moved into the pharmaceutical industry. Working in the Contracts department, at a fairly high level. He got there with a lot of hard work, and gets promoted, on average every 18 months. Now he is a position where a senior director wants him to step into his position, and knows he can do the job, but because he doesnt have the degree, they wont promote him. So they are now paying for him to do a degree, just so that he has the bit of paper.

Its madness.

[Jabberwocky]

I remember a few years ago having to teach a B.sc how to solder... what a nightmare, the guy had no common sence or an idea of how to fix problems. I.e. solder not melting in iron... he would just stand there confused and not think "oh is it switched on or has someone turned the iron down"

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[geetface9]

Sometimes I feel like that, Jabberwocky. My dad was a car mechanic for 25 years (no longer, he's disabled due to the toll it took on his neck and shoulders) but didn't really teach me much. I can change my own oil, brakes, and....well that's about it. I have no practical knowledge of anything I can do with my hands because my parents always taught me to use my brain so I wouldn't have to do sh1t myself. Seems smart and silly at the same time...you know, brains not brawn, etc. But anyway, I was stuck in a spot over the last six months where I was deciding if another degree in a USEFUL, PROFITABLE field is good or if I should learn a trade of some sort. I have decided on the degree though because I am fairly confident I will actually find good wages with engineering and as I said before I'm great at math so I might find it much more interesting and somewhat challenging