Work - the pursuit of one good day job
Jan. 26th, 2010 10:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hiddenmuseI don't know if I've ever asked it, but I'm curious about work - well, other people's work!
1. When you were a kid, what did you want to do when you grew up?
2. What was the best job you ever had? What was the worst job?
3. What do you do now? Did you plan on doing it, or just "fall into it"?
4. If you had to change occupations, what would you want to do?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a radiologist by day (well, X-ray tech - but I didn't know what that was when I was 5 years old!) and astronomer by night. Also, I was going to drive an orange Corvette between those two jobs.
My best job - good question. I think several different jobs had their good points, honestly. But, I'd say that being an insurance agent is a pretty damn good job.
My worst job - it's between my first job, working at a hardware store (long story there) and the summer that I worked as a temp in an industrial paint/dye/lubricant factory.
What I do now - well, that's a great big Duh. I'm an insurance agent, been in the industry going on 8 years now (jeez - that's a long time) and it was something that I kind of "fell into". No one ever says "I want to be an insurance agent when I grow up!" All I knew about insurance was that I'd need to get renters insurance when I moved out on my own - thanks to the brainwashing via State Farm ads in "SPIN" magazine.
Besides that, I just got into the business because I was frustrated with my job at the time as a receptionist. I was seriously considering going into Nursing, or getting a Business degree, when a department manager at my prior agency suggested that I should become an agent. So, I talked to the muckety-mucks at the agency and somehow convinced them to let me try my hand at being an agent. That worked out pretty well, as I was there for almost 7 years - 2 of it as a Personal Lines agent.
If I had to change occupations - I would become a nurse, even though needles squick me out! One of the best compliments that I got from a client was being told that I had the TLC that makes for a great nurse, and that I probably would've been a good nurse because of it.
1. When you were a kid, what did you want to do when you grew up?
2. What was the best job you ever had? What was the worst job?
3. What do you do now? Did you plan on doing it, or just "fall into it"?
4. If you had to change occupations, what would you want to do?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a radiologist by day (well, X-ray tech - but I didn't know what that was when I was 5 years old!) and astronomer by night. Also, I was going to drive an orange Corvette between those two jobs.
My best job - good question. I think several different jobs had their good points, honestly. But, I'd say that being an insurance agent is a pretty damn good job.
My worst job - it's between my first job, working at a hardware store (long story there) and the summer that I worked as a temp in an industrial paint/dye/lubricant factory.
What I do now - well, that's a great big Duh. I'm an insurance agent, been in the industry going on 8 years now (jeez - that's a long time) and it was something that I kind of "fell into". No one ever says "I want to be an insurance agent when I grow up!" All I knew about insurance was that I'd need to get renters insurance when I moved out on my own - thanks to the brainwashing via State Farm ads in "SPIN" magazine.
Besides that, I just got into the business because I was frustrated with my job at the time as a receptionist. I was seriously considering going into Nursing, or getting a Business degree, when a department manager at my prior agency suggested that I should become an agent. So, I talked to the muckety-mucks at the agency and somehow convinced them to let me try my hand at being an agent. That worked out pretty well, as I was there for almost 7 years - 2 of it as a Personal Lines agent.
If I had to change occupations - I would become a nurse, even though needles squick me out! One of the best compliments that I got from a client was being told that I had the TLC that makes for a great nurse, and that I probably would've been a good nurse because of it.
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 04:03 pm (UTC)Up until about the third grade, I wanted to be an astronomer as well. I think there's something about the great, big, vastness of outer space that can really blow a child's mind. It still does for me today.
But I think it was at about the fourth grade when I took a big interest in writing. I had some organizational troubles at that point, but my teacher said my ability to really make a plot flow along was great for my age. It helped me get on track with other stuff, and I've been kind of obsessed with pens and paper since.
2. What was the best job you ever had? What was the worst job?
Best job? I was a student reference librarian when I went to WMU. I loved being surrounded by books and help people find what they were searching for. It just made me feel so good to be in an educational institution. Plus if we were slow, I got to do homework on the job. So it was nice!
Worst job by far was working at Damon's Grille. I will never again be a waitress, at least at a corporate run restaurant like that. NEVER AGAIN!!
3. What do you do now? Did you plan on doing it, or just "fall into it"?
Sigh. Right now I'm job hunting since Peter and I moved. He got a job out here that was in his field, so I had no problem with giving up a job back home that I wasn't making much money off of and that I didn't want to do for much longer. It sucks that I'm still hunting, but I've got a few leads on getting caught up in my field of choice, and maybe in the end that will be all for the better.
4. If you had to change occupations, what would you want to do?
Well, originally, I wanted to be a writer. Novels, screenplays, stage plays, you name it. However, until I actually publish something, this may be a little hard to make money with. So I'm trying to get my teaching certificate so I can teach high school English! And to be perfectly honest, I've had a bit of a passion for that in the past as well, so it doesn't faze or disappoint me in the least!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 05:14 pm (UTC)1. When you were a kid, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I wanted to be everything. Princess, a vet, fighter pilot, archaeologist and meteorologist. I still want to be an archaeologist.
2. What was the best job you ever had? What was the worst job?
The best job I ever (so far) had was my recent job. I got to sell makeup, it was pretty relaxed and I had awesome co-workers. The worst job I ever had was a summer job I had on Mackinac Island (it's an island in Lake Huron and is equidistant from the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan) because I was treated pretty terribly both by the tourists and by the owners that hired me.
3. What do you do now? Did you plan on doing it, or just "fall into it"?
I just recently graduated college so I haven't been able to do what I want but I'm an archaeologist and a historian. Hopefully I'll be able to work in a museum or go on a dig in the near future.
4. If you had to change occupations, what would you want to do?
If I had to change occupations, I'd want to do something in the music business or be a freelance photographer. I love music and I love photography so I'd think be pretty awesome to be able to work with both.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 07:04 pm (UTC)I think I really wanted to be a ballerina or a teacher. (Ballerina first, though.)
2. What was the best job you ever had? What was the worst job?
Best job would definitely be the current one. I'm a librarian, which is just.. awesome. Yes, there are stupid dumbasses and assholes (the past two weeks have been heavier on those than usual), but at the heart of it, I'm helping people get information they need and the books they want, and it's always a learning experience, which is what I always wanted out of a job.
Worst job was absolutely the last library I worked in. It was my "home" library, and the director there had scared the pants off of me when I was wee, but she was SO excited to hire me. I tell you, it was HELL. Lots of bureaucracy crap, in a completely soul-crushing atmosphere to boot. Libraries shouldn't be like that. I quit two months after being hired, and I have not set foot in there for any reason since.
3. What do you do now? Did you plan on doing it, or just "fall into it"?
I'm a librarian. And, weirdly, I just up and decided when teaching didn't work out that library science was the next obvious place to go, and I can't remember why I thought that. So I sort of fell into it, and it's worked out kind of awesome.
4. If you had to change occupations, what would you want to do?
Seeing as I might have to consider this in the next few months (I love my job, but hate the city I work for)... I don't know. I could go academic (working in a college), but it's not really what I want. And I could do anything - office manager, receptionist, etc - but this is what I love. I think if I had to choose, I would go for teaching college.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 11:44 pm (UTC)ETA: and you're the second librarian I know on my flist!