What do you do for a living and do you enjoy it?

I potter about in a small but well equipped workshop all day. Occasionally someone gives me a lot of money to build them a bicycle.

It’s not really a job, more a hobby that pays its way. Love it. Which is just as well, as I’m probably pretty much unemployable.

Interesting, one of the few threads I’ve really read every post of for a while.

I’m a Director of an engineering recruitment company, supplying engineers to most industries including defence, aviation, and the rail industry.

I used to love it, but have recently handed in my notice to pursue something on my own.

Design engineer for a metrology company. Its a great job in terms of sensible hours, interesting work, not too much pressure and 15 minute commute … But I’m soooo tempted to rent out my house and become a Alps bum 🙂

Offshore oil and gas sub-sea construction, enjoy it, meh sometimes, $40 a barrel has killed it for now and the foreseeable, could be jotters after this project comes to an end.

Builder, love it.

I have read all the posts, some of your jobs sound far to important and stressful to me.
I am so glad I didn’t aspire to much… 😀

Quantity Surveyor – Hate it with a passion. When you boil it down to it’s barest essence it’s fundamentally arguing with people about money.

I’m a building services engineer but seem to spend very little time actually designing and very much more time doing the above, one of our directors even sold our services as a QS which means me basically trying to nail down small local contractors at the behest of a very large global firm with a dubious track record on corporate ethics, can’t say it motivates me to try very hard 😳

Buuuut… my one attempt to move sideways into a more rewarding role would have resulted in a 20% paycut with a wedding on the horizon and a deposit to save for, so I’ll sit it out and keep my eyes open, saw a role as a sprinkler design engineer being advertised but would require a huge amount more commuting than present which kinda put me off.

Criminal lawyer . ” I enjoy it?” Very hard to say success depends on managing any number of random people with disparate agendas while remaining true to some very demanding ethics . I can be brilliant and still get the ” wrong ” result or be rubbish and have a client loudly proclaiming me the best brief ever . The pay and method of payment is also rubbish and soul destroying .

Feel for you Scotsman. My little bro works as a project engineer for Foster Wheeler. They’ve had massive staff cuts. He told me last week though that they are starting to be asked to start looking at new projects. He thinks it may be about to start slowly winding up to speed again.

Criminal lawyer .

The pay and method of payment is also rubbish and soul destroying

Well that’s my image of Lawyers shattered then.

technical author – basically i research stuff and write it up for our clients enjoyment, almost like being back at uni. very laid back office and well paid. really enjoy it & learn new stuff constantly 😀

Currently work in a corner of the civil service. As recent posts bare testament,I hate it.

But I have a second interview lined up for a transfer, the day I get back from holiday. Hope springs eternal!

Town planning and environmental impact consultant in a big multi-d consultancy.

I do generally enjoy it but am getting pulled more and more onto managing numbers with less technical involvement, which is tedious.

I work in a police station as a mild mannered janitor. Pays the bills and keeps me in noodles.

Recently made redundant from teaching carpentry and construction at FE college. Now back on the tools and doing the childcare once the kids go back to school. Enjoying being a carpenter again and looking forward to spending lots more time with my 2 children.

The redundancy announcements are pretty unbelievable, stuff like Technip paying off 10.000, Subsea 7 reducing workforce by 6000, Saipem introducing cost cutting measures of $916.000.000 over the next two years, it’s not been this bad for a while!

Media Planning for BBC Worldwide.

Yes I mostly enjoy it.

Self employed general builder…..it’s great being your own boss……I get to choose what I want to do…take days off when ever I like……down sides are when it’s quiet ……like near Xmas …so it’s just a matter of getting the money in while the going is good …and of course getting the tax rebate ……..is great too !!..lol

gazc – Member
technical author – basically i research stuff and write it up for our clients enjoyment, almost like being back at uni. very laid back office and well paid. really enjoy it & learn new stuff constantly

Interesting, how did you get into that? It’s something I’ve wondered about in the past (technical background but enjoy writing).

CDT teacher in Scottish Borders. Enjoy it almost all the time. Kids are great …the “new initiatives” are not.
Too much bix ticking and pole climbers for my liking.

Previously a ‘town planner’ which bored me shitless. Now drive a black cab two nights a week which I really enjoy. No particular desire for a career ever again. I like my free time too much. Only chance I’ll go to a ‘proper’ job again is if the wife wants me to. But she’s quite happy me doing what I’m doing for the foreseeable.

Today I’ve been out on bike this morning and now loafing on couch playing portal 2. Might have a nap soon. Yes, the wife and kids are away for a couple of days..

No interest in being wealthy or successful. Just happy to get by. I love the fact that I can spend so much time with my kids and I don’t have to go to work the way most people do, deadlines, restrictions, bosses, appraisals, back to work interviews etc etc.

Photographer for advertising/design/editorial clients. wouldn’t swap it for anything.
i get to play with bling, go to interesting places, meet interesting people and hardly ever get bored.
i dont really think of it as a job.
Plus points are i dont have to deal with the general public, no line manager/management bullcrap and it’s well paid.

tl:dr: more fun than I.T.

I work for a large charity in the fundraising area. Though these days I tell people I’m an estate agent, investment banker or drug dealer as that seems to incite fewer daily mail type responses.

3D CAD designer, love it.

Have worked in most areas of engineering.

I’m fortunate enough to say I look forward to going to work.

Subsea Engineer, it’s ok sometimes

Move into oil and gas 18 months ago just as it all went tits up. Used to work in MoD research designing surveillance equipment for UKSF and CT operation and seriously thinking about returning to defense as a consultant.

I do student recruitment for a university- kind of a degree salesman 😆 Fairly low level position tbh, I career changed into it almost by mistake, wasn’t a long term thing but I’ve ended up staying… When it’s good, it’s awesome tbh, you can do so much good for people sometimes and some of the kids are ridiculously inspiring… Great people I work with, it’s not a sector that really attracts dickheads. And it’s a good organisation to work for, plus even the little dude can make a difference . I studied here too so it’s a big part of me and nice to be back. But it’s often pretty boring too, and sometimes just depressing.

Wish it paid better! Wish I could spend more time on the good bits and less on the grunt work, but there’ll always be grunt work to do. But by and large I like what I do and I like doing it.

Head of an international school, sounds glamorous, but its not really.

Do i like it? not sure to be honest, pays the bills though, and they give me a bonus so things must be ok.

I have read all the posts, some most of your jobs sound far to important and stressful incredibly dull to me.

Never a truer example of one man’s meat etc…

I’m an Architect as well (thanks Mikey74). We don’t have any technicians in the firm either, although I was going to advertise for one next week – maybe not now.
I mostly specialise in transport infrastructure design and work a lot with tunnelling, civils/ structural, mech/ electrical/ public health, comms, fire, etc engineers. It can be fun, but one thing is that I never expected to have to be an Excel driver when I was at school of architecture.

I’m a charge nurse (male equivalent of a ward sister).

My days consist of trying to run a ward and give good care whilst being constantly bugged at to meet targets and free up beds. Its all about targets and saving money in the NHS. The care aspect goes out the window. The whole thing is run on a shoe string with limited supplies and the below recommended staffing levels, morale is the lowest I’ve known and complaints come in thick and fast but its OK because we are saving money and meeting targets!

I deeply regret my career decision. if I could afford to re train as something else I would but currently I’ve a young family, mortgage and debts to pay and I’m the main breadwinner so it looks like I’m staying.

I hate it.

Investment management for private clients. Enjoy it – yes, it’s varied and I get to speak to some interesting people. Can be massively frustrating when the world conspires against you though!

Head of an international school, sounds glamorous

No it doesn’t 🙂

Mechanical design engineer.

I enjoy the design & tinkering side of things. But, I am yet to work anywhere where things aren’t always a mad panic rush so you just have to get things done, rather than do them ‘properly’.
I enjoy my work when things are ticking along, but always seem to end up being fairly quiet for a while & then three jobs become mega-urgent must get them done & it becomes a bit panicky & stressy.
The older I get, the more I realise that I don’t handle stressful work situations well (some people really seem to strive on the stress).

I’d love to re-train and do something like physiotherapy but that seems to require a full time degree & there’s no way I can stop working & go back to uni for 4 years.

I remember the days, when on nights out with the lads…

We where either dolphin trainers or biscuit designers… 😆

It used to work !!

Ok, maybe I was a little harsh. I just think I’m done with architecture, certainly domestic architecture.

Waste consultant specialising in infrastructure procurement. Its not always fun but I get paid to be pedantic and argumentative so it plays to my strengths.

And I get to spend vast quantities of other people’s money buying big machines. 😀

mrhoppy – Member

Waste consultant

Plastics manufacturing. Currently injection moulding pop bottles. But I’ve done lots of different processes, lots of different products and applications. R&D, process engineering, new products, plant installation and commissioning.

Do I like it? It’s OK ATM.

It can be interesting developing new products and new builds, setting up systems, etc. I’m now in the “just continue to make lots” so it gets tedious quickly. I did a secondment last year as a trainer, which I really enjoyed, which opened my eyes to other directions. But, not trying to sound like a ****, I’m really good at what I do and I have a reputation within a certain group within the industry. I just wish I could do the interesting bit with the security of the dull bit.

Piano player in a brothel

Edit : well not really, but its good to have aspirations

Self employed web monkey/developer.

Love it still after five years and am pretty sure I’m also unemployable now even if I did want a change.