Career Choices if you were starting again

[Fuzz]

I fell ass-backwards into my job. After working in several jobs; storeman at a women's sleepwear/lingerie company, car salesman, and professional @$$hole (I worked as a securities/loans officer for one of the big 3 banks), I took on what was meant to be a 2 week casual job.... ten years later I'm still here!! I've moved up the ladder and into various roles throughout the company, but I still haven't found my calling. Perhaps I never will.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a pilot. One of these days' I'll make that dream come true.

[Diamondog]

I am in a startup right now, my startup (wireless internet) but if I were gonna do it again, I'd be a police officer....work my way up and become a detective....so many unsung hereos out there!

[El Presidente]

I fell ass-backwards into my job. After working in several jobs; storeman at a women's sleepwear/lingerie company, car salesman, and professional @$$hole (I worked as a securities/loans officer for one of the big 3 banks), I took on what was meant to be a 2 week casual job.... ten years later I'm still here!! I've moved up the ladder and into various roles throughout the company, but I still haven't found my calling. Perhaps I never will.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a pilot. One of these days' I'll make that dream come true.

I fell ass-backwards into my job. After working in several jobs; storeman at a women's sleepwear/lingerie company

Chris...you weren't suppose to wear the clothes

car salesman

lada has never recovered from your leaving

professional @$$hole (I worked as a securities/loans officer for one of the big 3 banks)

I use to hate you guys when I was in banking . Although I did go out with my canadian securities manager for some time and life got better.

I took on what was meant to be a 2 week casual job.... ten years later I'm still here!! I've moved up the ladder and into various roles throughout the company, but I still haven't found my calling. Perhaps I never will.

You are what George Costanza of Seinfeld fame emulated himself on! Everytime I call you are either havng a nap under the desk or searching for the Penske File!!!!

[El Presidente]

I worked as a Mechanical Engineer for 17 years before I got into selling Real Estate.... the change I would make is to have started in Real Estate right from the beginning.

Great to hear it is going well mate!

[First Lady]

I fell ass-backwards into my job. After working in several jobs; storeman at a women's sleepwear/lingerie company, car salesman, and professional @$$hole (I worked as a securities/loans officer for one of the big 3 banks), I took on what was meant to be a 2 week casual job.... ten years later I'm still here!! I've moved up the ladder and into various roles throughout the company, but I still haven't found my calling. Perhaps I never will.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to be a pilot. One of these days' I'll make that dream come true.

Now why aren't I surprised about this job you have held LOLOL

[NicPac]

I love what I do, I'm a landscape contractor. We specialize in designing and building high end residential landscapes. I love being outdoors, the creativity, all the ppl I get to meet, and most importantly the way clients get to enjoy the outdoor living spaces we create I feel extreamly blessed to have found what I love to do at such a young age, 27. If I could offer any advice, I'd say follow your heart and do what you love. In my experience, if you do what you love and are good at what you do, the money will come...

[Hugomarink]

I work in the publishing biz, but would probably be a doctor if I could go back and start over.

[Fuzz]

I fell ass-backwards into my job. After working in several jobs; storeman at a women's sleepwear/lingerie company

Chris...you weren't suppose to wear the clothes

Come on! You wear a teddy one time and then you're branded a weirdo...

car salesman

lada has never recovered from your leaving

Actually it was Daewoo...

professional @$$hole (I worked as a securities/loans officer for one of the big 3 banks)

I use to hate you guys when I was in banking . Although I did go out with my canadian securities manager for some time and life got better.

Fair call. We did like screwing with the customers and their conveyancers... "I'm sorry sir but your signature does not look anything like your name. Can you please provide a stat dec to prove that is your signature?"

I took on what was meant to be a 2 week casual job.... ten years later I'm still here!! I've moved up the ladder and into various roles throughout the company, but I still haven't found my calling. Perhaps I never will.

You are what George Costanza of Seinfeld fame emulated himself on! Everytime I call you are either havng a nap under the desk or searching for the Penske File!!!!

I'll have you know that the Penske File has never looked better! I've moved it from the previous concertina folder to a state of the art, electrically driven compactus! Sure it takes up only 1/3rd of a shelf, but it's now future-proofed against expansion for the next 10 years!!

I'm tired now from all this typing...gotta go find my pillow.

[Fuzz]

Now why aren't I surprised about this job you have held LOLOL

It was fun at times, especially when they had to shoot the next catalogue. The space they used for the models changeroom and photoshoot area also happened to be where we stored the overflow stock. Surprisingly enough, I always found an excuse to do a stocktake of the overflow every photoshoot day...

[MrGlass]

Pilot for me, preferably helicopter. I'm still at the age where it could feasibly happen except for the fact that the licenses are so unobtainably expensive. So realistically, even if I could do it all again, this still wouldn't be within reach.

[Ghabanos]

Lawyer or doctor...

Should have listened to my Asian parents... Don't tell them though

What I can say is don't study business...

If his marks are good enough, get into an Ivey league and the world will be your oyster... At least life will be easier...

Chinese saying... Bitter first and sweetness will follow...

[gigabyte056]

I learnt economics then went into IT for some years.

Then became a regional manager for a IT security firm for a couple of years in Asia and Europe.

Now own my own startup in the IT security field.

Wouldn't change a thing, it was a nice ride so far.

I do want to own and run my own boat, but that seems a hell of a lot of work, so as long as I can mooch on others i'm happy

[ZinZan]

I should've worked a bit harder in school but if with hindsight if i were to redo things I'd prob do the same thing. I had way too much fun in school.

[riazp]

Jedi Knight

That reminds me, I wanted to be a ghostbuster when I was a kid

[NitrousPurger]

I think we can all agree that we would love to have Rob's job. But I'm currently studying Mechanical Engineering, I would love to do R&D on high performance engines. Hybrids be damned and I will die before I drive an electric car. People always say to follow your dreams however others say take anything you can get in this day in age. Kinda confusing especially when you hear that 90% of people hate their jobs. I have an internship currently at a global fortune 100 company, but its not in car engines. Very good money for an internship and a very good company to work for. I will see where life takes me. Hopefully I can look back without regrets.

[kafreeman]

Commodities trader... so I could work until noon and then go about my day and enjoy my life.

I worked as a Mechanical Engineer for 17 years before I got into selling Real Estate.... the change I would make is to have started in Real Estate right from the beginning.

I got my Masters in Mechanical Engineering in December of 2010.

I cant find a job to save my life in the field... sent out applications for months on end and rarely even got a phone call back.

I had previously been programming SQL for 4 years before I went back to school, and for the 6 years I was in school I worked part and full time programming as well.

So after school... 10 years experience programming in SQL... I post my resume and wind up with phone calls in hours.... and I get paid pretty decent, but I have also worked with some folks that opened my eyes to whats out there.

[brian1]

Rob,

I went to school for hotel management in Ireland when I was 18 because that is what "I thought" I wanted to do having spent a few summers as a teenager working in hotels. I also was a less than stellar student and did not have a lot of other options at the time.

Newly graduated at 23 went in as a trainee manager at a big London hotel.....hated it and hated the business which I would strongly discourage anyone from going into to this day. Made a BIG decision at the time chucked the hotel job and upped and moved to New York at 25. I had a gut instinct that Wall St was something I might like. I stared to work in finance at the very bottom of the ladder, basically making no money, but I knew instintively the business WAS for me. I got very lucky in meeting the right people (it helps!) found my nitch and built a successful career in sales which I am still at.

I think most kids at 17/18 really have no clue what they want to do "for the rest of your life" If your son is into business, I think a general business/finance degree at a good Uni is a great way to start and will give your son many options for specialization later when he gets a sense of where he wants to be. I also will be encouraging my own kids to take a year off to travel to other countries before they get serious with a career. I did alot of travelling to different countries as part of my hotel management training, it really was a fantastic experience which helped me learn how to interact and get on with all sorts of people and helped me round me out as a person.

[aes8]

I got pretty lucky to back in to the great career I have. After realizing that a life at the racetrack (thoroughbred) wouldn't give me the things I wanted I started back at Community College at 23. With a few stumbles along the way I graduated with a BSEE and found myself in Las Vegas working for a consultant company that had a big contract with the Water Authority.

During that time I made a career change from a Controls Engineer to a Communications Engineer. I managed to work my way into a position at a major electric utility and I'm working on some of the states biggest and exciting projects.

I wouldn't change a thing except I wish I would have believed in myself more. There was a line in the movie "Social Network" is says something about the measure of success is not the ability to get a good job but in terms of how many jobs you can create. That really made me stop and thing about perspective.

I look forward to working for Rob at PCC , owning my own Engineering firm and boxing gym.

[thechenman]

Life if full of expectations and choices. The expectations of others for you, and of course your own. Then there are the choices you have in life...with luck hopefully the majority of them won't be called mistakes.

My mother wanted me to be a journalist. My father just wanted me to take life seriously. My brother just wanted me to go far away to college so he could have my car. The only person that got what they wanted was my brother.

I wanted to study history, my father insisted I study something practical...turns out I caved and ended up majoring in Accounting & Finance with some Military Science on the side. I went through 4 years of college without getting to choose one single elective. Go figure...no freedom of choice...no determination to do what I wanted. No wonder I did so much drinking those 4 years in college.

I've only had two careers in my life. First an army officer and now an institutional equity salesperson. Reflecting on this, I have to say that I loved commanding a tank platoon. No where will a 21 year old get as much responsiblity and leadership experience than as an officer in the military. That said, my latter career choice has provided me with a better lifestyle and has afforded me the ability to provide well for my family. Everything is a trade off.

Having said all that, if I were making the decision for myself, I would chose to stay in the military. In hindsight, while not a financially rewarding vocation, it is an honorable one which allows an individual to make a marked difference in the life of others. I prefer that to equity research sales where the extent of my contribution to society is offering investment ideas to hedge fund, mutual fund and penison fund managers.

Wall Street may be monetarily rewarding, but it does not offer much personal satisfaction. So, my advice would be for you son to choose something that he loves/likes to do, that offers him personal rewards over monetary compensation. Everyone needs to earn a living, but its better to subside on less and enjoy your work (especially if it helps others) than to do a job you don't care for just for the money. If he is fortunate enough to want to do something that offers both...so much the better.

[riazp]

Wall Street may be monetarily rewarding, but it does not offer much personal satisfaction. So, my advice would be for you son to choose something that he loves/likes to do, that offers him personal rewards over monetary compensation. Everyone needs to earn a living, but its better to subside on less and enjoy your work (especially if it helps others) than to do a job you don't care for just for the money. If he is fortunate enough to want to do something that offers both...so much the better.

Very well said, I agree 100%

[Colt45]

The only advice I might proffer to young Ben is to buckle his chin strap - life's a bumpy ride!

[PigFish]

Life if full of expectations and choices. The expectations of others for you, and of course your own. Then there are the choices you have in life...with luck hopefully the majority of them won't be called mistakes.

My mother wanted me to be a journalist. My father just wanted me to take life seriously. My brother just wanted me to go far away to college so he could have my car. The only person that got what they wanted was my brother.

I wanted to study history, my father insisted I study something practical...turns out I caved and ended up majoring in Accounting & Finance with some Military Science on the side. I went through 4 years of college without getting to choose one single elective. Go figure...no freedom of choice...no determination to do what I wanted. No wonder I did so much drinking those 4 years in college.

I've only had two careers in my life. First an army officer and now an institutional equity salesperson. Reflecting on this, I have to say that I loved commanding a tank platoon. No where will a 21 year old get as much responsiblity and leadership experience than as an officer in the military. That said, my latter career choice has provided me with a better lifestyle and has afforded me the ability to provide well for my family. Everything is a trade off.

Having said all that, if I were making the decision for myself, I would chose to stay in the military. In hindsight, while not a financially rewarding vocation, it is an honorable one which allows an individual to make a marked difference in the life of others. I prefer that to equity research sales where the extent of my contribution to society is offering investment ideas to hedge fund, mutual fund and penison fund managers.

Wall Street may be monetarily rewarding, but it does not offer much personal satisfaction. So, my advice would be for you son to choose something that he loves/likes to do, that offers him personal rewards over monetary compensation. Everyone needs to earn a living, but its better to subside on less and enjoy your work (especially if it helps others) than to do a job you don't care for just for the money. If he is fortunate enough to want to do something that offers both...so much the better.

All I have to say is that this is a beautiful piece of writing and a touching story. Well done mate!

I would feel safer knowing you were driving a tank mate, but I am confident that you have taken your honor to WS and they desperately need some of that over there too.

Boys, carry your honor to everything in life. Like your dad, be true to your word, generous, likable and honest in your profession. If you are fortunate those values will bring you just compensation but they may not. You may just find that society prefers to deal with the shady character that wears the expensive suit, looks a certain way and tells them what they want to hear. Don't let the values of the workplace replace those that you have been taught at home. There is a reason why the EL cigars sell my boy, and in life honor and lifestyle often encompass two opposite ends of the spectrum. Don't let that dissuade you from being a person of integrity, the person your folks raised you to be. -Piggy

[Maron76]

Porn star....

But seriously, I am enjoying my start up company in home audio. I just wish I would have done it sooner. Before that I kind of happened into laser programming and automotive prototype.

[traded]

Psychiatrist no question about it.

I chose psychiatric/ biological psychology research and am now in a sweet professor position, however, I see so many people suffering needlessly from mental illness, I wish I had the degree and license to help them directly. I would then go to my country of birth on a semi regular basis and offer my services free of charge as there are probably a dozen psychiatrists in the entire country.

david

[benjaminbbush]

You and Smithy

are Wookies allowed to be jedi knights?