The JOB/CAREER thread post your experiences

[igo4bmx]

So many people here are young and in school, looking to see what to do. Some have jobs and want to switch their career paths. I think it would be a great thread if we talked about your job/career experiences and talk just about the job ONLY as pros and cons. Please leave job bickering out of this.

I'll start
JOB: Systems Administrator
COMPANY SIZE: Large business (6 billion in sales)
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: Manage Servers in Datacenter and provide server support for the IT managers across the US.
JOB PROS: Learn new stuff almost every month. Technology and business change dramatically enough that we always explore what we want to do next with business.
JOB CONS: Calls even during non work hours- usually calls are emergencies which would last 5 mins to 5 hours. No real predictability with computers/servers since at anytime they could crash.

[CHAOS]

JOB: Operations Analyst/Application Support Analyst
COMPANY SIZE: Large (millions of subscribers)
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: Monitor internal billing system hardware and software on Tandems as well as AS400. Running countless financial processes/cutoffs for billing cycles.
JOB PROS: Proprietary systems that provide specialized knowledge in a wide variety of platforms.
JOB CONS: 24/7 environment, working weekends, tons of micromanagement, mismanagement, and all kinds of corporate crap. Job level is such that they tend to hire idiots with a facade of experience and knowledge. This points back to mismanagement and corporate bull****.

[igo4bmx]

Originally Posted by CHAOS

JOB: Operations Analyst/Application Support Analyst
COMPANY SIZE: Large (millions of subscribers)
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: Monitor internal billing system hardware and software on Tandems as well as AS400. Running countless financial processes/cutoffs for billing cycles.
JOB PROS: Proprietary systems that provide specialized knowledge in a wide variety of platforms.
JOB CONS: 24/7 environment, working weekends, tons of micromanagement, mismanagement, and all kinds of corporate crap. Job level is such that they tend to hire idiots with a facade of experience and knowledge. This points back to mismanagement and corporate bull****.

Thanks for the input, but keep out the work related stuff and just talk about the job- hopefully micromanaging isn't part of the industry hahaha

[CHAOS]

Originally Posted by igo4bmx

Thanks for the input, but keep out the work related stuff and just talk about the job- hopefully micromanaging isn't part of the industry hahaha

it is unfortunately, corporate america has a really bad habit of such things. its def something that needs to be taken into account when considering a low level position.

[importpower99]

JOB: Marketing Consultant
COMPANY SIZE: Worlds Largest Outdoor Advertiser
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: Sell/lease airport display spots in airports around the world, manage accounts,
JOB PROS: Lots of travel, almost six figure income, deal with people around the globe, get to keep both my ears pierced, no dress code, negotiating, cool title that make's you sound important
JOB CONS: Lot's of travel, dealing with people from the south, phone tag, clients trying to low-ball you, deal with companies that take forever to make a decision, cold calling, work on your own personal vacation, working after you leave work,

[c0nfl1kt]

JOB: Telecommunications Operations Manager
COMPANY SIZE: Largest Telecommunications company in the United States
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: oversee several areas from daily performance reports to monthly meetings with area managers, making sure the budget is being adhered to, keeping my areas profitable, forwarding all budget information to accountants, 300+ emails/ day
JOB PROS: six figures after uncle sam takes his cut, benefits(company credit card, company vehicle, free cable, company partial housing assistance), challenging, always evolving environment, dealing with the latest technology in telecomm before anyone hears about it, working in an awesome building in philly that is state of the art.
JOB CONS: never having a day off, always on-call, stress stress stress, long work days, getting hands dirty on the field on special occasions(yes, i do have to do grunt work every once in a while), strictly technical job(meaning it isn't for someone getting off of college with a piece of paper with latin on it).

[Vr-4-Life]

JOB: Linux - Network Administrator
COMPANY SIZE: Global business
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: I specialize in UNIX servers and workstations. I also do Network Administrative tasks such as WSUS, Backups, Anti-Virus, Server Maintenance. I also do help desk tickets.
JOB PROS: I get to learn, Travel, Great pay, Paid time off and great benefits.
JOB CONS: I check my phone every hour for emails.. Sometimes I'm in at 2AM to support projects in different time zones.

[mcperson2k]

Chaos what company are you an Operations Analyst for?

[Bender]

Job: Financial Crimes Investigator
Company Size: Global, biggest in our industry
Major duties: Identifying internal theft and fraud, researching, compiling a case, interviewing, assessing impact and providing recommendations to management for discipline. Filing cases for prosecution. Analyzing trend information and data to identify potential areas for loss before they occur and taking steps to mitigate potential loss. External and internal fraud investigation. Assisting law enforcement with investigations. Ensuring safety and security of 350+ US locations.
Job Pros: Interesting, fun, exactly what I want to be doing, direct access to the highest levels of executive management, awesome boss
Job Cons: Always on call, always working, $$$ isnt as good as it could be

[Calvinball]

JOB: Mental Health Therapist
COMPANY SIZE: Small (comparitively), employees number in the hundreds and strictly serving South Philly
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: Primary therapist for caseload of approx 20 clients - this includes maintaining charts, informal 1 on 1 counseling, treatment planning, case management when needed. Running therapy groups ranging from anger management with 60 clients to teaching reading and writing with 5 clients. Writing daily progress notes.
JOB PROS: Not sitting in behind a desk all day. Impacting people's lives. Relaxed work environment. 8 hours a day and that's it. Use of the brand new fitness center during work hours ;) (staff is required to be present with clients at their scheduled time).
JOB CONS: Pay. Can be frustrating due to very slow progress of clients and limited resources of mental health system. And of course the occasional crisis.

[OutToWinPAHC]

JOB: Systems District System Specialist
COMPANY SIZE: Very Large, 20+ Billion Annually
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: Data Center / Critical system infrastructure power systems. (Liebert UPS systems)
JOB PROS: Steady, demanding job, guaranteed 40, overtime, company vehicle, good benefits, work from laptop / blackberry
JOB CONS: Work on 208/480/540/600 volt systems with operations power I'm the MVA and short circuit current of millions of amps. Its dangerous, On call rotation, cover the state of DE, 27/7 business with 4 hour on site response time. I do a lot of weekend work blah.

[20th1519]

I'll bite,

Job: Freight Pilot
Company Size:65 aiplanes and 135 pilots
Major Duties: Preflight Airplane, File flight plans, Load and unload cargo, Hazardous material paperwork, Safe and timely operation of aircraft.
Job Pros: Working by yourself with little oversight from managment, troubleshooting logistical problems, all weather flying, picking up women.
Job Cons:Working by yourself with little oversight from managment, troubleshooting logistical problems, all weather flying, picking up women.
Crappy pay (25k) for long hours (12-13 hours) 5 days a week.

I was furloughed back in October of 2008 after moving from Philly to Birmingham AL. Moved a thousand miles to not have a job six weeks after I showed up in AL. The industry took a header and still hasn't recovered. The pilot lifestyle is not for the weak hearted. The saying goes your not an airline pilot until you've had two divorces and 12 furloughs. Other than the downsides its a great feeling picking through thunderstorms for two hours only to show up on time to your destination. I'm looking forward to working in the freight field again someday.

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

Originally Posted by importpower99

JOB: Marketing Consultant
COMPANY SIZE: Worlds Largest Outdoor Advertiser
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: Sell/lease airport display spots in airports around the world, manage accounts,
JOB PROS: Lots of travel, almost six figure income, deal with people around the globe, get to keep both my ears pierced, no dress code, negotiating, cool title that make's you sound important
JOB CONS: Lot's of travel, dealing with people from the south, phone tag, clients trying to low-ball you, deal with companies that take forever to make a decision, cold calling, work on your own personal vacation, working after you leave work,

you have my dream job

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by 20th1519

I'll bite,

Job: Freight Pilot
Company Size:65 aiplanes and 135 pilots
Major Duties: Preflight Airplane, File flight plans, Load and unload cargo, Hazardous material paperwork, Safe and timely operation of aircraft.
Job Pros: Working by yourself with little oversight from managment, troubleshooting logistical problems, all weather flying, picking up women.
Job Cons:Working by yourself with little oversight from managment, troubleshooting logistical problems, all weather flying, picking up women.
Crappy pay (25k) for long hours (12-13 hours) 5 days a week.

I was furloughed back in October of 2008 after moving from Philly to Birmingham AL. Moved a thousand miles to not have a job six weeks after I showed up in AL. The industry took a header and still hasn't recovered. The pilot lifestyle is not for the weak hearted. The saying goes your not an airline pilot until you've had two divorces and 12 furloughs. Other than the downsides its a great feeling picking through thunderstorms for two hours only to show up on time to your destination. I'm looking forward to working in the freight field again someday.

i thought pilots made more than 25k?... thats nuts...

[20th1519]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

i thought pilots made more than 25k?... thats nuts...

I'm lowballing that a little. I was on pace to make 32k before the axe was brought down. Whats even worse is regional airline pay. The poor sap sitting right seat in a regional jet is lucky to make 20k for the first two years.

[///M]

Job-Property Manager
Company Size-small
Major duties-Rent storage space, Rent Uhaul trucks
Pros-Nobody looking over my shoulder, 4.5 day work week Tuesday-Saturday, Free storage for my car and other crap I don't want laying around my house, I get to surf internet and watch TV, the owners are awesome people
Cons-Lien sales of tennants that do not pay their rent(I hate doing that to people, especially in this economy)

[sleepersatty99]

Job- Chef

Company Size- large

Major Duties- Run the day to day operations of several kitchens with in the university's profit run restaurants.Menu design, Kitchen design. Creating and implementing polices and procedures.Ordering and inventorying of items.

Pros- Never knowing whats going to happen. Decent benefits, Great amount of time off(im off for a month at xmas and get paid for it) Always have a job.

Cons- Long hours, not a lot of free time, Stress, a lot of B.S. from other people.

But would i rather do anything else? No way. Food is way to make people smile no matter whats wrong in the world.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by 20th1519

I'm lowballing that a little. I was on pace to make 32k before the axe was brought down. Whats even worse is regional airline pay. The poor sap sitting right seat in a regional jet is lucky to make 20k for the first two years.

that is still nuts... i always thought it was a 6 figure job...

[importpower99]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

that is still nuts... i always thought it was a 6 figure job...

If you can land a job with Delta you can make that

[unclelewiewrx]

Originally Posted by Calvinball

JOB: Mental Health Therapist
COMPANY SIZE: Small (comparitively), employees number in the hundreds and strictly serving South Philly
MAJOR DUTY/DUTIES: Primary therapist for caseload of approx 20 clients - this includes maintaining charts, informal 1 on 1 counseling, treatment planning, case management when needed. Running therapy groups ranging from anger management with 60 clients to teaching reading and writing with 5 clients. Writing daily progress notes.
JOB PROS: Not sitting in behind a desk all day. Impacting people's lives. Relaxed work environment. 8 hours a day and that's it. Use of the brand new fitness center during work hours ;) (staff is required to be present with clients at their scheduled time).
JOB CONS: Pay. Can be frustrating due to very slow progress of clients and limited resources of mental health system. And of course the occasional crisis.

I can +1 this.

I have worked also in a Mental Health Agency, Group Home (Physical and Mental Disabilities) and currently working with the drug and alcohol population.

Another thing is, the Mental Health Field can have some crazy hours. 3-11pm, Overnights, etc. You definitely need to be flexible. But you can also score some better hours and be done with your day at 2pm.

The more credentials you have i.e. Master degree, state Licensure (Professional Counselor or Social Worker), Licensed Clinical Alcohol Drug Counselor (LCADC), etc. The opportunities are there and the field always has openings. Just a lot of schooling and UNPAID internship hours.

Eventually I will be in Private Practice almost full time and will be able to make my own hours.

-Jordon