Did you end up in the career that you planned for , or did it just sort of happen?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

My dream of being a male gigolo is however, still very much alive and well.

[Racerbvd]

Well, I wanted to be a corp. lawyer since grade school, or go into politics, just what I was interested in, my Dad was the NMU agent for the SE, so I didn't get it there. Because of my BMX racing, and doing shows, most people figured that I would head into that industry. I had the opportunity to move to CA after high school, even had a job, place to live, everything in place as sponsors & racing buddies wanted me to take the next step.. I thought about it, figured our that at the time, my best bet was to go to college and just race when I could, because I figured that in 10 years, if I went to Cali, a BMX career would support the the life style that I wanted, and even though I had done some modeling, bit parts & commercials, I just wasn't interested in that biz. Well, while working at the ship yard to pay for school, they tried to get me to quit school and stay there, money was good, but I already knew about the union life and it just wasn't for me, I also worked at a Schwinn shop, and they were grooming me to take over a shop when they expanded, sounded pretty good too, as you good move up through Schwinn , from a shop, to a sales rep, and then when you were ready to retire, you had 1st shot at buying a Schwinn dealership when the owner got old and planned on retiring full time (my love of bicycles fueled this) but none of that happened, I ended up in the entertainment indust., 26 years now, mostly behind the scenes, but sometimes still up front.. Of course I worked 2ND JOB AS WELL in the early days while trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grow up.
Did ever think that I would be doing what I do, nope I honestly figured that I would be in a corner office over looking the river proofing contracts and hanging out at the Yacht Club on weekends..
Go Figure..

[Evans, Marv]

Victim of circumstances. I was out on my own at 18 and always promised I'd get a college education. I ended up working at different jobs & traveling around. After the Army, I figured it was time to give the education thing a serious shot. Got the GI Bill and worked part to full time while going to school. I always wanted to go into Geology, since I loved the outdoors, traveling around, and the variety it would offer. It took a long time to finish school (with that degree in Geology) and I got married right at the end. Was offered that dream job, but when I approached my new wife, she confessed she didn't want that kind of life. So I asked her if she had any ideas, and she said I should consider teaching like her. So I ended up in education for 30 years, not making much money, and hating the bureaucracy but loving the work. I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to do lots of different types of things. All in all it was good, and turned out to be something I was naturally suited to do and enjoy.

[mikester]

From the time I was old enough to speak I wanted to fly.

My dad was in the air force and we lived on various air force bases with jets that fueled the passion. I from very early on I was addicted to the thought of flying, my dad's first computer was a Timex Sinclair with which when I was maybe 8 or so he helped me program a first person, basic program that looked like the inside of a C130 cockpit with a horizon line. I would 'fly' that for hours.

When we got actual computers in my early teens I got MS Flight sim as well as a few other flying games like Falcon and X-wing. These things fueled my interest in computers but that never surfaced as an option until the worst thing that has ever happened to me did.

I couldn't pass a physical to serve. It wasn't a fitness issue but a systemic issue with my body and it devastated me. I hadn't even considered that it wasn't an option. It wasn't like I was even slightly out of shape or anything like that. I was an Eagle Scout with 2 trips to Philmont, Mt. Whitney in a day, taught survival, worked as a firearms instructor at summer camp and qualified as an Olympic level archer. After high school I floundered around in various stupid jobs and flunked out of community college.

I had a job at...sigh....Jiffy Lube for a while...I was good at working on cars - I could fix more or less anything mechanical really. Well, one day the computer system went down. A POSIX system - I fixed it. Boss asked me how long I had been 'into' computers and I told him I'd never really been 'into' them (which from my frame of mine was true) and that I'd never worked on a POSIX system.

Well, the corporate office got pissed at me for working on the computers and suspended me. In that time I found a job with the local cable company working on their computers. Seemed like the thing to do and I was tired of smelling like oil.

I went back to the community college part time and got an AA in a couple of years.

I got into installing cable modems for the cable company and met a guy who was a director of IT (what's that? at the time) and he liked what I did with his computer and with how I spoke to him and treated him as a customer. He offered me a job on the spot and I said 'sure' what the heck.

I worked there a few years and got into networking. The cable company called me a few years later and I had lunch with an old boss and he said he had a job in Orlando that I would be perfect for.

I said 'sure' and moved to Orlando as an Associate Network Engineer working on Cisco, MS and Sun gear.

I got really into the Sun and Cisco gear and did well.

Within a year I had built a monitoring infrastructure that detected network problems before customers noticed problems.

I'm up at HQ in Virginia for some training one week and I get pulled into the VP of Operations office and he says he has heard about the great things I've done in the South East. Refers to them as 'stuff of legends' and says he needs me to go LA and do it. I say, okay - how long will I be there?

'Move there.' He says.

I say 'Sure' of course...

I move out - do the same thing but this time they go even further. They put together a tools team from me and people like me and we build a suite of tools to monitor the entire national network. It is awesome.

Then I got a little dumb and quit over a promotion and went to work for LAUSD as a Security Admin.

Man that sucked!

Got my BS from a local school in Computer Information Systems.

Moved to another company, then another and finally ended up at a major Toy Company for a few years.

In those moves I realized that I was betting my career on a single manufacturer's hardware and that I was really good a selling upper management on the benefits of partnering with that manufacturer. Really good - my boss laughed sometimes at how all of my projects would always get funded.

So - as I came to this conclusion a friend of mine who worked for them approached me for a sales position.

And now I'm a Pre-sales engineer for that company.

So far so good...

Some of my other passions were Art and History and I really love the law. I still wish I was a Pilot (in the MARINES!) but I enjoy what I'm doing now. I do feel like I am making people's lives better with technology. Totally not kidding.

[Rot 911]

I am jealous of most of you.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

i use my bio/biochem degrees every day, like yesterday for example:

[MotoSook]

Being a gigolo really isn't as glamourous as you think buddy.

I am jealous of most of you.

[BRPORSCHE]

Souk,

You may not remember this, but a long time ago you gave me a lot of help towards the direction I wanted to go in.

Now I am finishing up my degree with a company based out of Switzerland and is an oil and gas services company. I am coming up on my second year of employment with full benefits, a 401k, and 100% reimbursment for school.

I love black gold.

[emcon5]

I fell in to it after the lucrative backhair-model gig fell through.

[MotoSook]

I am sorry I don't remember, but I'm glad I was helpful. You've got a bright future ahead!

Souk,



You may not remember this, but a long time ago you gave me a lot of help towards the direction I wanted to go in.



Now I am finishing up my degree with a company based out of Switzerland and is an oil and gas services company. I am coming up on my second year of employment with full benefits, a 401k, and 100% reimbursment for school.



I love black gold.

[VINMAN]

Not even remotely close!

All through mid and HS, I planned on being an oceanographer or marine biologist. My first love was and still is the ocean. I tried to get into the CG academy but my grades were not good enough. Then tried for Woods Hole, but no go. Never bothered to go to any college. So the day after HS graduation I got a job with the Steamfitters, started my apprenticeship but kept geting laid off. At the time I also had a shop/towing business with a friend. That didnt work out, so I took a test for the phone co. and got hired. Hated the job, looked for any excuse to quit.

Fast foward 26 yrs. still there as an EE

[LeeH]

Never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. After the Navy college looked easy. Got a business degree and thanks to a friend was hired by a start up electronic marketing company in the early 90s. When the company failed I got hired by a mobile communications company in the trucking industry. I recognized the signs of a failing company and saw this one was headed the same direction as the first.

Fed up with being employed, I started calling business brokers. Eventually found a very small undervalued building products company to buy. The prior owner had no business experience and was making a living. Without a huge amount of effort the company grew rapidly. After a few years my biggest competitor approached me and suggested a merger. With frighteningly little due diligence we put the companies together. Things really took off at that point. Years earlier, my business partner didn't sell his video rental store for a huge profit right before Blockbuster moved in across the street, so once our company was doing well he wanted to sell.

I found a business broker who seemed very different from the rest. One week after officially putting it on the market we had three offers and it actually sold for more than the asking price. After the sale my wife and I packed up and moved to Phoenix as most of her flying was on the west coast and the commute from Atlanta was a challenge.

While looking for the next business to buy we discussed having a baby. With her career as a pilot doing well and me between things I became a stay at home dad. Once our daughter was old enough for pre-K, I immediately started looking for something to do with my 3-4 hours/day of free time. I called my CPA and asked for any suggestions since he had lots of small business clients. Well, he ended up hiring me to do QuickBooks work since I'd learned it inside and out using it to run my business. After of a couple of years in the CPA firm our clients kept asking me to do work out side the office. It didn't take long for me to figure out that I could undercut CPA office staff rates while doubling my hourly rate by being independent. Now I have all the work I can handle and am trying to decide whether to stay a one man show or hire folks and build a company. We'll see.

So... NO! NOT the career I planned. I never had a plan!

[Head416]

Nope. My IT "just while in school" job evolved into a career much faster than my mechanical engineering progress towards a degree. Then I realized I was already making more in IT than the school was saying I could expect as a starting ME salary. Transferred to CIS, got my BS in that instead.

EDIT: And now I'm realizing cubicles suck and I'd rather work on cars or something like that. But I can't afford a 50% paycut to be an entry level mechanic.

[MotoSook]

EDIT: And now I'm realizing cubicles suck and I'd rather work on cars or something like that. But I can't afford a 50% paycut to be an entry level mechanic.

I like my job despite it not being what I dreamed of doing, but it pays well thus allowing me the opportunity to play with Porsches and anything else my mechanical muse would have do. This is even better because I can afford to play and have a broader stroke with my mechanical and creative brush.

Think of 50% of your salary as your play money...if you were a mechanic!

[oldE]

Not planned at all.

I took an Arts degree, then worked at whatever while my wife finished her degree and got a teaching job. Then I got a heads-up about a supervisor's position with a dairy. 24 years later after doing everything from delivering door-to-door (cue milkman jokes and true stories) I was one of too many managers and sales reps in a shrinking market. The company treated me very well (8 months notice plus a package) and I had time to look around.
6 years ago I was approached to work as a part-time visitor counselor at the Tidal Power plant in Annapolis Royal. I worked there three summers with the local Board of Trade, then got involved with the NS Tourism folks as a SuperHost presenter.
This spring, I worked directly for Nova Scotia Power as a Heritage Interpreter at the Tidal site. I have a ball, talking about neat stuff with folks from all over the world.

If you come up this way on vacation, drop into the only tidal power plant in North America. If you see a tall fellow with greying hair, chances are its me.

Les

[craigster59]

I work backstage in the dressing room of a burlesque show. The pay is only $100 a week but that's all I can afford.....


But seriously, I always loved construction and art. I worked for the Calif Parks at the beach (Sycamore Cove, Leo Carrillo) after high school. Joined the Army as a Combat Engineer and went to Bamberg Germany for 3 years.
Got out, drove trucks and worked construction till 1987, was mildly injured and thought I needed something a bit safer. A friend got me a job on "Earth Girls Are Easy" and have worked in the Art Department for television and film since. It's a great gig and I think I'm very well suited for it. Besides taking some TV production classes in high school, I never pictured myself doing this.