What's your job and do you enjoy it? I'm sick of mine...

colourofsound

@FX_Munkee said:

I'm a games developer.
One day I might get a proper job.

Ha, nice. I have music in a video game; it has a Steam listing but i'm concerned it's gonna be vaporware. Send me a PM if you're interested in swapping stories

FreddieVanHalen

mellowsun said:

I no longer have a 'job' but I am working full time.

Set up my own company very recently and currently doing consulting and contracting, showing companies how they can use machine learning to enrich their data 

@mellowsun ; Mind if I ask how you got into this space?

Every now and then I entertain doing a post grad in computational neuroscience but it's hard to justify the time out even though I'd love to do it.

I used to be a software developer, then enterprise architect, then a risk quant in finance, now trying to build a fintech startup...

Have enjoyed most of my work with the exception of corporate politics...hard to avoid that part though if you want to stay employed!

Hertz32

I'm going through basics in the military currently, it's fucking tough! But there's nowhere I'd rather be. 

ThePrettyDamned

octatonic said:

I used to work in IT but left it to become a musician/engineer/producer type, which I did for about 10 years full time.

These days I'm a self-employed property developer/landlord- it gives me a lot of free time which allows me to do music and some guitar building.

I see myself doing property development in the future. I'd like to know more about the industry - my brother is trying to get into it but initial investment is hard to come by. He's worked his way from a  flat, to a bigger flat, to a house - and he's hoping to flip the house on for a... Cheap flat for him and a second property to let/do up and sell. 

It's a lot of hard work, but I reckon once he's got the ball rolling he's set. 

WezV

Sporky said:

24's not bad. 20 is pretty standard.

Depends if it includes bank holidays or not.

my 35 includes 8 bank holidays which can be had whenever, even on a bank holiday.

anyway, I spent 10 years working in schools with difficult children.  I liked it, but 10 years was enough.   

I have now spent 6 years doing the 9-5 office thing and am still really enjoying it most days.    I think I am ready for a new challenge though.  I also have 2 kids under 5, so the flexible hours and being 10 minutes from home is a godsend.

TTony

Sporky said:

Though Two Dots has a lot to answer for regarding my productivity.

Level 1035 here @Sporky.  That's a *lot* of train journeys and conference calls ...


I've done all sorts of businessy jobs, self-employed for the last 15 years.  Some have been better than others, but if any hadn't involved me getting paid, I doubt I'd have done it.

If we spent as much time thinking about, talking about and planning our non-work lives as we do re our work lives, we'd probably be a lot happier as work would then explicitly become just a means to the end, rather than assuming more importance than it deserves.  We'd pick work that enabled our main purpose in life.

Discuss,

tone1

International Jewel Thief 
and I bloody love it

mellowsun

FreddieVanHalen said:

mellowsun said:

I no longer have a 'job' but I am working full time.

Set up my own company very recently and currently doing consulting and contracting, showing companies how they can use machine learning to enrich their data 

@mellowsun ; Mind if I ask how you got into this space?

@FreddieVanHalen  - over a long period! Mainly self-taught initially, from working in publishing, wrangling and transforming text, then doing a PhD, then working at various startups as a data scientist and learning from more talented colleagues.

Richardj

Started designing and costing for a big plastics company, which was pretty good. Then answered a small ad in the local paper and ended up with the MOD doing cool and naughty things with very exciting toys.  That eventually led, through contacts made, to professional middle man stuff.  Weirdly then had an interesting stint as a fraud investigator for the Benefits Agency, worked accounts for a large charity in their bookshop, finally went self employed and did consulting doing forensic accounting for a big property company. Still dabble a bit with that and the middle manning thing, if asked, but generally retired in the land of wine and cheese. Have enough to get by on and that's fine.

mike_l

I'm a parts manager for HGV and plant parts. I supply spares for trucks, trailers and plant. I did car parts for 15 years but got fucked of with the inanity of the public and their belief that every single thing they read on the internet was correct.  

It's not as glamourous as it sounds, but I do rip the piss out of my van driver a lot.

Poor fucker doesn't know yet, but his car will be getting pallet wrapped in the near future.

Sporky

TTony said:

If we spent as much time thinking about, talking about and planning our non-work lives as we do re our work lives, we'd probably be a lot happier as work would then explicitly become just a means to the end, rather than assuming more importance than it deserves.  We'd pick work that enabled our main purpose in life.

An interesting assertion.

I think I may be lucky in that my job is essentially solving puzzles, which is also the root of most of my hobbies...

VimFuego

I garden for a hobby, I garden for money. Seems pretty neatly tied up.

dano

Electronics engineer, done in now for about 20 years. Ive had several jobs and donts some awesome stuff / been some amazing places  and now running a design team, although I've fallen into a more management role than I wanted. It's good but I like to do more hands on design. 


Music is still (one of several) hobbies which gives me that focus after family and work. 

@colourofsound I think we are fairly local too. 

Grunfeld

I'm a therapist.  Specifically a physiotherapist, and hypnotherapist.  Sometimes at the same time.
I like working with people more than things. 
And I only work part-time now, just a couple of days, which suits me fine.
I recently took an NHS gig working for anaesthetics which is a first for me.  Working with people in persistent pain.  It's an area of special interest so I enjoy it.

monquixote

TTony said:

I've done all sorts of businessy jobs, self-employed for the last 15 years.  Some have been better than others, but if any hadn't involved me getting paid, I doubt I'd have done it.

If we spent as much time thinking about, talking about and planning our non-work lives as we do re our work lives, we'd probably be a lot happier as work would then explicitly become just a means to the end, rather than assuming more importance than it deserves.  We'd pick work that enabled our main purpose in life.

Discuss,

I spend too many hours at work to do something I don't enjoy. 

menamestom

Telecommunications Construction Manager.  We build networks for mobile operators, broadband suppliers, emergency services etc.  It's been interesting over the years, one day I might have been putting a new mast on the top of a mountain in Wales, another day working on top of a building in Central London.  I mainly manage others now so don't get out as much, and the work is less interesting as it is mainly upgrade work as equipment is swapped out for higher capacity equipment, but it's still varied enough to pass the time.  

ThePrettyDamned

monquixote said:

TTony said:

I've done all sorts of businessy jobs, self-employed for the last 15 years.  Some have been better than others, but if any hadn't involved me getting paid, I doubt I'd have done it.

If we spent as much time thinking about, talking about and planning our non-work lives as we do re our work lives, we'd probably be a lot happier as work would then explicitly become just a means to the end, rather than assuming more importance than it deserves.  We'd pick work that enabled our main purpose in life.

Discuss,

I spend too many hours at work to do something I don't enjoy. 

Absolutely how I felt. Led me away from a career in medicine. 

Currently between jobs, but after working as a photographer doing projects for museums (which was insane!) I've decided I quite fancy getting into scientific publishing. Meanwhile I'll keep polishing my photography skills and hope to start shooting for money again. I'd like to do high end portraiture, fashion and weddings - I've decided I'll either do it for free as a hobby or aim to be the best in the world. I don't want to be struggling along with it - I enjoy it too much to do that. 

octatonic

ThePrettyDamned said:

octatonic said:

I used to work in IT but left it to become a musician/engineer/producer type, which I did for about 10 years full time.

These days I'm a self-employed property developer/landlord- it gives me a lot of free time which allows me to do music and some guitar building.

I see myself doing property development in the future. I'd like to know more about the industry - my brother is trying to get into it but initial investment is hard to come by. He's worked his way from a  flat, to a bigger flat, to a house - and he's hoping to flip the house on for a... Cheap flat for him and a second property to let/do up and sell. 

It's a lot of hard work, but I reckon once he's got the ball rolling he's set. 

It is harder to do now thanks to recent changes in the tax and allowances.
I'm not sure it is doable like it used to be if you aren't already established.

For instance, we can no longer write off 10% for maintenance. Or write off mortgage interest.
If you have a lot of capital or an extremely low interest rate (like 2% or less) then it might be ok but most people getting in now won't have that.

ThePrettyDamned

octatonic said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

octatonic said:

I used to work in IT but left it to become a musician/engineer/producer type, which I did for about 10 years full time.

These days I'm a self-employed property developer/landlord- it gives me a lot of free time which allows me to do music and some guitar building.

I see myself doing property development in the future. I'd like to know more about the industry - my brother is trying to get into it but initial investment is hard to come by. He's worked his way from a  flat, to a bigger flat, to a house - and he's hoping to flip the house on for a... Cheap flat for him and a second property to let/do up and sell. 

It's a lot of hard work, but I reckon once he's got the ball rolling he's set. 

It is harder to do now thanks to recent changes in the tax and allowances.
I'm not sure it is doable like it used to be if you aren't already established.

For instance, we can no longer write off 10% for maintenance. Or write off mortgage interest.
If you have a lot of capital or an extremely low interest rate (like 2% or less) then it might be ok but most people getting in now won't have that.

Fair enough  

For now, baby steps for me - I'm (hopefully) going into a new industry so it'll be to the bottom of the ladder again.

octatonic

ThePrettyDamned said:

octatonic said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

octatonic said:

I used to work in IT but left it to become a musician/engineer/producer type, which I did for about 10 years full time.

These days I'm a self-employed property developer/landlord- it gives me a lot of free time which allows me to do music and some guitar building.

I see myself doing property development in the future. I'd like to know more about the industry - my brother is trying to get into it but initial investment is hard to come by. He's worked his way from a  flat, to a bigger flat, to a house - and he's hoping to flip the house on for a... Cheap flat for him and a second property to let/do up and sell. 

It's a lot of hard work, but I reckon once he's got the ball rolling he's set. 

It is harder to do now thanks to recent changes in the tax and allowances.
I'm not sure it is doable like it used to be if you aren't already established.

For instance, we can no longer write off 10% for maintenance. Or write off mortgage interest.
If you have a lot of capital or an extremely low interest rate (like 2% or less) then it might be ok but most people getting in now won't have that.

Fair enough  

For now, baby steps for me - I'm (hopefully) going into a new industry so it'll be to the bottom of the ladder again.

Don't let me discourage you- just take some advice before dipping your toe in.
There are a lot of ways to go about it- I reckon the only profitable way will be to put the property into a trust or purchase via a limited company.