What do YOU do for a living?
 

I thought this would be a fun thread to see what everyone does for a living :)

I am a chemical dependency counselor. I absolutely love my job. I'm pretty new in my career. While I have worked in the field on and off for 15 years, I have only been counseling for 1 year.

So what do YOU do for a living, and do you like it?

I'm trained as an accountant, and did that for 8 years. Right now I'm working as a maintenance planner, which is actually a lot more enjoyable. It was getting lonely and boring as an accountant. Now I have endless variety, and a lot more interaction with other people. Plus, I get to exercise my favorite skill...organization. :)

Contracts management. Terms and conditions and loopholes...oh my.

Great thread, I love seeing what other people do, too. Some people have such interesting jobs!

Jesika - what inspired you to become a counselor? I could image that would be quite a stressful job, but definitely a rewarding one to help those overcome their addictions.

I am an English teacher (I live abroad so it's a foreign language here). Love my job, just wish the wages were a bit higher! I've been teaching for 6 years, but it's not something I can sustain a lifetime on, so I'm not sure what my next move would be. I would love to open an American style cafe that sells typical desserts, etc, or have an expat consulting agency, but there would be a lot of competition here!

I am currently going to school and actually seriously considering becoming a chemical dependency counselor too!

I am curious about what inspired you to become a counselor too, if you are open to talking about it. :) For me it is that I know a lot of addicts personally and have been involved in such circles myself (although I never used serious drugs), so I feel I have some valuable insights into what that life is like. I think that would help me more easily connect with those who come from very poor backgrounds and/or are homeless as I grew up under similar circumstances and have had a lot of the same experiences they have. I would love to do volunteer work with addicts at a homeless shelter or center for disadvantaged youth.

At the same time I would also really like to work at an animal shelter. Luckily I don't have to make a decision yet! :dizzy:

Cool :) What exactly is a maintenance planner? ;)

lol :)

Hello :)

Well, kind of a long story, but I'll give you the short version: In my teens and early 20's I struggled with a variety of addictions, including substance abuse, although having an eating disorder was always my primary addiction (Anorexia, Bulimia, and Compulsive eating over the years.) I have a lot of experience with various 12 step programs, and as I got better from my own addictions I decided that I wanted to major in Psychology. I got my degree, and was planning on going on for my Master's degree and going into private practice as a therapist, but changed my mind and decided to go into chemical dependency counseling.

It is a stressful job, I see a lot of heartache, and I've seen several people die from their addiction. BUT, those that make it... those that thrive... and helping to give families back their loved ones... makes the job worth it :)

Very cool about being an English teacher. I actually, at one point, taught kindergarten and was going to go into the school system as a teacher. But, decided against that too (LOL). The café idea sounds awesome. Yea, my passion is writing. I would love to be an author. But alas, time and money just aren't conducive.

Oh wow, really cool !!! I posted a reply (above) about what inspired me to become a counselor. Definitely having been there, and having that insight is of great value! I used to work at a local animal hospital, yea... wasn't for me... I LOVE animals, and I would have loved to work at an animal shelter at one point in my life, but the whole euthanizing animals because of space issues just breaks my heart.

Basically just organizing the department. We get work requests from management throughout the plant and then we have to make sure we have the right technicians and tools ready for the job, plus schedule downtime on the machines. I also do a lot of reports, manage the purchasing and inventory of maint parts and oversee the recycling department. Its a new position at my company so I'm sort of making it up as I go. :) It's a big facility (1500 associates) with a lot of old machinery so we keep hopping.

I am a web developer and designer. I have been in this line of work for a long time now. I enjoy the challenges so this is the perfect career for someone who likes to go crazy every now and again.

Cool :) I'm glad you like it!

I bet that's awesome. I always wanted to learn how to do that!

Retired Vicar (priest).

I'm a librarian! Right now I do general services but focus mostly on youth. I hope to be a children's/youth services librarian soon and then eventually go on to be the manager or director of a children's department in a major library system.