What do you do for work?

Jos

Posts: 3,073   +97
Staff

The fact that you're visiting a site named TechSpot is indicative of your passion for technology, but while for some it might be a hobby, for others it’s probably also a big part of what you do for a living. In this week's Open Forum let’s share little bit about what we do. For the younger crowd still going through their studies, are you looking forward to a job in IT or what field are you more interested in for work?

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I trade futures, which, in short, means I draw lines on charts and press buttons to make money.

This meme accurately portrays the profession:



Technology is central to modern financial markets because now anyone can get live data feeds from basic quotes to detailed, second-by-second (micro or pico second if your an algo trader) quantitative information. In a previous era, you had to work direclty through brokers by phone to place orders and needed to be on the floor to have access to live information.

When Cramer is on CNBC freaking out because his long recommendation didn't work out, it is because I shorted it.
 
Always worked in the IT industry from my early 20's
1998 started with an oil and gas data distribution company, handling big data from the worlds oil companies.

I miss my time spent mucking around on north sea oil rigs, getting 20yr old satellite multiplexers to talk with our kit correctly.

I now manage an IT service desk for a life and pensions company, but still keep my finger on the pulse when it comes to fixing stuff when it goes t*ts up :)
 
I'm adjunct teaching faculty at a large university's journalism school. In the fall and spring I teach a number of digital media classes that focus on teaching students how to code HTML/CSS, manage websites, edit videos, app design, and using drones. In the summer I teach more traditional journalism classes that lend themselves to journalistic writing skills and ethical conduct.

I also work as an On-Air Radio DJ and do freelance camera work for local sports.
 
I've spent the last 20+ years creating a science fiction universe (off and on), and I'm currently writing the books. Throughout this process, I've had to study up on pretty much everything within the realm of physics. Just this morning, I was discussing ideal placement of implants in the human eyeball with a friend. :p
 
Well, that's a tough one.. I don't really have a career. I've done everything from quality control in manufacturing, to land surveying / utility mapping (counting the distance between telephone poles in the middle of nowhere), to being a cemetery sexton (aka. a gravedigger). Right now, I mostly tend bar and serve, and make extra money doing handyman work and fixing cars. Every once in awhile, I'll even help a buddy out by hosting an open mic event.

Though, I'm a bit of an odd duck.. I'm mostly here because tech is a passion, ever since I started disassembling and reassembling my toy cars as soon as I could get my hands on a screwdriver (if my dad could keep me away from his expensive hifi setup). This site represents a good cross-section of the news sectors I'm interested in, and offers it in an easily consumed format (web design is also a hobby of mine, so I appreciate it done well). I previously used DailyTech, but the quality of the articles was poor and it was very over editorialized.
 
I teach English, Portuguese and Japanese in a language school. Everyone there is learning one of those languages as a second language. I have a passion for teaching and I've never had any other occupation. The demand for any language other than English is very low, so I teach English (which is also my favorite language) 99% of my time. I love it so much, I'd do it for free, but those steam games are not going to just appear in my library.
 
I'm a mason the works mostly with stone. I've worked for myself off and on for years. I'm currently working for someone else.

My dad got me in IT when I was young, taking me to computer shows. I started in masonry at 14 with a summer job and loved it. I was always good with computers, but I'd never want a career in it.
 
I'm a small indie video game programmer. Still young, so not much else under my belt.
 
I'm a Data Systems Analyst for the US Marine Corps. Basically setting up networks and monitoring them in the field.
 
I study computer science. I'm mostly interested in mid- and low-level software (though embedded systems are not my cup of tea), but I also know a bit about high level things. And of course I've been a gamer since I was three, and a PC-hardware "enthusiast" since I was ten, so... I might spend my whole life dealing with computers and technology.
 
I'm a software engineer a couple years out of school, primarily writing military network management software. I've been into gaming since I was young, and picked up an interest in PC hardware and other related tech a few years ago when I custom-built my first PC. I now check TechSpot almost daily - I like how the articles are short and to-the-point, and appreciate the simple layout.
 
I work for an IT Support company (over 7 years now) with it's main base of operations in and around London.
I've done anything from Helpdesk work to onsite Technical Consultancy. At the moment I'm an "Infrastructure Support Engineer" (whatever that means) upgrading and installing entire new infrastructures for some of our larger clients.
 
Nurse! its also Nurses week so go out and thank the nurses in your lives because they are seriously badass... Despite the misconception nursing is a rather technical field and we deal with far more varied forms of technical pieces of equipment than most systems or network engineers. From IV pumps to ekg machines, EEG capture machines. CT, MRI, Heart monitor stations, Med pyxis systems that has fingerprint reading capabilities, PCA and Epidural pumps, to complete Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (heart and lung bypass machines) and the list goes on and on. I am the go to man on how to fix or troubleshoot a vast amount of said equipment very few people really know how to troubleshoot even in a technical field as nursing.
 
I work part time, and care for my mother, brother, and his kids. I have some android apps on the google play store which are taking off and want to get them working on the iphone, but hackintoshes are semi illegal (eulas never hold up in court tho because they aren't law) and macs are too expensive, needed to program iphone apps. I volunteered at the library computer department till they threw me out (free $50/hr. wages; think they were starting spying), volunteered at hospitals/churches/schools altho now semi atheist, and donate/volunteer at a soup kitchen. Often the ham I or this nurse brings them is the only meat they serve 100 people for the week. I maintain people's computers, tvs, phones, isps, and cable/satellite/ota setups sometimes acting as a buyer/installer, but wrong media stories had me believe the maintanance software became pricey, so I lost some customers because I thought I couldn't do it cheaply enough. I have a lot of experience so I make some wiseguy remarks on these forums. Attending stanford online courses in iphone and they're free so it's like I have a scholarship to stanford. Did the same for android at the university of illinois urbana. Have 4 4 year degrees from the university of illinois at chicago (took 5 years), computer science, math, chemistry, and biology, and used all of them over the years. Was volunteering at a dental school, but they take advantage and filled about 15 teeth (that I don't think needed filling) with the promise of a denture/partial. Incredible pain that lasts months after each filling/extraction. Put a crown on one tooth after an excruciating 12 hour root canal, and they say I need 3 more crowns/root canals to support the upper denture or they won't do it. It's just a plate on the palate and needs no support. The temporary crown came off on friday and they didn't get to it till tuesday. It's been about $2500 with the hope of a denture. Kind of told him off friday, and if they don't do the denture, I will never go to a dentist again. Will wait for 3d printer technology to mature, and print my own.
 
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Environmental Specialist for a company in the aerospace industry. My facility does a lot of anodizing/conversion coating and painting of aircraft parts. I make sure we stay within our permitted limits for what we send out of the building in the air or through wastewater and make sure the rain water that leaves our property is up to the state standards for runoff quality. I also manage our hazardous waste program.
 
Environmental Specialist for a company in the aerospace industry. My facility does a lot of anodizing/conversion coating and painting of aircraft parts. I make sure we stay within our permitted limits for what we send out of the building in the air or through wastewater and make sure the rain water that leaves our property is up to the state standards for runoff quality. I also manage our hazardous waste program.

I always knew you were up to something dastardly. Government compliance! :p
 
I'm an IT analyst/developer for a large institutional investor, so I work on the systems that do accounting, taxes, and reporting for their managed investments (stocks, bonds, derivs, other fixed income etc). So when @davislane1 decides to short a pile of futures, the tax dept will use the system I designed to make sure those futures are properly hedged against some long treasury or corporate bonds so the auditors don't fine us into the next century. :) In the spirit of the meme, it usually goes something like this... (this is very accurate, btw)

tree-swing-project-management-large.png
 
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...In the spirit of the meme, it usually goes something like this... (this is very accurate, btw)...
Heh, the documentation one is amusing. I'm in my current position because the people before me either didn't do things, or did things wrong. What they didn't do was evident in the lack of reporting, what they did do there was essentially no documentation other than the numbers they had. When I went through stuff with our hired consulting company (that was hired before my position existed, which lead to my position becoming available) we came up with numbers that were in some cases in the same ballpark as the submitted numbers before, but essentially no documentation was found on how those numbers were determined. Good times....
 
I trade futures, which, in short, means I draw lines on charts and press buttons to make money.

This meme accurately portrays the profession...

My dad's one of the last remaining floor traders. As far as I know his is the last futures pit where they still trade via open outcry.

Myself I'm a software developer/consultant. My job is part programming, part working with clients.
 
I work in IT in higher ed. I do license and systems management for part of my job and emerging technologies for the remainder. I am heavy into all the VR and AR and dabble in the 360 video being done at my place of employment.
 
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