How did you end up doing what you do, or did, for a living?

[Ron H]

Turns out, it was for a fire sprinkler company - and the black hole of fire protection swallowed me up

Interesting history! I had fire protection training at Chubb when going through 24-week training when I started with an insurance co, 1st job after tech-school. Part of my job as a field engineer, was inspecting SS’s. A HS friend started working at a company JF Ahern, I think it was, and asked me to take a job there, given what training I received. I declined as I was with the company just a short time (ended up leaving after 18 months anyway). He worked his way up the ladder there and ended up becoming part owner of the operation. Heard this 2nd hand, but gather he did very well financially. Another one of those 2nd what-if thoughts.

 

[68BabyBlue]

When I was at the height of my career, as a trucking company general counsel, I met a few other lawyers who had paid for their education by driving a tractor trailer. I had the dubious honor of the most seat time, with eight years, including two as an owner operator. When I finally retired two years ago, I had eclipsed that, with over 2 million miles, and 16 years driving a Peterbilt 379 as an owner operator. I was a licensed attorney for 40 years.

My parents wanted me to be a doctor, and with a nearly free ride at Penn State with my dad's staff discount, that should have been an ideal path. Instead, I washed out of pre-med after my freshman year, applied my STEM courses to a minor in environmental resource management, and graduated with a degree in English. The job market was bad when I graduated in 1975, but I managed to land a job as a staff writer for a medical newspaper group in the DC metro area. I hated that job worse than my time in pre-med. I saved my money, and formed a exit strategy.

The gear head in me like the idea of driving for a living, and top tractor trailer drivers in that era made twice the earnings of my college professor dad. I saved enough to pay for truck driver school, and less than a year later, after working my way up from janitor work and the loading dock, I started driving long haul for the local Allied agent. Once again saved my money, switched to the dry bulk tanker industry, and bought my first truck. Two years later, after major nagging from my parents, I cashed out my business, and enrolled in law school.

Once again, I failed to make a mark academically, passed the bar on the first try, but hung a shingle when I couldn't land a salaried job. Went to work part time on the side, driving for a small Chicago dry bulk company that had opened a terminal in State College. They dangled fully paid company health insurance in front of me, and I closed the law office to get the benefits, after my daughter required ear tubes, and I paid the full cost out of pocket.

After I made the move, the company grew exponentially, and I toured the country as part of the start up team on new operations. After being promoted to the corporate office in 1993, I tripled my income, only to see what became a house of cards crash and burn a decade later. I had my final exit plan in place well before the end came.

The day I was terminated, I walked into the company I had worked for prior to law school, and hired on again, planning to follow the path I veered off when I had returned to school. Once again I bought my own truck, but this time I ran it until retirement. With the experience I'd gained in the previous decades, it was incredibly easier the second time around, and I had a good coast to the finish line.

 

[slepr1]

When I was young, my dad made my brother and I work in our huge-*** garden and other outside chores all weekend. We didn't get much time to play with our friends because we were always busy. Anyway, I hated outside work and always volunteered to make lunch and help mom cook dinner so I would get out of working for a bit. I always watched my mom cook and picked it up pretty fast. When I became a teenager and could work, I worked as a cook in local restaurants. Soon found out that the only way to make any money was to be a manager. Worked as a manager and district manager for a few years until I opened my first restaurant, I was 26 years old. When I was 44 (18 years later) out of the blue I was offered a big pile of money to buy my business (we were a well known and busy restaurant). More than enough so I wouldn't need to work again.

 

[Sahara]

I ended up moving dirt because my dad did. He moved dirt because his his dad. I enjoy doing it.
Photo of me 30 years ago.

View attachment 1705958

That picture brings back a lot of memories. My dad was a very talented leather craftsman. In the seventies the North was going through an economic boom time of mine, road, and infrastructure construction. Once the guys that run those machines (called belly loaders, I think?) heard about him he did a huge business in making kidney belts. Them, and the snowmobile guys kept him busy for a few years making these very wide leather belts that supported your back and kidneys and protected them from the shaking and pounding. I hadn’t thought of this in decades until I saw your photo.

 

[Davefinan]

That’s an easy one. Dad was a union construction electrician ………..then so was I.

 

[Dennis H]

Just bad luck. I started at the railway at 19 and was just going to stay with it until I found something better. It was interesting work but it destroys most components of a personal life you may have. After 30 years I ended it and don't miss it.

Don’t send the Pension Checks back though.

 

[RemCharger]

Don’t send the Pension Checks back though.

Ha! I've got a few train- driver buddies and thought the exact same thing

 

[cr8crshr]

Got drafted in 1969 to the USMC...No way was that going to happen. Given 30 days to report for basic so I immediately enlisted into the USAF. Obtained a job as a Flight Operations Specialist and did that for 7 years and got out. Bummed around at odd jobs and then in 1980, re-joined the USAF Reserves and obtained an Enlisted Aircrew position...Loadmaster. As it was the Reserves, I needed to find some steady work so I got into the Insurance Business as an Independent Agent. Did that until 1985 and was offered a full-time position with USAF so I left the Insurance Business and concentrated on that. 34.5 years total and 10500 flying hours, I retired and that is where I am at to this day. Full pension so I made the right choice. Would I do it again??? You Bet!!! Best decision I have made in my whole working life...cr8crshr/Bill

 

[1969VAGTX]

My "Alive Day" in the Army led me to working for a veterans service organization so that I could remain in that community. Have spent my entire career working in the veterans nonprofit organization space.

 

[Fran Blacker]

When our dry cleaning business shut down I needed a job. There was an older guy 80 yrs old I chatted with who was a customer. Told him I was having trouble finding a job. The no experience in jobs available. He said go to a company he sold metal for them, and mention my name. So went and was interview guy said we aren't hiring. Said the old guy sent me, things changed. Filled out application, he'd let me know. Next day had a job. Worked there 9.5 years. Went on strike for 2nd time and they didn't say that they were not going to settle but scabs crossed. After 14 weeks move to another company that was in the same business and paid 40% more and all the OT you wanted.

 

[padam]

My dad was the only kid in his family of 10 children of Polish immigrants to go to college. Therefore it went without saying that I would go to college. The only problem was that I HATED school. I hated everything about school, so much that I couldn’t stand being in a classroom.

One of my dad’s brothers was a machinist, and always was able to learn a decent living. I was mechanically inclined and loved tearing things apart, so my dad signed me up for a night school class in machine trades. I was fascinated and went to trade school my senior year.

I graduated high school in 1981 just as the industrial economy took a crap in Ohio. My shop teacher helped me get a job at a Tool and Die shop. I worked into an apprenticeship, 4 years of full time work plus night school.

I’ve worked a bunch of different places, almost all in manufacturing of one sort or another. Earned an associate degree along the way. Now I manage a small machine shop for a really great small company. I hope to retire from here in a few years if the economy holds together.

My entire working life has mostly been a struggle to hang on in a dying industry. I would have done something different but this seems to be the only thing I’m good at.

 

[Chargerjase]

Started working for Unilever as a painter in the school holidays at 15. I knew then that was not the job for me. So I got an electrical apprenticeship. Did that for 4 years until I qualified. My boss was an asshole so it was easy to leave. Flew to London and worked at Heathrow Airport as a construction foreman. Went back to New Zealand and started working at the local pulp and paper Mills. Spent 15 years there and worked my way up to Maintenance manager. When the newsprint industry started going south, I knew it was time to change path. I worked as an electronics technician on oil rigs in Australia for 10 years. In 2015, the price of oil crashed and we all got laid off. I was lucky enough to get a job as an Electro Technical Officer on a mega yacht which is the industry I work in to this day. That's why I am currently living in Germany. Its also here that I met my Texan wife. So that was also a wonderful extra to my working career.

 

[440 4 speed]

I was a terrible student and a wild child. I was always angry, ready to burst at any time. It would be decades before I learned and understood about Asperger Syndrome and depression. Back then you were just labelled “bad”. Anyway…
I started drinking heavily at 12, drugs a few years later. Couldn’t seem to find myself. But a few people saw potential and some value in me. For example, my best friend has been so for just over fifty years now. He was the exact opposite of me as kids, he was a non drinker, no drugs Christian. My high school principal, who I caused much grief to still sends me a Christmas card and personal letter every year for over forty years.
I started working real jobs at 12, I always made good money even though I could piss it away as quick as I made it. When most kids my age were making twenty five or fifty cents a hour babysitting I got a job as a school janitor for $4.25. Then I was the school audio visual tech for ten bucks a hour when many adults were making that, or less. This was the mid seventies and I was in my mid teens. But I was smart enough at least to only spend the money I had, never was in debt and still am not. I married a smart, hard working wife who is wise with money and keeps me on the straight and narrow with it. We paid cash for two houses and buy all of our vehicles with cash.
I drifted from job to job and couldn’t seem to find my calling, so to speak. I got a job in the Alberta oil patch as a painter, and began to learn my trade. The Asperger’s gives me OCD and crazy attention to detail that makes me a good painter, and the best masking and prep person around. When I got married in ‘94 I moved back north and got a job as a drywaller and house painter. Again, the attention to detail and OCD about details makes me a top notch taper. I’m not the fastest, but my work is impeccable and people are willing to pay a premium for perfect work.
I got a job with the government and have been their school and prison painter for twenty three years. Affirmative action has made it very difficult and discouraging to work for the government as I am just another effing white guy in what is essentially a gigantic Indian reservation.
So this past year the hospital snapped me up. They are not governed by the same policies as the territorial government so they can hire a white guy, no problem. They literally thank me every day for working for them, and I couldn’t be happier. I still do a few side jobs but only the ones that appeal to me. Currently I’m the go to guy to paint lines in parking lots. Laying out the lines is not as simple as it seems but I have a knack for it and thus my services are in demand. I’m 64 this year, I have no intention of retiring. I enjoy what I do and I’m at that stage in life where I do pretty much what I want. I paint in the summer and go to our place in Mexico in the fall. I work a bit in the winter then go back to Mexico in the spring. I plan to keep doing this as long as I can.

Good that you are able to enjoy your work and you can travel.
I also made weight lifting belts along with kidney belts and sledders belts.

 

[Krooser]

Thought I’d ask members to share their stories about how they got into the line of work/careers they ended up doing. I’ve read a few posts some have mentioned about this I found really interesting more as side notes in posts, thought I’d start a thread on this. I’m guessing there are some interesting, entertaining, and maybe some humorous stories on this. Thanks for sharing them if, you want to.

I was working at a Chrysler Plymouth dealer doing used car work... detailing, minor body/paint work, tuneup, brakes, installed vinyl roofs, a/c work etc.

I had been there almost two years. Did a good job so I asked for a raise.

I was making $2.80 an hour...1972.

My GM told me I was a valued employee and he would give me an answer tomorrow.

I got paged the next day...he told me I would get a five cent per hour raise.

I was so grateful I quit at the end of the week.

I found an ad in the local paper..."truck driver wanted must have own tools"!

Never drove a truck before...taught myself while on the job.

53 years later I'm still behind the wheel.

 

[3sloppydogs]

I always knew I born to fix things. Just an ok student but was in the high school mechanics program. In the fall of 75 our local government, Howard County, needed help as it was growing like crazy so they came to the schools looking for part time help. Sure I said and went there to work. I always figured some thing else better would come along and I would quit.
I also wanted to join the navy.
Well as it happened howard county became one of the richest in the nation and the pay scale rose accordingly. So 37 years later I retired from there with a full pension. Then went to work for the local Cat dealer for a while. Now I just do part time work for a small engine company for the social life.
Along the way I also did a side stint in the naval reserve as a CM in the Seabees
No complaints

 

[KiwiKid72]

That picture brings back a lot of memories. My dad was a very talented leather craftsman. In the seventies the North was going through an economic boom time of mine, road, and infrastructure construction. Once the guys that run those machines (called belly loaders, I think?) heard about him he did a huge business in making kidney belts. Them, and the snowmobile guys kept him busy for a few years making these very wide leather belts that supported your back and kidneys and protected them from the shaking and pounding. I hadn’t thought of this in decades until I saw your photo.

I'm glad it jogged good memories.

In New Zealand we call them motorscrapers or scrapers. No suspension, solid mounted seats, no brakes - but the sound of those Detroit engines made it all worthwhile at the time.

Kidney belts would have been great. But as we all know, when you're 20-years-old, you're bulletproof and know everything.

Do you have any photos of your dad's leatherwork?

 

[moparedtn]

Interesting history! I had fire protection training at Chubb when going through 24-week training when I started with an insurance co, 1st job after tech-school. Part of my job as a field engineer, was inspecting SS’s. A HS friend started working at a company JF Ahern, I think it was, and asked me to take a job there, given what training I received. I declined as I was with the company just a short time (ended up leaving after 18 months anyway). He worked his way up the ladder there and ended up becoming part owner of the operation. Heard this 2nd hand, but gather he did very well financially. Another one of those 2nd what-if thoughts.

I am familiar with both those companies, although I haven't heard much from either in some years now.
For whatever reason(s), insurance underwriters don't hold the sway they once did in my field (hell, at one point
they were more "feared" than Fire Marshals were - and certainly more active in "enforcement" at one time).
For what it's worth now, they were both considered very good at it in those days.

 

[CherryBomb]

Fell into the printing industry by accident. Was talking to someone about how I wanted to get a design job (14 years ago now) and they said they knew a company in need of a designer. Ended up liking it, but the company was not run well at all. Once of the managers got fired over something ridiculous, so he started his own company. Poached me immediately. That was 11 years ago. In that time I moved more into leadership, then operations and systems. Now I'm a C level at the company, which was amazing for several years. Unfortunately in the last year, several changes have been implemented and it has left me very bored for lack of a better term. I really miss the challenge and sense of importance I had for a solid decade.

Sidenote, if anyone in the Tampa Bay area (or remote) wants a thoroughly effective and experienced leader for a role of Director or above, let me know. Let me come and make things run better for you!

 

[Sahara]

I'm glad it jogged good memories.

In New Zealand we call them motorscrapers or scrapers. No suspension, solid mounted seats, no brakes - but the sound of those Detroit engines made it all worthwhile at the time.

Kidney belts would have been great. But as we all know, when you're 20-years-old, you're bulletproof and know everything.

Do you have any photos of your dad's leatherwork?

All that I have of my dad’s leather work is the purse that he made for my mom probably close to fifty years ago. It was her daily use purse for a few decades, until she passed.
He made piles of these, as well as kidney belts, a few saddles, and lots of wallets. Resoled shoes and work boots, fixed hockey skates as well as repairs to pretty much anything leather.

 

[cosgig]

I grew up on a farm, and learned how to fix just about everything that was broken. I was a skinny, long haired rock and roll lover, walking down the dirt road to nowhere one day and a car pulled up and the driver said “get in, you look like you need a job”! His name was Howard, but he said “you can call my Howie Hog”. I worked on his farm, doing pigs, and other farm work. He was also a union carpenter who did drywall on major buildings , and his wife was a drywall finisher. He showed me the ropes of all aspects of carpentry, and life in general. He was a great mentor. That started me on the road to be a carpenter, but also my love for cooking, due to the many pig roasts we did together. I went to culinary school because of him, and still do catering on the side to this day.

Everything I’m interested in came from my farm upbringing, hard work, mechanical aptitude, food, and Howard was a big influence on my life. Sadly he passed away way too soon. It’s been about 15 years, and I still plow the driveways of the “ladies”, Howard’s wife and her 2 neighbors. Carol posted a little memorial about Howard and I chimed in and called him Howard. She said “I’ve never heard you call him Howard, it was always Howie Hog”, I told her that’s what he told me to call him those many years ago. I didn’t realize that, and out of respect for him now, I always call him Howard now.