If you had to find a new job today... what would you do?

[Matt S.]

Don't worry, it wasn't a game you ever heard of. I often had this conversation:

STRANGER: So what do you do for a living?
ME: I'm a video game designer/writer, working on #LONG_DELAYED_GAME_YOU_HEARD_ABOUT_MAYBE_ONCE.
STRANGER: OH COOL I can't wait for #GAME_WITH_SIMILAR_NAME!
ME: Actually I work for #CRUMMY_COMPANY on #LONG_DELAYED_GAME_YOU_KIND_OF_REMEMBER_NOW. They sure do sound alike, don't they? Ha, ha!
STRANGER: <sound of crickets> I have to go now.
ME: Call me? *sob*

I have a friend who works for Blizzard. He wears WoW T-shirts every day and, when at the grocery store, he will find a way to mention how he works for Blizz to the checker AND the bagger. (I can't blame him--I'd do the same.) I, on the other hand, don't wear company shirts outside the house because they put me at high risk for brick attacks from strangers.

brick_attack.jpg (40.32 KiB) Viewed 2608 times

I sure liked working there though!

[Fishstiq]

Okay, this one is off the wall, but I've always wanted to build human powered vehicles for the physically challenged who want to go fast. I look at wheelchairs (even racing chairs) and think "that wouldn't do." The other thing I'd love to so is build custom prosthetics. Truly custom. Like hot-rod custom. Bad-ass prosthetics. Rat-rod, steam-punk, carbon-fiber and heim-joints... whatever they want. I know there is a person out there who has lost a limb, feels like **** about it, and might feel a little better if their prosthetic had some cool factor. I know it isn't for everybody, but it might cheer up the right person.

Fair warning....


I had a nightmare once where I lost a leg at the knee. Very graphic, very disturbing, and I woke up pretty much scared $h!tless. I got up and went to the kitchen for a glass of water (and by glass I mean bottle and by water I mean ESB), and while I was standing there calming down I started thinking "Hey, maybe the dive Xtras guys could attach a Sierra to my leg.....?". Now THAT would be a cool prosthetic.

"Honey, have you seen my leg?"
"It's on the charger!!"

[airsix]

"Honey, have you seen my leg?"
"It's on the charger!!"

Matt, I can't imagine anyone throwing bricks at you unless you're the reason Duke Nukem Forever has been delayed 14 years.

[Jenbowes]

Chauffeur? House boy to your sugar mama? Marketing manager for said sugar mama?

... I'm spitballing here.

[Penopolypants]

Chauffeur? House boy to your sugar mama? Marketing manager for said sugar mama?

... I'm spitballing here.

[LCF]

Seriously, I think if you have IT skills today, medical information management is the place to be. The federal government is mandating computerization (whether it makes sense or works or not) by holding the Medicare/Medicaid stick over the heads of the hospitals . . . and the software that is out there is almost universally bad. There has GOT to be a big opportunity for someone who can actually put together medical information systems that WORK.

[Matt S.]

Chauffeur? House boy to your sugar mama? Marketing manager for said sugar mama?

... I'm spitballing here.

Very good, Miss Bowes. I'll bring the car around at 9, and the flyers will be delivered on the 13th.

[ArcticDiver]

Lots of good specific ideas.But I'd like to put in another plug for taking this opportunity to look around to areas you've probably never even thought of before. Remember the only box you have to think outside of is the one you build around yourself.

Lots of jobs/careers(diffferent things) are what a person does; not who they are(often a very big differemce)' I've knwn lots of people who by their occupation one would think are pretty smart, physcians, lawyers, etc who actually are pretty run of the mill and sometimes not very smart at all, just good at memorization of protocols and procedures. On the other hand I've know some very smart people who have lots of money and are great conttrbutors to ther community who have on the surface mundane jobs, Hot Dog Cart Vendors, Junk Yard Owners, Trash Collectin, etc. I have one friend who has been a long time over the road driver for WalMart when most drivers only last a few years. I ask him "Why?" His answer is: "Paycheck". "I make so much money I can support my fmily and a big part of my community and have lots of time off"

Lots of other examples. But the key is to look around, really look arrpound, at the wide variety of income sources and who you are and take a chance, If it is the same old thing you have been doing you probably have made the wrong choice.

[airsix]

I've knwn lots of people who by their occupation one would think are pretty smart, physcians, lawyers, etc who actually are pretty run of the mill and sometimes not very smart at all, just good at memorization of protocols and procedures.

I think I understand your point (which is valid), but you are not giving credit where it is due. Nobody earned a license to practice law or medicine simply by being good at memorization. They clawed their way there through years of sheer determination and hard work. The same goes for any other accomplishment we outsiders look at as being extraordinary. Innate ability is great, but determination and hard work is far better.

You wonder how they do it,
You look to see the knack
You watch the foot in action,
Or the shoulder or the back.
But when you spot the answer
Where the higher glamours lurk,
You'll find in moving higher
Up the laurel-covered spire,
That most of it is practice, And the rest of it is work
--Grantland Rice

[dscuba]

http://www.zynga.com/jobs/list.php?r=us&l=seattle

My Development Lead just left Microsoft to be a Senior Developer at this gaming company that is/just-recently opening an office in Seattle, I could possibly pass along a resume through him.

[Matt S.]

I would appreciate that--but my understanding was that Zynga's Seattle office was all web developers and other technical types. The soft, gooey creative types like myself are all in other locations. If they do need game designers/writers though I would love to get a resume over to him.

And thanks to everyone else for the replies. I am interested in building myself a bigger or at least differently shaped box, but after so many years of doing one sort of thing it's hard to adjust my thinking. It will take some time to figure all this out... In the meantime I will be Driving Miss Bowes.

[ktb]

It will take some time to figure all this out... In the meantime I will be Driving Miss Bowes.

My hubby always says he would happily be a "kept man" if I made enough money.

And if you ever need readers for a novel you decide to write, just let me know!! I'm here to help.

[Jenbowes]

I'm lovin' it! Not that I don't want Matt to have a meaningful, fulfilling, joyful job, if that's what he so craves...

But in the meantime ...

BRING ME ANOTHER!!!



Loveyoumeanit!

[Matt S.]

My hubby always says he would happily be a "kept man" if I made enough money.

Me too.

I'm not one of those people who needs fulfilling work, or who defines themselves by work. I need work to be tolerable, preferably even fun... but that is different.

When my last job ended it was literally about 6 years of work down the drain. But I was OK with that. I was sad to lose the fun job, yeah, but I was not attached to the work. They paid me to make stuff up; I can always come up with more stuff, it's not like my only good ideas ever were just thrown out.

Oh, I have to pack up my gear and put the chauffeur hat on. Miss Bowes is ready to go!

[ArcticDiver]

I've knwn lots of people who by their occupation one would think are pretty smart, physcians, lawyers, etc who actually are pretty run of the mill and sometimes not very smart at all, just good at memorization of protocols and procedures.

I think I understand your point (which is valid), but you are not giving credit where it is due. Nobody earned a license to practice law or medicine simply by being good at memorization. They clawed their way there through years of sheer determination and hard work. The same goes for any other accomplishment we outsiders look at as being extraordinary. Innate ability is great, but determination and hard work is far better.

You wonder how they do it,
You look to see the knack
You watch the foot in action,
Or the shoulder or the back.
But when you spot the answer
Where the higher glamours lurk,
You'll find in moving higher
Up the laurel-covered spire,
That most of it is practice, And the rest of it is work
--Grantland Rice

Thanks for pointing out that the amount of work to achieve a license to practice many occupations is a lengthy and arduous. This goes from cosmentology, to plumbing, to electrician, to physician, to carpenter, and so on. I'm glad you agreed on the basic point. Whether such licensing is important for maintaining customer care and how much is political ane economic is a matter of spririted discussion. My personal experience is that in many cases much of learning a new occupation is learning occupation specific language and protocols. Some of that is necessary. Much is the result of writing/speaking to impress rather than express.

We need to free ourselves from

[LCF]

We just heard some very interesting things from a new friend, when we were down in MX. Turns out the folks who drive the trucks that haul really heavy equipment, or the ones who haul ore in the mines, make WAY more money than I had realized. Our friend knows a couple that drives ore haulers, and between the two of them, they make almost $750,000 a YEAR!

[Jenbowes]

We just heard some very interesting things from a new friend, when we were down in MX. Turns out the folks who drive the trucks that haul really heavy equipment, or the ones who haul ore in the mines, make WAY more money than I had realized. Our friend knows a couple that drives ore haulers, and between the two of them, they make almost $750,000 a YEAR!

Matt, you will LOVE that job! LOVE IT!

[dwashbur]

My hubby always says he would happily be a "kept man" if I made enough money.

That's more or less what I was. She often referred to me as her "wife" because I kept the kids and the house and did most of the cooking etc. The last several years I couldn't even look for a job because we were never in one place long enough. But it didn't bother me; I was enjoying my life being the househusband. The down side to that is, if she suddenly has a midlife crisis and decides to dump you, picking up the pieces and figuring out what to do now gets a lot harder.

Still, I'm optimistic, and basically look at this as "the whole world is open to me." Matt, I can highly recommend this point of view; if nothing else, it keeps the ulcers at bay.

[Blaiz]

My hubby always says he would happily be a "kept man" if I made enough money.

That's more or less what I was. She often referred to me as her "wife" because I kept the kids and the house and did most of the cooking etc. The last several years I couldn't even look for a job because we were never in one place long enough. But it didn't bother me; I was enjoying my life being the househusband. The down side to that is, if she suddenly has a midlife crisis and decides to dump you, picking up the pieces and figuring out what to do now gets a lot harder.

Still, I'm optimistic, and basically look at this as "the whole world is open to me." Matt, I can highly recommend this point of view; if nothing else, it keeps the ulcers at bay.

I didn't do the whole decades thing, but many pieces of your story resonate here, too, dave

[ArcticDiver]

Some samples of jobs that may never appeal to anyone on this Board but that were being done for big profit by folks I've recently met: Four guys from New Orleans up here to clean storage tanks at a Pump Station. They were given all their training here and claimed they were making enough in the two weeks for a year of living back home. The Hot Dog cart man who in 4 months makes in excess of $100,000 (Used to be in a technical job). The local junk yard guy who clears over $1Mil/year. The owner of a janitorial service who clears nearly a Mil/year.

Then there was one of my friends who retired from the USAF and went to work for the IAF. No salary disclosed.

If you want another shock check he pay scales of most big city firefighters. And the working conditions aren't too bad either. Executive Directors and senior staff of many non-profits make exttremely good money by anyone's standards. Some I've been told make nearly 1/2 million per year. Gee, taking care of societies problems and gettting paid large cash, not bad.

One of the biggest blessings of my life was forecably having to way back in my youth. i rapidly discovered there was a whole world out there the satified my need for money and my need to help my community. Win-Wiin.

[LCF]

Another interesting story . . . I was at Cove 2 a few weeks ago, and a guy was doing a minor bodywork job on a gorgeous, silver BMW -- in the FishnChips PARKING LOT! I got to talking to him, and asked him how he had come to do that work; had he started in a body shop? The answer surprised me: He had been a bureaucrat in state government, got sick of it, and a friend of his had started this business. He likes repairing cars in the open air much better than sitting in a cubicle, and apparently makes better money at it, too!

[ArcticDiver]

While we are on this kick of pointing out odd jobs I'm reminded of a couple more:

>You are in Washington home of most of the North Pacific fishing fleet. A bit on the physcal side but Bering Sea Fishermen make very good money for only a few months of work, sometimes only a few days.
>Tour Bus Driver: The guy who sat in front of us at Steel Magnolias the other night does very well by driving tour busses in the summer and vacations all winter. Understand that is working from late May to mid-September.
>The Tour Guide at the author's house in Key West Florida made about $250 cash per 40 minute tour. She was busy all day long for as many days as she wished to be. Not big money but enough for many people's needs.
>Home cleaning service. Amazing what people will pay not to have to clean their own house and carpet.
>Barrista at a share the profits store. I was shocked when a manager in a Seattle store told me what she makes a year when her profit sharing was thrown in. Some of the physicians who have been my clients over the years don't come close to her net and they have a wee bit more money into their education.
>Never forget Preaching. Some of these folks who say when asked; "Oh i have a little church in so and so city" are being professionally modest. There are both spiritual and financial reasons there are so many churches. For some financial is lead.


Just more ideas to encourage those who are not working or who are unhappy to not get locked in by their self-created fence.

[H20doctor]

You could work for valve games, there in bellevue

[pensacoladiver]

Okay, this one is off the wall, but I've always wanted to build human powered vehicles for the physically challenged who want to go fast. I look at wheelchairs (even racing chairs) and think "that wouldn't do." The other thing I'd love to so is build custom prosthetics. Truly custom. Like hot-rod custom. Bad-ass prosthetics. Rat-rod, steam-punk, carbon-fiber and heim-joints... whatever they want. I know there is a person out there who has lost a limb, feels like **** about it, and might feel a little better if their prosthetic had some cool factor. I know it isn't for everybody, but it might cheer up the right person.

Fair warning....


I had a nightmare once where I lost a leg at the knee. Very graphic, very disturbing, and I woke up pretty much scared $h!tless. I got up and went to the kitchen for a glass of water (and by glass I mean bottle and by water I mean ESB), and while I was standing there calming down I started thinking "Hey, maybe the dive Xtras guys could attach a Sierra to my leg.....?". Now THAT would be a cool prosthetic.

"Honey, have you seen my leg?"
"It's on the charger!!"

You keep getting tanked and jumping off the roof of Cory's house and your "nightmare" might just become a reality.

[Matt S.]

I applied at Valve the day I got laid off and was rewarded with the sound of crickets... As expected. That place is elite and I wouldn't hire me if I were them.