Who has a job that they LOVE and what is it? How did you come to it?

[masmdu]

I am currently in a job I realize I hate (Teaching 6th grade Social Studies) and I want to go on to better things.

I would really appreciate hearing from others here about the job/career/business you have and why you LOVE it. How did you find out what works well for you, trial and error? I sure think I made an error with my new job.

Has anybody found a means of support that doesn't seem like drugery, that provides for you and your family, and that you are very satisfied (love?) doing?

(I know, I know, they don't call it 'work' for nothing)

Thanks

[masmdu]

1. Kick...Am I being too romantic/idealistic?

Anybody?

[joneschick]

7. if it's any comfort

I'm bookmarking your thread. :hi:

[AllegroRondo]

2. My previous job

I used to be in the US Army Band. For 13 years I got to travel the world, play music, meet all kinds of great people, and work with some of the most fun and unusual people in the world. And get PAID for it! I could have done that for 30 years if they had let me.

Unfortunately, I had to give it up for medical reasons. but what fun while it lasted!

[begin_within]

3. Well, you can see what I do by going to my web site

http://www.fireworksland.com

Although I can't say I am really getting rich off it, just paying the bills. I created it out of thin air by identifying a need in the market - a need for real information for consumers, that wasn't being addressed by anyone else. In the last 10 years my name has become famous in that particular market. It took a lot of work and a lot of faith that what I was doing would lead somewhere someday. It still has never paid off financially in a big way, only in a small way. But it's far better than the corporate world and the office politics and all that B.S.

[redqueen]

12. Who needs rich?

:)

Thanks for the link!

[MissHoneychurch]

4. I am a librarian and I love my job

I love cataloging books, helping customers finding the stuff they need, answering questions (which gives me an opportunity to keep learning).

The pay is OK (at least in Germany). You won't get rich doing it, but it pays the bills. I used to work in a library during my summer vacation in school. So I knew I liked it before I started studying it. I work in the job 7 years now and I haven't regretted it yet.

Does that help?

[masmdu]

5. yes, thanks!

[LostinVA]

25. What she said

[LiberalEsto]

6. I love my job; I just wish I had more work

I write marketing articles part time at a small, all-women PR/corporate communications firm based in my employer's home. I've been working there on and off since 2000, after answering an ad in the local weekly paper's classifieds. They laid me off ago when we had a shortage of clients due to an economic downturn, but re-hired me two years ago. Lately it's been really slow. I'm looking for full-time work but not having much luck - I suspect my age, 54, doesn't help.

I was a newspaper reporter for many years, and absolutely loved it. I started writing for the junior high school paper, wrote a high school news column for my home town paper , majored in English, and worked my way up from small weekly papers to the largest daily paper in New Jersey. Unfortunately I came down with chronic fatigue syndrome and couldn't work for several years. Then we moved out of state -- otherwise I would probably still be at that NJ paper.

That said, I think journalism is no longer a good career, and I told both my kids so. The pay has always been lousy, and the stress level high. But now there is a lot of political pressure in newsrooms and very little job security.

[Ptah]

8. What do you like do do? Is there a job market for your hobby?

I like to make things. I like to get paid to make things.

[masmdu]

9. Thanks...anybody else?

[bluethruandthru]

11. Like Ptah says...

What do you like to do. You may not get a job doing exactly that...but you may get a job in the field. For example, you might love football. Most likely you won't get a job playing football..but you may be able to work for an NFL team in some capacity, or you'll market football paraphernalia, etc. You get the idea.
I've been very lucky. I love radio and I've been able to make a living in the field for almost 25 years. I'm not in it to get rich...but it's great when you love going to work every day.

[nosillies]

10. I write for a living

Some assignments are awesome, some are a nightmare (technical writing, e.g.). The wonderful thing is I get to work from anywhere and make my own schedule. The bad part is income is not always as steady as I'd like it to be.

If you have a little extra money to spend, check out the Johnson O'Connor Foundation. http://www.jocrf.org/

In a nutshell, their theory is this: there are things that we're good at doing, and things that we enjoy doing, but they don't necessarily overlap. If we can find areas where what we like to do and what we're good at overlap, then that will make for a satisfying job. Testing with them was one of the best things I ever did.

[distantearlywarning]

22. Just out of curiosity, how did you get started in the field?

I am a grad student with extensive training in technical writing, and I have been told by my professors that I am good at it. I would love to find a job writing that allowed me to work from home. How can I find one?

[bleedingheart]

13. I went to work for the man who wrote one of my engineering textbooks

and I got to work in the field I had always wanted to work in....

Persistence and timing paid off.

[SteppingRazor]

14. I love my job...

I'm a writer/editor at an altweekly. I write the paper's music column. It rules.

The pay could be better -- if I had a family, I'd really be struggling -- but going to work is a lot of fun.

[nosillies]

16. Contrary to popular belief...

I think we writers are a pretty happy group!

[SteppingRazor]

17. That's the problem...

you write your best work when you're not happy, but then that gets published, which makes you happy, which makes you write crap. It's a terrible vicious cycle.

[nosillies]

18. Sad but true!

Still, :rofl:

Pardon me, I'm off to find some opium so I can do some truly genius work today.

[skygazer]

15. I loved the job I had before this one

I worked construction and I really did love it. I worked with the bridge crew, the guys who built concrete highway bridges and retaining walls - hard, physical work but it was a ball. Outdoors all day, with a bunch of rowdy men, creating things that to this day I can drive by or over and say, "I helped build that!" Very satisfying.

That said, though, enjoying your job is as much a function of deciding to enjoy it as it is doing something you love. I've had many jobs in my life and I can't think of one that I actually hated or even thought of as drudgery. A lot of it is your own mind-set. I can find something to enjoy about everything I do, mostly by making it a personal challenge in some way. Even my most boring job, which consisted of packing books in cardboard boxes for 8 hours straight, was something I could find satisfaction in, if only by competing with myself.

It's always great to find something you really love doing and if you have the means, you should go for it, but I think for most people, it's not an option. I think the key is to find something about it that you can make satisfying and focus more on loving your life outside of work.

Oh, and to answer the other question, I found the construction job the same way I've found every job - I applied at virtually every place I could and they hired me. Pure serendipity.

[Patiod]

19. I interview doctors, nurses and patients for a living

on behalf of the Big Bad Pharma companies. Been interviewing folks for over 20 years, focusing on medical for over 10.

MDs and RNs are smart and interesting to talk to (we pay them to talk to us) and the patients (we pay them, too) are also grateful that someone is actually interested in hearing about their problems and health history.

The topics vary widely -- one week I'll be doing something dull like beta blockers or pharmacy packaging, and the next week a psychiatrist is telling me "yeah, I know the definition of remission in schizophrenia, but MY patients are different. I call it remission when a tells me 'hey doc, this week the voices are telling me to change the channel on the TV' when last month they were telling him to kill his sister."

This morning I had to give myself a crash course in allogenic vs. autologous stem cell transplants. Last week I had to learn about the different pathogens involved in sinusitis. Interesting people and varying topics - what's not to like?

[masmdu]

20. Afternoon Kick...others?

[masmdu]

21. Thanks...I have just resigned...and it feels like the right move

now on to things I enjoy doing.

Thanks for the feedback.

[ScreamingMeemie]

23. I am a real estate appraiser and, most days, I love it.

I set my own hours, work from home and it's like solving a puzzle-to find the correct value for a home by analyzing the current market, home sales, the home itself and all the small stuff that goes with it. Nothing feels better than knowing I nailed it. :hi:

On edit: I started out by typing appraisals for an appraiser who didn't want to get all techie. I did the dirty work. After a couple of years, I took classes, he mentored me and *boom* there you go.

[Road Scholar]

24. We've had several teachers go to work with NCDEM and

been very pleased with the move, not to mention the additional money. (North Carolina Division of Environmental Management). My wife retired as a school principal and said several times they were smart to make the move.

[asthmaticeog]

26. I really enjoy my work most of the time.

I'm a publication designer, currently in periodicals, looking to get into hardcover books. The often rote work of page layout is more than compensated for by the sheer fun of making magazine covers. And I slacked my way into it. My doofy "I don't want to do real work" art job turned itself into a really cool career when I wasn't even looking. I'm proof that there's some truth to the saying "Do what you love, the money will come."

Good luck finding what you seek. If you can stand to live super-lean for awhile, that helps a lot - I know some friends who need to get off their high horses and just TAKE A JOB, ANY JOB, but if you're on a quest, that kind of first-thing-to-come-along thinking'll kill ya.

[patcox2]

27. I lobby government to adopt policies that favor businesses.

I love it. Beats practicing law by a mile. I found it by going back to school for a public policy degree.