What do you do for a living? (Page 1 of 5)

My occupation is being a temp, working in offices.  The way I "walk in both worlds" is by pulling to myself easy temp jobs that don't require stress and too much responsibility.  I just want full time work that pays for all my needs with money left over but no stress and no ridiculousness.  I've been fortunate to pull to myself some really good assignments, that's all I can say.  !!   Also I've done what I need to do on my end to ensure that it all works.  There are several temp agencies where we live but I'm signed on with one of the two best ones in the area, which means they always have work assignments coming in.   I've also been with them going on three years now, so I've established myself as one of their best temps, which also means I can afford to be choosy in my assignments and not have to worry anymore that they'll drop me for saying no to something.   And it means I'm also offered the better positions above some of the other newer, less established or not as good temps.  But, it's not for everybody.  I wouldn't expect you to read about what I do and go, "OH MY GOD!!! THAT'S IT!!! THAT'S THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING!!!"    haha  Even many admin office girls don't enjoy temping.  And if they do temp they usually almost always want to use the temp company to land them a "Temp To Hire" permanent position.  Not me!!!  Hell no!!!!  Which is the other aspect of what I do.  I fill a weird little niche - I actually want only temporary assignments.  I want to fill in for women who are going on their 2-3 month maternity leave.  People who are going to be out for 6-8 weeks for surgery.  The receptionist who's taking her 2 week vacation.  The summer job to help fill in the cracks and be that "additional support" that the company believes that they need for just a few months.   The temp who's brought in to help with some "special project" or whatever.  Etc.  But I'm not looking for temp to hire.  It totally works for me and I love it and I've been very lucky with my temp agency in this area. 

Getting back to how I can "walk in both worlds" by doing this, I'll use some of my recent temp gigs as an example:

- The last place I was at before this one I was there for a year, full time, 40 hours a week 5 days a week.  They knew they were eventually closing the office though which is why I wasn't hired on permanently (which was fine by me....) and so I just worked there for a year until they closed that office and merged with the Pennsylvania location.  But I answered phones and in between that did random miscellaneous things like word processing, creating forms, doing mail outs, etc.  But the phone only rang about 20-40 times a day, and mail outs were only here and there, and word processing even less so.  So I had a LOT of free time on my hands and they totally didn't care how I spent it either....just as long as I was parked in front of that phone.   So guess what I did with my 40 hours a week?

I wrote a book! 

I did additional research for my book!

And I wrote stuff for my website!

You can't get much better than that!      Seriously!  It was awesome!  Because of that job, I discovered that my prime time for writing is the morning, and there I was at my computer going to town, typing away, every day, in between answering random calls.  8 hours a day I wrote, then went home and wrote for another 8.  So people asked me how I managed to generate a book in only about 3 months' time.........It's because of that job.  I was given that job for a reason, otherwise the book never would have happened.  I was being paid to write my book basically.  And after I finished the book and the revisions I later did a LOT of knitting and some crocheting.    I took up knitting in crocheting in September of last year and got to use my time at work to practice, practice, practice it all.   

- Then there was the temp gig I had back in 2005 at an astronomy observatory HQ, which to this day was probably my best temp gig only because of its climactic ending.  But I was brought in to help put together this 200-300 page year-end senior review book thing that goes out to all the big wigs in the company as well as the National Science Foundation, because the main woman who usually did it had to have an emergency hysterectomy at the same time.  So she was going to be out of commission for 6 - 8 weeks, recuperating.  (It ended up being 10, because of complications.)   But they needed somebody who A) Can type fast,  B) Knows Word, and knows it REALLY well for formatting, because the women there were all "old school" and only really knew Word Perfect; and C) Can proofread and edit documents for spelling, typos, grammar, etc.   I was given a Word formatting test during my interview along with a spelling/grammar doc to correct to show that I could do that, and passed it all with flying colors and was hired on.  (to clarify - the scientists wrote all their stuff then emailed it to me to drop into this master document where I then had to format it to match everything else and help format the pics and graphics; the content of it was edited by an actual scientist though!)  And it just ended up being a really cool gig, for multiple reasons.  Really nice people, kick back relaxed environment, great view out the office window of sun, blue sky and green trees everyday, free coffee and fancy sweet treats in the kitchen every day at 10. And most important:   I learned a TON of stuff during my three months later working on this book for them....................things that I would end up needing to know how to do for my own book, a year later.   All the fancy little formatting stuff of my book I learned from that gig at NRAO.  So I can't imagine if I hadn't had this gig.   And then it culminated with me being asked to help work at this solar/physics conference at Wintergreen Resort - all expenses paid.  Gas mileage, resort room, meals.  And where I was given a free USB memory port stick thing (for those who are not technologically inclined - USB sticks are the new floppy disks - small little portable sticks that hold like 100 times the amount of information on them....These sticks usually cost about $30, but I was given one for free which had the solar conference logo and dates printed on it).........and which I'd later end up using religiously while writing my book.  So it came in handy in a BIG way!   Coolness on multiple levels.

And people look down on temping.    Shame shame.  I've had nothing but fun doing it, and have gotten a lot of benefits and perks.   

But anyway, I think one issue for people who are disillusioned with work is that they mistakenly believe that they really only have two options in life:   It's either 1) "Find your passion and make money off of it!" (no offense, but I don't know why that irritates me and makes me want to roll my eyes....probably because it's cliche, and I've seen too many people chasing after that concept in such a desperate way) or   2)  Be a Matrix pod person who's trapped in a full time soul-sucking job until you die.  The end.

I've been fortunate to create Option 3 that melds the two - I work in mainstream temp gigs....but they somehow are tailored to what makes me happy and give me these unexpected added perks and benefits.  These gigs work for me.  Not the other way around.

Anyway, that's my two cents.  It's where I'm at now.  Who knows what the future brings!

STT.....You are kind of where I am in my life. I just cant seem to find my passion. Although Ive been a mostly stay at home Mom most of my life, I have worked retail and such off and on to supplement my family's income. After 20+ years of living pretty much in poverty, my husband managed to land a job ten yrs ago, that pays well, plus he also does freelance work, so we have been doing pretty good since. But, in this day and age, you cant always count on that being there either.  I know a lot of people would love to stay at home, but how many times can you clean the house, etc?  It can become mind numbing after a while. Im not one of these people that would shop every day (where do these people get all their money?)and go out to lunch with the bff, and get manicures and all that bullshit. I would rather do something meaningful. But Im also struggling with, what is my passion?, will it make a difference? and should I try and make money doing something that benefits others?   I have  worked retail and quite frankly it sucked. Your treated like shit most of the time, the pay is crappy and the stress is unbelievable. Very few employers are understanding when your kid is sick.    The world right now is only designed to keep the elite happy and healthy.  I worked from home as a wedding cake designer for 4 yrs.,until 2yrs ago, after , my "boss" went bi-polar on me, and I got sick of working my ass off for these spoiled rich bitchy brides.  My husband loves what he does but hates the corp. he works for.(He works in advertising, basically, and he says he "lies for a living". He seem okay with that. )  He wants to go completely freelance, buy a hotdog cart, and sell hotdogs at the beach in the summer.  Me, I still dont know what the hell I want to do.  I agree STT, the world would be a better place if we could all do what we love.  And its easy to lose your passion when you've woken to whats really going on in our reality. I struggle with the same ?'s and feelings you do.  I have no answers.  I just have pushed on, and things just seem to work out for us, doesnt necessarily make me happy or fulfilled though. I have good days, and bad days. Im still here. And if my passion comes along, great! I just wanted you to know you are not alone in feeling the way you do!!!

Iv'e done many different types of manual jobs -  building , window cleaning , gardening , spent lots of time unemployed , daffodil picking in Cornwall . I got ill went to the doctors they said there's nothing wrong with you -  get back to work ! I begged to differ and ended up spending 5 yrs homeless / wandering round the uk with no money at-all , looking back at the homeless period it was the best - no one telling me what to do ; and all my needs taken care of (the goddess provides) soup kitchens , supermarket skips , charity shop throw out's for clothes and found some amazing places to sleep , when in Bath uk i was sleeping next to the river avon under a covered walkway in a beautiful park -  also found a bike shed in an abandoned school yard which i equiped with carpets , candles from the church and bedding supplied by the local night shelter  .

Most recently i got a job working as an under-gardener on a country estate in Scotland - (the land owner is a member of the House of Lords in London) Anyway i had an accident at work and injured my back and am now unemployed/on the sick and awaiting some compensation - so i can move on to my next adventure.

I've always wanted/dreamt of living in a community so will be moving further up north to a place associated with the Findhorn community called Newbold House and do some WOOFing -  where i will get board and lodging and learn about organic gardening...Since i am diabetic at the moment(i intend to get better) the lifestyle will help - fresh organic produce and the company of kindred spirits.

I work Monday through Friday as an assistant business manager for a regional theatre company, and I'll earn a couple thousand dollars writing plays this year. 

The first theatre company I work for does a majority of mindless, fluffy plays, and one or two genuinely challenging think-pieces a year.  The second theatre company I work for, being smaller, can afford to do substantive (and less profitable) plays all the time.

There probably aren't very many professions, like theatre, where the relationship between money and mindlessness is so obvious.  People rarely pay to be stirred-up or awakened...and usually when people are paying a lot for awakening, they're getting a rose-colored, low-fat experience.

In the last year I've coped by telling myself (taking a page out of the Days of War, Nights of Love) that I'll do anything to follow my bliss--even be a hypocrite.  What's the big deal, really?  Being awakened doesn't mean being "pure."

Hi Seeking,
I wait tables for a living.   It is a pretty menial job, but it's easy, fun (mostly, lol), and I make a lot of money doing it.  The restaurant I work at is right on the beach, I love it.  Some days the porpoises come close to shore and play around, almost as if they are showing off for everyone.  I can have whatever days off I want, and work more or less, depending on how much I want to work.  Anyway, the money I make doesn't even feel real most times, it's almost silly.  Like today I made $160, for just 5 hours of work.  That may not seem like very much to some people, but it works for me!

Well I hope that helped, and I hope it didn't sound like I was bragging.  Good luck in finding a new, easy, profitable, *enjoyable* job!

I’m called a fluids programmer.  That’s my title.  I kind of fell into it, whether by accident or design, I don’t know.  It’s a long story.  Basically, I do research and write reports in a specialized service sector of the oil and gas industry.  Definitely not what I had planned on doing with my life, it goes against so many of my personal morals it’s not even funny, but it pays the bills.  This new place I’m at is pretty decent, tho.  If it falls through here, I’ve decided I’ll walk away from the whole thing, take Lyra’s advice and sign up with a temp agency.  That or wait tables like Darkstar.

ETA - I don't live entirely in two worlds yet.  I'm still in the closet for the most part.