What do you do? And do you love it?

I was pondering what kind of jobs are out there, what is everybody doing these days, do you love it? hate it? Why?

Currently I'm a photographer, but I'm always open to new experiences. I do love it, most days. I feel like I love helping people more. The only thing about it is how I hate being stuck at a desk. Which I guess is the trade off.

Alright, your turn.

i wakeboard and i love it. oh a job. i'm in sales and it's about the same when times are good i love it when times are bad i wonder why did i choose this profession.

IT, Network Engineer.

I wouldn't say I love it but definitely don't hate it. More along the lines of I like it. Worst part is being at a desk most of the time. I do work from home two days a week which is a plus.

Been a programmer for 29 years. Can't complain and I enjoy the job.

I dunk on people, and shoot a very high percent from beyond the 3 pt line.

Pornstar. Ain't too bad of a gig. Some days are better then others

I have a desk job doing data entry. It sucks, but it pays the bills for now.

The funny thing is, I've been wanting to pursue photography as a career, and I could sit at a desk for hours editing my photos. I don't mind the desk if I choose to be there...=)

I work with the developmentally disabled population and can't see myself doing anything else. I absolutely love my job so much I look forward to work... if you can call it that.
They teach me just as much as I teach them.

Marketing Automation software sales in SMB.

I've done a lot of career swapping. I always end up coming back to this. Money is great. Awesome company and people. I just don't get a lot of free time to play during the week. I went for more of a lifestlye job in fitness and nutrition a couple of years ago. While I had more free time, I was not able to provide myself and my family with the lifestyle they deserved. Nothing sucks more than short money.

Got my frist real job this summer and I'm loving it.... onnly been about 8 weeks so far butthere hasn't been 1 day I've woken up and been pissed about having to go in.

I'm a manufacturing engineer for the largest french fry/potato producer in the world.... exciting eh?
They hired me on full time for the next 3 months, I'll go back to school for a semester and then come back to work after that... but for a first job the pay is awesome, close to my moms house (can still live at home and save $$$)... only drawback is by the time I get home I've got ~1 hour to wakeboard before our lake's no wake policy goes into effect.

Attorney - plaintiff's work, civil practice (helping people). Absolutely love my job and the lifestyle it affords (low stress, live on water, work less than 40 hours/week, stimulating work environment).

Andy, if I hire you to do some work, does it come with a pass to the Manhattan?

My title is Creative Director but I wear many hats. I mainly do web development, graphic design and application development . I am either writing code or designing in Photshop and Illustrator all day. I absolutely love my job, so much so that I do free lance as well.

Oh and the company I work for is a managed dedicated hosting and cloud computing provider.

Freight Broker or Logistics Manager which ever way you want to look at it. I love it sometimes hate it at other times. But when I am sitting on my boat with a cocktail in hand able to work from any lake with cell service. It makes those bad days not so bad.

I'm a mechanical engineer, graduated in 97. I've worked in the industrial food industry, and now I work in the sewer industry. Everyone's gotta eat and chit, so business is pretty steady. I like my boss, seldom work long hours, and it pays the bills - can't complain too much. I did straight design / project management for most of my career thusfar, but recently branched into a couple other roles which has been refreshing.

I think if you are good at managing your time, managing stress, and have a thick skin, pretty much any job will be tolerable.

One more note: I wouldn't regularly work 60+ hrs a week for ANY salary. I consider the time and resources to play and be with my family as my biggest priority in life, not money.

I manage a business development department at a large corp. The actual job function is whatever. Running a team and making a difference in their lives is what keeps me coming back. No matter what job I have moving forward I will make sure the people that work for me (or I work for) are individuals I want to work with. This can really make or break a job.

Eric Nelson what company do you work for? I work for an IMC in WA

stay at home dad and part time student. I cant think of a time in the last ten years where I have been happier. less income, but more time with the kid/s, and much more time outdoors. sucks that my first summer of this, I am too injured to ride. can't wait for next year though!

wow, looks like we have a bunch of over achievers here, but i guess you have to be a go getter to wakeboard, most people are in neither group.
I actually taught a photoshop class last year, best job ever! the reason for the edit was i didn't put my i before my e

Marine Surveyor. Love it most days. Every day my office has a different view and it's always over water. The boat and client determine the love / hate ratio. The gig was a natural segway from a life on boats, 22 years bending wrenches and delivering yachts. Lots of expensive ongoing education. I'll never get rich and cant yet afford a V drive but it's a decent living. Maybe when Momma goes to work.

General contractor for 30 years, and VW/ Porsche mechanic for the first few years out of high school.

Upside to working for yourself = No boss, no set hours, vacation whenever you want, and you get to call all the shots.

Downside to working for yourself = You are the boss and have to deal with employees, you work well beyond clock out time, you can only vacation when work is slow and then you can't afford it, and you have to call all the shots.

Project engineer for one of California's largest construction companies. Everyday is new, I love it. Ill put it this way - if I won the lottery Id still be working there.

Drilling consultant for Chesapeake energy

It pays the bills I suspose... Lots of hours & late nights, oilfied never sleeps...

Hydronic engineer specializing in central heating, high capacity hot water and syphonic rain water systems for big buildings. I mostly enjoy it but have been doing it for almost 20years and would like a change in the next few years.

Executive Banquet Chef, Venetian/Palazzo Hotels Las Vegas. I feed a lot of people a lot of meals.

I work 65+ hours a week so the money is good because there is no time to spend it. Job has really cramped my social life and wakeboarding time, but hopefully it get's better. This time of year should be slow for us, but due to the flooding last month in Tennesse, business is better then ever.

Worst part of the job is a lot of office time, writing menus, ordering food, meeting clients, following up at parties. I wish I had more time out of the office!

IT Manager for a large chemical manufacture in the flooring industry. I don't love it, but I do enjoy my job most days.

Mechanical Engineer. Currently working as the Program Quality Engineer manufacturing stuff for the military. I like it most of the time, gets frustrating alot, boring at times. But I get to travel some and it doesnt interfere with home time too often.

Joint Venture and Vendor Auditor. Money is good, hours are very low, minimal travel, my boss is great, great benifits and vacation. I cant' say I love it, but dont' hate coming into the office every day. Very cliche , but I work so I can live, not the other way around. I grew up in a family where my dad was a borderline work-a-holic. I wont' be that way.

It would be great to be able to do what you love and are pasionate about, but in my situation it just woudlnt' pay the bills.

Bunch of businesses, could never work for the man.

Electrical Engineer. I have worked my way through engineering at one of the largest publicly owned utilities in the country. Unfortunately, I only earned an associates degree and it dead ended my career, even though I was a "go to guy", prided myself on my work and "out of the box" thinking. Five years ago, after 20 in engineering, I went to Operations in order to extend my career path. It is non-stop and actually a 24x7 job. I'm always thinking about it and have learned that if I even have a passing thought of something could happen, I should act on it, because it always DOES happen. I loved engineering and would go back if the money was better, but I do enjoy seeing what I designed work and coordinating work with large customers and all facets of construction (distribution, substation, transmission). I now hold a NERC Transmission Operator license, which opens new doors and makes me more valuable, however, I doubt I will be going anywhere due to family and such.

Currently my son is in Electrical Engineering at Mississippi State. He will not make the same mistake I made and will hopefully do well enough to have his own boat.

I'm a 'Financial Information Systems Analyst'. Hybrid between Corporate Finance and IT. Basically, we build and maintain the financial databases that corporate finance and accouting relies on to get to 'the numbers'. I like it quite a bit becuase it requires a special mix of understanding of business/finance as well as a good IT acumen. and I specialize in Hyperion Systems which is pretty niche....e.g. lucrative. but my bacground is quite varied.... US Navy Electronics Tech, Elevator Mechanic, Telecoms, Internal Auditor... I'd say the Navy and my current career have been the best.

I am a school psychologist for San Diego Unified School District. The district politics suck! Being the first to identify a learning disability, autism or even mental retardation sucks, much more so now being a mom of young children. But developing educational plans, interventions and seeing them through is awesome. Being off with my own kids 12 weeks a year is awesome. I have been luck to work at the same school for 8 years and it is 100% military families. Watching these kids deal with so much on the outside with constant deployments and the cycle that happens when a parent returns and the resiliency that they have is awesome. I love the school I work at, the special education staff I work with and so much more. It makes the other things managable.

Market Manager for Travelocity...the online hotel and flight ticket retailer. Funnest job of my career. I basically manage the relationships between the company and our hotelier partners. It wasnt always like this though...went through many positions in the hospitality industry to get here.

I am a State Farm Agent. I love my job as I have no boss and own the Agency. I love the lifestyle it allows my family to live. I work less than 30 hours and week and do very well for our family. Wife is a RN and works part time just for her sanity I think more than anything. I could never go back to having a boss again. Been here for 7 years and can't complain a bit. Traveled alot through State Farm as awards and lookin forward to alot more trips and time off. We don't live on the lake yet, but looking at buying a lake house soon. 4 kids ages 8,6,4,2 so we have alot of great times on the water ahead. Just an amazing life, all because of the profession I decided on.

I am currently working partime for a logistics company. I have been with them for 10 years now, and a few years ago I was managing a distribution center. I thought that company was where I would stay forever. One day after 18 months at that position, I realized I was doing something that I did not enjoy. I wanted to help people. I resigned my position the next day. The company asked me to reconsider, I declined, but agreed to remain with the company in a limited capacity. I enrolled in college and with the intent of being a high school history teacher. I love history and I think I would enjoy teaching that subject, the business side of me realized that job prospects were not great as a history major. So after my first semester, I switched to mathematics. I now have two semesters left to go. I will graduate with a BS in Secondary Math and a BS in Applied Math. I plan on teaching after graduation, but I will begin working on my Master's. I would like to eventually teach math at a community college.

Like Robert, I really enjoyed the Navy.

Registered Rep & Life/Health Agent. Presently working for a CFP at a local firm, but planning on going it alone in the next year with the same firm. I never thought I'd be in this industry (I studied commercial tourism in college), but I really enjoy the people side of the industry. Seeing folks through tough times and helping them towards retirement or helping pay for their kids college is very rewarding. I am one of the fortunate few that got to stick around the town I went to school in and it is a sweet place, very blessed. Oh, if you guys feel the need, send money!

I own a consulting firm that focuses on online enterprise applications.

Do I love it, sometimes. I am not a fan of being inside all day but the $$ makes up for that. Sometimes I feel like a glorified adult babysitter. Sometimes I miss the ability to mentally checkout at 5 PM everyday.

Overall the benefits WAY outweigh the downsides though...

Part owner with my father of a pool/spa/waterfeature construction company.
We specialize in high end projects (100k-1mil+) but due to the economy have pretty much taken what we can get...small simple stuff and remodels for filler work. 2yrs ago we opened our service repair division, and service 30+ multimillion dollar homes' pools/fountains.
I've been in pool construction my whole life, being a third generation local builder. We strive on first class service, high-tech automation and unique materials, designing one-of-a-kind projects for the particular buyer who doesn't want the norm.

Do I love it? Most days- although being an owner is high stress at times. Designing and turning completed projects over to clients is the best part.

Manzo- missing the ability to mentally checkout at 5 everyday is something I miss more than anything....

I'm a filmmaker and I love it! I'm being paid to spend this weekend in Vegas to shoot one scene for a film. It will take less than two hours to shoot, and the rest of the time we'll be partying. Does it get better than that?

I am a chicken farmer that just inherited some cash from an uncle who passed away, I am gonna go out and by me a X80 real soon and do some stuntin.

I am sure that cruisin in my B.A. x80 will make me the baller I have always wanted to be, so I am sure that my new employment will be better then anyone else and just remember I am the best O.G. around.

Electrician, I spent 10+ years in the construction side (Industrial/commercial) and beat my body up good. Lots of hours a week, and no free time. Currently found my way into a maintenance position up in Alaska working 2 weeks on and get 2 weeks off. I miss alot of important days back home with the family depending on how my schedule falls BUT the 2 weeks off at a time has been wonderfull! I do more with my family with this schedule than I did with my old 40 hour work load. I finally enjoy this. There are times I miss construction, but the time off supercedes all else. I visit my kids in school, go to school activitees when they come up and get more projects done around the house and do more family outings than most. But I do miss the family when Im gone though, thats the trade off

Methods engineer at a Steel Casting company. Love it because its something different every day.

Industrial mechanic/electrician. Pretty good job most days, just wish the pay was a little better. It doesn't pay that bad though.

In Air Force pilot training now flying the T-38C. I have three months left until graduation. I would do the job for FREE! It's just a bonus that I get paid to do this.

lineman for life "dig a hole, set a pole" hang a pot, make 'er hot! The only way to the top "climb"

I still haven't nailed down my job title, but for the last 5 years I've worked for an IT company that create retail software systems, mostly for high fashion stores.

I teach people how to use the software, maintain warehouse hardware and provide database support, and most days it's an awesome job, good perks like a phone and insurance and I get to get out of the office quite a bit. Some days it's hell but I only work 40 hours most weeks, a long week is more like 80 - 100 hours usually only when upgrading a warehouse or installing new customer sites.

i am currently a professional ski bum at big sky resort

money is not too great but i get to ride over 100 days a year and wouldn't change a thing

I am a nuclear cardiology technologist. It sucks. Hate it. Same **** EVERY SINGLE DAY....it's no different from factory work. Pay is good, hours are fine, but the mental stimulation (after 15 yrs of it) is zero. Now I'm working on my MBA so I can get a job in finance-I like numbers--they don't whine or complain.

electrical engineer. I develop microprocessors. I enjoy it. new challenges every day and the pay is quite good.Only downside is dealing with other engineers. I like to think of myself as fairly personable, but many out there are quite introverted.

CADD Manager/Coordinator for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington, Washington DC. Love it except when I have to try and teach old engineers and architects how to use AutoCADD. I like working for the government because of the job security, benefits, retirement and of course coworkers. But hate the DC area traffic.

Cop....

The upside-
What's not to like? I get to drive fast, carry weapons, chase bad guys and I'm the boss wherever I go. My limits are defined, but I get to work within those limits to accomplish my tasks. I work with a bunch of guys that have a strong sense of right/wrong and get to be the hero for the folks who really appreciate what we stand for...

The job itself is very low stress to me, but I can also say that I don't take it home with me and look at it as only a job. I still bleed red, not blue, and it keeps me in gas money .......

The down side-
In-house politics, dealing with peoples' lifelong and/or petty problems and being expected to make it all go away right now, like magic with no effort from them other than the call they make even if they are part of the problem or we are unable to legally.

Long reports......... Ok, ANY report. I could also include the possibility of death every minute I'm at work, and idiots who look for reasons to blame police as a whole for the actions of a few, or carry on about how everything should be ok these days, but that's what I signed up for when I started this job....

If you're in the mall and you hear machine guns going off and see people around you dying, we'll be the guys running toward it as you're leaving......... Hopefully when it's over we'll see you at the lake later..

Joe, thanks for doing what you do.

+1 for Joe and I'll add mac in there as well

Thank you!