Support NeoGAF

[Knuckle Sandwich]

Maintenance guy at a property management company.

Pros: Good money, pretty much can't be fired do to the friendships I have with the supervisors and even the owners... I'm also good at it lol.

Cons: It's a lot of work. Monday-friday I'm the only guy at a 70+ unit apartment complex but they also have me train newbies at other complexes and do work on houses they rent out. It's summer and I'm in the central valley so this is the worst time of year for my job. :-(

 

[Oscar]

Project Manager for a construction contractor.

All I do is make sure the carpenters/painters aren't fucking up, easy money. Major perk is that I'm at home 75% of the time if the project is going problem-free. Con would be that I'm basically on call Monday-Friday.

Currently in college for Information Technology & Systems, goal is to transition to a PM role in the tech field. Almost went the Computer Science route, but I fear all the coding/programming jobs will be automated in the future.

 

[verbatimo]

IT Helpdesk at university of applied sciences.

It's always nice to clean some teachers laptops from malware. I don't know how they get so much at it, but I have my own suspicion.

 

[AudioNoir]

Admin in an oncology physician office. We have a small team of oncologists for a medium sized clinic. We do clinical trials and stuff, too.

I got the job by starting as a casual employee doing patient transportation, and have worked up to this full time gig. I've got good benefits, a pension, and I'm in a union.

Pros:
Great pay for what I do, and our patients are sweethearts. My boss is a fantastic doctor, and a generally good human being. My coworkers are great and easy to get along with. There's also a daycare in the building, so it's easy for my husband to collect us all when we're done for the day.

Cons:
My boss works specifically on very aggressive cancers, so those sweetheart patients i mentioned previously often aren't with us long. It's hard to watch sometimes.

Another con is that my job is ultimately great re: schedule, pay, colleagues, and everything else, so I'm forever waiting for something to go wrong and screw that all up :')

 

[Sora_N]

Accountant at a small firm.

Right now I'm doing audits for a while which is good since I'm trying to get my designation.

Cons : overworked as hell and the pay is shit

Pros : experience that I need

 

[Einherjar]

Backend software developer at an investment bank, in a team related to the pricing of financial instruments.

Pros: I enjoy programming, so doing it at work doesn't really ever feel ike work.

Cons: On-call - although only once every 6 weeks so it's not too bad.

 

[Blak_Status]

SEO manager for a large media group

Pros:

Good $$$ and benefits
I love what I do
Great boss
Excellent company
Flexible schedule

Cons:

Mainly corporate politics and red tape from being in a big company. One small thing might take months to execute.

 

[Despera]

Senior Product Engineer at a major oil services company. Salary is pretty good, but I don't really see myself continuing in this career path. Planning on quitting and switching careers once I have enough money saved up.

I'm a Technical Account Manager at a realty software company. My job is to assist a specific client of ours, one of the major wireless carrier companies. I help them to find the best processes in the software, as well as troubleshoot issues and work internally on escalating defects and such.

Pros: Everyone is friendly, I make a good enough salary, and it's reasonably close to my house.

Cons: Sometimes our software shits the bed, which means late nights or weekends working, as well as getting yelled at by angry clients.

This really is not my career area though. I'm hoping to quit relatively soon and work in the field of concept art.

Judging by the art thread you have a great chance of achieving that. Really like your work

 

[Gabriel_Logan]

Low voltage electrician (mostly alarms), Kansas City.

 

[BahamutPT]

Freelance translator, mostly videogame-focused

Pros:
Can work where, how and when I want, as long as I meet my deadlines

Cons:
Haven't really had a problem so far, but the nature of the job dictates workload, and thus salary, will vary wildly

 

[Charcoal]

I'm a network engineer in Chicago

 

[_illmatic_]

Software Engineer for a local startup. Love working with all the different technologies, building new features. Small team of like minded really smart guys. Cons is the commute is about 40 mins and in the middle of nowhere​.

 

[nintendork666]

I change needle bins at the 2nd largest hospital in Michigan.

Pros: No boss, getting paid to walk at least 5 miles a day, making my own hours, benefits, etc.

Cons: Sick ppl r gross, hospital food is expensive

 

[Rahvar]

Technical service manager at a Swedish electronics retail chain store. Basically I do some store work, some paperwork and I have to make all the calls on problematic or odd-case customers.

Pros: pay is decent and I work about 40 hours a week.

Con: customer service job... The other day I had a customer try to return a $600 Neato. I open it up and there's water in and on the machine.. I ask him about it and he said he cleaned the filter of course. I try to explain to him that I can't accept a machine full of water. He then got agitated and said that there wasn't much water and juat the filter was damp. Meanwhile there's water leaking out through both the wheel mechanics and the suction pipe on the counter...

 

[InfiniteBento]

Pastry Cook III working towards becoming Jr Sous chef by the end of summer (possibly sooner!)

Pros: Im doing what im passionate about. I learn new methods and techniques every single day. Its never boring or a repeated schedule. The industry has taught me to be resilient, how to multitask, be efficient, and push beyond my own limits. The people you work with are insane and you all learn to love each other for both your great days and your worst nights. Everyone learns from each other so when you thrive so does everyone else.

Cons: Doesn't pay much, requires severe dedication to the craft, 10-12 hour days are normal. Head chefs can be extremely demanding and cruel at times.

I wouldnt change my career for the world. Im only 23 and the possibilities are endless.

 

[Dragon Puncher]

I make salads.

I'm a History major, tell me more. Do you edit articles for errors?

There's a lot to it actually. We have freelancers who write the bulk of the text, but everything else is done by editors in combination with our graphics department. So I find possible subjects for articles, write a synopsis for how we want the article written, decide the overall layout, find images and of course fact check and edit the text.

It's something that 10 years ago would probably have been done exclusively by journalists, but at least I am they have started to take in history majors with writing experience as well (I was the chief editor of the history magazine at my university).

It is a great job and I still feel like a lucky bastard for landing it, while a lot of my buddies are unemployed or only working part time..

 

[spekkeh]

I'm an assistant professor of game design.

Pros: well, I get to read GAF to ah stay current with my field and get paid for it. I also supervise like 60 student games, VR installations and intelligent physical play environments a year. I'm in a design school at a research university so everything around me is pretty interesting too. People are basically busy designing the future.

Cons: After all that reading GAF for er work, as well as teaching and administration, there's practically no time to do actual research anymore. Also as great as it may sound in the end it's still work. You get up too early, sit at a desk too long and are stuck in meetings ostensibly 24/7.

 

[SirUltimos]

I'm the front end development lead for an email marketing company. On the side, I also work for a small videogame company as a programmer that ports their games to other platforms.

 

[Magwik]

Going back to good ole Factory work today. Operating a special press for 40+ hours a week. Yaaaaaaay

 

[Vestal]

I am an IAM Software Engineer at a fortune 500 Investment Firm.

Pros:
Flexible schedule.
Autonomy.
Lots of learning opportunities.( Got my CISSP a year ago and hoping to get a few certs next year)

Cons:
Salary not very competitive.
Lack of environment stability. ( Dev/QA environments are a mess causing issues in development)
Execisive use of outsourcing in coding brings in a huge bag of nope regarding coding practices.

 

[WhiskerFrisker]

There's a lot to it actually. We have freelancers who write the bulk of the text, but everything else is done by editors in combination with our graphics department. So I find possible subjects for articles, write a synopsis for how we want the article written, decide the overall layout, find images and of course fact check and edit the text.

It's something that 10 years ago would probably have been done exclusively by journalists, but at least I am they have started to take in history majors with writing experience as well (I was the chief editor of the history magazine at my university).

It is a great job and I still feel like a lucky bastard for landing it, while a lot of my buddies are unemployed or only working part time..

Interesting. I don't have any experience yet regarding History, so I should really do some internships.

 

[Jisgsaw]

Development engineer (well, technically QA, but I do a bit of everything right now) for ADAS systems in the automotive sector at a consulting firm.

Pros:
- Probably one of the most interesting fields for engineering work right now (autonomous driving)
- Decent / good pay (for Europe)

Cons:
- Overworked as hell for the last two years
- Currently in a pre-series project, so no real project structure nor processes, and a client who doesn't know what he wants; which leads to lots of tensions and above mentioned overwork.

 

[Syraxith]

Junior Software Developer at a small startup.

Pros:

- Constantly learning new skills
- Sometimes get to travel
- Mostly autonomous, I've built up enough trust within the company so I'm not micromanaged by anyone.

Cons:

- Low pay, nearly non-existent benefits
- Mismanagement, company is ran by people who have no organizational skills or experience to lead a project from start to finish. Constant changes to design scope are a weekly occurrence here.
- No real office structure/hierarchy (see mismanagement).
- Developers are expected to do everything from design & implementation, to Q&A, to technical support for clients.

I'm currently learning web development in my spare time to get the hell out of here.

but I fear all the coding/programming jobs will be automated in the future.

Programming isn't something that can really be automated. The bigger problem is companies trying to flood the labor market with cheap H1-B visa holders to drive down wages.

Execisive use of outsourcing in coding brings in a huge bag of nope regarding coding practices.

This so much. Before I was hired a large portion of our project codebase was being developed by japanese firm. The best way to describe the various styles range from esoteric to completely nonsensical.

 

[Piggus]

I'm a copyeditor (aka professional grammar nazi) for a large audiobook producer/distributor. I fix people's shitty-ass book descriptions, cut descriptions down to very short versions for library and retail catalogs, and format said catalogs so that copy, book info, marketing points, and quotes all fit nicely together.

Great benefits and awesome coworkers, but the pay is pretty mediocre. After three years and a nice raise each year, I'm still at the lower end of what's expected for the profession. The good thing I guess is that I'm in a position to move up in the next several years.

I also do a bit of menu and graphic design work on the side, mainly for my mom's restaurant.

 

[gwarm01]

Clinical informatics analyst.

Pros: low stress, good pay
Cons: a lot of my coworkers have zero computer skills and it's very frustrating

 

[Moose Biscuits]

Call center lackey for an insurance company.

Pros: gives me money, I don't have to worry about work outside the hours I work. I don't spend all the time on the phone to customers.

Cons: dislike talking to customers intensely.

 

[Presco]

Territory Manager for a very large medical device company.

I'm in charge of neurosurgery operating room implant support, surgeon, nurse, and fellow training in the use of the tech, managing hospital inventory consignment, patient pathway building, new program development, and a whole lot more. I jumped from a Postdoc position closely related to the industry directly to the industry 10 months ago and it has turned out to be a great decision.

Pros: every day is different, I am constantly working with very smart people, I make a direct clinical impact in many people's lives every week, I get to travel a fair bit, I work from home on days I'm not in the OR or on the road, and I have given my family a financial freedom that I never thought possible. In 10 months I have been able to save enough for a down payment in an insane Toronto housing market, while also paying 3.5k monthly rent. We bought a new house last week, moving in July.

Cons: I have a young family (3 year old and 3 month old), so while I do enjoy some travel, any overnight time away is tough on my family. I'm heading to a Scotland next week for a conference, and while I'm looking forward to it, I know my wife is not. Multi day trips are rare, maybe 3-4 times per year. Working from home 1 or 2 days a week does sort of even this out. My territory is large so my commute can fluctuate wildly; one day I'm downtown Toronto, the next day I'm in London (Ontario - couple hours west).

I miss some aspects of my previous academic life, like running experiments and writing papers. Won't miss the constant pressure to find grant money though, a pressure that was only increasing as I got closer to running my own lab. Relying on funding agencies to pay the salary of multiple people is not a position I wanted to be in after seeing very good people (also with young families) let go because no funding proposals were successful.

 

[GuyKazama]

Freelance Software Engineer

I work from home building iOS apps and websites / web apps.

 

[dcassell]

I am a technical editor and program review specialist for a digital security company.

Pros: The job is interesting and relatively stress free, and I can listen to podcasts and music while I work. Money is alright, and every promotion I get makes me life a lot easier, as the more administrative stuff is a lot easier than grinding through documents and editing them (which is where I started).

Cons: I hate dealing with paranoid security people, and seeing how little people actually put in effort to protect themselves makes me feel extremely apathetic at times. Sitting in front of a computer drilling through word docs is exhausting at times. I now have neck problems from sitting at a desk for 50 hours a week, too.

 

[MarmiteBadger]

Shear Operator in a big fabrication company.

Pros:
Good benefits.
Good money.
Brain dead position so I can focus on drawing and music outside of my job.

Cons:
Needs more days off.

 

[Air]

Job 1:
Freelance animator at a studio that works for mtv, can and some other corporations.

Pros- the work is super easy, co-workers are super fun, pay is good for starting.

Cons- hours can suck sometimes, commute is pretty long, 1099

Job 2:
Temporary Event coordinator for my old college.

Pros- people are nice to work with and I know them, hours are steady, get to meet a lot of new people.

Cons- not the work I want to be doing.

There's other stuff I'm doing as well, but none of it has hot me any worthwhile money yet (though the potential is there.

 

[Moose Biscuits]

Shear Operator in a big fabrication company.

Pros:
Good benefits.
Good money.
Brain dead position so I can focus on drawing and music outside of my job.

Cons:
Needs more days off.

Factory work? Would you recommend it as a long term thing, do you need any specific qualifications?

 

[SliceSabre]

Insurance Underwriter for a huge insurance company.


Positives: Ok pay, excellent PTO and other benefits. Certainly level of independence in making big decisions.

Negatives: its partly customer service so I have agents cussing me out...a lot. Mentally taxing.

 

["God's Beard!"]

I run a floral shop in the San Francisco East Bay. Being the boss is pretty fun and it pays well, only downside is that I can't really take days off when I want.

When I'm not at work I'm a freelance illustrator and I handle some of the graphic design and advertising for local businesses alongside the occasional illustration work like children's books.

I'm pretty sure I could be a professional dried mango eater, though.

 

[Horp]

I'm a Programmer & System Architect at a very big tech company.
I also own my own business where we develop gps based augmented reality solutions for iOS and Android.

 

[maxcriden]

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";237693990]I run a floral shop in the San Francisco East Bay. Being the boss is pretty fun and it pays well, only downside is that I can't really take days off when I want.

When I'm not at work I'm a freelance illustrator and I handle some of the graphic design and advertising for local businesses alongside the occasional illustration work like children's books.

I'm pretty sure I could be a professional dried mango eater, though.[/QUOTE]

Not to mention a famed professional documenter of Italian Meals.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Enrolled Agent (tax preparer). I work for my family business.

 

[DBT85]

I broadcast live sport all over the world. Primarily the Premier League, but also tennis, F1, golf, rugby, cricket, olympics, other football, american football, hockey, basketball etc.

Plus side, I can do the job standing on my head, the money is good and I get a lot of time off work.

Down side, I have to stay away from home while I work and since I've doubled my shifts since my wife got pregnant, it's been a hard 6 months for us both but with a very bright light at the end of the tunnel. A baby, a great house, no debt at all and a job where I can work 120 hours a month and be comfortable.

 

[SickScottMondo]

Software developer at a decently large ERP system provider. Been working here since January and absolutely love it, I'm on the bug team where there isn't really any stress at all. Plus, I also work with a guy who worked at Ubisoft on Watch Dogs for a few months, got some interesting stories from him!

 

[Appleman]

Freelance Software Engineer

I work from home building iOS apps and websites / web apps.

How hard is it to find work? Been considering leaving a salary engineering job for a more flexible schedule

 

[Orcastar]

I'm a project manager/translator at a small translation agency. Got this job right after receiving my Master's in translation studies and have been working here for almost six years.

Pros: Translating is fun most of the time, good amount of freedom to choose what I want to work on, no quotas and very little oversight, so most of the time I'm free to slack off if I feel like it

Cons: Pay is below industry average, only received one raise (less than 5%) in the six years I've worked there, no career advancement opportunities, higher ups are idiots who don't understand the industry and have very little respect for the work we do, our office is a cramped hellhole

I get by OK, but it's definitely a dead end as far as my career goes. I keep telling myself that I should look for something better, but there don't seem to be that many jobs in the industry (I don't want to become a freelancer), and I can't think of anything else that I'd like to do. Thinking about how I've wasted six years on this job kinda makes me depressed to be honest, but I can't muster the motivation to do anything about it...

 

[Reptars Revenge]

Patent attorney for an IP firm. It's a virtual workplace firm so I get to work from home but I miss workplace drama. Hit me up for that complimentary consultation.

 

[Dragon Puncher]

Interesting. I don't have any experience yet regarding History, so I should really do some internships.

In my experience you should do pretty much all the work you can get your hands on if you don't have any thing steady. Job security is low, so everything that increases your experience and (more importantly) expand your network is crucial.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

I do customer service for a crane manufacturer for 10 years now.

I'll never understand why so many people seem to hate this 9-5 job workday (for me it's actually 7-4) because I love my job.

Very little stress, pay is good, cool workmates, I never have to do overtime (I do though because of extra $$$) and I can browse the internet during my downtime (which is often quite a lot).

I generally have load of free time and can always hit the gym after work.

Are my work days redundant sometime? Sure. But I don't care. I actually like it that way.

Try doing customer service at a major retailer/bank/phone carrier and you'll see why people hate the 9-5 grind.

 

[megarockexe]

I work as a graphic designer at an insurance company. It's also my first real employed job. And it's salaried.

Pros:
Great work environment
Relatively stress-free
Always the opportunity to learn something new
Fun team activities throughout the year

Cons:
Some people want to hear music all day and I don't and it's distracting
Have to eat lunch at my desk
Having to go to a different floor to use a bathroom

But overall it's really good. I was fortunate or got really lucky. It's not a long commute. Pay is good. Work can be easy. And I've grown a lot professionally.

 

[lem0n]

I work for Budweiser. I'm one of those guys you see in grocery stores or Walmarts wheeling hundreds of lbs of beer around the store.

Pros: Keeps me in shape, hours rule (4am to noon), pay is good, benefits are good..

Cons: fucking difficult work, lots of lifting, miles of walking every day, Arizona summer makes some back-rooms unbearable

 

[Kickz]

1st year Software Dev, mainly backend api coding in C#

Pros
Pay is damn good
Benefits are good
I program stuff

Cons
-I am a noob and software devs can be intimidating people to ask questions
-50 minute commute times
-Legacy/old code may as well be written in hieroglyphics

 

[Kyuur]

I currently work escorting client visitors into a data center.

Worked for the same employment agency the past 5~ years. Worked one contract for large IT company for about 4 years starting as helpdesk, worked my way slightly upwards until the team I was on was canned and relocated to the other side of the country. Management at the IT company liked me and offered a position within the company if I relocated but I had just bought a place here and the pay wasn't good enough so I declined. Employment agency then got me started doing random IMAC jobs until this opened up.

I get paid a hefty sum (around full-time minimum wage) weekly to simply be available 24/7. At most I am called in for a few hours a week, paid a tiny bit more when on-site. While on-site I basically sit around while the visitors do their thing, playing video games or reading or browsing GAF.

Allows me to go to University at the same time as making money, can study while I'm there. Had a couple of conflicts with lectures but nothing with exams so far. It's a pretty sweet deal thus far.

 

[John Kowalski]

I work at a bar to pay for college. I like the work and i like the people. I guess it makes me feel useful.

 

[Dascu]

Corporate lobbyist in the tech industry