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9000white wrote:the ticket for the career is doing something you enjoy.

I can't agree more.
I meandered through school, and into many uninspiring jobs to eventually become a postman. I thought it was as close as I was ever going to get to being a GP rider (hey, I do get paid to ride a motorcycle).
It was too good to be true, as a woman failed to give way, turned in front of me and I hit her square on at about 70kph. I destroyed my right wrist that was put back together with plates and screws, and it took forever to start to get better. Fortunately it happened on my way home from work so it was workers compensation and Australia Post picked up the tab.
I continued to deliver for another 12 months but my wrist was constantly hurting me because I have to sort all my mail and then deliver it riding the bike one handed. I finally had to leave what I loved because of the problems I was having.
Again I meandered through several jobs for a few years unhappy with everything hoping to find that elusive employment utopia.
5 years after I broke my wrist it was finally feeling good enough to get back on a postie bike and start delivering again. It took me four months to get through their recruitment processes but I did and I was back doing what I really loved.
Two weeks, two bloody weeks I lasted before I highsided my bike (fortunately on the way home from work again) and ended up in hospital with a broken leg. I must say that my boot saved my foot and I will be eternally grateful to the team at Alpinestars that do such a great job.
So here I am, off work again nursing an injury but thankfully getting paid for it. The irony is that I crashed literally meters away from where I got taken out five years previously.
Sorry about the rant, but I do believe that you need to find a job that you like, because most of your life will be spent working so you might as well enjoy the time.

The true ticket for work is finding something that you can stand. I think the key is to try as much as possible. Don't limit yourself to a single field, because you might be surprised what you like the best. So far my favorite job has been running a crane at a steelmill. Something I never would have expected from myself.

I've been through a lot of jobs in my short time working. 7 years is a short time, what a world we live in.

My first job was cleaning up at my Dad's work. He got me the job. The offices in town are just 2 little sections of rooms, I get paid $10 an hour to go in once a week and vaccum, dust, take out the garbage, water the plants etc. Basically make it look nice. Really easy and good pay, but hours are minimalistic. 2 hours a week tops. I still work there.

My first REAL job was at Galaxy Cinemas, I was hired to work in New York Fries/Yogun Fruz. Hard work and always keeping busy had me in the crew chief position in 2 months (think shift leader for the area). From there I spent the next 2 years or so learning how to do everything, within my last 4 months I had made it to assistant manager. But we got a new GM who decided that he didn't like the way things were run at our location. We were literally the highest grossing theater in the chain, we had the best sales, and we had the best employees. But we didn't always follow the set rules by the company. He came through and applied ALL of the rules. EG. thursday nights before a release the movies are screened. Typically it was just the projectionists that did it with the managers. As long as we weren't in trouble we were allowed to go watch it as well. Free movie, before it's released. That stopped really fast with the new guy. Just one example. Him trying to tell me how to do my job really pissed me off when I had to train him in my job the first day there. And he was telling me to do things in ways that would make closing at the end of the night take twice as long. Then I'd get in trouble for slow closes. He basically sucked ALL the fun out of the job.
Not to mention that people who go to movies suck, they're always in a bad mood. I've been yelled at for politely saying, "I'm sorry that little girl (about 10) was here first, I'll be with you in just a second."
"FINE GO TO HELL," was the response I got.
I've been called a complete jackass (in front of my manager) for stopping a guy from stealing candy. And on and on.
I put up with the job for another 2 months after the new guy arrived then quit. Fully 3/4 of the staff quit about the same time.

While I was working at Galaxy, one summer (about 4 months) I also signed on at a liquor store. Learned a lot about booze, mostly how scary the long term effects are. By the end I was responsible for doing inventories and training. Responsibility... yay.

Worked for a summer at Alberta Truss building roofs. Tough work, bad working conditions, little compensation, and a generally unsafe work envionment made sure I didn't go back.

Worked for 2 school years at shoppers drug mart as a cashier, I got asked to come back after quitting when my first year of college ended. It beat looking for a new job. But it was so intensely boring that it made me want to hurt people.

I'm currently working at Altasteel a barmill that uses recycled steel. I'm a crane operator in the shipping department. I work 12 hour rotating shifts... essentially 2 days on, 2 days off days nights days nights. But the pay is amazing and the work isn't bad. Unfortunately it is school employment which means that I'm only allowed to work there for 3 summers in a row (I'm on my second) and I have to have attended college or uni full time the year before and be registered for the year after. Though I'm considering going back after finishing my degree... it's good money. Really good money. I don't like it, but I don't hate it, which is better then any other ob I've ever had.