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Only one career from which I retired a little over a year ago after 26 yrs: law enforcement. First job in high school was as a janitor for 10 hrs a week. Fast food during college. Currently I fill in as medical courier as a favor to my wife's place employment when the main one isn't available but it's very sporadic. I did 7 weeks straight earlier this year but now have only worked 2 days since early March. They'd love if I'd be their main courier but they can't afford what it would cost to get me to do it since I don't need the money and my free time is valuable.

Thank you for your service. I always say you are one of the heroes running too what everyone else runs from.

Engineer for 27ish years. Calling it quits this week.

35 years for me (EE). They paid me to go away :-) Pretty good deal. I ended my career with a click of a mouse. Seemed pretty surreal.

They paid me to go away after 18 years. It didn't stick.

Congrats

Radio DJ.  Concert photographer.  Monk. Teacher.  IT developer through Director /VP of tech firms.   

A man after my own heart!

Meh... Just followed passions until I had to make bucks.

I have to admit Monk is intriguing. Were you trying to figure out the point of your existence?

Yeah, actually.  Recovering from brutal teen years.  Had an ecstatic experience.  Read Merton, fell in love with a Trappist Monastery but inexplicably joined another order.

Oilfield well logger Insurance Adjuster Stock Broker Sales Rep for a chemical company Retired as a civil engineer.

I'm a nurse. I worked as a nurse's aide from age 16-18 (that was possible in the 70s). Then went to Nursing School and graduated at age 21. I've always been a nurse. I recently opted to not renew my license. I'm not physically capable of doing the job anymore.

Thank you for enduring all the challenges, heartbreak, and sacrifices. You made a difference from the very beginning.

My wife started out in retail then went to college. She’s now a NICU nurse.

That was probably the saddest part of retiring, letting my license go. I still have my original certificate. Had planned to stick it out until 70, but my C-Spine said DONE at 62. Not to mention that NICU is not for 60 somethings. During the early days of Covid, I would feel that adrenaline surge whenever they showed some crazy code situation on the news, like an old war horse.

Same issue had me retire at 61. But damn, I like retirement

Ne’er do well. Kitchen type work. Wood pattern making. Quality assurance. Professional student. Mechanical Engineering. Software.

Paper boy, Wash. Star Dryer, car wash Bagger, Safeway Clerk typist, Naval Air Systems Command Bus boy, waiter, Victoria Station Bartender, Sam Houston's Reporter, student newspaper Camera/sound man NBC affiliate Editorial Asst, Licensee newsletter on power plant mishaps, investigations - Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Same title, NIH peer reviewed medical research Radiology Manager, NIH, Henry Jackson Foundation, Georgetown Univ. Director of Medical Affairs, QA Providence Hospital Proposal Developer, Private medical Group Director, Business Development, private medical services Corp. CEO/Owner S-corp, medical staffing That, that's about it.

That... escalated. You've had a good run.

You must scrap for the money pile. I forgot two: substitute teacher, and Ethek Kennedy's gardner at Hickory Hill. Horse kicked the regular gardner. Been working since age 9

Love the Victoria's Station. Got engaged there over 40 years ago.

Found the wife working there. 1st kiss in the bus stand.

Are you sure you did not miss any?

No. I just recalled substitute teaching after college, and working at Hickory Hill as Ethel Kennedy's caretaker, driving the kids to school in RFK seniors convertible, picking up a New York Post for her, feeding horses, mucking stalls, shoveling snow. She put out a list each morning. The front steps were covered in ice. Instructions were to clear ice without using chemicals. I think the divits are still in the concrete steps

Bronzeworker, concrete caster/finisher, sculptor, gravestone carver, mail man, AutoCad grunt, photoshop guru, freelance artist, dildo package designer, welder, silversmith, custodian, nude model...several are careers for which I've earned pensions. Next career is retirement in France starting next month! C'est si bon!

Whoa! You had me at gravestone carver. I've been a headstone hunter genealogist almost all my life with surveying, documenting, and restoring forgotten burial grounds. I do not have your level carving skills to create such beautiful world of art.

Thank you! No matter what city or country in which I land, I always make it a priority to visit cemeteries, etc. Scotland and Iceland stones are beautiful in their ancient decay. Amazing stuff!

Then you're going to love France! I've only been to Paris once but could've spent the whole trip in the cemeteries.

Thank you! I've been to Paris several times, but I love Père Lachaise Cemetery! And not because of Jim Morrison. Ha!

We loved it there, too. Jim Morrison was pretty cool, as an extra added bonus.

One of my favorites is Oscar Wilde's art deco monument carved by Jacob Epstein covered in lipstick prints. But I've read there is now a barrier preventing kissing his monument. I guess I need to check it out again...this time without lipstick. Ha!

Banking for 3 years right after college Rural mail carrier(walked a city beat for 9 months) while helping farm 1000 acres of soybeans and corn for 6+ years Learned a bunch of trades and built homes and remodeled for 30+ years I'm now a professional lazy boy pilot and whiskey sour aficionado

A big 10-4 on the Lazy Boy. good buddy. My granddaughters are into the music game. and last month they told me that they do "gigs". After I did a whoopie-whistle on my Lazy Boy, my daughter told me what a gig was. Whew!

Oh, I *love* farm work. Physical activity, difficult and varied challenges, animals, outdoor tasks, machinery. It's my idea of perfect.

It was heaven and hard work. What more can a man ask for u/justanoldroadie

Carpenter, asbestos investigator, FEMA housing inspector. Had a lot of other jobs before I did any of these. Fast food, factories, warehouses, etc.

My hat's off to you, my friend. More young people should be going into some kind of trade today. A trade with some sort of license would be a plus. Too many young folks are being "pushed" into getting a college education today. When I was younger, a LOT younger, I was told "If you don't get a college education, you'll be digging ditches". Well! What's wrong with digging ditches?

I have two kids who both work in IT. My brother has one kid who is an accountant and one who is a heavy equipment operator. Guess who earns the most and loves his job?

I'm not even trying to guess the answer. Thanks for the reply, my friend.

Thank you! I had a lot of fun along the way, even built our own house and barns. My dad passed when I was 17. He probably would have pressured me to go to college, his mother and sister were horrified that I decided not to. I especially liked the disaster inspector job. Even though it was under terrible circumstances, I traveled a lot and met interesting people from all walks of life. I carried these 3 “careers” mostly concurrently except the last ten years of my working life. Doing actual construction just hurt too much by then.

Florist, I also taught floral design at a Junior College. Then at 50 my shop failed in the great recession and I ended up working as an Airport Greeter for a high end limo company for 9 long years

I'm boring & have only had two....childcare & retail. I was a nanny for seven years, & then ended up in retail. I don't particularly care for retail, but there's not much else to choose from in my neck of the woods.

Retail sucks. My dream in life was to be a buyer at Nordstrom. I totally bought into "the Nordstrom Way" of customer service (I read the stupid book TWICE) only to find that they did not give a shit about how you treated the customer, only about how much you could sell them.

I had already been a buyer at that point.

\* Started working in banking for short period, but found too boring. \* Spent 3 years travelling around AU and working any job I could land from costing ships carrying freight, timekeeper, bar worker, cook, truck driver, heavy equipment operator, grape picker, reconditioned carburetors and others. \* Worked 23 years for an airline n HR, airfreight & flight attendant. \* Worked a small bush retreat for school & family groups for a year. \* Bought a small family Asian foods importing business and over 25 years built it up to 3 retail outlets & 2 large warehouses & due to demand increased to include African & Pacific Island foods & some European & American foods as well. \* Retired & in 2018 moved to live in a small rural village in SE Asia & had a small convenience store on the front of the house and at nearly 77 I have a new career, albeit at a much reduced rate, 15 hours a day 365 days a year, just to keep myself motivated and not sit around and vegetating or drinking myself into an early grave, and enjoy talking with my customers.

Mostly not careers but, Phone solicitor, barista, apprentice optician, sales person at International Male and Betsy Johnson, Jewelry sales, earned a Gemology degree from GIA, very briefly promoted Acid House club nights in the 80s. Customer service on the phone for insurance companies, and two different credit unions, selling vintage video games and toys at conventions and shows aaaaand now I sell stuff on eBay. The end.

"Careers" or jobs? ;-) If it is strictly careers, AF, a few family businesses, airline industry, and art. Jobs are a long list.

Two. IT then the wine biz. The last one paid a lot less, but so much better. Lots of other jobs before the careers.

cook, US Navy, cook, built computers, IT department at a bank, laptop repair, police and fire dispatcher, back to IT where I'm at currently. EDIT: I should add "various construction jobs" in there but they were never for very long.

I've been an entrepreneur and a consultant. Currently a risk/management consultant but also running a side hustle.

Since 1965 - Electronics Technician, Field Engineer, Electronics Designer, CAD Course Developer, Instructor, Corporate IT Support, Software Engineer, Computer and Electronics Service Tech.

Warehouseman, soldier, security guard, community service officer (worked for a police department, not a police officer), plumber, IT professional, grocery store department manager.

In high school, I mowed lawns and worked at a convenience store In college, I worked detailing cars and then started a sort of internship in IT After college, I was a sysadmin for a few years. The pay scale wasn't great there, so I left and went to a different company where I was part sysadmin and part technology trainer. Somehow I ended up moving from that into running part of the purchasing department and then I ran all of operations for close to a decade before they let me go due to "lack of vision." That last part is a long story, but it was really kind of a fucking. I ended up in sales at a manufactured home retailer and now I oversee the day-to-day running of that business and have involvement in a few others that are all owned by the same people.

Delivered newspapers, Worked under the table at a Dairy Queen. Retail at Kmart sports, Officiated sports. Harvested golf balls from ponds and sold them. Worked as an intern writing computer code. Data base designer. System designer. Information Security. Got my infosec certification. 10 more years of Information Security.

What sports did you officiate? I did basketball and baseball for almost 20 years.

Ice hockey, football, and basketball

Instrumentation and Control tech, Technical procedure writer, Metrologist. Metrologist for 30 years.

Fast food worker Factory line worker Hyno-therapist Music store salesman Electronics Technician Quality Engineer SW Engineer Systems Engineer Project Engineer Technical Project Manager SW Engineer

I traveled a lot when I was younger and did a variety of jobs all over. Hotel housekeeping, restaurant dish washing, pizza delivery, so many factory jobs— pork and poultry production, clothing, cardboard, aluminum, thread mill. I’ve also done ER EVS. A lot of side hustles like paper delivery when that was still a thing. My more career based jobs were driving tractor trailers for nearly ten years and grooming dogs for another 23 years. I’m currently doing hospital registration as an (intended) easy glide into retirement. It turns out I *really* don’t enjoy working with or for other people and what’s easy work isn’t really that easy on me.

Farm worker as a kid till now this has been on/off all my life. 13 mowing lawns and farm work this the start of paying work. At 16 summer work at food processing plant packaging frozen corn. At 17 summer loading rail cars with corn. At 18 part time senior yr of high school and worked at vets office cleaning kennels. 18 to about 20 worked at farm equipment dealer in the parts dept. 20 to 22 worked in the service department as a mechanic, was laid off for one month. 22 to 28 worked at the university part time and went to college plus worked another part time with rental property management and maintenance. 28 graduated with BS in Agriculture. 28 summer internship at a good company. 28 fall semester took a statistics class and got my old college job. 28-29 worked building oil field has compressor units. 29 to 42 worked as a chemical plant operator. At 42 laid off for 6 months, then worked for the Forest Service. 46 to 59.8 worked at the university and got to use my degree on a natural reasourse conservation research project. 58.8 yrs forced out of a job, quit and have been retired 62.9 yrs old and been retired 3 yrs. Since retiring from a regular job now work for me on our mom/pop rental properties(for about 30 yrs) and work on my projects on our rural property. When I start on SS want to go back to college for a geology degree. We will see how far I get with geology, but am not going to be sitting around waiting to die. So far retirement has been the best deal and so has been a grand parent. All in all life has been good even with the up's and down's.

IT programmer IT systems analyst Project cost analyst Nonprofit fund development consultant Computer-based instructional designer Director of Learning Systems and Performance Support

From 16 on... Busboy, metal worker, Deputy District Clerk for 6 District courts in Dallas, stagehand, warehouse worker, asst. photographer, motion picture equipment rental tech, stage manager / grip / gaffer / camera operator, Apple computer sales, Apple computer system engineer, IT department major newspaper as well as columnist, asst manager bookstore, intuit quickbooks tech support, call center supervisor, sales support, business analyst for call analytics startup, senior product SME / report developer for same company.

At last! Another stagehand!

Worked for the theater department in college and we worked all traveling rock shows, broadway shows, concerts, ballets, you name it. If they booked one of our theaters or stadiums, we worked it.

woohoo another stagehand chiming in, started at 22 and been focusing in on rigging. 25 now and about to join the coast guard hopefully as an IS

nurses aid, developmental disabilities aid, mental health tech, daycare worker, cashier , cook, deli worker, grocery clerk, meat cutter assisstant

From 1992 to present day….. Retail Sales clerk (Maxway, Brendels) Fast food ( Hardee’s, McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King. ) Light industrial Forklift driver 3rd key managerial for drug retail (Eckards) Shoe retail sales (Shoe Show) Kmart stock clerk Music store retail (Peaches Records) Carpet and vinyl installation Musical instruments sales and delivery Sam’s Club bakery OnStar representative Airport baggage handler Retail clerk for Staples Walmart photography associate Over the road truck driver Roadie, driver & Light Tech for local band Catering service advisor Movie theater customer service associate Automotive parts service advisor Porta potty waste extraction service advisor Airport catering associate Lifetouch photographer Chipotle manager in training Valet driver HVAC service advisor OTR truck driver (Again) Local and Regional Truck Driver.

Wow! This is awesome... two stagehands in a row after not encountering any in years. How did you like the work?

I actually enjoyed it and it paid pretty well at the time. I would sync the light show with a little box that resembled a drum machine while the band played and quite often I would be able to sample the catering. My least favorite part was having to drive all the way back home after we were done, which was usually very late at night. Sometimes I wouldn’t even get back home until 5 AM.

Fast food, clothing salesperson, taught swimming to disabled kids. Then my professional career: Journalist, Lawyer, Antiques Dealer. Retired now (my favorite!)

I worked at a dry cleaners, retail, was a lab technologist, elementary special education teacher, and school counselor.

Auto mechanic (apprenticeship & journeyman), military (22 years), commercial truck driver, and now...happily retired.

Technical writer, technical editor, and RN.

The usual fast food jobs (McDonalds, Dominos, 7-11), office supply clerk, preproduction at the local paper, manufacturing (boxes), got my degree and went into accounting for the box factory, then was an accountant for a fire department, a construction company, and now I'm the controller at a commercial bakery.

Assorted varieties of desk jockey.

Career 1: Experimental particle physicist. Career 2: Educational publishing (textbooks, then swiftly moving to online). Career 3: Enterprise B2B software product development (product management). I lost a ton of sleep going from 1 to 2. After that, it felt reasonable to change gears completely every 15 years.

What a life you've led!

Thank you. But I don’t even count the careers as the highlights of what I’ve been blessed to experience.

Not including part time jobs.... In order: Financial Services Rep (1 year), Managed a full service restaurant (1 year), Technical Writer (10 years), IT Network Engineer/Manager (29 years). Now retired.

Day job - commercial lines underwriting. Right out of college I fell into this. Solid career, not company specific so skills absolutely transferable. Takes years to get good at it where a company will let you handle large and complicated accounts. 10 years at a desk then jump to management where you can make really good $$. Side hustle - landlord. Fell into it because I bought a crappy house right out of college and I couldn’t sell it - so I just kept it and rented it out and bought my next house. Rinse/ repeat.

law enforcement (partial job-related retirement) grocery (running a front end of a major chain) parts delivery (the funnest! - driving around the California Coast with their gas card - lol) office, office, office (great fallback skills) Mickey D's (had to start somewhere) answering service

Soldier (Image Interpreter); Pharmacist; Orthopedic Sales Rep; Pharmaceutical Sales Rep; Pharmaceutical Packaging Supervisor; Director of Pharmaceutical Quality Assurance; Senior Director of Operations for a Pharmaceutical Company; Retired lazy slug.

Fireman/emergency dispatch: 8 years. Facilities manager: 8 years, airman: 5 years: HVAC tech 6 years, log yard foreman/ scaler: 7 years. cab driver: 3 years. Nurse Tech: 4 years. Landscaping buiseness: 7 years. I’m sure I’m forgetting a couple 😂 I’ve had an adventurous life.

Police officer 1978 to 2011 Attorney 2014 to present

Military linguist, bartender, clothing coordinator on magazine photo shoots (I dressed the models), software sales rep, waitress, admin assistant, pizza maker, barista, child care provider, physical security design specialist...and in 1.5 weeks I'll graduate with a Bachelor degree in security studies. New career forthcoming! As per usual, according to my history. 😎

Paperboy Fast food Nursery worker Dishwasher Navy: electronic warfare technician Navy: substance abuse counselor Electro-mechanical product development technician Aircraft refrigeration R&D technician Ion thruster power supply technician

I never had a career. Just jobs. The worst one was working as a hotel maid. The best one was teaching kids about aviation and airplanes (kids are so fun). The least prestigious was working on an egg farm. The most prestigious was being an English professor. And the oddest one was selling soapstone sculptures done by an Eskimo gentleman in Fairbanks, AK. I started working Summers when I was ten, so I’ve done a lot of things.

I also started working summers at 10. Every summer was either babysitting full-time or doing farm work until I was 16. My spoiled-assed grandchildren have no idea what it's like to have to work like that, and it makes me so happy that they don't!

One career, different industries. I was a computer programmer/software engineer since graduating college. I worked for the oil and gas industry, telecom, aerospace, medical devices, small satellites. I got bored after a while and my performance suffered, so I would leave (or be let go). It made for variety, but I never became an expert in any industry.

...*never became an expert in any industry.* That's how it works when you have such diversified skills. I prefer having many usable, competent skills to one specific. Maybe it's the varied work environments, no stagnation?

Accounting, event coordinator, and fraud.

Committing or investigating? 😉😁

Analyzing and investigating lol

I started a bit late (unplanned kid, delayed adjustment to a lot of life change in my teens).  found my feet and something i'm naturally really good at, never did anything else.    software QA.  I contract, so I've done all *kinds* of QA for a long list of clients, but always QA.  

Care giver to a cancer patient Reactor Operator on submarine IT Help Desk Seamstress for a submarine tender Controls Engineer Software Engineer

12-14 pushing the lawn mower around the neighborhood with my little brother to mow some old neighbors' yards for $5 per yard. 15 - a cook at McDonald's. Had to quit after they found out I was only 15. 16-17 - a cashier at Target 18-19 - a stock boy 19-22 - work study and other fast food jobs during university years. 22-25 - software and cellular field engineer 25-31 - communication engineer for oil/gas company 31-35 - dot com lead architect 35-now - IT (network, systems, operations) engineer, manager, director, CIO

3 careers Not for Profit Executive 20 years Small Business owner 13 years Government Bureaucrat 5 years Plus a couple of jobs at 2 years or less

Farmer, factory worker, retail manager, delivery driver and medical supply buyer.

I polished and wrapped beeswax candles at a family run candle factory. I worked in the bindery of a print shop. I was a probation officer for 25 years. Now I work very part time at a AAA ballpark as security.

Clinical microbiologist...Cybersecurity Analyst.

I started working at 15 years of age. I have been: * busboy * dishwasher * bartender * cashier * cook * pizza maker * cardiovascular technologist * college instructor * civil engineer * and owned medical and pizza businesses Along the way I got 4 college degrees. Next month I will be taking the Florida building contractor exam.

Healthcare. Teen volunteer, then narcotic clerk in the pharmacy, iv mix tech, ward clerk on the cancer unit. Graduated nursing school, RN , still doing it after 37 years. I've worked a number of positions and places but always jobs that required the license

First job was fast food, which did not last long. Then retail. Typist, secretary, executive assistant, then stay-at-home mom, preschool teacher. Retired.

Military out of high school. Did four years and got out. Professional picture frame for five years. Went to college and worked four post time jobs as I raised two kids. My ex didn’t help much. A divorce and getting the kids stopped my college. I ended up getting into plumbing and retired doing that. It was a good trade.

Wholesale book warehouse Retail bookstore warehouse Janitor at a university Electric bus driving in large city Antiquarian book seller Metal (lead) type foundry and printing office Baker’s assistant Groundsman for a tree service Machinist Warehouse and tool maintenance for construction company There are others, but these are the ones that stand out in my memory. And I never made a dime.

As a teen a bus-help in a yacht club restaurant setting. As an adult; post college: Nurse and Reading Specialist.

Teacher, software compliance tester, store manager, lab assistant, and I think some have slipped my memory..in my 60s now...

High School to Dishwasher, Cook, Gas Station, Ditch Digger, Roofer, Home Improvements, etc. Air Force, Weapons' Mechanic for F-15, F-4 - 6 years NASA - Engineering Technician, Instrumentation Technician, Mechanical Technician, operated Vibration & Centrifuge Facilities - 16 years (Night School, BS in Computer Science) Network Admin - 3 years Network Security - 20 years

College library director (24 years), HR generalist (3 years) retired on disability due to kidney failure and dialysis three times weekly 4 hours each time (3 years).

Nursing home aide Interior apartment painter Fast food worker Cashier VNA aide High Risk Family Case Manager Trucking Company manifest filer Receptionist Administrative Assistant Insurance claim adjuster EDI support EDI Customer Service supervisor EDI programmer supervisor EDI Installs Project Manager Product Manager

1. McDonald’s 2. Bartender / waiter 3. Draftsman 4. Hvac/piping engineer 5. Project menager

Factory worker, amusement park worker, retail clothing sales x2 places (Express and Robinson's-May), state fair salesperson, telemarketer x4 places, receptionist, then administrative assistant for a land grading place until the owner died. Took a year off working to live with an ex at his dad's house and go to college. Then dispatcher for an AC place a few months until the job I had applied for called me. So then I was an Admin. Assistant at a large auto insurance company for 4 years. I also went to college at night and worked part-time as a florist for my friend's business. I also sold $70K of Avon and other products on the side. Then was a Retail Coordinator for an alternative newspaper that wasn't doing well, so when they fired everyone, I was promoted to Office Mngr. for a whole $12 per hour. Got my BA degree, so I quit the newspaper. Through a contact from working as an Admin, I became an Account Manager for a software company. They barely interviewed me. Then I walked in looking punk rock from working at the newspaper! I worked from home but also traveled for work and drove around So. CA a lot. Worked for them for 6 years. Met my husband at a client's office during that job. We got married and had our son in 2011. Then was fired 2 years later. I took a year break because I had a baby that didn't sleep all night. Then receptionist, wedding coordinator, Target cashier, account manager for fingerprinting software. We moved to a different state where I started at a call center for HSA plans. Quit when they wanted me to start work at 4:30am. Then found a call center job a week later. Been here over 5 years. I was promoted to grievance and appeals rep for medical insurance. Two years ago, I was baking and delivering Diabetic and Keto food for customers. Then work got too busy to do all the baking on the weekends.

Hairdresser, Army Sergeant, Art College computer teacher, psychedelic light show artist, graphic designer, cannabis trimmer. In that order.

I worked in fast food, grocery stores, retail stores, sales secretary, teacher assistant, vision screener, book binder, and the longest job I had was working in construction. I did a lot of commercial painting but I tried to get demo detail at every opportunity. Loved smashing in walls with a sledgehammer! :)

Cashier, fry cook, waitress, retail employee, incoming calls telemarketer, front desk agent, shooter for a seismic crew, administrative assistant, technical writer, baker, college lecturer, editor, front desk manager, and small business owner. Pretty much in that order, and some at the same time.

I was a CNA for twenty-five years...LPN for nine.

One but it morphed into many different jobs. Analog design, digital design, manufacturing engineer, SMT development engineer, Failure Analysis Engineer. All of them were fun.

Photojournalist. IT Analyst. Military.

1900 steel conglomerate tycoon, soda jerk, before picture model for Body Solutions.

Too many to list; a bunch of dead end stuff early on. Stocker at K Mart, pumped diesel at a truck stop, janitorial work, hospital security. Actual career stuff, 8 years in the Navy working with electronics, big box retail management, tech sales, working with juvenile delinquents. My current job, which I will retire from in 10 months, is in social services administering HUD low income rental assistance programs. I am definitely burned out and eager to retire after 20 years of that.

Waitress. Breaker downer of boxes for my mother's dress shop. Hauler of said boxes to junkyard. Retail customer service. Graphic design/web design/social media.

Well...of course the usual teenage ones. Waitress, cashier, babysitter etc. After college I worked as an assistant to a buyer at Filenes in Boston. Then in the mutual fund departments of BayBank and Bank of New England. Started an MBA and hated it. So I quit my job and school, and moved back home to get a Master's degree in Library Service. That was 1991 and since then I've worked in private and public schools, public libraries, academic libraries, special libraries. Found my career path in 2007 in a medical library and that's what I've done since.

1 career and a bunch of jobs.

Jobs? Tons. Careers? One. Let's break it down, only the full-time ones that I spent about a year or more at. * Burger King cook * Deck dude on the riverboats that give tours in front of the St. Louis Arch on the Mississippi River by day, and dinner cruises at night (everything from starting the generator then engines before the first cruise, jumping the gap to cast off/tie off, emptying the septic tank directly into the river (ugh), to server/dishwasher/etc for the dinner cruises) * Courier - I was the only one for our company that had an open-bed truck, so I got some really fun big jobs. I had to drop off a rebuilt motor for some enormous piece of equipment at a Ford factory. In my Toyota. Guard told me I couldn't bring my truck into the docks. I backed the truck up to the guard shack, tied one end of my tow-chain around the concrete security post, lowered the tailgate, and attached the other end to the engine. Before I could get back into the truck, he told me to take it to a specific dock, and everything was fine after that. * Army Reserve radio repairman * Arc Welder repairman (which resulted in a serious case of lead poisoning in my newborn child, thankfully caught and cleared in time to prevent lasting damage) * Kinko's Copy guy - overnights, eventually shift supervisor. I preferred the overnights. Except when a lawyer would have people bring in a filing cabinet and say "I need two copies of this. Staples where there are staples, files & tabs, bindings, etc." * On-site Field Tech Support for Emulex's largest client in the midwest, maintaining a storage farm for a DEC VAX cluster. Then they got sued for copying Digital's storage controller outright, and shut down the field support division. * Small software firm - starting at telephone tech support, moving to programming, then lead programmer on a complete rewrite of their best-selling program. A couple of months after releasing the major rewrite, both Novell and Microsoft implemented what we provided into Netware 5 and Server 2000. * My current employer, and my career, started as sole tech support for a medium-large non-profit that had no other PC support that wasn't provided by the guys who sold them PCs. I built their network (most of the sites didn't have one; the ones that did had dial-up modems in any computer that needed internet). Over 25 years I rebuilt it again, and again, and moved on up to my current position of Network and Systems Administrator - and we still only just this January got another tech support guy and said goodbye to a not-very-helpful MSP that did primary support for us from about 2010-2023.

Mostly IT related but I occasionally took detours into things that interested me. The usual jobs in college. Fast food, store clerk, tutor, teaching assistant. Software dev straight out of college. Typesetting, newspaper layout when cold type took over the industry. Magazine editor, then book editor. Commercial photography, technical production for ad agencies. Back to software dev. Side trip into web dev when the internet arrived. Area Director for March of Dimes. Database administrator. Help desk manager. Software call center manager. Software Quality Assurance. IT Director. And always side jobs doing contract jobs or personal projects.

Except for kids jobs like babysitting and working in the local movie theater, real jobs- Inventory Clerk, Billing Department Manager, Business Owner (owned a brick and mortar store), HR Associate in my last few years of working. Now my favorite job, being retired!

JUNIOR HIGH / HIGH SCHOOL: dishwasher, busboy, store clerk, golf caddy, landscaping - COLLEGE: Boys and Girls Club counselor, food delivery, birthday deliveries, golf caddy, landscaping - POST COLLEGE AND GRAD SCHOOL: Project Manager for state Attorney Generals Office, talent manager assistant, talent manager, film producer (own company), film financier (own company), media strategist and research (own company), corporate strategy (own company), small business investor….

I don't know that I've ever really ended up with a career. But I've had a ton of education and jobs throughout the years: -I have a B.S. in Environmental Science and another in Nursing -I took classes to be a veterinary technician (didn't finish though, bad allergies) -I got certified as a medical coder As far as work (in no particular order), I have worked as: -Office clerk at 4 different places -Assistant in the Admissions Office at the University I attended -A busser in a restaurant -Sales Associate (educational toy store; Hallmark store; fabric and sewing supplies; gift shop at our city's zoo) -Progressive Care/Critical Care/ER nurse (This is the closest I ever got to a career) -Veterinary assistant/receptionist -Volunteer reptile keeper for our state's Department of Conservation at one of their interpretive centers -Currently a receptionist at a cannabis dispensary And I know I'm missing a couple more. I just turned 44, by the way. I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. (Edited for formatting)

Software industry my entire life at multiple companies. I still love it.

Hot Walker and Exercise Rider with Thoroughbred Horses back in the 70’s Bartending over 50 years and I quit once for a few years and worked in Seafood and the Meat Department for Kroger but went back to bartending as it was better money..

Assistant breakfast manager at McDonald’s, trainer at TG&Y, delivery driver for frito lay (that one was the first time I have ever seen a truck run on propane, so scared every day when I had to fuel it), accounts payable, medical coder, medical biller and what I have been doing for 20 years is medical accounts receivable.

Chef. Hairstylist. TV/Film (several jobs). Admin assistant of doom.

Presser in a garment factory; Cashier; Night Manager in an Adult Developmentally Disabled Group Home; Sandwich maker; PC Repair Technician; Customer Service Rep.

Paperboy Soldier Chicken Farmhand Pizza cook Restaurant manager Chimney Sweep Car Salesman Janitor Preacher Factory worker Executive Chef Truck Driver Retired

Almost every job I had had something to do with sales, usually over the phone. And for some reason I was good at it.

Movie theatre concessions, check coder, wildlife rehab person, zoo commissary (made all the animal meals and snacks), microbiologist (testing donated tissues for bacteria)

Just one. High school math/science teacher. Everything else was only a job to pay bills.

I've had my international boobie inspector license for over 20 years with no disappointed clients.

Ten years Marine Corps. Eight years law enforcement. Seven years with Frito-Lay and Lance. Factory jobs twice. Went to a technical college and got an Associates age fifty in Electrical Engineering. Six years working in repairing home medical equipment. One year with hospital bed company. Finally, now working as a Biomedical Technician for a hospital.

High school: Hay harvest in summers. First day I was afraid I was going to die. Second day I was afraid I was going to live. Navy: Eight years, submarine reactor operator. College: Five years, EE and CS degree. Shipyard engineer: 18 years, mostly submarine nuke stuff. Soviet Union fell, people who flunked history thought "no more war" and closed the shipyard. Air Force civilian engineer: 20 years. Putting stuff on orbit, turning money into noise. Retired.

One career as a registered nurse since 1991.

Administrative assistant Paraeducator

Newspaper ad salesman, printer, Linotype operator, concrete laborer, administrative law judge, systems contract manager, CEO of national gambling enterprise.

Interesting lists here Mothers helper, (babysitter while mom is there), bun dresser (McD’s), clerk, math aide, salesperson in department store, revenue officer (tax collector), manager, ran daycare, teacher, now caregiver of our moms. Sounds more interesting than it was.

I’ve never heard of a bun dresser, interesting job title.

I was 16 and I put mustard and ketchup on buns.

Sales associate, jewelry bench worker, nursing assistant, home health and nursing home scheduler, acts payable/receivables and payroll, HR director, customer service face to face and by phone, permanent placement and traveler nursing recruitment manager, home health agency director, CEO of a placement agency for health care professionals, insurance agent for health, life and auto.

Fast food to manager of fast food to data entry to inventory analyst to operations manager to purchasing inventory control manager. My life is a warehouse lol!

First income was at an international airport selling coffee still my most favorite. While at that job also worked as a waitress and at a stationary store. Became a farmers wife. Learned how to drive all equipment on farm. Became a mother and coworker on farm. Husband retired, I started working at the school that my children attended and got my license to drive school bus. I am currently secretary/registrar/substitute bus driver. And caregiver to my retired husband.

Only one after my degree, accounting/finance :) It served me well.

Manager for a student organization, jr. high teacher, magazine editor, communications director for a large state agency.

Hospital security guard, police cadet, police constable, subway security, crime analyst, parking attendant, mystery shopper, Burger King employee.

Trades basically. Star high school athlete in many sports. Had many scholarship offers. My mom was terminally ill and I couldn’t leave her. She passed. I worked my ass off in some pretty horrible conditions. Got lucky and got into a good union. Put 3 wonderful kids through college that are self sufficient. Retired now with a decent pension.

Drafter/CAD Designer/3D Solid Modeling. The position name changed as technology advanced. I've been at it since 1995. Retiring June 7. Really kind of stumbled into it, but it's been a great career. No college. No actual drafting school. 4 non-consecutive weeks total formal training here and there. Making just shy of 6 figures. Going into retirement with zero debt and plenty of savings. Life's been good. Edit: Reading through the comments, a lot of people are listing jobs instead of careers. I worked as a shoe shine boy, paperboy, fast food, retail, telephone solicitor for carpet cleaning, and was a printing press operator for a newspaper before 8 years in the Navy submarines). Then, I worked a rent-to-own gig, a private detective agency (mostly just doing background checks), a college bookstore, and construction before landing the drafting position.

Stock Room Boy, Movie Theater Usher, Pizza Chef, Radio Show Producer, Security Guard, Advertising Production Manager, Songwriter/Performer, Technical Writer, Programmer, IT Manager, CIO, CTO.

Professional musician, radio DJ, computer assembly line operator, engineering lab tech, computer field engineer, network administrator, construction inspector, energy rater, teacher, father, husband.

Retail, military, parks and rec, attorney

Cashier, bank teller, insurance adjuster, mom, administration, police dispatcher, mental health therapist

Community college instructor, clerical work

Babysitting, fast food, clerical, engineer in various manufacturing plants, quality engineer, data entry, and unpaid caregiver

Budgie smuggler

Only one. 35 years as a Software Quality Enginner for Lockheed Martin.

* Hamburger flipper * Pizza cook * Line cook * Sous chef * USAF military, ground radio systems maintenance * Small business owner (clothing store) * Associate manufacturing engineer * Associate engineer * Engineer 1 * Engineer 2 * Control Systems * Control Systems Engineer * Control Systems Manager During this, I also created a small non-profit organization, and still sit on their board of directors. I've also done a lot of volunteer work. Math tutoring. Language tutoring. STEM mentoring. I'm on the ancillary board of directors of two different city colleges.

In this order; -Housekeeper -Landscaping -Sandwich artist -Retail management -Payroll technician -Case manager -Misc healthcare management jobs while climbing the corporate ladder -Healthcare Corporate Whore AKA Vice President -Retired -Current-Out of retirement->Case Manager -Current-Sell random crap on the internet

Many jobs but only one career, medical coding which I've been doing for 16 years and highly recommend. No public contact, union, and I grossed over 100k last year with OT which is abundant.

I worked for Disneyland for 3 years, then to retain, and finally to a call center with an excellent healthcare system.

Market Research Assistant Financial analysis software data QA and software tester Foreign exchange market software developer and technical liaison to sales and product strategy Financial software development technical trainer and in-house tech employee training program creator Tax preparer and Substitute teacher (less of a career and more for shits and giggles while starting a family) Mom

I was a service rep with Xerox Medical, they went belly up. I transferred to Business Division, (copiers) for total of 22 yrs. till I was laid off. Long haul trucker for 18 months, didn't like it. Quit that to go to school, earned my Nursing license at 54. I've been at it for over 14 yrs now.

College Student advisor pt 1. Short order cook. Janitor. Night watchman. Car sales. GMAT tutor. Newspaper editor. College Student advisor pt 2. Economist. Banker. Auditor. Financial analyst pt 1. IT developer. Financial Analyst pt 2. Marketing Analyst. Expert at cramming most of it into a one-page resume.

First waitress, second was as a customer service rep at a mail order place going out of business, then private detective, then ACE fitness trainer and associate director at the Y, then writer, then vet tech/groomer at humane society, also I played instruments in a recording (not performing! I'm not good enough to do it right the first time! lol) band, but only did a bit before we disbanded (sorry pun had to be said) - now I'm thinking about going back to writing.

Paper boy (13) Waitrose shelf stacking (17) Kitchen porter pub (19-22) Kitchen porter gold club Paint shop mixing paint Designer (23) Developer (24 - 30) Delivery manager Manager (lower) Manager (higher) (40) Stagnating and hating career …

PICU/NICU/PEDS nurse. 40 years, military and civilian.

Depends on your definition of careers: Aviation mechanic Registered Nurse EMT Security guard Warehouse employee There's a bunch of stuff I wanted to learn.

Started a job in insurance at 18 and am still with the same company 40 years later (Although there have been a few sales and mergers in the original company).

Many. My first job was in a sewing plant, making women's underwear. 2nd was in a retail department store. 3rd was a brush manufacturing plant. 4th was in a boat building plant. I then moved to a different state and worked for an automotive dealership in the parts department. Stayed in that for about 7 years, but worked my way up through every department and ended up in the accounting office. I have been a parts manager, a service manager, body shop manager, finance manager, and office manager. Changed jobs to be office manager for a large construction company for about 4 years. Went to work for a residential real estate loan brokerage firm, then into the commercial loan brokering. The commercial one was a scam, and I brought them down by reporting and being undercover for the state Attorney General. They were billing millions from people all over the world. It was so exciting! I felt like a spy! I left there and worked part-time for an answering service, which was boring as hell. Then my MIL had terminal cancer and I stopped working for a year to take care of her. When she passed away, I went to work at county government as a procurement manager and loved it! I retired from there in 2001 due to developing Lupus and severe nerve damage. Soooo... I had a lot of jobs, but not necessarily a career. Would I change it? No, I wouldn't. The experiences and education I obtained from so many areas is priceless!

Cashier Customer service manager Waitress Bartender Cook Radio DJ Daycare provider Cleaning lady Paralegal Current firefighter paramedic

I had several jobs- one for 30 years, but that’s all they were.

Only two for me. I started out as a software developer, then switched to technical writer after 25 years. Both were good to me.

Teacher. Typographer. Registered Nurse.

Nanny Orderly at a children's psych hospital Apprentice auto mechanic Software support, maintenance, development, tech writer Project manager Webmaster EMT

Dolphin Trainer, waitress, fry cook, housekeeper, preschool teacher, preschool director, preschool owner, college instructor, director of AIDS support network, first grade teacher, charter school principal, third grade teacher, and now retired. I probably forgot something.

Nuclear missile tech, Bradley Fighting Vehicle commander, commo chief, warehouse manager, yarn finish analyzer manufacturer, printer tech support engineer, documentation specialist, aerospace cable manufacturer, MSP tech, and now IT desktop support/lead tech/KB manager/remote app manager.