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Old 08-20-2015, 10:10 AM   #81
J pold
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I’m a Commercial Real Estate Broker at a global firm and I love it.

The high pressure sales environment is where I thrive and the thrill of closing a deal is very satisfying. I also like the freedom and flexibility it offers. I’m 100% commission and can basically set my own hours. I still work 8 – 10 hours a day but am only in the office for half of that. I spend a lot of time driving to meetings, conducting tours, and prospecting for new business. I don’t have a boss to kiss up to and I eat what I kill. Every day I wake up in control of my destiny and if I work harder than the guy next to me I’ll make more income even if he is more senior.

There is a downside of course. It’s an extremely competitive industry and if you don’t produce you don’t just make a base salary you make nothing. You are also at the mercy of the market, which is currently in the tank so there not a lot of business to go around. Cold calling can suck when people are jerks, and trying to grow your business is always a dog fight. Still the potential for large income is very real and the thrill of a closing a big deal is worth all the stress and struggle.
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:13 AM   #82
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That's great, but what about leaving the law altogether?

What fields can a lawyer enter and have a realistic chance of success/getting hired in?
I know a few lawyers that went on to do an MBA, and now work in in such areas as corporate finance, wealth management, securities and compliance etc.

I almost became a Vancouver police officer (and applied to CSIS too).
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:17 AM   #83
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I work as a banker and there are days (such as this morning), when you fund someones dreams that you have to be happy and smile. But I honestly don't look forward to work. Grew up doing retail/small business with my family and I just like talking with people. I made the decision that next fall i'm enrolling in school again and am going to be a Plumber.
I've never been this excited after years of being too nervous to leave. Now that I've set my timeline and made the decision, I feel as though nothing will stop this.
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:17 AM   #84
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Got my Bachelors in Supply Chain 2 years ago. Love that area of business and there is seriously an unlimited amount of work in almost any industry you can think of so I have zero regrets in my choice of degree (although I would be lying if I say I didn't regret trying harder in High School to give myself more options).

Currently, I'm at my 4th full time job. My 1st one was a job I got half way through my degree, I took a year off and worked in logistics. I loved that job besides the pay. I was spoiled there with how fun an office can be and didn't know how good I had it. You'd always here about how awesome O & G was and how much money people were making in that world so I definitely wanted in.

Then I went back to school and finished my degree and got a student job at MEG Energy. That job was quite the eye opener into the O&G life and the main reason why I argued so much in the layoff thread about how much overhead there was to shave off in O&G. It was the life. We all had our own offices, nice, loaded kitchens on every floor, every month there was a paid for party, even the bigger meetings were catered and served alcohol. It was insane. It really showed me that the rumors about O & G were true at the time (2012). The huge downside of that job was that I had zero work. I don't even know why they hired me. I'd have maybe half an hour of work in an 8 hour day and they didn't even have any more work to give me. That, combined with looming layoffs in the SCM department that happened to coincide with my contract expiring led me to quitting that job and doing the mandatory "finished my degree, time to go to europe" vacation. Once I got back I got a job in logistics again which was great, except for the lack of potential to grow. I had a lot of autonomy and although I didn't technically have direct reports, my word was pretty much final. It was a good feeling but, again, I didn't see much of a future there, at least not for a very, very, long time so I was actively looking for something else.

Well I'm currently sitting at something else. I got a job in downstream as an analyst for the supply department. I don't mind it outside of our poor, unsupported systems which means I spend more time attempting to fix SQL queries (I took zero programming or computer training in school) then I do actually being an analyst and supporting our team. When I do get to create new reports and figure out how to give our Ops team the analysis they need, I actually do enjoy it and it's making my excel knowledge sky rocket. I used to think I was advanced cause I knew how to do vlookups and I knew what an if statement was! I would still say I definitely prefer being in the operations side of things though but the good news is, I've actively been talking with my manager about how I want to get into the ops side of the business and it looks like I'm being groomed for the move. I know a lot of managers might just say that but I think he's being honest. The company is great, the office is good and even the money is decent (pretty much where I expected to be 2 and a bit years out of graduating and my "minimum goal" per se. Able to afford to own my own place and live on my own). Once the IT aspect of my life goes away (and it is) then I might actually really like this job, conversely I'd love to work in operations for this company as well...

So long story short, I love the degree I took and the field I chose to work in, I really like the company I work for and want to be a part of it long term and I am okay with my current job but a lot of it is SQL and Excel stress (which is going away) which takes some of the luster out of it. Ideally I'd like to work in logistics for this company.

Medium term goal is to eventually start my own trucking company but I want to lay a solid foundation for everything else before jumping in to that with both feet.

</cool story bro>

(At least all the SQL queries I'm forced to trail and error gives me plenty of time to post on here and annoy the s*** out of you guys )

Last edited by polak; 08-20-2015 at 10:28 AM.
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:28 AM   #85
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I won't mention my industry, but I am in the business of seeing Calgary grow.

I was originally inspired by SimCity. I loved building cities, I loved the growth of everything; hell, I even loved the music in the game. I could make a perfect city, better than what reality could offer. I spent hours on all the different releases over the years.

I didn't expect to go into what I'm doing, but I did, and I'm happy. When I think about it, SimCity played a huge part. I'm not excited with my current role, but I'd be damned if I said I didn't love buildings. I absolutely do. It is so much fun being a part of something tangible that will affect people's lives everyday. Seeing something grow from a concept in someone's mind to the final product is pretty special to be a part of.

If I had to do it again though, I'd be a personal trainer or someone that works in the fitness industry or an industry that involves physical activity - I hate being stuck on a computer / in an office. Or, I'd want to consult on sport facility design around the world.
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:42 AM   #86
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combined with looming layoffs in the SCM department that happened to coincide with my contract expiring led me to quitting that job and doing the mandatory "finished my degree, time to go to europe" vacation
Polak, thought I was reading my own post lol. Got a B.B.A, minor in SCM as well, and almost in this stage at the moment (O&G DT). Started with a 4 month contract, then another 4 month followed (at the end of this I graduated university) and now on my 3rd contract (8 month) expiring in the end of December. Not fun wondering what your fate will be with the current economic situation and the fact I've been through this now 3 times in the past year haha.

Anyway, I love that I followed in my dads foot steps (he is in Logistics/Material Management) and went into the Supply Chain Management field. Many opportunities I feel can be had, in any industry. Love the guy's that I currently work with as well, I truely believe a big reason people are happy at their jobs is because they like who they work with.

Anyway if thing's don't work out here, plan on doing that mandatory graduation trip! If not all else, possibily head down to Australia to live/work or back home to Europe.

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Old 08-20-2015, 10:44 AM   #87
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This is really a great thread.
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:46 AM   #88
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I'm an engineer doing green building design. I think we live in the most exciting time in human history and the greatest challenge we face is to live in balance with our environment, I love that I'm working to be a part of that change and I can easily see my career path constantly evolving such that I'm able to enjoy it for the rest of my life.

It burns me a little to know that I could triple my income if I had sold my soul to O&G, but you only get one life to live and I'll be damned if I spend the prime of my life only working for retirement. Plus, who knows where the O&G industry will be in 20 years, but a sustainable world is a tremendous undertaking that has only just begun and will only become more important as the years roll on.
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Old 08-20-2015, 10:59 AM   #89
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First career was as a journalist, now I'm a financial planner and part-time politician.
Are you Mike Duffy?
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:04 AM   #90
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Web/interactive design.

Generally I like my job and career choice. It’s a fun/creative industry to work in, and it allows me the opportunity to partake in some related practices like photography and illustration. Any day I get paid to hold a camera is a good one in my books.

I also really enjoy meeting clients and learning about their industries and the business challenges they are facing. Gives you the chance to peak behind the curtains of many different types of businesses and see how they operate. So the ever changing nature of the clients keeps things fresh.

But having said that, after 11 years I worry I’ve hit a bit of a ceiling in terms of growth opportunity, and I wonder if working in “cool ad agencies” is going to be as much fun in my 40’s as it was in my early 20’s. I also worry I’m missing out on the current UX goldrush in the startup/SaaS industry and I may be falling behind the times, to be replaced by younger, more talented designers as the old school “web designer” becomes a relic of the past.
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:06 AM   #91
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I'm and engineer doing completions consulting work. Pretty much exactly what I took in University so that makes me happy.

Times are slow now but I have the odd busy day. I enjoy what I do and I don't hate going to work, but it is work so what can you say really?
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:08 AM   #92
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I'll weigh in a little bit.

I was fortunate enough to find out what I was really good at very early on. Now, thats not to say that I love it, if you're unfamiliar with the glamorous lifestyle of Tax Accountants then you'll understand, if not you can probably envision it pretty clearly.

So I had to find other parts of the work that interested me which is generally meeting and helping people.

This is a big reason why I keep the weighting of my business fairly even between Personal Taxes and Corporate Taxes and even the Corporate taxes that I do are small business, family businesses, I'm still dealing with people and not nameless, faceless megacorps where I'm doing drudging and repetitive tasks.

But it wasnt all fun and games to get where I am, my business is steady and stable now but one of my favourite sayings is:

"Becoming successful is a lot like becoming pregnant, sure you can see it, but you have no idea how many times they got screwed to get there."

I worked for the same company for 10 years and I literally dreaded going to work every day, it was hell but every day I told myself that I just had to wait it out, go through the succession plan and it would get better. It was a 'horrible bosses' scenario, people that felt you should be grateful to be employed by people of their immense stature and prestige for whatever pittance they deemed you worthy of being paid and you should pleased with that! Never dare ask for more! Now slurp your gruel!

So one day I have a scheduled meeting with my employer to discuss our agreed-upon succession plan and I was told that they had decided to cancel the succession but that I was going to be kept on as an employee for the same money but with significantly increased responsibility and workload for the foreseeable future.

At that point I couldnt lie to myself that it would get better anymore. So I left and started my own company doing what I do best.

I will say this: Quitting your job that you hate is the best feeling in the world.

Being unemployed for a few months and earning 0 dollars feels exactly like you think it does.

ProTip: No matter how unemployed you are never start drinking whiskey at 10am. Not good.

But it does make me happy now, I dont have a boss other than my own drive and responsibilities, I love the post-tax-season flexibility. One thing that drove me crazy was working your ass off for 4 months and then you get to the end of tax season and its like:

"Thanks for making us all that money. See you tomorrow for your regular 9 to 5!"

Like you hadnt just sold your soul for cash and abandoned your friends and family for 4 months.

And the most infuriating part to me was that I had just done all of this work, its not like you have to be there 9-5 for work you're just keeping the doors open and the lights on on the off-chance somebody needs something.

Now I have a cell phone and a laptop, I can help people from anywhere, including the pub, which some of my clients on here can attest to!
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:17 AM   #93
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I have tended to jump around from job to job during my career to date, but I've found that each job is an improvement on the last job. I may not be in my dream job right now, but I have a relatively stable job during a scary economic time, and to me that trumps all right now. Also, for me, being able to have a social group at work to grab beers with, or play softball, is a huge benefit. I may not always enjoy what I do every day but I really enjoy the people I do it with.

Growing up I always wanted to be the head of some company; I didn’t want to have decisions made for me, I wanted to make the decisions. At the age of 28 I begun that ladder climb, and was asked to manage a team. I found that being a manager meant that I missed out on lots of social activities (who wants to hang out with their boss, right?). I also found that people tend to take their job frustrations out on their manager, and the manager has to be calm in the face of that frustration. One day, after a member of my team tore me a new one, I decided that management wasn’t actually for me. I applied for a new role in my company, and a year later I can say it’s been one of the best career decisions I have ever made.

It’s kind of scary realizing that what you wanted to achieve in your career wasn’t exactly all it’s cracked up to be once you began to achieve it. However, being scared to make a change that could make you much happier will only harm you in the end.
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:20 AM   #94
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I don't skip to work every day whistling, but it's probably the best job I've had. I only started in my current career about 11 years ago. The hours are fine, the compensation pretty good, and the work atmosphere is pleasant enough. I'm pretty good at it too, and have the respect of my peers. One of the upsides to working a lot of really bad jobs in your 20s and early 30s is it gives you perspective on things. As much as I sometimes the question the value of what I do, I know that it could be a lot worse - I could be getting paid badly to doing boring, often unsatisfying work at a toxic workplace.

Having hobbies and interests outside work helps a lot. I don't rely on my job for status or personal fulfilment - just a steady pay cheque doing something I'm reasonably good at and don't hate.
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:35 AM   #95
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my degree is a BSC (math/computer sci). my original plan was to become a teacher, however, talking to some friends that were teachers changed my direction (stories of kids coming up to them and telling them to f-off and they really had no power to do anything about it really didn't go well with my personality).

i put myself thru school by doing construction in the summers (concrete forming and framing). i really enjoyed doing construction, even when i was the low man on the totem pole - i worked with a great crew of guys for the most part. after i got my degree i stayed with construction for a few more year, just to save up some $ and figure out what i wanted to do.

in 2000 i started my own business and have never looked back - i absolutely love it! it does have it's draw backs at time, but i really enjoy being my own boss. the biggest challenge (and ucb mentioned it earlier) is that it can take a toll on you/family if you are always working. i still find that a challenge at certain times of the year when we are really busy, but that's just the way it is and my wife accepts that.

i think the only part of my job that i really annoys me is when customers waste my time - i've just got more important things to do with my work day than deal with some people's stupidity (for lack of a better term)
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:35 AM   #96
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I'm a CA (erm, CPA-CA now). I'm generally satisfied with my job.

Articling was a grind, but soon after that I was able to move to a large company, where I have been able to have a variety of roles to keep things interesting. I have been fortunate to move from tedious/repetitive roles into one that is working with engineers and project managers on large capital projects. The company doesn't pay as lucratively as other companies have in the past, but I'm paid well and have a great work-life balance, and it's stable which is important these days.
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:44 AM   #97
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I'm also in Supply Chain after basically falling into it almost 20 years ago.

Money is good, job is comfortable, people are nice and there usually isn't too much stress. There are some days that sure do feel empty though.
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:52 AM   #98
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I know a few lawyers that went on to do an MBA, and now work in in such areas as corporate finance, wealth management, securities and compliance etc.

I almost became a Vancouver police officer (and applied to CSIS too).
I could see you as a Cop.
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Old 08-20-2015, 11:59 AM   #99
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I feel that i have a found the Job best suited for me.

I initially wanted to get into Astronomy or Genetic research, but quickly found out that I would rather read about Astronomy and that lab work is not for me. I then looked at med school, but the idea of 11yrs of schooling was not really appealing to me. Optometry seemed like a good job in the medical field that was lower stress and a decent income and had me working by 25.

I love the interaction i have with long time patients. I get to work for set period of times (no OT or take home work) and can adjust my schedule to be flexible for holidays and getting my kids to school. I also enjoy that our field is becoming more medical by the year (We can now order blood work/ct scans/prescribe oral medications) and less about selling glasses/contacts.

I hate writing report letters and having to give bad news to patients regarding their eyesight/ability to continue driving. Weekend and evening hours also sucks when you have a family. The competition is fierce for eye wear and there is a lot of poor quality stuff out there for cheap. There is more time spent than i would like having to explain the benefits of quality eye wear. There is also too much time spent convincing people their contact lenses are medical devices and should not be abused.

Overall I am very happy and can not think of another profession i would like to be in.
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Old 08-20-2015, 12:04 PM   #100
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Very interesting thread indeed.

I use to love what I do but it has changed so much in 20 years. Started in radio and TV and it was great. Now I'm management in post and it sucks donkey balls. There are so many simple minded, egotistical, self righteous aholes in this industry it is mind bottling. Movie and tv production are also the cheapest big money spenders around. They waste so much money but won't spend money on quality cameras, post work flows etc that actually make your film better. Your apartment and trailer are far more important than what you actually put out into the world....

Over the years I just find myself caring less and less. I show up for work late and leave earlier. Some days I don't even show up at all. Everything I do is BS to support a BS industry. Every now and then we do something cool but it is few and far between.

Supporting the Canucks broadcasts and events was fun at first as well but now I only show up as it's an easy few hundred bucks to make. That place is so poorly run and mismanaged it is nuts to think they are a professional franchise. Some of it can fun but that's the non hockey related stuff, interviews, productions, big stage shows but that is becoming less and less as well.

I have wanted out of both for a year or so now but the money is good and I have great flexibility. But now my wife is transitioning to working as a crafty as opposed to for the craftys so it is a great opportunity for her. Part of the union, on set, very good money but long days. So now I feel like we have to stay here and allow her to do her thing, she's moved for my career in the past so it is only fair. Like others I think about getting into construction or a more manually, hands on type of work. I want that feeling of accomplishment back but I feel the almighty dollar is till to important. Want a nice house for the kids, give them things I never had when I was young. I'm not yet 40 but feel to old to start over....
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