[Travesty]

(07-26-2015 05:13 PM)Lance Blastoff Wrote:  

I love my job and I can't imagine anything better. I also make a ton of money and work about 10 hours a week. But it took me 12-15 years to build my career after school and 7 of them were Hell on Earth.

What job is this?

[Peregrine]

(07-31-2015 01:31 PM)Travesty Wrote:  

(07-26-2015 05:13 PM)Lance Blastoff Wrote:  

I love my job and I can't imagine anything better. I also make a ton of money and work about 10 hours a week. But it took me 12-15 years to build my career after school and 7 of them were Hell on Earth.

What job is this?

This is almost definitely finance, law, or management consulting. If you make it to MD/partner/[insert revenue generating title here], you work almost no hours and make orgasmic amounts of money.

But very few make it, and everyone considers eating a gun at least once. It's like Nietzsche said, sometimes the only thing keeping you going is the knowledge that you can end yourself at any time.

[Hades]

I like my job. I hardly get bothered and do great at it. If it paid better I'd probably never leave.

[lavidaloca]

(07-31-2015 08:39 PM)Peregrine Wrote:  

(07-31-2015 01:31 PM)Travesty Wrote:  

(07-26-2015 05:13 PM)Lance Blastoff Wrote:  

I love my job and I can't imagine anything better. I also make a ton of money and work about 10 hours a week. But it took me 12-15 years to build my career after school and 7 of them were Hell on Earth.

What job is this?

This is almost definitely finance, law, or management consulting. If you make it to MD/partner/[insert revenue generating title here], you work almost no hours and make orgasmic amounts of money.

But very few make it, and everyone considers eating a gun at least once. It's like Nietzsche said, sometimes the only thing keeping you going is the knowledge that you can end yourself at any time.

Pretty unlikely it's law. I mean I guess you could work 10 hours a week and say gross $1,500-$5,000 per week. (Any more than that and you working in NYC, Boston etc...and / or have a ton of years experience. (20+)

I've never met a lawyer though who only works 10 hours a week and it isn't due to them just starting out.

[Lechon]

(07-31-2015 11:54 PM)lavidaloca Wrote:  

(07-31-2015 08:39 PM)Peregrine Wrote:  

I love my job and I can't imagine anything better. I also make a ton of money and work about 10 hours a week. But it took me 12-15 years to build my career after school and 7 of them were Hell on Earth.

What job is this?

Probably self owned business/investments built up to the point where it only requires maintainance. Most top professionals I know are workaholics, at best they stick to normal work hours, ie. 35-40 hours a week and real holidays/weekends off. And they're a small minority. The closest thing to this I've heard from a top professional is a friend of mine who's a funds manager, makes mid six figures and spends around 10 hours a week in the office some weeks, and the rest of the time getting wined and dined at expensive restaurants by customers trying to sell their investment products. So he still works a normal work week, but most of it is pretty comfy.

[Tytalus]

I'm not a big fan of my job, but there are few opportunities in my city doing what I do already. I'm doing data analysis for a university and write reports.

The big jobs are deeper into my city and the pay vs traveltime vs increased COL actually means my current job pays as much as ones in the city. All of the best statistician/data analysis/data science jobs are in big cities in the US, not in Canada. If I could figure out how to consult via distance on the internet and live in some small country like Fiji or Urugauy I would go live there instead.

[Hawk]

I think the problem of many people is that they never had really shitty jobs nor have they been hopelessly unemployed for a long time. Once you've gone through those, you realize the real soul-crusher is to have a shitty job for a low pay. And even that is better than unemployment.
In my case, I like my job, but mostly because of the salary, perks, short hours and long holidays. Having graduated at the beginning of the crisis in South Europe, it took me a long time to get here. Now I'm trying to change to a better job (international institutions), but I'm happy that if I don't achieve at least I have a decent work where I can stay until retirement.

[texrifle]

My job for the last few months has been working as a hired hand for a contractor. In the business it's called being a sub-contractor but it's manual labor. I've done everything from plumbing, foundation repair, masonry, siding, log-hauling, trimming, deck-building, trash hauls, evictions (live ones are always a bitch), to mowing acres with a zero-turn. The immediate result of your labor and the long hours making ok money mean I'm happy. My regular day consisted of wake up at 5, out the door and on the road at 6, first job site at 6:30, and usually push till 4 to on the road and back at 5. I was paid from 6 to 3 (9 hours) when I first started because I would inevitably break shit (holes in wall), waste shit (weed-eater string), fuck up (floor not level), and have to waste time to redo it instead of moving to the next job site. However, once I got good at it I was paid for the full 10 and given the inside scoop on some of the outrageous prices banks are willing to pay for quite possibly the dumbest shit you can imagine. For example, if a lawn is over 36" high and an acre, the bank will pay $1200 for a bush-hogger to go out there. In reality, if you walk the property for large branches, water-meter covers etc, then go slowly with a zero turn, it won't look any different. Many little tricks such as this exist to make a LOT of side money. We did and I got a cut. Also, 48 hours after serving evictions we were paid to get rid of the stuff in front of the homes. I've found gold jewellery on one property and an old chest full of confederate notes on another. There's a good chunk of side money to be had out there gents.

[jake1720]

I met a dude where I'm living this summer.

Spent 3 years building a business and works on it for 2-3 hrs a day even if that.

Half luck half hard work... but you get the point.

Find a model that works and run with it. True 4 hour work week

[Travesty]

^ What type of business did he build? What is his lifestyle like?

[TheMaleBrain]

I like my job. I don't LOVE it or HATE it.
I do several things.

The main one is consulting for a regulator (semi-tech). I get to meet a lot of people (corporation representatives), hours are flexible. BUT - the people I work for are "not that smart", so I developed a lot of patience and use humor on the job.

The side ones are project base, in which I pick the projects I want to work on. Those are small, but are interesting (family business).

Have worked on multi national corporations. If you adopt a cocky-funny mindset your work stops "crushing you". You try to enjoy some of its aspects.

And yes - it is about freedom.

[Metal]

I really enjoy my job, working on an engineering mega project with opportunities to go out to site, take responsibility and build something that will last for 1000years (although operational for 30).

[Peregrine]

(08-01-2015 07:59 AM)Lechon Wrote:  

(07-31-2015 11:54 PM)lavidaloca Wrote:  

(07-31-2015 08:39 PM)Peregrine Wrote:  

I love my job and I can't imagine anything better. I also make a ton of money and work about 10 hours a week. But it took me 12-15 years to build my career after school and 7 of them were Hell on Earth.

What job is this?

Probably self owned business/investments built up to the point where it only requires maintainance. Most top professionals I know are workaholics, at best they stick to normal work hours, ie. 35-40 hours a week and real holidays/weekends off. And they're a small minority. The closest thing to this I've heard from a top professional is a friend of mine who's a funds manager, makes mid six figures and spends around 10 hours a week in the office some weeks, and the rest of the time getting wined and dined at expensive restaurants by customers trying to sell their investment products. So he still works a normal work week, but most of it is pretty comfy.

I've never included business owner as a "job" which I've understood to mean "paid position of regular employment" (Googled it just now). And 12 to 15 years is about how long it takes to reach a senior level in one of my aforementioned fields.

I've also never thought of getting wined and dined as work, so I'd only count the 10 hours your friend spends in the office. It is true that no top professional in a hard charging field puts in 10 hours and then sits on a beach sipping beer and gaming chicks. All depends on what you want out of life.

[Aliblahba]

[Gorgiass]

(07-25-2015 04:52 AM)Phoenix Wrote:  

I think contracting is going to become much more of a thing.
...
The system is completely against this though. The system wants everyone to fall in line as robots who do what they are told.

See the MA contracting 3 prong test, and expect more states to follow suit -

Quote:

M.G.L. c. 149, s. 148B, provides a three-part test which requires that all three elements (commonly referred to as prongs one, two and three or the A, B, C test) must exist in order for an individual to be classified other than as an employee. The burden of proof is on the employer, and the inability of an employer to prove any one of the prongs is sufficient to conclude that the individual in question is an employee.
...
The first prong of M.G.L. c. 149, s. 148B provides that the individual must be “free from control and direction in connection with the performance of the service, both under his contract for the performance of service and in fact” in order for the individual to be an independent contractor.
...
Prong Two: Service Outside the Usual Course of the Employer’s Business

Prong two of M.G.L. c. 149, s. 148B(a)(2) provides that the service the individual performs must be “outside the usual course of business of the employer” in order for the individual to not be classified as an employee. Prior to the 2004 amendment, the employer could alternatively demonstrate that the work was performed “outside of all places of the business of the enterprise.”
...
Prong Three: Independent Trade, Occupation, Profession or Business

Prong three provides that the individual “is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business of the same nature as that involved in the service performed” in order for the individual to be classified other than as an employee.

And if you fail any of the tests or their future amendments, prepare to be regulated.

Edit - I love my job too...most days (contractor checking in).

[Phoenix]

(08-03-2015 04:16 PM)Gorgiass Wrote:  

And if you fail any of the tests or their future amendments, prepare to be regulated.

Naturally. All you can do is stay one step ahead of them. They plug a hole, you just find another one. All their oppression does is encourage lawless behaviour, and devolves actual dispute settlement down to the community level. If you push it to extremes, you can just do without a contract (revert to short timeframe verbal Tit-for-tat agreements), and trade in cash. As the drug war proves, the state isn't all powerful, and enforces it's thuggery in a lashing-out manner against the targets that stand out the most, rather than consistently and systematically. As the author of "how to be free in an unfree world" put it, you should just quietly avoid complying.

To paraphrase Ghandi: "100,000 statesmen simply cannot control 350 million citizens, if those citizens refuse to cooperate".

[lowbudgetballer]

I generally like my job in higher education. Hate the location and the colleagues. I can't believe the jobs I've quit in the past.

Over the years, I've noticed that the better your working conditions are, the lower your tolerance for bullshit is.

'baller

[Peregrine]

(08-03-2015 10:29 PM)lowbudgetballer Wrote:  

Over the years, I've noticed that the better your working conditions are, the lower your tolerance for bullshit is.

Interesting. Could you expand?

[Gustavus Adolphus]

(08-04-2015 12:19 AM)Peregrine Wrote:  

(08-03-2015 10:29 PM)lowbudgetballer Wrote:  

Over the years, I've noticed that the better your working conditions are, the lower your tolerance for bullshit is.

Interesting. Could you expand?

I take that statement to also mean that the less you need your job the more likely you are to not put up with any BS.

If you got laid off tomorrow, would you panic? For a lot of people, the short answer is yes. Better working conditions are debatable, but I conclude that this means higher wages and responsibility, which can often mean a better possibility of cash assets/savings and marketability for a new job. If this is the case, you won't starve if you don't get paid on Friday, which means that if your job completely sucks, you go find a new one that doesn't.

[Georges89]

I've been in my industry for about 4-5 years now.

Its funny how quickly life goes by. What was initially meant to be a job after university has turned into a mini career in headhunting/executive search. Its 'recruitment/HR' but at a senior level in organisations.

I'm bored. Its just, the same old stuff, day in, day out, and the role really feels restricted. Ultimately my boss wins business with clients, and I 'execute' which involves sifting through LinkedIn, sending out messages on there, or via your email and finding candidates, eventually calling/qualifying the interested/interesting ones and building a shortlist and organising interviews, managing process etc.

Ultimately its a very desk based job, which requires little intellectual challenge. I do sit and wonder sometimes that my job really isn't fulfilling. Its just very 'vanilla' and not particularly exciting. Outside of the cash motivation and bonus payouts its not got me excited at all.

I think in this day and age, we should be able to find something that somehow excites us to a degree, otherwise whats the point?

My problem is the same old problem though. I just don't know what I want to do next. Be it Law, teaching abroad & learning a foreign in the process, or something else. Law may be a good long term option, but seems ultra competitive. Teaching abroad seems like a good short term option, but doesn't seem to have obvious routes after that, although I'd say learning a new language, getting international experience in an exotic country, etc, sounds pretty good to me!

Having said that, I am really sitting on the fence now between going the 'f**k it route of travel/teach abroad & and don't plan for the future' or the long term thinking boring route, where I stay in my sh*tty job for the long term security..

I wish my parents didn't still have such a strong influence on the decisions I make. I wish I had a kind of hippy mum who would say go and travel/teach abroad/follow my dreams, as opposed to the reality which is much more 'stick to your career, don't do anything out of the ordinary, stay for the money' and it seems a lot more negative, although 'logical'.

[fortysix]

Im a lawyer - day to day I enjoy my work because it involves persuasive writing, arguing, interesting client contact, and being organized and accountable, which I enjoy as well. I also enjoy making $100k (although taxes eat a huge chunk of that - state taxes fml!)

Looking at the big picture, however, I cant seem to shake the feeling that im just an over-paid money-hogging cog in the machine that promotes adversary and pushes around paper.

So, day-to-day, I enjoy my work, but in the philosophical grand scheme of things, I do not feel satisfied by the life that I have chosen. Still, I dont know if I am ready to give up my salary.

I set a date for myself, about two years from now, on which I will seriously contemplate taking a hiatus from work to sign up for a coding bootcamp and to look for a job in the tech field, while remaining "of counsel" on a contractor basis.

I would do the above earlier, but I am meeting a lot of great people daily, and there is still a lot to learn about the practice of law, so by leaving earlier I would shoot myself in the foot.

All in all, there are a lot of very interesting things that you can pursue in life to make money- its very important to set yourself up to be flexible to pursue as many of those things as possible. I read somewhere that on average, millionaires have at least six sources of income.

[Green-On-GO]

I like my job...beats working for a living..I would die a slow death being stuck behind a desk..I can not stand being stuck inside.I like being out in the field as they say.Got no time for politics or brown nose fuckers.
My job fuels my lifestyle and I will never be married to the job..it will never ever love me back.
I see these guys talking it up in the bar with their suits on and I feel sorry for them.
I loved my Army days jumping out of planes and shit..it was the most freedom I ever had believe it or not.

[jake1720]

(08-02-2015 02:01 AM)Travesty Wrote:  

^ What type of business did he build? What is his lifestyle like?

It's almost a blog with affiliate stuff. Can't say much more than that.

He chose a good niche though.

His lifestyle consists of wake up, type for a few hours, then have the rest of the day off in an extremely high COL American city.

[lowbudgetballer]

I loved my old part-time job as an instructor of intercultural communication, but it didn't pay anything. I don't like it's full-time counterpart, in the rural Southwest, in an integrated English/Com department with limited offerings.

'baller

[Travesty]

(08-05-2015 02:41 PM)se7en Wrote:  

Looking at the big picture, however, I cant seem to shake the feeling that im just an over-paid money-hogging cog in the machine that promotes adversary and pushes around paper.

Haha wow lawyer hamstering at it's finest!