What's your job?

[papayahed]

Hey kids what do y'all get paid to do? And what's the best part?

[Buh4Bee]

Teacher- June, July, and August. LOL! The benefits are pretty sweet too. Plus I kinda' like the kids and the people I work with.

[Charles Darnay]

So far, the results of this poll does nothing to dispel the myth that a pursuit of literature will inevitably lead to teaching....go us.

I'm just starting off my teaching career and have yet to find myself a stable form of employment - wandering from place to place is frustrating, but the teaching itself is great.

[OrphanPip]

By education I am a microbiologist, what I do for a job is technical lab work that has nothing to do with microbiology.

The good side: No heavy lifting.
The bad: it is soul numbingly boring.

[Abookinthebath]

After following a completely different career path for many years, I am now a firefighter (to be politicaly correct!)

The best thing...I would struggle to pick, but I love going to work. Everyday is different and I spend at least half of my day laughing with the guys.
The worst thing....well working 6 weekends out of 8, public holidays, Christmas etc kind of sucks.

[Helga]

I am a student of literature in the University of Iceland, the obvious good part is I get to read a lot.

I currently also work in a home for the elderly but will quit in January. I have been working there for 10 years so I have to say it will be great to quit it's a weekend job so I don't really have any time off and that sucks but it isn't a bad job in general but a very difficult one both mentally and physically.

[Delta40]

Commonwealth Public Servant. Great pay, perks and double superannuation. They are also very supportive of staff and cannot discriminate.

It's a rewarding job because you can really turn people's lives around

[LitNetIsGreat]

I'm thinking of packing my job in to become a London financial city director. Good working conditions, champagne lunches, flights abroad etc, etc and a competitive salary with annual pay increases of around 49%, I could live with that.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/top_bosses_pay_soars_50_per_cent_in_a_year_1_19348 82

This is somewhat more attractive than my two year pay freeze.

I wonder who you need to know to get a job like that though?:prrr:

[MystyrMystyry]

Muso-artist. Best job of all because of the total freedom and the hours are whenever you choose the hours to be. It encompasses teaching and virtually everything else except working for the government.

Drawbacks - can't please everyone all the time, staccato income widely variable in the early years - and maybe getting regularly confused over which direction to pursue next.

[tonywalt]

Investment Banking, for Family Trusts and Pensions. I also work on drafting the Deeds of Trusts and Wills along with the managing the underlying assets.

The best part is drafting trusts, most of which have a 150 year lifespan (so to speak), so it's a bit of a legacy, and I do like that part!!

Please tell me there is another banker or lawyer on Onlit!

[Buh4Bee]

I've meet 2 lawyers.

[papayahed]

Please tell me there is another banker or lawyer on Onlit!



Good Luck with that.


I'm a Chemical Engineer. I do Environmental, Health, and Safety at a Chemical Manufacturer. I get to do all the environmental reporting, make sure the site is following all environmental and OSHA regulations and get to deal with any inspectors that pop in. The best part of my job is that I am not tied to my desk all day long

[Basil]

Satellite communications in the U.S. Army. I track the frequencies coming from that big bird in the sky.

Good: I thrive in this environment of low expectations.

Bad: I'm surrounded by riffraff.

[Basil]

There is also the increased likelihood of getting blown up by an IED which is sort of a bummer...but seriously, it's the riffraff I can't stand.

[cafolini]

Artificial intelligence.
Bad part: They have to be programmed for the slightest chore. They do not evolve by themselves. It's a myth.
Good part: I have come to recognize more and more the archetypes in people claiming to be more than evolving computers in wonderland. "That face? That pose? That nose? Those ears? Where have I seen them before?"

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Architecture

I've run the gamut of roles over the years, from conceptual design, production (drafting), spec writer, renderer to construction administration (CA)
In recent years, I've found my niche in CA.

Good: The CA role gets me out of the office and on the construction site.

Bad: Occasional haggling with Contractor's or having to BS my way out of blunders created by my production staff either in the drawings or specifications, to the Owner.

.

[Brett Cottrell]

I'm an attorney. Don't tell anybody, they'll never believe you.

[Delta40]

Investment Banking, for Family Trusts and Pensions. I also work on drafting the Deeds of Trusts and Wills along with the managing the underlying assets.

The best part is drafting trusts, most of which have a 150 year lifespan (so to speak), so it's a bit of a legacy, and I do like that part!!

Please tell me there is another banker or lawyer on Onlit!

Cayman Islands hey? Isn't that a tax haven and can I send you some money?

[MANICHAEAN]

I have the grand title of HSSE Manager (Health, Safety, Security & Environment) working on the construction and commissioning of petrochemical projects. The main benefit is that you get to travel the world & get paid for it. There is a downside though. I returned from Qatar last night to the UK & was due to be reassigned to Japan in January. This morning 8.30am I get a call to go to Papua New Guinea. So much for my Xmas & New Year with the family!

Should provide plenty of material for the Short Story SECTION though.

[tonywalt]

Cayman Islands hey? Isn't that a tax haven and can I send you some money?


Yes, please send me money -also, other members please send me your money too I promise to exercise my fiduciary duties.....:leaving:

[Buh4Bee]

Can you add IT?

[tonywalt]

I'm an attorney. Don't tell anybody, they'll never believe you.

Good to see you, I've liked onlit right from the beginning.

[Delta40]

Yes, please send me money -also, other members please send me your money too I promise to exercise my fiduciary duties.....:leaving:

lol. I'll need to see some credentials first. I work for the tax office.....

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I wish I could check "teacher" with all you others, but no part-time jobs out there. Hopefully I'll get a GA next year. Plus, I didn't know Scher was a teacher.

And, good for you, abookinthebath and Basil.

[Delta40]

[QUOTE=Mutatis-Mutandi;1085194]I wish I could check "teacher" with all you others, but no part-time jobs out there. Hopefully I'll get a GA next year. Plus, I didn't know Scher was a teacher. QUOTE]

That explains why I'm no good at serious discussions - you're all teachers or aspiring teachers! Don't give me a D please!!!!

[LitNetIsGreat]

Well personally I'm not technically a teacher but I'm about as near as you can be without the paper for it. I'm more of an intervention worker*, but can be called upon to traditionally teach from time to time. I also do private tuition.

I could go for full time teaching from here but there is little chance that I want to put myself though all the full on stresses of teaching in a low end comprehensive school, no way. I may be mad but I'm not that mad. No thank you madam. I'll take the reduced pay for massively reduced stress and some sort of home life.

The term "teach" is also a very debatable term word in many low end British schools too.

* Thankfully, this role allows me to work with some groups of non-psychos, the normal kids who gets lost in a sea of bad behaviour. This is at least one rewarding aspect of my role.

[Delta40]

Well personally I'm not technically a teacher but I'm about as near as you can be without the paper for it. I'm more of an intervention worker*, but can be called upon to traditionally teach from time to time. I also do private tuition.

I could go for full time teaching from here but there is little chance that I want to put myself though all the full on stresses of teaching in a low end comprehensive school, no way. I may be mad but I'm not that mad. No thank you madam. I'll take the reduced pay for massively reduced stress and some sort of home life.

The term "teach" is also a very debatable term word in many low end British schools too.

* Thankfully, this role allows me to work with some groups of non-psychos, the normal kids who gets lost in a sea of bad behaviour. This is at least one rewarding aspect of my role.

Technically or not Neely, what drew you towards teaching if you don't mind me asking?

[Paulclem]

I'm a teacher/ Tutor with Adult Education, but I'm also a Manager. I line Manage other Tutors and Manage one of our centres which has 10 teaching rooms. We rent it off a really nice Asian Guy.

The job is very varied. Today I was directing Learners away from our car park, which the owner has declared to be staff only. I was then preparing for my class on Thursday - for which I'm being observed by my Tutor from Warwick Uni. (I'm on a L5 Maths course). I also had a meeting with one of my Tutors and gave him feedback on an observation I did on him a week ago. I then prepared for tomorrow's Self Assessment Review - SAR - which is all the Managers getting together and deciding what we did, and how well we did it last year. (That will be followed by the Quality Improvement Plan - QIP in December). Inbetween that I was adding potential learners to a database in order to call them in for an interview and short asessment next week, and answering e-mails about a multitude of stuff.

[Delta40]

Hmmm sounds to me someone should start up a Teachers thread where any and all topics can be covered.

[Paulclem]

Hmmm sounds to me someone should start up a Teachers thread where any and all topics can be covered.

I thought there was one.

[Delta40]

I thought there was one.

lol. You see, that is why I am not a teacher!

[LitNetIsGreat]

Technically or not Neely, what drew you towards teaching if you don't mind me asking?

No not at all. Well, teaching just seemed like a natural extension of my interest and love of literature or the arts/learning in general really so I took it further. I still believe in the role and take a lot out of helping others, but it is a massively frustrating and stressful business for many reasons with little pay or thanks involved.

Previous to this I had worked and trained as an orthodontic technician (which seems like a long time ago now) which felt utterly pointless to me and I had to get out. Before that it was even worse, I don't even want to talk about that. I regularly have nightmares about all the jobs I have ever done.

[Delta40]

Previous to this I had worked and trained as an orthodontic technician (which seems like a long time ago now) which felt utterly pointless to me and I had to get out. Before that it was even worse, I don't even want to talk about that. I regularly have nightmares about all the jobs I have ever done.

I guess that raises another question for this thread. What jobs did you do before landing the one you a) currently have or b) really wanted to have?
and did those previous jobs help shape your career path or did you always know your chosen profession?

I've had many jobs before landing the one which I love but I never actually knew that was where I wanted to be.

[Annamariah]

I study translation at the university for the fifth year. I hope I will become a translator once I graduate, but one can never really know what happens. Translators usually have to work as freelancers and they aren't paid very well, so we'll see...

At the moment I work occasional shifts in local libraries, which I've been doing for several years now. I love library work, I get to be surrounded by books all day long. I also like customer service, at least in libraries, where customers tend to be pretty nice. I love helping people find the books they need.

Before my library-career I've worked as a baby-sitter, as a secretary/receptionist in the Headquarters of the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District, and in a call centre. I liked working at the Coast Guard, though it was only one summer (three months). In the call centre, I worked six months all in all (first summer and beginning of autumn and then over a month around Christmas), and it was pretty awful. It was a number directory, but we would also look up public transport timetables, weather forecasts and basically whatever the customer might ask (like how many shipwrecks lie on the ocean floor). In evenings and weekends most customers were drunk and I had to talk to several angry or crazy people. It's also surprisingly exhausting to sit in front of a computer all day long, when you can only stretch your legs during the three breaks you've got during an 8-hour shift.

[tonywalt]

. In the call centre, I worked six months all in all (first summer and beginning of autumn and then over a month around Christmas), and it was pretty awful. It was a number directory, but we would also look up public transport timetables, weather forecasts and basically whatever the customer might ask (like how many shipwrecks lie on the ocean floor). In evenings and weekends most customers were drunk and I had to talk to several angry or crazy people.

I feel guilty about my usual friday night routine of getting hammered and calling call centres with obscure questions......:leaving: ....joking

[OrphanPip]

In college I worked reception at a veterinary clinic. I've worked in an exotic animal research hospital in the boarding facility, socializing and feeding the birds. I worked as a dog trainer at the Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I briefly worked as a rental agent, which was profitable but was just to help out my brother's real-estate business. I was also a janitor at a hospital briefly over the night shift, when I was working 3 jobs for a brief period. Many of these jobs were held concurrently.

I also worked for the government for a couple days as a registration officer, working on electoral lists and registering voters. The government will throw money at you in Canada if you speak fluent French and English.

[papayahed]

Can you add IT?


Done.

[papayahed]

Investment Banking, for Family Trusts and Pensions. I also work on drafting the Deeds of Trusts and Wills along with the managing the underlying assets.


Any hot stock tips???

[tonywalt]

Any hot stock tips???

You can only make money by buying something when it is low and subsequently riding the increased market value or buying a new concept/idea. The former is much easier than the latter, but both are unnerving because you have to go against the Herd in order to do this. Given the ''buy low'' strategy I could say that:

Gold is massively overbought, the speculative traders have driven this commodity to 6 times it's intrinsic value (and the world is not ending folks). You may profit from this by ''shorting'' thru funds that short the commodity. ProShares UltraShort Gold (GLL) does the trick. Everyone is a bull on gold, and very few bears - a sure sign that the party has a limited time to go (1 to 3 years, you can do it, just wait).

Also, Housing companies. Many are up in value, but much room to go. The 'suckers' will get in there last when the stocks are 'trendy' and at their peak. Again , gonna have to wait a few years.

As for trading, that's not my expertise, sufficed to say I do not advocate doing it.


Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful - Warren Buffett

I like investing, but it's not for everyone. It's interesting to watch group behaviour in this field, and how bucking that inclination is the only way to pull away from the group, ironically enough.

[TheFifthElement]

Finance isn't up there so I selected 'business' as its the closest. I work as a portfolio manager for a Marine Insurance company. It's a decent job, quite varied. Right now I'm working on some new policy wordings, which is a fairly involved process, but aside from that I do all sorts of things: monitoring the legal and regulatory environment (worldwide), ensuring compliance with regulatory regimes, audit, product development, case level referrals, pricing, generally being an all round know it all.

[Varenne Rodin]

Muso-artist. Best job of all because of the total freedom and the hours are whenever you choose the hours to be. It encompasses teaching and virtually everything else except working for the government.

Drawbacks - can't please everyone all the time, staccato income widely variable in the early years - and maybe getting regularly confused over which direction to pursue next.

That's me too. :)

[Lokasenna]

I'm both student and teacher - the wonderful grey-area that is the postgraduate existence. I also spent the best part of 20 years mucking in to the family business of shop-keeping, which was good fun. After we sold the business, I also had a summer of being a waiter in a posh restaurant, which was much less fun.

[papayahed]

You can only make money by buying something when it is low and subsequently riding the increased market value or buying a new concept/idea. The former is much easier than the latter, but both are unnerving because you have to go against the Herd in order to do this. Given the ''buy low'' strategy I could say that:

Gold is massively overbought, the speculative traders have driven this commodity to 6 times it's intrinsic value (and the world is not ending folks). You may profit from this by ''shorting'' thru funds that short the commodity. ProShares UltraShort Gold (GLL) does the trick. Everyone is a bull on gold, and very few bears - a sure sign that the party has a limited time to go (1 to 3 years, you can do it, just wait).

Also, Housing companies. Many are up in value, but much room to go. The 'suckers' will get in there last when the stocks are 'trendy' and at their peak. Again , gonna have to wait a few years.

As for trading, that's not my expertise, sufficed to say I do not advocate doing it.


Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful - Warren Buffett

I like investing, but it's not for everyone. It's interesting to watch group behaviour in this field, and how bucking that inclination is the only way to pull away from the group, ironically enough.

I'm not much into day trading or speculative stocks. My philosophy is go with what you know. I own some pretty solid stocks and I kept a very small amount in one of those discount brokerages for when I get a"hot tip" or an itch to buy something. (Last time it was Molson - guess what I was doing?:biggrinjester:)

[kiki1982]

Well, I've put business, because my hubby and I have a translation business...

But I have been a call centre agent with DHL (great job that was, apart from the totally incompetent management), administrative employee, freelance Dutch teacher etc.

Up until about February I was a housewife, which is still my greatest ambition, but my husband's work load is going down and as he is a freelancer it wasn't that fun anymore.

Being a translator is great: you get to choose what you do, when you do it (provided it is ready for your deadline) and you get good money if you work well and quick. We have an advantage as there are two of us, so we work faster though. And there is a bigger market out there than for teaching (what my husband does) as you're not limited to one location. But... the household is a mess as there is no time.

You see, I can't concentrate on two things at the same time: it is either iron, clean and cook in a routine or it is translate, there is no way in the middle. And so, the concept of me working sucks really, because my hubby is useless at managing a household... He cooks and then leaves tissues, bottles and pots (herb pots I mean) he has used without putting them into the cupboard again. I have no time to mop or dust or I don't have the energy anymore to do so.

And... there is no time on a free day to go and do something, because work may come in. Even if it doesn't, you have to be there in case :mad:.

Life was so much better 6 months ago, but less money... It's what you prefer.


I study translation at the university for the fifth year. I hope I will become a translator once I graduate, but one can never really know what happens. Translators usually have to work as freelancers and they aren't paid very well, so we'll see...

I think with your combination you could do quite well. Rates are high (though I don't know hw much you would have to earn in order to live properly in Finland). The only problem is that you have to make sure that you have paying clients, or at least clients who pay quickly if they have forgotten. And you have to specialise. Doing voluntary translations for ngos also seems to be practice amongst students who wish to pursue a career in it later.

I gather that the best way to ensure a good rate and prompt payment (some agencies go 60 days, 45 days, but 30 days is rare; usually it is the latter two that do pay on time, though) is to collect direct clients and no agencies. I haven't got any, but I gather that most companies prefer to aproach either specialised agencies (and that's mostly small ones, not the big multinational ones) or always ask the same translator directly. That's comfort really: they come back because they know it's going to be alright.

The English market is a bit trickier, as those rates are under pressure from India mainly, but Finnish... there are not too many who do that, and certainly not Indians. ;) Although some of what the Indians produce is not to be called English, so there is still plenty of work from the UK and America (though US agencies pay less due to the dollar).

[tonywalt]

I'm not much into day trading or speculative stocks. My philosophy is go with what you know. I own some pretty solid stocks and I kept a very small amount in one of those discount brokerages for when I get a"hot tip" or an itch to buy something. (Last time it was Molson - guess what I was doing?:biggrinjester:)

I'm with you there, all my investments for clients are long term and that's what I like, but you said "hot", so I gave you hot!

[tonywalt]

...I worked in a haunted house as a Gorilla during college. That was rewarding. I had forgot about that...ah memories....

[TurquoiseSunset]

I'm a programmer for a bank. I help develop and maintain some of their back-end systems.

Best:
- We work on a project basis mostly, and every project is different, so that keeps it interesting and challenging. And it can be quite challenging at times, especially if you have to get up at 3am and fix something and have no clue what went wrong. Some days I still feel like I only started a month ago and know absolutely nothing. :biggrin5: There is always something new to learn.
- I work with really nice people (and for a good company).
- The pay isn't bad.

Worst:
- Sometimes there are 'open' days between projects or tasks and they can be quite boring. After a few hours of surfing the net and going on constant tea breaks I get really bored. It can be soul destroying.
- Because every project is different you might use only certain skills in one project and others in another one. This can sometimes cause you to become really rusty at things you haven't done in a while.
- Lots of time sitting and staring at a screen. If you are tired or had a big lunch this can be problematic.
- Some tasks involve mind numbingly dull donkey work in order to get to the interesting/fun bits.

Edit:
While studying I worked part time as a cashier and a waitress. I also helped out at a few wine tastings.

[MystyrMystyry]

My work history is a fairly sordid affair:

Earliest was a cleaner in a fish'n'chip shop, where most of the two hour ordeal I froze my nuts off in the freezer. I was about ten.

Thought delivering the local rag might be a good idea at twelve, but lasted one day before telling them to stick it.

Should have learnt my lesson because collection of newspaper bills was no better a year later - though I did last three months.

Left school with a virtually untarnished record of 'work', but made drums out of hollow logs and sold them, framing prints and and things for people, and repaired more teachers' cars than I care to remember.

A brief stint as a cleaner in an office building (ending abruptly when I was accused of stealing a cheque for $15,000 - but actually it must've gone into the bin). Hated that job with a vengeance, and used to shove left over milk cartons behind file cabinets; pocketed a lot of stationary and innumerable bottles of whatever I could grab from the bar and sell them - the actual pay was miserable.

Car park attendant for a few days.

Designed websites for a bit, most of which weren't very good - if that counts.

Mechanic on call - excellent job, but no sense of progression or opportunity of advancement.

Activities co-ordinator at an arts collective - pure disaster.

Busking - great experiences, shouldn't really call it a 'job'.

Assembled bikes and did repairs in a bike shop - good steady pay but very claustrophobic, where I kept wanting to just get on a bike and ride far away.


There were quite a number of ill-thought out endeavors actually. It's funny how the easiest things don't seem like work, but you really remember the headache jobs you're forced to take at certain points.

[papayahed]

I'm with you there, all my investments for clients are long term and that's what I like, but you said "hot", so I gave you hot!

I know but you weren't supposed to answer the question I wrote but the question I meant.:coolgleamA:

[papayahed]

I've listed most of my jobs here:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13487&page=8&highlight=game

[Varenne Rodin]

I was a comic book artist in high school. I self published and sold my comics to peers. It was going great until I got shut down for too much "vulgarity."

I drew caricatures at Sea World. It sounded like it would be fun. It wasn't.

I designed carpets for upscale restaurants from ages 19-22.

Somewhere in the middle of these jobs I worked 11 years in musical theater and some television. Second best job of my life.

I worked for a sprinkler company for a few months as a favor to a friend.

Now I'm a full time fine art sculptor and jewelry designer. So much freedom in this. I am consumed by it.

[JuniperWoolf]

I'm a student MOST of the time, but this year my family ran into some... uh... financial difficulties, and had to pick up a job until next school year (nine months left, nine months left, nine months left...). I'm not going to lie, I hate it without reservation. I'm an "admin" for a company that owns a hotel, two bars and a restaurant. As far as I can tell, "admin" in this case means "person who counts money and tries to make other employees stop yelling." I can handle that, it's not so bad. The really awful part is the people that I work with and under, the other office people take themselves way too seriously for their social status (they dress like Pat Bateman's crew and are completely humourless, my mom is the accountant for a major logging company and she's no where near as "business-like" as these stooges) and also I wish my boss would die in a fire.

The only good part of my job is nightshift. I get to be alone, just me and the money, no one breathing down my neck, no uptight weasels telling me what to do. I do money stuff, and read, and listen to music, it rocks. I'm trying to get them to put me on full-time nightshift, but there's some resistance. Apparently, they're worried that going without sunlight all winter would be "bad for my health." Yeah, like listening to YOU all day isn't affecting my blood pressure.

Don't get me started on how much I miss video stores. I really fit the "video store girl" role. I also miss being a spunky little bartender like I normally am when I'm going to school. On paper bartending looks like a significant pay cut, but I could make $200/night in tips and I actually like it, I often get to have whole conversations with people who aren't complete ***holes. Bartending just isn't as "prestigious," (aka. it doesn't look as good, although if you ask me the black tank top and pink hair that I had as a bar maid was a lot better looking than the quasi-business attire I'm forced into for my current hell).

Why don't I just bartend while I'm living in my hometown? Well, as much as I hate to admit it, and I'm cringing as I'm even typing this sentence, I... ugh... care about what the people in this town think of me (we're only 3500 in number, and most of us are complete douchebags). I was the top of my class and very ambitious, I spurned the usual "mining or motherhood" route that everyone else settled for, I don't want to serve them drinks. I'm already in the whisper column for having to leave university for a year. Plus the clientele wouldn't be very cool up here, mostly dumb rednecks, and I'd have to listen to country music. If I was only in Vancouver already, I could attend classes and concoct drinks, I could play with drunks whilst quoting Aeschylus for the value of the bizarre contrast. I could dye and pierce and dress myself as dark and tight as I want. Nine more months, nine more months, nine more months...

*edit* It seems like pretty much everyone here has an interesting job that they enjoy. Now I'm really depressed.

[Varenne Rodin]

I'm wondering now if I should have included internships and volunteer work.

It sounds like you're on your way to feeling like you can be yourself and enjoy a job, Juniper. Nine months is not so long. I hope everything goes well. :)

[JuniperWoolf]

It sounds like you're on your way to feeling like you can be yourself and enjoy a job, Juniper. Nine months is not so long. I hope everything goes well. :)

"Put your hand on a hot stove, a second can seem like an hour. Get your hands on a hot woman, an hour can seem like a second."

Heh, thanks Verenne.

[Hurricane]

Currently a student-of-sorts waiting to hear what my job (in the military) for the next five to ten years is going to be. I find out in 28 days...

[tonywalt]

I know but you weren't supposed to answer the question I wrote but the question I meant.:coolgleamA:

Ah, makes perfect sense. I had a logical moment:frown5:

Good long term holdings:

- Wells Fargo (finance)
- Baxter Int'l (Health)
-LVMH Moet Hennessey (luxury and stuff)

I don't know anything hot or inside, at least not on a public forum....

[Annamariah]

. I feel guilty about my usual friday night routine of getting hammered and calling call centres with obscure questions......:leaving: ....joking

Well, there are people who actually HAVE that routine :D There are also people who want to call their friend, but they don't know where he lives or even remember his last name. Then there are quite a lot of desperate men who try to hit on each and every female they come across ("You have a lovely voice, you must be really beautiful, will you marry me?") and other men who think that a number directory is some kind of a phone-sex business. Then there are of course those who are angry at whatever business or person they are trying to contact and start screaming at the workers who sit in the call centre at all hours for a mimimun wage, even during holidays (when customers always seem to be particularly nasty, must be the holiday stress...) I'm not sure if I ever want to work in a 24/7 business again :rolleyes: Well, regular night shifts weren't actually that bad (much less customers than in the daytime and much more interesting calls in good and bad), but new year's night was awful :p


think with your combination you could do quite well. Rates are high (though I don't know hw much you would have to earn in order to live properly in Finland). The only problem is that you have to make sure that you have paying clients, or at least clients who pay quickly if they have forgotten. And you have to specialise. Doing voluntary translations for ngos also seems to be practice amongst students who wish to pursue a career in it later.

I gather that the best way to ensure a good rate and prompt payment (some agencies go 60 days, 45 days, but 30 days is rare; usually it is the latter two that do pay on time, though) is to collect direct clients and no agencies. I haven't got any, but I gather that most companies prefer to aproach either specialised agencies (and that's mostly small ones, not the big multinational ones) or always ask the same translator directly. That's comfort really: they come back because they know it's going to be alright.

The English market is a bit trickier, as those rates are under pressure from India mainly, but Finnish... there are not too many who do that, and certainly not Indians. Although some of what the Indians produce is not to be called English, so there is still plenty of work from the UK and America (though US agencies pay less due to the dollar).

I wish they also taught us how to start a business and how to find clients at the university instead of only teaching us how to translate. In Finland translators aren't paid very well. I know I'll most probably have to specialise in some field like technology or something in order to earn enough to support myself. Too bad that the most interesting fields (like audiovisual translation and translating literature) are the worst paid ones...

When it comes to working with no pay or just a little pay, which you said some students do, that happens here as well. It is actually one of the reasons why especially audiovisual translation field is in crisis (from a translator's point of view, that is). Students (most of which haven't even studied translation, only philology if even that) and other unqualified people have agreed to do translations for too small payment and now the companies refuse to pay more. The result is not-so-good translations and translators who can't afford to use enough time to make better ones.

[zoolane]

Mother, skivvy, teacher and cooker. All roll in one me.

[tonywalt]

.......

[tonywalt]

In college I had a short stint as a Telemarketer fund raising for the New Orleans retired police (booster association) by selling tickets to a Country Music festival. My calling area covered (cold calling) the Public Housing area of the city and the 9th ward.

I never sold a ticket.:frown5:

[LadyLuck]

The best part of my job is that I get paid to question everything. Research is a lot of fun.

[tonywalt]

Interesting, no Police or Construction workers, or Retirees.