Question for anyone who enjoys thier job...

[bradm]

Freeker, have you considered trying some volunteering? http://www.volunteerottawa.ca/ might have something that'll fill in your time, give you some direction, help some people who need it, and maybe give you some contacts for paid employment.

Aloha,

Brad

[Mr. Photogeek]

Thanks to everyone...at the very least I got 2 things from this thread:

There are people out there who enjoy their jobs...which is heartening.

There are also people who don't (just like me), which is comforting!

[Diggzz]

Freeker: Unless you live in TO (or to a smaller extent Vancouver) it's pretty hard to get into that line of work. Most commercial work is union so you would need to get a membership with ACTRA (http://www.actra.ca) and then it is audition after audition until you get hired. It is ultra-competitive as most AD agencies and production houses are Toronto and everybody knows everybody, but if it is something you REALLY want to do, it takes a lot of time and a lot of work. Sorry to be a bummer, just trying to help is all

[ollie]

I just wnat a job I love or at least one of those jobs where you get paid big bucks to do nothing...I think its called the Government...

You don't even know the half of it. I think half the people here think they're at Club Med.

*Bangs head against desk in frustration*

[Kaidy Mae]

Ditto. I've said it once and I'll say it again...fuckin Catholic schoolboard! *shakes fist*

Grrrrrrrr! Contract's up in October though. Freedom's right around the corner.

[Velvet]

I think you can literally do whatever you want if you are willing to compromise a bit here and there.

I love pretty much every job I've had in the last 15 years (guitar teacher, band manager, NAC video director, university sessional lecturer, Nat. Library music researcher, concert promoter, busker/balloon artist, musician, more I can't recall right now), and I owe it all to a shitty job.

Me: Grade 9 education, after four years of bad labour jobs finally get factory work at almost $9hr (which was the highest paying job I'd ever had) doing the most mind-numbing tedious job you could imagine and I realised there was no way I could do this until I retired. As I sat there on the sixth day of my job I decided to be a high school music teacher. Quit the job, went back to high school for three years practising my ass off the whole time, got a music degree and ta da, welcome to the rest of your life (though while I was in university I decided not to do the teachers college thing, maybe someday).

No need to ask if it was worth it.

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

i love , love , love my job.

i've been a bong tester for a few years now.

*lungs full of smoke voice*

"It's Good......."

[Sunshine]

this thread got me motivated today!

I phoned the colleges and I'm getting info. on Veterniary Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, and Physiotherapist Assistant

Wish me luck

FREEKER - maybe you should go back to school? There's some interested part-time courses.

[zero]

Whoa this thread I hate to say it made me glad to see that at least a few other people are miserable doing what they're doing. I feel like I am really far behind the curve of where I should be at career wise whatever that means. Dropped out of university, got into all sorts of different things including trouble, made a go at being a legit events planner (not promoter) and now I'm just spinning my wheels. Unfortunately I've had to go back to cooking in a restaurant to pay the bills which is just killing me. Right now I think I'm going to kill myself working two jobs and save up some money to go back to school, finish my degree, do teachers college and follow what was always my dream. Still I feel like I'm approaching thirty and I'm starting from ground zero.

[bONES]

Blue collar man!

I agree!

i'm a blue collar guy

work as a welder/fabricator

i just got laid off, but for me that's one of the bonuses of my trade/job. I work for 6 months and then work slows down and i get a break from it for a few weeks.

i like working with my hands, make good money, there's always a demand (and it's just getting better as all the older guys are retiring)

AND if you take Ike's advice and go the x-ray route there is opportunity as a non-destructive testing technician (Mohawk College)...meaning you would x-ray welds and make a ton of cash for doing it!

good luck man!

on the down side of welding > 2 weeks ago I got a piece of steel in my eye and had to visit the emergency room. And last week i got a second degree burn on my neck and chest from being exposed to the arc (it was SOOOO damn hot that i didn't cover up like i should have)! Plus i get REALLY dirty and smell like burnt metal..but hey, it's not retail

[bONES]

i'm a provisional white collar worker in a blue collar industry...i work in metal fabrication, i do the engineering and program the laser cutters & punch presses. this whole industry is full of people 40+ years old, but very few young folks....if you're considering a career change and aren't adverse to a bit more school, take up a trade. there's already a need, as more & more folks retire we'll be screaming for people...

what he said!

[Paan]

One thing I have been throwing around over the past year is going back to school for Environmental Engineering, and then using what I have learned in the business world, along with my contacts, to open a business with a lawyer and some technicians, offering companies studies of how they can become more environmentally compliant for government standards, for their employee's work environment, and how they may even be able to profit from it.... and go after the fackers that are breaking the laws.

Don't know how realistic this is, but it is probably one of my more realistic career alternatives.

[Paan]

... also would like to open a bed and breakfast.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I think I just sussed out my dream job. I see in Now magazine that Amma's back in TO again... I think I could deal perfectly well with spending the rest of my life giving people hugs. How do you set yourself up for something like that?

[paisley]

I'm bout ready to start sellin bunk molly on the lot

otherwise gonna keep workin my self employment angle and see what happens (when I get mad at the boss its deeply ironic)

me coding/designing/writing - "the pay sucks and I'm working my damn ass off!"

me boss - "we've got no overhead yet, hang in there. what the hells going on in sales?"

me salesdude - "chillax, quality before quantity will pay off big in the long run, you be see. whatup with accidentally quotin the messageboards, slack?"

me coding - "flip it, I'm out for beer."

tight ship

(that was oddly therapeutic... gonna start arguing with myself every day... hee hee, ha ha, ho ho, ho hum... reminded myself that 'me salesdude' is so fired, which I realized was crucial some months back)

Edited July 22, 2005 by Guest

[timouse]

Whoa this thread I hate to say it made me glad to see that at least a few other people are miserable doing what they're doing. I feel like I am really far behind the curve of where I should be at career wise whatever that means. Dropped out of university, got into all sorts of different things including trouble, made a go at being a legit events planner (not promoter) and now I'm just spinning my wheels. Unfortunately I've had to go back to cooking in a restaurant to pay the bills which is just killing me. Right now I think I'm going to kill myself working two jobs and save up some money to go back to school, finish my degree, do teachers college and follow what was always my dream. Still I feel like I'm approaching thirty and I'm starting from ground zero.

i was almost thirty when i went back to school...do it. i worked like a crazy bastard for a year to save enough to get started, but it was totally worth it. never looked back...

[Buffy420]

[color:green]I'm a Ph'armer!

There is a high demand for Registered Nurses & RPN's where I live, but I doubt that sounds interesting to anybody

[secondtube]

i just heard the boss talking about a job w/in the insurance industry for photographers...and its not accident scenes...

when a customer gets their property insured, the insurers want an idea of what is being insured.

so there are 'people' (small firms) that get hired to go into a property (house, etc) and photograph basically everything...

all their contents, their furniture etc. all need to be photographed and documented...

this is a realitively new field...which should have some openings...

i'll see if i can get some firm names for you.

Steve

[secondtube]

buffy, i wanted to be a RN nurse...i was gonna do it...but then they switched to a university degree required...

a little too much mula for me.

[Paan]

For anybody interested in the techy angle, the current application of RFID that is arising is a good thing to get into, it is already estimated that there will be way to few people out there to handle what is coming.

[Jaimoe]

Hey Mr. Photogeek, have you ever considered photo-journalism?

What about a job in broadcasting/media? I work for Chum Television and find the job somewhat rewarding, even though I once thought it would become redundant. I work in the technical side for the music channels and my advice for anyone considering broadcasting as a career, to focus on technical side instead of production ( at least don't ignore the technical aspect of TV ). TV production is gradually dissolving, being replaced by massive computer device servers and digital data bases.

[ollie]

Hey Jaimoe, I've always thought you had the best job of anyone on the Skank. Maybe it's because I grew up with Much Music but working there seems like such a dream job. Where did you go to school for that?

[Jaimoe]

Hey Jaimoe, I've always thought you had the best job of anyone on the Skank. Maybe it's because I grew up with Much Music but working there seems like such a dream job. Where did you go to school for that?

It's no dream job since I'm paid to monitor " content " and video/audio quality on all the music channels: Much/MuchMore/Vibe/Loud/Reto and the new re-branded PunchMuch ( formally MTV 2 Canada ). There's only so many times I can listen to Lindsay Lohan, Shaun Paul or Ashley Simpson without going crazy.

To answer your question, I went to Ryerson and took Radio & Television Arts - but universities don't teach the finer points of the technical television world. You have to learn all on your own. It took me four years to get this job - my first gig was working for live events like the Music Video Awards, plus my regular gig on Electric Circus. I also worked for Atlantis Broadcasting, as a master op for Life Network and HGTV.

Some advice: Do not look for a career in radio.

[Mr. Photogeek]

Jaimoe: I guess you could say photojournalism is my dream job (or closest thing I have to one anyway). I have looked quite a bit into this field (even talked to the photo-editor at our local paper) and have discovered a few things...its hard to break into without further education for one. This is fine...unfortunately the only photojournailsm school in Canada is Loyalist College in Belleville. It would be very hard to pick up my family and move to a city that basically has no job for my wife (she's a ad agency creative director...). I am still trying to figure out some way of making this work...it just doesn't seem possible right now.

As for broadcasting this is something else I have looked into (and can take locally). I'm just trying to decide #1 if its something I want to do and #2 if I can figure out how to afford it.

As my wife said to me yesterday, eventually I will have to pick something and go for it!

mike

[Jaimoe]

Hey Mike " Mr. Photogeek ",

Ryerson's Broadcast Journalism program may open some doors for you. Their curriculum covers a wide media-related area and I believe you may find a place to hone your photo-journalist dream. If not an actual class, you could always work for either one of their two campus newspapers ( while taking Broadcast Journalsim ).

Also on the Radio & Television Arts front at Ryerson - you can now take a two-year program for television. There may even be a one-year progam, but don't hold me to that.