How did you get where you are?

The university that I went to in order to get my degree had a ‘careers’ program that was essentially a listing of jobs in the market that were tailored toward students that have recently graduated. I was lucky enough to get a job right out of school and have been working there ever since (3 years).

I was about to graduate from college and I was planning a cross country road trip. I couldn’t save up enough money for the road trip, and thought it would be great if I could work my way around the country. Then I remembered that Yellowstone hires people for the summer. I went on Coolworks and found that a lot of national parks and resorts hire people for seasonal work. I spent one day applying everywhere I could, and by the end of the day, I had a job offer to go work in Alaska for the summer. I took it. Now I’m in the Grand Canyon for the winter, and I’m going back to Alaska this summer. It’s like being paid to be on vacation, I just have to put in my 8 hours a day. And I get to work in some beautiful places. Well worth it. Oh, the actual job I do is PBX or switchboard operator, which is basically answering the phones. It’s a job I can do anywhere.

I started off from high school not knowing what i wanted, i was between engineering and education, which covers a wide range. I went to a school with strong programs in both so I could delay my decision, and started off in the engineering program because it is easier to transfer out of engineering then to transfer in. I was going to do civil engineering, then i heard biomedical was a good springboard for med school, and figured why not. then in my 4th year i decided med school was not for me, and that I didnt know what specifically i wanted to do, but the field I was in was interesting and i would like to be involved somehow. this prompted me to pursue graduate school. looking at the logistics, i didnt have the money for a masters and didnt want the loans, so I worked for a year and am now in a PhD program in Bioengineering (PhD’s are funded+stipend in my field, so therefore cheaper than a masters). The ongoing theme here is that I don’t know what i want to be when I grow up, and more school delays my decision, while at the same time opening more options and getting me closer to starting my own company based on my own technology, which has recently become an attractive option to me.

Thank you all for your great answers. I hope I can read some more when I get into work tomorrow.

Before graduation in high school we had career guidance symposium. Varied people were invited to talk about their choosen careers. I like foreign service but because it is not offered in the College School i was forced to enroll, i graduated on different course (a lot different from my 1st choice). I pass the licensure exam and learned to love my profession. I have been practicing it ever since with no regrets, and enjoyed it.

I got where I am through a series of poor judgment calls.

This was my backup career; it was supposed to be the thing I fell back on, something I could do for a year or two, if everything went pear-shaped in the career I wanted.

And I’ve been doing it for the past 8 years.

A wise person once told me, “Musicians who have a fall-back plan always fall back.” At the time I thought he was nuts. Now I see exactly what he meant.

i took some side roads in my career and I was sabotaged once my a jealous bank HR manager. So I spent 8 years in a fallback career, picking up skills and knowledge of people that, coupled with a good part-time job and a reputation for being ethical, led to a community leadership job. It was a long road, of some good decisions, some side trips, and a few setbacks. But for the past four years or so, I worked toward a goal and then waited until the time was right.

Just remember: The race is not always to the swift.

I ended up in a career I had dreamed of doing as a kid, but I took the roundabout way of getting here. I enlisted in the Navy out of High School, ended up as a Naval photographer and loved it. I had always dreamed of flying though, and so five years later, I applied to a commissioning program. I got picked up, the Navy sent me to college, and said they’d let me fly their planes. I’m having the time of my life.

I just dread the day when I have to get a real job.

While going to school at SDSU I was looking for a summer job, went to work for Greyhound as a Part Time Driver. I liked it so much I went full time as soon as the opportunity arose. I was working to do more and more Charter work. It was like being paid to be on vacation and I was meeting people from all over the world and such diverse walks of life. In 1990 Greyhound Drivers went on strike. During the strike I went to work for a light rail operation, by the time the strike ended and I had to choose to return to Greyhound or quit 1994 I was married and had recently been promoted to supervisor. Finding out that most of the Charter work was gone made up my mind to stay at the light rail. Last year I switched to a new light rail project still haven’t started passenger service yet but I like the change.

Mostly I walked.