5 years (counting a redshirt year) of College football at an NAIA school in Montana. I had the best time, playing ball, chasing girls, having a "GOOD" time, hunting and fishing, pursued my Kinesiology major and Biology minor. Graduated and immediately got a teaching job, coached H.S. Football, Basketball and Baseball. I started my own summer business in the logging industry and did great with that until the economy crashed. I still have it but its idle now until the markets rebound. Still teaching, coaching much less and I hunt pretty much year around in one way or another. Hunting, Scouting, Shedding, and lots of critters to hunt and fish for here in Idaho year around. Too many actually.
I worked as an electricians helper while going thru college, Got my AAS degree in Electrical Engineering Technology. Job market was real slow when I got out of college - so I applied for and got accepted as a union electrical apprentice. Went thru my 5 year apprenticeship, became journeyman and was a formen within a month of graduating. Did that for 2 years then took a job with my local power company as a section operator / dispatcher. I write up and give out swithing orders and markups to lineman to work safely on the electrical equipment. Sectionalize transmission lines to restore power during storm events. Great paying job -I work a rotating shift but that gives you lots of time for hunting and fishing. That's the good thing about the electrical industy - there will always be a need for it.
I think the computer business is pretty stable. My son works at Microsoft. His second time there. He left to do consulting with McKenzie for a couple years and with another fiber optic company for a year. He just moved back to Seattle last year and is now talking of moving to California. I ask "California"? I though you loved your job. He says I do and I've been put in for a promotion/raise.... but we're thinking we might like a nicer climate. LOL I said where will you work and for who. His reply was sort of poo poo... "Don't worry dad, I can get a job". That's not something a lot of folks can say.
Long story ahead, jump to the last sentence if you want to know how I feel about it: I went to an art school for computer animation while working full-time as In-Store Loss Prevention (known as plain clothes secret shoppers to some). I worked full-time at a forest preserve in the early hours one summer and as a caretaker on 10-acres of land in Wisconsin the next. After going to art school for a year, I decided I wanted training in a career that would ensure more income. I moved to community college to continue with my generic courses. After being security for a couple years, and dealing with some of the worst people on earth, I quit and got a job as a CAD drafter for an engineering firm that did Electrical, Geotechnical, Architectural, Structural and Civil Engineering. I worked in that position for a couple years while moving my study focus over to engineering. I had been programming since I was 10 years old and had always just done it as a hobby. Before I graduated high school, I had developed in pretty much every language I could get my hands on but I never thought that I'd want to make it my career. After having had a lot of side jobs and working as a drafter and seeing how well the engineers there lived, I decided to go to Iowa State for Computer Engineering. I didn't graduate with a degree, but I started working in the industry the minute I went there. I started as a system administrator for the entomology department, taking care of three full buildings of employees and was developing on a project for the head IT guy in the department. I worked for a private company next doing web application development and finally went to an R&D position at the Iowa DOT creating a proof of concept for their accessible GIS layer. I moved into the Motor Vehicle support division and was in charge of all functionality around any applications dealing with Accidents. By this point, I had stopped going to school and was not only working full-time at the DOT but working independently on the side helping small business with their technical needs. My last job involved restructuring the entire development cycle. I implemented new methods of development and plugged in components that allowed them to ensure a high level of quality in their product. I even created a virtual testing environment that mirrored our production environment. No small feat considering that the environment was an amalgamation of several operating systems, multiple domains and dealt with extremely tight security restrictions. Before starting on that project, my employers were dubious that it would even be possible. All the while, I was still developing and working side projects. I think about going back and getting my degree. I enjoyed programming microcontrollers, FPGAs and actually soldering components on a perfboard, but the workload was a lot of stress. I think if I do go back, it will probably be for a business degree. I envy anyone who has an outside job. I miss working outside, but at the end of the day, you have to pay the bills.
I would really like to thank everyone of you guys for your messages. I would love to have a job working out side ive been shoveling snow for the local housing authority for the past 3 years, so i know the weather doesn't bother me. Ive really been thing about getting into either plumbing, electrical, HVAC or like a CNC drafting thing (not really sure what to call it but like taking peoples ideas making them on the computer and be able to produce them). Do you guys have any experience with any of those trades?
My father was a used car wholesaler so he let me take pretty much take 1 1/2 off. I mostly hunted in the fall and fished for bass all summer. Then in 1986 I became a computer mainframe operator up until 1997.
Got business degree while partying for 5 years down south and went to work for waffle house. College diploma in hand with paper hat on my humbled head. Learned all I could for 2 years managing, then headed home to follow my dream of opening my own restaurant. Five years managing restaurants later, took the risk. Its been 10 years and now have five stores. Would I do it again? Maybe, but knowing what I know now, I would go into IT or have studied harder and been professional. IT is the job security and $ of the future.
Learned the electrical trade for a while... Went in the Air Force... as an aircraft electrician. Loved the job, hated the military side of it. Got out and became a fulltime Reservist for 25 years which was a lot better because I actually got to travel more and the trips were shorter, until I discovered I had eye disease that was incompatible with military service. In the mean time I racked up several college, grad school and seminary degrees.
I went to college for a number of years, walked away with a B.S. degree in Geography have a job that has nothing to do with what I went to school for. I believe this happens alot now days. If I could do it over agian I would find a career that is rewarding and allows for alot of time off or at least calling my own hours to be able to enjoy life more.
