Sometimes on Lemmy these seem like the only jobs that actually exist, but I’m sure there’s a lot of people here with different and unusual lines of work.

    • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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      13 days ago

      That’s why I went backwards from SE back to IT. I enjoy working with people directly and helping them. It’s also a hell of a lot easier in terms of hours and crunches (we have no crunches).

      Basically, I had to decide whether I wanted the money and “glamour” of working on a well-known hot project or to be generally happy with my life. I’m a lot happier now.

    • Bilbo_Haggins@lemm.ee
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      13 days ago

      I think it depends on your field of engineering and how much you enjoy the work. I find environmental engineering to be satisfying and a very dependable/lucrative income compared to many other non-engineering fields I might have been interested in.

      Add to that most other fields that pay similarly or higher (doctor, lawyer, etc) require more/costlier schooling and it’s a pretty sweet deal to be able to go into the job market with only a bachelor’s or masters and making a decent wage right off the bat.

      Of course the same enshittification/race to the bottom for prices affects us too but I don’t know if there’s any career that escapes that entirely.

      I would also think maybe certain engineering fields are more stable than others. Mine is particularly recession-proof since we’re driven by regulation (and bipartisan-supported regulation at that), not the economy. Massive layoffs are not that common in many of the other more “physical” engineering fields like structural, electrical, or mechanical either and even if you are laid off there is usually another company hiring. The skills are pretty portable as well so if you want to change careers you have a pretty good chance at being successful.

      Is it a field of rainbows and butterflies? No, but it’s a hell of a lot better than plenty of other jobs out there and it pays the bills.

    • laranis@lemmy.zip
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      13 days ago

      I taught myself to weld (poorly, of course) but I love the satisfaction of joining two pieces of metal well, and getting in the zone and laying down a clean bead to be proud of.

      I often wondered but don’t know any welders to ask personally… Does doing it professionally take the fun out of it?

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        12 days ago

        Nah. That’s why I do it professionally. The only shit bit is that the longer you’re in, the less you weld. When I started I had solid weeks of nothing but burning rod and shooting shit. Now it’s all about fitup and tolerance and horseshit with me lucky to weld a couple hours one day a week. The actual satisfaction of putting down a nice bead and having the slag peel itself or oxidize just right never goes away.

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        12 days ago

        Do you worry about UV exposure from the sun?

        You can block the vast majority of harmful welding radiation with a long sleeve tee shirt. Throw on some sunscreen if you’re paranoid about it. I generally wear a lab coat and that’s plenty.

        If you want something to worry about, worry about gas exposure. You can’t see it, generally can’t smell it, and if you can feel it, you’re probably already fucked. Argon asphyxiation is particularly insidious. Close ur eyes for a little snooze on the job and wake up to meet God.

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    13 days ago

    I used to work at a place that made envelopes and printed forms.

    Fascinating seeing 12 foot tall stacks of rolls of paper.

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    13 days ago

    Branch manager at a 3 trade business (HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical). Very much enjoy beating the competition and taking all of their great talent because they can’t treat them well. It’s not hard to actually give a damn about your people. Turns out, if you do that they like working for you and end up performing even more.

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    13 days ago

    I’m a therapist, and I train other therapists. And I supervise some therapists and I train other therapists to supervise other therapists. And I manage a team of therapists who train other therapists and who train other therapists to supervise other therapists.

    Kind “in it” at this stage.

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      Wow you’re pretty high up there. So that sounds like you are yourself a supervisor and supervisor educator and supervisor educators’ supervisor? Like some kind of a consulting group where my supervisors probably got trained? I don’t actually know who does the licensing for supervisor status - I’m guessing it’s just like the entry level where you have to get hours from anywhere that the state board vetted and stamped off on? It’s so interesting to me how state licensure has such a long relationship with private entities.

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        11 days ago

        I’m in the UK so it’s a different structure than the US, and the role is different too, less overlap with the medical approach.

        Most of what we so is training counsellors, the training of qualified counsellors in how to provide clinical supervision is a small part of it.

        We’re a private training company, doing counselling, legal, medical and accounting. I work for the counselling part of course.

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          11 days ago

          Very cool! Wish there were more of us on here. r/therapists is still one of the main reasons I use Reddit. Well, uh, I guess you and I could talk? But at that point, with you as a super-super and me as a first-year post-grad, it would just sound like shoddy anonymous online supervision!

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            10 days ago

            I’m up for that!

            I doubt I could get to know you the way a supervisor would, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be worthwhile for both of us.

            Talking with colleagues is always a joy. I’m leaving today for a long weekend, hanging out with a dozen counsellors for a person centred encounter group.

            Hopefully very restful being in an environment saturated in the core conditions 😁

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              6 days ago

              I love that idea too! We just gotta create a space for it, I guess. Boy do I have things to say… my facility’s CEO took his life this weekend and it’s been a mad scramble. Only in In-patient!

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    I do cosplay erotica for a living. I make awesome costumes, I take them off, and just post to Patreon. I suppose it’s kindof retail, as I’m giving the photos to people, as a reward for subscribing, but I set my own schedule and choose what goes out. The freedom is incredible

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      First, good on you. As a corpo wage slave who would not be good at either dressing up or removing said dressing, color me envious.

      Second, any particular fandom pay the bills better than others?

      Now that I’m asking I realize I probably don’t actually want to know.

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        12 days ago

        I specialize in powerful/domme energy characters, because unless you look like a little girl, you don’t make money off the sweet/girl next door characters.

        My most popular are Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil), Cammy (StreetFighter), Mad Moxxi (Borderlands), so video games, win!

        Oh, and Velma… my most subscribers ever were for that set, but I shot with a porn star and it was my first girl on girl set. 😅

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      I only practiced for about four years. Been orbiting around the contracting process flow at a giant tech company ever since, well over a decade.

      My immediate bosses are better people, the hours are much better, and I don’t owe a special fiduciary duty to my employer. As boring day jobs go, it’s got its upside.

      • kitnaht@lemmy.world
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        12 days ago

        PETG just is a pain in the ass sometimes. Really sensitive to moisture, and it loves to stick to hot metal. So it has a tendency to overextrude because of the steam, and bunch up on the nozzle, causing all sorts of havok.

        The key to printing it is just keeping it dry – the latest batches I’ve held feel like they’re way softer than I remember, so I suspect mfgs are putting more glycol in it than before.

        Also, do a sanity check and go back and print PLA from time to time. Sometimes you won’t realize something else is wrong and you’ll blame it on the filament, but something like the idler arm on the extruder is broken, etc.

        You can print it on Textured PEI, or Glass - but I suggest putting a little glue stick down to act as a release agent on the PEI - PETG and PEI bond together too well in some instances (ESPECIALLY on smooth PEI)

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    I did work in IT, but now I’m retired young. I could go back to work and make double my income, but I just don’t wanna. I’d rather have less income with a stable, comfortable life and the freedom to do whatever I want every day, than spend all day stuck in a job just to have no free time to enjoy the extra money I’d be bringing home.

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    13 days ago

    I’m a storyboard artist/3d generalist. Basically I draw all day, everyday for short films and TV shows. I find it pretty awesome because A) I love to draw and now I get paid to do it which is, from what I understand, very uncommon for artists. B) I’m helping shape a story from basically beginning to end. C) I also get to do silly voices sometimes when they need someone to fill in.

    But, a big downside is that I’m sitting and staring at a screen around 6 to 7 hours a day which destroyed my eyes and I get leg strain sometimes from sitting. I want to get a stand up desk eventually.

    • laranis@lemmy.zip
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      If you work for a large-ish company you should look into getting ergonomic accomodations sooner than later. In the US anyway many companies want to avoid the workman’s comp claims from repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel and whatever debilitating circulation issues sitting in a crap chair 8 hours daily causes.

    • Hadriscus@lemm.ee
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      Hey fellow 3d guy ! do get a standing desk, it’s amazing. I made mine from a kqueo stand and a board from the local carpenter. It doesn’t replace the need for working out/walking/running a bit every day, but it’s certainly an improvement. I love that you do silly voices. I’ve had that opportunity recently and loved it. We were recording for a short film and were missing a voice for the big baddie, so I whipped out my most fearsome growl and it worked not too bad