tinwhistler's day jobs

[Redwolf]

I am amazed and envious when I see there still are people who've had the same job for twenty years or more... Can't seem to be staying in one place for too long (sometimes my choice, sometimes not )...

Sometimes, you don't have a choice. I've been working in Silicon Valley since 1980, and the job picture is . . . variable. I tend to think of myself as a pretty stable guy, but in that time I've worked for 9 different companies (8 different jobs - one company got bought out). Never been fired, but been laid off three times, all by companies going under (the last time was this spring). Longest time on the job - 7 years. Shortest time - 5 months (startup company). Charted, it looks something like this -

2 years - .5 year - 1 year - 6 years - 7 years - 3 years - 3 years - 1 month (current)

I like where I am now - a lot. And I like the idea of staying here for a long time. But I'll be *amazed* (and pleased) if things remain stable enough I'm still working here in 10 years time.

(I'm a Software Engineer, for the curious, mostly specializing in device drivers and embedded systems. Currently working on high definition digital TV.)

Sounds like my husband's resume. He's also in the software field (programmer-analyst), and over a 19-year period, he's had job tenures ranging from six years to 4- 5-month contracts, with the average probably being 3 years per job. And he's a very stable guy. One thing in this field...sometimes you have to change jobs to move ahead, either financially or in terms of career. If the hot thing is, say, data warehousing and you find a job that enables you to get that under your belt, you take it.

It's a really bad market here at the moment, however. Seems like there's just nothing out there

Redwolf

[Henke]

Carrying furniture up and down stairs, mostly.

[desert_whistler]

Hey Chuck, yeah gotta say the Border Terriers are a great lot.

That definitely got my attention! My wife and I had a Border Terrier that, alas, just passed away from cancer last January The good news is we adopted another puppy to keep our 12 year-old Dachshund company.

As for me, I'm a software engineer. Been in the industry since 1987, so I've witnessed a lot of changes. I used to be all about work, but it's occured to me lately that balance in life is key. I quit spending all my off hours reading geeky tech magazines and bought a Tin Whistle to scratch the itch I had to make my own Irish music (I've been listening to it for years). Trading whistling for geeking out is one of the best swaps I ever made

I lurked on this board for months before finally registering.

[Steven]

I hope to get a PhD and then teach at the college level.

Hi Alex. I hope you've looked into the job prospects in that field and are prepared for a hard time finding a job. My brother has a PhD in medieval studies, and it took him several years to find a job as a professor. On the other hand, it is a pretty cool field, so as long as you're prepared for that struggle, go for it!


Steven

[Marko]

well i've been working for a year with an Indian software company. before that i used to teach sailing. man i wish i was lying in a crash boat right now and not in a stuffy office.
so anyway working for the software company is about as exciting as watching paint dry so i decided to either move to Australia or take up the tin whistle, learn to busk, and then move to Australia. now i seem to have spent most of my airfare on whistles. well slight exaggeration, i've only got three, but i've only been playing for three weeks so thats probably two more than i should have.
anyway, a little off topic, but now you know why i started playing too

[serpent]

I make whistles!
serpent

[DCrom]

Sounds like my husband's resume. He's also in the software field (programmer-analyst), and over a 19-year period, he's had job tenures ranging from six years to 4- 5-month contracts, with the average probably being 3 years per job. And he's a very stable guy. One thing in this field...sometimes you have to change jobs to move ahead, either financially or in terms of career. If the hot thing is, say, data warehousing and you find a job that enables you to get that under your belt, you take it.

Ayup. It's frustrating - no matter how good you are, it's often (usually?) easier to move your career ahead if *you* move. And, of course, the odds are that the person hired to replace you will *also* be moving up. A lot of it's due to competitive hiring during boom periods, but even when the market's more stable a lot of hiring managers will pay more for the same skills and experience when bringing someone into the company than they'll pay to retain them.

It's a really bad market here at the moment, however. Seems like there's just nothing out there

I sympathize, if he's looking. I was lucky enough to have needed skills and former coworkers already in my current job to vouch for me, and I still felt like I went through the Spanish Inquisition in the interview process. I was lucky, this time, in that I didn't need to deal with the standard "you must have 10 years experience with this 5 year old technology" (that any experienced engineer can learn well enough to handle in 3 months, max) silliness.

I shouldn't complain too much - I'm working in an area I enjoy and making a decent income doing it. Most people, during most of human history, would have envy the lives the majority of the folks on this board lead.

[Redwolf]

Ayup. It's frustrating - no matter how good you are, it's often (usually?) easier to move your career ahead if *you* move. And, of course, the odds are that the person hired to replace you will *also* be moving up. A lot of it's due to competitive hiring during boom periods, but even when the market's more stable a lot of hiring managers will pay more for the same skills and experience when bringing someone into the company than they'll pay to retain them.

It's a really bad market here at the moment, however. Seems like there's just nothing out there

I sympathize, if he's looking. I was lucky enough to have needed skills and former coworkers already in my current job to vouch for me, and I still felt like I went through the Spanish Inquisition in the interview process. I was lucky, this time, in that I didn't need to deal with the standard "you must have 10 years experience with this 5 year old technology" (that any experienced engineer can learn well enough to handle in 3 months, max) silliness.

I shouldn't complain too much - I'm working in an area I enjoy and making a decent income doing it. Most people, during most of human history, would have envy the lives the majority of the folks on this board lead.

Too true. As my husband is fond of saying, "bottom line, it's all zeros and ones." It would help, I think, if it were the technical people doing the hiring instead of management types, who often know little more about computers than how to use Word, 123 and PowerPoint!

He's currently employed, but it's an unpleasant position to say the least. Unfortunately, so far the closest positions I've found in the general area that comes close to meeting his qualifications are in Oakland, Livermore and Davis...one heck of a commute from Santa Cruz! This doesn't seem to be a stellar area for programmers, despite the presence (for now, at least) of a lot of high-tech firms.

Ah well...I shouldn't complain either. We're one heck of a lot better off than a lot of people in the world, that's for sure!

Redwolf

[markv]

I just graduated from high school and will be starting college as a music major/psychology minor. I am currently working as a car washer for the police acadamy at the college. I wash the police training cars.

I applied for a summer job when I was in college washing windows on downtown buildings. I'd had some rappeling experience and thought "no big deal". They took us to the top of a 30 story building, hooked us up and had us lean out over the edge at a 45deg angle for the interview.

The relevant part was if you didn't make that interview work then you got sent to the other division in the company....Washing ambulances and firetrucks. At least their isn't as much brass and chrome on the trainers.

Mark V.

[corinthia]

I just graduated high school, and I'm going into college in about a week and a half. I'll be attending Warren Wilson in Asheville, NC. A couple students there asked me to give them whistle lessons when I visited, so I hope to start that up.

I'm also teaching myself lap dulcimer, and learning mandolin.

[blackhawk]

OK you newbies, catch us up on what you do.

[suejnnhe]

Most of my time is spent herding my 5 children, parrot, cat, and hubby. In doing this I experience the following emotions:
:roll:

And a heaping helping of deep satisfaction!

I am also working on an online business. Whish me luck!

HeySue

[Crevan]

I'm in high school trying to get into university so I can learn to write (or at least much better than I do now.) I work as a waiter part-time and I spend all of my hard earned money saving for school, paying a couple of bills and of course, the majority of my cash is spent on whistles.

[ennistraveler]

I work as a registered nurse in a pulmonary unit at the local hospital.

[TomB]

I can't remember if I answerd this when it began, and I don't want to look through 28 pages to figure it out, so-

I spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy. I am now "retired" from that career and am working as a Legal Assistant, (paralegal), in Hartford, CT.

All the Best, Tom