GTKY 3/29 (Work)

marbellie

What do you do for work*? Is it what you thought you would do or trained for?

*This of course includes the hard job of being a SAHM.

sthlm_21

I’m a molecular biologist but now working in a biobank. Being a molecular biologist is what I trained for. However my current job doesn’t give me work to do post working hours, and I’m thankful for that. Due to covid we broke into teams and only one team goes to the physical working place each week. This week I work from home. DST also started yesterday. Boy am I glad for the extra 2 hours of morning nap!!!

marbellie

I'm a commercial real estate lawyer at a large firm. I always knew that I would be a lawyer (typical organized debate kid) but I thought I would be a court room lawyer before I tried everything out in law school.

I enjoy it and it has enabled us to save and do many things over the last 5+ years, but I'm getting tired. I may start the shift to in house or, if we move to Canada, another field entirely since I won't be licensed there.

mkp0903

I’m an ER doctor. I always wanted to be a doctor, except for a very brief time when I was 5 and wanted to be a vet. It’s all I’m trained to do, and I mostly love it (other than in Pandemic times). 

@sthlm_21 my degree is in biochemistry and molecular biology...obviously I don’t actually use it, but I enjoyed bench work in undergrad. 

@marbellie I’m curious as to why you might move to Canada (if it’s not prying). My husband works remotely for a Canadian company and we routinely toy with moving there, but I don’t know if I want to go through licensing stuff and learning how to work in a completely different system. 

doodleoodle

You guys are all so fancy 🤣

I've been a SAHM for the past 5 years. I did work briefly as a preschool teacher when my oldest started preschool and I had trouble letting go. Prior to that I worked on an internal audit team for a large international bank. I really enjoyed it and on occasion have regretted giving it up.

eggsandwich2019

I'm a college professor - I teach Asian art history. It's not a huge surprise to anyone that I went into this field, I've always been a total nerd and I grew up in East Asia. I thought I might go into the diplomatic service (my parents were diplomats) but my parents encouraged me to follow my interest in academia and here I am. Academia is messed up but I have a pretty sweet gig so I'm not complaining. Looking forward to moving away from online teaching, although it's pretty handy working from home while pregnant! 

gograce

Hi friends! I’m an English teacher. I did my first year of teaching while I was pregnant with DS. I then stayed home for 4 years with him. During that time, I also had DD. I went back to teaching for the 2019-20 school year. This year, I teach special education 7th grade ELA. Special education is not where I thought I’d end up, and I’d like to move to a different position, but I love the school I’m at and can’t trade that.

Staying home was way harder than being at work. I miss it a lot though. DH is also a teacher, and we just weren’t making ends meet on one teacher salary.

jackie_dunny

I’m a Medical Laboratory Assistant in the Histology department at a hospital. I have a long background in theatre so I definitely didn’t plan/intend on ending up here but I absolutely love it!

3monkeycircus

I work as a 1:1 paraprofessional in an elementary school. I started right out of high school and enjoy it most days. I had always wanted to be a teacher and still toy with going back to finish my degree but I’m currently enjoying that I work my scheduled hours- no early mornings/late afternoons, no trying parents to deal with

marbellie

mkp0903 said:

I’m an ER doctor. I always wanted to be a doctor, except for a very brief time when I was 5 and wanted to be a vet. It’s all I’m trained to do, and I mostly love it (other than in Pandemic times). 

@sthlm_21 my degree is in biochemistry and molecular biology...obviously I don’t actually use it, but I enjoyed bench work in undergrad. 

@marbellie I’m curious as to why you might move to Canada (if it’s not prying). My husband works remotely for a Canadian company and we routinely toy with moving there, but I don’t know if I want to go through licensing stuff and learning how to work in a completely different system. 

Not prying at all. My husband is from Quebec originally (moved to the States in middle school) and I'm an adventurer so we're kind of like "why not?". Especially now that we have a son and plan for more, the more European work and political culture up there is attractive (less hours for full time work, longer parental leave, more affordable housing market, affordable colleges, subsidized daycare, etc). 

Do you know what you would have to do to get licensed up there? Mine would include learning a whole new legal system (civil rather than criminal) and passing french language tests lol.... So I'm not doing it!

marbellie

@doodleoodle in my imagination I toyed with the idea of becoming a school teacher just to not let my babies go lol. How long did the preschool teaching last for you?

chartput

I am a family medicine/wound care doctor. It's what I trained to do, although in college I was a food science major, mainly because it got me out of having to do a language lol.

I always wanted to be a doctor, except from about age 4-10 when I wanted to be a horse trainer!

RoseShadow873

I'm a SAHM, which is definitely not what I expected to be doing. I have degrees in English, and Fisheries and Wildlife though. I specialized in ichthyology (study of fishes) and I'm still hoping to do some work in this field eventually. I keep wanting to get a PhD but we haven't been living close enough to a school where that's possible, and then with kids everything seems even less possible.

crazyliblady

I am a public librarian and I love it. Right now I'm mostly working with workforce development/unemployment services. My heart is in working with teens, but I like making a difference during the pandemic.

doodleoodle

marbellie said:

@doodleoodle in my imagination I toyed with the idea of becoming a school teacher just to not let my babies go lol. How long did the preschool teaching last for you?

I worked at a small private preschool. The school year began just after Labor Day until mid May. There were 10 spots in each class and two teachers in each classroom. My first year I was in a 4 year old classroom, I really enjoyed that. My second year I only worked until the end of January as I gave birth to baby #3 in February. I really enjoyed the opportunities to go to early childhood development conferences and other trainings. I would have likely gone back this year if not for the pandemic. Side note- if not for all of the different arts and crafts ideas I learned from the preschool teachers there then I don’t think I would have made it through this past winter with my sanity. 😂 

10/10 would recommend 

mkp0903

@marbellie I looked into a little bit. I might be able to get licensed through the equivalent of a family medicine certification. ER is a separate specialty here, but not there. I would have to have done an equivalent level of training, which is either 3 or 5 years. I did 4, so I think I could do the non surgical route. I stopped looking into it after that because it made my head hurt. I’d also have to learn how to function in a nationalized healthcare system. I then asked my husband if he would be making enough money that I could just be a SAHM...unfortunately, no...haha. Maybe someday if we feel super adventurous. I think my husband will be happy when the border opens back up and he can go to meetings in person again. His office is in Calgary, so at least I wouldn’t need to know French. 

cdbaldwin09

What do you do for work*? Is it what you thought you would do or trained for?

Family law attorney. I used to work at a big (for family law) firm, but started my own firm in 2019.

 I work from home, do everything on flat fees and simultaneously love and dread everyday as you never know what will happen. I am in court (virtually and in person) a lot, so I am cutting back on the heavy contested work for now so I'm not running into court the week I'm due. 

cyanne12

I am a first grade teacher. I love it. 

After working with pre-K kiddos for awhile, I decided to go get my degree. 

Still very happy with my choice, even on the worst days. 

ktinsm

I am an electrician. It is definitely not what I grew up thinking I would do, but I absolutely love it.  Solar fields are booming here right now, so my last job, and the new one I start tomorrow are both Solar, but I prefer industrial work such as in paper mills, or work doing traffic light replacement or anything else that involves me being high in the air.

Starynightsky24

I’m an elementary teacher turned SAHM. I stopped teaching when my middle was born. I’ve been home for 5 years now. I love teaching but I’m glad I wasn’t doing it during the last two years! I’ll probably stay at home till this baby is in school. 

usedtobeknottie

Wow, so many impressive careers here... I’m an accounting clerk. I do more than what I should lol. It’s definitely not what I wanted to do, but I was a PSW for 8 years ish and needed a career change that would bring me home for holidays and weekends. I really, really miss being a PSW and kinda hate my job. Can’t wait for a year off, thankfully in Canada ☺️

artsiefartsie

I'm a freelance artist/illustrator and also a SAHM. It has been really nice being able to easily work around the pandemic chaos and now my first trimester symptoms. 

I feel like my job is so much less exciting than most of you guys 😂. 

jackie_dunny

@usedtobeknottie what’s a PSW?

usedtobeknottie

jackie_dunny said:

@usedtobeknottie what’s a PSW?

Personal support worker. It’s kind of specific to where I am in Canada, but basically a nurses aid is what I think you’d call it in the states. 

KNB1027

I am current the director of 2 SAMHSA grants at a community mental health agency working with transition age youth ages 18-25 and individuals coming out of crisis centers or hospitals after being hospitalized for substance use or suicidality. By degree I am a Registered Nurse and have done hospital work but prefer community mental health - it is kind of what I trained for but has expanded my role into management. Every day is an adventure and I love it!

doodleoodle

KNB1027 said:

I am current the director of 2 SAMHSA grants at a community mental health agency working with transition age youth ages 18-25 and individuals coming out of crisis centers or hospitals after being hospitalized for substance use or suicidality. By degree I am a Registered Nurse and have done hospital work but prefer community mental health - it is kind of what I trained for but has expanded my role into management. Every day is an adventure and I love it!

You’re doing such hard and meaningful work ❤️ 

mayoduck

I love seeing the diverse skills and background of our group! I design software for health care. It's definitely not what I envisioned myself doing and it uses some skills I learned from college but a lot of what I trained in I don't use.

sonoshark88

I’m an Ultrasound tech! It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was 19, but I ended up doing a dental assisting program and did that for 6 years.  I liked it, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I slowly started taking classes and I found out I had been accepted into the ultrasound program when my son was 6 weeks old.  I’m so glad I did it! 

cd1122

I'm a financial controller. Always liked accounting, weird I know. It'll be interesting to see how work and motherhood gets balanced. Just got a new job in December so a bit worried to tell my company I'll be out at the end of the year!

sliztee

cd1122 said:

I'm a financial controller. Always liked accounting, weird I know. It'll be interesting to see how work and motherhood gets balanced. Just got a new job in December so a bit worried to tell my company I'll be out at the end of the year!

I love accounting too! Hoping to get hired on in a finance position soon! *fingers crossed*

jackie_dunny

@cd1122 I just started my job in February so I feel you on the nerves about telling them about pregnancy! 

2dogs2kids

I’ve been a SAHM since my youngest was born almost 5 years ago. Prior to that I was a PreK teacher. I currently substitute at my boys school and I love it. I’m going to miss it once this little one comes! 

cd1122

Best of luck @sliztee ! So fun to have a fellow accounting need on the group 😉

@jackie_dunny let me know how yours goes once you do it. I'm hoping won't be to big of a deal my new company is pretty relaxed!

chartput

@cd1122 @jackie_dunny I just started a new job this month! Bad timing with our embryo transfer on 3/11, Im not looking forward to letting them know either.

kbonita285

I'm an engineer by degree and worked in both the air and space fields for 14 years until this month when I started working for our family business of printing sales.... totally not where I thought my career would go but I love it so far and it's been fun working with my dad plus the flexibility is awesome

jackie_dunny

@cd1122 @chartput I’ve already told my boss and one of the lead scientists who runs my area. They were really cool about it and not at all upset. In fact, they just reassured me that me and baby are still safe despite working with chemicals. And I didn’t even have to tell them I was worried, they just both said it which was nice 

jenniferjoy37

I’m an MRI tech at one of the largest hospitals in my state. I love connecting with my patients, even if it’s only for 30 minutes. 

I never really had a clear idea on what I wanted to do, but my degree is in psychology. I love working with people, so I feel I’m in the right place. 

gingerale87

I am a Licensed Veterinary Technician at an animal shelter... figures based on my childhood but I did go through a few different majors and a military contract before I got here. I know I won't do it forever.  It generally isn't a field that is easy to do until retirement (unless you work in a cat clinic or small dog rescue these big boys take it all out of you!).  Thinking of something in human medicine next... but always open to homesteading and farming!!

I have told a few of my coworkers that I am very early in my pregnancy just because of the risks so that they can help as needed (radiology, anesthetic gases, lifting, etc).  I am the only medical person in my facility now since my other person (the veterinarian) just got deployed for 6 months so I had to admit I cannot do it all anymore.  I love the diverse group here and think it will make fore some awesome conversations!

MaximumEffort

Wrote earlier this morning, or at least I thought I did.  
I'm a critical care RN on a busy floor. The past year with COVID has been kind of dark and it all started with a loss in November. We still have a few new COVID patients and those with the long term problems. 
My original career was as an Athletic Trainer in Alaska.  I knew before I graduated that I wanted to be a nurse instead but was too stubborn to admit I had picked the wrong field of study.  Without that though I wouldn't have DD. 

marbellie

@MaximumEffort thanks to you and the other frontline workers! My FIL is an RN at a hospital in NY for what was the first COVID dedicated floor and it was very very sad

KNB1027

@MaximumEffort and @jenniferjoy37 bless you both for the hard work you do and have done during COVID. I hope your hospitals are taking good care of you!