What do you guys do for a living?

Now being here, I'm home every day.

I would *love* to be a housewife....err, house-girlfriend!  Cooking lovely meals, keeping all the household tasks under control, being home when the post/parcels come, being in a tranquil place, no commuting, freedom....  try to see the silver lining, kbeech, cos many of us would love to be in your shoes! 

Really, just 'banks' in general. No matter what you do. But, anything related to mortgages gets a very, very bad rap.

I'm not being critical of you.

My friend is a bank manager, on Wall Street, in NYC, and he gets given such a hard time now. He has been trying to get OUT of banking, and no one will even consider him for anything else. One person he was communicating with on Linkedin, a recruiter, told him that people who work in banks or in finance were 'considered high risk hires' by most other sectors, because of the association with the economic crisis. He is being demonised. I even read an article in NYC a while back that job adds in NYC actually stated "Former Employees of Wall Street, and Bankers, Need Not Apply." (I think the article was saying that companies were getting in trouble for stating that in the adds.)

Anyway, whatever... I would take a bank job tomorrow.

I'm NOT picking a fight with you Tracey. I'm just saying it is really hard right now, and that anyone working in banking has an especially tough job, and I totally relate to not being able to get the sort of work that is desired, because of the economy.

I would *love* to be a housewife....err, house-girlfriend!  Cooking lovely meals, keeping all the household tasks under control, being home when the post/parcels come, being in a tranquil place, no commuting, freedom....  try to see the silver lining, kbeech, cos many of us would love to be in your shoes! 

Oh don't get me wrong, I do love that I can be home. BUT, it does get a bit old after a bit. Part of my disability involves depression, which can get pretty severe, so being home with myself for company can at times just be more than I can bear.

I suppose I would VERY MUCH like to be home all day if I had enough money to do fun things, like... go out to lunch, do some clothes shopping, get a manicure, go to yoga... but being home and broke is sooooo sucky.

I hate it.

It does get rather depressing.

Unless I have work to do from home, and I am distracted, I get blue.

I'm a Supplier Quality Engineer for a medical R&D/manufacturing company and I look after all the suppliers who provide materials to us, kick them when they've done something wrong, help them solve problems, improve their processes, design new things and then translate what we want into their language.  My days are full of maths, chemistry,  physics, statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, computer science, electrochemistry, biochemistry,  pharmacokinetics, statistics, problem solving techniques, technical discussions, regulatory discussions, etc.....  I've got a BSc in Plastics Engineering and a MSc in Biomedical Engineering.    I enjoy it, I'm not half bad at it, and it keeps me on my toes. 

Oh don't get me wrong, I do love that I can be home. BUT, it does get a bit old after a bit. Part of my disability involves depression, which can get pretty severe, so being home with myself for company can at times just be more than I can bear.

Sorry, I can see how that would make it a different kettle of fish. 

Really, just 'banks' in general. No matter what you do. But, anything related to mortgages gets a very, very bad rap.

My experience has been different.  Average-man-in-the-street just sees a mortgage as a way to get your own house, or a way to get extra money if you already have a house.  It's seen as a positive. 

I'm not being critical of you.

I'm NOT picking a fight with you Tracey.

 

Well, that is very good then!

Maybe people here (as opposed to people in NYC!) have a MUCH MORE sane and balanced view of banks/bankers/banking/mortgages and so on!

I said I am not piking on you and I am not being critical because I did not want you to feel like *I* had that view - because, I TOTALLY don't. So, I wanted to be sure you did not feel like you had to 'defend' anything!

Sometimes, especially in writing, things I say come out in a way that confuses people - I'm workin' on it tho!

xoxoxoxo

For what it's worth, I transitioned out of working in the city to join Disney and that was almost unheard of in terms of the level I ended up at when I moved across (senior) all because I worked in Finance and dealt with huge budgets in a really high pressure time critical situation.  Several of my ex-colleagues have transitioned easily out of the city and do all sorts of things, run their own business, teachers, one is retaining to be a physiotherapist, several work in other industries, several went to start ups and new media stuff.

So yeah, I don't think people view working in the city negatively when applying for jobs. I would say that people who work in the city often have insane salary expectations, I get a lot of Project Manager who want 6 figure salaries, and it's not really sustainable outside of finance to pay that much, I think that when transitioning out you have to be reasonable about the salary levels of the area you're transitioning into.

Right now my job is being awesome. When I get a real job that might stop, but until them I'm just being awesome...or at least that's what I tell myself.

Right now my job is being awesome. When I get a real job that might stop, but until them I'm just being awesome...or at least that's what I tell myself.

That is awesome. Can I join you on your staff?

That is awesome. Can I join you on your staff?

Of course! We're always taking on new hires!

I work & have worked for an advice charity for just over 6 years now.  But I've had enough.  I like the work itself & I enjoy helping our clients.  The management & work culture, however, is a complete other story.  I'm 48 years old & don't appreciate working in an environment where we are treated like we are in preschool, i.e., like I am 4 years old again.  I am so hoping it's not going to be like that everywhere that I might work here...I miss the work environment/culture of my old job in the US (but not the hours, mean holiday entitlement & the commute).

So the plan is in the pipeline, imminently, for me to become awesome like PP.  And be a stay at home wife for a little while, until I figure out what I want to be when I grow up.  We will have to watch our pennies a little more closely & it may mean fewer far-flung holidays in the short term, but hopefully happier everyday life.