You do WHAT? - Inspired by the occupation thread

[dis-me]

Who here has a job that makes people go 'huh? - you do what?!?' either because it's unusual or because that is not the type of job they picture you doing?

I do! I'm an investment banker...

So why do people go '??????'

Because I look so young that people imagine the only job I could possibily have is delivering newspapers after school. Some people don't believe me when I tell them. In fact sometimes I feel reluctant to tell people in case they think I'm lying!

 

[Bob Slydell]

Not me, but rather my DW. She has a hard time initially meeting new clients and convincing them that she's a partner. She looks a little younger than she is anyways and coupled with the fact that she made partner a little faster than typical and they look at her like their daughter, not their accountant.

Fortunately, she's good at what she does, so it doesn't take her too long to get their respect.

 

[NMAmy]

I used to be a service advisor at a car dealership. You know--the person who checks in your car and is the liaison between the customer and the mechanic. I can also do minor repairs to cars. This always amazes people--I'm very much a girly girl. I think they're surprised that I used to have a job where I had dirty fingernails a good deal of the time. People are also surprised that I can guess at what's wrong with their vehicle pretty accurately.

 

[SandraVB79]

they always ask me "you do WHAT???" when I tell them that I am the IT SOX Coordinator.

I can't blame them... it's not a well-known something.

 

[Bob Slydell]

they always ask me "you do WHAT???" when I tell them that I am the IT SOX Coordinator.

Oh, you poor thing!! Our IT SOX coordinator literally sits behind me -- I wouldn't want his job for anything!!

 

[AprilShowers]

People always ask me WHY I would want to do my job. They assume it would be depressing. (we own a monument store).
I tell them it is anything but depressing. We meet the most interesting people, and hear the most amazing life stories. I love older folks, and most of our customers are older. We love helping people, and we love talking to people. It's kind of fun actually.

Don't get me wrong, we have our bad days, where we get those tear your heart out kind of tragedies, and it's just awful. But we help those folks too, and hopefully they leave our store with one less thing to worry about, and we've helped them memorialize their loved one forever. It's not depressing, it's gratifying.

 

[RadioFanatic]

mine's not necessarily a "you do what" situation but more of a situation that, when I tell them what I do, they feel free to joke about it and say derogatory things, b/c that's what everyone does.

 

[ducklite]

they always ask me "you do WHAT???" when I tell them that I am the IT SOX Coordinator.

I can't blame them... it's not a well-known something.

God Bless Ya girl That's a job you couldn't pay me a million dollars to deal with.

Anne

 

[dcgrumpy]

Who here has a job that makes people go 'huh? - you do what?!?' either because it's unusual or because that is not the type of job they picture you doing?

I do! I'm an investment banker...

So why do people go '??????'

Because I look so young that people imagine the only job I could possibily have is delivering newspapers after school. Some people don't believe me when I tell them. In fact sometimes I feel reluctant to tell people in case they think I'm lying!

Congrats on the promotion! Didn't you start out in the recruitment office for an investment firm, or something like that?

 

[dis-me]

I started as a temporary assistant in fact my very first role here was as the photocopying gal!

 

[Chicago526]

I don't get "you do what?". The questions/statements I get when I tell people I'm a travel agent are:

You must get to travel for free all the time! (Hell No!)

or...

How much would a weekend in Vegas be? Me and my buddies/girlfriends want to do a long weekend! (Let me consult my crystal ball, since I'm away from the office and can't access my CRS...)

 

[ducklite]

Not any more, but years ago I was a "roadie." I worked for a variety of bands travelling with them selling their tour merchandise (or managing the people doing the selling sometimes, depending on the tour) Everyone from Bonnie Raitte and Cheap Trick to Sepultura and Gwar, and about anything in between. At the time there were about 125 actively working tour merch managers in the US, and only six of us were female (small world and we all knew each other even though we worked for four different companies). It was a very male oriented world and people were very often surprised to see a chick show up with a hand truck of swag. It's a LOT more common these days, I'd say probably 40% of the people doing this job now are female.

I also did a stint as a tour assistant for about six months--I was in the production office from first thing in the morning until the last case was packed at the end of the day handling administrative things--everything from helping advance shows to handling all the petty cash with the runners to making sure various people were where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there for media and M&G events to handing out backstage passes and managing the guest list. It was very exciting being part of the nerve center of "the big rock show" but I didn't like being stuck in a tiny room all day, so ultimately it wasn't for me.

Anne

 

[RickinNYC]

I'm the director of the volunteer services department for a non-profit that provides services to homeless men and women in NYC. Folks either think I'm a volunteer myself and that I don't get paid. Heck, I let them think that. It gets me free drinks because they feel guilty!

 

[Jerry Springer]

I started as a temporary assistant in fact my very first role here was as the photocopying gal!

you don't have a degree in finance/accounting?

 

[barkley]

at one point my title was 'eligibility specialist'-and people were like whaaaaa? finaly i just started saying 'i work in welfare'.

now i get odd looks when asked and i say 'i'm retired'. people are like 'no-you're too young, how old are you? c'mon you're realy a sahm right?'. and i say 'nope, i did the time and get the pension to prove it'.

 

[NewJersey]

Friends and people I meet: What did you graduate with and what are you doing now?

Me: I have a degree in accounting and I work for a very large public accounting firm.

Them: But why? You're actually fun and outgoing...not the "office space" type.

 

[ktglads]

I figure maybe only our IT people would know what I am. A JCL technician aka a planner. I always just use the simplified phrase of I run the jobs that make your credits and debits gow through the bank. That then explains away the 24X7 oncall support that I get to do

 

[Bob Slydell]

Friends and people I meet: What did you graduate with and what are you doing now?

Me: I have a degree in accounting and I work for a very large public accounting firm.

Them: But why? You're actually fun and outgoing...not the "office space" type.

Wait until you get the comments assuming you're a tax accountant (assuming you're going into audit, that is). DW and I both used to get a lot of "Oh, you must hate April" from people. No, the tax deadline only applies to tax accountants.

 

[dis-me]

you don't have a degree in finance/accounting?

Nope, a degree in history and spanish - I was extremely lucky to get my job and (thankfully) I'm thriving in it!

 

[NewJersey]

Wait until you get the comments assuming you're a tax accountant (assuming you're going into audit, that is). DW and I both used to get a lot of "Oh, you must hate April" from people. No, the tax deadline only applies to tax accountants.

I get it all the time already! "So you must be really good at doing taxes, then." is my favorite so far. I took one tax class a year ago and I know the basics, but that's about it.

And yep, I'm going into audit.