Mundane Careers

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Arius
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Mundane Careers

Postby Arius » 22 Jan 2010, 13:30

I don't understand the draw to a lot of them. Like, there are people doing all these career paths which don't really seem like careers I'd spend money to get training on.

I can understand chefs, because cooking can be an art. I can understand doctors, because saving lives has to make you feel good, especially when you can turn to the patient's family and tell them they owe you an ass ton of money and if they don't pay for it, they'll have horrifyingly bad credit for the rest of their lives and if it's an operation, you can hold the patients life hostage unless it is paid for which has to give you some sort of massive god complex because the life of an entire human being rests on whether or not you can buy another Mercedes when their insurance company mails the hospital a fat check and you get a massive amount of it. And I can understand game design, because you're building something and watching it come to life.

But, careers like insurance sales, stock brokers, bankers, and such don't really stand out as careers I'd grow up thinking "I wanna do that."

Yeah, not all kids are going to be what they say they'll be when they're kids. Or we'd have a billion firemen and doctors. But, what draws people to these careers? Is it just the money and job security? Or is there something exciting that I'm missing?
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Master Gunner » 22 Jan 2010, 13:36

I've always wondered about accountants. From the three I've known personally, one drank himself to death, one's almost there, and the third moved to California. Currently just the accounting class I'm forced to take is almost enough to give me a drinking problem, so I really don't know why people go there.
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Bananafish » 22 Jan 2010, 13:41

I met a guy who transferred recently to my uni and I was showing him around. He told me he's going to be an accountant and I asked him why since I would probably die of boredom, he told me just because he's good with numbers. I've met a couple people who are accountants and some genuinely enjoy it, what people find fulfilling or fun is completely subjective anyway and I don't feel like it's my place to tell them what they should and shouldn't enjoy.

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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Evil Jim » 22 Jan 2010, 13:44

Strange as it may seem, some people actually do have a legitimate interest in accounting & financing. A neighbour of mine went to school for exactly that because, brace yourself, it's something she enjoys doing.

I think it's weird too but it takes all kinds.

Edit:
Bananafish & I posted at the same time. I did not just see his post & go 'yup, me too'. :P
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Ollie, don'tcha know! » 22 Jan 2010, 13:49

I definitely don't want to be an accountant, but I can really see the appeal. I love maths, and numbers fitting together and making patterns is just awesome in my oppinion. But I don't know why someone would chose accountancy over engineering as a maths-based career/school path
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Alja-Markir » 22 Jan 2010, 13:50

I plan to be an archivist myself, once I settle down from my travels.

Most people think it's boring, but I find the preservation and distribution of knowledge to be utterly noble.

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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Bananafish » 22 Jan 2010, 13:51

heh, sorry i'm gonna make a living sky-diving onto the backs of sharks, w.e nerds
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby iamafish » 22 Jan 2010, 13:56

i would be drawn to a career doing something that I enjoy. possibly something do to with writing, but i fear that I'm not good enough to be successful. While i'd love to turn a hobby into a career, i would worry about the quality of my work deciding whether i can afford to eat or not
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Bananafish » 22 Jan 2010, 14:00

iamafish wrote:i would be drawn to a career doing something that I enjoy. possibly something do to with writing, but i fear that I'm not good enough to be successful. While i'd love to turn a hobby into a career, i would worry about the quality of my work deciding whether i can afford to eat or not



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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby iamafish » 22 Jan 2010, 14:01

but without banana?
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Dave-O_Boy » 22 Jan 2010, 14:02

Master Gunner wrote:and the third moved to California.

A fate worse than death.
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Katie » 22 Jan 2010, 14:09

I have a second-cousin who's an accountant (... or something. He works in London, I have no idea what he actually does) and my uncle crafted a wobbly path through banking and finance.

Why either of them chose those careers, though, I have no idea. They must be a lot more interesting than they appear. But then, I'm a wishy-washy humanities type who can barely add on her fingers, so accountancy is pretty much my idea of hell.
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Theremin » 22 Jan 2010, 14:18

Those careers are often more stable and profitable, and that's something that appeals to a great many people.
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Mister Fiend » 22 Jan 2010, 14:33

I've known a few accountants, and they are the WORST DnD rules lawyers. I think my dad was an accountant, but I never really understood just what it was he did. The one time he really said anything about work was me mentioned he needed to figure out what to do with two million dollars.

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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Alja-Markir » 22 Jan 2010, 14:53

You know, this reminds me of an idea I had some time ago.

You know how in spy films, such as the most recent pair of James Bond flicks, the main character has lots of unseen support? Like cars and gear are left waiting for him, or he has access to an advanced computer database of maps, addresses, and the like?

Who goes around and actually prepares these little details? I mean, someone has to make sure the maps are up to date. If you have a database of every single building in the world, who owns it, what the company name is, what services they offer, it would have to be updated constantly. You know how often businesses change names, or owners, or locations? Someone's got to go around and double check every single place on these maps.

Someone has to physically leave the vehicles and weapons in their discrete drop-off locations. Someone has to store and maintain gear when it's not on missions. If you drop an agent into a remote region of Iran, you have to have someone move the needed gear from a central storage area in that region to the exact area of usage. You need people to maintain safehouses, garages, all sorts of infrastructure.

There must be countless people employed by M16 to handle all the materials involved. They'd be otherwise ordinary people, who simply have a side job with the spy agency. They spend 95% of their time living normally, then 5% doing something mundane but important when they get a call from their contact(s). Stuff like, "Go retrieve a K31 loadout and deliver it to this location within four hours", and off they go.

Who are these no-name supporters, these Mundanes? The very people who let the 007s of the world do such feats of super-spying are themselves much more mysterious and stealthy than any great agent. The old lady next door could be an occasional lookout, the baker down the street might safeguard a dropoff point for sensitive packages, the guy in the jumpsuit who drives the street-sweeper might have a safehouse in back of his flat.

What are their stories? It seems like a great angle for a movie to me.

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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Arius » 22 Jan 2010, 15:00

I had an idea for a game that was similar.

Rather than focusing on the adventurers going out and fighting all the monsters, you'd be from one of the towns that are affected by this.

Probably one of the towns that get completely obliterated. It would be more Harvest Moon like, you'd help to rebuild your village and the products created would go to the adventurers and such, under the king's decree.
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Bananafish » 22 Jan 2010, 15:39

Isn't that basically doing charity without actually doing it
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Arius » 22 Jan 2010, 15:49

Pretty much.

But, it's more effective than FEMA.
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Metcarfre » 22 Jan 2010, 17:04

I have a friend who took a Business degree in Uni who was incredulous at my degree choice (Science, Biochemistry). As he put it, "Why would you work hard for something that will earn so little?" Many people see work merely as a means to an end - money. Business is, as all my business friends will attest, a relatively easy degree, but it leads to some quite lucrative opportunities. Some people don't care if they really love their job; they just enjoy having money so they can do the things they want.

That being said, I do have a couple accountant friends who really enjoy their jobs. To each his or her own, I say.
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Tally » 22 Jan 2010, 17:17

Some people just don't like having to deal with people, and enjoy working with quiet things like numbers, and thus enjoy those kinds of jobs. Keep in mind too that a very large number of people dislike or even hate their jobs - not just accountants, but doctors, teachers, business-owners etc. (Surely all of us can recall at least one teacher who clearly hated his/her job and/or desperately needed to retire before going absolutely crazy.)
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby infinite_guest » 22 Jan 2010, 17:27

For car salesmen, I'd say it's an easy job to get if you've got a way with people and talking them into things that are unwise. I'm not really sure if you need a college degree for it, either.

As for accountants, I know a lot of people who are into math, and as inexplicable as it seems to me, they like crunching numbers.

I want to be a doctor in the noble pursuit of poking around with people's guts. I know I'm likely going to get into huge amounts of debt and work insane hours (until I actually become a pathologist, their hours are arguably pretty regular in comparison). But I rationalize it this way: Three years ago, I wanted to become an artist. I would have had to do insane amounts for work and gone into debt in order to try and get a job that I may or may not have made anything at all in. I would probably be broke, but I would be doing something that I love. How is being a doctor going to be much different in that respect? Aside from the potential to never make any money.
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby TomBrend » 22 Jan 2010, 18:22

Alja-Markir wrote:You know, this reminds me of an idea I had some time ago.

You know how in spy films, such as the most recent pair of James Bond flicks, the main character has lots of unseen support? Like cars and gear are left waiting for him, or he has access to an advanced computer database of maps, addresses, and the like?

...

What are their stories? It seems like a great angle for a movie to me.

~Alja~


That was sort of vaguely the premise of the Get Smart movie... except the dude whose job was finding information and analyzing it became a "real spy".
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby Niko88 » 22 Jan 2010, 18:28

When I grow up I want to be a janitor! I love that guy in scrubs!

When I grow up I want to be an accountant so I can learn to embezzle.

When I grow up I want to be a hooker so I can meet Charlie Sheen.

When I grow up I want to be an insurance sales man so I can screw people all the time!
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby korri » 22 Jan 2010, 18:38

My little brother used to want to be a garbage man... Although he recently admitted it was because he thought they only worked once a week.
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Re: Mundane Careers

Postby TomBrend » 22 Jan 2010, 18:46

Niko88 wrote:When I grow up I want to be a hooker so I can meet Charlie Sheen.


When I grow up I wanna be Vince Offer so I can punch Niko88!

Just kidding Niko... I have no reason to want to punch you. <3.

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