How did you end up in your career?
- Thread starter speedbird
- Start date
Seeing who's doing this years I think you've got a shot.
Very interesting read. My career path has been crazy stable compared to others so I will add my story.
I was good at math and science in high school. Took an engineering aptitude test and did well. Instead of going straight into engineering school, I started at Macalester College so I could play sports - basketball and track. Glad I did that cause engineering school is a grind and it was fun to ease into it. The plan was to do a "dual degree" at the University of MN. That turned into Washington University in St. Louis. When I graduated in '91 the job market wasn't great so I went to the University of Illinois to get a masters. I saw Michelin on the on campus interview schedule. I wanted to do product design (really wanted to design shoes at Nike) and live in a different part of the country after growing up in rural MN. Michelin is in Greenville, SC - a bit of an oasis in the SE part of the country. I started in Feb. '93 doing computer modeling (FEA) in support of various light truck tire development projects. In '97 I switched from doing analysis to leading tire development projects. I am still doing that job. If you drive on things like BFG All-Terrain KO2/3, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (I have done all of the different versions), Michelin Defender LTX M/S2 (the LT metric version) and many more over the years, I hope you like them
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The crazy part is my wife is also an engineer and her path has not been so stable. We were both in Greenville in the 90s - she worked across the street at Procter and Gamble. In '99 P&G closed her plant and moved her to a plant in Phoenix. I convinced Michelin to let me work remotely. I am a couple weeks away from my 26th anniversary as a remote worker. After our first kid was born, she took a separation package from P&G and moved us to Bend. We have been here since August '02.
I have never had a great salary, but Michelin R&D is a chill place to work - great work/family balance. I don't think I could have done the high pressure office grind type companies - one of the reasons my wife left P&G. As others have pointed out, investing at a young age is a powerful thing. We lived off one salary and invested the other for many years. Looking back, I wish we had spent a little more money traveling. Trips to Botswana and Italy were amazing and we should have done more. My wife will retire in November and I plan to call it next May. Don't expect DimeBrite level trip reports, but we have some travel plans - both together and fishing trips for me! Any ideas on how to get my wife to pick up fly fishing?
I was good at math and science in high school. Took an engineering aptitude test and did well. Instead of going straight into engineering school, I started at Macalester College so I could play sports - basketball and track. Glad I did that cause engineering school is a grind and it was fun to ease into it. The plan was to do a "dual degree" at the University of MN. That turned into Washington University in St. Louis. When I graduated in '91 the job market wasn't great so I went to the University of Illinois to get a masters. I saw Michelin on the on campus interview schedule. I wanted to do product design (really wanted to design shoes at Nike) and live in a different part of the country after growing up in rural MN. Michelin is in Greenville, SC - a bit of an oasis in the SE part of the country. I started in Feb. '93 doing computer modeling (FEA) in support of various light truck tire development projects. In '97 I switched from doing analysis to leading tire development projects. I am still doing that job. If you drive on things like BFG All-Terrain KO2/3, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (I have done all of the different versions), Michelin Defender LTX M/S2 (the LT metric version) and many more over the years, I hope you like them
.The crazy part is my wife is also an engineer and her path has not been so stable. We were both in Greenville in the 90s - she worked across the street at Procter and Gamble. In '99 P&G closed her plant and moved her to a plant in Phoenix. I convinced Michelin to let me work remotely. I am a couple weeks away from my 26th anniversary as a remote worker. After our first kid was born, she took a separation package from P&G and moved us to Bend. We have been here since August '02.
I have never had a great salary, but Michelin R&D is a chill place to work - great work/family balance. I don't think I could have done the high pressure office grind type companies - one of the reasons my wife left P&G. As others have pointed out, investing at a young age is a powerful thing. We lived off one salary and invested the other for many years. Looking back, I wish we had spent a little more money traveling. Trips to Botswana and Italy were amazing and we should have done more. My wife will retire in November and I plan to call it next May. Don't expect DimeBrite level trip reports, but we have some travel plans - both together and fishing trips for me! Any ideas on how to get my wife to pick up fly fishing?
Both of my parents were artists, my dad worked as a handyman when art wasn’t paying the bills. I grew up hanging out in his studio dabbling in what he was doing (stained glass, oil painting, sculpture), as well as helping him with remodeling, fence building, painting…
I was encouraged to follow my heart, and as long as I applied myself to what ever I decided to do I knew my parents would be happy. At the same time I was aware that if I was to go into the trades that I should be an electrician, and definitely not a carpenter.
I worked through college, and took a meandering path. I started as an architecture major, switched to math. I worked several departments of a building supply company, as general labor on construction projects, as a lawnmower mechanic, at a Pep Boys, and as a carpenter. When I finished school I realized that I enjoyed working as a carpenter.
I stayed with the company I worked for while going to school for several years after finishing. Eventually I was managing people more than working with my hands.
I like working with my hands, and seeing what I have accomplished at the end of the day. I was driven out on my own.
I have been in business for myself as a self employed carpenter with no employees for 20 years. Time at work is much like the time in the studio of my childhood.
I will never be rich, but I almost always feel fortunate.
I was encouraged to follow my heart, and as long as I applied myself to what ever I decided to do I knew my parents would be happy. At the same time I was aware that if I was to go into the trades that I should be an electrician, and definitely not a carpenter.
I worked through college, and took a meandering path. I started as an architecture major, switched to math. I worked several departments of a building supply company, as general labor on construction projects, as a lawnmower mechanic, at a Pep Boys, and as a carpenter. When I finished school I realized that I enjoyed working as a carpenter.
I stayed with the company I worked for while going to school for several years after finishing. Eventually I was managing people more than working with my hands.
I like working with my hands, and seeing what I have accomplished at the end of the day. I was driven out on my own.
I have been in business for myself as a self employed carpenter with no employees for 20 years. Time at work is much like the time in the studio of my childhood.
I will never be rich, but I almost always feel fortunate.
^^^ #truth
I echo the others who've emphasized in their own ways the importance of one's professional network and cultivating mentor/mentee relationships. It should be notable to the OP that a lot of people doing a lot of different things a lot of different ways have mentioned this.
The way I'll answer the OP's question is to say that for a variety of reasons I trended toward stability rather than risk. That's not a good or a bad thing, it's just a thing. I've had friends and colleagues take major risks and succeed beyond their wildest dreams, and others who've not had things go the way they'd hoped, with others in between.
My career path has been a lot more straight over tackle than most of the contributors to this thread. I entered college with vague ideas of entering the foreign service or becoming a professor, but that yielded to wanting a private sector career that required an advanced degree. I met my future wife the first week in pursuit of that degree and have been in the field for over twenty years. I can't really see myself doing anything else, and I ended up exactly where I wanted to be, even though the getting there had its share of highs and lows, as does the staying there.
I echo the others who've emphasized in their own ways the importance of one's professional network and cultivating mentor/mentee relationships. It should be notable to the OP that a lot of people doing a lot of different things a lot of different ways have mentioned this.
The way I'll answer the OP's question is to say that for a variety of reasons I trended toward stability rather than risk. That's not a good or a bad thing, it's just a thing. I've had friends and colleagues take major risks and succeed beyond their wildest dreams, and others who've not had things go the way they'd hoped, with others in between.
My career path has been a lot more straight over tackle than most of the contributors to this thread. I entered college with vague ideas of entering the foreign service or becoming a professor, but that yielded to wanting a private sector career that required an advanced degree. I met my future wife the first week in pursuit of that degree and have been in the field for over twenty years. I can't really see myself doing anything else, and I ended up exactly where I wanted to be, even though the getting there had its share of highs and lows, as does the staying there.
I was always gonna do something with fish. A quote from a professor at one point describing his path also fit my situation…”I needed to find a positive outlet for my pathological preoccupation with fishing“. I had fish tunnel vision at 10 but didn’t find my path until I was at UW School of Fisheries in the late 90’s during my second go at college at age 25. Since then I have had stints with federal service, completed a masters degree, worked for state agencies, private industry, and public utilities. I am fortunate to work in interesting places with good colleagues. The intersection of conservation and industry is my sweet spot.
Oh, and the reason I needed a second swing at college was a deep interest in playing rock music that led to dropping out and playing in bands for a few years. Scratched that itch and discovered that pursuing a career as a fish biologist was a cake walk in comparison. But I still play out with a few bands!
Oh, and the reason I needed a second swing at college was a deep interest in playing rock music that led to dropping out and playing in bands for a few years. Scratched that itch and discovered that pursuing a career as a fish biologist was a cake walk in comparison. But I still play out with a few bands!
There are a lot more people with vested interests in resource extraction and development.
She doesn't have to, just pick locations that are more than just fishing....then again, that may never be the perfect location for either of you.
fatbillybob
Steelhead
Don't worry. After a few decades she will be happy to hear you are leaving to go fishing.
fatbillybob
Steelhead
Addendum to my post. I met a friend last week to go fish. He was already camping up there for 3 days. Our wives are friends and talk. I just went up to fish for the day. My friend decides he is done too and heads home. Our wives had lunch today and his wife was saying how Mike came home early and she was a little put out because she still had things to do that did not include him and then she had to go back to regular meal planning. LOL...This is how long happy marriages go guys! Both of us couples have been together near 50 years. They like it when we are not around to make messes in the house.
This is a wonderful thread and I am enjoying reading about everyone's career paths. For me, I've wanted to do what I ended up doing since I was in elementary school. My parents were both teachers though Mom mostly stayed at home. Dad was a seasonal backcountry ranger in Yosemite National Park so we spent our summers terrorizing the backcountry with fishing rods. My dad emphasized work experience even it was volunteer so my first gig was as a VIP (Volunteer in Park) helping in the bear management program. That lasted about 3 weeks before I was hired as a scientific technician to be part of a survey of 102 backcountry lakes. The next three summers were spent employed in bear management (aka bear catcher) in the Park. Meanwhile, my undergrad program at San Jose State was geared to go either into fisheries or wildlife (my major was called Wildlife Zoology). I had a rather well rounded academic exposure to both sides with the highlight being a graduate seminar taught by A. Starker Leopold who at the time was a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley. He came down to SJSU once a week - it was awesome and he cultivated my interest in wetland and waterfowl management. My path would cross with Dr. Leopold several more times rather randomly before he passed away in 1983.
During that time, fish and wildlife jobs were rather hard to come by and quite competitive. I wasn't interested in an NPS career and instead wanted to work for either California FIsh and Game or USFWS. At the recommendation of many, I lowered my job entrance bar and landed my post college permanent job at a fish hatchery in the Owens Valley of California. At the time, it was important to "get your foot in the door". The job wasn't a typical hatchery job as it assisted area fisheries biologists and I got to work quite a bit with golden trout. I was out of there in two years (minimum you could stay before being eligible for transfer) and spent the remainder of my career in lands management.
Similar to Skimr's experience with ODFW, the pay wasn't great to begin with it but I was very happy with my compensation at the end of my career. I managed a network of state wildlife areas that included coastal tidal wetlands on California's North Coast and Great Basin seasonal wetlands in the Klamath Basin and everything inbetween. I managed staffs, wrote conservation easements, evaluated lands for acquisition, helped design seasonal and tidal wetlands on public lands, worked with private landowners to develop salmon friendly land management practices, did a fair amount work on waterfowl and even ended up dabbling in fisheries. The best part was our kids got to grow up in a beautiful and very rural part of California.
I am so fortunate to have loved my 35 year career and would have done it for free. Count me in the "do a job you love" category as I really never had a job I didn't enjoy except for maybe working a jackhammer for my girlfriend's dad's construction company when I was in high school. I would also echo what others have said about the value of relationships, mentoring and being mentored, networking and did I mention relationships? Ditto what Brian and others have said about starting NOW to plan for retirement. I am fortunate that my wife and I both have CalPers pensions but even that cannot be taken for granted.
During that time, fish and wildlife jobs were rather hard to come by and quite competitive. I wasn't interested in an NPS career and instead wanted to work for either California FIsh and Game or USFWS. At the recommendation of many, I lowered my job entrance bar and landed my post college permanent job at a fish hatchery in the Owens Valley of California. At the time, it was important to "get your foot in the door". The job wasn't a typical hatchery job as it assisted area fisheries biologists and I got to work quite a bit with golden trout. I was out of there in two years (minimum you could stay before being eligible for transfer) and spent the remainder of my career in lands management.
Similar to Skimr's experience with ODFW, the pay wasn't great to begin with it but I was very happy with my compensation at the end of my career. I managed a network of state wildlife areas that included coastal tidal wetlands on California's North Coast and Great Basin seasonal wetlands in the Klamath Basin and everything inbetween. I managed staffs, wrote conservation easements, evaluated lands for acquisition, helped design seasonal and tidal wetlands on public lands, worked with private landowners to develop salmon friendly land management practices, did a fair amount work on waterfowl and even ended up dabbling in fisheries. The best part was our kids got to grow up in a beautiful and very rural part of California.
I am so fortunate to have loved my 35 year career and would have done it for free. Count me in the "do a job you love" category as I really never had a job I didn't enjoy except for maybe working a jackhammer for my girlfriend's dad's construction company when I was in high school. I would also echo what others have said about the value of relationships, mentoring and being mentored, networking and did I mention relationships? Ditto what Brian and others have said about starting NOW to plan for retirement. I am fortunate that my wife and I both have CalPers pensions but even that cannot be taken for granted.
It’s hard to accommodate a spouse who doesn’t like to fish to find a location that fits the bill for both of you…we find one occasionally, but they are usually very pricey. We have come to an agreement that we take turns on locations for recreation and it works for us…especially since we both have been retired.
My advice to the op is if you haven’t found it yet, find something that you are passionate about, then find work related to it…
or ski or ...... whatever. LOVE. When it's right it's right, just go with it. After a while they will be asking how long before you're leaving for the day/weekend anyway. It's a beutiful thing.
And yes to the retirement saving. Having come off the streets a roof was most important so I paid off my 30yr in 19.5 then got into retirement saving more. We'll be OK even with a delayed start.
New retirement ride since I'm gonna work until spring quarter.
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My wife and kids are not fisher people. Early in our marriage we decided to have separate vacations so we each could do our own thing. We also go to Rock Creek as a family every year. There is lots to do near by for the girls, aka shopping. Missoula and Philipsburg are close by. Lots of area to takes bike rides, walks, hikes and see wildlife, too.
This approach probably saved our marriage of 43 years...
Thats cool, we're just newbs at 36. Although were not really married, but a commitment is a commitment. I don't need no stinking marriage license.
Not much different than what many people have said regarding their career paths, find something you enjoy and then do everything possible to succeed.
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Rob Allen
Life of the Party
The sad truth
I suck at everything else
Sucked at cabinet making
Sucked at estimating in a sign shop
Sucked at kitchen design
Sucked at digital templates for stone counter tops
I did my best at all these things for years and still sucked
All I can do is retail merchandising and work in a fly shop
I suck at everything else
Sucked at cabinet making
Sucked at estimating in a sign shop
Sucked at kitchen design
Sucked at digital templates for stone counter tops
I did my best at all these things for years and still sucked
All I can do is retail merchandising and work in a fly shop