this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2025
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Asklemmy

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My profession is in programming. Initially, my dad tried to teach me Javascript. It was a struggle and couldn't get it.

A few years later, I took up computer science in college and that's where it all clicked: I can imagine the end result. It's a matter of being curious and finding (or I daresay... hacking) my way to that conclusion. Programming languages have a very funny way of allowing you to do just that. In studying computer science, I discovered the art of engineering all kinds of software-based solutions.

Because my way of solving problems is more deductive than inductive, I have to consciously build foundational knowledge and routines. Constant learning and insatiable curiosity is required for me to identify when my hunches are wrong and discard them accordingly.

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[–] WhatsHerBucket@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Long time IT/cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity is all about curiosity and learning. I got there via the military.

E: too soon.

[–] Eagle0110@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Wow it's really cool someone from a military background went into the field of cybersecurity!

Is this common at all in cybersecurity?

There's a lot of IT jobs in the military, and that includes cybersecurity.

[–] WhatsHerBucket@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

It is now. When I got into it, I was doing communications, mainly radio and satellite. I had no idea what I was going to do, and as it turned out, computers and learning really struck a chord with me.

I used military grade cryptography in the Navy, but I learned a lot about cybersecurity on my own. All the β€œpuzzles”, and learning new things everyday like new technology, new vulnerabilities, etc.

Now they have specialists in the military and other government agencies that teach it. Although, given the current political climate, I wouldn’t want to be part of that with that.

As much as people learn it in school and the military now, I feel to be really good at it, you have to know at least a little of everything. I like to look at it like a technical jack of all trades.

You’d be surprised how many people there are from all sorts of backgrounds and interests, that had no idea they would be making a living out of hacking.

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[–] jeena@piefed.jeena.net 22 points 1 week ago

Central heating and ventilation technician, that was my first one, it was awesome, learned welding and stuu like that. But during the winter I couldn't do it, every time so freaking cold.

Then I was a Rubber mixer for the aufomobile industry, which destroyed my sense of smell to a high degree so I switched again.

Next was frontend developer, then iPhona app developer and then finally I also studied computer science.

After that I I went back to the automobile industry, but with the CS background I'm in software development now. My profession is very broad. I'm Integrator, Software Factory Subject Matter Expert (basically architecture around devops), Configuration Manager. Not programming at all anymore.

[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I'm a lifelong cook. Been working in kitchens since I was 15 and I'm currently training to be the sous chef at my current location.

People shit on food service workers but the amount of practical real life skills I've acquired over the years has actually come in handy quite a few times.

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[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Well sir, I step in front of cars and sue the drivers.

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[–] dingus@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago (5 children)

I get to cut up human organs for a living. Whenever something is removed during surgery, it comes to me. It can be mundane but there are fun and interesting things too. The job is very hands on.

No, I'm not a surgeon. You wouldn't want me to attempt to perform surgery on you. I'm not a physician of any kind.

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[–] lattrommi@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I am a jack of all trades, master of none. I'm a nobody, who likes to have fun. I'm easily distracted and lose focus a ton.

I am an amateur scientist, a cook, an author of unwritten books, I can't solve your problems but I'll still take a look.

I've been a toy soldier, a quick thinker, a recycling inventer and a useless tinker, who was once known as a legendary drinker.

I'm naturally shy but occasionally I'm bolder and i see beauty beyond the eye of the beholder as a student or mentor to both younger and older.

A person "who" cares, doesn't matter about "what", "when" I'm needed, "where" ever that may be, and sometimes "why". z.

I've walked a mile in your shoes and I ran so far away just to be the man who walked a 1000 miles to fall down at your door.

I never give up, never surrender, never gonna let you down, never gonna turn around, bright eyes, every now and then i fall apart.

A party of one, a party of five, a party of me, oh, ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive. As long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive, I will survive.

I want it all or maybe just a little bit off more than I can chew on that it's a piece of cake and eat it too rich for my blood is thicker than water you talking about?

Chances are, the odds are even, shirts versus skins. don't stop believin' that as far as I'm concerned, everybody wins or was kung fu fighting, thunderbolts and lightning, please.

Online I go by Lattrommi, the first and foremost, last but not least, mostly a man, still part beast, from the state of ohio in the united states of north america on this planet earth within the sol system somewhere along an arm of the milky way galaxy.

If you read all this, I hope you have a nice day.

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[–] EarlOfBurl@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 week ago

IT Project and Team lead.

Protecting "my" engineers from the customers. :)

[–] Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I'm a Microsoft 365 admin. It's the easiest job I've ever had and it pays 6 figures. I don't even have a bachelor's, but no techie person likes Microsoft 365 so they avoid it like the plague, which I saw as an opportunity.

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[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (5 children)

HAAAWOOO!

HAAAWOOO!

HAAAWOOO!

[–] AntY@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

You work as a fog horn?

[–] lostinasea@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

"You see old friend. I brought more soldiers than you did" Lol my first thought as well

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[–] boletus@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 week ago

Game developer (software engineer) We get paid less than conventional software but it's very rewarding work on its own.

[–] DozensOfDonner@mander.xyz 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Manager in the neuroscience lab where I did my PhD. Actually pretty nice because I know the lab and everyone so we'll I can often do the management in a few hours and then just focus on my research (finishing my thesis because behavior plus in vivo neurophysiology takes more like 7 years instead of 4 lol). Although, there can be some very stressful moments, big grants or so (and my boss is one of those breathing-science profs that will msg on WhatsApp on the weekend or days off lol, but yeah fuck that). I learned that I'm not good enough/invested enough to actually become a PI or prof, so this management stuff is pretty nice on the edge. I don't have the responsibilities but my opinion is often respected due to my research experience in the lab. Pay is shit tho.

[–] runner_g@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I manage an infectious disease monitoring lab in industry. Pay's a whole lot better out here, and my team is amazing and self-driven so I can do minimal people managing.

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[–] Electric_Druid@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Musician. Graduated college expecting to go into STEM but the work made me miserable. A little less financially stable now but I would trade that for my mental well-being 10 times out of 10.

[–] keepee@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

What kind of jobs do you do as a musician?

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm in IT. Wish I could have gotten into programming, but I'm just not suited to it for whatever reasons. I love tinkering on Linux boxes and figuring out networking issues. Interested in infosec, but discouraged by how many of those jobs involve working for the war machine.

I'm kind of in the same boat, thought I'd be programming but figured out early on that sitting at a desk coding for 8+ hours a day just wasn't my thing. Turns out I'm happier doing all the other IT grunt work e.g. setting up servers, backups, dealing with the network/wireless/firewalls, even provisioning and supporting user desktops gets interesting.

[–] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm a professional slut.... for data.

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

LOL I mean I can probably say the same thing and I gotta tell you. It's amazing the people out there that want to:

  1. Control the narrative of the data
  2. Suppress the data

I'll use just a simple example of tracking incidents in your organization. It's so polarizing like people how do you expect to improve if you can't acknowledge your faults?

Extrapolate that to the current political climate.

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[–] ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 12 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Researcher/academic. Been an interesting path from high school :)

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[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 week ago

Wage slave and renter

[–] dantheclamman@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Environmental Scientist. As my username suggests, my passion is studying bivalves. My day job involves studying nutrient cycling in San Francisco Bay (where clams come up quite a bit)! Through my work, I have also grown fascinated by phytoplankton

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[–] Palerider@feddit.uk 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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Was a cop, now I'm in EMS. Much better mentality, even with a shittier job environment.

[–] ninjaturtle@lemmy.today 8 points 1 week ago

Data engineering. Quite a change from my undergrad path.

[–] TheBloodFarts@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 week ago

Process chemist. Got my MSc, worked as a medicinal chemist for a bit and realized it wasn't for me. Decided to get my PhD, then found my current job and its been perfect

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Engineering Business Analyst. I need to learn SQL though

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[–] Keshara@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

I'm a Technical IT Consultant, consulting for a large cloud IT platform company.

On the client side, I take on new implementation projects, setups + configurations, maintenance, and help desk tasks that are beyond the help desk department.

Internally, I'm involved in our DevOps and custom app development teams.

[–] 2ugly2live@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I work in insurance, specifically auto insurance. I used to work as a bodily injury adjuster, but moved to subro. I've been doing this for longer than I realized. My mom told me with a smile that I'll likely be in insurance the rest of my life. I went home and cried 🀣

Pays alright though. And I'm (currently) able to work from home which I know is a blessing. Just wasn't what I was dreaming about as a little girl, you know?

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QA Manager. I started out as a test analyst, then taught myself to code with JS, C#, Python and a little bit of C++. moved into a test automation engineer role then a QA engineer at a different company before being promoted to manager

[–] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago

Marine fabricator, which sounds better than upholsterer. I specialize in canvas, making enclosures for boats.

[–] ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 week ago

counselor/mental health

[–] Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago

College teacher/academia in music and techology.

[–] Dyskolos@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago

Professional retiree for like 3 decades now 😁 But I also worked a bit here and there and it was as IT-admin or freelancer or both.

[–] Nemo@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 week ago

I worked in childcare for years, was a teacher for a decade, I've been a waitress and bartender for a decade... maybe it's time to switch again.

My real vocation is as a father, though. How I make money is secondary to that, always.

[–] Generica@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Have a bachelor's in Radio/Television/Film. Worked as a Reports Analyst for over a decade writing SQL code to pull data from databases to create reports in spreadsheets. Now for the last sixteen years I've been a hairdresser.

[–] nightrunner@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Virtualization Engineer. Finally doing what I am passionate about. I was a stock broker 10 years ago. It was a crazy ride.

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[–] Monster96@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Storyboard/3D generalist. I work at a small animation studio from home. The good thing about this is that I basically work whatever hours I want as long as I get my work done. That means 11 or 12 start times and I also get a chance to work on my personal projects when it's a slow time. The pay could be better but that's my only complaint.

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[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Jerk.

(me, not OP)

[–] superkret@feddit.org 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Dropship Door Nerf Gunner

I work Logisitcs Management and manage 200+ drivers for last-mile deliveries for a large company. I don't like the company but I take pride in my work and the projects that I manage, but I'm using it as a stepping-stone for something better in the future

[–] SneakyWeasel@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 week ago

I was an electrician for 15 years in the canadian military and for the last 3 years an instructor. I got really tired of using my whole body all the time and working outside all year round. I also got really tired of the military lifestyle and how bad the leadership got.

Quit my old job 2 years ago and took up programming. Now im about to graduate from college(canada) with a 4.0gpa and hopefully have a job with i right away.

[–] phpinjected@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 1 week ago

professional neet

[–] DragonsInARoom@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] rabber@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I'm a datacenter administrator and professional photographer as side hustle. I love my work so much that it barely even feels like work

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