what is your job?

[aboron]

So after one summer busting my butt with 2 paper routes I was able to buy my first used pc in 1982 .. an Atari 400!! with upgraded ram (48k!! ..not meg...Kb!).

I used the paper route method to buy my first computer also, but I went with a brand new Vic20, so then I could not afford to upgrade the ram from the default 3k for quite some time. I could actually run the thing out of memory from typing in basic code by hand. Later I got a summer job at a "Kindercare" using that Vic20 to teach a basic computer literacy class to very young kids, I would haul it there on my bike and set up at a little tv in the teachers break room.

[Frappuccino]

Work at investment bank (IT)

Living in Japan. Yen is a nice currency to earn

How do you like it? And how did you find it? I also work in IT (more on the business/data/process side though). I speak Japanese and when I was consultant worked for a Japanese client briefly. I've occasionally looked at some of the sites like career cross and pondered pursuing another international opportunity. But the work until all hours- stay out even later drinking - roll in rather late in the morning-rinse-repeat culture of at least where I was didn't fit too well with me.

I'd love the perspective of someone actively working in IT in Japan.

How is it? It's great, in a single word I guess.
There's kind of two parallels working here, if you're at a domestic 'nikkei' company then it probably somewhat fits into your stereo type of long hours, after work drinks etc, but I've only worked at US/European 'gaishi' firms in my 3.5 years here, and there's none of that. Hours can be long depending on how busy you are of course.
How did I get in to it? Started out contracting at a job I found thru careercross as you mentioned, built up some contacts and moved around from there.

[asgradth]

I'm a Sr. Validation Tech for AMD/ATI (Austin). It is my job to test our stuff 'real world' before it's released. The best part of my job is... I turned my EQ2 6-box config into a test... So everytime we go through a major rev, I get to 6-box EQ2 for 3 hours and get paid to do it (sometimes OT on the weekend and they feed us!!). It's good to be a tester.

*boss thought i should mention, we do not use keyclone or innerspace, we use custom internal software, similar to these apps but designed for ... other things. i just tweaked them over to multibox eq2, tho it doesn't do nearly as good a job as keyclone/innerspace. Maximizer FTW

[Gadzooks]

Art director, designer, illustrator. Art major here. I make pretty good money, looking at increasing that next year. I work full time, and have a freelance career that has cycles of up and down, the extra cash has paid for all of my bigger toys (plasma, extra computers, ect..)

I never got money for good grades, but the deal with my dad was, get good grades, and he'd pay for college, which he did for all 5 of us. I got okay grades in HS, but the first semester in college something clicked and I really enjoyed school, so grades were never a worry after that.

[Yamio]

IT System Engineer for hospital computer systems worldwide. 5 day on / 5 day off shift, and the pay is pretty good. Basically I work 6 months out of the year. The trade of? An incredible amount of stress.

My dad wasn't the kind of guy to pay me and my brothers for good grades. He wasn't wired that way.

When I was in high school all my buddies parents were either buying them cars or helping out buying them, so I asked my dad if he'd buy me a car. His answer? "My dad didn't buy me one!" Wasn't funny then but it's funny now.

[Mooni]

Government contractor. Teacher of students age 18-50. I wish I could tell you more because DAMN I LOVE MY JOB AND IT'S COOL but suffice it to say I'm in a desert somewhere teaching stuff to armed service members. I have a high school diploma, about 180 college credits but haven't been motivated enough to make a degree out of them. My only relevant experience was 6 years in the Army, 6 months in Iraq.

If you're worried about what happens when you get older, if you can afford this or not, for a lot of us this is a hobby. When I was working at an internet phone company for $10/hr I would still pay for 3 accounts, because I wasn't spending money "pimping my ride" or renting blockbuster DVDs or going out drinking and shaking my tush on the weekends. But at the time my roommate was spending $900 a month some months buying new parts for his street-racing-worthy car. So don't ever let someone nag you about multiboxing bills; just find a way to make it work.

P.S.: For those of you making jokes about pimping etc, enjoy:

[Jar]

Retired Machinest, retired investment broker.

3 box Eq1
4 box WoW
2 box Shaiya
2 box AOC
2 box Aion

[d0z3rr]

Lots of IT people here.

I am in IT too and I work for a company people loooooove to hate.

[Iceorbz]

US Navy Submariner!

I deal with torpedoes and tomahawk missles, as well as the LAN Administration.

[Wilbur]

Network Engineer
Online Gambling industry.