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It’s interesting to me when people complain about their job. For me, I have a career, a career in Information Technology (IT). I don’t have a Monday to Friday 8-5 job. I go to work to get the “job done.” I have a task or project (usually several at a time) and I prioritize them and complete them in a organized manner. It really boggles my mind when someone is surprised that I don’t get done the same time every day. My work changes from day to day so how can I expect to start and stop the same time every day?
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I love what I do, else I wouldn’t do it. I recently changed employment for the better, both for environment and pay. It has actually migrated me to a different city, a much bigger one. I was raised in a big city my whole life and I finally feel at home with where I am and what I am doing.
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Back to this job vs career thing. That difference should be abundantly clear to people who are older than 23 and out of school. When I was 15 I started my first tax-paying job at a hotel. I was a glorified bell boy. At 16 I foolishly changed jobs to work at Meijer (the mid-west version of Walmart). At the time the minimum wage was $5.15 in Indiana. At the hotel I was earning $7.25! That was a very respectable hourly wage for kids my age. I got bored with doing all the chores they had for me at the hotel. I worked M-W-F 5p-10p or something similar. I was limited on the hours because of my age. When I started working there I remember my mom or dad dropping me off at work because I only had my permit and couldn’t drive alone. When I quit there to work for Meijer I earned a whopping $5.40! I worked more hours but made less money. At the time being 16 I could work more hours, and did. In hindsight my schooling started to struggle about this time because of the hours I was putting in. I did pay for a cell phone and my own auto insurance. It wasn’t until a year later that I would pay for my own car payment, a ’96 Chevy Cavalier. That first car was a “gimme”, a ’88 Ford Thunderbird in 2000.
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At that time I had a job. I was paid an hourly wage for a clock-in/clock-out job that would not end up being my life long employment. It wasn’t until after I got out of the Army that I felt I had a career. not that you can’t make a career of the Army, many people do. When I first joined I thought I would be a “lifer”. I loved my time in the Army and wouldn’t trade it for anything. After 5 years I let a pseudo childish love interest ruin my life and my mind changed which led to my leaving the Army.
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My average employment after the Army is right at 3.5 years, not including the 8 months I have been with my current employment. I wish I would’ve been at one place longer than 4 but life happens. Each time I have left it has been for a good reason. The reasons differ each time but at those times it was a decision I had to make. I have gained much knowledge from each place that I continue to carry with me where ever I go. I appreciate all my previous employers, some more than others. I feel right now I am in the best place I could be for several reasons that I am not going to go into. Thank you to all my employers that allow me to continue to grow and pursue my goal of being an IT Guru.
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I love this story! In 2018 I was a senior in HS working at Chipotle, min wage was 10.00 at the time. I love what I do and feel like I can be a 4 lifer. But maybe that might change the same way it did for you in the Army.