101 professions for a self-sufficientish, thinking person

[invisiblepiper]

I worked in teaching for twenty years - then left and went to Art School - twenty five years after first being accepted.
Now I tutor privately in English, paint, do commission works - caricatures/pet portraits etc, some freelance catering and help out in my friends Gallery about two weeks in the year.
Wish I'd had the guts to do it sooner!

[Elizabeth]

I was a commercial manager - which is someone that helps a company make the required profits - it involved advising on all matters, including spending money as well as saving........although most people thought I was there to cut jobs! I looked at processes through to how much to charge. Everyday was different and although I worked for some of the big cats I was able to always be fair to the customers and workers alike.

I moved around several companies and found the cultural differences were extremely varied. I certainly learnt not to be scared of changing jobs - I always found a new one first. I was also lucky enough for a Boss to believe in me greatly enough that the company fully sponsored me to do my MBA - something I could previously only dream about. I really enjoyed some of the jobs I had.

I promised myself that I would never work inside the M25, having Devon in my blood! I had the fast car (which they gave to me on leaving my last job, which I still have and never use as it is such a guzzeller - but unable to sell......), the big salary. I also worked a 60hr week, would often be in the office by 6am and not leave until gone 9pm. I also had the stress and the near break down especially as the final job I did involved a big project being stopped and having to make over 30 people redundant - people that I knew, not all close, but well enough to know about them and their familes, who had children, etc. My best friend from Uni sent me an email one day that stated on your death bed you won't be wishing that you'd worked harder. It made me wake up to there being more to life than working - I was a work-aholic, I actually missed work when on holiday. I was also in the TA and was totally dedicated and worked 3 out of 4 weekends!

Well I stopped working at 34! I finished in the TA at 33, I saw the light........ If I don't have the money I don't spend the money! I've started to go the ish route My husband now brings in the pennies - he has just finished in the Armed Forces after 24 years and has just landed himself a job as the chief instructor at an outdoor adventure center - instructing rock climbing, canoeing, hill walking etc....

So for all of you looking for a new job - do it, but find the new job first, if you don't like it don't worry you can always change, a job is no longer for life.

For all of you that are happy in your job - that is just fantastic.

[mamos]

I am a sign maker and graphic designer but we are trying to phase out the signmaking side so I can concentrate on my other business as a vector graphics specialist.

The vector business is entirely online and the only things I need are a laptop and a broardband connection so I am hoping to be able to generate all the energy for the company using my own solar panels and wind generator.

Plus I have found a web hosting company with the same set up (wind etc) so i can have an off grid company with very little overheads, I can do from home

I am hoping to drop the sign making altogether in a year to coincide with the termination of the lease on our industrial unit that is costing us a fortune.

mamos

[sleepyowl]

I work for a fashion retail outlet (sorry I needed more regular income) I do fortune telling & holistic therapy too but income from that is very sporadic as there are loads of people in Stourbridge who do it.

[MuddyWitch]

Hubby does the money earning bit & I do the self-sufficient-ISH bit, but my last job was as an area co-ordinator for Greenpeace.

MW

[flyonthewall]

I work in IT, I am a system administrator. I don't mind the work, and actually I am very interested in the 'ish' side of green IT - virtualisation for example which reduces the amount of hardware you need and therefore reduces energy consumption, space required for datacentres and of course waste when hardware goes end of life. I work for an energy company and therefore we are required to a degree to show in our use of IT that we are trying to implement greener policies. I implemented the Green Print system at work recently which aims to reduce the unnecessary printing of paper, and all our printing paper is now recycled.

Downside to my job/employer is a long hours culture, often not getting breaks, very unsupportive management, and often being completely fried when I get home from work. Stress and pressure are high because we are understaffed in IT system support, and people are angry that problems are not being resolved as quickly as they feel they should be and are taking it out on the support staff, which has made morale very low in the office and people being visibly angry and stressed. I have taken one day off this year due to stress, after a particularly bad week I had a panic attack at the thought of doing it over again. In the main office (not the IT office but I have to go to the main one every day) there is an aircon problem that building management seem incapable of having fixed and the temperature in the office today was 32 degrees, and someone fainted. If you complain about these sorts of things to HR they get very defensive, and just tell you there's nothing they can do.

I want to study psychology and become a counsellor and hopefully run my own show eventually. part of developing the Ish side of life is so that we can change our lives enough to need much less, and we will eventually be able to afford for me to do my studies. OH is an IT engineer and loves his job, he can't imagine doing anything else, however for me, my job is probably 75% a complete chore. If I could find a job that I could do from home, and do my studies by distance learning, I would jump ship in a second!

[eccles]

Hi I work for social services as a home care manager, i have cared for over 24 years for the same organisation, im all cared out, sounds harsh but i now want to care more about me, instead of being stressed out by the manic, crisis managed, paper bog of local organisation.

My O.H. works as a design engineer for filtration systems currently.

We both want out, we both want to live in peace with satisfying work which gives us exercise and reward, we have very little spare income and i think if we are going to be broke lets do a damm good job of it and be self sufficientish.

Still looking for an escape route, considering Scotland due to cost, only downfall would be moving away from family, one day!!!! one day!!!!

[happy place]

i know that feeling the if only they would move with us some close some not so

[bodrighy]

I was made redundant last August and as we had moved away from Cornwall for work in the first place 12 years ago we decided to use the payoff to get ourselves back down here where both our hearts and our kids all were. We have rented a lovely place that's ideal for us but the payoff has just about gone now. Looking for a job at the moment is not too easy with the economic climate as it is. Hopefully I might have an interview with the council doing community teaching (IT) which would be fun. I turn wood and would love to make enough money from that to at least cover some of the bills but I have less than no business skills so haven't got very high expectations. My OH does fabric crafts but she is as bad as me at selling either herself or her work. Ideally I'd love to work in some ishy type of job and don't particularly want a high wage, just enough to cover the bills but you seem to need a degree and be 15 to qualify for a position as anything nowadays. I don't regret our move, rather be poor in the country, in Cornwall than financially comfortable somewhere else but it does get frustrating . Loads and loads of experience but how does one go about proving it without the paperwork?

pete

[DeneciePie]

I worked as a a Registered Nurse for over 20 years but quit 8 yrs ago to cruise in our sailboat
(surprisingly ISH!) Now I find that if you have been away from hospital for more than 3 years. no one will hire you. Any ideas for a nurse with over 20 years experience in Labor and Delivery Room for an ISH job? I thought of being a Doula (birth Assistant) or letting my license lapse and being a lay midwife. But neither one pays much compared to the hours involved, although I would certainly enjoy the work! Any other ideas?

Denece

[Harasimow]

I lead a team of volunteers for a conservation charity. I also work on a free range chicken farm.

[floydster]

I was in forestry for 30 years then retired through an accident, i loved my job fortunatly i still get to walk around the woods that i managed and visit the woods that i planted to see how they are maturing, my job gave me an insight about the enviroment and when i retired it was a natural progression to grow and nurture plants.

Russ

I'm early 40s with a desk job. I'm looking to get into forestry, any tips. I'm surrounded by thousands of acres of managed woodland so could end up working on my doorstep, well a boy can dream.

Floydster

[ElizabethBinary]

Currently I'm a model, which is so not self-suffiecient at all.

I also co-write a blog about being a traditional homemaker that believes in bringing men a beer after a long day, not because I'm a woman and he's a man, but because we love each other and respect each other and want to do nice things for each other. It's called "nothing but an apron" and focuses on the sexy side of homemaking. It's only a week in, so don't bother looking it up yet, the site hasn't even been made up all pretty, even though we own the URL. In a couple weeks it'll be done.

I am studying to be a nutritionist, which is ish, sorta. My classwork and I don't tend to agree, though. My focuses are more on healthy eating than FDA bull, which I still have to know. My standards of health and my school's standards are completely different. I am trudging through it so I can help others in the future though have better diets. I want to be a personal nutritionist, helping unhealthy people become fit and happy through food!

My fiancee is very ish. He's a farm boy who, at 15, left school to start trade as a sheet metal worker and upgraded to boilermaker. He now build truck trailers from scratch and uses the leftovers to build furniture, pens, and random household things. Whenever we're on the farm (which isn't nearly often enough) he builds small houses for his brothers and their wives to live in on the property or teaches me to weld duck pens (photo coming in a second), or rebuilds old beaten up trucks most people would throw away.

His current project is ressurecting an old cattle truck for his father as a gift. And he gave me the project of refurbishing an old Ford Fiesta that needs a new gearbox for his mother, since she has bad ankles and needs an automatic. The car was my friend's and she gave it to us since she bought a new one to give to mother when it broke down.

Reusing everything! :D

Also, welding a chook pen!:



Sometimes my fiancee lets me help him at work. I don't do much or get paid, but I get to say I worked on some pretty rare Mack trucks (the bicentennial!), and that's pretty cool!

[ElizabethBinary]

I worked as a a Registered Nurse for over 20 years but quit 8 yrs ago to cruise in our sailboat
(surprisingly ISH!) Now I find that if you have been away from hospital for more than 3 years. no one will hire you. Any ideas for a nurse with over 20 years experience in Labor and Delivery Room for an ISH job? I thought of being a Doula (birth Assistant) or letting my license lapse and being a lay midwife. But neither one pays much compared to the hours involved, although I would certainly enjoy the work! Any other ideas?

Denece

My honest advice? EFF the money and do what you love if it'll make you happy.

I haven't even CHECKED what a nutritionist makes in this country. IF I get a job. I don't care. I love it and won't give it up for nuthin!

[Minnesota]

ElizabethBinary,
I hope you weren't welding for too long of a time without sleeves or gloves.
the UV radiation will give you one heck of a burn...like a sunburn.