What do you do for a living?

I’m a Foreign Service Officer with the State Department of the United States, and I’m currently the American ambassador to five countries in the Pacific Ocean: Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, and Tonga.

How would you describe what you do?

I’m the U.S. President’s primary representative for all American interests in the part of the world where I’m the ambassador.  That varies from being responsible for taking care of the American citizens and their needs to the issuance of visas, to the discussions about political and economic and trade and commerce issues. We’re also working on the military relationships, dealing with the environment. It’s just the whole range of things.

What does your work entail as an ambassador?

One of the things I like about my job is that every week is going to be different.  I have about 80 or 90 people, local employees and Americans who work for me at the embassy, and each week we have internal meetings to discuss their roles and duties.  I usually have a number of meetings of people from outside the embassy as well, either local folks who have an interest in something economic, political, commercial, or maybe other diplomats or international organization types.  I also do public diplomacy, the last two days I’ve given speeches at different sorts of events trying to make sure that people are well aware that the United States is here, and what our policies are and why we have them. Continue Reading …

What do you do for a living?

I’m in equity research for an investment firm, I’m an associate analyst there.

How would you describe what you do?

Currently, as an associate analyst, I help the more senior analysts do research on different stocks that we follow and help try and determine whether they’re stocks that our clients should buy or sell.

What does your work entail?

There are several different things.

Probably the most rewarding is knowing that if you’re doing a good job, you’re helping people build their financial wealth. Most of our clients are people either building towards retirement or are in retirement, and by helping them invest properly then you’re directly helping them live better.

A lot of my job is helping the senior analyst’s keep that up to date and making sure we’re keeping up on the trends and news about what’s happening with the companies we follow. And there’s all kinds of small projects associated with that. The other part of it is trying to develop my own knowledge so that I can follow my own companies here at some point. Continue Reading …

What do you do for a living?

My title is Animal Services Superintendent.

How would you describe what you do?

Basically, I’m the director or manager of the animal shelter, and/or animal services, which also encompasses animal control. We have a vet clinic also.

What does your work entail?

I work for a municipal shelter animal shelter. I’m responsible for planning the budget; making sure that we’ve got the money, and where to spend it, and where to put it. I buy vet supplies for the veterinarian too and make sure the officers are going to complaints and calls that people have out there on the street. I have to make sure we have animals up on the floor that have been temperament tested and they’re behaviorally sound. I have to make sure the animals are properly cleaned, and properly fed, and if they’re sick they get treatment. I talk to people when they bring in animals.

…that’s the satisfying thing’s when you see the animals find a home, and you saw what they looked like when they came infested with fleas, infested with tics; and we’ve had to shave them down to their skin because of an irresponsible owner. And then you find it a great home, and that just makes it all worthwhile.

A lot of my duties are trying to educate people: publicity-type stuff, press releases, and educational materials and literature and trying to make people aware of what is responsible pet ownership and how can you make pet overpopulation go away. Spay-neuter; we preach spay and neuter, spay and neuter. We try to come up with programs that will help people. When people bring in a stray there is no charge. When they bring in their own animal to surrender, for whatever reason, there’s no charge. That’s kind of a myth that we charge folks. The adoption includes spay and neuter. We instituted micro-chipping about four or five years ago, so it’s helped us to get animals back to their owners. It’s a permanent form of identification, even if pets lose their tags, and collars, and all that.

I belong to a group called S.A.W.A., which is Society of Animal Welfare Administrators. We all try to work together and figure out what we can do to make pet ownership easier for people, but then, also look at, what people are doing wrong, and what crimes are being committed against animals. So, that’s part of my job, too, is to look at animal cruelty and people that are breaking ordinances. Continue Reading …

What do you do for a living?

I’m the county tax collector.

How would you describe what you do?

My job is to collect ad valorem taxes on real estate and personal property. And ad valorem means a percentage of a value. The value comes from the assessor. She gives me a value, I put the millage rate against it, and I collect that amount on real estate and on personal property and on business.

What does your work entail?

I’m responsible for this office and two satellites offices. My job entails personnel issues, time issues, I also go to associational meetings. Right now, we’re putting in a new computer software system which is taking up a whole lot of our time.

[the misconception is] that we’re a little bit ruthless…we’re not necessarily ruthless, we want to call it consistent. I treat everybody alike: rich, poor, whatever. I’m here to serve the people of this county…I just do my job here. I come to work and go home like everybody else.

My number one job is to make sure that we’re collecting taxes and collecting the right amount, and then we disburse it. I have to make sure the taxes were collected at the correct millage rate for the right schools, and for each school district, and the city and county. Eighty percent of the funds goes to schools, ten percent goes to cities, and about ten percent goes to the counties.

How did you get started?

I began on the quorum court. I was on the quorum court for 8 years when this job kind of opened and I had to make a decision.

The quorum court was taking so much of my time I had to either get in or get out of politics. I enjoyed county government, and this job came open, so I ran for the position and got it 6-1/2 years ago.

Continue Reading …

What do you do for a living?

I make beer.

How would you describe what you do?

Well, brewing is about 80% cleaning, so some say we’re glorified maids. I don’t like that term, but you have to be exceptionally clean in the brewing industry, so you’re always cleaning something. Whether it be circulating chemicals in a tank to clean it and then circulate chemicals to sterilize it and then, or maintaining your draft lines need to be clean because bacteria can build up in them. So you’re always cleaning something. Even during a brew day anywhere the beer or wort—before it’s beer it’s wort—comes in contact, you have to make sure that chemical passes through those pipes or hoses or valves and fittings.

…it’s still work but it’s work that you love. It’s not like you wake up in the morning like, “Oh, crap! I got to go make beer today!”

Besides that, there’s small amount of paperwork involved. You have to do your paperwork for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Twice a month, they get paperwork sent to them, and they get $7 a barrel that we produce. The state gets a percentage of beer that we sell and so there’s a small amount of paperwork. I’m not a desk-type of person, and a nightmare job for me would be sitting in front of a computer, in an office. So this is neat because you’re always on your feet. It’s very physical work, but you’re doing something different. Creating recipes is a fun part of it. When I was searching for jobs and I ended up here, I liked the pub environment and a smaller system where I can use my creative freedom. I can create new batches of beer, keep the customers on their toes as what’s coming out next; different styles, that kind of thing.  Continue Reading …

What do you do for a living?

They call us a sorority house director which puts me in the property management category.

How would you describe what it’s like being a sorority house mom?

I live in a sorority house and every sorority house is different. But probably – and this sounds funny – about 90% of my job is just being here. They just want someone here to take care of things when they do arise.

What does your work entail?

Normally, on a day-to-day basis, I will oversee my staff, help to plan menus, and do the food orders or shopping. I also schedule repairs and maintenance to be done for the house. I eat all my meals with the girls and try to be here when they need me for something.

…these girls are my heroes. They’re funny, they’re bright. They party harder than any kids I’ve ever known, and then they study harder. They’re very well-rounded.

I communicate with the house corporation, which is the group of women or the corporation that actually owns the house. I do a good deal of talking or e-mailing with that group because they want to know everything that’s going on here and how. Like if the faucet in the senior wing is working, or what did we find out about that. Each house is going to vary widely though.

How did you get started?

I was looking for something to do. You know, you always find things in a funny way. Continue Reading …

What do you do for a living?

I’m a degreed chemical engineer, but I don’t really do per se, what you might think of as chemical engineering. It’s more of a sub-discipline of chemical engineering.  Right now my job title is Heat Transfer Department Manager.

How would you describe what you do?

I work for a stainless steel fabrication company, builds tanks, pressure vessels, heat exchangers. My particular department is heat transfer, which is along the lines of heat exchangers and general heat transfer applications.

What does your work entail?

My work is multi-faceted, which most engineering jobs will be. You’re kind of the catch-all for everything that others don’t know how to do and don’t want to do, so technically, I’m supposed to be spending most of my time reviewing and approving drawings and assembly layouts for the various components that are sold.

…it’s hard to find an out-of-work engineer…The pay’s good, the benefits are good, so if you’re not a dumbass and you at least show some initiative when you work, it’s pretty easy to make a good living as an engineer.

It’s a very custom line that I manage, so every job is different. We don’t really have a lot of cookie-cutter parts where it’s standard designs with parts off the shelf or piecing together. It’s very blacksmith and thats the part where I come in. I review the drawings for accuracy and also check them for design considerations as far as pressure vessel code is concerned. ASME Code, which is American Society of Mechanical Engineers, has several volumes of literature, which outline the design consideration and rule for pressure vessels. Continue Reading …

What do you do for a living?

Business Dean and Professor of Business.

How would you describe what you do?

I basically manage the college.

What does your work entail?

It ranges considerably. I’m on the road a whole lot. I work a lot of nights, a lot of weekends. It’s definitely more than a full time job. It entails a blend of both internal and external activities. Internal to the college, internal to the university, and then external dealing with alums and friends of the college, donors to be specific.

How did you get started?

There was a lot of serendipity to it. When I was an undergraduate, I never had any clue that I would get a Ph.D., much less, go down this particular trail. Careers have life cycles, and it was just when I came to various forks in the road that I took those particular forks and I ended up at this node, if you will. I think I was a fairly typical of undergraduate students at the time, and this goes back to the Vietnam War. After I got my undergraduate degree, I was a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army for a while in the Medical Service Corp. When I got out, I pursued a Master’s degree and that’s when I really began to think that this might be for me. Prior to my military service, I really hadn’t thought about that much. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was pretty young but I enjoyed the Master’s program and I had some professors that encouraged me to continue my education and then one thing led to another.

Continue Reading …

What do you do for a living?

Corporate pilot/Director of Aviation Safety

How would you describe what you do?

My main job is flight operations for a corporation, flying corporate jets for the company employees and perspective clients as well as executives of the company itself. The safety manager side, I’m in charge of ensuring safe flight operations for the travel department as well as the ground crew and our internal travel department, I conduct safety audits, establish a safety reporting system, developing a safety manual and complying with all Federal Aviation Regulations and NBAA and Flight Safety Foundation guidelines.

What does your work entail?

Everything is based off of duty time and duty time is one hour prior to the flight that day and then one hour after the flight.

The other day, I left at eight o’clock in the morning, went to San Diego and back, and was home by one, then went to New York City that night. There’s not a whole lot of people that say they’ve been coast to coast in one day, and then you end up hanging out in Times Square that night, so that’s pretty good living.

If I count just my duty time alone, it’s about 50 hours a week and I normally work about four days a week. A lot of times my weekend is Tuesday, Wednesday or Tuesday, Thursday. And then the safety manager part is about another 20 hours a week. Normally I spend in the air a week, probably about 15 hours.

How did you get started?

I went to school at Kansas State University and went through their Aeronautical Science program. It’s supposed to be a a Bachelor’s of Aeronautical Science degree, but I actually did a Bachelor’s in Aeronautical Engineering. You go through your ground school and flight lessons to private instrument commercial multi-engine and then flight instructor, flight instructor instrument, and then multi-engine instructor. Continue Reading …