Community Chat

[bobby5]

@Anonymous032819

You're right on both counts.

[JudyL]

Legal Secretary for 35 years - 32 years for the same firm.  Wanted to go to law school when I was younger but life had other plans.  For the most part, it's been good.  Working with attorneys can be trying at times. LOL

[SilleeMee]

I've been a zoo keeper, a chemist, a lab rat (medical and forensic) and a mountain search and rescue volunteer.

[Kalli]

Retired Elem teacher, M.Ed., Reading Specialist 

Loved my job working with young students but toward the end of my career, I found myself spending more time doing paperwork, data collection, analysis and less time actually teaching kids.  I retired a little earlier than planned because my mom had deteriorated into dementia and Dad needed help. He wanted to keep Mom home with him as long as possible so my sis and I retired and took turns serving as caregivers.  Mom has now passed and Dad is in a nursing home.  We take him out several times each week but he needs 24 hr. supervision now due to moderate cognitive impairment.  He'll be 92 on Monday!

I like being retired and I'm definitely not bored. Some days I actually feel like I'm too busy.  I appreciate the fact that I was able to retire when I did as most of my siblings are still working.  

[roeroe1005]

This is a great thread!  Love our diversity.

Coming from a strict Italian family of immigrants, my dad would not allow me to go away to college.  So I went to a local secretarial school.  

I got a job working at Pure Foods Co.  The secretary who sat next to me had sat in that same chair, same job for 23 years.  I had just turned 19 and the thought of sitting in the same chair doing the same thing, terrified me.

At the beginning of 1974, I got a job at General Foods.  I loved that company.  I moved around in the Purchasing Dept for 10 years.  From there I took a transfer to Legal.  I knew nothing about it.  I had 3 bosses - one was the counsel to Maxwell House Coffee Company and my top boss worked on acquistions and divestitures.  Boy, did I learn a lot!  While in Legal, I became a notary and got my paralegal certification, thanks to GF.  As we were now part of Kraft, our original company began to disappear.  After Legal merged into other departments, I jumped over to International.  I again worked for the attorney who handled acquisitions & divestitutures.  Now he was a SVP & GC.  He saw the handwriting on the wall and retired in 2003.  On my 30th anniversary with the company, we were sent to the auditorium and told that the remaining departments would move to Kraft headquarters in Illinois.  All secretaries were out of a job.  I was 49.  Now what??

I got a great severance (year + bonuses) and took a year off to "find myself".  Then reality set in and I had to find a job as my benefits would be gone soon.

I temped a bit and then saw an ad for a secretary to the Principal in a school district close by.  I applied and literally got the job a day later.  But I had to take a civil service test to become permanent.  I ended up staying in that job for 12 years and absolutely loved it.  Our school was 7th to 12th grade and I loved the students.  In the 2017-2018 school year, my boss was promoted to superintendent and a new principal was hired.  He was the only one I was not there when interviewed.  When I shook his hand, I knew my days were numbered.  A month later I decided to retire.  I left June 2018. 

During the 2018-2019 school district, I subbed in 2 long term assignments in 2 other school districts.

After being a caregiver to dad who passed in May, I decided it was time for me.  In August I moved to the beach area of Delaware.  Even though I've retired, I am subbing in the local school district as a teacher's aide.

Oh, and while at GF, I also worked part time (2 nights & Sundays) at Saks Fifth Avenue.  I started working there to put some money away for a new car, I ended up staying 19 years, until the store closed!  And I loved it!

I've been very lucky for someone with basically no education.  

'Sorry this is so long!

[Tinkerbell3]

Cool! I know a few producers, both have been nominated for awards! 

[CalminHeart]

I worked for a huge corporation so had several interesting positions -- HR, Manager, IT Analyst...but my favorite was Sr Compliance Manager .... I helped write a couple of state and national insurance and securities regulations, securities sales compliance, investigated fraud, traveled to 47 states training agents, testified in court, and all kinds of problem solving for agents and clients.  

[BrandiDavis]

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@BExplorer wrote:

Director of Probation and Court Services. 

As others have said, you are never to old to go back to school and discover new opportunities !  

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@BExplorer  I am so jealous!! lol I would LOVE to do something like that!!! 

[BExplorer]

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@BrandiDavis wrote:

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@BExplorer wrote:

Director of Probation and Court Services. 

As others have said, you are never to old to go back to school and discover new opportunities !  

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@BExplorer  I am so jealous!! lol I would LOVE to do something like that!!! 

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I do like my job @BrandiDavis but I have to admit supervising clients as a probation officer was more rewarding then managing staff as I do now. I have a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.  Community corrections is a growing field. 

[chrystaltree]

This is a very interesting thread.  I'm glad I opened it.  I have degrees in Business Administration and Health Information Management and I am a Certified Medical Coder.  My current title is "Clinical Liaison" which doesn't explain what I do by any stretch of the imagination.  I work for a large, world famous teaching hospital.  In my role, I am the bridge between the physicians/Patient Accou/Insurers.  Almost every hospital admission/procedure/surgery requires pre-authorization from the insurer.  When a surgeon schedules a patient for excision of malignant brain tumor;  my job is to assemble the clinical documentation the insurer will need to authorize the surgery and to provide the appropriate diagnos and CPT procedure codes.  The codes are language that providers and insurers use.  Since we are teaching hospital, I often see new, cutting edge surgeries that require a lot of research to assign the appropriate CPT codes.  If I (or my 2 co-workers) get the codes wrong and the insurer authorizes us for the wrong surgery or procedure; there is no do-over.  The insurers won't pay the physician or the hospital.  There's no appeal for "we made a mistake" situations.  So, the hospital can, with a very long admission, lose hundreds of thousands of dollars on a case.  It's stressful work with no margin for error and I'm required to read medical journals and attend seminars and go to lectures to stay on top of advances in medicine.  But I love it!