what do you do for a living?

1. 70

   JynBrantonposted 6 years ago

   i've learned from my own experience, most of us who write do something else entirely for a living. just wondering what the background of others were. i went to school for journalism and graduated in 2005 when there werent too many oppertunities other than blogging. i have been doing freelance work and contributing writing for the years but i have an office job to pay the bills currently

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      Sherry Hewinsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I have been working in the print industry doing typesetting and layout for 25 years.

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      promisemposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I build websites, consult companies about websites and in my spare time make additional money from writing. I went to J school as well.

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      snakeslaneposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Yes indeed we do. I do home care for Seniors and others who need support.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting question! 
      
      I'm a 74 year old former secondary teacher who has been retired for many years.  Teaching, however, is just one of the jobs I've done.
      
      I've been a chimney sweep, published author, run an antiques and collectibles business, been a precious metals dealer, owned a flea market business specializing in primitive oak furniture, been a real estate agent, been a college admissions representative, sold RVs, been a movie extra and more.
      
      I have always believed that people should follow their dreams, which is why my background is so diverse.
      
      At heart, however, I have always been a writer.  I have published a few books, both in hard copy and online and now spend my golden years writing for HP and traveling in my RV with my husband.  In fact, as many of you know, I've been RVing for more than 50 years, and it is my RV that has allowed me to do so many different things.  Been a great life!

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         snakeslaneposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for sharing this beautiful bio TT...

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         1. 85

            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Your welcome!  I learned a long time ago that people have more abilities and talents than they realize and by using them, they can really enhance the quality of their lives.  Life is short.  Do everything you think you can do and LIVE!

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      2. 93

         kannanwritesposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         @TT This is the best thing I read today. Inspirational!

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      Cardisaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I'm a full time writer. I am an author and ghostwriter, slowly transitioning into full time authoring.

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      mactaversposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I'm retired from teaching.

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      lsmith131posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I am a library clerk who has been working in the library industry for about 12 years.

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2. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 6 years ago

   I'm a psychologist who works for a large non-profit association.

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      greenmindposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Gonna go ahead and guess you lean behavioralist...

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         psycheskinnerposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Ha, you've got me there -- it's not a super popular approach these days. Quite a few psychology types kicking around in here.

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         1. 94

            greenmindposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            I have my masters in human development from U of Chicago, but these days I teach history at an independent high school in Chicago.

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3. 90

   Patty Inglish, MSposted 6 years ago

   My work is as a medical research specialist, psychologist, and USAF aerospace educator.

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      makingamarkposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I vote you win the most unusual job award!

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4. 94

   wildernessposted 6 years ago

   Tickling the bejabbers out of my 7 year old grand daughter! 
   
   Retired now (thus the fun with grandkids) but I was an electrician, and before that a chemist.

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      poppyrposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Aw that's so cute

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5. 70

   JynBrantonposted 6 years ago

   I'm impressed with the diversity of all these occupations so far. A lot of very educated people

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6. 94

   jansharesposted 6 years ago

   Licensed therapist in private practice, counseling individuals and couples. I joined HP in 2012 after leaving my day job to develop my practice. Now I barely have time to write. Thanking God I don't depend on income from writing. But I still love it and the opportunities offered by HP.

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7. 93

   Blond Logicposted 6 years ago

   I'm a coconut farmer in Brazil. Besides writing I also design book covers.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Yes...and her book covers are gorgeous!

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8. 91

   Urbane Chaosposted 6 years ago

   The bulk of my work is based through Oklahoma Traveler; it's a company I founded in 2003 after moving to this state to document the history here.  I get paid through ghostwriting articles for different publications.  Those that aren't accepted go on here, as well as local interest articles.
   
   I also run the Poteau Improvement Project.  It's a non-profit organization that focuses on town development through beautification, promotions, and economic development.
   
   I've been away from HubPages for awhile; we just finished up a large revitalization project for our downtown that took much of my time, but glad to be back!

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9. 76

   Oztinatoposted 6 years ago

   Freelance Artist,  professional pianist and part time teacher of art/music (and teaching of misinformed atheists on hp).
   https://hubpages.com/art/Blackboard-Heaven

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10. 91

    cvanthulposted 6 years ago

    I'm a Realtor and have previously worked in accounting.

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11. 52

    ChadCrouchposted 6 years ago

    Working in the IT industry in the industrial mining sections.

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12. 89

    NateB11posted 6 years ago

    I work with people with developmental disabilities, teaching them life skills essentially. I've recently gotten a new job in this field after having been gone from it for awhile (as I was taking care of my mother with dementia for the past several years). Strangely, this kind of work has nothing to do with my education, I have a BA in Political Science.
    
    Thinking about going back to school to get a teaching credential . Big effort right now to get more teachers, evidently there's a shortage.

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    1. 85

       TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

       Definitely.  Teaching has become a real challenge and one that many people can't handle.  Few these days last longer than five years, which is why there is such a shortage.
       
       Unfortunately, the powers that be have taken many of the things away from teachers that gave them the ability to work with and help kids.  It's very sad.
       
       Having said that, if you pursue this career and get into the right niche, you may do well.  The perks are very good and in the right spot, the hours aren't too bad.  Plenty of vacation time, too.
       
       Before you decide to jump in, I strongly suggest you find a way to "shadow" a few teachers in various schools.  This way you'll get a better idea of what you are up against.  Many love the profession, but the work load and the frustrations are killers for them.
       
       Good luck if you decide to move foreward with this.  I actually have a post on this site under my Dreamworker pen name that shows you some of the basics.  It would pay you to take a look as a first step.

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13. 0

    erratic ramblingsposted 6 years ago

    I went to school for psychology but quickly learned that grad school would be a terrible choice for me. I spent five years working in special education, then decided to make a drastic change. Since then, I've built my own website and started a YouTube channel. I rely on affiliate marketing, clients, and patrons to pay the bills. It's never easy, and each month is questionable, but it's worth it to me as long as it gives me the freedom I desire.

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    clynneposted 6 years ago

    Working in Business Operations at a tech company.

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15. 93

    poppyrposted 6 years ago

    I'm an editor and publisher for the website Japan Info.

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16. 97

    Sustainable Sueposted 6 years ago

    I'm a young retiree, due to a job in water conservation dissolving during the depression (although I still consult with them). I also drive a school bus for kids with special needs. I have a masters degree in sustainable development and write about it. Have had lots of government-related jobs and have been in the Peace Corps twice.

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    Fenixfanposted 6 years ago

    I recently left my job as a Meat Department Manager to pursue my dream of being a Comic Book dealer. Whenever I wasn't at work, cutting meat, I was home searching eBay for Comic Book investments. I was slowly able to maintain a profit equal to what I was making as a Market Manager. After a nasty spout with severe depression or what the doctor described as an early mid-life crisis, my wife and I decided it was time to choose one profession, and here I am. The best part is I have time to write on Hubpages again.

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    Linda BookLadyposted 6 years ago

    I'm impressed by all the wonderful careers people have here. If asked, I tell people I'm a writer. That seems to cover most of what I do. I've been earning money at home for about 10 years with content writing and blogging. When money runs short I do online transcription to earn enough to pay bills.

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19. 84

    Terrielynn1posted 6 years ago

    Iam a writer and artist and a grandmother raising her grandchildren. I write here and run a home based business. We farm and have horses. right now we are cleaning up for fall and getting ready to have chickens in the fall.

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20. 70

    JynBrantonposted 6 years ago

    I'm impressed. Definitely more diverse backgrounds than I expected. How long have you all been writing?

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21. 92

    Titiaposted 6 years ago

    I studied Textile Art in the mid 1960's, textile history and all the different techniques in embroidery, needlework, knitting, crocheting. Specialized in the first two. After I graduated in 1969 I moved to Canada, then to the USA and married my Dutch boyfriend who was there on a special exchange program. In 1970 we moved back to the Netherlands (because of this special exchange program he had to stay out of the USA for two years). We got two kids and I became a full time mom, giving courses in embroidery during the day and evening. My hubby changed from being an architectural draughtsman to a teacher in Drawing and Art History and in late 1970's  we moved to the South of the Netherlands and later on bought this little farmhouse where we still live.
    
    I started to raise sheep, the oldest Dutch native sheep breed which stood at the edge of extinction and have been doing so for the last 30+ years. I hold the nation wide pedigree book and became a sheep inspector. I travel throughout my country in July and August to inspect the sheep of our Association members, sleeping in my quickly turned into a temporary camper van. In between I worked for about 15 years at the Dutch RRS and choose for an early retirement in 2004 and never regretted it for a day. I'm 72 now.
    
    I've written poetry all my life (mostly in English) and started writing about other things when I stumbled upon Squidoo which turned me into a Hubber later on. I could write a lot about my sheep but then the language barrier kicks in which makes it difficult for me to explain specific things just because I don't know the English words and they're nowhere to be found in dictionaries.

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22. 73

    Marie Flintposted 6 years ago

    What a wonderful life, Titia! I suggest you italicize the Dutch words with a footnote and have a capsule for vocabulary words, explaining them in English as best you can--hey, you're the expert!

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    Marie Flintposted 6 years ago

    To answer Jyn's question, I have been providing nanny services to my grandson (and soon to include my granddaughter). I live with my daughter and her family, so "rent" is flexible. Most of my income is currently retirement--Social Security and a California State Pension that my husband had earned. My hobbies are sewing, writing, and gardening (no particular order), which have yet to bring me any significant income.

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    fer-nieposted 6 years ago

    Like most other people, I tend to get jobs in temporary job agencies or factories. I honestly wish I could make writing a career or something, but it's nothing more than a hobby. What pressures me the most is the fact that I don't know whether or not people would even want to read my stuff. It's just how I feel, and I usually don't feel competent enough. Therefore, I usually just focus on writing part-time and simply working whatever job I have on the outside.

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25. 84

    bhattucposted 6 years ago

    I am retired from an oil industry job.

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26. 94

    Gregory DeVictorposted 6 years ago

    After graduate school, I was a public school math teacher for a number of years. I eventually changed careers and now do consulting work in the debt relief industry. I never thought that I would be writing articles at HubPages. I am originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, and have probably walked by their office in San Francisco number of times.

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    TessSchlesingerposted 6 years ago

    Have been writing full time for various periods whether I lived in South Africa, the UK or the US. In between, when times got tough, I dealt casino games (Mostly roulette, but craps, black jack, pai gow, and some others), plus did decorating. The good times were generally when I was either ghostwriting for others or working as an editor for various publishing companies doing rewrits and copyedits.

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28. 0

    Bob Bambergposted 6 years ago

    I'm a pet food rep, former feed and grain store owner, and have a weekly newspaper column dealing with pet and wildlife health, nutrition, behavior and advocacy.

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29. 95

    EricFarmer8xposted 6 years ago

    I used to work as a entry level IT worker. Currently I am trying to find work.

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30. 78

    Rafa Baxaposted 6 years ago

    I guess very less number of people here have writing as their primary job. I am a web developer myself, and writing is a hobby. I have never actually tried to move over entirely to writing. I am not sure how the jobs will be. And I'm not really very outgoing, so I wouldn't really do good with writing online and promoting my work. So, I guess I'm keeping my day job as long as I could.

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31. 70

    makingamarkposted 6 years ago

    I'm enjoying my retirement and the fact that I no longer need to earn a living
    
    I started blogging about art when I retired (which was a long term interest I never had enough time to pursue when I was working). The blog became extremely popular and I started another. Then started to create article sites on Squidoo to create a resource for all the things I was finding out and wanted to keep as bookmarks in an organised way - I call them resource compendiums. Some became extremely popular (on Squidoo) but they don't work as well on HubPages.
    
    Significant problems with eyesight and arthritis have limited my own artwork and so I've focused on writing which works so long as it's on a soft keyboard.
    
    I was commissioned to write a book (about drawing and sketching), then started two Niche websites after the move from Squidoo to HubPages - which have become very successful, then got commissioned to write articles for a national art magazine and asked to become a Visiting Lecturer at an Art School etc etc. and was recently commissioned to write another book (which I turned down). Plus I now have clients re. the business side of art.
    
    ...and all because I started writing a blog.

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    theraggededgeposted 6 years ago

    I'm a full-time writer with a little part-time bookkeeping on the side. I home-educated my children so it worked out well for me. HubPages was my play-writing space, but lately it's become a sort of joint main focus with my other work, and it's my blog that has now taken a back seat.

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    Kazi Md Zahangirposted 6 years ago

    I have a service for living . At the same time I become myself as an expert online marketing . If I can reach there ,it will be very helpful to me .

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