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Posted by: Stijntjen May 1 2007, 12:26 PM

Hi,

I've been working in the garden now for 2 days, basically diggin 50 cm at 1 side and transport it 12 metre further to get an even surface for our swimming pool. So from all the digging and making things even my hands are completely massacred, cuts all over, lots of blaters and just overall pain.
So i was wondering what you do for a living. I can't imagine that there are a lot of construction workers that play guitar so i want to know for sure .
Soooo basically post here what your job is or if you're a student post the direction you're following.

Me ==> Student by day (company-management) and i work in the evenings as a lifeguard to be able to affort a guitar or 3.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 1 2007, 01:50 PM

Computer consultant (my company makes Internet security software) - all the typing reinforces my guitar calluses

Posted by: Pavel May 1 2007, 02:03 PM

Studying Informatics (university in Croatia sucks bigtime). Working at GMC

Got a license for Tourist Guide - worked with tourists last summer - went crazy and don't want to hear about tourism any more!

Posted by: Ibanex May 1 2007, 02:07 PM

Hey Pavel!
I saw your website. I like it and hope to see release termin for your first Album.
Do you plan to become a professional musician. You have all it takes...

Posted by: blindwillie May 1 2007, 02:44 PM

Computer-technician here. Since 1985. Should have learned the guitar then instead and picked up computers as a hobby later

Posted by: Pavel May 1 2007, 02:53 PM

Becoming professional guitarist is my main goal! I really hope it will come true one day!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 1 2007, 03:12 PM

Yes, that's exactly where I went wrong!

Posted by: MickeM May 1 2007, 03:13 PM

IT consultant, developer. I do all work from my home office except for when there's a meeting. It's golden, I save a lot of hours not traveling every day.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 1 2007, 03:14 PM

Pavel, there is no doubt in my mind that you will make it! Even as an instructor and/or session musician you could make a tidy living, but I suspect we will see a lot more of you than that ... and you know that every GMCer will buy your first album Don't be seduced by the evil, easy living of computers like I was, stay away from the dark side

Posted by: Pavel May 1 2007, 03:22 PM

Thanks a lot for your support guys!!

I don't want to live from computers - i just have to finish the university to have any kind of diploma. My parents know that so they don't push me to have all best grades in university. I just have to finish it!

Again, thanks Andrew and other GMC-ers for support! GMC will get it's SPECIAL THANKS place on the cover of my first album!

Posted by: Scott Gentzen May 1 2007, 03:40 PM

System administrator. Web applications, databases, VMWare, that kind of stuff.

The keyboard doesn't help with my left-hand calluses but I have some built up from my mouse hand.

Posted by: Pavel May 1 2007, 03:44 PM

OK i see a lot of IT involved workers here! May i ask you something?
I wonder how much of work did you learn at university - or to say better - how big your knowledge of the subject was before you started to work in IT?

Did you know a lot of IT when you started working or you learned a lot at work?? I am asking because as i said university here sucks so we don't learn too much of things there!

Posted by: Ryan May 1 2007, 03:45 PM

It sounds like everybody has nice jobs , except me i work at Freddy's Frozen Custards as a cook, but then again im only 17 haha...i also work wiht my g/f WOOT... so im a cook by day, and a musician by night HMMMMM

sniff sniff i want to be a musician day and night Forever and always

Posted by: Robin May 1 2007, 03:53 PM

I've been working in this really huge green house, or actually several really huge green houses put toghether, for 2 seasons. It's my first job, family buisness. When I get my drivers licence I might get a job delivering beer to the stores around town! But of course, my main goal is getting famous for my music and maybe earn alittle on it. Got 3 band projects going on atm

Posted by: Mark Schiewe May 1 2007, 04:00 PM

I'm studying the recording/music arts and in about 2 years I hope to get my degree and get a job at either EA games Chicago or some record studio.

Posted by: lefty01 May 1 2007, 04:29 PM

I am a male nurse, and yes...I'm straight.

Posted by: Nick7744 May 1 2007, 04:34 PM

I am an Airline Captain on a Boeing 737. I am finding that guitars are about as frustrating to learn as a foreign language. But I am sticking with it.

Posted by: blindwillie May 1 2007, 06:01 PM

I started of as a programmer, learnt mainly Pascal in school. Got a job programming in Pascal, moved on to C. Got sick of coding so I changed job and started managing networks, servers and clients. Now I manage servers mainly running SQL and applications. Sick of that too now :/ Need a change of direction again.
So, to answer your question I guess the only part I learned at school was Pascal. That kept me going the first 2,5 years. Meanwhile I learned C (and a lot more about programming then in school) out of curiosity and changed course. That's the way it's been ever since. Everything I know now is things I've lerned along the way. Even about programming. The theoretical education was just a starter, most of my knowledge came from experience while working.

/edit:
I should add that those were the "Golden Days" when it all started to accelerate. You probably get better education today, and is better of with a good education. The competition is bigger now and companies require education.

Posted by: Zedd May 1 2007, 06:45 PM

Heres the deal with IT.. I just finished a 3 year program for IT security / Networking and I cant say I learned anything of major importance. Anything you learn in an IT classroom could be self-taught in the comfort of your own bed when you wake up in the morning. You have to have an interest in it. And if you find it borning now, wait until you have to sit behind a desk doing it for the rest of your life. Computers are a very non-social tool and they will turn you into a robot.

After a year or two of IT, im planning on taking a 180 career change so i dont go insane...

Posted by: sb81 May 1 2007, 07:24 PM

Hmm, noticing a trend, I too work in IT

Basically just support client machines for the company, and also some scripting, DB programming/administration.

Only 25 though so hope for further advancement, server administration, etc.

Also hope to advance in guitar

I dropped out of college, I basically learned all my computer knowledge on my own. For some reason, I have been real interested in computers since I was a kid... was programming basic on my Commodore64 when I was roughly 13 years old

Going to college for Computers kind of sucks, as computers change drastically over a short period of time. It's better to go to school for Certifications as they are typically specific to a certain area, and shorter.

However, it seems when hiring many companies still look for bachelor degrees in computer science.

Posted by: botoxfox May 1 2007, 07:28 PM

.

Posted by: Pavel May 1 2007, 08:16 PM

Thanks a lot blindwillie, Zedd and sb81! That's what i needed to know! Thanks! Now i know it's the same way everywhere! I was all crazy thinking only this country sucks in IT education but it seems it's the same way everywhere. And those 55 years old teachers are driving me crazy! A total beginner in guitar knows about guitar more than those teachers about computer! Sad but true!

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi May 1 2007, 09:00 PM

Hi!! I would like to tell you something about me. I am finishing my Sound & Recording and Sound & Video Post production studies at the University. I have learnt very interesting things in the University but I learnt more things working at recording studios.
I have studied guitar for 10 years with teachers and also by myself and I still continue studying. I want to be a great musician and a great music productor. I would also like to be a film music composer.

Nowadays I work for GMC, as a producer of two bands and I'm finishing the first LP of my band Cirse (We are in the mastering process!).


gabriel.-

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 1 2007, 09:16 PM

Just to add my 2c - I got a good Computer education I think, but they taught me Pascal and a whole bunch of other stuff that while interesting, wasn't what people use in the real world. If I had to pick some useful stuff out of what I learnt I would say that when you've learnt one computer programming language you've learnt them all (apart from functional languages like prolog - they are crazy!), so learning the first one well is useful.

I Taught myself C at college, glad I did because that's what everyone was using when I came out. About once a year I use a concept from my studies that people without compute degrees are impressed by, but now, after 15 years in the industry, 99.4% of what I do I learnt on the job.

I now do a lot of presales work, based at home which is cool, but every now and again I manage to sneak off and do some programming or web development work which is the thing I still enjoy most - in the field of computers that is. Still looking for a way to dump it all and be a rock star though

Posted by: spdalton May 1 2007, 09:22 PM

I'm still at school, although it is my last year this year before heading off to study mechatronic engineering at Auckland university.

I have a part time job as a web developer though doing contract websites for people which is fun and pays great.

Posted by: rokchik May 1 2007, 09:56 PM

I'm a Border Services Officer for the Canadian Border Services Agency (Customs). Awesome job. meet lots of interesting people.

Posted by: andrei.sz May 1 2007, 10:18 PM

i'm another one working with the computers , but i'm a 3d artist. for a wille i'm freelancing and i have lately a lot of time for practice my guitar... and a few time to earn some money

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl May 1 2007, 10:41 PM

@ Gabriel: Awesome to hear you are working with music full time!

I am suprised to see half the gang (or more) are IT/computer experts...what am I doing here!?

Actually I have also studied a little Pascal programming as I started "Mathematics/Datalogy" (Swedish words, sorry) - however, the math was killing me. So applyed for not-having-to-do-the-math and only do the computers part, but they wouldn't let me. So I quit.

I then took a two-years sportfishing degree (really!) which was excellent as it allowed me calm down with the fishing and play more guitar. (I was running like a wilde in the woods prior to that).

Now I do some private guitar teaching, work with gmc and try to get time for bands, practicing and recrding/writing.

I like the discussion about what you can learn by yourself and what you can learn from a standard university/college.

I have studied a lot of different topics on the university: Environmental care, French, Programming + Math (as mentioned), "Political studies" (don't know the English word), Sportfishing ( ok that wasn't really a university), Biology.

This might sound harsh - and I am quite sure this has to do more with me than the education I got, but to me...it all sucked bad. I didn't learn anything from the theory-oriented education. To me the people designing those courses start where they should end them... I know I share this point of view with lots of unemployed academic people here in Stockholm.

Posted by: fkalich May 1 2007, 11:51 PM

2nd edit:

Software Engineer and programmer. Had a NASA contract, but got lost when two of the contractors stopped playing nice with each other. The software project was in late prototype stage at that time, I am going to commercialize it. May just take it back to them, but I will own it. About a dozen good minds were involved in the design. I have Open Source stuff on the server end (I avoid Evilsoft stuff whenever possible), Actionscript (Flash) on the front end.It is pretty complicated, about 20,000 lines of code.

Pavel: I have let to find any practical use of my ability to perform Fourier transforms in any of my work since I left school. Welcome to the club.

Posted by: unmarshal May 2 2007, 12:54 AM

My company also does computer security. I do security research specifically. What type of stuff Andrew?

Posted by: kahall May 2 2007, 02:28 AM

Yes, another IT guy here. It’s weird to see so many of us here I guess. I did some school but got out, when like many the math was killing me. I could and still can teach myself anything I need to know. I manage a network for a mid size florist here in the Midwest, do their web stuff and if it has buttons or plugs in I am responsible for it. I do absolutely no programming really but I am antiquate with PHP and can build a mean website if I must. There is still some joy for me and PC’s but most of my fun is now had here at GMC.

Kris the English word is not much different. Political studies = “Political Science.”

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 2 2007, 03:13 AM

We do carrier class security for the big guys - detection of DOS, DDOS, Worms etc in the core networks - how about you?

Posted by: brandon May 2 2007, 03:19 AM

I work for the Department of Education in DC. I help universities with there financial aid......weird, I went from being a touring musician to a government job. I guess that's what happens when you start growing up.

Posted by: The Uncreator May 2 2007, 04:18 AM

I work in a resteraunt, doing mainteance and stuff. pretty cool job wiht good money, get to hang out with friends make fun of customers and ourselves and stuff, good times.

Posted by: brainlesswonder May 2 2007, 05:43 AM

I own a "fast food" franchise, and build web pages on the side. Although I have to say that I've been building a lot less web pages now that I practice the guitar more.

Posted by: unmarshal May 2 2007, 07:52 AM

General security researcher, but am working for a product company that has a commercialized fuzzer (musecurity.com). Do you know the guys at arbor networks?

Posted by: fkalich May 2 2007, 08:57 AM

Well the jury is in.....Kris's teaching style appeals primarily to tech geeks and those working in the food industry. On his next release of the site, he can concentrate on presenting something that will be aesthetically pleasing to those two demographic groups.

Posted by: Pavel May 2 2007, 09:43 AM

Yeah like choosing website skin - if you are a tech guys you pick up a computer related skin. If you are a food guys you get hot-dogs and pizzas on your skin hahha But that way you get hungry right away!

Posted by: jeff May 2 2007, 09:43 AM

Add another IT dude here. I work for a big govt. contractor. I used to do development work but now I'm a manager. It pays the bills, but all things being equal - I'd rather be fishing.

Posted by: fkalich May 2 2007, 10:05 AM

If you don't mind saying, which contractor? Just curious having been in the beltway bandit industry myself. I worked with Raytheon, and also SAIC. Really mostly nice people. I would also rather be fishing.




Keeping in mind that is the basic diet of most tech guys, the same skins can probably work for both.

Posted by: bricktop May 2 2007, 10:10 AM

I work for Toyota Logistics, and I'm a production associate. After the Camry and Avalon are built at my factory we add accesories and allocate them to the dealers by train or truck. I started out working at the San Francisco area, where I'm from, and now I'm at the plant in Kentucky for the last 10 years. I should've picked up guitar 10 years ago instead of playing all that golf when I was single...

John

Posted by: fkalich May 2 2007, 11:00 AM

You should read a book on design patterns if you have not already done so. Early on. There is one that is really not bad, easy to read, the head first series. Silly but it still covers the essentials well. It is real easy to get into bad habits just like in music. If you keep the basic design patterns in your mind, you will stay out of bad habits.

The open source community is great for a wealth of knowledge. I use all open source stuff. You learn more. Hate Evilsoft for the most part. I like Actionscript though, but that is also sort of anti bill gates. I think that Adobe purchasing Macromedia was a good deal, they are really moving forward. The new 3.0 version of Actionscript is really a leap forward. You should learn that. It is from the same family as Javascript, so very similar. Ajax is hot right now, but I can do all that stuff with Actionscript, and the graphics are vastly superior when you use Flash.


edit: or at your age, you might take an interest in nanotechnology. I am too old to take an interest in that, too far off. but at your age, you should think about that, that and guitar.

Posted by: jeff May 2 2007, 12:25 PM

Posted by: blindwillie May 2 2007, 12:51 PM

Haha, yes it's pretty obvious
Really weird, or maybe it's us who are weird.

Kris as "Swedish Chef" doing guitarlessons on youtube is the obvious step.

Posted by: Pavel May 2 2007, 01:54 PM

I am working hard on playing guitar and practicing and that's the only thing i want to do but as i said i have to finish the university just to get the degree. I think learning something else to be a pro in it requires a lot of time and than again i will be an intermediate in both guitar and computers - but i want better be a pro in one certain field - guitar OR computers.

Anyway thanks a lot for spending time typing this useful info for me. Appreciate that!

Posted by: Scott Gentzen May 2 2007, 03:44 PM

I didn't but I'm old.

I did the Computer Science curriculum around 1992. Learned things like circuit design and programming in ANSI C and x86 Assembly. There was an Information Systems track where I was then that was more like how to use Excel and Wordstar, that kind of thing. I had a computer at home since the late 80's and I was kind of a geek so I spent a lot of time figuring out how it works. In the mid-90's I turned it into a support gig and then moved to helpdesk type gigs for a while til I got with a place that did helpdesk and system administration. That got me in the direction of managing systems rather than directly supporting users and their desktop issues.

School didn't really help me much. I haven't been to many training-type classes either. I read a lot. I love software and play with whatever I can get my hands on. That's really it.



I worked as a cook at a Dairy Queen when I was 17. Shrug. I can still make soft-serve ice cream cones the right way.



IDM?

Posted by: Guitarman700 May 2 2007, 05:19 PM

Well im 17 And my primary occupation is listening to music!
(Im a tech Geek too!) I might take a music class in college but im not sure what i want do do yet.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 2 2007, 05:24 PM

Our nemesis We compete, we have products that address similar needs in a different way ...

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl May 3 2007, 03:37 PM

We still have place left for a burger in the upper right side of the logo - what do you guys say?!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn May 3 2007, 05:09 PM

Yep - the GMC coat of arms should be a burger and Keyboard crossed rampant on a field of azure ... would make an awesome patch or T-shirt

Posted by: Bitey May 3 2007, 05:49 PM

I work on cars. I either detail them or I tune them up. I can do some basic things with the engine.

Posted by: jeff May 3 2007, 06:05 PM

Speaking of that, is there anyone here that makes T-Shirts? I'd like to have a GMC T-Shirt.

Posted by: VinceG May 3 2007, 09:28 PM

well I currently dont have a job. Im still a high school student and having a job that I will hate just doesnt cut it for me. I might start working at a local video store during summer, just to make a couple of bucks, nothing special. Personally, I would hate to make a living out of making music. I find that its boring to just sit in the studio all day, i mean its cool if you make an album every 2-3 years but not constantly come up with something cool just to make a quick buck. I want to do like an album every 3 years or so then work on a film or something. As much as i hate to say it but the music biz tends to take peoples souls away from what they think is cool. Look at a lot of mainstream bands out there, in a few years they will be gone and will be replaced by other trendy band.

Just some thought while reading your guys post, Pavel good luck with your career.

Posted by: RodneyU May 3 2007, 11:40 PM

Holy cow, I think it's a trend. IT People want to rock out!!

That being said, add me to the list. I'm a Network Administrator at a company and we deal with mainly small to medium size businesses and their IT needs. Software, hardware, Web Development, and Hosting. We're jumping into SEO now, if anyone has experience in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), I'd like to hear about.

Posted by: you May 5 2007, 06:46 PM

I'm trying to get a summer job at a local grocery store on tuesday. We'll see. Have no idea what i'm going to study. I'm Only 16. Love playing guitar mabye'll do something with that.

Posted by: Rock May 6 2007, 01:09 AM

I also started out in computers. Received my BS in Computer Science in the mid 80s and pretty much was done with computers as far as programming by the time I graduated. I now work as a materials manager (I plan and buy all the material that is needed to make the product) for a medical device manufacturer. Pretty interesting, I interact with all levels of the organization which is more interesting than just sitting at my desk all day coding. Just got my MBA and will have another Masters degree next year in Organizational Leadership. My long term goal is VP or CEO of a large organization and hopefully be a good enough guitar player in a few years to play out for fun!

Posted by: Smikey2006 May 6 2007, 05:03 PM

haha, so many computer ppl, i think ive got the slackest job here, im a milk man well .. at a grocery store, the pay sucks but ive got lots of free time for guitarin and thats all that matters right now haha

Posted by: Igorrr May 7 2007, 09:20 PM

Also IT Specialist here. Work for a big company that body shopped me to another big company (kind of like the sheep among the wolves kind of deal). I am responsible for Document Management Infrastructure.

Yeah IT seems to be really 2nd job choice for wannabe pro musicians. My sister actually really made the move in making a living with music. Sometimes I envy here ....


....and sometimes she envies me.....


.... but I envy her more....

Posted by: Eyeless_Neptune May 7 2007, 11:36 PM

hey all im currently a 20 year old chemistry student at university in northern ireland and ive been playing for 4 years. will be going to england for a placement year from july to work in a chemical company. means a year of getting paid, no uni work and lots of time to practice guitar! hopefully this will be the year that brings me from ok to great!

Posted by: Pavel May 7 2007, 11:49 PM

Those are some awesome news man! I wish you good luck and nothing to stop in your way!!

Posted by: Ryan May 8 2007, 12:06 AM

Vince G, That would be the greatest thing in the world, to just be able to sit there and play music all day long..and have people listening, and going on tour, and just making music...... and getting paid to do it , the getting paid part is the extra add on

and its not about really that you get replaced with new bands or anything, its just making music is what counts , not the money or anything, and it doesnt take peoples souls away from them, thats only the people who are in it for the money, and not the music...they dont have a real passion for music..its all about the money for them

Posted by: The Uncreator May 8 2007, 01:15 AM

Yeah, anyone who does music for money should be strapped to a gerney a beaten with a ballpine hammer

Posted by: Ryan May 8 2007, 01:29 AM

lol..umm maybe not that far.....lol...i mean they do play music and some make some really good music, but there just makin it for the wrong reason..so i dont think we should beat them..just kinda be like..."*sigh* wtf"

Posted by: slash85 May 8 2007, 03:01 AM

gday mates,

i am a diesel mechanic in a coal mine in central queensland australia......i work on some massive gear which is awesome like trucks and bulldozers loaders excavators and such is awesome ...ive only got th rest of this year in my apprenticeship then im a qualified tradesman rock n lock'n roll then mates.......and the best thing about it is i do 2 dayshifts 2 night shifts then have 2 days off then i do 2 days again another 2 nights then i have 6 days off....so i get six days of every 10 days which make the roster perfect for guitar playing coz thats all i do on me days off all the shifts are 12 hours though so that part sucks awesome money though

Edited for language: Micke on behalf of the moderating team

Posted by: kevin-riff-after-riff May 14 2007, 11:14 PM

a stupid highschool kid

Posted by: Craig M May 14 2007, 11:27 PM

I am a photographer. Visit my site! www.murphyphotography.com

Posted by: VinceG May 14 2007, 11:36 PM

Well its good that you wanted to do that for a living but id end up blowing my head off if i did. Id prolly even post my music for free in the internet because as much as i love music, its only a hobby for me. Film director would be a dream come true though.

Posted by: Craig M May 14 2007, 11:42 PM

Say what?

Posted by: Henrik Skotth May 15 2007, 09:57 AM

I have almost five years of IT-studies (well, some courses where economics and such, but they were part of the degree) and I must say that what it mostly gave me was time to learn stuff by myself
Still, I wouldn't want to undo these studies in any way. Attending university and getting a degree gives you credibility, a chance to learn how to work well in groups, contacts that might prove useful in the future, and, as I said, time to learn stuff by yourself (you can often be inspired for this by the courses you take - and what these courses are missing).

Also, in sweden at least, most IT related companies prefer to hire people with an university degree. But this is mainly because that way they'll know that they are commited and have learned to work well in groups. Sometimes, the actual type of degree matters less: I know people who work with IT in sweden (and england) and whose education doesn't really match the job description at all.

In sweden this gets more and more true, as we are having major recruitment problems to our IT-universities right now. To be honest, I think that when you finish your degree, you could probably go to Stockholm and get a quite well-payed job as a IT-consultant quite easily. Especially if Croatia has joined the EU by then.
And hey, that way you could jam with Kris every now and when as well

Good luck to you with the rest of your studies!

Posted by: Marcus May 15 2007, 10:58 AM

I work as an IT/Operations Manager, so yeah, IT here too

Posted by: Pavel May 15 2007, 05:16 PM

Thanks Henrik for writing that! Maybe i do come to Sweden one day!