Running again.

[hannah]

In what might well be a miraculous turn of events, when I tried my AC earlier today, it worked fine. I still want a new one, but now it's going to be much easier to wait a few weeks. Every year, the first time I turn it on, it's always a surprise how good it feels.

In other news, I've been tasked to put together a list of people I admire who've got jobs I wouldn't mind doing, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out that intersection.

So - what do you all do for your day jobs? I've read the lists of famous authors' paycheck careers, and from those, a gig at the post office still sounds fairly appealing.

Comments

[rosefox]

I edit book reviews. I've been doing it since 2007. It's a pretty good gig and I'd be happy to discuss it in detail. It's also a very niche gig; there's probably... 50? people in the U.S. with equivalent jobs. But I can tell you more about being a magazine editor in general, or working in the publishing field in general, if that interests you.

I will note that a truism in publishing is that if you work with books, you stop having time to read them or wanting to write them. This isn't entirely true, but a sort of... word-weariness is definitely an occupational hazard. So it's not something I would recommend as an author's day job.

I've also done a lot of medical and science writing and editing, book reviewing, and freelance book editing. I edited a book about building sheds, a couple of cookbooks, a book on global wine history, two books of Popular Mechanics predictions about the glorious sci-fi future that never happened, a how-to-draw book that I translated from Australian to American (really), a couple of gorgeous photo books, many self-published novels and memoirs and memoirs-disguised-as-novels... the variety always delighted me. I only stopped freelancing and went full-time at the day job when Kit was born and I needed the certainty of a regular paycheck. Freelancing suited me in a lot of ways, I was very good at it, and I miss it. So if you don't actually want to have a day job at all, I can talk about how to make that work too. :)

I know a lot of authors who have kept their day jobs, and a post office gig isn't actually a bad choice, based on what I understand. (In fact, I know a writer who works at the post office.) The best day job for a writer is one you don't have to think about much, and one that doesn't tire you out. Boredom inspires creativity, and then when you get home you need energy to write all the things you've been daydreaming about all day. If you can write at work, even better. I know someone who's a staff medic at a factory and says it's ideal: hardly anything happens that actually needs her attention, so she sits in her office and writes while waiting for the phone to ring. Anything like that, where you're paid to be available or on call rather than to do things nonstop, is great.

[batdina]

I'm a Rabbi/Professor: teaching mostly Hasidic Masters, but also Biblical Hebrew and intro to Aramaic for pre-rabbinical students. I don't know if that helps you or not.

ETA: If you're interested in hearing more, in particular about the teaching part of it, I'm happy to share more. I also taught English lit at both the college and high school levels.

[karalee]

I'm not full time employed right now but I work/ed as a science writer. It does actually teach you a lot about how to be very precise and intentional with your words in a way that fiction doesn't. It was almost journalistic training. So that was rewarding and helpful.

But it was extremely draining and sometimes I just couldn't look at a keyboard in the evening after I've been already staring at one 9-5. Also, only 30% of the role was writing. The other 70% was interviewing people, sending emails, dealing with drama, etc.

The post office gig sounds nicer, if one can get it.

[lannamichaels]

I do project work, usually with web systems and data management. Other people do the direct project management, working with the partners, doing all that work. I do organizational stuff to make it all happen. This means that I'm often a resource for many projects; in previous years, I used to be pretty much "on" every project we had, because I supported all of them. I've also run some projects myself, but prefer not to. I'd be happy to talk more about it over PM or email.

[stellar_dust]

I'm an academic archaeologist. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the academic side of it, but there are also professional/non-aca jobs in archaeology or heritage that I can tell you a bit about if you're interested - everything from office/desk work, to field techs who dig every day. Also can give you more details about the academic route if that's your jam. Good luck!

[stellar_dust]

This listings seems like a pretty reasonable cross-section actually: https://scahome.org/job-listings/

Though there are also federal, state, and local government jobs, plus museum jobs, that aren't represented there.

[celli]

I'm the finance director for a small town in CT, and on the side I run my own tax practice with about 30 clients. Pretty specialized, but always happy to natter on about it!

[kernezelda]

I work in the purchasing office for a small/mid-size city, and I very much enjoy it (most of the time). The work is varied, and somewhat seasonal. I spend a lot of time working with spreadsheets for formal bids, recording small business vendor participation, keeping records and lists of different activities. I've always enjoyed spreadsheets since I first learned about them. We handle contracts, requisitions, invoices in several linked software programs, and I'm the go-to person when people have questions, although I am not in IT, and sometimes have to throw my hands in the air and refer them to the appropriate IT person. I proofread all of my boss' correspondence. I do a lot of database searches for our dept director. He was recently promoted to city admin office, but he still calls me to ask me to search for things for him. I also handle the purchasing website, and generally all of the electronic work of the office, as well as setting dates and creating the advertisements for our bids.

I work with a lot of people in different departments, and occasionally have to run meetings for bids, where, even after 20 years, I still get nervous with public speaking. !!!

Sometimes we're really busy, particularly at the beginning of the fiscal year when many projects are begun with new funding, and in the spring when the weather's good after the cold, rainy winter. Then it's stressful, but that purposeful kind of stress of deadlines and being able to revel in feeling hyper-competent. We also have deep lulls when I feel like nothing is happening, and while I do office housekeeping--filing, clearing away obsolete papers, etc.--I also make the social rounds and re-affirm friendships and acquaintances with people on other floors, in other departments. It makes me happy that many people consider me a friend and enjoy my company.
I'm proud of the work I do. I'm proud that a lot of people call me for guidance or help for a variety of tasks, because I can guide and help them.