Why don't people want to say what they do for a living?

[KaraK]

Have to agree with the previous posters, saying I work in IT somehow always gets interpreted by people as "Call me any time to fix your computer' Trying to explain what the company I work for does is an utter ball ache, it's boring and only relevant to the smallish subset of companies that can benefit from the service and to make it worse getting into any depth if someone was genuinely interested would mean I could accidentally reveal our intellectual property and get myself sacked!

[JonRB]

Thankyou4calling said:

Whenever I ask someone they seem evasive and not want to say what their job is.

It's always "I'm a businessman"

Yes but what business?

"All sorts"

Ahhh what specifically?

"This and that, you know I'm in business"

Are people ashamed or embarrassed ?

I just find it odd.

It's a polite way of saying "none of your fking business".

[Snozzwangler]

MarshPhantom said:

Snozzwangler said:

Ganglandboss said:

Snozzwangler said:

Mine is just a pain in the arse to explain.

Rent boy?

You wish!

Apparently I'm not supposed to share details about my job including what it actually is, in case I become a target for coercion/bribery and all that crap.

Which is odd as it's a really boring job.


Yawn.

Friend of mine used to work for the Child Support Agency, they weren't allowed to tell people. Presumably so they didn't get lynched.

Sounds plausible.

But that should go for all Labour party members too. Bloody Torjan horses!

[Hoofy]

I don't get why a business person wouldn't tell everyone. .. it's all About.... ah fk it dont know how you loin fruationsyt post from your phone without smashing it

Edit- just seeing how quickly I use up data.

[Martin4x4]

I used to admit being a Computer Geek but gave up when this prompted people draw a parallel with their child's high score on their games console and ask me to fix their computer. WTF don't they get their genius kids to fix it for them?

Any so then I became a consultant and now get asked what they should do about their poorly knees, throat etc. To which I usually respond sorry not my specialism, it would be unprofessional for offer my opinion on that.

[GetCarter]

If I tell people what I do for a living, 90% of people say "I play the guitar" or "My daughter is a singer" ... so I just tell them I'm self employed.

[DanoS4]

Same as GetCarter. It's easier.

[Vizsla]

hman said:

Surely the standard answer to this is "as little as possible for as much money as possible"

Only if you're a recruitment consultant.

[227bhp]

I'm not great at socialising and just get bored with being asked the same question over and over again.
If it's someone who I know i'll never meet again and in order to entertain myself and spice things up a bit I just make stuff up, from the blatantly comedic to the believable i've thrown all sorts in
I gave a woman a lift a few weeks ago and we were late, there was a lot of countryside and fantastic roads to cover so I opened up the taps and we spent much of the time on the wrong side of the road, taking the racing line around deserted roundabouts and wide open bends.
Not very often I get to exercise the old girl like that and I was in my element, she didn't look nervous, but in order to placate her possible underlying anxiousness I told her I was a racing driver. She thought this was great and looked to be truly enjoying herself, but to my horror proceeded to tell everyone she met when we got there that she'd just had a great drive with a 'proper racing driver'
I had to whisper to her I didn't normally mention it as I didn't want everyone asking for lifts....

[Condi]

If I say what I do everyone just goes 'What?' or 'What does one of those do?' and tbh I cant really explain what I do anyway, and it takes ages to try.

So I just say Im a banker cos then they hate me without having to explain. And its suitably boring they dont ask any more questions.

[9mm]

Generally speaking, people asking that question early on in a conversation are pretty boring, a bit lacking in social skills or simply nosey. I'd much rather talk about a third party subject and what you or I do is only likely to crop up if it's relevant to the conversation. The reason people are cagey here is probably due to enormous green eyed monster factor and the tendency for some members to stalk.

[sc0tt]

I work in IT for an insurance firm.

Everyone wants their computer fixing and cheap car insurance.

My facebook profile says Bin man.

[eltawater]

I'm an ecommerce performance and infrastructure specialist. That tends to stop most people in their tracks

[whoami]

This thread is quite an eye opener.

[Thankyou4calling]

whoami said:

This thread is quite an eye opener.

In what way Whoami?

[Countdown]

I'm an accountant (but not in Practice).

I usually get asked questions about tax. To be honest i don't mind it. Even though i don't deal with tax on a day-today basis it's good to stretch the braincells.

[citizensm1th]

by day i am a mild mannered janitor

[maxdb]

I only give people a broad idea of what I do unless I really know them. Our works building is quite large so I usually get - do you know (insert name here) or (insert name here) as someone always seems to know someone that works for the company.. Sometimes it's like 3 or 4 names but as I work in a specialised department, 90% of the time it will be a no I don't know that perso.n

[Tonsko]

Depends on the audience. Sometimes: 'Computers'; other times 'Companies pay us to break into their systems'. Unless they're really interested, I steer conversation away to something else that I perceive that they may find more interesting. I enjoy talking about it, but it's such a niche, unless someone is fairly clued up I have to go back to basics. Thats good for the first few times, as it makes you re-examine your knowledge and how to explain it from nothing which can be a good refresher. Sometimes I get bogged down in the minutiae, other times it can be tiresome starting from scratch. Depends how I'm feeling I guess!

Edited by Tonsko on Saturday 25th July 21:14

[Al U]

Thankyou4calling said:

whoami said:

This thread is quite an eye opener.

In what way Whoami?

From what I have read, there seems to be some different camps.

Those who do not like to say because they might get asked to help solve an everyday problem that is common. Broken computer or leaking tap.

Those that are proud of what they do and like/don't mind to talk about what they do.

Those that are not proud of what they do so make up various reasons to not talk about it.

Those that think what they do has no effect on them as a person because it is just work, typically generic jobs by the sounds of it.

Those that are passionate about not talking about what they do.

Edited by Al U on Saturday 25th July 21:48