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

[hman]

My job role is so varied its very difficult to define in a few words - so mostly I just say I the business I am in is manufacturing fire protection equipment.

At which point they usually switch off because lets face it manufacturing is boring isnt it? - its not retail so...

What they don't know is I get to fly to destinations all over the world, meet people to which most people cannot easily get access, go to places where they definitely couldn't get access to, set fire to stuff just to make a point about what will happen in the event of a fire/ prove our systems work.

[Blown2CV]

Don said:

Spare tyre said:

I don't tell neighbours and friends of friends etc that I work in IT, other wise you get an endless list of questions from your neighbours mates brother plumbers cat

This. It's fking endless.

If you say you work in IT they'll come out with: "Can you fix X on my broken computer."

"No.Not that kind of IT"

These days I can say, "do you do Online Banking?". "Yes". "That".

and all that surfs perilously close to the ubiquitous "ah i've been having some problems with my PC, can you take a look?"

[9mm]

Blown2CV said:

9mm said:

Blown2CV said:

when people ask what you do for a living, they are not asking what your job title is. Firstly most people wouldn't understand it, and secondly saying it makes you sound a tool. They're asking for a neat little summary which they will understand, and that doesn't make you sound like a prick.

Really? Why is it then, if you do anything other than a 9-5 job for an employer, as permie or contractor, the response will be disbelief, sarcasm, jealousy or an accusation you're a walt. It isn't a genuine question from a lot of people, it's just them being nosey and not the kind of conversational digression that occurs when you've spent some time with someone and want to spend more.

wow i don't think i agree at all! Many people want to know, without inherently being nosy. Some people do ask because they want to know how you afforded that watch, car etc., but in my experience they're definitely the minority. Christ it's not like people are asking how big your cock is or what you've got in the bank.

Another reason is that they're just poor at making conversation, so it's a question they jump into prematurely. Maybe it's a younger person's thing. I only mix with people who are at an age where any overt displays of wealth could be from any number of sources, including simple inheritance, so there wouldn't/shouldn't be any connection between possessions and occupation.

[iphonedyou]

tr7v8 said:

If someone asks me I say "Enterprise Technologist; Data Centre Power & Cooling" at which point they glaze over & change the subject.
But if I say I work for Dell I get the "what laptop should I buy" & "Can you fix my PC" which as I do not & never have done desktops won't be of any help to them.

You actually say that?

I'd wonder who invited you, myself. And how to get rid of you.

[Tonsko]

Blown2CV said:

and all that surfs perilously close to the ubiquitous "ah i've been having some problems with my PC, can you take a look?"

Heh. I don't tend to get that, and if I do, to make a joke of it, my next question to head things off is, 'How much money do you have?'. Will give general advice, but as soon as I say, 'update your st, don't run as admin and get a password manager', they glaze over. Job done, onto more interesting things!

[cashmax]

PorkInsider said:

cashmax said:

Thats pretty sad to hear. You either need to get out more or consider modifying your line of questioning. I think the issue is that some people assume that everyone is has a job they consider bring. The reality is that many people's job/the way they earn a living is also the thing they find most interesting and enjoy doing. By removing yourself from the conversation, you are neutering your chances of finding this out.

I think you're missing the point.

I have what I think is a really interesting job: I get to travel the world. I work with companies in fields from manufacturing baby food to rocket motors and everything between. It's well paid, my colleagues are great and the company is easygoing and generous. What's not to like?

But... I don't assume anyone anyone else should be interested in what I do and I don't really care what other people do to be quite honest.

Friends and family know what I do, similarly I know what they do. I cannot imagine any social situation where in meeting someone new I would be at all inclined to be so intrusive as to enquire as to their work. Nor would I be to divulge much about my own career other than perhaps, " I work in consulting".

There's too much more in the world to be interested in to spend time caring about what people do for a living.

And as for neutering the chances of finding out what someone else does for a living, you would have to actually care for that to matter.

What makes you think they give a st about anything else you have to say?

[Greg-]

I'm a Software Engineer, but I also act as a ScrumMaster for my team. If I tell people that they look a bit odd and ask me if I play rugby. If they know what it is they just ask me how many post-its I get through in a week.

[Tonsko]

Out of interest, Greg, have you ever tried Trello?

[Mark-C]

I stopped telling people I worked with computers in 1989 when I was a CICS SysProg and kept getting asked about cheats for Amiga games

[JonRB]

Greg- said:

I'm a Software Engineer, but I also act as a ScrumMaster for my team. If I tell people that they look a bit odd and ask me if I play rugby. If they know what it is they just ask me how many post-its I get through in a week.

[Greg-]

Tonsko said:

Out of interest, Greg, have you ever tried Trello?

Yes - but if I used Trello how will I waste an hour re-arrange post-it notes on a whiteboard?

(On a serious note, yes we use Trello and TFS)

[Tonsko]

Greg- said:

Yes - but if I used Trello how will I waste an hour re-arrange post-it notes on a whiteboard?

(On a serious note, yes we use Trello and TFS)

Is it any good? I've had a look at it, but not used it in anger yet. Considering using it for personal projects, or does it not scale downwards very well?

[Ikemi]

I'm a Network Manager - I don't mind talking about my occupation, but I do try and steer conversation onto more interesting topics. I converse about computers and networks everyday, so it's the last thing I fancy talking about when socialising. There are so many other things to talk about!

[Monkeylegend]

Thankyou4calling said:

Go to a function at the highest level of society and you exchange pleasantries then ask something along the lines of " So what do you do for a living"

I bet you can't wait for them to ask what you do

[JonRB]

Greg- said:

Tonsko said:

Out of interest, Greg, have you ever tried Trello?

Yes - but if I used Trello how will I waste an hour re-arrange post-it notes on a whiteboard?

(On a serious note, yes we use Trello and TFS)

We use RTC at my current client. All epics, stories and tasks are entered into it and we do Planning Poker sessions on the stories with the consensus estimates then being fed back into RTC. Seems to work ok.

[Blown2CV]

to the layman, IT jobs are either

"salesman"
"techie"
"managing director"

or at a stretch

"project manager"

techie is the most annoying as it covers everyone from the guy who hands the cabling to the guy who fits the cabling, to software developer (even though no-one understands what this means) to server monkey, support gimp, graphic designer, analyst, functional designer, all the types of architect, engineer, consultant, pre-sales, business development, innovation lead... basically all of those people and many besides are just the fking geek who fixes printers. Not only that, but the fking geek who actively wants to fix MY printer.

By the way if anyone i'd just met actually asked me how much money I have, or even alluded to that question then i'd be closing the conversation down and finding someone who is less of a .

[TheJimi]

I detest being asked what I do for a living, particularly so when it's one of the first things I hear from someone I have just met.

Maybe I'm overly cynical, but I suspect that most people who ask that question, especially if they've just met you, are intending on using your answer to form their opinion of you.

The question isn't as harmess as many of you appear to think it is, imo.

Blown2CV said:

By the way if anyone i'd just met actually asked me how much money I have, or even alluded to that question then i'd be closing the conversation down and finding someone who is less of a .

"what do you do for a living?" is, imo, also just a socially acceptable way of asking the above.

Edited by TheJimi on Sunday 26th July 20:49

[JonRB]

People who ask what you do for a living the moment they meet you are the same kind of people who say "Nice car! How much did it cost?" when they see it.

[zeDuffMan]

When I'm asked I try to keep it as short as possible, but it's difficult, because no one has a clue. When I say what it is (radiographer), people usually think I work in radio. I then explain was it is and then I'm asked what the worst injury I've ever seen is.

It's not that I'm shy about telling people what I do, I enjoy the job and find it fascinating, and there's a lot to talk about. I just spend a lot of my time at work and don't feel like talking about it when I'm not there.

[DUMBO100]

I was on holiday to Tenerife with my ex Mrs and playing in a quiz when we were asked our occupations. I said "A Car Salesman", she said " A Police Officer" and we both got chucked in the pool.

Edited by DUMBO100 on Sunday 26th July 22:52