https://archive.is/MDbhu I’m in the “introduces himself by his field, leaving out his title and firm name” camp. When possible, I leave out the field too.
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Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
61–70 of 249 posts
Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
#62[flagged]
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Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
#63A better way to frame the question of “what do you do for a living” is “what do you for leisure?” Or “how have you been spending your free time lately ?” Or “what have you been up to lately?”
Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition.
Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
#64Secret life hack: you don't have to answer "what do you do?" by talking about your job. You can talk about literally anything else that you do, preferably something that seems relevant to the person in front of you, and turn it into a more interesting two-sided conversation.
Most of the time people steer the conversation right back to the two big hitters - how much money do you make and who are you sleeping with.
To those that dont - you are truly the people I actually want to have a conversation with.
Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
"So you're an accountant, huh? Tell me, what motivates you? You just like numbers? That's it? Just like working with numbers? Umm... do you have a dog?" "Oh, you're in gambling industry? You build online gambling websites? What makes you passionate about it? What are your values that led you down to this path? Oh, just that the pay is good? Okay man, I can totally see that, yeah..."
Job of an accountant is definitely a lively one. They usually have a lot fun stories to tell, if you appreciate the specific darkness of humor related to people getting into a jail for being greedy, stupid or both. They also love to boast about breaking the rules or clever ways they made sure people observe them. I have yet to meet a bland accountant. They are also rather valuable contacts, since other people tend to…
There's a lot of mundane accounting to do (and being done) in the world too.
Much like software I suppose - there's not much to say about yet another simple CRUD app with nothing more to it.
Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
#66Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
#67A lot of people in the comments are suggesting alternative small talk, like "tell me what you did this weekend" or "tell me what you're about (?!)". I don't understand the need for any of that. You're meeting in some social environment: talk about that. If it's a dinner, talk about the food, or the host. If someone has just given a speech, talk about that. If you're at a sporting event, or a mediaeval reenactment event, talk about that. In extremis, talk about the weather. There's no need to either deliver or request an elevator pitch of any sort, on any subject, is there?
Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
#68Couldn't agree more. I absolutely hate being asked what I do for a living. I spend a large part of my life doing it, I don't want to spend my free time talking about it, or trying to explain it. It doesn't define me. It doesn't mean anything, I do it to get paid. The end.
I always make a point of never asking people what they do for the same reason. Indeed there are people I have now known for years and I have no idea what they do for a living.
Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
#69Telling people what you do is more than just telling them your job title, it's also a great opportunity to tell them what motivates you about your job, and thus showing some of your values, which is pretty important when meeting new people and allows you to more easily form bonds with those that share similar values.
> more than just telling them your job title I feel like it’s everything but the title. That always sounds so weird. Your job isn’t director or whatever, it’s doing things. And even if you’re signalling, there have to be better ways of getting across you’re a neophyte or a big shot.
I am a Founder / CEO / Serial Entrepreneur
Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living
#70https://archive.is/MDbhu I’m in the “introduces himself by his field, leaving out his title and firm name” camp. When possible, I leave out the field too.
I'm in Waste Management.