Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 249 posts

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#221

Post by somewhereoutth »

hinkydoriescat wrote: post #205
somewhereoutth wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly, it is in fact very real. The difference in how you are treated as an architect vs an engineer [in the UK] is really quite astonishing. And also perhaps with good reason, as an architect you are keeper of the magic and mystery of the 'queen of the arts', whereas as an engineer you are just there to fix the tv/computer/iphone/whatever. As an architect you are part of polite conversation about what the world is/w…

[flagged]

Indeed the architecture profession has been in crisis since as long as anyone can remember. Unfortunately it became trendy just as we (in the west) ran out of things to build, leading to an excess of trained architects.

As for soulless office buildings, yes quite agree - but often this is due to clients' lack of money, taste and ambition. Nevertheless there are still truly inspiring projects out there, worthy of the term 'art'.

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#222

Post by somewhereoutth »

908B64B197 wrote: post #215
somewhereoutth wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly, it is in fact very real. The difference in how you are treated as an architect vs an engineer [in the UK] is really quite astonishing. And also perhaps with good reason, as an architect you are keeper of the magic and mystery of the 'queen of the arts', whereas as an engineer you are just there to fix the tv/computer/iphone/whatever. As an architect you are part of polite conversation about what the world is/w…

> whereas as an engineer you are just there to fix the tv/computer/iphone/whatever. I find it interesting because it reveals so much about a society (and why the UK simply couldn't grow a real tech sector). Here in America some sneer at the terms architects or engineer being used to refer to people in tech, but nobody would consider computers and iPhones to be beneath buildings. Then again, it was all engineered righ…

From an art/design history point of view, computers and iPhones really aren't that interesting, and soon converge on the obvious solution as a simple rectangle of glass.

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#223

Post by version_five »

donatj wrote: post #220
dTal wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't work if your field is super weird and niche. You end up giving the same elevator pitch over, and over, and over... I suppose it's a "nice problem to have".

I'd be very curious to hear an example that couldn't be summarized as "I am a doing ". Of people I know, the most niche I can think of is doing work with programming mitochondrial DNA and my answer for her job would simply be "I'm a scientist studying cells for ."

Being able to summarize is one thing, conveying any information is another. There are definitely jobs where giving even a remote sense of what you do takes more than a pithy statement. People either come up with a technically correct bromide like you suggest or some silly pithy "I help teams collaborate better" thing that sounds silly. Unless you're like a doctor or a fireman, it's not so easy to convey real information.

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#224

Post by astura »

chrisdhal wrote: post #174
astura wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incredibly bizarre - I literally have zero idea what any of my friends or acquaintances parents did for work when I was a teenager. Parental occupation is simply not a topic of conversation among teenagers. Full stop.

Hmm...maybe it's generational? When I was a teenager (mid-80's) I knew what my friend's parents did for a living. It's not like we sat around and discussed it, but I could have told you what the majority of my friend's parents did for a living (including what company they worked for).

I was a teenager in the late 90s. I don't know how the subject of your parents jobs would come up in teenager conversation.

My dad is too lazy for work and I don't even know what job my mom did for a living before she retired. I mean, I knew the company she worked for, and that it was an office, but I don't know her job title or responsibilities. Why would I? Who the fuck talks to their kids about their work?

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#225

Post by astura »

jraph wrote: post #155
astura wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, when someone asks about you research as a casual conversation they're only looking for extremely high level summaries. Something like "I research plant metabolism." I could see how a conversation could go very sideways if you're responding to "oh what do you research?" with details that are "in the weeds."

Yes, if you do a monologue, it's likely just plain boring even to someone curious anyway. The same info given in a interactive manner is likely more enjoyable to everyone involved.

Just ends up being basic conversational skills.

This reminds me of a time when I asked someone where they lived and they started giving me detailed directions to their house. The context of the conversation and our relationship made me expect a town name or maybe neighborhood. The unexpected over-sharing made me get really uncomfortable and I thought of a reason to end the conversation immediately.

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#226

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

dspillett wrote: post #121
chakintosh wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the same boat. But I usually just say I draw rectangles on a screen.

My go-to answer for “what do you do for a living?” is “as little as I can get away with”.

To this day, my wife reminds me that was the first question her mother ever asked me and my answer was "as little as possible."

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#227

Post by donatj »

version_five wrote: post #223
donatj wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very curious to hear an example that couldn't be summarized as "I am a doing ". Of people I know, the most niche I can think of is doing work with programming mitochondrial DNA and my answer for her job would simply be "I'm a scientist studying cells for ."

Being able to summarize is one thing, conveying any information is another. There are definitely jobs where giving even a remote sense of what you do takes more than a pithy statement. People either come up with a technically correct bromide like you suggest or some silly pithy "I help teams collaborate better" thing that sounds silly. Unless you're like a doctor or a fireman, it's not so easy to convey real informat…

Here's the stumbling block - people aren't looking for "real information" when they ask what you do at a party, they're just looking to get a rough idea of who you are so they can find common ground to continue the conversation.

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#228

Post by tarboreus »

version_five wrote: post #223
donatj wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very curious to hear an example that couldn't be summarized as "I am a doing ". Of people I know, the most niche I can think of is doing work with programming mitochondrial DNA and my answer for her job would simply be "I'm a scientist studying cells for ."

Being able to summarize is one thing, conveying any information is another. There are definitely jobs where giving even a remote sense of what you do takes more than a pithy statement. People either come up with a technically correct bromide like you suggest or some silly pithy "I help teams collaborate better" thing that sounds silly. Unless you're like a doctor or a fireman, it's not so easy to convey real informat…

Yeah, but you don't need to convey information. You're exchanging pleasantries.

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#229

Post by DougN7 »

JohnFen wrote: post #208
russnes wrote: post #55

What people do for a living takes up about half of their waking life (and they probably dream about it too), so it will tell you so much about the person. Personally I love my job and what I do, so I really want to talk about matters at least related to it because my life does revolve around it indeed. So establishing some common ground with the other person can really help to start the conversation. But of course th…

> it will tell you so much about the person But only if you know the person well enough to have the context of it. What a person's job says about them is very different, for example, if they love their job vs hating their job.

Love or hate the job, knowing what it is gives you insights/guesses into skillsets, education level, economic level, possibly the type of people they mingle with, etc, etc.

Re: Stop Telling Everyone What You Do for a Living

#230

Post by midiguy »

somewhereoutth wrote: post #140
iLoveOncall wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The list is obvious flamebait, just don't fall for it.

Sadly, it is in fact very real. The difference in how you are treated as an architect vs an engineer [in the UK] is really quite astonishing. And also perhaps with good reason, as an architect you are keeper of the magic and mystery of the 'queen of the arts', whereas as an engineer you are just there to fix the tv/computer/iphone/whatever. As an architect you are part of polite conversation about what the world is/w…

In reality architects work way too much to attend parties, and make too little money to attract beautiful people.
Post reply on HN