GTKY: Education and Career Backgrounds

bmo88

I know we mention these things here and there, but would love to see what everyone does and their backgrounds in one spot.

• Education (degrees, certifications, training)
  
• Career Field 
  
• Position/Responsibilities
• Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit)
• Years of Work Experience
• Your age

vlagrl29

Education - Bachelors in Music and Certification to teach Instrumental Music k-12

Career Field - Self Employed Musician - teach private violin/viola lessons to kids and adults.  I also play in a trio that books 35-40 events per year.

Position/Responsibilities - so many lol - I'm my own boss and I'm responsible for scheduling, marketing my business, and the financial side as well.  

Sector - Public I guess

Years of Work Experience - Been playing viola for 25 years, teaching for 13 years, performing our trio for 5 years

Age - 35

I also SAH with DD full time for 5 years.  So that's why I can really only work my own business part time.

kmurphy2131

• Education (degrees, certifications, training)  I have a bachelors in health science & a doctorate in physical therapy.  I'm thinking about getting a CAGS in health professions education & then possibly moving into a PhD with it.
• Career Field Physical Therapy
  
• Position/Responsibilities Primarily just a clinical role, I treat patients 36/40hours a week. I mostly do paperwork in the other 4 hours (and many of those other 36 hours too). I do some social media/marketing/patient follow up.
• Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit) Private
• Years of Work Experience Almost 5
• Your age 28

CuriousKiddosMama

Education: bachelors in social sciences. Masters degree in educational administration Career field: education Position/responsibility: stay at home mom currently, and hopefully until my 2 kids get into school. When I was working I taught mainly us history to 11th graders. Sector: public Years of work experience: 8 or 9. Depends upon how you count my half years. Age: 31

bmo88

Thanks for posting so far! I guess I should post as well.

Education (degrees, certifications, training): B.A. in Psychology & Spanish, Master's in Public Administration (graduate May 2017)

Career Field: Nonprofit/K-12 Education
Position/Responsibilities: Executive Director, oversee fundraising, finances, operations and administration
Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit): Nonprofit and Public
Years of Work Experience: 6 years post college graduation in this field

Your Age: 27

hoffse

• Education (degrees, certifications, training) - B.A. in art history, English, and political science (couldn't make up my mind, so I triple majored); J.D. in law; I'm working my LL.M., which is a masters in tax law, and I'll be done in September.  Even though the J.D. is a kind of doctoral degree, the master's is actually considered to be higher in the legal field for some reason.  
  
• Career Field  - Law
  
• Position/Responsibilities - I'm a 4th year tax/corporate associate at a firm with 350+ attorneys in 20 locations, 3 of which are international.  My responsibilities change daily.  I just got a soft offer to take over all the benefits work for the firm once a couple partners retire in a few years, and I got my first assignment in that area last week to train me up (drafted my first retirement plan - I have a lot to learn!).  Other than that, I do a lot of controversy/litigation work in the US Tax Court, which I hate. I do quite a bit of 501(c)(3), which I love. And I do a good bit of work in mergers & acquisitions that's both general corporate and tax-specific.  I like M&A a lot - on my last deal I got to do all the golden parachute calculations.  Since I'm a fourth year, I'm also responsible for pushing work down to the first and second years when I can and reviewing what they do.
• Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit) - Private
• Years of Work Experience - 4
• Your age - 29

Xstatic3333

Education: BS in Social Studies Education, MS in Environmental Science and Management

Career Field: Environmental Science

Position/Responsibilities: I am a program coordinator for a quasi-public environmental organization (we really function as more of a nonprofit).  I do grant writing, a little bit of grant administration (minus the accounting/books), program development, teaching in the schools, event organizing, and sometimes I speak at public events about water quality and landowner assistance programs.  There are only 4 of us at my job so we all need to be flexible and, for lack of a better term, "wear a lot of hats."

Sector: Nonprofit (technically quasi-public but I am not a state employee)

Years of work experience: 2.5 in this field

Age: 31

als1982

My undergraduate degrees are in political science and history, masters in history, and a certificate in nonprofit management. I've been a philanthropic fundraiser since graduating 9 years ago. I currently oversee the donor relations program at a large nonprofit (we're on track to raise at least $40 million this year). My team of three has responsibility for acknowledging, recognizing and stewarding donors at all levels, but primarily major and transformational gifts. Oh, and I'm 33 (though I'm not sure why this is applicable).

Mustard76

Education (degrees, certifications, training)
I have a BA in Communications, concentration in advertising. Unrelated to my education, but applicable in my field is a series of investment licenses.
Career Field
Banking and Finance

Position/Responsibilities
I am a branch manager at a large national bank. I currently oversee a staff of 7 in a retail bank branch. Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit)
Private. But we're so heavily regulated sometimes it feels like public.

Years of Work Experience
This is my 10th year in my field.

Your age
32.

bmo88

als1982 said:

My undergraduate degrees are in political science and history, masters in history, and a certificate in nonprofit management. I've been a philanthropic fundraiser since graduating 9 years ago. I currently oversee the donor relations program at a large nonprofit (we're on track to raise at least $40 million this year). My team of three has responsibility for acknowledging, recognizing and stewarding donors at all levels, but primarily major and transformational gifts. Oh, and I'm 33 (though I'm not sure why this is applicable).

als1982 that's a lot of money! Our annual budget is $8.5 million and we fundraise about $1 million of that and it feels like a lot. I cannot imagine fundraising $40 million a year!

ETA: I threw in age because honestly I don't see age posted often and I find it more interesting in the context of where people are in their phase of life.

smerka

I have a BS in Geology. I worked for environmental consulting firms cleaning up asbestos, lead, underground storage tanks, groundwater, etc. I quit in 2009 after 13 years to become a SAHM. I started doing taxes part time in 2009. My kids both started full day school this year so if this tax season goes well, I will work towards getting my EA, enrolled agent. I am probably about halfway through the classes I need for that. I am 42.

dragonstarjk

Education (degrees, certifications, training) -I have an AA in Art and an AS in Business; I am currently working on a BS in Business Administration with a tentative graduation date sometime in 2018.

Career Field -Banking/Finance
Position/Responsibilities-I am a Personal Banker for a popular regional bank.  I do consumer loans--car loans, debt consolidation, misc.--and I also open and maintain checking, savings, CDs, IRAs, HSAs, trust accounts, debit cards, credit cards, etc.  I am licensed to sell credit insurance.  I am also the Marketing liaison for our branch.
Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit)-Private, although I feel ya on the regs, @mustard76Years of Work Experience-I've been in banking 5 1/2 years; before that I was in hospitality management.
Your age- 31

lbonga1

Education- AA in Product Development, BA in Business with a specialization in Entrepreneurship, and currently working on a graduate level certificate in Software Engineering. Once I complete 3 classes I can apply to the Masters program, so I'm hoping to be accepted to that.

Field- Technology

Position/Responsibilities- I actually have a few jobs right now. I teach an after school program 3 days a week for 1-8 graders in basic software programming. I'm also a forum mentor and project reviewer for students learning iOS development through a different company. And I clean houses part-time, and I assist my FI in running a small side business (I set it up, but he mostly took over running it).

Sector- Public

Work Experience- It's hard to determine because I've switched fields, and my last job was kind of a combo between business and technology. I have about one year experience in software engineering, though.

Age- 26

 

abrewer5

Education (degrees, certifications, training): B.S. in Human Resource Management
Career Field: Workforce Development
Position/Responsibilities: Mainly training and development Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit): PublicYears of Work Experience:  almost 6 in this positionYour age: 25

cbee817

• Education (degrees, certifications, training) - BA in Mathematics, MA in Economics, SAS Certified Advanced Programmer
  
• Career Field - Actuarial/Finance but report up to the CDAO of our company
  
• Position/Responsibilities - Current title is Advanced Analytics Modeler.  I use statistical software to extract, transform, and run data models. The path is working towards a Data Scientist title.
• Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit) - Nonprofit (required by the state)
• Years of Work Experience - 12 (first official job out of college)
• Your age - 34

jessica490

Education (degrees, certifications, training)- BA in Marketing

Career Field- Purchasing

Position/Responsibilities- Expediting orders, tracking/tracing, invoicing
Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit)- PublicYears of Work Experience- 10 yearsYour age- 33

emily1004

Education (degrees, certifications, training)- BAA in Broadcast & Cinematic Arts, Certificate in Paralegal Studies (it's a one year program for those with a Bachelors)

Career Field- Legal

Position/Responsibilities- Paralegal - I started working with a small consumer rights and bankruptcy firm, but now I work for a mid-sized law firm that is growing like crazy. I now do litigation for insurance companies, municipalities, and large corporations. I used to work in local news (worst job ever) and media ratings. I left the business for better pay, better hours and overall better culture.

Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit)- Private

Years of Work Experience- 5 years in media, 6 years in legal field

Your age- 35

smetter04

• Education: B.A. in Psychology-Human Services & Sociology
  
• Career Field: Admin/HR
  
• Position/Responsibilities: I'm an HR Specialist, and although I've worn many hats with this company (including AR for a year), right now I primarily process onboarding & terminations. It doesn't sound like much but it balances candidate retention (critical period between signing offer & starting), coordinating company requirements, legal requirements, travel arrangements, ensuring people are setup to be paid, etc. Our company hired 199 people and processed 143 terminations last year so it keeps me busy as I handle all of them! I've also been doing a lot of process development and change management in the last year.
  
• Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit): Private
  
• Years of Work Experience: I've been in HR for 3 years now, but it's been 4 years since I graduated. I spent a year trying to find my way in the human services/psych world and realized I couldn't do what I wanted to do with just a bachelor's degree.
  
• Your age: 26
  

PurpleBookmark

Education:  Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts, Certificate in Paralegal Studies

Career Field: Legal

Position/Responsibilities:  I'm currently a SAHM but I started as a secretary for a small law firm while I went to school for my certificate on the weekends, then became a paralegal.  My first firm's partnership broke up and I moved on to a larger firm.  

Sector: Private

Years of Work Experience: 5 years of working in the legal field and now 4 years of being a SAHM

Your Age: 31

julieanne912

Education (degrees, certifications, training): Did a fair amount of college but never finished a degree.  Got the furthest with an interior design degree though.  I got my real estate license in CA when I was 19, then moved to IL and got licensed there when I was 23, and now I'm in CO and got licensed here as well a little over 2 years ago.  Also have a CO notary license and CO title agent license.

Career Field: Real Estate/Title/Escrow
Position/Responsibilities: Right now I'm just in an assistant position.  I don't have a lot of responsibilities of importance, other than helping out all the escrow officers here in my office.  Took this job as a foot in the door at a great company, even though it's a bit less money and flexibility as when I was an agent.  Looking at either moving into being an escrow officer, or as a sales executive.
Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit): Public Fortune 500
Years of Work Experience: In real estate and the related fields.... 15 years in May.  Worked in other jobs before that though....had a job at my county's DA's office when I was 17, and worked for my dad before that, since I was a kid.

Your Age: 33 (34 in May)

KatieCutie05

Education: Bachelors in Communication Arts (with a concentration in Design and Interactive Media). I just tell ppl i have a degree in Design. 

Career Field: Web/ Graphic Design

Position/Responsibilities: Web Designer. My company contracts to the federal government so i'm onsite as a government contractor. The feds are our client. I handle all the updates to their websites basically. 

Years experience: 5.5 years. This was my first "real" job out of college. Graduated May 2010 and i got this job in August. I did have an internship for about 6 months before that tho. 

Sector: Public

Age: 27

jtmh2012

Education (degrees, certifications, training)
Bachelors of Science in Computer Science plus many industry specific certifications.

Career Field 
Information technology
Position/Responsibilities
Over the years I've been a Linux system administrator, database administration, storage admin, team lead.

Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit)
public

Years of Work Experience
16

Your age
38

NicA617

• Education (degrees, certifications, training): BA in journalism & communications
• Career Field: marketing & business development
• Position/Responsibilities: marketing manager at consulting firm
• Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit): private
• Years of Work Experience: 15+
• Your age: 40.... i wish i could still say 39:-(

labro

• Education (degrees, certifications, training) -  BA in Journalism and Political Science. I started out just in Journalism but fell in love with the Political Science program so I ended up double majoring. There was a lot of really excellent cross-over as well which really helped for some interesting papers and projects.
  
• Career Field  - Business Operations
  
• Position/Responsibilities - Contract manager. I write and negotiate on contracts between my company and the telecom industry. We sell professional services mostly, and I write up the contract detailing what we're doing, the pricing, responsibilities, etc. Then we spend time arguing on the pricing and scope before signing.
• Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit) - Private
• Years of Work Experience - 3 in this position. I graduated in 2009 and the job market was pretty awful. I spent a year working part-time as a radio station announcer/news writer for a small-town station, and in retail before I moved back home temporarily and worked as a permanent employee at a staffing company before getting hired with my new job.
• Your age - 29 28....wow apparently I forgot how old I actually am. I'll be 29 in July.

short+sassy

Fun post!

Education (degrees, certifications, training) -  BS in Business Administration with my emphasis in Service Sector Management.  I also minored in Sociology.
Career Field  - Project/Administrative Support
Position/Responsibilities - Currently, I work in two departments for my employer.  Procurement and Steel Management.  For procurement, I check when orders have been delivered and follow up with vendors on the status of their deliveries.  For Steel Management, I prepare packages for the field.  Basically, check that drawing information is correct...but only on the side of titles/drawing nos./rev. nos...I'm not an engineer, but the packages go next to one.
Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit) - PrivateYears of Work Experience - Somehow, despite not being an engineer, I have ended up in the engineering industry.  My last three years have been with my current company, but my two jobs before this one were also for engineering firms.  That's been over about the last 8 years.Before that, I worked for 18 months managing a large Race Trac gas station/convenience store and was a sales manager for a year before that.    Your age - 41

maple2

Education (degrees, certifications, training) -  BA in biology. MS in land resource management. Working towards a Ph.D. in ecology

Career Field  - Conservation and land management

Position/Responsibilities - Currently a grad student, but for my last job I managed 15,000+ acres of land and worked with regional partners to address conservation threats and opportunities.

Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit) - All my jobs have been nonprofit or public sector

Years of Work Experience - 10 years in my field, though my field will change somewhat once I finish my degree

hoffse

@maple2, do you do any work in conservation easements?  I've gotten to do a bit of work in that area recently, and it's been fun stuff.

maple2

hoffse said:

@maple2, do you do any work in conservation easements?  I've gotten to do a bit of work in that area recently, and it's been fun stuff.

Since I'm not a lawyer, I haven't been involved in any of the actual drafting of conservation easements, but I have worked on many other aspects including conversations with landowners, doing the field-based surveys for due diligence beforehand, and long term compliance monitoring. The property I managed was under easement to the State, so I've dealt with compliance from both the fee holder and easement holder perspective. They are incredibly popular conservation tools these days, but I am curious to see how they hold up over time. Especially since there are lots of small NGOs who are becoming easement holders and may not have the resources to steward them in perpetuity. Or even state agencies, quite honestly, who often face budget shortfalls. Easements that allow various types of active management (farming, timber harvesting, limited development) seem particularly complicated to monitor and enforce, but they also seem to be the type of easements that are most frequently used for large properties.

Xstatic3333

maple2 said:

Education (degrees, certifications, training) -  BA in biology. MS in land resource management. Working towards a Ph.D. in ecology

Career Field  - Conservation and land management

Position/Responsibilities - Currently a grad student, but for my last job I managed 15,000+ acres of land and worked with regional partners to address conservation threats and opportunities.

Sector (Public, Private, Nonprofit) - All my jobs have been nonprofit or public sector

Years of Work Experience - 10 years in my field, though my field will change somewhat once I finish my degree

Awesome! I'm in conservation, too. What are you studying for your grad degree?

maple2

I'm looking at the effectiveness of land protection as a conservation strategy for forest birds--whether species are more likely to persist in protected areas than out of them, especially as climate changes. Mostly, I do a lot of statistics and GIS analysis. Your job sounds much more fun, but hopefully I'll get back into the fun stuff once the degree is finished.

Xstatic3333

maple2 said:

I'm looking at the effectiveness of land protection as a conservation strategy for forest birds--whether species are more likely to persist in protected areas than out of them, especially as climate changes. Mostly, I do a lot of statistics and GIS analysis. Your job sounds much more fun, but hopefully I'll get back into the fun stuff once the degree is finished.

Oh man, I think that sounds like fun, too!  Part of me misses the research side of things, although I know it's not what I'm cut out for long term.  I love GIS, though I mostly just make simple maps as opposed to the complicated analyses that I'm sure you're dealing with.  Now the statistics part I don't miss at all.  H is in the same field, though (he's a forester for our neighboring state), and he absolutely loves it.