Anyone here with a successful career?

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anonymoussun
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06 Jun 2014, 11:46 pm

Is there anyone in this forum who not only has a successful career, but also a high paying job? If so in what position are you in when it comes to socializing?

The reason I ask this is because I'm currently looking at all of the high paying GIS(Geospatial Information Science) related jobs, in which involve being placed in a higher position such as manager, supervisor, IT team, tech support, etc.



waitykatie
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07 Jun 2014, 11:03 am

My AS BF is 47 and reaching the peak of his career (lawyer). He has always been very successful, academically and professionally. Almost 20 years into his career now, he pulls in obscene amounts of money. He is hyperlexic and works like a machine, so law was an excellent career choice for him.

However, law is also a highly social profession, and unfortunately, he is personally not very well liked. He is perceived by his peers to be aloof, abrupt, and a bit strange. But he gets results, and no one can argue with that. He has a staff of 21 and is "captain of the team," but he has a reliable second-in-command who does most of the management and supervision. (I think for him, having a trusted "XO" to handle the people part of the job is absolutely critical.) He also has a stable group of loyal clients who know they can count on him to get the job done. I would say the social position he is in with his peers is, he is tolerated because he generates so much revenue for the firm. In other words, his impressive ability to get results compensates for his less-than-impressive social skills.

Have you considered reading books or taking courses on how to be an effective manager/supervisor? There are so many to choose from, since that is a skill most people are not born with (AS, NT, or otherwise). I work in a technical field, so I know first-hand that people with excellent technical skills are often terrible managers who sorely need some training! :D



MissDorkness
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08 Jun 2014, 8:20 pm

anonymoussun wrote:
Is there anyone in this forum who not only has a successful career, but also a high paying job? If so in what position are you in when it comes to socializing?

The reason I ask this is because I'm currently looking at all of the high paying GIS(Geospatial Information Science) related jobs, in which involve being placed in a higher position such as manager, supervisor, IT team, tech support, etc.

Yeah, that's tough... I enjoyed my time doing cad/BIM (not GIS directly, but, some overlap). It's fascinating work, but, with a ton of boring stuff... and, yeah, I found that, if I wanted to make more money, about the only way to do it was to manage people.
I don't mind running a project or leading a team. But, I learned enough about managing people in fast food to know that I don't really want to be management for professional adults.

Best of luck to those that tackle it, as they're obviously needed, I'm just not interested.