INFJ/INFP/INTJ/ISTJ (INFJ most days)
I work in Information Technology.
Sorry, I didn't expect to write this much.
I used to be BIG into computer games when I was younger. Eventually, as a gamer, you have to upgrade your computer to keep up with the new games coming out. So over time I built up my knowledge in how to build and tweak PC's.
For education, I mainly sought an A+ type certification, something basic that would give me credibility to work on computers. The only course our community college had here was Computer Networking Technologies. It sounded pretty boring, but it had some classes I was looking for so I decided I would give it a go.
This was the first time I had done any education in 3 years since my shaky graduation from High School. However, I quickly fell into quite a few friendships with people in class and had a great time. The more I learned, the more interested I became. I just couldn't get enough! From operating systems, to server infrastructure, two networking, and everything in between.
Even though I was so interested in the course, I had a lot of financial concerns and I wasn't going to finish my 2nd year. I was preparing myself every day for basic training and was going to join the Air Force. Strangely enough, I had my motorcycle accident RIGHT before the 2nd year started and that kept me from joining. I decided to stick with it and graduate.
The course was VERY hands on and was perfect for my learning style. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA. I moved to Iowa City shortly after graduation figuring there would be a lot more tech jobs there for me. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find anything, I was seriously struggling for money and I ended up taking a supervisor job at Staples.
One of my good friends from college ended up having to go to the Iowa City hospital (Renowned for their work) for pancreatic problems. I was spending time with him in the hospital daily, and one day I got a call asking if I would like to take a contracted position at Fort Dodge Animal Health. I asked what kind of job it was and they said helpdesk. I told them no, I was just 3 months into a 1 year lease and I couldn't afford to move back to Fort Dodge. Then they told me I would be making $17 an hour which was nearly double what I was making at Staples, I decided to at least go in for an interview.
The guys that I interviewed with were awesome and I actually became quite excited about the idea of working there. I decided to ditch Iowa City, move in with the padres, and pay rent to my roommates in IA city until my lease was through, they weren't interested in finding a different roommate.
I was VERY ambitious and let my managers know constantly that I wanted to move from helpdesk to Infrastructure, so I could play with the cool stuff. I was already doing a lot of the Infrastructure role simply because they knew I was competent enough, but I was officially switched to that department at the end of 2008.
I have a very logical/mathematical style of thinking, my role really matches me perfectly because I get to work on technical projects, I get to help people with elevated issues, but they aren't so often that I get burnt out. I get to work with a GREAT team of people, and there is plenty of room for advancement. I mean, I don't think it gets much better than that, as long as I agree with the mission of the company and the direction it is taking anyway.
The company I got hired onto was Fort Dodge Animal Health, which was acquired by American Home Products, a holding company, in 1945 if I remember correctly. In 2000, American Home Products dissolved and became Wyeth (Advil, Centrum, Chapstick, Thermacare, etc.), one of the largest subsidiaries of the company. Fort Dodge Animal Health became a division of Wyeth. There was some bureaucracy in Wyeth, but it was certainly livable.
Now I work for Pfizer, which bought Wyeth, which is the largest bio-pharmaceutical company in the world. While that is a neat notion, they have done some questionable things in Nigeria (
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/30/AR2009013003432.html) and recently they had the largest fine EVER levied for suggesting uses of their drugs that they were not intended for. (
http://www.dealookup.com/news/2009/09/pfizer-settlement-largest-ever.asp) There is a rumor they had budgeted for the fine beforehand.
THIS does not make me comfortable. But, with the economy how it is, I will hold on to my job until something better comes along.