Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy...

My friend Tim recently posted, in the course of musing about his career, what he called the "digest version" of his eclectic work history. The fact that this digest included no fewer than 19 different jobs made me wonder how my own compared. So I reached back into the mists of time and dredged up dim memories of some paying jobs that I hadn't thought about in years, as well as those I remember more clearly, and here's what emerged.

Pre-college:

• Babysitter. Definitely not my favorite job – I'm no good with kids.
• Office assistant to the elementary/middle school principal.
  

As an undergrad at the University of Maine:

• Evening receptionist in my freshman dormitory.
• Chemistry stockroom attendant.
• Lab assistant, preparing organic chemistry labs.
  
• Organic chemistry teaching assistant.
• Computer programmer for physical chemistry labs, using an obscure language called NUTRAN.

As a grad student at Penn State:

• NMR operator.
• Chemistry teaching assistant.

After leaving school:

• Inventory-taker at Hills Department Store. (OK, it was only a one-day job, but I did get paid.)
• Chief chemist in a pulp and paper mill in Maine.
  

At Cornell University:

• Freshman chemistry teaching associate.
• Lab technician/lab coordinator/lab supervisor (Chemistry Dept). I went through three job titles, but I was doing pretty much the same job the whole time. Does that count as one job or three?
• Senior lab technician in Agronomy Dept soil testing labs.
• Hazardous waste analysis and disposal technician, Chemistry Dept.
  
• Assistant Director of Laboratories, Chemistry Dept.
• Computer support person for chemistry course coordinators.
• Temporary computer programmer (Basic, FORTRAN, dBase).
  
• Manager of Laboratory Services and Safety, Chemistry Dept.

Self-employment:

• Freelance photographer. Included photography of theatre and ballet performances, nature/scenic stock photography for various magazines and newspapers, technical photography for a chemistry text, and wedding photography (once).
• Freelance writer for The Duelist and Scrye gaming magazines.
• STCCG rules guru for The Company.
  
• Product development assistant for The Company.

After moving to Virginia:

• Web writer/web content manager/webmaster for The Company.
• Technical writer.

Wow. That's actually 25, even counting the three-job-title gig as one job. I knew I had done a lot of different things – you don't spend six months tailoring resumes for 40+ job applications without being aware of at least the important stuff – but everything that came before the "After leaving school" heading was either never on my resume or else dropped off it long ago (in a galaxy far, far away).

Well, considering that I am a few years (around 12?) older than Tim, I guess I'm entitled to have a few more entries in my job list. ;-) But I'm quite frankly hoping that the next job title I have will be "retiree".