Re: What's your day job?
 

Product Engineer at SunPower Systems. I'm responsible for ongoing support of our Oasis C1 Tracker utility-scale power plant product. That includes supporting plant/project design team, construction team, quality & commissioning team, and operation & maintenance teams whenever they have an issue with the mechanical panel mounting/tracking systems, electrical controls, or DC collection. I'm done when the DC coming off the panels gets to the inverter. It's a fun, wide-ranging role, covering over 1GW installed capacity these days. The green revolution is coming! ;)

Mostly, that means that people ask me questions and expect me to know the answers. Sometimes I can answer them, sometimes I need to ask other engineers. Often, I need to figure it out on my own from codes & standards. (Reading! It's important!)
I need to write clear emails and instructions, in terms non-engineers can understand, because I'm almost never the one actually doing the work in the field (somewhat disappointing). Communication is key! It's even more important than math!

FIRST prepared me with a diverse set of skills, a strong work ethic, and my first forum for exhibiting technical leadership, and inspired me to continue assuming technical leadership in extracurricular projects during college.
It also provided the connection to my first summer internships directly after high school and freshman year of college. I swung those experiences into additional internships the following summers, and swung those internships into a Sweet Job In My Field starting two weeks after graduating from UCLA.
I am INCREDIBLY LUCKY to have had the FIRST experience to push me in this direction.

Re: What's your day job?
 

I write embedded controls software for big yellow machines.

Then I come to robots and help write embedded controls software for smaller red and white machines.

Embedded controls software is fun!

My thoughts from doing this for two years:

What exactly is a STEM field look like on a day-to-day basis? Lots of problem solving. Real-time problem solving. The skills you learn through First, or in school, or at work, or in your free time, these are tools to help you problem solve. The most important tool in your bag is your desire to learn new things - this is what lets you add new tools to your problem-solving bag at will.

You'll probably start out solving problems directly related to specific issues with products. Some people like that and stick with it for their whole careers. Some folks move on to solve higher-level problems, like planning larger-scale projects, or finances, or people management. All of these, through the lens of "STEM", can be thought of as simply a problem to solve. A problem which can be solved by drawing on your knowledge and experiences (the tools in your bag). A problem which may push your boundaries, and force you to develop new skills.

Re: What's your day job?
 

No, you're nuts. I was an engineer for 10 years, then I became a teacher.
I foolishly thought that it would be somewhat easier. Couldn't have been more wrong.
Machines don't have a home life, that may be rife with issues. Machines don't have unique personalities, talk back, have future plans, complain, ask for help, or sing interesting songs.

The typical work week is 40 hours x 50 weeks = 2000 hours/year.
For a teacher, it is ~185 days x 8 hours/day = 1480 hours/year
In reality, a typical day is 9 hours, you come in at 7:00 am and leave at 4:00 pm = 1665 hours/year. There is very little "downtime". Lunch is 30 minutes.
Oh, now I have to go home and assess student work and provide formative feedback = 185 x 2 hours = 370 hours. 1665 + 370 = 2035 hours.
Then there are the summer workshops. I will be attending an AP physics refresher course = 40 hours.
Then, I will be working with my colleagues over the summer to improve the quality of our instruction.

Yes, we have ATTO (All That Time Off) which friends (and my barber) always bring up. "So what are you doing with your free time this summer?"

I haven't even included the work with our Robotics team, for which I gladly mentor. The small stipend that I receive for this is donated to the team through a United Way contribution.

So, you want to "retire" and "become" a teacher. Respond when that happens, and let me know if that is what you consider Retirement.

Re: What's your day job?
 

Fast forward 4 years and I'm still here. I am the Volunteer Director for a small Maryland non-profit - STEMaction, Inc. For the past 3 years I have worked on recruitment, management and recognition of event volunteers for all 4 levels of FIRST programs in Maryland/DC. 45 events & 1700 volunteers. My life is loud and colorful. And I'm still not that interested in robots.