I like business... transactions

September 4, 2015 8:14 AM

My job is boring and not easy to quickly explain, but telling new people I meet who ask me what I do that my job is boring or it's "paperwork" seems to be mildly alienating. What the hell do I tell people?

I draft and file corporate filings with state and county governments. Most people aren't entirely sure what that is and no one is ever particularly impressed or interested with an explanation. I like my job, but it's not interesting to talk about and I generally don't think about it when I'm not at work (which is one of the things I really like about it.) But I don't like being the guy who answers conversation-starting questions like "what do you do" with "I don't want to talk about it" because I've noticed it makes people kind of uneasy and makes me seem standoffish. I'm not! I just have a boring job I don't like to talk about.

So, other boring-job havers, what do you do when someone asks what you do? I suspect this may be more insecurity on my part than an actual pattern of alienation of people I meet but I'd still like to not have that happen.

posted by griphus to Human Relations (54 answers total)

"I draft and file corporate filings with state and county governments."

If they are interested they'll ask follow-up questions for you to elaborate. It may not seem boring to them at all!

If they're not interested, they'll drop it.
posted by Sassyfras at 8:20 AM on September 4, 2015 [15 favorites]

"What do you do?"
"I work for the state and county governments, and I spend a ton of time fishing/quilting/trying to teach my dog sign language! What do you YOU like to do?"

IE redirect to something you actually want to talk about. You are shutting down the conversation by saying your job is boring. Say something positive, ask about them: conversation executed.
posted by chaiminda at 8:22 AM on September 4, 2015 [21 favorites]

I have a friend who oversees title transfers for home purchases, which people also usually find stupefyingly boring. He has taken to giving snarky, bullshit answers.

"What do you do?"
"Professional killer."

The genius in his approach isn't even the stupid answer, it's in the way he refuses to back off and sticks with his insane supposed career. "Oh yeah, contract killers are union now. Benefits are great." Etc.

The net effect is he turns what would have been a conversation killer into a sort of impromptu bit that demonstrates that he's actually a funny and charming guy. Wouldn't work for everyone, but it certainly works for him.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:24 AM on September 4, 2015 [7 favorites]

My job is not that interesting - worse, it's actually a lot less interesting than it sounds - so I typically frame it as "it's what I do, but I'm really much more interested in X right now" - X being something that I actually want to make small talk about.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:26 AM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Hello, fellow boring, inexplicable job holder!

I am a paralegal and basically no one knows what that is. Are you a lawyer? No, a paralegal. What is a paralegal? I work with lawyers. What do you do all day? I represent the business that is one of our main clients. I review claim letters. What is a claim letter? It's a legal letter. What-

"I work for a law firm representing x company. I enjoy it. You?"
posted by quincunx at 8:27 AM on September 4, 2015 [6 favorites]

"So, what do you do?"
"Have you ever been to one of those huge amusement parks and wondered how they do maintenance on the really, really, really high rides?"
"Yeah! Do you do that?"
"No, I do more or less the exact opposite of that in every conceivable way. So, what's your favorite ride at the amusement park? Me, I like those things that just drop you WHAM down a tower."
posted by Etrigan at 8:28 AM on September 4, 2015 [12 favorites]

The actual work is boring and its impact vague, sure. The trick to this is to connect it to something more accessible or universal, perhaps with an example.

"I draft and file corporate filings with state and county governments. For example, whenever a company does BLAH, they need to file that with BLAHBLAH for BLAHBLAHBLAH reasons. All of that comes across my desk. I'd like to say it's action-packed but I'd be lying to you. Of course, if you need help parsing fine print minutiae, I'm your man!"
posted by milqman at 8:29 AM on September 4, 2015 [18 favorites]

I usually try to gloss over what I do (short answer: stare at spreadsheets all day, long answer: more boring), and move on to aspects that are more interesting to people (the work culture, the stuff we sell, ect.)
posted by dinty_moore at 8:37 AM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

People who ask that aren't necessarily interested in what you literally do; they're looking for info about your place in the world that they can use as a conversation-starter. So one approach would be to think of the most interesting possible aspect of the larger system you work for, and focus your response around that, e.g.,

Oh, I work for the government-- I help with the filings when companies want to start new building projects. (conversation can now transition to that new local building project)

or

Actually, I help corporations apply for permits to do things like X/Y/Z (person can now talk to you about X/Y/Z and their opinions on it).

This is harder because based on the question I really have no idea what it is that you do, but a good model might be someone who's a janitor for the CIA-- frame your answer in the form "I help with building maintenance for an organization that CATCHES SPIES," not "I do a lot of scrubbing toilets and wiping down windows."
posted by Bardolph at 8:37 AM on September 4, 2015 [18 favorites]

As a preamble, let me note that we're in this weird cultural moment where the maxim "Do what you love" has become the measure of all things related to work, even though that's a condition that only obtains for a vanishingly small part of the population. It's an attitude that is in everyone's interest to resist, as who we are as persons cannot and should not be reduced to whatever it is we do to earn a living.

To your question: When someone asks you "What do you do?" it's usually another way of asking "Who are you?" If you keep that in mind, then you have the opportunity to tell a better story about yourself, one that includes your work but goes beyond it. You can reframe the question as, for example, "How did you get to where you are now?" If nothing else, it will give the person you're talking to some openings to continue the conversation and get beyond mere small talk.
posted by Cash4Lead at 8:38 AM on September 4, 2015 [12 favorites]

Just say "I work with city and county governments on corporate filings," that's your job! You're right that it doesn't exactly invite further discussion, but that doesn't matter, asking people what they do for a living is one of dozens of pretty straightforward "getting to know you" tactics to get a conversation going. The perfect way to follow up is by then asking "What do YOU do?"

I would be pretty weirded out if I asked someone what they do for a living and they said "I don't want to talk about it." It would spark my imagination about the possibilities, but not in a good way.
posted by cakelite at 8:45 AM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

you are vincent adultman with a business job.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:47 AM on September 4, 2015 [29 favorites]

"I'm a mid-level paper-pusher in local government, not very glamorous but it pays the bills and leaves me with lots of time to hangglide/play vidya/bake/drink... "
posted by Iteki at 8:49 AM on September 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

Ugh. I'm a contract administrator (job description zzzzzzzzzzzz) and I feel this SO HARD.

What I always say -- unless I'm in a room full of folks in my industry, which is shockingly emotionally gratifying -- is, quote, "Eh, I'm just an office monkey." Then I smile real big and mime typing on a keyboard while lolling my head back like I'm asleep. And then I explain that the work is only tolerable because of my co-workers, whom I love like family, and I ask the other person if they like their co-workers, too. They usually don't, so then we can laugh and commiserate about it, and if they do, we can talk about how lucky we are to have co-workers we enjoy being around because so many people are stuck working with douchebags.

So maybe pick out one thing that you like the most about your job (or find the least intolerable) and head down that road after an "you know, business things" shrug. Pivot the boringness into something you might be able to forge a little bond through.
posted by divined by radio at 8:50 AM on September 4, 2015 [8 favorites]

How fast this world would descend into pestilence, famine, and bloodshed if not for the millions of people who do unexciting jobs every day! Take pride in the boringness of what you do.

I draft and file corporate filings with state and county governments.

Boom, there you go, Sassyfras had it. When people ask me what I do I tell them I work for [unsexy department] at [unsexy government agency] and that is usually sufficient for them. On the rare occasions I get pressed for more details I just describe the purpose of the functions my office performs in broad strokes; if I suspect they aren't total squares I might make some snarky comment about staring into a mind-melting void of Excel spreadsheets all day, but mention how the people I work with and the necessary services we provide make up for the lack of thrills.
posted by prize bull octorok at 8:53 AM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]

"I administer/draft and file tax returns for corporations". ("Filings" means tax, right?? Or "tax returns and other legal documents", or the processes it is you in fact deal with. I actually googled "draft and file corporate filings" to try to understand what it was, and got to this page, which lists things I would actually find interesting and would have questions about in conversation.)

Or more top-level than that - "I work in financial regulation." (Or the thing it is you do. What do you do??)

"I'm a mid-level paper-pusher in local government, not very glamorous but it pays the bills and leaves me with lots of time to hangglide/play vidya/bake/drink... "

No, don't say things like that - don't put your job down or try to anticipate how others might judge it. One line, smile, and on to hobbies or another subject. Most will be satisfied with that; some will want to understand what it is you are filing. In that case, find a way to explain what you like about it. You like your life, that's what people should know about you.
posted by cotton dress sock at 8:53 AM on September 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

I fall back on the general realm of my work and mention the institution I do it for. So instead of "I'm a human resources associate that does data-entry for all staffing-related transactions," I say, "I'm in human resources at an NGO." It's sufficient for cocktail-party talk, and they're usually more interested in the NGO itself, and there's plenty of interesting stuff to say about that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:54 AM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]

Do you have an entertaining anecdote or two about your job that you'd be willing to mention after saying it's pretty much paperwork? I guess my job is a little the opposite of yours since it does sound interesting; but it basically isn't, plus it's a little confusing to explain. (It involves a lot of legal paperwork, and a lot of matters I can't really talk about outside the office, but conjures up people's dreams of Law and Order.) I usually say what my job title is and offer a ridiculous story then move the conversation on. On preview, I also have relied on EmpressCallipygos's tactic of mentioning my institution instead of my job title, and that works well too.
posted by ferret branca at 8:56 AM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm a Web/DB programmer and my best friends are an NYPD anti-terror cop, an FBI agent, and an ER doc so you can imagine how much I enjoyed the "so what do you guys do" part of talking to girls in bars. I would just let the others go first and then say "I'm a computer nerd" and let the ladies speculate as to what kind of A-Team hacker I must be to be hanging with these dynamic tough-guy types.
posted by nicwolff at 9:13 AM on September 4, 2015 [23 favorites]

The trick is to simplify what you do until it becomes something people understand. "I file legal briefs for corporations who need to do that to meet government regulations. It's great because it makes so few demands on my personal time, so I can do a lot of [thing you like best.]
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:18 AM on September 4, 2015

I think you're way overthinking it. Most people have super-boring jobs. But you could probably explain it better, so that people feel like they understand *something* about what you do. I don't really understand anything about what you do based on the description you provided, but you could either simplify it or flesh it out a bit.

(My line used to be "I'm a librarian at a pharmacy school, but it's not actually as exciting as it sounds." But no one ever thought it was funny, and anyway now I write software for banks.)
posted by mskyle at 9:18 AM on September 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think adding a quick interesting for-example.

I worked for the phone company in the business office. I did lots of stuff but I might say "So when Arnold Palmer opened up that new golf course they called me to set up the new phone service. I'd help them figure how many lines they'd need, find them a telephone number they liked, get them a catchy 800 number.. that kind of stuff".

I am sure some of the examples you have are super interesting and would give people an idea of what your work does.
posted by ReluctantViking at 9:45 AM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]

Why not just say, "I am a lawyer who deals in the government bureaucracy. Right now I am batting about .700"?
posted by AugustWest at 9:50 AM on September 4, 2015

I think you could focus on the function of your work:

"I help companies draft and submit corporate filing with state and local governments. So it's mostly helping them understand what information is being asked for, and helping them translate what they do and what data they track into the format and breakdown that the state/government is looking for.

So I get to learn a something about a pretty wide range of businesses, and help them describe their work to an outsider"

Or whatever you really do. But an explanation that talks about the intellectual steps gives people a way in - to make conversation or relate it to something they do. If you just say "I do paperwork" it basically shuts them down and ends the conversation.
posted by mercredi at 9:52 AM on September 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

I find it helps to explain where I work. "I work in the business office of a veterinary teaching hospital" is usually better than trying to explain the 5 or 6 boring things I actually do.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:58 AM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

"I'm a level 36 bureaucrat."
posted by phunniemee at 9:59 AM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]

I usually stick to telling people the very broadest strokes; I work in manufacturing. In an office. Steel parts. I make sure the parts get made and shipped on time. Then the questions usually focus on the industry ("what sort of steel parts?") than my little function within it.
posted by Koko at 10:17 AM on September 4, 2015

"I'm an administrator for my organisation"
'Administrator' sounds like routine desk job that requires some expertise to keep the organisation's processes working. If anyone wants to know more, they are free to ask. If they don't, they at least come away with a sense of what you do.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 10:19 AM on September 4, 2015

I would say you do compliance and sort-of legal accounting for corporations. Then if they ask more what that means, which I doubt, you just say you handle filing tax documents for them.

Not answering the question and telling people what to think ("I do a boring job as a pencil pusher") sounds cagey and it's annoying. It sounds like what you do is tax compliance, which you can just say and let other people decide it's boring.
posted by AppleTurnover at 10:21 AM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

People who ask that aren't necessarily interested in what you literally do; they're looking for info about your place in the world that they can use as a conversation-starter.

This. So much this. I hate this question so much. Unless someone specifically asks me what I do for work, I always just start rattling off about whatever my passions are at the moment or if I have any pet projects going on. Even though I know exactly what they are asking.

Conversely, I never ask people what they do for work, instead I use a similarly phrased question that's like "What's your passion in life?" "What do you do for fun?" "What makes you tick?"

In my experience you get much more interesting answers that tell you a lot more about the person you're talking to.
posted by mayonnaises at 10:34 AM on September 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

It is pretty grating when people avoid answering the question in the way that some have described above, and instead answer a different question I did not ask. It's just rude, and always appears to comes with a judgment that I am some kind of limited, stifled person who needs enlightening.

Just answer the question and if your answer is not that interesting to you, that's okay. Segue into a more interesting thing, as suggested above (e.g. "I do government filings for corporations to keep them in the regulatory good-books -- keeps me busy and leaves me lots of time for XXXXX").
posted by girlpublisher at 10:50 AM on September 4, 2015 [13 favorites]

I literally have the following in my MetaFilter profile:

"I make my money by counting things. When I'm trying to be outside actually living then I take photos."

So ... nthing what everyone else above said about a pivot to hobbies and interests.

(it used to say "I make my money by pushing papers around a desk" when I was doing more accounting- and reporting-related things, but now I'm an inventory manager so ... counting things it is.)
posted by komara at 11:11 AM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Not my current job, but I used to say "I audit legal files for an insurance company, which is ... well, exactly as exciting as you think it is."

Then a shrug and a half-smirk like, "it's a living" before I change the subject or ask the other person a question.
posted by gauche at 11:17 AM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh, or sometimes, "I watch paint dry at an insurance company."
posted by gauche at 11:19 AM on September 4, 2015

A decade or so ago, people in GIS could not figure out how to explain what they did to anyone. I found "It's kind of like SimCity, but for the real world" worked well to give people some idea of what GIS was. So if there is a movie character or TV show you could reference that people might be familiar with, you could say "I do (job title), kind of like (movie character)". They feel demystified, you move on to other small talk.
posted by Michele in California at 11:25 AM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]

It would help if you explained "corporate filings". Filing for what? About what? What are the corporations trying to achieve/explain?

Is it one of:

- zoning requests
- tax reporting
- employment numbers
- ???
posted by amtho at 11:36 AM on September 4, 2015

Also - I've had a hard time answering the "what do you do" question in the past, when I worked for organizations doing things no one outside the sector could understand (under wacky job titles obviously dreamed up in meetings that went on for too long), and now for different reasons. People have definitely been put off when I've been awkward or defensive about answering it, and I think that kind of response does come across as insecure, or even hostile. It demonstrates an unappealing lack of self-acceptance.

And when I'm on the other side, the reply very quickly drops in importance in terms of categorizing people when they answer graciously and give me other reasons to want to talk to them.
posted by cotton dress sock at 11:59 AM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you said to me that you "draft and file corporate filings with state and county governments," my immediate response would be to stop for a moment to try to digest that sentence. I can kind of guess what it means, but honestly it's a lot for a layperson to wrap their brain around, and that has a conversation stopping effect where you want to be doing conversation building instead.

Is there a less technical way to say this, like for example you "help corporations do all their government paperwork?"

In general I think it is best to start with the vaguest, friendliest description possible, and then give more detail if people ask. For example the fact that you are specifically filing with state and county governments is not going to be important to most people, and the people who do care will probably ask you follow up questions.
posted by insoluble uncertainty at 12:25 PM on September 4, 2015 [5 favorites]

I'm reminded of a woman who worked at the secretary/admin asst level in one of our local corporations, and who ran for public office. The newspaper described her as being "in telecommunications".

Right now, I'm " in health insurance", and since we've got that covered, let's find another tray of those grilled shrimp things...
posted by SemiSalt at 12:27 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm a digital producer/project manager and no one has ever understood that as anything other than 'web designer'. My thought it that it's small talk and no one cares. It's only frustrating when I'm talking about wanting a career change and friends can't even get around what I'm talking about.

I think working for state and local government sounds fine? People usually expect that to be paper pushery to some extent unless you're holding office. Again, because people don't know/care really.
posted by zutalors! at 12:35 PM on September 4, 2015

Just tell 'em you're an International Man of Mystery and drop the mic.
posted by briank at 1:02 PM on September 4, 2015

I wanted to add that:

- People may not find your job boring if you explain it. It might be boring to do it everyday, I don't know, but I like hearing about all the kinds of jobs there are. I'm not interested in talking to a police officer or a lawyer or a doctor because I know what they do. We see those on tv. I am interested to hear how the sausages are made, and that there's such as thing as government filing and why that's necessary (or not?). It is fun to learn about things, even when they are not that exciting. It's like Richard Scary picture books -- nothing too exciting about a normal street scene, but when you don't know anything about a particular world, it is cool just to find out it exists.

- the silence you get when you say what you do can be because people don't know what it is, so they don't know what to ask. that's why, contrary to instinct, it can be useful to actually provide more information, rather than less, so they have something to grab onto and ask questions about. It can also be because they sense you don't want to talk about it, so they are trying to think of "conversation starter question B". So give them a bit of detail about your job, or provide the segue to the other topic.
posted by girlpublisher at 1:51 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]

"You remember the movie Office Space? I'm Bob. Not the short one. The one with the mustache."

I agree with the person upthread who suggested trying to relate your job to something the rest of the world might be familiar with.

I'm also one of the rare people who find other people's jobs truly fascinating. I would definitely engage you in further conversation.
posted by bluejayway at 2:41 PM on September 4, 2015

I'd just say something brief and factual and drop a teaser for your many awesome outside interests.

This may be my own idiosyncratic experience but sometimes when people give a really sarcastic answer to this question it comes off as kind of aggressive, like "oh, check out this total square, I can't believe he asked me about my day job, we're at a party, nerd." But I also actually am a big nerdy square and I also tend to have a negative filter in social interactions soooo YMMV.
posted by en forme de poire at 3:44 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]

My answer is "I do ___. I really like it because _____." Usually the second part is what they can relate to. Yours could even be "... because I can leave at 5 pm, so I get my evenings free for things I really enjoy, like..."
posted by salvia at 4:17 PM on September 4, 2015 [2 favorites]

You're the resin on the corporate bat that's knocking the government ball outta the park.
You're the clutch between the engine of capitalism and the transmission of government.
You facilitate corporate feasance to government-imposed limitations.

I dunno. I have two dumb, boring jobs that I love for their most basic essences, so that's what I tell people: I sell caffeine to adults and give books to kids. Can you boil what you do down to what you like about it, then just say that?
posted by carsonb at 4:38 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

"I do data entry." Other fun ones: "I'm a peon," "I'm a lackey," and yes, I'm an office monkey.

Seriously, people's eyes glaze over when I say where I work and nobody ever asks for more. You could just go for "I work for the government" or "I work for state and county governments."
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:45 PM on September 4, 2015

I struggle with this as well, for different reasons. I tend to tailor my response the audience/circumstances/noise level.

Here are responses that are all true, or close enough to true - like when talking to someone who doesn't really understand and is only asking to be polite - for me. Maybe you can make a range for yourself. I mix and match the following:

I'm a government contractor
I work for the National Library of Medicine
I'm a librarian
I'm a medical librarian
I'm a biomedical indexer
I work on medical journals
I work for the NIH
I index medical journals
Effectively, what I do is make keywords so database search algorithms can work properly
I read scientific journals all day
I do data entry
I sit at a desk, I get to read a lot, eh, it doesn't sound interesting to describe but I really enjoy it

So, I can state my position, describe what I do, state who I work for or whatever. Or start general and get more specific if ppl show interest. Sometimes I am surprised at how many questions people have, and you might be too.
posted by gaspode at 5:24 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]

Keep it simple. Most of the time, when I am asked what I do I say computers at an X kind of company. People usually then ask me about X.

If I had your job, I would say I do paperwork for the government. That is your conversational opening to talk about government jobs in general. Not a bad conversational gambit.
posted by crazycanuck at 5:42 PM on September 4, 2015

It's hard to describe something to outsiders in an interesting way if you've already decided it's boring and uninteresting.

Michael Lewis has made a career in describing arcane finance in a way that is dramatic and compelling. Perhaps step back for a moment and look at how what you do fits into the bigger picture. A business is paying you to do it so it must be important to them. What would grind to halt if you and others like you weren't there?

Every job offers a window on the world that is different. Doctors see mostly sick people. Criminal lawyers see mostly people charged with a crime. Who and what do you see?

My dad was operated on recently by an eye doctor who had done 8,000 cataract procedures. They take just a few minutes. On working day 3,523 of doing eye surgeries, I'd probably go to a dinner party after and be like " I do cataract operations, they're pretty uneventful 99.9% of the time." After day one, I'd go to a dinner party I'd be like "Someone trusted me to cut open their eye with a scalpel/laser/whaterver, and I restored their ability to see their grandchildren smile, and this procedure/technology didn't exist like 10 years ago, and isn't it amazing?" We're human beings, so the amazing becomes mundane pretty quick. Perhaps outsiders would find something interesting about what you do, but it has become mundane to you, so you don't mention it. Think about your first days in the role, and how you might have described it back then.
posted by thenormshow at 7:16 PM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]

To disagree with some of the answers above, if I asked someone what they do and their answer was very vague, or they changed the subject, or tried to deflect my question with a series of absurd anecdotes that were not quickly followed up by the actual answer, I would not find them charming and funny. I would probably take it as an indication that they were not interested in actually getting to know each other, and be embarrassed and annoyed at having inadvertently gotten "too personal" with someone who apparently finds what I thought were normal, friendly overtures intrusive.

That said, boy do I share your pain! My job is the sort of job that, when I just say my title, most people have no idea what it means. So then they ask the follow-up question, which I dread, because as soon as I start to explain their eyes begin to glaze over within seconds.

The solution, I think, is to have what I've heard called an "elevator speech". You condense the thing you need to say into a spiel you could rattle off in the time it takes to go up a few floors in an elevator. You want to explain just enough to give them an idea of what you do, without boring them with the details. It's nice because once you have it memorized you don't have to think up what to say every time; and if you want you can finish up with a subject changer. (It might even be worthwhile to have a follow-up, slightly more informative elevator speech for people who feel compelled to politely say "tell me more!" because they don't want to let on that your job sounds boring.)

Back when I was a receptionist I used to hate being asked "what do you do" because my job wasn't very interesting or impressive. But I never had to worry about anyone asking for details!
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 8:09 AM on September 5, 2015 [7 favorites]

Seconding the three-sentence explanation/elevator speech, with minor variations for audience or desired tone e.g. more serious/joking/trying to deflect further questions. Sometimes I hate describing my work. Other times I find that if people are interested and ask questions, it can help remind me of the things I like about my job, and (as thenormshow suggests) the bits of wonder and joy in it that have gotten buried in the mundane everydayness of it.
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 6:08 PM on September 5, 2015

I basically do what gaspode does - mix and match depending on my audience. I'm a business analyst.

My elevator speech: "That means I translate between normal people and computer programmers, so that the programmers build what people actually want."

My cocktail party speech: "I know! It's not like there are any second graders out there who say, 'I want to be a business analyst when I grow up!' But it's pretty interesting, because my job is to translate between normal people and computer programmers, so that the programmers build what the people actually want."
posted by RogueTech at 10:50 AM on September 8, 2015

Oddly enough, sometimes I think about this question and still wish I knew a little more about what your job entailed.
posted by grouse at 5:05 PM on April 28, 2016 [1 favorite]