Do your parents understand what it is you do?

My mom is a vice president at where I work (different part of the company though), so I think she has a better understanding of my job than I do.

steph96 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My parents kind of know what I do, at a very high > level. Pretty sure they think I’m a lot more > important than I actually am, but I suppose that’s > normal. > > My friends, on the other hand, don’t have a clue. > They tell me I’m like Chandler from Friends, > because no one knows what I actually do. I’m looking at the WENUS and I’m not happy!

My wife thinks I care about my clients when they lose money and yet I’m charging them a substantial fee. Even worse, my clients think I care about their money. My brother is an Engineer and years ago our dad wanted and old TV to get fixed. Dad asked my bro, and of course he didn’t have a clue. Dad said: “and you are an Engineer? Geeeeez what did you learn then? I guess I paid too much for your school”.

Hell, I have a hard enough time convincing myself what exactly it is I do.

artvandalay Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hell, I have a hard enough time convincing myself > what exactly it is I do. I thought you were an architect!

monger187 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > artvandalay Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Hell, I have a hard enough time convincing > myself > > what exactly it is I do. > > > I thought you were an architect! No, I’ve just always wanted to be one.

Example conversation - Girl - What do you do? Me - I work in fixed income sales for a securities firm. Girl - So are you like an accountant? Me - Not really. I work for a big bank and I sell investments. Girl - So your a banker? I have some overdraft fees from last week… Me - Very close. I help institutional clients source investments. Girl - Oh I think my uncle does that. He works Edward Jones. Me- Yep. Same thing. We have a lot in common. Another martini?

lol 1morelevel Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Example conversation - > > Girl - What do you do? > Me - I work in fixed income sales for a securities > firm. > Girl - So are you like an accountant? > Me - Not really. I work for a big bank and I sell > investments. > Girl - So your a banker? I have some overdraft > fees from last week… > Me - Very close. I help institutional clients > source investments. > Girl - Oh I think my uncle does that. He works > Edward Jones. > Me- Yep. Same thing. We have a lot in common. > Another martini?

Are you indian? monger187 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > To my mom there are two potential career paths in > life: a) doctor, b) not a doctor. Unfortunately I > chose b).

CPierce Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Are you indian? > > monger187 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > To my mom there are two potential career paths > in > > life: a) doctor, b) not a doctor. Unfortunately > I > > chose b). Nope, American. But my father is a doctor, so it was sort of assumed I would be too.

1morelevel Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Example conversation - > > Girl - What do you do? > … > Me- Yep. Same thing. We have a lot in common. > Another martini? This is dead on. In all fairness, I’ve been on the other side of this when talking to people in other industries. Me - So, what do you do? Girl - I work in fashion. Me - Oh, are you a model? Girl - No, I do x. Me - Oh, [not understanding what x is] so you are more like a clothing designer? Girl - Kind of, but it’s more along the lines of y. Me - Oh, [again no clue what y is] that sounds cool. What are you drinking?

I just went to my roommate’s company holiday party and I was introduced as the guy who just took his “Certified Financial Advisor” test.

SJZ Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I just went to my roommate’s company holiday party > and I was introduced as the guy who just took his > “Certified Financial Advisor” test. You should have told your roommate to introduce you as the guy that just took the BSD test

My parents have a basic understanding of what I do, but it’s hard to explain in layman’s terms. Maybe something along the lines of protecting the FDIC insurance fund would suffice. When we arrive at a bank, a lot of the lower level staff refers to us as auditors. That particularly strikes a nerve with me, since we’re not really looking at the accuracy of their financial statements.

i just tell them that i sell drugs.

My parents still give my financial advice on how to budget, save, and invest. They also like to give me advice on economics, politics, religion, consumer financing etc. and remind me of how we my siblings are doing.

Funny thread… I work in the investment department of a banker’s bank and manage bond portfolios for community banks. My Mom still refers to me as the “banker” of the family!!

My parents know I travel business class and get paid more than they ever have. That’s pretty much as far as their understanding goes.