The question comes in many forms. 

What do you do?

What is your job?

What line of work are you in?

What do you do for work?

It’s a simple question, and one I get more since I began working from home at my own company.

I suspect the answer one gives to that questions is often sugar-coated or watered down depending on the person asking the question. Does your answer change if you’re telling a parent than it would if you’re asked at a high school reunion?

I’ve had a few jobs that were difficult to describe even to people I worked alongside.  For example, I had a job at Microsoft where I spent 50% of my days in meetings. I’m not kidding. There were days were I spent 6 to 8 hours in meetings and then got caught up on email late into the night. I guess you could say I was paid a salary to attend meetings and do email although my job title was “Product Manager” I didn’t actually work on a product nor did I manage much of anything.

I’ve worked in sales over the past couple of years, but I wouldn’t say I really sold anything. I was more of a consultant and order taker. I was technology manager for a number of years, but if I told you what I did each day you’d call me a baby-sitter. I don’t know if I could describe the few marketing jobs I’ve had, but I know I certainly couldn’t explain what I did each day with any accuracy.

But as went for an afternoon walk today I though about the work I’m doing now. I don’t have a job in the traditional sense, meaning I don’t have an office, meetings, or coworkers. I don’t even have a job description or designated work hours. But I can describe what I do, so here it goes.

I write for Site Builder Report.

I write for Puget Systems.

I gather customer feedback for Puget Systems and integrate the best of it back into our company and products.

That’s what I spend my days doing, and I love it.

How would you describe your job?