Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Jobs

didn't find any threads on this and I'm curious:

What do you guys do during the day (or night) to make ends meet?

Don't need to include salary-- I'm not trying to make a socio-political statement about fixie riders in urban areas... just trying to get an idea of what you guys do out there.

I'm curious because I'm a student. An art student. I have some ideas of what I want to do, but honestly no clue what I will do. Plus, I am always fascinated with what people do (especially if they love it.)

some things I am considering:
gallery, small design firm, print shop (preferably a screen printing studio...), bike shop (except I'm probably not skilled or knowledgeable enough at this point), bakery, video post production house, motion graphics studio.

graveyard data entry full-time student - part time bag maker and music producer
occassional messenger work for extra cash as well as pizza delivery

sorry I fogot I also do post-production work mostly audio

How far into art school are you? The things you're interested in are pretty varied fields (the ones related to art). You could talk to people all day long on forums. Find some local shops (not bike shops, design, post, etc) and talk to some people.

BTW, why post production? What aspect do you like of it? Just curious, most kids that go to art school don't aspire to go into production. Not a dis by any means, but most of the people I've talked to in post production "fell into it", didn't go to school for it.

Just stay away from advertising, it will drive you mad and suck out your soul. Other than that, Art Directing is pretty rad.

I work part-time at a supermarket. I've started viewing my shifts as potential bike parts, rather than work. It makes it easier to get through them, haha.

Hoping to find something in the graphic design or photography field some time soon though, see as that's what I studied at uni.

hey dude it helps to know what city your in as far as work I know of several screen printin shops in sacto and all

Yeah-- i did do some work in a San Fran post shop so I figure it'd be worthwhile to check it out. It paid great, fed great, and had some decent perks. i was more interested in being the tech + trouble shooter for the studio since they get a lot of projects and seemed to constantly have a lot of things going. However, being an editor seems like death by monotony. It's one of the last things I hope to put myself through... but may consider it for a year if it gets things started for me (gives me money to get situated and make my own work.)

I am a senior and I am graduating oh so soon. I am planning to move back to the west coast since i left with such a bitter note and hope better my relationship with California. There's more opportunities in some of the design fields and creative communities I am interested in. Plus my girlfriend is there. I'm sick and tired of the long distance relationship (we've neared 4 wonderful, maddening, internet/phone mediated years) and want to solidify a few more things in my life. Family, some old friends, and beautiful weather await me in CA as well.

This summer I hope to come out and bum around (i.e. live with parents for a while) to set myself up for living in San Francisco and finding a job that will support me living in such an expensive place for a few years. And yes, I have heard plenty of advice/warnings that the real estate prices will eat me alive. Especially coming from Pittsburgh where land is cheap.

Enough about me. More jobs!!!

Bike Shop full time. surprise, surprise.

It's actually just as serious and stressful as any other job once you take it seriously. It's all about hitting the numbers.

all I can say is good luck its hard saving to move to sf from sacramento and I am already in california paying on high for everything

I am having a hard time finding post work now and I am one test away for my protools operator certification... hence the bag making and pizza delivery it pays kinda nice

if you want a decent job there are a few pizza delivery gigs thera is a place in berkeley and another few in sf that pays quite nice of course this is via bicycle

you would make more doing that than most other yuk jobs

I teach leadership and team-building courses to students, mostly outdoors, and teach a bit of climbing too. And then I lifeguard. Standard student jobs, mostly.

I think there was a thread similiar to this a while back.. I'm a student and work for the I.T. department at my school. I'm studying international relations and have no clue what I'm gonna do post school.

current "jobs":
-teaching Final Cut workshops and how to use equipment from our lending office (DV cameras, HDV cameras, SLRs, audio recorders, mics, tripods, etc.)
-designing random things on the side (friend's album cover art which is being funded by some school grants. possibly designing a brochure for the Pre-College program)
-screen printing things on the side
-giving tours of the school
-co-director of the student run gallery.
-odd jobs from profs. (including moving things, teaching them how to edit video, or being an assistant chef + host for a prof's halloween party)

full-time messenger, full-time ******bag, ex-owner of a record store.

'nother messenger here. It's not exactly the most illustrious profession, but it's usually great fun and very low stress (depending on how you deal with arseholes trying to kill you) which works just fine for me at the moment.

I smash the state for a living:

15 hours a week working at a worker-run-collective vegan soup kitchen
the rest of the time I spend hanging out with my son and tending to a budding custom framebuilding endeavor

(you forgot posting to bikepirates)

I started a drug testing business, so I collect pee and often sit around waiting for the phone to ring.
Sometimes I stop waiting and go out for a ride.

I pack orders for a natural food co-op. Just started yesterday actually.

Full-time grad student, I wait tables on the side.

Where do you go in PGH? I'm finishing my master's degree at Duq school of music this semester.

full-time student, part-time working for one of BF's advertisors

Student mostly.

Used to work a lot at a press (sorta semiskilled labour), I do some messengering occasionally, and I just started doing my "real" job i.e. translation and interpreting.

all I can say is good luck its hard saving to move to sf from sacramento and I am already in california paying on high for everything

I am having a hard time finding post work now and I am one test away for my protools operator certification... hence the bag making and pizza delivery it pays kinda nice

if you want a decent job there are a few pizza delivery gigs thera is a place in berkeley and another few in sf that pays quite nice of course this is via bicycle

you would make more doing that than most other yuk jobs

How do you deliver pizza on a bike? Do they have special pizza bags on top of the wheel/s or something? Anyone have pics of a pizza biker?

Working in a lab at Drexel developing a new test device. Pays good, hours are basically whenever I want them to be as long as the work gets done and I see my only boss maybe 3 or 4 times a week.

I probably should not post yet since my fixie is still in the research and development stage and I have not ridden fixed yet. So feel free to dismiss this if you like.

I went to art school and I work in production. Currently doing pre-press and online-fulfillment for a medium sized printing company. It is not bad, decent pay, good benefits; boring though.

The best job I ever had was at a small independent screen printing shop. Catered mostly to local bands, labels and non-profit and community organizations. Very Veg-centric. Basically spent all day making punk stickers, t-shirts and other lefty posters and stuff. Pay was just okay, no benefits but totally worthwhile. I left it behind when I moved out of state.

I worked for an advertising placement company for a while - avoid advertising - totally soul sucking.



I smash the state for a living:

15 hours a week working at a worker-run-collective vegan soup kitchen
the rest of the time I spend hanging out with my son and tending to a budding custom framebuilding endeavor
nice.

I'm an intern with an urban planning department. I like doing that.
I'm an intern with a social services agency. I hate hate hate it. And I'm going to quit today.
I also DJ, and *crosses fingers* probably just got my first residency! :)

I'd like to work with music somehow. Anyone here in the music biz?

I'm an intern with an urban planning department. I like doing that.
I'm an intern with a social services agency. I hate hate hate it. And I'm going to quit today.
I also DJ, and *crosses fingers* probably just got my first residency! :)

I'd like to work with music somehow. Anyone here in the music biz?

I sell beats/vocal tracks as a hobby for ridiculous prices and I play out 2-3 times a month...pays rent easily.

I work at a day care center with 3-5 year olds.

--Aaron

I'd like to work with music somehow. Anyone here in the music biz?

I run an independent record label, but I'm not sure I'm in the "music biz", or if I really want to be. We're also very, very small-time, so it's probably not what you meant by music biz.

In all seriousness though, if you like music stay out of the music industry. It'll probably destroy your music-respecting soul.

assistant video editor

I work for a maritime transportation company, providing IT support for their vessels (tugs, barges, etc.). Each boat has a small computer network, a GPS/tracking system, a phone system, and various other electronics (solar panels/PV cells, etc.). So, I spend all day hopping from one boat to another, checking stuff out, averting crises, or installing new equipment. Sometimes they send me out of town. More enjoyable than sitting behind a desk, I think.

Actually, I'm moving to Philly this weekend, since most of the boats come in & out of port there, as opposed to Bmore. Anybody have recommendations as to places I can find cheap beer, dim light, cigarette smoke, and loud music?

Also a student here, I work night desk at some some dorms around campus to pay the bills. For fun though (read: for next to no money) I work in the sports video department, doing everything from digitizing football practice to doing replays on the the video boards to traveling with the Women's B-Ball team to shoot highlight video (hooray for free trips to San Francisco!) Hoping to continue on with production after I graduate next year.

Journo.

Teach high school thug wannabees art.

i split up my time working freelance on urban planning projects for a few small firms here in town....it's my first job 'in my field' and freelance means my schedule is flexible and some months i'm rollin' in cash while other months i can barely make rent.

i'm a machinist. we manufacture forging dies for craftsman and rigid tools. we also make the dies for the park adjustable wrench. i do all the cad modeling and cam programming, as well as setup and run cnc's...

Apparently, i follow the norm for fixed riders. Full-time video producer/editor. So far, meeting the bills and rent with a little fun.

Formerly: Full-time student, 30 hours a week shooting and editing video, 20 hours a week checking in/out/maintaining video equipment and teaching students their operations, 10 hours a week recording guest speakers and checking classroom equipment, 20 hours a week in the television studio (station manager, director, producer or talent for five shows). Oh, and i fixed/rebuilt bikes for some spare change.

I miss staying busy.

I run an independent record label, but I'm not sure I'm in the "music biz", or if I really want to be. We're also very, very small-time, so it's probably not what you meant by music biz.

In all seriousness though, if you like music stay out of the music industry. It'll probably destroy your music-respecting soul.

Oh, I was joking about "biz." I'd never want to work with a major label! Didn't you read my anti-corporate "whining" in the nike thread? :D

department management at a hardware store. soon to be unemployed if i don't find something in seattle before i get up there.

I work in concert venues. I barback in a few and work the door at a few others. Couldn't be happier. Fully flexible schedule, working around music, great money, great people, free food, and I get to meet artists if I want to. I plan on eating lunch with Iggy Pop tomorrow in catering. My happiness where I am is really standing in the way of my getting a job with benefits. I sure would like to go to the dentist...

i'm a bike mechanic at a large independent bike store in eastern pa, right near the NJ border. i've worked in chain restaurants, a vegan bakery, as a youth counselour for a drug and alcohol treatment center, a slave at a jcpenney distribution center, landscaper, and for a while made an amazing $$ doing scams at circuit-cities across PA

Yeah-- i did do some work in a San Fran post shop

Which one?

Full time undergrad. I work part-time for an SAT tutoring company. Basically I tell a bunch of 16 year olds how to take the SAT the right way. It pays $25.00 an hour. That's much better than the minimum wage I was making at my last job...

Urban Planner for the City of Sacramento. I couldn't enjoy it more. Nice to see a couple of others in the planning field here.

In the winter I am a Tech/Demo rep with Vans Snowboarding here in Colorado. So I basically am the Sales Reps go-fer, as well as doing on-snow demos and trade shows. In the summer I am the program director for the Minnesota Minority Junior Golf Association. We teach inner-city kids how to caddy and get them placed at private clubs to work. We provide transportation to and from the clubs (most are in outlying suburbs, most of the kids in the city) We also run golf camps/clinics/camps all summer long. So basically I snowboard for half of the year and play golf the other half. :D

Part time bike courier. Part time Bike Mechanic. Rest of time Accounting Student.

(s)tarchitect & graphic designer.

i make things pretty and stuff.


Urban Planner for the City of Sacramento. I couldn't enjoy it more. Nice to see a couple of others in the planning field here.


can you write off all of your bike related purchases? that is the perfect field to claim a bike as a research tool.

[QUOTE=dystaind]didn't find any threads on this and I'm curious:

What do you guys do during the day (or night) to make ends meet?



I'm curious because I'm a student. An art student. I have some ideas of what I want to do, but honestly no clue what I will do. Plus, I am always fascinated with what people do (especially if they love it.)

:Well
I am a full time worker drone at the Art Institute of California San Diego (not as cool as it sounds folks) I do data entry and am the Mailroom Supervisor....I mail sh*t out.
AND am a part time student trying to get my degree as a...Art major.
But specifically using my degree (once I get it) in: Installation and Design for Museums
It seems weird but I once worked for the San Diego Museum of art and saw what it entails and its really fun and you can look any way you like....I have tattoos...and want more. And found out that most can have the opportunity to get there pieces in some upcoming events. (Have a friend that works at LACMA in the contemporary art department)
So yeah ......I want to be an artist but not a starving artist so I found a "career" that I actually would like to do and get paid well at.
I also ride my fixie and plan on doing art around bicycle parts....but that’s another story:D :D

(s)tarchitect & graphic designer.

i make things pretty and stuff.




can you write off all of your bike related purchases? that is the perfect field to claim a bike as a research tool.

I wish. Public sector doesn't give you much flexibility to write things off. But, I also am one of a group that started and run the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen, so I have plenty of access to cheap parts.

Explain this "(s)tarchitect" thing to me.

"Starchitect" is a normally pejorative term used to describe architects whose celebrity and critical acclaim have transformed them into idols of the architecture world. The term seems to have gained widespread currency in the first decade of the 21st century, perhaps as a result of the real estate boom; property developers around the world have proven eager to sign up "top talent" (starchitects) to increase the value of their buildings.

and by 'world' the definition refers to my bedroom.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w184/jaredgrellner/nash_film-lede-1.jpg

i'm a student. my school has a co-op program, so i'm doing that for another two months.. one of my jobs is being the general manager of a college radio station (paid full-time, for now), working for a music festival/marketing firm (unpaid intern), and just this week starting off at a bike shop so i have a job when classes start again in july. graduating in january and i'm a journalism student, but i'm not interested in that **** at all.

just got out of the military, now i'm that guy you call when your cable modem isn't working.