Does anyone else find this question awkward?

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by unpinkpanther

"So what do you do?"

Back when I was in paid employment, this was easy to reply; I usually just mentioned the name of the company I worked for and that was it.

Now I'm a lone wolf without a stiff "job title"...thankfully. But it seems people can't stop prying into what exactly I do to make money.

Has anyone else encountered this? How do you ward off curious questions that usually don't lead anywhere?

Hi Unpinkpanther,

Yeah, this can be tough when you're not used to it...

What I say I do depends on who I'm talking to... I modify it, depending on the "audience" and what I want them to think...

I don't lie. It's just that I have so many things to choose from...

Some of the things I've told people I do are... Editing work. Publish a newsletter. Have an export business. Physics consulting. Work in finance. Co-founder of an online money transfer business. Band manager. etc. etc. (All those are true, or have been true in the past.)

But yeah, the answer is different depending on who I'm talking to... Because they may ask more about it, I usually relate it to what it is they do. For example, if I'm at an import/export networking event, I'll mention my exporting business.

I don't necessarily recommend being so diverse... There are advantages and disadvantages...

Best wishes,

Dien