A Little Insight into Our Jobs

We get a lot of questions about what we are up to these days. To answer your question, most of our days are spent at work. So—since you asked for it—I will tell you a little about work.

For those of you who do not know, I am a part-time scientist, more specifically an inorganic chemistry lab technician. Sounds pretty awesome, doesn’t it? Some commonly-asked questions about my job are: (1) So….what do you do? [I love trying to explain this to accountants.] I basically run small-scale ligand tests to check for capacities and longevity of the products that the company makes. (2) Do you blow things up? Sorry to disappoint, but no. (3) Is your job dangerous? I think the most dangerous part of my job is getting past the security system and locks without getting bitten by mosquitos. Yes, things in the lab are also dangerous, but I have yet to use the emergency shower in the 2.5 years I’ve worked there. (4) Do you like your job? Yes, I do! It gives variety to the life of a soon-to-be accountant, which is sometimes rare.

Now to Scott—He is the estimator for a commercial stone company in Lindon. Scott interned with the company while at BYU and has worked there full-time since he graduated. He sometimes calls himself a “professional guesser” because he guesses how much jobs will cost before the jobs are carried out. He bids for construction jobs, hoping that his bids are low enough to secure a job and high enough to make money on the job. (This can get pretty tricky.) Scott also does some project management as well. Lately, the company has been doing work for both the Kansas City and the Honduras Temples! Scott may end up going to Mexico soon to oversee the fabrication of the stone for the Honduras temple.