What do you do?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-01-2005
What do you do?
12
Mon, 02-06-2006 - 8:16pm
Is that really a horrible thing to ask? Everyone says it looks like the asker is only interested in money, but in my case, my job is my life, so I'm always curious what others do. Is there a better way to phrase it so I don't look like a gold digger?




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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2003
Tue, 02-07-2006 - 9:42am

How about the simple yet sincere, "Tell me about yourself?"

The job is usually the first thing that comes up.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 02-07-2006 - 10:08am

Chamey... when a gal sends a generic inquiry of "Tell me about yourself" it says to me that she has no interest because she has no specific questions. I reply to those with a one-liner, "What do you want to know?"

Ask him "What line of work are you in?" That is a good conversation starter.

Admittedly, "What do you do for a living?" always seemed gold-diggish to me also.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-17-2002
Tue, 02-07-2006 - 10:35am

JAHD! How the heck are ya!

So what kind of questions do you like to see? I hate coming up with questions. It's not that I am not interested in someone, but I amnot all that creative and have a hard time coming up with questions to ask a near stranger.

131.gif image by y_baros th5K.gif image by jade_simo

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-01-2006
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 11:09pm

Some starter questions to a stranger could include:

What do you like to do for fun?
What's your favorite style of music? Song?
Do you have any hobbies?
What would you do if you won the lottery?
What do you do for work?
What is your dream job?
What's your favorite holiday?
How do you like to relax?
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2005
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 11:54pm

No, it's a necessary question to ask just like do you want kids one day, are you religious, educational background, life experiences - these are deal breakers.


You just bring it up naturally either on email, phone or in person.

 
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2005
Wed, 02-08-2006 - 11:58pm

Ask him "What line of work are you in?" That is a good conversation starter.


Admittedly, "What do you do for a living?" always seemed gold-diggish to me also.


 
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-09-2003
Thu, 02-09-2006 - 12:41am

It feels normal to me to ask what do you do for a living?
I ve been emailing with this for over a week now and still dont have a clue what he does in life. I m thinking he is most prolly unemployed or juggling too many part-time jobs. Either way I m not interested. I dated a guy without a job for 2 years before and it was not funny! so I feel it s my right to look for a guy who is gainfully employed and makes more money than I do. REASON IS yeah in the 21st century men still DO NOT ACCEPT WOMEN AS EQUAL OR SUPERIOR AND WILL NEVER DO!!! sad but true

PS: Peanut, I m prolly the one consuming the other 50% of peanut not turned into butter :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-19-2004
Thu, 02-09-2006 - 9:11am

I hate "tell me about yourself" because it makes me feel as if I'm on a job interview, even if it's asked in an email.
I never thought of "what do you do" as an offensive question. To me, it's a standard one.

(JAHD -- glad to hear from you! I hope Yukon is doing well.)

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-17-2002
Thu, 02-09-2006 - 10:43am
Excellent suggestions - thanks!

131.gif image by y_baros th5K.gif image by jade_simo

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-10-2005
Fri, 02-10-2006 - 1:06am
How about asking the person if they enjoy their job....I would think they wouldn't be able to answer without telling you what they do.....

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