Only 4% of Real Estate Agents start out in this business. Here is some insight into my other profession.  As I recall I took a liking to "drafting" as part of an exploratory course back in grade school and listed it as my occupational plan in the 8^th grade yearbook.

In high school I wound up with a part-time drafting job. The company had no engineering staff and the owner wanted me to specify whatever equipment I needed to work with Ink on Mylar. That was my first realization that teachers become outdated, my instructor suggested a Ruling Pen.

My full-time employment as a Draftsman started in the Civil Engineering field. Most of my work was making plans ( maps ) for the installation of sewer systems. Not real exciting so after a few years I switched into the Mechanical Field where I would work on product design and machinery.

After about 10 years a cutting edge computer came along that revolutionized the industry when used with CAD software and dropped the six figure cost of implementing a system down to about 20k.   By 1987 I struck out on my own forming a company to train draftsman in the use of AutoCAD. The business evolved into more of a consulting practice as the software and computers became more powerful. Some of the custom programming I did back then to automatically generate drawings for local companies is still in use today.

Over the years I have done all types of drawings from Mapping to Modeling. Some of the products are small enough to hold in you hand while other inventions involved massive machines to transport material weighing much more than a human can handle.

The once thriving industry has also started to withered during my years.  Connecticut has slipped from second to third as the state employing the highest concentration in this field.  With increasingly high taxes and utility cost most manufacturing companies decide to move instead of expanding here. 

The losing trend for US jobs is evident in many professions. First the shift of manufacturing went overseas and now it is increasingly noticeable in technical support.