OCCUPATION: BUTCHER

Name: James Oyague

Company: Beef Palace Butcher Shop

Thumbs up: “Every day I get to wait on beautiful customers, that’s why I love this job.”

Thumbs down: “When business gets slow and we run out of things to do.”

Advice: “This is a good job if you like to work hard. It’s a really busy place. I feel like I’m running a marathon every day.”

Salary range: Wages for a trainee, non-union meat cutter range from $7.50 to $9 an hour.

Hours: “I work eight hours a day, six days a week, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.”

Educational and training requirements: Independent butcher shops will usually train an individual on the job as an apprentice.

Advancement: A butcher can move to head meat cutter, assistant manager, manager or owner of a shop.

For more information: Contact your local state Employment Development Department office.