Telling people your job

When people ask you "What do you do?", there are different ways that you can answer. In all the examples below the speaker is a hairdresser.

I'm a hairdresser.
I'm in hairdressing.
I work as a hairdresser.
I'm a professional hairdresser.
I do a bit of hairdressing.
I'm in the hairdressing business.
I cut hair (for a living).
I work for a hairdressers.
My day job is hairdressing.
I earn my living as a hairdresser.

Explanations

• Phrase 1 is simply giving the job as a fact.
• Phrase 2 is describing the job as an area with a variety of possible jobs - hair-cutter, stylist, colorist etc.
• We say phrase 4 when we want to make our job sound more important or difficult.
• We say phrase 5 when we want to make the job sound less important or difficult. Also, maybe it is only part-time work.
• Phrase 6 is similar to phrase 2.
• Phrase 7 simply describes the action of the job. It makes the job sound less glamorous or difficult.
• Phrase 8 is saying who the employer is. Maybe the speaker doesn't actually cat hair. Maybe he / she sweeps the floor.
• Phrases 9 and 10 says that the speaker makes money by cutting hair but has another profession that he / she wants to follow in the future.