A like was not enough for this. Why pay top dollar if it does not help in the long run? Good to hear from a someone who hires people.
There are some industries and trades where it is assumed you will jump jobs for 25 cents more an hour, and it isn’t really looked down on. I hire a shit ton of LVNs and you wouldn’t believe what these resumes look like. I also deal a lot with oilfield workers and welders/boilermakers/crane operators. The recruiters make sure we process their medical COMPLETELY before shutting down for lunch because there are recruiters that hang out in the food joints nearby and will poach candidates offering a tiny bit more money.
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T-Nation. 
I think your restlessness is the ultimate problem here. How can we be sure that what you find new and challenging this year will remain so two-three years down the road?
The doors you want to open seems clear to me- more money and a flexible workspace. At least, that is what I interpreted based on your earlier posts.
This reminds me of the time back when I spent far too many hours on forums and why I swore off trying to actively engage in conversations.
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I have a buddy that does contract work quite a bit. He has a BS in environment science, but he doesn’t really do exactly that type of work. He has taken a lot of jobs that are 6 month contracts to do stuff like controlled burns, build hiking trails, tracking certain animals…
I think he likes it, but he is kinda in a unique situation where he doesn’t need a lot of money, and I don’t think these jobs always pay a lot. He bought an enormous house (7 bed, 5 bath, 5500 sqft) in Minneapolis when the market was low in 2011. The neighborhood wasn’t gentrified when he moved in, but it is now. He doesn’t live in the house, just rents it out room by room, and rents where he works. So he brings in 5K in rent, and the mortgage with utilities, tax, insurance is like $2k a month.
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No offense fellow Testosterone enthusiast. Carry on Sir.
Ultimately you shape your own experience in the workforce, far more than any external factors you don’t have control over. The problem with working for companies is that human beings work there, and you have to find a way to deal with them.
Good job on wising up to this. Also remember that expertise as you enter your 30’s is more often measured by what you’ve done, not what you know. Build a body of work that you can point to with pride, with many examples of your value to bring up.
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Sure, but we’re talking about someone with ambitions of making more than 70k a year at this point. I think you’re right for the level he’s BEEN at, and why it hasn’t really hurt him to this point. But how many people out there are hiring for, say, a 6 figure job who would look favorably on a resume like this?
I think at BEST, the job hopping maybe neutral for him, in the right situation, but it’s never going to be a positive thing. I mean aside from the resume issue, he’s not getting quality work experience anywhere. I assume that he’s not just jumping from job to job in one field of work. If THAT was the case, it might be different. But he said he’s getting bored with things quickly, which made me assume each job is entirely different. All of the jobs you’re talking about are related to specific trades/skill sets, and moving within a single industry.
So when I hire someone (usually welders), it’s an annoying process. I hate doing it. I have to spend 2 weeks or whatever reading applications, conducting interviews, having people come in for weld tests, etc. Then I hire someone, and it takes a solid month of training for the person to get up to speed on the job, and really become productive. The last thing I want to do is go through all that and then have to do it all again to replace the dude 6 months later. That fucking sucks. Any job that requires a significant amount of on-the-job training does not want employees to bail after a few months.
That would be a whole other thread… And probably not one for this forum!
101 reasons why I only fly for fun and not for work. I can easily say no to the smallest mechanical imperfection found on pre-flight.
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It cannot be stressed enough what a huge deal this jump is. It represents a totally different life once you make this jump.
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This part is why I have made it to 70k. I have been on the office side (from admin assistance to projects) of a construction trade for the last 5 years, with each job being held for at least a year. One company even hired me back a second time, that lasted 3 years total. I have no doubt that significantly saved my resume’s and my financial ass. I am slowly training this dog to “sit” and “stay”.
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In my own case, absolutely. going to college was probably the 2nd best thing I ever did for myself. first was serving in the army before that.
I dont know what my earnings would be without my degree but a degree was required for the job that I have. Been doing it 14 years and I’m well compensated. Not rich. but i don’t sweat anything that i want to buy, and max retirement savings
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Engineering degree here also. Worst case it’s there to fall back on if your interests take you in a different direction. Plenty of good points raised here already by many other contributors.
If no degree, what do the long term job prospect look like, will it lead to only being in manual labour roles (wearing the body out quicker potentially), or being outed of a job once technology renders it redundant… so many factors and we can’t predict the future… so working out which degrees are in the right areas is tough to decide.
Talk of most jobs in 15 years time haven’t even been ‘created’ yet given technology etc…
fwiw - engineering can help to morph into project management, finance, people management roles etc… good pay, and a reasonable level of responsibility too.
But you’ve gotta find what you enjoy and align what you can in a job to make a career of it.
Just some ramblings there from being in the industry for over 20yrs…
-Throw in a trade (plumber, electrician etc) into the mix also… as we’ll always need such trades in life (not a degree but a solid qualification nonetheless).
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I can’t think of any worse hell than being managed by an engineer.
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Better an engineer than an architect…
The worst aspects of an engineer. But artsy too!
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I also didn’t get a degree. Went to college for a while but found it wasn’t for me at the time. I’ve always had in the back of my mind that I’d go back to get a degree just for personal accomplishment, but just haven’t done it yet.
I did roofing out of HS for a few years and switched over to HVAC when an opportunity presented itself. I’m almost 12 years in the trade and recently joined a union as a walk on journeyman.
I feel like union work might be worth looking into if you don’t mind the physical aspect of it, you are somewhat mechanically/electrically inclined and are ok with the potential for feeling overwhelmed, depending on the kind of shop you get hired into. I’m never in the same place two days in a row, sometimes up to 5-6 different places a day. I work on so many different systems, there are always new problems and issues to troubleshoot and figure out. I’m always learning new things, figuring out new issues and expanding my base.
The only issue that would arise is rate of pay. Assuming you have zero experience, you’d start out as an apprentice or pre apprentice. You typically on’t have an opportunity to reach journeyman until at least 5 years in, although some people can skip apprenticeship if they progress quickly. Apprentices make considerably less than journeyman, but once you’re there, the money is great. They have pension funds, health care is covered, annuity, etc. Including benefits, the total package works out to around $70 an hour, and my take home pay was knocking.on the door of six figures this past year.
The full pension kicks in when I turn 57, so in theory I could retire if I continue contributing to the other retirement funds at the rate I have been. Also at a certain point I could go part time (or even take a few months off a year), still get partial benefits and just come and go as I please. I could also do consulting, sales, design, get my stationary engineers license… etc.
If where you live is anything like the northeast, the trades are severely understaffed. It would be super easy to just walk in to the union hall or call a company and be on your way.
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I am an engineer. My theory on engineering managers is that they were probably promoted to prevent them from doing any actual engineering. Like, “There’s no way we can let this guys continue to engineer things, we better make him a manager.” They can do less damage that way. In my experience, anyway.
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A variant of …
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