Work Life Balance: Advice from 30 Year Olds

Off Topic
41

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Think about becoming a skilled worker or learning a trade. Electrical, steam/pipe fitting, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, etc… I did a union electrical apprenticeship where I was PAID to go to school for five years. It’s a skill you can take anywhere.

I left the industry for a while to pursue a career in mortgage, but that didn’t work out so well for me so I went back to electrical work. I was able to cross over into the oil and gas industry while I waited for the book to clear and I was finally able to move back home to VA a few weeks ago. So a journeyman electrician in the DC area makes a little over 88K a year just working 40 hours a week. There is also $4 an hour put into an annuity that you control, health insurance for you and your family above and beyond your paycheck is taken care of and on top of that, the pension kicks ass. I get paid a little more than that because I am a foreman, so I’m making mid 90’s on just 40 hours a week. Skilled labor is NOT a bad option in this day and age.

Most other skilled trades will pay a similar scale to what I’ve mentioned and honestly, the work isn’t THAT hard. You can often specialize in certain areas and command a higher salary (like I did) and work less. If you’re interested in “quality of life”, the union rules are VERY specific about not working more than certain hours, ensuring that you are given specific break times and equality of pay. It’s not a bad deal - especially if you tend to be lazy and want a good retirement. [/quote]

Damn AC you didnt let us know you left the off shore work. Glad to hear everything going well. [/quote]

My bad bro! It’s only been a week, so I’ve been super busy. I’ll go dig up my old thread about it and update it there.

42

[quote]angry chicken wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Think about becoming a skilled worker or learning a trade. Electrical, steam/pipe fitting, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, etc… I did a union electrical apprenticeship where I was PAID to go to school for five years. It’s a skill you can take anywhere.

I left the industry for a while to pursue a career in mortgage, but that didn’t work out so well for me so I went back to electrical work. I was able to cross over into the oil and gas industry while I waited for the book to clear and I was finally able to move back home to VA a few weeks ago. So a journeyman electrician in the DC area makes a little over 88K a year just working 40 hours a week. There is also $4 an hour put into an annuity that you control, health insurance for you and your family above and beyond your paycheck is taken care of and on top of that, the pension kicks ass. I get paid a little more than that because I am a foreman, so I’m making mid 90’s on just 40 hours a week. Skilled labor is NOT a bad option in this day and age.

Most other skilled trades will pay a similar scale to what I’ve mentioned and honestly, the work isn’t THAT hard. You can often specialize in certain areas and command a higher salary (like I did) and work less. If you’re interested in “quality of life”, the union rules are VERY specific about not working more than certain hours, ensuring that you are given specific break times and equality of pay. It’s not a bad deal - especially if you tend to be lazy and want a good retirement. [/quote]

Damn AC you didnt let us know you left the off shore work. Glad to hear everything going well. [/quote]

My bad bro! It’s only been a week, so I’ve been super busy. I’ll go dig up my old thread about it and update it there. [/quote]

Wasnt talking on here AC but still good to hear.

43

The less work the better.

44

Sorry for the thread hijack OP.

Thanks for all the replies. Fortunately, I am a man with simple tastes, so spending money on fancy toys doesn’t interest me for the time being. Most of my spending aside from monthly expenses is on Biotest supps (Why does Indigo protocol cost so much!? Too poor for that now). I have been using the mint app on my phone. Also, I’m not comfortable spending money I don’t have i.e. getting loans for blah blah. I already have a fat student loan to pay off.

LoReZ, I’ll look into foreign markets. I’m trying to figure out which investments interest me right now, so I can start growing my wealth.

45

[quote]Ripsaw3689 wrote:
LoRez, I’ll look into foreign markets. I’m trying to figure out which investments interest me right now, so I can start growing my wealth. [/quote]

Foreign exchange (forex) and foreign markets are different things. Forex is currency trading.

Good luck with the investing.

46

Didn’t want to start a new thread and hope to not hijack this one.

HOW many of you work from home?

Or in a job that allows you to perform your responsibilities but not necessarily tied to a desk work 10-12 hours etc?

I want to know the things I can do to make my role possible away from the office.

I do a sales/operations role, manage 3 headcount, technical/engineered product.

I believe the tasks that will make me excel in my role is meeting existing and new business and creating structures within the office that support me not being there all the time. I am mid 30s with a young family.

What changes did you make? How did IT/Telco/Internet support the ability to work away from the office?

I am trying to change my mindset from being available all the time in the office to doing more effective things in the long run (benefiting my career anyway).

47

[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:
Didn’t want to start a new thread and hope to not hijack this one.

HOW many of you work from home?

Or in a job that allows you to perform your responsibilities but not necessarily tied to a desk work 10-12 hours etc?

I want to know the things I can do to make my role possible away from the office.

I do a sales/operations role, manage 3 headcount, technical/engineered product.

I believe the tasks that will make me excel in my role is meeting existing and new business and creating structures within the office that support me not being there all the time. I am mid 30s with a young family.

What changes did you make? How did IT/Telco/Internet support the ability to work away from the office?[/quote]

I work from home sometimes… and it’s heavily supported by IT.

But to put it in context:

  1. I’m in the software industry
  2. I’m in the telecommunications industry
  3. We make communications software for geographically distributed organizations

From a computer standpoint, we use VPN and remote desktop. I just connect to my actual computer at the office from whatever other computer I’m using.

As far as phone, if I’m at the office, it rings my desk phone. If not, it routes to my personal cellphone. The person calling me can’t tell the difference.

Email I also get on my phone.

For some meetings, we use instant messenger and screen sharing (basically a real-time video of someone else’s desktop). For others, we use screen sharing with a phone call. On a few occasions, we’ve used video chat.

We also have video cameras in our conference rooms, so for those meetings, remote people connect to the video camera to watch facial expressions and stuff; they screenshare whatever’s on the projector; and the audio is done with a conference call on a speaker phone with a few microphones on the conference table.

I’m not sure how much that helps, but I can explain better if you want more detail.

48

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:
Didn’t want to start a new thread and hope to not hijack this one.

HOW many of you work from home?

Or in a job that allows you to perform your responsibilities but not necessarily tied to a desk work 10-12 hours etc?

I want to know the things I can do to make my role possible away from the office.

I do a sales/operations role, manage 3 headcount, technical/engineered product.

I believe the tasks that will make me excel in my role is meeting existing and new business and creating structures within the office that support me not being there all the time. I am mid 30s with a young family.

What changes did you make? How did IT/Telco/Internet support the ability to work away from the office?[/quote]

I work from home sometimes… and it’s heavily supported by IT.

But to put it in context:

  1. I’m in the software industry
  2. I’m in the telecommunications industry
  3. We make communications software for geographically distributed organizations

From a computer standpoint, we use VPN and remote desktop. I just connect to my actual computer at the office from whatever other computer I’m using.

As far as phone, if I’m at the office, it rings my desk phone. If not, it routes to my personal cellphone. The person calling me can’t tell the difference.

Email I also get on my phone.

For some meetings, we use instant messenger and screen sharing (basically a real-time video of someone else’s desktop). For others, we use screen sharing with a phone call. On a few occasions, we’ve used video chat.

We also have video cameras in our conference rooms, so for those meetings, remote people connect to the video camera to watch facial expressions and stuff; they screenshare whatever’s on the projector; and the audio is done with a conference call on a speaker phone with a few microphones on the conference table.

I’m not sure how much that helps, but I can explain better if you want more detail.[/quote]

Thanks Lorez, very much the response I was seeking.

I use VPN now and that works well for email and other functions.

Now is remote desktop like PC Anywhere etc? you mentioned the ability to access from any PC which is a real bonus. I run a laptop so I guess this is not super critical as I would just bring it with me. Also I was considering getting an ultrabook (something super light to carry with me anywhere).

I was considering to install Skype on all my office PCs. I also have the Skype app on my phone so my reasoning was to use it as an instant messenger service rather than just video chat. I guess even video chat is okay because the office can dial in and can view me via Skype on my phone (with wireless at home).

I have the ability to re-route my desk phone (office) to my mobile. And emails come through exchange server on my phone.

So, it appears I’m very close to being mobile and working from anywhere. There’s a transition involved in mindset I guess, like the discipline to work, focus on tasks etc. BUT I want to be even more effective at my core sales function without be bogged down by operations stuff! :slight_smile:

49

Some great software/tech recommendations above.

I’d also highly recommend DropBox. It’s a file-dump kind of site. It’s been a lifesaver for me for sharing large presentations with clients, and also getting stuff from HQ on the fly

Also, take a look at Teamviewer - it’s software that allows you to access anyone’s computer that also has it installed (with their permission of course, you need a password)

[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:
Didn’t want to start a new thread and hope to not hijack this one.

HOW many of you work from home?
[/quote]

50

[quote]PimpBot5000 wrote:
Some great software/tech recommendations above.

I’d also highly recommend DropBox. It’s a file-dump kind of site. It’s been a lifesaver for me for sharing large presentations with clients, and also getting stuff from HQ on the fly

Also, take a look at Teamviewer - it’s software that allows you to access anyone’s computer that also has it installed (with their permission of course, you need a password)

[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:
Didn’t want to start a new thread and hope to not hijack this one.

HOW many of you work from home?
[/quote]
[/quote]

Dropbox is amazing. In college, it was a necessity for doing group work, sharing homework, sharing old exams. I don’t call it cheating. It was electrical engineering students “utilizing their peer network in order to succeed.”

51

[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:
Thanks LoRez, very much the response I was seeking.

I use VPN now and that works well for email and other functions.

Now is remote desktop like PC Anywhere etc? you mentioned the ability to access from any PC which is a real bonus. I run a laptop so I guess this is not super critical as I would just bring it with me. Also I was considering getting an ultrabook (something super light to carry with me anywhere).[/quote]

They’re similar, yes. Remote Desktop is built into Windows XP and Windows 7. Start > [All] Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection. In my case, my desktop at work is more powerful than most laptops, so I just connect and use it remotely.

But since you use a laptop, that works too. Just know that if you “lose” your laptop, you’re going to want things backed up. DropBox can help with that; just keep all your important files in your dropbox folder.

[quote]I was considering to install Skype on all my office PCs. I also have the Skype app on my phone so my reasoning was to use it as an instant messenger service rather than just video chat. I guess even video chat is okay because the office can dial in and can view me via Skype on my phone (with wireless at home).

I have the ability to re-route my desk phone (office) to my mobile. And emails come through exchange server on my phone.

So, it appears I’m very close to being mobile and working from anywhere. There’s a transition involved in mindset I guess, like the discipline to work, focus on tasks etc. BUT I want to be even more effective at my core sales function without be bogged down by operations stuff! :)[/quote]

Sounds like you’ve got most everything in place.

Regarding instant messaging: I wasn’t aware that Skype did instant messaging. At previous jobs we’ve used AOL Instant Messenger, and MSN Messenger for instant messaging. There’s some security risks with using a public instant messaging service, but it mostly comes down to just being selective about what’s said where. In other jobs, we just ran our own private instant messaging systems.

I suggest taking a day to see how well things work from your local Starbucks. At the very least, it should give you an idea of what needs improvement.