Job market in Colorado - good/bad? (taxi, salary)

[Screw Sacramento]

Originally Posted by livecontent

It is interesting to see all these people studying nursing and making career changes. I wonder how many of them will survive when they face the realities of the field of nursing. Even people who professed a early interest and went to college for nursing have abandoned that career--that is part of the reason there are shortages--it is not the easiest job in the world. So, what will happen with these people who study nursing because they only want a job--they will burn out faster.

Livecontent

Yes I dabbled in nursing for a little while and it is academic hell. The nature of the job is also quite unpredictable, disorganized, and political. I saw complete incompetents make grievous errors and thrive and other hard workers canned because a nurse or administrator didn't like them. I guess that would explain part of the shortage; but for people trying to compete in this job market, they tend to only see (a) a high demand and (b) awesome pay, and look no further. I can't blame them, since they really won't know any better until they're in.

I do enjoy IT a great deal (I practically grew up on a computer) but also enjoy a lot of other things, very diverse things like photography, writing, teaching, etc. So I guess there are a lot of venues I could reasonably pursue but need to narrow it down to try to land a steady income.

[brightdoglover]

This RN will tell you that the patients are rarely the thing that makes you crazy. It's the administration and "nursing management." And other nurses, in my experience, in psychatric and AIDS hospice.
The schooling isn't hard. It's time-consuming becacuse you have to do the clinical times. There's less clinical in BSNs, and I think people learn little that's useful. You can't do clinical in your spare time or on the train or such, as you could homework. You have to be there for that 8-hour day. That's the hardest part, the time needed.
I got my RN

[brightdoglover]

Sorry. I got my RN when I was 28, have left the field three times, have come and gone from my current hospital four times, and am finally in the saddle for the pension. I work third shift, which is physically ruinous, to avoid the afore-mentioned RNs and management. I would never want to work days. Did so in technical writing for two years and felt sick the whole time.My current job won't give straight evenings, 3-11, so... here I am, posting on company time, Eastern Standard Time.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

This RN will tell you that the patients are rarely the thing that makes you crazy. It's the administration and "nursing management." And other nurses, in my experience, in psychatric and AIDS hospice.
The schooling isn't hard. It's time-consuming becacuse you have to do the clinical times. There's less clinical in BSNs, and I think people learn little that's useful. You can't do clinical in your spare time or on the train or such, as you could homework. You have to be there for that 8-hour day. That's the hardest part, the time needed.
I got my RN

There is a saying that "nurses eat their young".

This isn't a thread on nursing education, so I'll just say if you didn't do a BSN program, you have no idea what kind of clinical experience the students get. I'd hold mine up to anybody's.

[livecontent]

I only brought up nursing as an example of that is attracting many people making career changers in the hopes of better stability and excellent pay. However, we all know that any industry or any career has many negatives that are not always apparent to outsiders.

I worked in IT at a big oil company. It was at the time from the transition from the big mainframes to PCs. The old timers had a saying "big machine--big money; little machine--little money" IT for them was loosing the mystique as they could no longer be considered the wizards in the glassed off computer room. People complaint about the movement to outsourcing and the necessity of constantly learning new skills that became out of date quickly. One Experienced Programmer would say to me: " I wish I became an Engineer because the skills learned are more lasting."

It is like that with many jobs--you just do not know the bad, until it is too late. You cannot always change careers because the "clock of age" is always running; and it is difficult to move to a new field, train and be hired when you older.

I would like to see a TV show on just one subject--the conditions of all jobs; the good, the bad and the ugly. Good Interviews with people who are happy with the career and those who are miserable. That would serve a good purpose for people to temper the romantic and fanciful notions of jobs.

Livecontent

[Katarina Witt]

Yes, I understand what you're getting at, and I agree. Fortunately, with my BSN I was able to do public health nursing for a long time, which isn't so physically/mentally stressful. Unfortunately, PH is very political, worse than office politics at "normal" offices. Eventually I got fed up with the PC nature of it. For a while after I left PH, I thought I wouldn't work in nursing again. However, kids in college changed that and here I am at the end of my career working in a dr's office. There really is nothing else I can do that will pay a decent wage, and it was too late (when my kids went to college) for me to change careers.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by Screw Sacramento

...
I do enjoy IT a great deal (I practically grew up on a computer) but also enjoy a lot of other things, very diverse things like photography, writing, teaching, etc. So I guess there are a lot of venues I could reasonably pursue but need to narrow it down to try to land a steady income...

Many people have come to the realization that they may never work in one industry; and many will not work at one job for decades and leave with a pension.

You may never have a steady income; you may never have a steady job. You may go from one job to the next. You may try one career and then move on to another.

That constant change and instability may be the way life will lead you. It did for me because I have many interest; I am impatient with stupidity; I could never keep my big mouth shut. It took time for me to realize that the way to freedom was not to become dependent on any job. Since, I did not inherit a big bunch of money, the only way to deal with the job world and my own self was to have less wants, needs and desires.

So, I was always in a position to say "take this job and shove it" However,being that free also made me less inclined to tough it out and deal with stupid jobs, ignorant people and dumb bosses. There are many people seeing my view today as saying "your money or your life" because stress on a job, just to have money to fulfill unneeded wants and desires can destroy your health.

Livecontent

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by Screw Sacramento

If the IT field in Colorado is not having many openings, are there any fields anybody can recommend that are in demand? We're trying to plan our majors carefully so we make the best use of our money and time...

This is a different matter. If you're going to school so you can get a job in IT later, then you shouldn't be concerned about the present economy. How long will you be in school?

[CosmicWizard]

livecontent wrote:

It took time for me to realize that the way to freedom was not to become dependent on any job. Since, I did not inherit a big bunch of money, the only way to deal with the job world and my own self was to have less wants, needs and desires.

Henry David Thoreau wrote words to this effect:

A person is rich in direct proportion to what they can do WITHOUT.

I read those words in my early 20s, and although I have only partially put those words into practice, it still remains the most sensible definition of true prosperity that I've ever come across.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by livecontent

I would like to see a TV show on just one subject--the conditions of all jobs; the good, the bad and the ugly. Good Interviews with people who are happy with the career and those who are miserable. That would serve a good purpose for people to temper the romantic and fanciful notions of jobs.

Livecontent

Do you ever watch "Dirty Jobs?" I think it is a very interesting show--highlighting some of the most miserable (at least in some peoples' minds) jobs that there are. What I find interesting about it (and I have done some very "dirty jobs" in my own work life) is that many of those "dirty jobs" actually require considerable skill. It also seems that many of the workers in those jobs really seem to enjoy their work. Maybe that is just because the camera is there, but I think people can enjoy many careers, even ones that have some disagreeable elements.

One of the things about living in Colorado, especially rural Colorado, is that people may have to take less than agreeable jobs to be able to live here. My Dad always used to say that "You can do exactly the work that you want to do or you can live exactly where you want, but there are only a very fortunate few who manage to do both at the same time." He was one who managed that, but he also was the type who enjoyed almost any work he did.