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nicet4, I don't even believe in God, but God bless you.
Now that young man clearly did what he needed to do once you offered him the opportunity (and frankly, I've seen plenty of people drop a ball that was passed to them, then bellyache about how hard they have it.) But this is exactly what young people need! A targeted plan to develop skills for a career that actually exists.
It's really hard to get people to fit but this kid fits. I did very little but tell him about it and he did the rest. After researching the career on his own he decided to go to a little known technical college one thousand miles away paying out of state tuition.
Many would say it couldn't be worth it but knowing what I know I can assure you he made exactly the right decision. Even if he spend an extra $20k on tuition so what because he will never be unemployed.
I can tell he will do very well and I am really excited about him joining the team.
Three weeks back I was working on a 42,000 sq. ft. project where a 100 year old storage building was being changed to a store open to the public. Given the building code sprinklers are required to be installed throughout the building.
The problem is the water supply, very low pressures the mains were all installed in the late 1800's so it went from being a low challenge project to one that was a bit of a toughie.
I worked on it a bit and it can be done (barely) if you run the pipes the proper way with proper sizing. What I am doing is running a 4" looped main up at the peak and using the elevation drop on the lines to "balance" the system out. I knew running it the standard way wouldn't work but I am the one with 37 years experience.
So I made up a drawing of the building with detailed cross section views and sent them the kid along with a dozen snapshots to see what he could come up with.
Here is one of the snapshots if you are interested what it looked like. Beyond the brick wall the building continues on for over 300 more feet.
So I sent the kid the package on a Saturday morning together we worked on it via email and a couple phone calls. I was amazed, this kid would not leave it alone. I think he worked on this thing until Monday morning without any sleep at all not because it was his job (he isn't employed yet) but because he liked it. You work on computer with some pretty high end software ($15k for the program) and this kid was having fun at it!
I've always said if you can find a job that is fun to do, a job where you actually look forward to going into work, you will never work a day in your life and with this kid that is what I think I got. Feeling bad I finally told him to go to bed where his answer to me was "it's like eye candy" and he couldn't leave it alone. With his make up he will be successful and I have no doubt will be earning $30/hr before he's 26.
He's exactly what I have been looking for and as I've said I found him right here in this forum.
As he picks up the experience I'll start backing down changing my work hours to a four day week then a three day week and so on. It is in my own personal best interest that this kid not only succeeds but excels because I really don't want to be working full time into my 70's.
Exactly why I left Michigan. Last job there, 50% of the cars in the parking lot looked like they were about to fall apart. Can't blame the boss though, their all trying to bid competitively in an economic wasteland. AZ ain't much better from what I hear.
A lot better in AZ, IMHO. While there aren't as many manufacturing jobs (esp. skilled machining), they do pay much better. I think it's because of the labor shortage, coupled with a focus on aerospace and commercial airline business vs. auto manufacturing.
We are going to see a big change in the next 5-10 years though. Just in our 'lil shop, we'll be losing half of our employees to retirement. Talking with the boss the other day, and our local vocational schools aren't exactly churning out graduates with metal removing skills.
Somthing's gonna give, and I'm crossing my fingers that it will be the wage ceiling. It happened here in the '90's when folks were hired for $18 per hour if they were breathing and had a heartbeat.
A lot better in AZ, IMHO. While there aren't as many manufacturing jobs (esp. skilled machining), they do pay much better. I think it's because of the labor shortage, coupled with a focus on aerospace and commercial airline business vs. auto manufacturing.
We are going to see a big change in the next 5-10 years though. Just in our 'lil shop, we'll be losing half of our employees to retirement. Talking with the boss the other day, and our local vocational schools aren't exactly churning out graduates with metal removing skills.
Somthing's gonna give, and I'm crossing my fingers that it will be the wage ceiling. It happened here in the '90's when folks were hired for $18 per hour if they were breathing and had a heartbeat.
In my industry it's going to be really bad. Really bad or good depending on what side of the fence you are on.
I've found it difficult to get call backs. I have 4 years of experience running my own business, 3 years running a volunteer operation in my evening time, and I'm tied for first in my MBA class (4.0, no A+ does not get higher than a 4.0 here).
Most people working in HR do very little to benefit the company. Meeting all job requirements (both required and desired) does pretty much nothing to create a call back. If I have missed even one desired qualification there is zero chance of a call back.
I had to sell my business when I moved across the country, which was a shame because it paid better than these jobs. I just couldn't stand to live in that environment anymore. I don't write poor letters, I scored in the 96th percentile on the GMAT. The average Harvard MBA student scores only in the 95th percentile.
I thought it was an issue with my resume. I met with about six different HR "Professionals" and each time made they edits they suggested, and they never agreed about what should be on it. Several even looked at what the last person did and said, "Oh this section is terrible. Why would you want that? Why did you leave this out?" Clearly, they could not all be good at their jobs, though they all had at least 5 years (and often 10 years) of experience.
I've largely given up on applying to private jobs. To pay the bills in school I'm looking at working for the Feds, because they have the best hiring program I've ever seen. I worked for them for a while in a temp position and was blown away by their usage of standardized testing which created a cost effective screening tool and gave me a staff (I was a manager) that was very well prepared for the work. Out of 18 employees I only had two that were not very good at their work.
After I finish my education I'll be going into finance. Having witnessed the behavior of these companies (faking a skills shortage, automated screening software, etc) I may decide that I'd rather work in regulation than investing.
Who are these HR professionals? Is your resume searchable on any websites?
A lot better in AZ, IMHO. While there aren't as many manufacturing jobs (esp. skilled machining), they do pay much better. I think it's because of the labor shortage, coupled with a focus on aerospace and commercial airline business vs. auto manufacturing.
We are going to see a big change in the next 5-10 years though. Just in our 'lil shop, we'll be losing half of our employees to retirement. Talking with the boss the other day, and our local vocational schools aren't exactly churning out graduates with metal removing skills.
Somthing's gonna give, and I'm crossing my fingers that it will be the wage ceiling. It happened here in the '90's when folks were hired for $18 per hour if they were breathing and had a heartbeat.
Pull up your bootstraps and start training people. Don't tell me....another company contributing to the collapse of this once decent nation.
Pull up your bootstraps and start training people. Don't tell me....another company contributing to the collapse of this once decent nation.
Many companies have tried. The problem we have is young folks want an easy job that pays big bucks. Not many of them want to actually learn the skills that can earn them a better paycheck. And it get's a little tiring hearing everyone say "math is not my strongest area..." Instant termination right there. We use math exams for any potential apprentices. Average scores are appalling. The owner would jump for joy if he could find anyone who could solve math problems beyond algebra.
Many companies have tried. The problem we have is young folks want an easy job that pays big bucks. Not many of them want to actually learn the skills that can earn them a better paycheck. And it get's a little tiring hearing everyone say "math is not my strongest area..." Instant termination right there. We use math exams for any potential apprentices. Average scores are appalling. The owner would jump for joy if he could find anyone who could solve math problems beyond algebra.
What kind of math do you use as a highly skilled machinist, trig?
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