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I never understand people like you. I mean here you are barely making it for many years by the skin of your teeth and you can't see it. SMH. When you have no margin for error, then any problems that may arise that you didn't personally experience might have completed derailed you or someone in your situation.
The fact that you didn't sink is not the norm in your circumstance. To not see how blessed and lucky you are, to not see that there for the grace of GOD go I and to not see that if things had of turned out slightly differently for you that things could have gotten much worse for you, and to not understand that other people in your situation did have even more unfortunate things happen to them is a waste of a learning experience for you.
If all you got out of your experience is that other people suck and aren't trying or sacrificing, then what a waste.
You mean like being placed on a medication that I had a horrible reaction to and was slowly killing me, that made the doctors diagnose me with leukemia for 6 weeks expressly forbidding me any physical contact with the public or my children for well over a month? Maybe you mean driving down to see my family for thanksgiving and having my appendix burst, spending 2 days in the hospital and being under doctors orders not to go home for 4 weeks as the long car trip could cause internal bleeding and kill me? Or having a daughter with severe disabilities that caused her to be hospitalized for weeks at a time several different times? Or having my wife have to deal with her own medical issues and requiring a couple of hospitalizations and a surgery?
Or how about none medical, such as being laid off 4 different times in 6 years? Or having 3 different crap cars break down on me, forcing me to walk over a mile to the closest bus stop so that I could get to work and school waiting until I could find a car I could scrap up the money for?
I have plenty to be thankful for, such as my wife not leaving me and her being willing to put up with me being gone so much, all of us surviving the medical problems, my kids being relatively healthy right now, and the fact that somewhere the will to keep going and take care of my family was stronger then the depression and pain of what I went through. I am also thankful that most of the people I worked for had their own struggles when younger, and not only could understand at least a part of what I went through but were willing to give me the work I needed and be a little flexible when I was having problems.
See that is why I was able to turn my life back around. I am not the smartest guy in the world, I am not the most connected person in the world (especially when supposed friends and family turned their backs on me through no fault of my own), especially at the worst of it I was not the happy lovable guy. I did not have anybody to call and borrow a few thousand until the market improved. Instead I knew that I was not to good to do any job I could find and when I found one I worked harder then anybody else that was around, I was raised by a mother that was single for several years in my youth, she worked 2 jobs for much of that time including waitressing, working in a factory, having a home daycare, and working retail. I also had a step grandfather that lived 2 blocks from me as a child who had made it through the depression and loved to tell us stories about the crap he had to do to make it through the problems he had. I learned that life can suck, and that you have to work hard at times when I was young, I also learned that if my mother and gramps could do the jobs they had to, then I could do what I needed to do. I do not judge anybody for the job they have right now, I unfortunately do seem to judge those who choose to be a victim instead of working to improve their lives if they are unhappy.
let me put it this way I once applied to every job listing over a weekend that was on craigslist and was less then a week old, qualified or not, whether I wanted it or not. I had no job prospects and had just been laid off from my job at the landscape supply store. I have walked into many different companies and asked if they needed any help with anything. I walked home over 7 miles after work several times when my car was broke down and I missed the last bus. When I worked in the oilfield, I was part of a crew located 5 hours from my house, I had to take a greyhound bus there at couple of times, and depended on my coworkers to get me to the job sites. I have worked a full 8 hour day, went home took a 2 hour nap, then worked another 10 hours to go home and take another 3 hour nap and start my day over for weeks at a time. When I took the job working at the landscaping supply store the guy who hired me tried like hell to talk me out of it, you see I had been an office worker for years, I was out of shape, and I do not speak spanish, but I insisted on taking the job.
I also found that there are many people in this world who do not understand problems, and judge those who are going through them and laugh at those of us who are forced back to the bottom. But there are just as many out there that are more then willing to gives those who have had struggles and chance to work our way out of it. There are some that love to decide how you should feel about something or someone, who have no idea what you have been through, or what you have done in your life. there are also others who will gladly give you the shirt off their back or help you in any way. I had friends who would drive an hour to help me work on my cars, or to make sure I got home when my car broke down near their house, people who would take part of the day off work to go get my kids from school and watch them when my wife or daughter went to the emergency room.
So at the end of the day, there are people I have a soft spot for, my wife gets mad, but I do everything I can to help single parents that do the best they can while caring for their kids, I try to help people who are trying to do something for themselves, I have multiple friends that call me when they are struggling in life and just need someone who understands the problems in life and does not judge them for their mistakes or problems. My longest term employee is a single mom that I hired 3 years ago, she got married and had twins in college, I helped her get the grants to finish college, and paid her to sit and do homework when I had nothing else for her to do at the office, then I promoted her the day she graduated college. Now does that sound like someone who does not care about peoples struggles?
I like this board because there are some on here struggling to better their position in life and are just looking for support, to vent, or for guidance because they do not have that in their personal lives. Whether it is on this board or not those that choose to sit around and complain about how hard life can be while saying they should not have to take a certain type of job or do something unconventional to improve their lives, then you are right my lessons in life have not taught me to feel sorry for them, instead I wonder where they get the help from people enabling their behavior. Everyday we all make a choice in what we do in life, and how we handle it, I understand being depressed, I understand not being able to find a job in your field, I can certainly understand having medical problems come up and affecting your life, and I understand hating your where your life and career are today. I do not understand sitting in your house complaining that there are no jobs, or that the job you have does not pay you enough, or that your benefits suck. There are jobs out there, you just have to be willing to take them, and if you do a good job, and you have a decent boss they will go out of their way to help you improve your life.
I've seen some of these same issues here in my area where machine shops are crying for qualified help but can't find it. I'd love to learn to program a CNC machine. However, I'd never have the chance to do so unless I became a qualified machinist. Since I'm not very mechanically inclined, the odds of me becoming a machinist are pretty much nil.
When they are hiring, have you ever thought of calling them or walking in and explaining that you have no experience and no background but you would be more then willing to sweep the floor, clean the place up, and do whatever labor the machinists do not want to do, if they were willing to train you and give you the opportunity to work there? I know it sounds crazy but I would bet one of them will hire you, the pay will suck, and the job will be terrible at 1st, but I bet one of them will give you the chance to go to work.
People in our society, in this case the business/employer crowd are evil these days. They only care about making a profit. They aren't just handing out jobs to anyone off the street. There is nowhere in the country where you can do such a thing. No employer is just handing out jobs these days, in the boom times maybe but not now.
People in our society, in this case the business/employer crowd are evil these days. They only care about making a profit. They aren't just handing out jobs to anyone off the street. There is nowhere in the country where you can do such a thing. No employer is just handing out jobs these days, in the boom times maybe but not now.
Really? I walked into a landscaping supply store and got a job in the worst part of the worst downturn in our lifetime. I walked into an oil field company and talked a manager into hiring me despite only having 6 months of physical labor type jobs in the previous 10 years, and after HR had ignored my application 3 times right when the state of Colorado had announced much tighter regulations on drilling and companies were laying people off or transferring them to North Dakota. All these evil companies have always been run to make a profit. If you think things are bad now you should read up on stories from the early 1900s, this is nothing. It is much easier to say that companies will not hire you then it is to walk in and ask someone, especially if you have to walk into multiple companies until you find someone that will hire you.
Apprenticeships are coming back in force. Both large and small manufacturers around the nation are responding to a well acknowledged skills shortage by bringing on young, green candidates with strong math skills, as well as a willingness to work.
I kid you not when I say there is a very real, and very frightening shortage of these vital workers who make the world go round. The U.S. accounts for about 1/5th of the world's industrial output, and yet the average worker is on the verge of retirement.
One roadblock is the lack of candidates willing to take on these challenging and demanding jobs. They are not easy, and the pay for some is less than years past adjusted for inflation. Engineers have been complaining about the same thing though, and yet, people are more willing to spend 4 years of their lives and thousands of dollars to become one. We may not need 20% of the workforce toiling over metal parts, but we don't even have 2% of the population considering these jobs. All I can say... America better get it's priorities straight
These are still solid middle class jobs that can pay $30/hr or more at the right company. Apprentices receive all of their education free of charge. Many companies even provide measuring tools on the job. One company I received a call back from recently in South Carolina that is starting candidates out at $26/hr. If you can't do well on that than the wage isn't the problem... It's you
Outside of this...
The small business hiring gauge is reading in the pre recession levels.
"Employment at companies with fewer than 50 workers, such as SustainU, is stronger now than before the last recession, while larger businesses are still lagging behind, according to data from Automatic Data Processing Inc., a manager of employer payrolls."
Seems small businesses really are doing the bulk of job creation. Problem for many in my industry is a frightening lack of qualified candidates. As the business owner where I work said today.... "The skill level of candidates is appalling. In most cases, they aren't even there". Simply put... You can't create a job if you can't find somebody to do it.
Jobs are out there....and always have been. Those who claim there to be no jobs either are only focusing in on a narrow field, particular pay, or as you pointed out, are unwilling to learn necessary new skills.
Business loves apprenticeships and interns...always have as well. But there is a dilemma...
Pro for business:
Cheap labor.
Consistent pool of available labor.
Interns/apprenticees generally do not receive benefits.
Con for business:
It takes time/resources to train.
Interns/apprentices often leave once enough skills are required.
Consistent, yet low-skilled, workers.
Even if paid, might only work a few hours per week.
Generally start at the bottom, or in some instances, even below the bottom.
Pro for intern/apprentice:
Great work experience/acquiring new skills.
Helps build resume.
Credible recommendations.
Con for intern/apprentice:
Internships can be low, or no, pay.
Apprenticeships can take years, sometimes without pay.
Other:
The main catch-22 is that if paid, interns/apprentices may take jobs away from otherwise qualified applicants.
I went to school for oceanography back in the day and am somewhat familiar with the oil rig jobs. Regardless of your political leanings, do not believe the BS spewed by pundits claiming that we need to drill here. We already are and have been for many years. The problem is that rigs are understaffed and in desperate need of workers. You are correct, they start between $25-$30 an hour, but, are on-off jobs that require you to be on the rig for up to a month at a time. The flip is that you can be off the rig for up to a month, too, and no matter where you live they pay for your transportation to/from the rig. Obviously this can be disruptive those with families and/or other commitments, and spending even a week at-sea can drive some people bonkers, but the jobs are there.
I think companies on a whole should look to pay for giving the experience whether it is internships, apprenticeships. The fact is many people do not have a nest egg whether it is college students or older applicants to these programs. I don't know why companies are afraid of paying for training for employees. This is the way it has been for a long time.
You mean like being placed on a medication that I had a horrible reaction to and was slowly killing me, that made the doctors diagnose me with leukemia for 6 weeks expressly forbidding me any physical contact with the public or my children for well over a month? Maybe you mean driving down to see my family for thanksgiving and having my appendix burst, spending 2 days in the hospital and being under doctors orders not to go home for 4 weeks as the long car trip could cause internal bleeding and kill me? Or having a daughter with severe disabilities that caused her to be hospitalized for weeks at a time several different times? Or having my wife have to deal with her own medical issues and requiring a couple of hospitalizations and a surgery?
Or how about none medical, such as being laid off 4 different times in 6 years? Or having 3 different crap cars break down on me, forcing me to walk over a mile to the closest bus stop so that I could get to work and school waiting until I could find a car I could scrap up the money for?
I have plenty to be thankful for, such as my wife not leaving me and her being willing to put up with me being gone so much, all of us surviving the medical problems, my kids being relatively healthy right now, and the fact that somewhere the will to keep going and take care of my family was stronger then the depression and pain of what I went through. I am also thankful that most of the people I worked for had their own struggles when younger, and not only could understand at least a part of what I went through but were willing to give me the work I needed and be a little flexible when I was having problems.
See that is why I was able to turn my life back around. I am not the smartest guy in the world, I am not the most connected person in the world (especially when supposed friends and family turned their backs on me through no fault of my own), especially at the worst of it I was not the happy lovable guy. I did not have anybody to call and borrow a few thousand until the market improved. Instead I knew that I was not to good to do any job I could find and when I found one I worked harder then anybody else that was around, I was raised by a mother that was single for several years in my youth, she worked 2 jobs for much of that time including waitressing, working in a factory, having a home daycare, and working retail. I also had a step grandfather that lived 2 blocks from me as a child who had made it through the depression and loved to tell us stories about the crap he had to do to make it through the problems he had. I learned that life can suck, and that you have to work hard at times when I was young, I also learned that if my mother and gramps could do the jobs they had to, then I could do what I needed to do. I do not judge anybody for the job they have right now, I unfortunately do seem to judge those who choose to be a victim instead of working to improve their lives if they are unhappy.
let me put it this way I once applied to every job listing over a weekend that was on craigslist and was less then a week old, qualified or not, whether I wanted it or not. I had no job prospects and had just been laid off from my job at the landscape supply store. I have walked into many different companies and asked if they needed any help with anything. I walked home over 7 miles after work several times when my car was broke down and I missed the last bus. When I worked in the oilfield, I was part of a crew located 5 hours from my house, I had to take a greyhound bus there at couple of times, and depended on my coworkers to get me to the job sites. I have worked a full 8 hour day, went home took a 2 hour nap, then worked another 10 hours to go home and take another 3 hour nap and start my day over for weeks at a time. When I took the job working at the landscaping supply store the guy who hired me tried like hell to talk me out of it, you see I had been an office worker for years, I was out of shape, and I do not speak spanish, but I insisted on taking the job.
I also found that there are many people in this world who do not understand problems, and judge those who are going through them and laugh at those of us who are forced back to the bottom. But there are just as many out there that are more then willing to gives those who have had struggles and chance to work our way out of it. There are some that love to decide how you should feel about something or someone, who have no idea what you have been through, or what you have done in your life. there are also others who will gladly give you the shirt off their back or help you in any way. I had friends who would drive an hour to help me work on my cars, or to make sure I got home when my car broke down near their house, people who would take part of the day off work to go get my kids from school and watch them when my wife or daughter went to the emergency room.
So at the end of the day, there are people I have a soft spot for, my wife gets mad, but I do everything I can to help single parents that do the best they can while caring for their kids, I try to help people who are trying to do something for themselves, I have multiple friends that call me when they are struggling in life and just need someone who understands the problems in life and does not judge them for their mistakes or problems. My longest term employee is a single mom that I hired 3 years ago, she got married and had twins in college, I helped her get the grants to finish college, and paid her to sit and do homework when I had nothing else for her to do at the office, then I promoted her the day she graduated college. Now does that sound like someone who does not care about peoples struggles?
I like this board because there are some on here struggling to better their position in life and are just looking for support, to vent, or for guidance because they do not have that in their personal lives. Whether it is on this board or not those that choose to sit around and complain about how hard life can be while saying they should not have to take a certain type of job or do something unconventional to improve their lives, then you are right my lessons in life have not taught me to feel sorry for them, instead I wonder where they get the help from people enabling their behavior. Everyday we all make a choice in what we do in life, and how we handle it, I understand being depressed, I understand not being able to find a job in your field, I can certainly understand having medical problems come up and affecting your life, and I understand hating your where your life and career are today. I do not understand sitting in your house complaining that there are no jobs, or that the job you have does not pay you enough, or that your benefits suck. There are jobs out there, you just have to be willing to take them, and if you do a good job, and you have a decent boss they will go out of their way to help you improve your life.
So you learned nothing other than other people suck and aren't trying. Carry on.
I think that there are jobs but there are some limitations.
One, these jobs are not what everyone has skills for. Not everyone would know how to bolt in pipes for the Dakota oil fields or gulf deep sea oil rig. Not everyone is engineer smart enough to become engineers. Not everyone has the patience to cold call people and get yelled out for eight hours in a day waiting for a few phone calls that will earn them a commission at a call center. This is a major fallacy when it comes to jobs. In the past, you could apply similar skills from one job to another. Now you need exact skills that the position uses and even in industry they are fairly different. Say your current position uses SAP while a similar position in another company uses a similar enterprise software that has enough difference to be French to your English.
Two, not everyone has the resources to learn the skills. This can be monetary, time and simple ability. For money, just look at the issues with internships and apprenticeships where you have to have a second job to possibly stay afloat. Then you have the "move to where jobs are" idea that does take money (even if it is the $20 some on C-D say they did even as recent as this recession.) For time, you may not have the ability to learn skills through a program due to your commitments (work, family and volunteering.) For ability, it goes back to school. Some subjects you have a mental block in. For me it was English (due to spelling tests,) Biology and Chemistry but give me geology and I was good at it.
Three, there are simply not enough jobs out there for the unemployed (forget adding in the underemployed.) There only about 4/5 million available jobs these days with anywhere up to 20+ million out of work people. That leaves an up to 4 people to every one available job. Simple economics can tell you, that is a problem if we want everyone back to work. (Now yes, unemployment has never been exactly 0.00% but it is no way near the sevens like it has been for the last year.)
I am not trying to be a whiner or anything. I am just being a realist and leveling with everyone. The fact is you can do everything right whether it is networking with companies while in school at every chance and getting work experience while in school with internships, summer and during school jobs (relevant to your major and expected job); learning new software that is used all around your given industry; have a willingness to get physical and do work; learn patience; or have the money to move to a huge hub for your industry. The fact is with about 4 people to every available job (and the high demands companies want for their new employees) you can do everything right and still fail at finding work. That is the frustrating part. You want the chance, an opportunity to make something of yourself and you can't even get that.
Trades, yes. Machining, no. Every technological advancement puts you closer to being out of work. There are TONS of Machinists now who spent a lifetime developing skills that automation has now made obsolete. No reason to assume that's going to change.
And I know $30 an hour is definitely not typical of machinists:
That says $19 for an average. And Machining is well-known as a trade that has like zero young people and zero new people coming in in general. So a large group of newer apprentices isn't going to skew the mean wage too much. Conversely, I'd argue that the average wage of HVAC is probably inaccurate because a lot of people are going into that trade. Thus, a bunch of $30/hr Masters averaged in with a bunch of $10/hr apprentices -- you get a mean wage of $20. On the low-side of what you can expect to make in HVAC.
But Machining shouldn't have that problem since - as you said - there's no "griping", self-entitled, and lazy you g people going in. Theres no low-wage apprentices skewing tye mean. So $19 is about where you can expect to peak as a machinist.
In general, when choosing a career I'd avoid anything that can be automated.
People in our society, in this case the business/employer crowd are evil these days. They only care about making a profit. They aren't just handing out jobs to anyone off the street. There is nowhere in the country where you can do such a thing. No employer is just handing out jobs these days, in the boom times maybe but not now.
What a liar you are. I'd bet money you're mentally insane by now.
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