From White Collar to Blue Collar (wages, 100k, office, hours)

[Corporate Death]

Originally Posted by Guineas

You only do 80 hr weeks in residency. Out of residency, you work about 50-60 hours, which is typical of most professional jobs in America. The only exception are neurosurgeons, who generally still work more than 70 hours after residency since their cases are so damn long. But neurosurgeons also make $700k.

Lifestyle in medicine is tough, but so is truck driving, and the latter could never make 6 figures.

You are right. Although some owner operators, if they are running steady and hard, do gross over $250,000. Again, that assumes the planets are aligned, a 4-wheeler doesn't pull out in front of them and wreck, the freight is available, and no maintenance and repair issues drain their reserves. All said and done, the average *successful* owner-operator will earn, after fuel costs, tags, road taxes, IFTA, etc, in the $90k range.

[cheezy72]

Hello.
I see that you worked with EF Hutton, and wanted to find out some information. I worked with EFH in Los Angeles, CA, and I have been trying to find out WHO the plan administrator is for the pension plans that we had back then. I know that EFH merged with other companies and I am trying to locate my account. Can you perhaps point me in a direction that I may be able to locate some solid information? I have talked to PBGC.com (cause they are handling the Lehman Brothers plan). Thanks for your help/advise. I look forward to your input.
Suzy

[statisticsnerd]

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

Yes but I couldn't handle trying to deal with my co-workers. I had nothing in common with them, I had nothing to talk about. It was torture. Not that I am *that* social on the job, but I couldn't stand hearing any more stories about so-and-so's pregnant daughter who got beat up by her live-in boyfriend who just got out of jail and whose ex-wife was caught cooking meth and now they have to take in her FOUR children because she doesn't know who the other fathers are anyway.... yada yada yada. It gets old really fast.

They sound like interesting characters.

That's better than the snooty, pretentious yuppy talk I have to listen to all day at the office.

[Mrs. Skeffington]

I was a secretary/administrative assistant for almost my whole post-school working life. My last job in that field was as a legal assistant. When I lost my job at the firm after working for them ten years, I was age 50 and couldn't find a clerical job anywhere (I live in a very small rural town). On the advice of a friend, I applied at our local school district as a substitute school secretary (to get my foot in the door). When they looked at my application and saw that I'd had food service experience in my long work history, I went directly to see the cafeteria supervisor. She hired me on the spot (pending my clearances and approval by the school board, of course). As soon as those came through (a couple of weeks), I started my new job.

Almost three years later, I am still working in the cafeteria, and I LOVE the job. I started out as a rotation server - main line, ala carte, prep, etc. When an opening came available to train as assistant cook in the jr./sr. high school, I applied for it and got it. It's not quite as much money as I was making at the law firm, but it's close (because the law firm had cut me to part time and made me take a huge pay cut). It is low stress, and a lot more time off. I'm off for the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter breaks, and get the WHOLE SUMMER off. My co-workers are great, and I enjoy the kids. I get two free meals a day. I get to wear comfy scrubs (no more skirts, pantsuits, heels). No computers, telephones, or deadlines (other than getting the kids fed on time). And the atmosphere is fun and low key. Not stuffy and dignified like a law office.

[maus]

I like reading these stories as they are interesting. I have considered doing some work with my hands and abandoning office/computer work. For me, it is due in part to worsening eyesight and ongoing carpal tunnel. I like to paint walls and some small handi-work, so I thought about doing that sort of work on the side.

[andywire]

Originally Posted by maus

I like reading these stories as they are interesting. I have considered doing some work with my hands and abandoning office/computer work. For me, it is due in part to worsening eyesight and ongoing carpal tunnel. I like to paint walls and some small handi-work, so I thought about doing that sort of work on the side.

I don't know which occupation you have in mind, but good eyesight and manual dexterity are of critical importance in many blue collar occupations. If my eye's weren't able to catch small details that most would miss, I wouldn't have much success in my occupation. Being young, I'm always catching minor imperfections in work that are easy to miss, but could easily result in scrap. Last place I worked, the boss would often send me down the line to inspect operators work because I was always able to find some problem, often saving the company big $$$.

[tvdxer]

I would be wary of a white-collar to blue-collar (or reverse) career change because of the cultural differences between the people who tend to find themselves in each type of occupation.

White-collar workers are more likely to have "sophisticated" tastes and come off as somewhat snooty to their blue-collar co-workers. Likewise, blue-collar workers often have "low-brow" tastes that might seem plebian to ex-white collar workers. White-collar workers also have different mannerisms than their blue-collar counterparts, which might lead to friction.

I personally straddle the line, being the college-educated, once M.A./PhD-bound son of blue-collar parents, yet due to circumstances, I find myself in a very blue-collar field of health care where I am constantly in contact with co-workers. It can be difficult "adjusting yourself" to a blue-collar-and-proud-of-it(-and-not-afraid-to-report-you-to-the-supervisor-when-you-step-out-of-line) work environment when your tastes tend towards those of white-collar people. On the other hand, I had difficulty adjusting to a pure "white collar" environment when I was placed in one. Working with people from other cultural backgrounds who were not completely acculturated seemed to be best for me. There is an excellent book about this phenomenon called Limbo.

[phone man]

I dropped out of Law School in 1997 to take a job as an installer with Southwestern Bell Telephone. 16 years later I am still working there under the at&t name and my job duties have evolved into outside plant maintenance. I wouldn't change careers at all. Sure I get dirty and work long hours at times, but the benefits are good, the retirement is good, and I make more per year than a lot of white collar professionals. Been a stable career and although I have a 4 year degree most of my coworkers are high school graduates only and have done well financially over the years. Best thing is my financial well being hasn't changed one bit with the economy.

[Nudetypist]

I seriously considered leaving my job to become a union electrician. It's just tough to take such a financial loss and start off at $11 an hour for the next 5 years. Although after that, I would make double what I make now and with a lot less stress. The best part about blue collar work is you don't have to worry after your day ends. Let the managers in the office worry about things. You're just here for your 8 hours a day and go home. Even if you have long 12 hour days, the worrying ends when your shift ends.

[andywire]

Originally Posted by Nudetypist

I seriously considered leaving my job to become a union electrician. It's just tough to take such a financial loss and start off at $11 an hour for the next 5 years. Although after that, I would make double what I make now and with a lot less stress. The best part about blue collar work is you don't have to worry after your day ends. Let the managers in the office worry about things. You're just here for your 8 hours a day and go home. Even if you have long 12 hour days, the worrying ends when your shift ends.

Not to mention it's rather difficult to walk into a union job these days. Electricians were hit rather hard during the recession, and many spent months waiting for work. Many locals are probably not accepting apprentices at the moment. The union electrician worker's bread and butter is new construction, so that largely explains the difficulty they are still facing. Residential electrician work simply doesn't pay enough to support union wages.

But if you think blue collar work is any less stressful, you're mistaken. I can't speak for electricians, but my trade often features plenty of stress. Not everything runs smoothly, and it's up to the workers to bash their heads together and figure out a way to solve the inevitable problems. Shouting matches do occur from time to time. Bosses get mad and workers are often in the line of fire. At the end of the week though, everyone puts it all behind them and life goes on.

At least in my trade, stress management can dictate success or failure. For obvious reasons, many guys end up self medicating and becoming alcoholics. A lot of others wish they would have never entered the occupations all together. I love the work though and am quite happy with my occupation. I would go crazy in a white collar role.