How did you choose your career?

Ever think about all the different people you encounter in a normal day? They're all making a living and doing just fine. I'm a firm believer that if you work and practical about your finances, it's hard to not get by. Whatever you choose, make sure you can (1) gain skills and experience so you CAN move on to another job at some point (which you will want to do for either money or satisfaction) and (2) gain skills and experience so you DON'T HAVE TO move on to another job at some point and stay there for 40 years (which you will do for money or security).

 

What was your degree, underwater basket weaving?

 

I graduated college right in the heart of the last economic downturn (2008). I applied to tons of jobs for like 6 months before I took the first job that actually offered me a position. All the jobs I applied to were in my degree field, which was Finance. That company that hired me ended up being a pretty good company and I stayed there for almost 11 years. Just left last year but considering going back. I grew within the company from the bottom of the Finance chain into a management position building communications systems for the Navy. If you find a good company that will allow you to move around, where you start may not be as important.

 

Since you already have a welding background I would suggest going back to school and looking into becoming a weld engineer. Its a decent gig and pays very well. I started much like you getting a associates in welding while working for a logger. I was talked into switching to the bachelors degree because I was on the GI bill. Best decision I've ever made.

 

I’m a commercial fisherman by trade.
Whether it’s a good day or bad, it’s always stimulating on some level. It’s not really that hard of a job, and can be really fun and exciting when you’re on the fish.
Plus, it’s really something to work under an open sky, with fresh air everyday.
You won’t get rich doing it, but you can make 6 figures on the right operation and take 6-7 months off.

 

I started working life at a very young age. My dad was a plumber, and he worked extra, side jobs almost every weekend, year round, to earn extra money for hunting, family vacations, etc.. He started taking me with him when I was 6 or 7. He taught me the names, uses and properly handling of many tools, and the general plumbing trade. I worked with him almost every Saturday, and some Sundays, from that age until I graduated high school and went off to the Army.

When I graduated high school, I honestly had no burning passions, no real idea what the hell to do for the next 40 years for work. My best friend from high school convinced me to enlist, I figured that would at least buy me a few more years, or maybe even become a career. I ended up getting out after just the initial enlistment. My MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) or "job" was small missile systems repair. The school for it was 6 months long. Heavy duty intro to basic electronics, components, circuits, etc.. That was my first taste of any sort of technical field, and I found it quite fascinating. So when I decided to get out of the Army, i used my GI Bill to go to college and earn my BS degree in Computer Engineering.

My last summer before graduation, a former student of one of my EE professors called the Prof and said his team [at his job] was looking for summer interns, and he gave us all the info to apply if we were interested. I sent in my resume, but never heard back from that specific team. I did, however, get a call a couple months later, form the IT (Information Technology) group at that company, and I ended up doing a 6 month internship with them. I kept in touch with them when I went back to complete my last year of school, and they offered me a full time position upon graduation, doing the same things I had done as an Intern. I accepted, that was in 1994, and I am still in the IT field to this very day. I have been laid off a few times in the last 10 years, held jobs in different facets of the IT arena, but still in IT, and thankfully, employed full time during all this lockdown nonsense.

 

I've been laid off a few times since 2010 and spent a painful amount of total time unemployed, between jobs. I have applied for many California State and local County IT positions, and for IT, non-manager jobs at the state level or county level here, they pay nowhere close to what I have, or currently make in the private sector. In late 2016, I received simultaneous employment offers from the State of California (IT position) and the job I currently have (private sector, IT), and they were $30K/year difference in pay. But that's just one example, by no means representative of all Public vs Private sector career paths, IT or any other field.

On the other hand, my younger sister is a public school teacher in the Los Angeles area since 1993. She has always made a bit more than I do, still does to this day. However, we are in two completely different fields, and she has a full Masters Degree, which puts her at the very top end of the salary schedule for teachers in California.

The benefits, and retirement for public sector jobs are absolutely hands down better than just about anything in the private sector. My sister will have a great pension for the rest of her life once she retires. I will have only whatever I have managed to save up on my own. And maybe Social Security, if that still exists in another 20 years.......

 

Is it possible to take the path of least resistance: are there any opportunities in your current job where you are well known and, hopefully, appreciated? I had to deal with a situation when an employee was offered to leave the company by agreement of the parties, but he showed his extreme loyalty and asked for some time to negotiate with the heads of other structural divisions. As a result, he found a worthy place in another department and quickly mastered the skills needed for the new role.

 

Worked in the financial industry prior to moving to Washington State in 2017. Was happy in the IT world but got an offer I couldn't refuse by family members who owned a growing established business.

 

I wanted to be a LEO but 2 months after graduating high school I needed open heart surgery(in 2011.) which then put me on a downward spiral of what I was gonna do with my life. Half of my family were builders, electricians, HVAC techs and plumbers. So becoming a salesman for a supply house seemed like a good path for me. Started as a counter salesman and have worked my way up over the past 6 years.

 

Long time since I posted in here last, I've done a few things since I started this thread and figured I would update.
When I started this thread I was working in firearm sales, did that for a while and enjoyed it but the pay was not great. I moved to an Administrative position at a commercial tire shop, did that for about 18 months and learned a lot about business/corporate side of things, and then moved into a diesel technician position for the same company, it wasn't a bad position, I enjoyed the work and that company wasn't flag rate so hours were consistent even if we weren't busy. After 6 months as a diesel tech I had the opportunity to move to a Facilities Maintenance Technician role for a contractor that had been wanting to hire me for a while, so now I am a facilities Maintenance Technician with a decent schedule, on call every 3rd weekend, better pay and benefits than the diesel tech position and after 25 years of service I'll be eligible for a full retirement when I turn 62.

 

Funny how little it takes to make a job go to absolute hell. My cool assed manager was forced to retire about a month after my post and a new overlord came in. Absolute idiot, mysogynistic as hell and told me I was a ‘tax break hire’. Him and my senior tech teamed up and their mission was to basically make my life a living hell. It worked. I started going to school at night, got my electrician tech certificate in Spring 2021 thankfully, and reached out to local electrical companies. Got an interview, on the spot job offer, and am now three weeks from my Journeyman and Limited Master licenses. Way happier, job is more challenging, and im not on call 24/7 anymore so I can have a life again. I still talk to the cool former coworker I had and he said shits gone to hell at my old job and hes been trying to find a job elsewhere since I left 14 months ago.

 

Interesting thread, thanks for digging this one up.
Long story short...-ish. Dropped out of HS in 10th grade. Went to work for a landscape company...hard work. Laid sod. Not getting political, but this was what poor stupid white HS dropouts did when they think they're too smart for school. When i turned 18 I could work for my bro-in-law building gas stations all over Florida. He cheated on my sister...so I was out.
Married my HS sweetheart. we had two kids by the time I was 19.
Did land surveying, as a rodman/chainman. FUN job. crap pay.

Answered an ad in newspaper for shipping/receiving job at a local hydraulic/pneumatic supply. Worked my way up. Made hoses, worked parts counter, inside sales, then realized I knew more than our outside sales personnel. They drove company cars and took people to lunch. I did all their quotes. BS!! So I got a chance when one of those spots opened.
I've been in this type of career most of the following years.
BTW...along the way we had two more children. Blessed.
I also owned a surf shop at one point but that's another story.
BTW again... I got my GED at 55 years old. Took a solid couple weeks to do it.
Bottom line... the industrial automation/mechatronics field is booming. Looking for something that will pay well and have a long career, with entry level possibilities? That is one option.