How long did it take you to find a "real" job or career

CaseyIn some regards I started over in my career when I was 28. I had been working in commercial construction for about 6 years, kind of barely stayed employed through the recession, and was getting burned out with killing myself 50 hours a week with a bunch of mandatory Saturday work and stress. So I took a huge pay cut to go work for the government. Four years in I have pretty much gotten back to what I was making, plus I have paid time off, better retirement, way more chilled out job environment overall it worked out pretty good. Even if you have to start at the bottom if you are qualified you will move up.

supermagician__working for the government as like a city worker or what do you mean?

hippy.You must've went to SNC for the bachelor? amirite?

SkiBum.What's SNC?

hippy.Sierra Nevada College is one of the only colleges that offers the bachelor in ski biz and resort management! im here right now doing the bachelor..

hippy.Sierra Nevada College is one of the only colleges that offers the bachelor in ski biz and resort management! im here right now doing the bachelor..

hippy.You must've went to SNC for the bachelor? amirite?

hippy.Sierra Nevada College is one of the only colleges that offers the bachelor in ski biz and resort management! im here right now doing the bachelor..

CaseyYeah I work for a city doing storm water maintenance/ permit compliance type stuff

supermagician__Literally been thinking about doing this because I have 3 years of pipe laying already.

CaseyIt's just hard to get on initially, turnover is slow. A lot of qualified guys I work with had to start as a temp making nothing until a full time spot opened up.

jjdsteezelanded first real job with a start date of 1 week after college graduation

theabortionatorIdk if I'll ever get a real job. That said I do cut my hair occasionally.

ilegaleshopefully one day :-)

CaseyCustomer service anything is terrible. On my worst days working construction, buried in mud, freezing cold- I would still say to myself, 'well at least I don't have to be fake nice to some asshole.'

SessionI was convinced I was going to make a career out of the military.

Then I was convinced I was going to make a career out of telecom.

Then I decided I was for sure going to live the bachelor life and do military contracting

Now i'm 9 years in to a reneweables/automation career.

Don't ever assume what you want to do, or what you are doing now is the last thing you ever will do.

CaseyCustomer service anything is terrible. On my worst days working construction, buried in mud, freezing cold- I would still say to myself, 'well at least I don't have to be fake nice to some asshole.'

Charlie_KellySeriously its miserable. So tired of the "customer is always right" bullshit, like no they are wrong 90% of the time but you cant ever tell them that.

HumpsLike a month after graduating. Get a good resume on indeed.com and a generic cover letter you can change a few words for and just send it out to anyone who seems relevant. There's no shame in taking the shotgun approach when job hunting

Mike-O>cover letter

What's that?

Mike-O>cover letter

What's that?

HumpsIt's like an initial ass-kissing of whatever company you're applying for and your relevant skills to the position. I highly recommend applying with them

jblaskiGot my degree (associate) at 20. Landed my dream career job at 30. Lots of part time and seasonal jobs in between.

TaranItUpCurious as to what your dream Job is Jblaski and how it differed from your associates degree. Any tips for those of us struggling through their undergrad with no idea what we want to do?

SkiBum.Curious how long and how did people find their job or career. I'm not talking about being a ski instructor or working at the beach in the summer. I'm talking about life after college, finding a stable company, job, career, benefits, etc...

Reason I am asking as I am in a rough spot of my life where I am having trouble finding work. For the past 8 years I have had a great job and career. Good money, good benefits. Bought a house, two cars, vacations, good life, all that shit. Left said company for a "better offer". Sold house, packed up life, moved 32 hours away, started life over. Said company sucked, job didn't work out, now I am back to square one.

I have all my info out there on the job sites (indeed, monster, linkedin) and have not had much luck. I have looked in my areas of experience and have found some, but nothing landed yet. Been on and off looking now for few months. Picked up some odd jobs, but none worked out, and now I am living off savings while searching for the real thing again.

Just curious others stories or successes.

jblaskiMy "dream job" is actually a career, full time firefighter for a large city. I got my associate degree in "fire protection" but it really was nothing more than a piece of paper. In the application and hiring process it really served no purpose. In the long run, it gets me and extra few bucks a month and allows me to take the promotion process in the future.

TaranItUpRight on, are you a firefighter here in SLC? If so how do you like working in a larger city, are shifts fairly consistent and is it primarily medical incidents? I worked as a medic on a tall ship and I enjoyed the sailing but didn't deal well with being responsible for others lives in the middle of the ocean. I'd like to spend some time on a private truck fighting wildfires.

Thanks for the advice, I'm pretty stuck and am burning out of the educational system. The EMS system might be a bit different than other career paths, but did you find that school really helped in your career or have you learned more from working hands on in the field. I'm about ready to take some time off and try and get an internship in the design field to build up my portfolio through experience opposed to education.

Blindsurferbasically i dunk rabbits in chemicals and see if they get seizures or die. they're always looking for animal testers and the job pays top dollar.

freestyler540My parents wanted to charge me 300$ a month to stay at home when I turned 18. At the time, I was working as a climbing guide, instructor, ski instructor, mogul coach and mowing lawns and made 300$ a month (remind you that minimum wage in 2006 was 8$/h). I was finishing a social sciences degree and had no idea what I was going to do with it. They were offering to help pay for another round of school (and if I dropped out or failed, I had to re-reimburse them).

At that point in my life, I wanted to ski everyday and climb mountains. But I was also broke as fuck and it seems I was always taken advantage of in the eco-tourism industry.

I threw a college guide book on the ground and marine engineering showed up. After giving it a read, I was interested in it, but I had no mechanical background (think mamas boy in the big city). I found a school, signed up and got accepted a few days later.

After 3 years, I graduated with a degree in Marine Engineering Technology, a 4th Class Canadian Marine Engineering certificate STCW and found a job in the shipping world a week later as an engineering officer on cargo ships. My first 3 years were hell; I hated working with assholes. But, after working with some great people, I built up the experience to be the senior engineer on the ships assigned for me. I still dont have a house, girlfriend, dog and a single shit-mobile, but I rack in 65G a year and ski everyday of winter and moved to the Kootenays. Life couldnt get much better, but it took a suicide attempt to realize how bad it was.

When people told me to fight hard for a job and try to change your fate by force, they are the type of people that was given everything since day 1. Life is pretty random and when opportunity knocks, take it and dont ever look back. Dont try to force a situation, just let it happen.