I need a break, seriously

[runner83]

Hmmm Oz has changed a lot by the sounds of it... I remember my dad applied for tons of jobs in Oz (he was a post-doc at the time) and everyone kept saying he was overqualified,... like wtf??

Runner, how are housing costs in your neck of the woods?

...

For me I value the experience of the actual work more than the cash I gain from it. I know engineering is a sweet profession as you guys work 9-5 in offices, and get to dress up and stuff, actually get weekends off, and don't work nights, etc. However, I could never do it and be happy... I need life and death situations where I can help influence the outcome... in a sick sort of way I love responding to cardiorespiratory arrest calls at 4 in the morning, knowing that my actions will mean life or death for some poor bastard. There's also a myriad of learning opportunities. Sometimes I swear its like I'm getting paid to go to school.

Yeah, probably depends a lot on what sort of engineer he was.

Housing costs vary a fair bit depending on where you are, big city would generally be more, but also depends on location, number of rooms etc.

A good site to look at is:

http://www.realestate.com.au/

I've only rented so far since I've moved around a fair bit.

I generally go for a cheaper place in a good location, close to work and the action, since I prefer to use the cash for other stuff.

As an example, for single bedroom place:

* When on the Gold Coast a few years back - about $230 a week, 5 minutes walk from all the clubs and the beach.

Where I am now (north Queensland) - the place I'm in is older, but close to the city, the beach (10 minutes) and my work - $200 a week

Agree that you have to do what you enjoy.

Not sure where you got the idea that engineers work set hours in offices, but it is pretty variable. A lot of my work the past few years has been site based, variable hours, but still probably not as much as for you.

I personally go crazy if I spend all day every day in an office, so that's part of what I enjoy about it, just getting out there and actually building stuff.

 

[Fuglydude]

Thanx for that site runner, I'll definitely check it out. Keep in mind my dad was looking for stuff like 20 years back. He was a chemical guy back then. Now he's more of a chemical process consultant dude.

If I was single and moving around I'd definitely rent. Those rates don't sound too bad at all actually... I remember back in 2007 during the boom, I was paying $750 a month for a single ROOM in a 2 bedroom condo that I shared with another dude! It was a nice enough place w/ a cool roommate in an outstanding location, but still kinda expensive if ya ask me. By outstanding location, I mean close to downtown, trains, and university... not near the beach!

In places like Texas you can get palatial 4000+ sq. feet houses w/ maids quarters and swimming pools for what my house is worth here... it just pisses me off that housing is so expensive here even though the weather blows for like most of the year. Its gonna snow for the next week apparently... Right now its like -25 C out w/ nasty windchill, so it feels more like -35 to -40.

Come to think of it engineers do have fairly varied hours. I remember my dad would come home at all different times. He did do some field trips, but not a whole lot. Over here there's lots of engineers that work in the oil patch in EPC (engineering procurement and construction) firms. Alberta has huge oil sands reserves as well as natural gas. I was just saying it would be nice to not have to work nights and be on call, etc. Then there's transports... some are fun, some not so much. I haven't done any helicopter transports yet, but man, I've heard stories about people throwing up, etc. Still would be friggin cool though!

Syn, sorry for the thread hijack man.

 

[synergy1]

hijack? this is all very informative. Now if you were to go ahead and compare my flat bench to colossus's, I might have some beef with that! (the name of the game would be "numbers divisible by two").

On cost of living, i am amazed at how much it varies within the states, and to what degree the quality changes. You being in the health field, it is likely Boston is on your radar. When you say 750 $/mo, that is about the norm for back bay, , brighton, fenway etc. What do you get? Usually something with crappy heat, small living space, no parking, and a very old place. Meanwhile, you can look for apartments in the Florida area and get something thats more like a palace for like 400 dollars a month. Oh yeah, no snow. Moral of the story? Prices in America vary greatly, and salary is almost meaningless without a baseline cost of living. 50,000 dollars in New Hampshire is easily better than 85,000 in New York city. (remember, new hampshire has no income tax too).

The consensus from this thread is that any city living will be costly. Quality is questionable. Lastly, the women are hot.

runner83, what I read from your posts is almost unbelievable. We use the matrix analogy frequently on SS, and I am most certainly plugged into the american job market version of that. Right now the issue is that there are an overabundance of qualified individuals, and only a few positions available. Companies are either offering temp work, or really low wages for legitimate engineering positions. For example, there was a posting on Craigslist in Orange county CA for a mechanical eng. job requiring 2-3 years of experience offering....29,000 per year. You can not live off that. Companies are low balling potential candidates since they know people are running out of options. To sum up, its a crappy situation here.

One thing you would need to look at is how to get local experience. It’s a bit of a catch 22 since it might be tough without local experience, but how do you get it? One option is get your employer to sponsor your visa.

Same as here, and without being local I don't see it working. One needs either locale, or networking to have a strong leg up. One way to get local experience is to start from the ground up. At 30 this might seem a bit out of the ordinary, but I think its the only way to go. One idea I have been floating around is to get a working visa , move over ( with sufficient funds), work for a bit, network, than try to get a job in the field which might lead to a sponsor.

 

[Fuglydude]

I'd definitely get out of the US if I were you man... you gotta go where there's ample job options and opportunities. During boom situations, many smaller firms in my neck of the woods are actually quite desperate for employees... You may have to do jobs that are below your level of knowledge/expertise. For example you may have to do the job of a engineering technologist instead of an engineer, however, I can assure you that you'll be making considerably more than 29000/year here in Alberta. I was clearing 5k/month (after taxes) one summer as a student, simply stripping and waiting tables... I wasn't even working full time!

If anything doing this kind of work for a short time to get your foot in the door will really help you to get in with the firm and advance into a better position. You're not married and don't have kids (I'm assuming), so you're gonna be much more mobile than someone who has to worry about these things. Use this to your advantage, get out of the US, and get into a place like Oz or Alberta where you can make a great living.

I too am quite surprised at how much variation there is in cost of living across the US. Is the $750 you mentioned for an entire apartment, or just a room? I was renting a room for that much here. I'm glad housing has cooled off here as it was getting into serious bubble territory for a while there. My house at one point was on the market for like 700k (its maybe worth 450-500k today).

Ideally, I'd like to settle somewhere that's cheap, where I can make lotsa money and is warm... I'm still leaning towards Texas as anesthetists do well there, plus its cheap to live there. I look mexican and I love football, so its a match made in heaven!

 

[synergy1]

The short term plan to acquire sufficient capitol is underway. This temp position has budgeted roughly 15k, but has twice as much money allocated for the types of services I am looking to do. Its going to be easy stuff, but a foot in the door for a potential for perm. I'd hate to leave after a year or so, but I still think long term it would be best to leave. Ironically the same thing that brought my great grandparents to the USA would be the reason I am leaving. My grandfather was an engineer, but came over here selling rugs to get started.

Here is a good cost of living story strait out of the pages of my life. When I was in Boston, rent was 2200 for a 3 bedroom. This didn't include oil which was very costly during the 2008 winter. 300 dollar fill ups every 2.5 weeks was common. When oil peaked to 140 per barrel, I was spending over 250 dollars a month to commute to work. Add in tolls which increased in price on the Mass pike, that was another 1000 dollars spent annually. fast forward to my offer I received in NH, a small one hour drive north of Boston. My rent went down from 722 to 400 a month, my gas bill plummeted since I had a 3 mile commute, income tax was gone, no more tolls, and oil cost me at most 90 bucks a month. It was literally night and day , and one could barely discern the two locations on a map!

(Oh yes, I forgot to mention free hockey as soon as I went back up to NH. I snuck into the local D1 college facilities and played on an Olympic sized sheet for free. )

If anything doing this kind of work for a short time to get your foot in the door will really help you to get in with the firm and advance into a better position. You're not married and don't have kids (I'm assuming), so you're gonna be much more mobile than someone who has to worry about these things. Use this to your advantage, get out of the US, and get into a place like Oz or Alberta where you can make a great living. [/b[

Correct, I am single and girlfriendless right now. The short term plan is to assimilate everything I get from this temp contract, save up sufficient funds to make the trek overseas. I am thinking 10,000 or so to get started. Given some time, get back into the engineering workplace, earn some good coin and surf a little.

Ideally, I'd like to settle somewhere that's cheap, where I can make lotsa money and is warm... I'm still leaning towards Texas as anesthetists do well there, plus its cheap to live there. I look mexican and I love football, so its a match made in heaven!

Football in texas is what hockey is up in your neck of the woods. You should fit in just fine. Texas is cheaper to live than the north east, its climate is much hotter though. You might even miss the seasons - not sure. The cities are very lively, and i hear the women are really attractive down in Austin. With your background you'll clean up . period. winning.

The warm weather trek is important as well. I dislike the long drawn out winters in new england.

 

[Fuglydude]

That's a pretty crazy story about how much cost of living fluctuates with even small changes in region! We don't really have anything like that here, unless you go cross country. I guess it might have to do with higher population densities and more competition for the "desirable areas", etc.

I think you have a solid plan for getting out of the situation you're in... from now on you just gotta execute. Props for staying strong and persistent man.

 

[synergy1]

I like providing closure to these types of things if for nothing else but to reflect and learn. While this story isn't over ( is it ever), it seems that I did get a great break for the time being. This temp work is turning quickly into real engineering work, and probably a full time position. To put it simply, a job they hired me to do in 8 weeks I will finish in 3. There is nothing better when someone doing basically admin work is helping the engineers out. Whats even more appealing is that this company is small enough so that my position could grow; the idea being that I eventually head up their testing department and get some solid leadership experience. I never fancied myself much of a corporate person, but I think in the short term its a very attractive prospect to lead new engineering efforts to help boost sales/ market share.

The long term goal is to still leave the USA, but this company is international as well and that might happen if I stick around with them.

The lesson learned here is that **** can change fast, good or bad. When you have a string of bad luck, you gotta seize the hell out of the good breaks and make **** happen. thats what is happening here. Complacency is completely removed from my vernacular, as nothing is set in stone, but I feel my fate is in my own hands now. Words can't describe how awesome that is.

Its like Graham says, there isn't a good or bad stock, there is a good or bad price. Like in life, there isn't a good or bad life, there are good and bad circumstances surrounding it. I am hoping an era of bad circumstances are over for the time being, but to reflect upon the positives, I managed to do a lot of reading, learning, entrepreneurship, hanging out with my cousin at college, and getting with TONS of chicks. I mean getting invited to play club hockey at college at 30? Anyway, this era of life is over. Onward ho.

Also thanks all for the support/ advice on this thread.

 

[runner83]

Glad to hear that it's working out for you again.

Just goes to show that if you keep at it when times are tough, things will often (but not always) come good at some stage.

And that's the kind of thinking I've been applying to my recovery from my broken arm.

Anyone can be motivated when times are easy.

But the true test of a man is to keep slogging forward when times are tough, confident in his ability to push through and achieve his goal.

/ end thread

 

[f283000]

Go back to school and get a degree in a health care related field. It seems that they're the only good jobs that you can get in America because everything else is being outsourced to India (computer related) or are not hiring.

 

[Alle_Gory]

Go back to school and get a degree in a health care related field.

Retarded with conspiracies AND common sense. Good job man.

Do you have any idea how long it takes to get a decent paying job in health care? The amount of school required and the money? Especially in America with your ridiculous tuition rates. And he's 30 which is a little late to start more than half a decade of schooling.

This is a terrible idea.

 

[f283000]

Retarded with conspiracies AND common sense. Good job man.

Do you have any idea how long it takes to get a decent paying job in health care? The amount of school required and the money? Especially in America with your ridiculous tuition rates. And he's 30 which is a little late to start more than half a decade of schooling.

This is a terrible idea.

Going back to school is becoming the norm in today's job market in order to stay competitive and be able to get a job. The skills that got you a job 10 years ago might not be relevant today. People have to retrain, go back to school, learn new skills.

I didn't say he should study to be a Dr silly. That's not the only job in the health care field. He could be a RN or a bunch of other things.

You're talking like if 30 means he's old. He still has to work 30 something years to retire like most people in the U.S.

It's never too late to go back to school. Unless you get a degree in something that's guaranteed for life then you will have to go back due to the changing job market. This is why picking your degree wisely is critical.

I personally would never go back to school as I hate school with a passion. Sure it means i have to sacrifice having the chance to live in california or l.a/nyc but i'm happy living somewhere affordable.

 

[Fuglydude]

Retarded with conspiracies AND common sense. Good job man.

Do you have any idea how long it takes to get a decent paying job in health care? The amount of school required and the money? Especially in America with your ridiculous tuition rates. And he's 30 which is a little late to start more than half a decade of schooling.

This is a terrible idea.

There are many great health care careers out there that he could finish within 2-4 years. These include RN, respiratory therapist, pharmacist, etc.

If he were to take the RN route, he could do a post-baccalaureate RN degree. That would give him a B.ScN in around 2 years. Many universities are offering this degree to those w/ other degrees given the current nursing shortage. If he specialized in ICU or ER he'd have multiple jobs waiting for him. After that, get into anesthesia program, and he could easily be making 150-200 k before he's 40.

I'm probably gonna be entering a CRNA program when I'm around 33-35 (I'm 29 now), and end up finishing in my late 30s. Its only a 2-3 year program, and if you can make 150-200 k for the rest of your life in a high demand field after that, I say, then its a great investment to make. F283000 actually gave pretty solid advice.

I know I'll probably eventually end up getting a PhD, but that won't be until I'm old and wrinkly... well maybe not wrinkly... the test will keep me young!!!:rockon:

 

[synergy1]

Go back to school and get a degree in a health care related field. It seems that they're the only good jobs that you can get in America because everything else is being outsourced to India (computer related) or are not hiring.

To elaborate, yes a lot of manufacturing work is being outsourced. However, many times those sources can't even meet basic QC specifications ( I.E parts will not be what you design them to be), so outsourcing really hurts the overall product. With that in mind, yes a lot of stuff is still being outsourced. When you have significant sources overseas, sometimes a company will locate their engineering services there, which is bad for us.

The one thing outsourcing doesn't do is advance design, business etc. its grunt work. Things like web applications, Widgets , and whatever else is outsourced will NOT better a business or a product. Thats where I would like to think engineers in my role would be in demand.

There are many great health care careers out there that he could finish within 2-4 years. These include RN, respiratory therapist, pharmacist, etc.

Career changing in my field is very common. To all the posters reading this , next time go ask your dentist what their background was. I promise a few of them will say ex engineers! That said, at 30, I am getting somewhat desperate to establish myself financially and professionally, and starting totally over isn't ideal. However a two to four year program which promises good pay and job security is something to think about if this engineering thing doesn't work out ( its a huge possibility).

F283000 actually gave pretty solid advice.

agreed, no need for derogatory comments to his posts. Its sound advice!

 

[SamTheHobit]

I would rather have a breakthrough.

 

[Julius_Seizeher]

After years of working crappy jobs, being broke, and paying my tuition at the school of hard knocks, I recently got my break as well. I got hired as a sales engineer for a steel service center. For the first time I am selling with a very generous base salary underneath me, in an industry I am proud to be associated with and eager to learn about. It's an absolutely thriving, cash cow of a business; we buy master coils directly from the mills and we slit and edge them down to any spec that a manufacturer needs. Anybody who makes anything with steel buys from us. We have no more than 3% of our revenue from any one market.

Man it just inspires you to make even better decisions and keep advancing. I am making good money but I'm disciplined with it; I invest most of what I make, so that I can have the capital to found my own enterprise. The businesses I'm interested in are expensive to get into, so I'll get capitalized in the stock market. I'm a single, free man who is playing the game of life to WIN. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH lol

Anyway, it's good to see SoSuave men becoming upwardly mobile. We came here to learn about women, but instead we discovered what our real priorities should be and we are not looking back.

 

[Alle_Gory]

There are many great health care careers out there that he could finish within 2-4 years. These include RN, respiratory therapist, pharmacist, etc.

And what would be the total cost for such education careers? Keep in mind the market changes all the time, who knows how much these jobs would pay in 4 years? For someone older looking for safety of income, this is not a wise idea at all.

synergy, have you considered expanding your search into other states and countries? If you're willing to relocate, you could always find something in an English speaking country. Here in Canada we have a few larger companies that hire engineers. Boeing, RIM, CAE (they make those large ****pit simulators)... etc.

 

[Fuglydude]

And what would be the total cost for such education careers? Keep in mind the market changes all the time, who knows how much these jobs would pay in 4 years? For someone older looking for safety of income, this is not a wise idea at all.

synergy, have you considered expanding your search into other states and countries? If you're willing to relocate, you could always find something in an English speaking country. Here in Canada we have a few larger companies that hire engineers. Boeing, RIM, CAE (they make those large ****pit simulators)... etc.

Syn has a degree in engineering already, so he could easily do a 2 year post-graduate B.ScN if he wanted. People live a lot longer nowadays, and our life expectancies will continue to slowly rise. 30 is nothing. I'm 29, and I still feel young. I don't think I'll really ever finish learning until I die, although much of it won't be in a formal educational sense.

Tuition for nursing degrees varies widely depending on where he's going to school. Some in-state schools will only charge 5-6k/year to residents, while others will charge 25-30k/year. Even w/ the later more expensive case, he will incur a total tuition cost of 50-60K + living expenses, etc. This is assuming he gets absolutely NO financial assistance in the form of bursaries, grants, loans, etc.

I'm not sure about the other careers I talked about like pharmacist and resp. therapist, but there's a plethora of info on projected nursing shortages. There is a demographic shift towards people getting older, and people are also living longer. This will mean that people need a lot more care per capita than with a younger population. Just check out:

http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media/FactSheets/NursingShortage.htm.

It took me around 3 weeks to find a job once I graduated. I was offered a job at the unit where I did my senior practicum, but it was further away than my current hospital, so I didn't take it. Its nice to have a job waiting for you once you finally finish school.

At the start from the numbers that I've seen, RN's in the US make around 45-66K, with this number increasing as you incur more experience.

http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Registered_Nurse_(RN)/Hourly_Rate

In addition, unlike Canada, the US has different pay scales for different subspecialties. In Alberta where I work, I make the same hourly rate as someone working in a long term care facility, despite my specialization and certifications in running codes, using neuromuscular blocks, PA catheters, CRRT, etc.

With the previously mentioned salary, and an assumed, albeit largely inflated, cost of 100K incurred for RN education, Syn would still make a 40-60% ROI annually. Many employers also have programs in place for student loan forgiveness/signing bonus, etc, so help pay down accumulated student loans. Another cool thing about nursing is you can get away with working 3 x 12 hour shifts a week. This frees up A LOT of extra time for other things. Hell he could have a part time engineering job if he wanted! He also wouldn't have to constantly worry about the cycle of feast and famine that many engineers have to fret about. People will always get sick, and if you're good at what you do, you'll always have a RN position waiting for you, especially in the more technical areas like ICU, ER, etc.

Further specialization in a field like anesthesia makes the salary much much more lucrative. Its not uncommon for experienced CRNAs in smaller urban areas to make >200 k

I strongly believe that healthcare jobs, especially in nursing, are great because of the security and versatility that they offer. Plus there is so much potential to make great cash in the US.

Just check out gaswork.com

Syn, if you do take the nursing route I'd recommend you get into anesthesia. Its in great demand, its light work, and the pay is great. I actually know some anesthesiologists up here who bring in their lap tops and do day trading during cases because if you're good at gas you can just set up and then hang out! Its not hard to give a fluid bolus, inject some propofol or give a bit of ephedrine...

This is a funny song about gas guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1JzCDqt3BM

 

[Alle_Gory]

That's a good point about the aging population issue and the nursing shortage.

Thanks for the well thought out reply Fuglydude.

 

[synergy1]

wow, you should go into sales or entrepreneurship. Pretty good material right there. In 6-8 weeks if my current gig doesn't work out, I might consider this. There is an anesthesia program in my home state that would likely foot a lot of the bill ( per my sources), but would do more research to see if quality of education will matter.

Fun fact, my father graduated from Columbia started doing management at lockheed martin back in the 80s for the voyager project. After that project funding was gone, he lost that job after being the last person in the entire department which spelled the end of his career. After that when I was maybe 7, he switched into the health care field and got into administrative roles which he did until he passed away back in the late 90s.

Wait and see, but in the mean time I gotta keep kicking ass at this temp gig I have now. If it works out, great, if not onto something new.

 

[synergy1]

before this part of my life closes, I am seeking the council of folks on SS. As it stands , I have two potential offers (from the same company) along with an interview next week for a job I shall probably have an offer for the week after. When it rains, it pours and its a little overwhelming right now. Two months ago I would have laughed out loud if you had told me such a situation would happen.

Here is my quandary ( if you could call it that) in short. My friend helped me get this first job, and has been pushing for it to get a full permanent job. If I get the second job, I might go for that instead. My friend sort of voiced his displeasure to which I replied , ' I have nothing yet'.

I have made my choice, but I was wondering how any of you folk would handle it? I sometimes dictate my own actions to not let people down, but am going to finish my contract to the best of my ability and make a choice for myself. At the same time, I feel guilty that a friend who helped me at a time of need might feel betrayed a little.