What do you guys do for a living?

[JCballin88]

I ask this because I'm just curious what other fellas out there are doing to bring in the $$$

In May, I graduated from a tough four-year college known for stringent academics, great job placement rates, etc. I followed it with an amazing internship this summer - unfortunately the internship did not lead to a full-time job due to the tiny nature of the organization I worked for.

Now I'm back home living with my parents, working about 30 hours a week at $8/hour at a job that I don't hate, but is irrelevant to my education focus and internship experience. Obviously being a 23-year-old living at home with strict parents is a HUGE setback to trying to get women, especially since I live in a remote golf community catering towards retirees! I'm pretty discouraged about it all right now, but I know the economy is also really tough for the job market in general. Someone even told me that 85% of 2011 college grads are still living at home - crazy!

Where are you guys at right now? Could you just give me a quick background on your education (or lack thereof) and how you turned into a full-time job where you actually make a...*gasp*...salary?

Thanks

 

[5string]

Yer a puppy! Hang in there! It'll happen. Stay focused young brother. I was in the same spot at your age.

Now, in my 50's, I'm a VP and officer of a fortune 50 company. Have a BA and 1/2 way to my MBA, although I won't finish at this point. No need.

And listen up. Your education will get you through the door, but it's common sense and people skills that will cause the door to shut behind you!

And yes, I have had a six digit salary since the early 90's.

Many good things in life will come your way if you go forward and be the best you can be.

 

[Drdeee]

I moved to Russia with AA and tech school from the states, plus 5 years experience. After about a year of working I started doing my thing. Can't say I make more money but definately not less, considering that I just started it's ok.

What future you have for salary in your country?

 

[r0cky]

Trader by day, activist by night.

 

[Drdeee]

Paty Goldberg was a very rich woman, she had 3 toylets, one of gold, one of silver, and one of bronze, but when nazis came to poland she took a shyt on stair case.

 

[synergy1]

mild mannered engineer by day, and usually by night as well.

I graduated a numbers of years back and got a job at the end of the first summer. Managed to live at a friends place for next to no rent so didn't have to move home. aside from my unemployment streak, been doing an engineering gig since and that always pays the bills and than some.

College grads will soon start to learn just how bad of an investment many of them made. So many are working waiting tables , and many are ( as the OP said ) living at home now. I can't see college students even with an engineering background getting work easily without an internship at the min. What sells is experience. People with college degrees are a dime a dozen, but folks with 3, 5+ years of good experience in an advanced field are still sought after.

 

[squirrels]

mild mannered engineer by day, and usually by night as well.

I graduated a numbers of years back and got a job at the end of the first summer. Managed to live at a friends place for next to no rent so didn't have to move home. aside from my unemployment streak, been doing an engineering gig since and that always pays the bills and than some.

College grads will soon start to learn just how bad of an investment many of them made. So many are working waiting tables , and many are ( as the OP said ) living at home now. I can't see college students even with an engineering background getting work easily without an internship at the min. What sells is experience. People with college degrees are a dime a dozen, but folks with 3, 5+ years of good experience in an advanced field are still sought after.

That depends...younger people, sometimes it's easier to teach them "from scratch" than to un-teach some of the things they've learned that don't work well at other institutions. They just wanna see you got a degree so they know they can "indoctrinate you".

Older people, YES, experience is critical. We have so many people coming in where I work who claim to have worked here and worked there, but you have to hold their hands and spoon-feed them the work...either they don't know sh*T and can't pick it up for sh*t, or they just sit there and do the bare minimum to claim that they're "doing their jobs".

I work in IT...just breaking 6-figs.

 

[Mr.Positive]

I work in the maritime industry. I used to work in IT, which is what my degree was related too...but, life taught me I can't sit still behind a desk for long. Was not made for the office.

So now I have a job with lot's of action and adventure, and I can swear and curse if I need to let off some steam. I think you'll do fine if can find a job you love, working with good people. Try not to value a job based upon salary alone. I did take a pay cut to switch careers, but it was well worth it to me, because my quality of life increased instead.

 

[Martin Shabazz Jr.]

Wouldn't you like to know.

 

[Desdinova]

Repair medical equipment

 

[Fuglydude]

I have degrees (B.Sc.'s) in molecular microbiology and nursing, and currently working as an RN in a large medical/surgical ICU at a level 1 trauma center. In ICU we work with the sickest people in this part of the world and stabilize them, help them get on their feet then give em the boot out to the regular wards. ICU is a very technologically intensive area where RNs work with all sorts of tech to keep poor SOBs alive. These include vasoactive infusions, continuous/invasive monitoring of vital signs, a variety of ventilators, and renal dialysis techniques, and in some cases more exotic things like liver dialysis as well. The docs are great, and I really enjoy my job.

We're fairly well paid in Alberta. I haven't even been out of school for 3 years so I'm on the lower end of the pay scale, and my average wage is around $40/hour. With OT and extra shifts at a different hospital, I'm making around 9k/month, or just breaking the 100k mark. Looks okay on paper, but taxes really do you up the ass!

I've never understood why Americans don't move up to Canada when there's a crazy recession really phucking you guys up down there. Alberta definitely has a need for skilled workers, considering that there are multibillion dollar expansions going on in the energy sector as well as all the additional infrastructural development to go along with it. We didn't even feel the meltdown/crash up here in central Alberta. Granted some people might have had their OT or hours cut back, but in general, its nothing even close to what you guys endured in the US. I think in the long run the US is a sinking ship. Canada has much stronger economic fundamentals with way more resources per capita... If you can get used to the cold, its a better place to live than the US, especially if you're looking for work that pays more than $8/hour.

I've never understood how wages in the US could be that low! Its probably because the cost of living is so much cheaper down there. I mean I haven't made anything less than 100K equivalent since I've been finished school. Hell, even when I was going to school fulltime, I was averaging 2000/month cash stripping when I was doing revues and stagettes.... I haven't made $8/hr since I was 14 or 15. There's lots of money up here in central Alberta. There's million dollar houses in the street behind my house and tons of super nice cars like benz's, hummers, and even a lamborghini in my neighborhood... and its a fairly regular upper middle class neighborhood.

If you're an American looking to escape a stagnant country in recession and actually make some cash consider moving up here. We're generally nicer, our chics are hotter per capita (less fatties), and we have "free" healthcare... keep in mind you'll also pay more taxes, have to spend more on everything and tough it out in the cold... Might wanna take dog sled steering lessons and igloo construction 101 if they offer those courses at your local college.

 

[perseverance]

I'm unemployed at the moment, I'm in the process of joining the Military.

 

[squirrels]

I've never understood why Americans don't move up to Canada when there's a crazy recession really phucking you guys up down there.

...taxes really do you up the ass!

That's why.

Although if we keep electing communists and class-warfare-ists like Obama, we won't be far behind.

 

[JCballin88]

Thanks for the responses folks... and Fuglydude I appreciate the Canadian hospitality! I only live a couple hours from Toronto - definitely a neat area, but I've never come anywhere close to the Alberta sector!

It IS pretty sad to admit that I'm on pace to make about 10k/year with my current job schedule...the only advantage to living at home right now is that I have virtually no expenses outside of gas. I'm trying every day to send out more resumes and network, and am going to an intriguing job fair in Dallas in December...so hopefully one of these days something pays off!

 

[Fuglydude]

That's why.

Although if we keep electing communists and class-warfare-ists like Obama, we won't be far behind.

Squirrels, outta curiousity how much tax are you paying? I'm curious since we probably make around the same amount. With all my deductions (including bullshiit union dues, LAPP, etc) I'm probably paying around 35-38% of my income. Really sucks if you ask me.

I've heard the US is really good for taxes once you're making above the 150-200k mark.

OP, keep your head up and focus on developing a strategy to get back on your feet. What's your education/background in anyways? Toronto's a nice area w/ tons of industry, but the economy isn't as robust as we have it in Alberta. There's big time wage differences, and the cost of living, particularly in housing, isnt' that much different. If you wanna make some serious cash consider working your ass off on the rigs up north around the fort macmurray region. The average household income there is around 180k/yr.

 

[Hollow.man]

iTeach. ESL in Korea.

 

[3countriesPlan]

I am the editor for a culinary magazine... the best part about this job is learning alot about nutrition and eating healthy. Of course, the lack of hotties (amazing right?) is really disappointing.

 

[Gaucho]

OP, you stated you studied, but what did you study?

 

[JCballin88]

OP, you stated you studied, but what did you study?

My official major was "Communication Studies" - pretty broad, I know, but I feel like I'm qualified to do a lot of stuff in terms of Media, PR, and especially journalism. This summer I was a live-in beat reporter with a minor league baseball team in Pennsylvania - awesome experience (getting paid to hang out with future major leaguers, haha) but it's an extremely limited market. The job fair I'm going to in Dallas is for all of minor league baseball...went to it last year in Orlando and learned a lot.

Right now I'm working about 20 hours a week with kids in an after-school program, and 10+ hours/week as a fitness coach - both programs run through the YMCA. It's good honest work, but obviously not well-paying and with no salary/benefits. I do enjoy my roles there, but it's not really what I envision doing for the rest of my life - not to mention it won't support me independently on my own.

 

[Bible_Belt]

I'm a farmer and occasional mma promoter, and know how to sue people who piss me off. Thank goodness my girlfriend has a real job.

I'm building my first greenhouse right now. I think our climate is genuinely fvcked, and therefore the future of agriculture is indoors. My grandparents are 80, lifetime farmers, and said that this was the worst year of weather they had ever seen. Our "spring" lasted about three days, in that it went from too cold to plant, to so hot that all the cool weather spring crops died. It rained four inches, four times a week as we had what was worse than a 100-year flood, and then suddenly it was 100 degrees and no rain for two months. Bugs love the hot weather and ate what little grew. Right at this time, I saw a Smithsonian channel show that interviewed a very old woman farmer in Kazakstan. They asked her about her crops, and she replied, "It's too hot and there are a lot of bugs."

Global warming and natural disasters are on a good run right now, and the destruction will always create some opportunities if you are positioned correctly. I got hit by a hurricane in 2009...and I live in Illinois. I'm not kidding, it was a straight-line wind storm, an inland hurricane known as a derecho. The house I had just moved out of got flattened by a tree. After the storm there was a ton of money to be made doing storm repairs. Complete idiots were making $1,000 a day.

Every time that something bad happens to anyone, there is money to be made. That's why there are lawyers