Rough Day at work so far

[azanon]

You telling me that in the event of a really bad patch...that an able bodied, able minded, intelligent person who can put enough away to consider early retirement cant hit the pavement and within a few months get a job making 50-60k a year before taxes?

Come on...

With a masters in Biology, that wouldnt be as easy as you might think. At any one time, there may be 1 or 2 jobs open that would fit my education in the entire state of Arkansas. It would almost definitely mean i'd have to move, and all of my family is here.

I pinch myself all the time and wonder how I pulled it off (getting to where I am).

I'll tell you right now; i couldnt make it in the private sector. I don't have what it takes. My dad does it and he makes a fortune. All i can do is bow to him, and tip my hat.

When I decide to quit, i need to be 100% confident I wont need to come back.

 

[LovesLife]

I think if we hit a bad patch there isn't going to be a lot of available jobs open. My degree is highly specialized and directly impacted by market economy so the likelyhood of reemployment in my prevous field is slim. I would, however, get some job I suppose, if it were necessary.

 

[unclemick]

Yep

In 1993 there wasn't a big market for re-entry heat shields or Space Shuttle Thermal Tile glue guys - I would have had to move out of state. The SO wasn't about to quit(then) or more importantly - move from the shores of Lake Ponchartrain. Sooo - the mental adjustment was made from layoff to ER - headwise.

Temp job in environment - came out of the blue two years - worked roughly a year and took the money.

Being a really cheap bastard and the 90's stock market helped immensely.

heh heh heh

 

[maddythebeagle]

"There's none so blind as those who refuse to see."

And hopefully, we dont end up having the blind leading the blind.

 

[SteveR]

Finding a $50k/year job outside your career area would be a stretch in this part of the world. I have been looking at the job market here for over 4 years and I seen maybe 3 jobs in that time I would have been qualified (mostly over qualified) to do. Sure there are tons of jobs........but you either have to be in sales (yuck ) IT (not me), service (cold call sales ), 7-11 night shift cashier, or construction. Very very few in my area of expertice and none that would do part time.

Maybe CFB lives in an area full of nice white collar jobs that require very little direct experience and are willing to pay $50k/year; but not here.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You're right brewer. People defeat themselves very easily.

There arent a boatload of nice white collar jobs, but there are plenty of jobs. When I say "rough patch" I'm presuming ANY job is a good job. And if the patch gets that "rough", the job you pre-ER folks are in might not be so stable. Especially if you just arent good at much of anything, have the "wrong" degree, or dont want to work outside your comfort zone.

Homes need to be fixed and maintained, so do cars. Stuff needs to be sold. People need to be managed. Things need to be delivered. Oh yeah, and if there are any engineering, IT, sales or marketing white collar jobs around, I can do those too. Excepting specific technical product knowledge, which might get dicey if I were out of the job market for another 10-20 years and stopped staring into this 6Mb/s firehose of information that runs into my house...

 

[azanon]

You're right brewer.  People defeat themselves very easily.

Ahh, modesty....   No, what people sometimes do, is mistakenly assume others have the same talents/versatilities as they do.   Consider the possibility that maybe you are just that versatile and maybe others aren't (as versatile).   You know, not everyone makes a million+ by their 30s; enough for them to retire.    This pep talking reminds me of that guy Don Lapri i see on infomercials at 2am.

I can barely change the oil on my car, and i can sometimes screw up changing a light bulb (the last one i changed, the end piece broke off into the light socket and i had to pry it out with a screwdriver end).

Trust me on this; i taught chemisty for one year at a rural Arkansas school for one year.  There are plenty of people out there that it is impossible for them to do certain things.  Its not necessarily "self-defeating" attitude.  Some people just don't have the ability no matter how willing/driven they are.

 

[maddythebeagle]

nm

 

[Dog]

I really needed to read a post like your today.  My days pretty much mirrors yours....I do next to nothing and I am paid well to do it!  I have a few mindless activities I could be doing, but it is busy work, doesn't add value and my management is so concerned with creating processes for the sake of processes that they can't keep up with half the stuff they think they want.  No, I do not work for the federal gov't.  I work for an extremenly profitable company that is an industry leader....basically the "Mickey Dees" of my industry.

Saying I work with baboons would be an insult to the ape kingdom.  That being said, I have found I have to stretch myself in other avenues. 

I certainly spend a lot of time researching, calculating, forcasting, estimating, adding and subtracting the same assets and liabilities, bills, loans...over and over and over again.....basically obsessing and marinating in "THE EXIT PLAN"  The whole exercise can get depressing at times.  The waiting....I am in corporate purgatory 

In the off hours from doing aforementioned activity, I do go rollerblading for about 40 minutes a day on the company, THEN I have lunch with my Dear Boyfriend everyday (we work together and bring our lunches) and I will probably get my CA RE license (studying on company time). 

I can relate.  I recently started working for an electric utility.  Management recently discovered their new "must have" toy..... the Blackberry.   You can't take the elevator, walk in the hallways or attend a meeting without folks checking their Blackberry.  I'm not sure where the sense of urgency is....considering nothing gets done and there are not any earth shattering decisions being made (if any at all....except where to go for lunch).  Yet everyone moans and groans about how busy they are.....although you can't walk into a cube without interrupting personal phone calls or internet surfing.   But, the UTC keeps approving their rate hikes!

 

[Martha]

I think that if you are over 50, or maybe even 40, and have been out of the workplace for a number of years, it is going to be tough to get a job. There is a lot of age discrimination out there. Employers think you are not up on current developments, are probably set in your ways and can't be molded into the employee they want, and will make their insurance costs go up.

Maybe this problem will pass as boomers retire and there is more need for workers. But maybe not.

I am still debating whether to keep my law license. It is expensive to keep up on the education credits. But if I have the license I think I can always do something to scare up some money. Even if I don't much like the work.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm just picturing walking into a company that does anything remotely high tech or has an IT department and saying

"Hi...I have 25 years of experience in sales, marketing, engineering, technical support, information technology, running small and medium sized businesses and managing groups from a half dozen director class people to seventy-five engineer/marketing individual contributors.

I've been on a sabbatical for the last 5 years, living off my savings while raising my son.

I'd like a job. I'm more than willing to work for entry level pay of $50-60k plus benefits. I have no interest in being promoted next year, I have complete interest in helping and supporting my peers, subordinates and managers, and I could care less what kind of raises you give me. I dont care which jobs, tasks, projects or programs you have me work on, or who I work with or report to. I will do all the jobs nobody else wants to do. I may only want to work here for three or four years but I may like it and stay longer"

And having them look back at me and say "uhh...no thanks."

Barring that, I walk into every place in town and see if they need a salesman. Then every construction place to see if they need someone who can swing a hammer. At some point, every oil change place to see if they need a greasemonkey and every warehouse to see if they need something picked up and moved somewhere else.

If none of that works, I look for part time or full time small business opportunities to start my own business, perhaps something I can hand down to Gabe when he gets older.

But yeah, if you're a barely capable worker with narrow and limited skills, no people skills, and you've stopped showering every day...maybe you have a problem.

 

[Martha]

But yeah, if you're a barely capable worker with narrow and limited skills, no people skills, and you've stopped showering every day...maybe you have a problem.

If things get really bad, retirees will be competing with younger people with current skills for jobs. Unless you stand out in some way, you could have a tough time. So capable but average retirees could be SOL.

But of course, we are all strong, good looking, above average, and take daily showers.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Ok, thats it. I'll admit it. I'm actually a 15 year old girl dog from missoula that never bathes.

 

[wabmester]

"uhh...no thanks."

You might be surprised. A hiring manager is going to doubt your motives if you used to be higher on the ladder. They'll doubt your drive if you've been retired. They'll doubt your ability to take direction, learn new skills, etc.

I think you're better off looking for consulting gigs or simply starting your own business if you ever decide to get back on the treadmill.

 

[wabmester]

I am still debating whether to keep my law license.  It is expensive to keep up on the education credits.  But if I have the license I think I can always do something to scare up some money.  Even if I don't much like the work. 

Your advice here is always welcome. Figure out some way to charge us for it, and we'll support you! Seriously, I'm sure there's an unfilled niche for ER-specific legal work.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You might be surprised. A hiring manager is going to doubt your motives if you used to be higher on the ladder. They'll doubt your drive if you've been retired. They'll doubt your ability to take direction, learn new skills, etc.

Then thats someone who second guessed themselves out of a top quality employee for a bargain price.

And someone I probably wouldnt want to work for.

Come on! Who the heck would be threatened by Mr Mom!