OT: Employment Interviews in the post covid 2020's

[JoeSchmoe]

Our gas line into our house was leaking. It was buried behind a wall and floor and there was no way to get at it. Gas company shut the gas off and we were desperate. I had worked out a plan to bypass the in wall/floor stuff and run a whole new supply in the house. 

First quote came back at $3000. This was $180/hr for the senior guy and $120/hr for a junior guy plus supplies. We almost paid it, but I called an acquaintance that did it for $800. Still, it took him 3hr and less than $100 in supplies.

99% of all college grads will not make the kind of money that the first contractor quoted me... Especially if you consider the lost income and high costs while going to school. 80-90% will not even make what my acquaintance charged me.

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Our gas line into our house was leaking. It was buried behind a wall and floor and there was no way to get at it. Gas company shut the gas off and we were desperate. I had worked out a plan to bypass the in wall/floor stuff and run a whole new supply in the house. 

First quote came back at $3000. This was $180/hr for the senior guy and $120/hr for a junior guy plus supplies. We almost paid it, but I called an acquaintance that did it for $800. Still, it took him 3hr and less than $100 in supplies.

99% of all college grads will not make the kind of money that the first contractor quoted me... Especially if you consider the lost income and high costs while going to school. 80-90% will not even make what my acquaintance charged me.

There's an old joke about a lawyer being stunned by the invoice he got from his plumber.

"Why ... this is more than I charge MY clients per hour!"

"Yeah. It's more than I charged my clients per hour when I practiced law as well."

[North Buffalo]

On 7/26/2023 at 9:30 PM, Scottysabres said:

My mentor got his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and never took out a loan, paid as he went.

For context, my Mentor is my age, 52, we worked together for the first time on the Lakeside Power Plant, Levi, Utah. That was in 05. He was 2 yrs in to schooling when I met him. He finished up his Masters in 2016. Yes, 11 yrs, but we could make 100k+ a year with the hours and only work 8 to 10 months. 

I always smirk when I hear all the hoopla around student loans. I literally don't know anyone in my personal life who took out loans. Every one of them worked, banked, paid, rinse and repeat per semester. And I know many who have degrees.

I had 1 loan switched schools and got a job at the new University... received free tuition part time... lived frugally and graduated with no debt... paying off the loan before graduating... it can be done if you are determined.

[Scottysabres]

6 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Being able to "find a way" has been the universal dismissal phrase for a lot of this. "Well they found a way so it's fine." I am not saying that is what you said, just noting that is how it is being used. I have a friend who constantly says "well I found a way" and has suggested my wife is dumb for going into education because it doesn't pay enough. Rising costs are a result of stagnant government spending on education and rising costs of colleges. It isn't just administrators. Colleges have to have all these extras to attract students, it isn't about education anymore, it is about an experience. It sucks and idk what or if there is a solution.

That said not everyone should go to college. Trades are valuable and always have been and should be viewed with the same appreciation as some Bacherlor's degreed tech bro. 

I concur with everything you said. LG, the people I work for/with, my family members, acquaintances/friends, and myself.....we aren't rocket scientists, as the old adage says. We are people from different backgrounds, different generations, yet, every one of them that I know in my life on those mentioned, over came the cost without loans. That was the intent of my response on the subject.

[JoeSchmoe]

I'm a capitalist at heart, but I very much hate to see the increasing spread between the rich and poor.

The example I like to quote is back in the day, there used to be a work boot plant in Port Colborne, just like there were similar manufacturing facilities in seemingly every town. Eventually it shut down as goods like work boots are now made pretty much exclusively overseas. Problem is, the price of work boots never, ever went down as a result of offshoring. The only thing that happened was shareholder profits went up. Definitely not how Henry Ford would have planned it. 

Anyhow, it'd be good if people spent their time boycotting companies with gross disparities between CEO and employee salaries rather than these left or right wing inspired efforts that seem to grab all the attention these days.

Like Trump or hate him, I think his promise to try to bring manufacturing jobs back was the right call (however ingenious or disingenuous it may have been). 

[Wyldnwoody44]

Talk about student loans... 

 

I have a good job that I've been at for quite some time... I still pay over 2k a month in loan payments.... 42 months left. 

 

Merica 

[Pimlach]

55 minutes ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Talk about student loans... 

 

I have a good job that I've been at for quite some time... I still pay over 2k a month in loan payments.... 42 months left. 

 

Merica 

I saw you house and land in another thread.  You are doing quite well and meeting your loan commitments.   👍

[Wyldnwoody44]

15 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I saw you house and land in another thread.  You are doing quite well and meeting your loan commitments.   👍

Yes, I am fortunate enough to have landed a career that is allowing me to pay it back. 

That's not the case for a lot of college grads, sadly. 

[Taro T]

12 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Yes, I am fortunate enough to have landed a career that is allowing me to pay it back. 

That's not the case for a lot of college grads, sadly. 

Fortunate enough or wise enough to have chosen to invest in an education program that would allow you to repay the money you borrowed on the schedule you agreed to when you borrowed the money?

[Scottysabres]

Due to the 4th of July holiday and vacation time for some TAT's all of my interviews went to the 3rd stage of the process to 8 days ago Friday. This past week I have received 7 offer letters out of 9 of the employers I went to the 3rd interview stage with. I'll make my decision this weekend and hopefully all goes well. It's really a labor sellers market out there in my career field right now.

[dudacek]

On 7/27/2023 at 8:22 PM, JoeSchmoe said:

As a Canadian, I can't understand why anyone in the US would go anywhere else other than a state school. The price discrepancy for a 4 year degree is massive, but the quality of education is similar. 

My friend went to Syracuse on a full sports scholarship. Her teammate who I got to know didn't get a scholarship and will be buried in student loans indefinitely. She could have went to UB for a fraction of the price and got the same degree.

It seems to me from an outsider’s point of view that many Americans have fully bought into some ideas about post-secondary education that aren’t necessarily true:

An education needs to be expensive to have value.

You must go out and get a degree as soon as you’re done high school.

You need to “go away” to college.

The name of the institution on the degree matters more than the knowledge it carries.

A  cost-benefit analysis of your options post-degree is less important than figuring out how you can afford the degree itself.

You can figure out whether it’s the right field for you, and how you’re going to pay for it later.

 

[SABRES 0311]

4 hours ago, Scottysabres said:

Due to the 4th of July holiday and vacation time for some TAT's all of my interviews went to the 3rd stage of the process to 8 days ago Friday. This past week I have received 7 offer letters out of 9 of the employers I went to the 3rd interview stage with. I'll make my decision this weekend and hopefully all goes well. It's really a labor sellers market out there in my career field right now.

Sounds like a good problem to have. Glad to hear and good luck.

[SABRES 0311]

4 hours ago, dudacek said:

It seems to me from an outsider’s point of view that many Americans have fully bought into some ideas about post-secondary education that aren’t necessarily true:

An education needs to be expensive to have value.

You must go out and get a degree as soon as you’re done high school.

You need to “go away” to college.

The name of the institution on the degree matters more than the knowledge it carries.

A  cost-benefit analysis of your options post-degree is less important than figuring out how you can afford the degree itself.

You can figure out whether it’s the right field for you, and how you’re going to pay for it later.

 

I waited until later in life to go to school. It wasn’t so much a deliberate decision but one I think has worked out. Along the way I received a lot of real world experience but appreciate what a formal education brings to the table.

The benefit for me is I chose a degree program specific to the field I want to be in. The decision to be in that field goes back to life experience. The reason I am glad I waited is I am more certain than I was at 18. Switching programs and kind of guessing at growth and marketability is not as much of a concern. 

That and while I was waiting to go to school I achieved a military pension and access to the GI Bill.