Career And Job Advice Q&A

bubs said:
Been forced from a project manager job into in a management and sales job where I'm now struggling. Got a couple employees that work for me now that run circles around me in most every way. One of them is much better qualified than I am to be in this new position I've been forced into, and feel like I have a bullseye on my back. I probably make at least 30% more than this individual does. Should I go to the owner to suggest a position swap (he clearly sees what's going on as well), suggest I take a pay cut go back to being a great project manager? Despite me doing great work before, I think the owner doesn't like my high-salary, and possibly may be doing a reorganize for a potential sale (just a possibility/speculation on my part). Or ride it out in this crazy position I stink at/have no aptitude as a saleman, and see how it plays out? I'm giving it my best but its a quite stressful situation.
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The position you are in and your salary has nothing to do with the other employees around you, the boss has put you in that position of authority of the others for a reason and they are supposed to respect the heirachy at work so if they not you got to put them in their place, I would use every means possible in that position to dicipline those under you who are going directly against your instructions, no ways dont ask for a salary reduction or position swap God has blessed you with that salary take it and do your best in your work, maybe one day you will find something else but I think its good to face these difficult challenges and try overcome them its a very valuable life lesson you wont want to miss out on, take it as a blessing from God.
 
bubs said:
I think it’s actually the opposite. I’m mostly a softy manager and not a tyrant. All of the survey results said that they felt that I genuinely care about them as people and listen to their input when making decisions, but they don’t respect me as a leader and don’t feel I’m competent to lead them. I think from at least 2 of them (both young women), they want to be in charge and see me as an obstacle, so a lot of what I read from their comments was mostly unconstrcutive criticism for the purpose of the review, to expose some of my weaknesses to the owner. They weren’t inaccurate in most of their comments, just clearly a passive aggressive way to try to usurp me as a manager as fast as possible.
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No wonder your boss put you as the leader, he was very wise not to put those woman under you as the leader of his company, I think you gonna be fine👍🏻
 
N°6 said:
Anyone here have some sort of above-average experience or authority in the corporate world?

I am just wondering if white men in the DEI era should leave corporations or if there are means and ways to stay inside within some form of merit-based air pocket.

If so, I will explain my recent experience with a STEM globocorp.
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My globocorp espouses DEI, ESG, pick your favorite acronym. But it's in a majority white area, so white men make up quite a lot of the employees. At present it's like you can tell that the Maoist thing is just getting started. There isn't THAT much pronoun or race-mongering, but instead of calling people out on it like you would like to, you just focus on the work part.

And, like @bubs said, you focus on keeping spending down, pay off your house, and work towards financial independence.

I've applied to jobs at tech giants that pay $500-700k annually, and just checked nonbinary during the application. For that money I'll happily be they/them for a time like @staddlelateen suggested (Elizabeth Warren approach) and "fluidly" move back to he/him and call people bigots if they dare question my transition.
 
magoo said:
Did you read the thread?
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I read the first 2 pages then only saw the last page now and realized the guys situation has change, my bad for reponding before check the last page😧 I hope Bubs is ok , I think at his age and being a white male its probably best he works from home and becomes self employed, Iv worked for companies before but most of my life Iv been self employed doing various different things over the years and I find it much better to work from home, so much more freedom
 
@bubs - You dealt with your company in good faith. It now appears that your boss was not doing so. Do whatever you need to maximize your long-term return, be that signing or not on their NDA/non-compete. You might someday be able to sell back your services to them in the future - as a consultant/1099 worker. If/when that day comes, go for the throat.

I'm sorry for the rough turn of events. Bless you, brother.
 
I think if I were 18 years old again and wondering what to do with my career, wondering if or where to go to college... I'd consider going to college to study electrical engineering and focus on learning about the US power grid and transmission, with a minor in economics.

Sure, you'll attend some woke university, but most of what you do will be focused in a STEM department where some of your professors "go along" with the pronoun people and BLM activists, but their passion is about the technical subject at hand. Ignore the trash and focus on your major.

Then I'd get internships learning about the transmission space and become an expert in that. There are all sorts of policies involved that require humans to negotiate and vote so will not be replaced by AI in official capacities.

And the electrical grid needs a lot of development. Running data centers for the AI robots is insanely energy-intensive, so we are only going to have to keep adding transmission to power it.

It seems to me like the "sell shovels and picks" strategy for the AI goldrush.
 
cosine said:
I'd consider going to college to study electrical engineering and focus on learning about the US power grid and transmission, with a minor in economics.
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I've met a couple people who did exactly that! One guy in Texas, and another on the east coast. They've explained to me what they technically do, but it's above my head, so I'll summarize by saying they're on the "data and numbers" side of the energy grid's supply chain. Let's just say they're doing quite well for themselves. And yes, little woke BS during their college years, since their education involved the actually hard sciences.
 
Oh and I meant to add to the electrical grid concept:

Luckily, the electrical grid runs on physics and not on diversity. Ultimately, even the wokest want the lights to stay on, so sources like natural gas are not going to be turned off anytime soon. There are lots of interesting "purple" energy companies that have renewables, gas, and also own a lot of transmission wires. Most of the people making the market policies that keep the lights on are still pragmatic, and intelligent. Their jobs require them to operate around reality and not on idealism.

The energy market is a great option. Sort of a continuation of the Canadian Oil Sands idea. Lots of lucrative careers that are not going to go away if you are competent.
 
Maritime industry pays well and you need no schooling (not even high school diploma).

If you have $50k, you can go to a school and become an officer (after 2-3 years) making ~$600/day with a good upside. Around $100 extra after a year and in 5 years if you put effort, become captain (or chief engineer) making ~$1000 or more a day. You work 6 months per year (so $180k + benefits as those ratings).

If you don’t have money, you can do an apprenticeship from a union and after 4 months, be making $8k/month. After a year, it can go to $12k/month and you’ll be making six figures. It’s way more laborious than working as an officer but easier to get in and start making money. It’s capped at $400-$500/day but after ~5 years, you can upgrade to become an officer. By then you’ll have good savings since you don’t have to pay for rent or food while working.
 
Joost said:
Maritime industry pays well and you need no schooling (not even high school diploma).

If you have $50k, you can go to a school and become an officer (after 2-3 years) making ~$600/day with a good upside. Around $100 extra after a year and in 5 years if you put effort, become captain (or chief engineer) making ~$1000 or more a day. You work 6 months per year (so $180k + benefits as those ratings).

If you don’t have money, you can do an apprenticeship from a union and after 4 months, be making $8k/month. After a year, it can go to $12k/month and you’ll be making six figures. It’s way more laborious than working as an officer but easier to get in and start making money. It’s capped at $400-$500/day but after ~5 years, you can upgrade to become an officer. By then you’ll have good savings since you don’t have to pay for rent or food while working.
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Is it good for family? How much time is away from home (eg, # of days per year)? What is the longest stretch away from home?
 
Cornelius V.E. said:
Is it good for family? How much time is away from home (eg, # of days per year)? What is the longest stretch away from home?
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It’s horrible if you plan on starting a family since you’ll spend more time at sea.
Unlicensed (non-officers) tend to work 8 months per year. Officers 6 months.

Some ships have a short time schedule like 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. You might even be able to return home at night if you live in a place like Galveston, TX. But I wouldn’t count on it.
Schedules can vary a lot. Union jobs you stay 4-6 months (straight, working 7 days a week) at sea. So forget starting a family.

If you’re an officer and do even time 2-3 weeks on and 2-3 weeks off is more doable. There is an advantage about being 100% available for such time. Instead of returning tired in the end of the day, you’ll have weeks off to travel and take your family away.

It pays well because that’s the compromise. I would like to start a family but I don’t want to give away all the money I’m making and having half the year for me to enjoy stress free (anywhere in the world, with plenty of money in my pocket).

I don’t know any career that has such low barrier to entry that pays that well.
 
Cornelius V.E. said:
Is it good for family? How much time is away from home (eg, # of days per year)? What is the longest stretch away from home?
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I remember meeting a guy who'd worked in maritime. "You start dating a girl, come back from a while at work, and find out she's dating some other guy."
 
I have around a month in front of me with little commitments and a good amount of free time. After that month my time will be spoken for so I'm trying to figure out how to best earn money in the meantime. My previous trade is off the table as it requires longer term commitment. Currently all I can think of is food app delivery or some kind of low commitment retail job. Neither seem very profitable or appealing. Would love to hear any ideas or suggestions.
 
Iacobus said:
I have around a month in front of me with little commitments and a good amount of free time. After that month my time will be spoken for so I'm trying to figure out how to best earn money in the meantime. My previous trade is off the table as it requires longer term commitment. Currently all I can think of is food app delivery or some kind of low commitment retail job. Neither seem very profitable or appealing. Would love to hear any ideas or suggestions.
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Right now lots of places are hiring seasonal workers. Think tourist areas or agriculture. Beach restaurant waiter or Alaska salmon cannery.
 
Iacobus said:
I have around a month in front of me with little commitments and a good amount of free time. After that month my time will be spoken for so I'm trying to figure out how to best earn money in the meantime. My previous trade is off the table as it requires longer term commitment. Currently all I can think of is food app delivery or some kind of low commitment retail job. Neither seem very profitable or appealing. Would love to hear any ideas or suggestions.
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Cornelius V.E. said:
Right now lots of places are hiring seasonal workers. Think tourist areas or agriculture. Beach restaurant waiter or Alaska salmon cannery.
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I'd give a +1 to the restaurant waiter idea, or bartending. Find a bar or restaurant that gets really busy this time of year. Supposedly the best money is at high-priced but not super high priced places. You want a place where you get table turnover and not people wanting to spend 4 hours for dinner.
 
Iacobus said:
I have around a month in front of me with little commitments and a good amount of free time. After that month my time will be spoken for so I'm trying to figure out how to best earn money in the meantime. My previous trade is off the table as it requires longer term commitment. Currently all I can think of is food app delivery or some kind of low commitment retail job. Neither seem very profitable or appealing. Would love to hear any ideas or suggestions.
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Is the drone market overwhelmed with operators yet? Guys are doing drone videos for all kinds of advertising, training, and business scouting nowadays it seems. They follow cars around the race track, hovering just feet above their racer. Amazing stuff.
 
I've worked as a deckhand on tourboats, a yacht and worked at a marina. If you don't want to live on a boat and just want a more regular schedule, another option in the maritime industry is to work on ferries, water taxis, tourboats, etc. You won't get rich, but captains make decent money. The captain's license (usually 100 ton) also takes a lot less time to get than going deep sea or tugboats. I would not recommend this route for someone that is passionate about being a mariner though. Or if you want big money.

Working at a marina was my favorite job. It can be a nice career too if you move into management. And working on a yacht was not nearly as fun as people think it is.
 
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Doordash/UberEats might be a good 1 month stint. See if there is a temp agency in the area. Also check out Home Depot/Lowes…they are always hiring it seems. See if a local florist or pizza shop needs a deliver driver. Usually florists have their own Van you drive so won’t put wear and tear on your own vehicle like other driving options. As others mentioned, waiting tables pays well, but it’s not for everyone. Have to self reflect and see what works for your personality. Maybe a local landscaper or construction crew would bring you on and pay you under the table in cash /off the books which is always beneficial to both parties.
 
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