Jobs

[burm]

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Anyone have tips for negotiating a salary? I've never had an office job before so I'm not sure how this is supposed to work. The initial offer was for 36.5k, I'm hoping to bump it up to at least 40k.

[close]

I don’t know how it’s in your area, but my experience is that any company that’s in any way big or established has salary tiers/grades they follow, so if your task belongs to the B grade, the B grade salary is all you are going to get. They might as well put it in the job ad upfront.

That being said there is usually some scale to allow for personal raises or experience bonuses, so if they are offering the minimum for the grade you might be able to bump it up. You miss 100% of the raises you don’t ask for, as Gretzky used to say.

[close]

Technically my position got bumped up because of some prior experience (research assistant ➡️ research specialist)  so I'm hoping that will work in my favor. The initial offer is at the very top of the lowest pay tier so I was hoping I could break into that one. Thanks for the insight!

Ok that sounds like a strong case for a pay grade bump, I'm rooting for you!

I just had a funny occurrence with this at work. I'm going to change teams in a couple of weeks or something as soon as I onboard my successor, because I don't really get along with my manager and this is the only way I can keep my sanity and my job/perks at the current company (plus I've been working there 3x as long as he has). So I talked with the dude they hired to replace me and he told me they offered him 16% more salary than me, which is actually less than I assumed since I knew my salary was not that great. So I get all cocky because I know the company thinks I wouldn't know his salary since people don't usually talk about those, so I get the lead HR on the line and say to them I would really prefer if you could match our salaries since we both have 10+ years of experience and supposedly do the same job.

So they said yeah we check on these periodically to make sure they are fair and yada yada and I can see what we can do but it really comes down to your job performance so I will have to talk to your manager about it... my fucking face went white. If I had just waited a few more weeks before I brought this up I would have had a new manager who actually knows their shit and had no reason to hate me yet. Well, I'm still waiting on the results 

[SchizophrenicFatBoy]

Does anyone work with elephants or birds? I'm thinking about going back to school and majoring in some field of science. However, if it's possible to just get a job with certifications and networking, that would be more desirable. Based off what I've read in news articles and on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people with undergraduate biology degrees do not get paid much. Also, there's supposedly more competition because roughly 50% of science majors are biology majors. If I can't do something I enjoy or find rewarding, career-wise, I'll do a coding bootcamp and eventually adopt a pet macaw.

[masturskater]

Anyone have tips for negotiating a salary? I've never had an office job before so I'm not sure how this is supposed to work. The initial offer was for 36.5k, I'm hoping to bump it up to at least 40k.

Check out this blog and this guy's videos on negotiating salary. It's cringy stuff but it helped me gain confidence in my salary negotiations.
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/salary-negotiation/

I actually haven't watched it in years but my buddy sent that to me and i know it worked for me. Definitely changed my frame of mind. I changed jobs twice since then each with 20% increases on each move.

Companies have budgets for the positions they're hiring for. If they can save some money and fill the position they will. If they can't afford what you're asking that's fair and they'll let you know.

Shoot your shot. you have nothing to lose. Just do it respectfully and with some confidence. It's more beneficial for both parties and to be satisfied and feel like they are getting what their moneys worth. If either party feels like they're being taking advantage of, the whole working relationship will get sour fast. Hopefully you're excited for the job, they're excited to have you on board and they're willing to meet you at your asking price.

Good luck!

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

Anyone have tips for negotiating a salary? I've never had an office job before so I'm not sure how this is supposed to work. The initial offer was for 36.5k, I'm hoping to bump it up to at least 40k.

Use Glassdoor to see what their employees typically make. Ask them for the budget. Try to never give your number first. If they won't budge throw out your highest non-ridiculous number possible.

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

Does anyone work with elephants or birds? I'm thinking about going back to school and majoring in some field of science. However, if it's possible to just get a job with certifications and networking, that would be more desirable. Based off what I've read in news articles and on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people with undergraduate biology degrees do not get paid much. Also, there's supposedly more competition because roughly 50% of science majors are biology majors. If I can't do something I enjoy or find rewarding, career-wise, I'll do a coding bootcamp and eventually adopt a pet macaw.

I'd avoid four year degrees at any cost. They love to waste your time with breadth courses and stupid essays. If you want to work with animals i would suggest vet tech, or rescuing animals independently or raising exotic animals and filming it for YouTube videos.

[doctorkickflip]

Anyone had any luck switching career paths? I'm a video editor rn for a gov. agency and hate my life sitting on a computer all day. I'd like to work outside and was looking into the forest service or even just being a barn hand at this stable near my place. Only problem is last time I worked as a grunt was ten years ago so I'm not sure how to convince people I actually can and enjoy working with my hands and shoveling shit.

[slippy]

Anyone had any luck switching career paths? I'm a video editor rn for a gov. agency and hate my life sitting on a computer all day. I'd like to work outside and was looking into the forest service or even just being a barn hand at this stable near my place. Only problem is last time I worked as a grunt was ten years ago so I'm not sure how to convince people I actually can and enjoy working with my hands and shoveling shit.

I don't imagine you'd have too hard of a time getting buy-in for that!  My 2 cents would be to (even if untrue) paint a picture that you're constantly doing this stuff in your free time.  If you explain that you're wanting to get out from behind your desk and take your passion full time I think they'd respond.  Best of luck and don't feel bad about embellishing, everyone is doing it in an interview so hype yourself up!

[doctorkickflip]

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Anyone had any luck switching career paths? I'm a video editor rn for a gov. agency and hate my life sitting on a computer all day. I'd like to work outside and was looking into the forest service or even just being a barn hand at this stable near my place. Only problem is last time I worked as a grunt was ten years ago so I'm not sure how to convince people I actually can and enjoy working with my hands and shoveling shit.

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I don't imagine you'd have too hard of a time getting buy-in for that!  My 2 cents would be to (even if untrue) paint a picture that you're constantly doing this stuff in your free time.  If you explain that you're wanting to get out from behind your desk and take your passion full time I think they'd respond.  Best of luck and don't feel bad about embellishing, everyone is doing it in an interview so hype yourself up!

Damn, thanks! that's a good point and I actually hadn't thought of it that way before. Definitely no stranger to embellishing haha

[L33Tg33k]

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Anyone had any luck switching career paths? I'm a video editor rn for a gov. agency and hate my life sitting on a computer all day. I'd like to work outside and was looking into the forest service or even just being a barn hand at this stable near my place. Only problem is last time I worked as a grunt was ten years ago so I'm not sure how to convince people I actually can and enjoy working with my hands and shoveling shit.

[close]

I don't imagine you'd have too hard of a time getting buy-in for that!  My 2 cents would be to (even if untrue) paint a picture that you're constantly doing this stuff in your free time.  If you explain that you're wanting to get out from behind your desk and take your passion full time I think they'd respond.  Best of luck and don't feel bad about embellishing, everyone is doing it in an interview so hype yourself up!

[close]

Damn, thanks! that's a good point and I actually hadn't thought of it that way before. Definitely no stranger to embellishing haha

Be a mail carrier or FedEx or UPS. All relatively easy to get outside jobs that won't give two fucks about your job history. Fuck, Amazon will hire you on the spot.

[Sativa Lung]

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Anyone had any luck switching career paths? I'm a video editor rn for a gov. agency and hate my life sitting on a computer all day. I'd like to work outside and was looking into the forest service or even just being a barn hand at this stable near my place. Only problem is last time I worked as a grunt was ten years ago so I'm not sure how to convince people I actually can and enjoy working with my hands and shoveling shit.

[close]

I don't imagine you'd have too hard of a time getting buy-in for that!  My 2 cents would be to (even if untrue) paint a picture that you're constantly doing this stuff in your free time.  If you explain that you're wanting to get out from behind your desk and take your passion full time I think they'd respond.  Best of luck and don't feel bad about embellishing, everyone is doing it in an interview so hype yourself up!

[close]

Damn, thanks! that's a good point and I actually hadn't thought of it that way before. Definitely no stranger to embellishing haha

Do you work with any VI/graphics folks? I'm from the military graphics world so if you're not like a gs-14 there's a reasonable chance we know some of the same folks haha.

I'm actually doing the opposite of you, after almost a decade of the blue collar life I'm more than ready to go back to making 65k to watch skate videos on YouTube. I have 3 apps in and got word back today that the first one has not only been reviewed and had my records verified but that some phone calls were made from way up the chain inquiring about if/when my current service line would be prepared to lose me. Pretty stoked about it, if I get it then basically the only thing I'll miss about what I do now is skating on my breaks.

[Frank]

i applied to this place as a cook, but now i do dispatch and bar/service as well. this is mainly due to us needing more workers, but my bosses seem to love me. the chef of one place is fighting with the manager of the other place where i do dispatch and shit to get me back into his kitchen asap XD
i've been working a ton and now i'm one of the very few who did almost everything in the company and it's way more work now than i even expected, but that's ok since i'm trying to pay off accumulated credit debt. if it keeps going like this for the year i'll be good at the end of it.

[apport]

man i need out of IT, i’m tired of constantly having to learn shit i have next to no interest in

[iKobrakai]

man i need out of IT, i’m tired of constantly having to learn shit i have next to no interest in

Damn, all that "learn to code" shit... IT is really not for everybody.

[in love w/ fs shuvs]

Anyone here have like an actual career they studied for? If so, did you move away from home and put skating and hobbies to the side in the name of career growth?

[manysnakes]

man i need out of IT, i’m tired of constantly having to learn shit i have next to no interest in

It's a real challenge when all you want to do is be outside and build shit with wood. I've recently been through a period of unemployment and I can't tell you how many times during my job searching I thought "fuck this, I'm going to work for the Forest Service."

I actually have a new (tech) job offer supposedly coming today, and I'm nervous enough that I've been up since 4:00 AM.

[somefucker]

Anyone here have like an actual career they studied for? If so, did you move away from home and put skating and hobbies to the side in the name of career growth?

guy who wasted 4 years on a degree to pursue art as career

yes, i studied graphic design after getting a math degree - got a corpo art job

at first i lived w my parents and stacked a bit of $, then when i got a job in a city i moved out. skating and hobbies didn't get pushed to the side, just not the same regiment i was used to. now i skate after work during the week, and earlier in the morning on weekends.

i kinda had to focus more on making art for fun and gaming/other hobbies to reignite the stoke for skating i had pre corpo job. routines get stale really fast, i find i skate better/like i used to after taking a few days break or skating intermittently.

either way don't listen to anyone that says you have to give up anything you love to make a living.

[manysnakes]

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man i need out of IT, i’m tired of constantly having to learn shit i have next to no interest in

[close]

Damn, all that "learn to code" shit... IT is really not for everybody.

I've seen a lot of burnout, including my own, during my short time in IT. The reality is that it actually kinda sucks to work all day behind a computer, dealing with completely abstract problems. In my former career, I would take a physically broken piece of equipment, remove, repair and replace what was needed, reassemble, test and then I was done. There was something that came to me not working, and left fully functional. Now I help manage elastic load balancing for Amazon Web Services EC2 component - what the fuck is that? I could explain it, but I get bored just thinking about it.

The plus side is, I used to clock in for work at 9:00 and work until 5:30-6, taking a couple of 15s and a half-hour lunch, but otherwise I worked. I was doing something physical; lifting, removal, balancing, tuning, etc. I would leave work completely drained, and for my trouble I earned a little more than minimum wage. In my first job in IT, my salary was double what I made in my prior field, and there were weeks when I performed ~2-4 hours of actual WORK over the span of an entire 5-day week. Then the pandemic came, and I didn't even have to leave the house any longer. I was on the other side of the wall, the laptop class.

[HyenaChaser]

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man i need out of IT, i’m tired of constantly having to learn shit i have next to no interest in

[close]

It's a real challenge when all you want to do is be outside and build shit with wood. I've recently been through a period of unemployment and I can't tell you how many times during my job searching I thought "fuck this, I'm going to work for the Forest Service."

I actually have a new (tech) job offer supposedly coming today, and I'm nervous enough that I've been up since 4:00 AM.

I’m not in tech but refreshing to see I’m not the only one who’s considered ditching the computer for the forest service. But I feel your pain, so also condolences.

[manysnakes]

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man i need out of IT, i’m tired of constantly having to learn shit i have next to no interest in

[close]

It's a real challenge when all you want to do is be outside and build shit with wood. I've recently been through a period of unemployment and I can't tell you how many times during my job searching I thought "fuck this, I'm going to work for the Forest Service."

I actually have a new (tech) job offer supposedly coming today, and I'm nervous enough that I've been up since 4:00 AM.

[close]

I’m not in tech but refreshing to see I’m not the only one who’s considered ditching the computer for the forest service. But I feel your pain, so also condolences.

It's a mixed bag, because the tech money and benefits are great - one of the only places left in the American economy where one can say that. On the other hand, desk jockeying is a heluva way to waste one's life. But ultimately, we are going to be doing some sort of alienated labor of one type or another for most of our lives, so we might as well find a balance where one is doing the least amount of work for the most amount of money.

[Skatebeard]

Anyone here have like an actual career they studied for? If so, did you move away from home and put skating and hobbies to the side in the name of career growth?

Went to university back in 2003 and got BSc Hons in Product Design (Industrial Design), got scouted by a local retail design company during my final degree show/open day, and was working for them before my graduation later in the summer. Used to get quite a bit of skating done during uni, the campus had some decent spots, but i probably spent more time getting drunk.

Moved out of university accomodation straight into a rented flat, and never moved back home... carried on skating and doing whatever, but got heavily into snowboarding so that's where a lot of my pay went (trips are expensive when you're UK based), along with messing around with cars.

Been in the retail display industry ever since, went from junior through to senior roles across 3 companies, and am now managing a team of 6 designers and engineers.

Paid off the last of my student loan last year, skate about 5 days a week, and WFH apart from a couple days a month here and there. Work/life balance is decent and I earn good money, don't own a house, but got plenty of savings to eventually do so.

Can't see myself ever leaving this industry tbh, never intended to get into it specifically, but i'm pleased to have spent my career sofar doing what I studied to do. I've just about been doing it 15 years now, been at my current company the last 11.

TL;DR - I never put my hobbies or life to one side to grow my career, and have actively prioritised hobbies and interests alongside working 9-5... you definately don't need to sell your soul and have no life to get ahead in your career, not in the UK and in my experience anyway.

I'd like to hope that you don't have to sacrifice one to achieve the other, but I suppose that depends heavily on the career you choose. I have definately sacrificed getting on the property ladder in the name of very expensive hobbies in my 20s through to early 30s...but that was more down to me choosing how to spend my money than related to my job/career.

[TastyBurrito]

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Anyone here have like an actual career they studied for? If so, did you move away from home and put skating and hobbies to the side in the name of career growth?

[close]

guy who wasted 4 years on a degree to pursue art as career

yes, i studied graphic design after getting a math degree - got a corpo art job

at first i lived w my parents and stacked a bit of $, then when i got a job in a city i moved out. skating and hobbies didn't get pushed to the side, just not the same regiment i was used to. now i skate after work during the week, and earlier in the morning on weekends.

i kinda had to focus more on making art for fun and gaming/other hobbies to reignite the stoke for skating i had pre corpo job. routines get stale really fast, i find i skate better/like i used to after taking a few days break or skating intermittently.

either way don't listen to anyone that says you have to give up anything you love to make a living.

Same. Went to school for graphic design, then to school for advertising.

Advertising got me back into skating. My coworkers all were surfers, skaters, artists, etc. Helped my get on my board again.

So while I make "corporate art" and shit. I, too, still draw and write for my own sake and as a creative outlet. And it helps that some people that I work with are some of the biggest creative influences/inspiration in my life.

[TheLurper]

Does anyone know C++ or C# or Javascript?

How did you get into coding? And, are you making a million dollars a year?

[manysnakes]

Does anyone know C++ or C# or Javascript?

How did you get into coding? And, are you making a million dollars a year?

I know some JS and a lot more Python, but I'm still a shitty coder. I can do what everyone else does, which is find something that works on Github or Stack Overflow and chop it up until it does what I need it to do. I got into it because I was a little computer nerd and, as a kid, was always between my Amiga 2000. I did a little tech work after high school and fell out of the field after the first dot-com bubble burst, and got back into it through a bunch of "job retraining" programs paid for by the state.

I don't code for a living, I work in cybersecurity, so I can't speak to the current job market in that field with any authority, but I will say that I know a number of people from my blue collar days who did the whole bootcamp thing and graduated out the other side with a six-figure job working for one or another of the big companies you'd probably think of (Microsoft, Google, Facebook).

[EdLawndale]

I work within the industry that I want to be in, albeit in a different, tangential facet of it.

In order to attain my dream job, I have to put in time grinding on my own, on weeknights after my regular job and during the weekends.

Good luck to all of you doing the same.

[GardenSkater77]

Two of my good friends from HS went into IT.

The first received a masters from Stevens and works in back end security in Manhattan. He works himself out of a job every 6-18 months. He’s basically a mercenary who is paid too much to keep full time. His work life balance sucks.

The second has a bachelors from Rutgers and works in San Francisco as a database administrator. Also used to post here. He has only had three jobs in 20 years since graduating and seems to be happy and have a decent work life balance.

While friend 2 might not make as much money he does not have to keep finding new work constantly.

[PRISON IKE]

I’ve been a jet engine mechanic my whole adult working career. I’m the lead quality inspector at the shop I work at. I have a Masters degree that I’ve never used. Every time I try to get out of aviation I get a pay bump that lures me back in.

[igrindtwinkies]

I'm currently hitting the job hunt.  I deal with routers and switches on the network for a mid-sized ISP.  I deal with some managed firewalls for business as well.

Most of my knowledge is on the networking side.  Haven't dealt with Active Directory and shit like that since I was in school using Server 2008 and 2012.  I've got a Server 2019 lab setup right now, adding mass users and shit using a powershell script.  Just ordered this book https://www.manning.com/books/learn-powershell-in-a-month-of-lunches.

Refreshing some stuff on the networking side too.  Going through some CCNA material and labbing with packet tracer.  I'm trying to get into an MSP for like 2 years and then try to nail an in-house gig at a bank or something.

I'm currently working 3 12 hour shifts overnight on the weekend.  Lot's of downtime to study.  I like the job, but after 5 years I'm ready to get into a more traditional schedule.  I'd like to make more money as well.  My current work will probably offer me a junior-mid level engineer position within the next few months if I can't find another job where I'm a good fit. 

[Trashcon]

Anyone here have like an actual career they studied for? If so, did you move away from home and put skating and hobbies to the side in the name of career growth?

Studied Sociology to get into the Social Work field. I have been a social worker for almost five years but have been in the field since 2008. I didn't move away. My office is in the next town over, which is about a 10-12 minute drive. I have a very flexible and consistent schedule with weekends off, and three day weekends every other weekend. This is probably the job that has allowed me to travel the most and spend time with my wife the most. If I were to want to move up into a management position, I could see having just a little less time as I would need to stay later but would still have my same schedule. I do skate a lot less but that has nothing to do with my job.

[Velcro Wallet]

After losing my dream job to Covid (it was 8 months ago and I’m still pissed off) I FINALLY found another job. I applied for so fuxking many that I gave up. Writing selection criteria’s sucks so bad. And I’m still paranoid about tattoos in the workplace. I live in the capital of Australia and it’s a Public Service town. Half the people I interview for have tatts but there’s still people that are…. Old school. Kinda wish I didn’t get the hands and fingers done but hey. I’m back in the PS on a year contract 

[SUPREMENECKPROTECTOR]

Does anyone know C++ or C# or Javascript?

How did you get into coding? And, are you making a million dollars a year?

The language you are coding in is not important as long as you understand the fundamental concepts behind writing code.

I am a software developer at a medium sized company in germany and i love my job. They pay is okayish at my current company and i know that i could make a lot more money at a different company but pay is not everything to me. I have been working within the same team for the past 10 years and i hope it stays that way because my colleagues are the best. The job itself is pretty low pressure and stress. We rarely have set deadlines because of our management and this contributes greatly to the low stress environment. I am not making a million dollars, started with an apprenticeship and have no college education(don´t know if possible in the US).