Wordforge: How do you feel about your employment?

I know some folks here are having a tough time in this recession.

How many here are unemployed?

How many here consider yourselves underemployed?

How many here are happy where you are and/or feel like you're on the right path career wise?

I like being a coach and a teacher. I've been one for the last six years.

But I hate my current school and my assignment at it.

I like where I work. I'm paid well enough.....I can't make any more (I'm making the maximum for hourly workers) without being in management.

Management = extra responsibility - so that's not going to happen on my watch. I gave up the whole "responsibility" thing when I retired from The Army.

I am well employed. I think my company and I are a good match for each other.

I can't really complain. Although our salaries were frozen and I'm three salary schedule steps below where I should be due to a couple of other salary freezes years ago, at least I still have a job with benefits. I have a good group of students this year. I've only written a couple of referrals this year and they weren't on students in my classroom.

I'm not making what I could be with my degree, but I'm quite happy with what I'm making, and it's right on target for my industry in America. I get benefits and I've got a 401k, and as far as I can tell, things are only going to improve at my place of employment. There was a rough patch early this year, but things have definitely ironed themselves out.

I'm sure someone here would be happy to let them know.

I love my job -i.e. a website developer right now with my own company.

It's nice to be able to set your own hours, work at your own pace, etc.

The only thing bad about it now is not getting enough clients to make it profitable. Some days, it feels like I am barely keeping my head above water.

Still, people say I should be patient, and ride this recessionary wave out. I think that if I can figure out how to run a successful business during a recession, I'll be in good shape when the good times roll.

Funny you should ask...

I've only been working for six months or so. I'm not exactly happy with where I'm working but I'm probably gonna stick with it for another year and a half before I move on to something better.

I do well financially... but for a dentist I could be doing much better. And my work environment is usually pretty stress-free, but I have often have to deal with some moody/bitchy dental assistants and it drives me up the wall. I also have to deal with my supervisor who can be kind of a dick sometimes.

But I get nice benefits, I'm learning a lot and gaining some good experience in my field, and life is comfortable. So I can't complain too much. I'm biding my time till I find something better though.

As long as my Social Security payment is there the second Wednesday of every month I'm good to go. The only real work I'm doing any more is consulting for my former employer for four to six hours a week, mostly from home. I'm doing that as more of a favor to them than because I really need the extra money. I don't foresee any real changes in the near future.

Honestly, I can't complain.

I've got the best gig in the world.

I get paid big bucks, no stress at all, and I work from home. Had it for 5 years.

Life is good.

:sip:

You're on welfare, aren't you?

I don't think I've ever asked, but what is it you do?

I thought about working from home and bringing in money by doing computer service work. I don't have an A+ cert or Networking cert (THAT is soon to be changed however), but I do good work and I'm honest to a fault.

J.

That's where it started for me 15 years ago, with a Novell 3.12 certification. During my first year I switched to MCSE (Microsoft - NT 3.5). So I've been a network engineer a long time.

I picked up a ton of soft skills, worked consulting 10 years and built a resume full of big name clients, then I fell into this gig and built everything from the ground up and they just kept me. Always had a knack for being at the right place at the right time.

Paid some bitching dues along the way, but it was worth it when you can turn a small engagement into a position that last years. Consulting was like getting to try out a new company ever 2-3 months. I miss that sometimes.

If you want a cert, MCSE is still where it's at to start off.

I checked out an MSCE certification and it's less than half the price of an A+ certification. That sounds like a good idea. See, I know the technology, I just need something to prove that I know the technology. This looks like a good idea.

Plus, I'd much rather work for myself. If I'm going to work for an asshole, it might as well be me.


J.

Good luck.

It can be tough to get your foot in the door sometimes kicking it off, but the market is still ripe for small services. Lot's of small companies need help with Small Business edition. The first shop I worked for my first 2 years was a 3-man shop. It was like networking boot camp working for the crustiest old bastard in the world.

Good times. Good times.

I haven't had certs for a long time myself. Probably been ten years now. I assume after all this time of doing it, they can kiss my ass.

Still carries weight breaking into the business though.

Boy, don't you feel stupid now?

Oh, I forgot...

I don't have to take the bus.

Can you buy a bus pass with food stamps?



I wouldn't know.

Well, I like what I do, but working part time on a fee sharing basis is very hard. Therefore I am desperately lookig for a salaried job.

When it's normal here, and not insane. Most of the time it's 8 hours and home, with the occasional fire drill (code for a big rush job).

Lately, way too insane, with something like 7 proposals this year. It's not exactly morale-boosting when you don't know from one day to the next if you have to work late, or if you're going to have a weekend or not.

I like the work itself just fine - diagrams, charts, technical illustrations, publications...
Just don't like the rushing and the crunch deadlines.

Supposedly we have a break between proposals starting next week. Maybe a few normnal weeks. Supposedly.

I've got it pretty good actually. Getting a bit bored with my current job, I've been doing it for 7 years now and not much surprises me any more. But it's got decent pay, some free time at work, I don't have to take work home with me, good benefits, an unbelievably good day care for my son, and its got stability.

I'll probably need to get out of it in the next few years, but it's done good by me. The biggest problem has been management - there's been some great ones (and the one I've got now is very, very good) and there's been some complete train wrecks. Funny how big companies are actually worse at identifying what it takes to be a successful boss than small companies.

Big companies have more of a safety net and thus take longer to identify inefficiencies. I know that while my company is "making more" now, we're not as efficient as we were when there were four of us.

Yeah, size breeds incompetence. I think a large part of it is it becomes more political - lots of nepotism. Hell, some departments are damn near feudal - I had one guy give me the Don Corleone 'your my guy' speech in an obvious effort to get my loyalty. He was out in six months, but fucked up a lot before that time.

It isn't exactly a secret given what I've said openly and the fact that the administration tried to boot my ass out of here last year.

They would have had it not been for a promise that the school board made to the Head Football Coach (to keep his coaching staff intact).

I thought I was on the chopping block this year.

But I've heard that I'm far down the list of problems for this year. Apparently a number of the new teachers are a cause of concern.

In fact, if I come back next year, due to shuffling of the coaching assignments, I'm going to be promoted back to defensive coordinator.

I don't love my job. It can be tedious and frustrating, with more human aggravation than I'd care to deal with sometimes. At best, it's boring as hell but pays better than any other job I could hope to get with my complete lack of credentials or marketable qualifications, which is why I've worked here since 1998. Still, I'm not willing to pile on the debt to take night classes for something else, so I'll at least stay here until I can pay off the mountain of debt I already have. That might give me a fighting chance to survive on the fast food/convenience store/security guard/custodial job I'll likely have to take once this one ends.

I repair Air Traffic Control Equipment at an Army technical school.
So basically I fix the equipment the students train on.

Good thing I enjoy it, because it's the only marketable skill I possess.

I've done it successfully since 1989, and still haven't reached my peak!