And yeah, cleaning the floors while making payments on a huge student loan was a MF. But it was training in motivation, made me swear to myself that I would push harder than anyone else and succeed.
I hear that! I was lucky to go to college in Kentucky where you can work for UPS part-time and they pay for your education assuming you pass the classes. I started working at 14-15 years old (under the table for spending money), and some of the jobs I did motivated me enough to want more out of life than I was currently getting.
Alot of employer's like myself use temp agency's to find a full time worker without making any llong-term commitment so keep that in mind .
That's great to hear! I know my cousin was hired on at his current job through a temp agency and he's been there a few years now.
Not a word??????
Is your contact info correct???
As much as I hate to admit it; yes. I don't know if this process is normal for "professional" jobs in the US, but the jobs that I worked in college didn't take more than a couple of weeks at most to hear back on. I cant imagine that it would take 3+ months to hear back. I've either not heard a damn thing, or I've received the dreaded "thank you for your application but..." emails.
If you like working with your hands and don't mind getting dirty machining in Portland is support to be real good. My father repairs machine tools down there and says he has more work than he knows what to do with and all the shops are going gangbusters. He's actually getting ready to quit working for his employer and go solo. Entry level can get you ~$15 journey around 28
I'm not above anything brother, I don't mind getting my hands dirty. Growing up, I did some under the table construction work, worked at a greenhouse mixing soil & planting seedlings for 12 hours a day, etc. I'll be honest though, I don't know much about repairing machine tools; I'm not sure what I would be able to contribute. I'd love to hear more about it, but at the same time I wouldn't want to burden because I don't know jack shit about what's going on.
Having a skill that is in demand is a key to finding work. Sounds obvious, but like I told my kids, that degree in art doesn't let you apply for many jobs. I was surprised when one of them wound up in Operations at a major corporation, the job required a BA to apply, but didn't specify what sort of degree. He doesn't like the job, but it pays well enough and is a step to something better. I worked a several factories, hated it, but everything we do is preparation for the next gig. Keep pushing. Maybe start going to church, lots of reasons to do that, but it can lead to a connection that gets you back to work and the confidence and social connections that happen can get you results.
Honestly when I started college I wanted to do one of the "fun" degrees but my father convinced me to get a business degree (Business Administration) instead. I basically heard the exact same advice as you've given your kids; it's sound advice too! To be completely honest, I lucked into the position that I received in China; had my native language not been English I'm quite certain I wouldn't have gotten the position. Essentially I was an HR manager for the foreign workers that came in for work. It worked out and I gained a lot of experience from it, but I didn't necessary "earn" the position as I would have had to do here. Before that job, I've done basically everything you can imagine... I worked at a greenhouse, picked up/transported money from businesses to banks, marketing photography for an online retailer, customer service, retail, etc. I'll definitely start networking again once I get out there; unfortunately I left Portland many years ago and many of those connections that I had don't exist anymore. I plan to go to the church that my family used to attend when we lived out there; maybe something will turn up there. So far the furthest my connections have gotten me is a potential position selling insurance in Vancouver, WA (across the river from Portland) but even that isn't confirmed since they aren't actively hiring at the moment.
