Jobs for the youngins

[SnowBlazer]

I posted this before the site went down for maintenance a couple weeks back and I think it got lost in the shuffle. Nonetheless, my new year's resolution for 2016 is to get a better job. Somewhere where I am more happy and like waking up in the morning. I really would like to get out of the restaurant setting. Not only that but, I get the feeling that it is time to move out. I get along with my parents alright (not the greatest but y'all know how it is being 19), and our carport only houses two cars. I borrow a spot from a guy across the street. Meaning that at anytime I could loose my spot and be royally screwed. What I am searching for is some serious advice on a decently paying job that I can also live off of on my own. Any help is always greatly appreciated!
~Ryan

 

[dmanns67]

It will be hard to find a decently paying job without experience and education. High school diploma can only get you so far. Are you just looking for a job or are you looking for a career? Is all of your job experience in the food service industry?

What are you interested in? What kind of career would you like to pursue? I know you are young, but you should be looking further down the road than what's your next job is.

What happened to joining the Air Force? Is that on hold or you looking to take another path? If you do not want to attend formal college, have you ever thought about attending a trade school and going through an apprenticeship or attending a technical college? Maybe automotive repair?

I will tell you from experience that living on your own is expensive. I am not sure what bills you have now, but when you add rent, utilities, groceries, insurance, and repair experiences (home related), a paycheck does not go very far. When I moved out of my Dad's house, I had different roommates for six years prior to getting my own place.

If continuing your education is not an option for you, you can look into creating a Monster.com and/or LinkedIn account. Fill out your profile and upload a resume. I assume you already have a resume put together. No matter what job you apply for, I would always suggest submitting a resume as well. Your resume can tell the employer a lot more about yourself than what a basic application can. I like Monster because it can work both ways. You can search for potential job openings or career opportunities and employers can contact you for a potential job if they like what they see with your resume.

Have you ever thought about moving to the management side of the food service industry? It sounds like you already have a few years experience in that field. Even though you do not have the higher education degree, you have the food service experience to work with.

Is there any manufacturing plants close to you? Typically union manufacturing plants do pay well depending on the department. My plant pays $15/hr to $32/hr based on the department you work in. There is also a lot of opportunities for advancement.

My serious advice to you, you are young with limited experience. Continue your education either at a traditional college, technical college, or trade school. Acquire a degree and a skillset. If you are going to get a decent paying job that can lead to a career, employers need to have a reason to hire you. What can you do for the company, what skillset do you bring to the table, why should the company hire you. In every interview that I have ever been in, I have always been asked why should we hire you. With no experience outside of food service and just a high school diploma, this would be a hard question to answer.

 

[northcreek]

Ryan, I will give you the advise that my mother gave to me. Find employment with a utility company, i.e. electric,gas,water,etc.
Most have many different job choices and the work is steady and long term.
In my case I chose the electric company, started as a meter reader and advanced to an Electrical Performance Supervisor in their generation plant.
These jobs aren't easy to get but, persistence usually pays off...Mike.

 

[SnowBlazer]

Thanks guys! There isn't much around here as far as manufacturing plants go but I have toyed with the idea of trying to take a shot at a company like Cintas or Simplex for fire alarms. I am just under half way through my associates in Fire Science and continuing it as we speak. As for the Air Force, they disqualified me for seizures when I was five. Recruiter says that they need to send it to the higher ups to review and then get back to me. Honestly, I'm about over it since I've been going back and fourth with the recruiter for almost a year. I would rather move on and find a new gig. Obviously they don't really want me that bad.

If it wasn't for the lack of my parking spot, I'd try to hold out and stay with my parents, but they are wanting me out since they think I don't do anything. They are almost unsupportive with everything that I want to do. I'm 19 working full time, going to and paying for school on my own, and I still have a midnight curfew.
Stuck as a duck really.

 

[Capote]

And check out indeed.com, simplyhired.com, and many of the other job search sites out there. There's more jobs out there than you think, some that you never thought of doing before too. And if you need help improving your resume Ryan, I would gladly give you a hand, i've got a lot of material on how to structure a resume, examples, and even cover letters too.

 

[Blckshdw]

To piggy back on what others have said, see if you can track down any employment agencies in your area. Sometimes the recruiters there get leads on jobs that aren't posted publicly, or not that easy to find. Plus, them finding you a job, is what gets them paid, so they have incentive to help you find a good fit.

In the cases where I've moved to a new and unfamiliar city in my 20's and had limited experience, that's been the route I've taken and it's always paid off.

 

[Ziggy]

I'll echo the others in encouraging you to pursue a college/technical degree. I've got 16 and 13 year old kids. I've told them both that if they want to go to college, I'll help them in whatever way I can, but I'm going to demand that they both identify and pursue a trade through the local school system. Our society is getting to the point that public education is turning more and more toward "college prep", and many of our 4 year colleges are turning into "High School: Plus", basically grades 13-16. Don't get me wrong, I'm not discounting the accomplishments of those who go to college, and graduate. I am saying though, that the diploma that those student loans have financed isn't worth as much as it once was. I've heard stories from friends who went to school, amassed tens of thousands of dollars in student loans, and upon graduation, found that there just aren't that many jobs available to them. All of a sudden, those people are competing for the same manufacturing/utility/trade jobs you're looking into now, and the degree only serves to demonstrate to a potential employer that that candidate has the drive and commitment to stick and earn that degree. It sounds like you're on your way toward completing a trade program. My recommendation would be to go talk with one of the counselors and see if there are any job placement programs available to you through the school. Chances are, companies like Cintas, Koorsen, Emerson, have already reached out to the school in search of qualified people to fill jobs that they have open. Companies like to hire people that are in the process of earning a degree/certification in the field that they do business.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Plumbers and HVAC techs will always have work.

 

[05envoy]

fire protection tech is the job i have
you might want to talk to a smaller local company to find out what kind of education and training they like to see for there employees
the successful small companies usually have less supervision of there workers ie more latitude in work time and people looking over shoulder
some of the other employees at work have been at the larger company's
have horror storys of the pettiness and rigid work rules of these places

 

[gpking]

Education is the first step toward a career, but more importantly are the connections you can make in the meantime.
Too many young adults think they need to search far and wide for a job, when in reality, there is great opportunity right under their nose.

I turn 21 in a few months and I'm 3 years into a Bachelors, so I have no degree to wave around, but obviously I have to stay employed to barely pay the bills.
The best advice I can give is to "shop around" for jobs (which I see you are doing with Cintas/Simplex). Don't get comfortable in a job unless it will benefit you in the long term.
It kills me to see young adults still working dead-end gigs like cashier at McDonald's. They are wasting their time. That job is for high school kids who need gas money. Not adults.

Talk to friends, talk to family, talk to coworkers. Tell them you are looking for work, even when you are currently employed, even when you are in the middle of a brutal semester.
Sometimes I worked two jobs at the same time. It's what I had to do, and it is paying off:
I am pursuing a degree in Information Systems (aka MIS, CIS, etc) yet here I am working these last two months full-time as a Mechanical Engineer Intern (while taking a Jan-term math class).
I did data entry for this same engineering firm right out of high school, and this December they were desperate for someone with AutoCAD experience to help with some drawings, so I went for it. Lo and behold, I got a call from HR "you start Monday".
I worked hard these last two months and really impressed the engineering department so they asked me to come back for the Summer.
Call it luck, but I feel like I gave 110% to get where I am today, and I'm not letting off.

Don't buy the public school system's lies they fed you that "you need a degree to go anywhere in life". You don't.
Hard work will get you farther in life than some dumb framed piece of paper on the wall.

That leads me to attitude and work ethic:
We all know the stereotype that many adults hold that millennials are lazy, whiny, smartphone-addicted, and rude. Use this to your advantage.
When you're a scrawny kid slinging steel bars inside a 100°F+ sea container keeping pace with men twice your age, the supervisors notice.
When you show up to work, and get back from lunch break 10 minutes early every day, they notice.
When you work smarter than your coworkers, they notice.
My supervisor noticed, and he offered me a full-time position (but this was as a remodeler for Walmart, so I respectfully declined).


tl;dr- Never stop looking for jobs. Don't pass up an opportunity because you don't think you'll like it. Give it a try and it may turn into your career.
Take your education seriously. Take that Jan-term or Summer class if you need it. Get the certification/training you need.
Always give 100%.


Lastly, life costs more than you think. It costs me roughly $10,000/yr. in living expenses (ie: not counting tuition), and I live very plainly. Once you pile on food, rent, insurance, tuition, phone, gas, it gets overwhelming. Prepare a budget and follow it religiously.

 

[TB_n00b]

You're young and you have options to put yourself into a career that is truly fulfilling to you. If you're truly interested in fire protection or something similar, continue working towards the degree.

Trust me when I say this: use the "free" housing to your advantage. Being young and poor isn't fun. Being young and poor but having a place to live at your childhood home may not be fun either, but it's substantially less stressful than skimming by and/or putting yourself in debt because of costs of school, rent, utilities, food, etc. Have a plain conversation with your parents and layout your plan to them if they don't know it already. Offer to help pay for some of the costs of your living there if you don't already. They are your parents, so even if they appear annoyed with you it's probably just some form of them caring about your being successful in life.

If you don't see yourself doing fire protection related work, really think about what drives you and move towards that. There's no right time to make a move to something you really want to do, but it only gets tougher to do that when you start making real money, have steady bills to pay and eventually a family to support.

 

[littleblazer]

Like it was said. Network a lot. I got lucky in that friends parents can offer me internships and that me running around on the weekends fixing people's boats made me good friends with machinists and electricians and plant managers. Get yourself out there and noticed and do whatever comes your way. You build up a good reputation and get noticed. You'll figure it out.

 

[Bow_Tied]

You have received some good advice so far. If I may humbly add some complimentary suggestions:

Job shopping is hard work - manage it that by breaking it down into small chunks with actions plans for each part.
-Make a plan that covers the things mentioned in the good advice above.
-Plan out the types of jobs you're interested in and who you could network with. Then expand that network to people not in that field but are the kind of people that have similar jobs in other fields (they may just have a connection for you too!).
-Make a plan of the places you will cold call, tailor your resume to each place, every time. Then actually do it, call on them (get advice on line for best approaches). Every single place you call on you should be dressed respectably and act courteously - you'd be surprised at how much screening the receptionist might be doing.
-Make a plan to determine the education that you think you might need/want to get the job you'd like if you don't have it or all of it now. If you have this knowledge and an interest in getting that education that may show an employer you are thinking long term/strategically and shows interest in commitment. Even better if you are already enrolled.

Always send a follow up letter after every interview, there are examples on line that will help you make the most of this opportunity.

Involve your parents. Parents get in a rut sometimes with what they are thinking or how they view teenagers. Isolating them will deepen that rut. Show them you are earnest, show them you have a plan, they might even offer advice (listen to it, you can always decide later if it aligns to your plan or if the plan needs tweaking). The biggest reason parents will view you less than favourably is that they think you are not listening; fix that, even if it is an incorrect perception on their part. If that doesn't change how are they are treating you - accept it and move on - as dwelling on that only holds you back. Your actions will eventually bring them around. So long as you stay focused on your plans and use any setbacks you encounter, and there will be some, to strengthen your resolve: you will win. Good luck.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

I live in Ionia Michigan, known as a prison town, there are 6 or 7, about 35,000 inmates, and were alot of cushy job's to go with them. People my GF went to school with, it was their dream to go out of highschool and go work at the prison, it was like a shortcut to success basically.

Then the economy turned, prison's closed, thing's were privatized, farmed out... In short, there are a ton of people my age (35) in and around Ionia, with no real marketable skills, used to making 40-55k a year with amazing benefits, up a creek now. I've purchased two more homes since I moved to the area, both from former guards who had the city take their homes. Let me let that sink in. Their homes were paid for, free and clear. They got hit so hard they couldn't afford the simple taxes, (and these aren't mansions lol).

I tell you that story to tell you this. I agree wholeheartedly with the people telling to get a trade, or a useful degree, (video game design at the local CC is not useful). It takes longer, it's harder, but it pays with security in the end. Michigan is full of former GM employee's, etc, who just can't hack it now. That's why we've lost so much population. Don't look for that cushy, secure job, find something you're good at, whatever it may be, and pursue that. Plumber, HVAC, Electrician are all outside the manufacturing sector, but still skilled trades. Where I work now, there's a tool and die apprentice who started here as a kid sorting part's. He has a good attitude, and since he's young, they were willing to make him an apprentice. Someone my age, other people my age see as a threat, I couldn't get an apprenticeship in most fields nearly as easily as you can, simply due to my age.

But, patience pay's. Most of all. It won't come quick, but it will come.

 

[djthumper]

Wow! I had heard Ionia got hit pretty hard from family up there but they didn't make it sound that bad. Most of the live near the area just not as close as they use to.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Wow! I had heard Ionia got hit pretty hard from family up there but they didn't make it sound that bad. Most of the live near the area just not as close as they use to.

I mean, it's not Chernobyl lol, but for a small town, there are alot of houses on the tax book's. And an empty Kmart lol.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

You should see the little town the Chrysler plant left near me. You can buy a whole city block of homes for 10K, but no one to rent or sell them to once you do.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

You should see the little town the Chrysler plant left near me. You can buy a whole city block of homes for 10K, but no one to rent or sell them to once you do.

There's a ghost Chrysler plant near Ionia also, in a town called Lyons.
Judging from the architecture it's been closed a good long time, like 30+ year's lol. The town collapsed so far they had to merge with a neighboring town, now it's Lyons-Muir lol.

 

[hrddrv]

Not to tell you what to do but there is always the military. Great career and great education.

 

[SnowBlazer]

Not to tell you what to do but there is always the military. Great career and great education.

Funny you say that. My recuiter denied me because of seizures when I was 5, and she calls me to say everything is fine and dandy. Not sure if I want to go that route because it seems like most people get out and work at places like Zios (where I work).

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Funny you say that. My recuiter denied me because of seizures when I was 5, and she calls me to say everything is fine and dandy. Not sure if I want to go that route because it seems like most people get out and work at places like Zios (where I work).

If you choose your MOS critically, you can have a great career on exit. Just be a POG.