Laid off at 25...

[kh54s10]

I got into a line of work that while interesting, was low paying. After many years I worked my way up to what I would have described at the beginning of my working life as low end middle class. I am pretty well skilled in that field but no longer have interest in doing it. The skills of my field do not transfer well to other businesses. I now have a stable low paying job that is tolerable so I will stick with it until this DEPRESSION is over.

Broaden your skills. These days corporations are totally unwilling to train people. If you do not have skills you are stuck in low end jobs.

Gone are the days that you can get an entry level position with a company and work your way up.

Also almost gone is the middle class. What is left is the rich and those that serve them.

RANT OVER!

 

[Curtis2010]

...and know your market value. Example, I took a job once that was about a 35% increase, turns out my market value at the time was more like 135%...fixed that mistake quickly. Recruiters are a good source for info on the going rate for your skill set.

 

[temple240]

Another suggestion: broaden your job search geographically. Why limit yourself to just the USA (I assume) and its struggling economy. There are other places where the economy is booming...Panama for example. GDP growth forecast at 7-10%, more jobs than workers, currently modifying their immigration policies to make it easier to bring in more skilled workers.

Beautiful country too...been here since March.

I would consider relocation but my girlfriend (soon to be fiancee) has an excellent job in the region that would be impossible to justify leaving.

OP: You are young, have a techincal degee, and almost 2 years of experience. Count your blessings, you are way better off than 99% of the world population.

Believe me, I am very grateful to be in the position that I'm in. But make no mistake, I worked extremely hard to get myself to this point and I did it on my own. If I'm better off than 99% of the world population it is not by pure chance.

As an 2nd generation autoworker,I've been through all of this my entire life. 21 with very pregnant wife,got laid off,picket lines,long lines at the unemployment office. Robbin Peter to pay Paul as my fil used to say. On the phone makin deals with just about everybody to keep my car,& the utilities on. Not to mention food,diapers,formula,etc. At least beer & weed were dirt cheap way back then.
Not to mention that it seems the majority of adult couples arguments stem from $$,or lack thereof. When times were good,we saved thousands fairly easily. Life was good & we were happy toward onenother. No arguments,as there was plenty to go around.
Those days are long gone for me. Bad back,bad hips,can hardly walk with a cane...(is that what they call a rollsknardly?). Those $984 paychecks are gone,& what pention I do get,well,2/3's of it goes for this damnable mortgage from hell.
The whole point of this rant is that the autoworker job is very cyclical. Up now,saturate the market,down later. You could count on it like death & taxes. So we didn't have it all that good. I lost our 1st house to that crap that would've been paid off a couple years before my health forced me to retire. I was always getting laid off every so often,loosing at that point what I'd struggled to get trying to catch up from the last time. so keep punchin,keep jabbin. It'll come back around,trust me. It always does sooner or later.

My family knows this kind of struggle very well and I have a ton of respect for the older generations that had to survive in that kind of economy. It's true that times are tough these days but I know that the definition of "tough times" has changed drastically in the favor of younger generations.

Thanks Rhumbline, I do try to keep up with emerging technologies and software. This is a great time for me to get some exposure to topics that I wouldn't normally have time to research. This job search is definitely helping me remember how important it is to stay marketable.

In related news, I had a second round interview this morning for the job that I wasn't sure I wanted. It went very well and they like me more now than they did after the first interview. I learned a bit more about the job and my interest in the company is returning. My real concern is that it's something of a start-up and the company has a long way to go still. The company doesn't even have a benefit package set-up but they assure me that they will.

Sorry for the lengthy post. Beer related news: I'm out of fermenters and I really want to brew Yooper's Oatmeal Stout. I might just buy a lid for my bottling bucket and ferment in that.

 

[temple240]

I got into a line of work that while interesting, was low paying. After many years I worked my way up to what I would have described at the beginning of my working life as low end middle class. I am pretty well skilled in that field but no longer have interest in doing it. The skills of my field do not transfer well to other businesses. I now have a stable low paying job that is tolerable so I will stick with it until this DEPRESSION is over.

Broaden your skills. These days corporations are totally unwilling to train people. If you do not have skills you are stuck in low end jobs.

This is one of my biggest fears as an engineer. I have a lot of different interests but it seems that your first job or couple of jobs can determine the field that you're stuck in forever. Many job listings want at least 5+ years in that exact division of engineering to even consider you. It many companies would be impossible to break into after you spend 5-10 years doing something else. It makes me feel like this is likely my last chance to pick a career path.

I have seen an increase in companies that understand the importance of training compared to my job search two years ago. The large companies have no interest in training but a few mid-sized companies put a heavy emphasis on it. One company that I would love to work for wants to have their new hire work in the machine/assembly show for 12 months of training before fully moving into the role of manufacturing engineer.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Good luck with the search. There are engineering jobs out there, and I'm sure you're find one eventually

 

[Beernik]

This is one of my biggest fears as an engineer. I have a lot of different interests but it seems that your first job or couple of jobs can determine the field that you're stuck in forever. Many job listings want at least 5+ years in that exact division of engineering to even consider you. It many companies would be impossible to break into after you spend 5-10 years doing something else. It makes me feel like this is likely my last chance to pick a career path.

You can get stuck in a pigeon hole if you let yourself. I know guys who have done the same job for 8 years and nothing else. Their skills don't transfer to any other place.

I've always fought the pigeon hole by volunteering for different work when someone else got busy and I got slow. After 17 years as a Civil and working the same job for 5 years, I still find myself doing stuff I haven't done before.

 

[AnOldUR]

My SIL has a small product development business across the river in Cranbury, NJ. He’s looking for hands on Mechanical Engineers willing to see projects through from design to doing the actual machining when required. If you’re interested let me know and I’ll PM you the contact information.

 

[temple240]

My SIL has a small product development business across the river in Cranbury, NJ. He’s looking for hands on Mechanical Engineers willing to see projects through from design to doing the actual machining when required. If you’re interested let me know and I’ll PM you the contact information.

I'm very interested!