Good jobs in todays economy?

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

Well, what probably happened was that his division or job function was least profitible, or lease core to the buisiness and was easiest to let go.

If they fired him and let a new person stay, then there are two options.

1) You father sucks at life.

2) The work is rather homeogeneous and a person willing to do the job for $9/hr come along.

 

[joetama 5,000+ posts]

Agreed. And if you pitch to work for less to secure employment, it's pretty easy to get a job cleaning restrooms. When I was in college, and my PT job cut back on hours, I was forced to get another...cleaning restrooms at a truck stop third shift.
I did watch a lot of TNT, chat with truckers, and met plenty of hookers. All in all, it wasn't a bad gig.

Trucker and hookers are the salt of the earth, well at least some of them. I used to love going in the trucks my dad owned in the summer, the 'lot lizards' always cracked me up when they were trying to pick up the other truckers.

It is unique qualities that make jobs secure. I've used this example to help some folks understand. If you want to battle it out on the basic products category with out offering anything exceptional you are going to have to be the cheapest person. If Wal-Mart and Joe's Market are selling 10 of the same items with essentially the same service but Wal-Mart is cheaper people are going to go to Wal-Mart. However, if the item wanted is something specific like a quality hand tool poeple might go to Sears or Lowes, or if they are looking for a DSLR Camera they might go to a local camera shop or Ritz Camera. SPecialization is the key, offer something other people can't do and is of great value.

I hope all that made sense. I just woke up from a nap and am a little foggy...

 

[Unholysavage 10+ year member]

Barber and landscaping
both hair and grass grows in a recession.

Also Geologist make good money because the price of oil is fing everyone over.

I'm a geologist. Petroleum geo to be exact.

The money is great, but there are a few flaws to that plan:

1) it takes a B.Sc to get a job. 4+ years of school. With the gargantuan number of undergrads now in geology programs in Canada (assumed to be similar in the states), companies will not look at you if you don't have a degree. And lot of people are doing grad studies (M.Sc or even Ph.Ds) to increase their chances of landing a sweet job.

2) the sheer # of people either in a university geology program, or who have just finished makes competition **** brutal. When oil started spiking in ~2003, gold and base metals did the same. People saw the kind of money we make and geo programs filled to the breaking point. I graduated from the U of Saskatchewan with my B.Sc in 2000, in a class of 23 people; in my last year I TA'd some of the first year courses which had literally 5 times more people in them than when I started my degree. The 4th year class this year at the U of S is well over 100. While doing my M.Sc at McGill I saw 1st and 2nd year classes double in size. Other schools are apparently in the same boat. There are only so many geo jobs to go around, and right now there are a ton of people in the university system.

3) job volatility: energy and base metal markets are among the most volatile (if not THE most volatile). Think booms and busts, not too much in between. If things go to hell, geologists are among the first to get axed. Things pick up, and experienced geologists are the first to get hired back. If you're lucky enough to finish school during a boom, you're golden. Just hope that you get enough experience to survive mass layoffs if/when a bust hits. I had friends who graduated in the late 90s who couldn't find a job VOLUNTEERING (ie working for nothing). That stuff can happen.

But if you like the outdoors or ever collected rocks or fossils as a kid, geology kicks ***!

 

[DDeitz 10+ year member]

Can't go wrong with healthcare. Only thing that sucks is you need quite a few years of education for the high paying jobs (Pharmacist is 6 years, Doctor is anywhere from 10-14 of school/residency depending on specialty, anesthetist is 6, but I might have spelled that wrong hah).

but you can also make decent money doing something like x-ray tech or a BN only 2 years for either of those

 

[TacoSauce 10+ year member]

I was offered a Repo-man job today. He then proceeded to ask how old I was (21), and said I had to be atleast 25. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

You think there is nothing wrong with laying off someone who has worked for your company for 25 years without a blemish on their record? I did not start this thread so people could feel sorry for me or to send me money, I started it because my dad is going to need to find a job to support his family. I'm paying to put myself through college, so there's not much I can really do besides help him find a job.
To be honest, I don't care what the unemployment rate is. Is unemployment rate indicative of job availability and a prosperous economy? Obviously it is not, as evidenced by the current economic state. I'd venture to guess the unemployment numbers have not shifted because people are taking the best job that they can get to feed their family.

What do you do, by the way?

it sucks. yet we are putting the same people in charge, to fix the problem that they caused in the first place. business is business. sometimes good people get fired. i'm sure it's a decision based on finances rather than being personal. i may have been a little harsh. i was generalizing,more than directing it towards your father. we have large masses of people in america that are just plain lazy, not to mention hyper-sensitive to everything. i do maintenance/snow removal. my company employs around 30 people on average. i'm going to start saving a little now. after Obama becomes president, and jacks up taxes on my boss, i expect a couple of us to lose our job.

 

[hunterw 10+ year member]

anything in the oilfield is stable. or a powerplant. working on drilling or completion rigs is the easiest job to get into really. and making 22 an hour starting isnt bad. and most places work one week on and one week off or 2 on and 2 off. just have to work hard and be willing to get dirty. and from there you can move up rapidly. drillers here make around 32-37 and hour. plus so many other jobs. like mentioned welders,fracturing,water hauling,shitters,supply stores,bit sales,hot shot drivers,machine shops,completion rigs,wireline services,cementing and chemicals,rentals,more jobs out here then ever really. no one is getting laid off. and the cost of living isnt horrible. real estate is still terribly exspensive out here. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[simpsonbuck 10+ year member]

Pimp has never failed me.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

Pimp has never failed me.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

grow up

 

[babaganoush123 10+ year member]

sell anything that is highly addicting that will have the customers coming back.....crack ,meth, heroin...etc.

 

[Unholysavage 10+ year member]

^^^Yup. Oilfield is gonna be booming for the next few years.If you are young without a family and willing to travel you can make lots of cash.

But I highly recommend looking into the NDT/ NDE trade (technical college)

Oil prices have dropped from $147 in July to just under $71/bbl the last time I checked today.

Do you guys seriously think that the oil patch is stable? Seems to me that the bottom falling out of the oil price isn't a good sign of stability....

 

[grizzly 10+ year member]

didnt read all the pages but designing Anhydrous ammonia systems and pushing paper for epa/osha/psm for the systems. all very open and limited qualified ppl to fill them

 

[simpsonbuck 10+ year member]

sell anything that is highly addicting that will have the customers coming back.....crack ,meth, heroin...etc.

World of Warcraft

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

Stupidity.Refineries are spending Billions upon billions of dollars to upgrade and increase production...Motiva in Port Arthur is about to start a multi billion dollar expansion that will increase it's capacityby close to double..I just finished a job in Wyoming inspecting equipment at a one Billion dollar expansion project..these jobs are all over, not to mention the pipeline that will be built from Alaske to the US...and so so much more..Is that a sign of things slowing down?

sounds like you know what you're talking about. dropping oil prices can cause problems though. it's dropped too quickly.

 

[adio 5,000+ posts]

Well, last Friday my dad got laid off from a job he's had the past 25 years. It was at a PVC injection molding facility. He's got machinist skills, but that's about it really. I'm not sure what his plans are in looking for a new job, but my mom and I think he should take some classes at the local community college. I know there is an aquaculture program with 100% job placement, but I'm not sure how that field is doing with todays economy. Are there any up and coming fields that will have decent job security in the upcoming hard times?

something in the medical field. people are always gonna be sick. i'ma nurse........ i know these things. what a car mechanic? i wish i knew how to fix cars. maybe he can take some automotive repair classes.. but the medical field ftw