daannnnieel
Active member
13724615:Casey said:
working for the government as like a city worker or what do you mean?
How long did it take you to find a "real" job or career
- Thread starter SkiBum.
- Start date
working for the government as like a city worker or what do you mean?
arnie_grape
Active member
when I was 13 I decided that I wanted nothing more than to be a skier cause that's what makes me the most happy. so I went to college to work in the ski industry. now I ski a lot.
fujarome
Active member
Took me a little under 3 years or so after graduating college. I more or less fell into it while waiting for something else to materialize, and now I'm happy with it.
Needed something for the winter, applied for a job deicing airplanes. Got promoted my first day after training, made good money but miserable hours. 3am to 12, unless it was snowing, at which point it was basically start of storm to end of storm.
Spring came, deicing ended, so i applied to work in operations for a major international airline. Got the job, did well, and through luck and circumstance, got promoted within 8 months, and now work in management, in charge of the ops department.
Needed something for the winter, applied for a job deicing airplanes. Got promoted my first day after training, made good money but miserable hours. 3am to 12, unless it was snowing, at which point it was basically start of storm to end of storm.
Spring came, deicing ended, so i applied to work in operations for a major international airline. Got the job, did well, and through luck and circumstance, got promoted within 8 months, and now work in management, in charge of the ops department.
arnie_grape
Active member
13726218:hippy. said:
13726247:hippy. said:
if you meant to quote me
no I'm canadian and we have 2 snow resorts programs up here, one in BC at selkirk and one in ontario at georgian. I did the ontario one, it's just a 2 year diploma but the one in BC is more thorough. so much fun, and the work was crazy easy but I still learned so much.
daannnnieel
Active member
13726161:Casey said:
Literally been thinking about doing this because I have 3 years of pipe laying already.
daannnnieel
Active member
13726675:Casey said:
literally what I was warned about by the guy who wants me to get a job with the city. I have pretty patchy work right now anyways so that wouldn't be much of a chance. Proper full time could actually turn out pretty nice considering i'm not even 20 yet.
3than0d311
Member
It took me 2 years after highschool to find out what i wanted to dedicate my time to which is to be a golf course superintendent. Currently in school for itamd its what i absolutely love. The course i was working at in the summer is paying for ALOT of school for me so i can come back after im done with school and have a job as assistant super. All benefits, salary pay...im basically set.
Golf courses are always looking for employees. Its "meh" pay and early hours but its a job with good job security.
Golf courses are always looking for employees. Its "meh" pay and early hours but its a job with good job security.
So follow up year later or something.
Ended up working a fun winter job. Little cat and heli ski action. Work was play, play was work. But that was just a 3-4 month gig.
After a sprinnand summer of running a hoe doing pipe work I had 10+ interviews across the country. Many in the ski business. None worked out. Was pretty disappointed. Especially being very qualified. Ski business is small. And sucks.
So I took my skills to construction management and equipment management and currently oversee equipment and analysis for one of the largest construction companies west of the Mississippi. It's a desk job. 9-5 shit. Quite boring. But puts me back in my tax bracket I want and lots of room for advancement.
So yay for Friday afternoons, rush hour traffic and a desk in the corner with a window.
Ended up working a fun winter job. Little cat and heli ski action. Work was play, play was work. But that was just a 3-4 month gig.
After a sprinnand summer of running a hoe doing pipe work I had 10+ interviews across the country. Many in the ski business. None worked out. Was pretty disappointed. Especially being very qualified. Ski business is small. And sucks.
So I took my skills to construction management and equipment management and currently oversee equipment and analysis for one of the largest construction companies west of the Mississippi. It's a desk job. 9-5 shit. Quite boring. But puts me back in my tax bracket I want and lots of room for advancement.
So yay for Friday afternoons, rush hour traffic and a desk in the corner with a window.
Idk if I'll ever get a real job. That said I do cut my hair occasionally.
13840563:ilegales said:hopefully one day
Idk. I have a real love hate relationship with the ski industry. If I get into a good spot with a resort/company and things are working out probably never. If I run into too many more places that are completely clueless, maybe I'll trade this life for good.
I can't think of anything I'd rather do, but sweet Jesus some of these people/places will make you go crazy. Obviously there's shit everywhere in every industry. It's just that I would be better at soaking that up in an industry I didn't give a fuck about. When you care about a job and doing things the right way, making things safe, it's tough to deal with "Oh let's just half ass everything and let people break themselves".
/rant lol
Charlie_Kelly
Active member
The summer after I graduated. Spent the summer doing demolition and renovation while applying for "real" jobs. Got two solid offers and went with one. Fast forward a year later and Im already starting to look for other options. It's not even that my job is bad, it just isnt for me and Im really tired of the soul crushing customer service industry. I make good money, have great benefits, and a ton of upward mobility (got my first promotion within 8 months) but Im not happy. All my friends are doing what we dreamed about in HS (moving out west, ski bumming at awesome mountains) and Im stuck here working 6 days a week, unhappy and burning out fast. But I guess you gotta suck it up when you have $1,000/month student loan payments constantly looming over your shoulder. Literally the only thing keeping me at this job right now.
Charlie_Kelly
Active member
13840846:Casey said:
Seriously its miserable. So tired of the "customer is always right" bullshit, like no they are wrong 90% of the time but you cant ever tell them that.
I was convinced I was going to make a career out of the military.
Then I was convinced I was going to make a career out of telecom.
Then I decided I was for sure going to live the bachelor life and do military contracting
Now i'm 9 years in to a reneweables/automation career.
Don't ever assume what you want to do, or what you are doing now is the last thing you ever will do.
Then I was convinced I was going to make a career out of telecom.
Then I decided I was for sure going to live the bachelor life and do military contracting
Now i'm 9 years in to a reneweables/automation career.
Don't ever assume what you want to do, or what you are doing now is the last thing you ever will do.
DrZoidberg
Active member
13840846:Casey said:
13840852:Charlie_Kelly said:
After I graduated college I worked at a pharmacy for almost 2 years. People are so fucking stupid, rude and illogical that I'm certain I'll never ever work a job that involves customer service of that sort again. If everybody was forced to work some sort of retail/customer service/interact with general public job for a bit, then the world would probably be a bit nicer. People would realize how much of an asshole they probably were to some dude just trying to get through his shift or do his job with no drama.
After that I got a job related to my major, a chemist, so right now I do FCC R&D. It's cool, but it's a contract gig. I think I'll have a chance to become a real employee at the end. I already got a 6 month extension and I believe they like me. I am starting to seriously consider hanging in Colorado for a bit to see if I can grab a job at NREL.
kingsskier
Active member
Had a full time job (as an engineer) before I graduated engineering school. Quit that to finish school. I accepted an offer midway through my last semester with one of the big 3 auto companies. Literally drove to my last final in my uhaul and left from there.
Any youngins want a career path where finding work wont be hard, engineering is where its at. Specifically electrical engineering or computer science. I get calls about 3 times a week with people wanting to interview me and my resume hasnt been on any website in years. Engineering school is tough though.
Any youngins want a career path where finding work wont be hard, engineering is where its at. Specifically electrical engineering or computer science. I get calls about 3 times a week with people wanting to interview me and my resume hasnt been on any website in years. Engineering school is tough though.
Well I locked back into the ski industry again. Season 18 coming right up, 15 in parks. I want to stay their at least a few years too.
Looking like forever a ski bum. At least I'm getting off day crew for a while though. I think that was going to make me quit and get a big boy job.
Looking like forever a ski bum. At least I'm getting off day crew for a while though. I think that was going to make me quit and get a big boy job.
-eREKTion-
Active member
I didn't see it mentioned in here but contact a headhunter (professional recruiter). If you've got a good resume and stellar references you'll have no problem finding a good recruiter. Also, don't ever work with a headhunter who wants you to pay him, a good recruiter gets paid by companies for successful placements.
11matby
Member
Took me ~6 months until I landed a full time job with full benefits coming right out of college. I consider myself EXTREMELY lucky. This is such a rare occurrence and I definitely consider myself an outlier.
Although I've got the job, the salary, and the benefits.... I'm at a resort I never considered working at/for. Don't get me wrong though, I love the resort I work at. But I had always limited myself to larger mountains nationwide and ruled out anything but. I also would not have even considered applying to the position I'm currently in if it weren't for a good friend, and college classmate, of mine who worked as the recruiter for our HR department. Luckily I had this friend as a resource and they informed me about the position and guided me through the application process.
If there's anything I've learned up until this point... it's this: Don't limit yourself. Make connections. Reach out to people.
Don't limit yourself in where you'll be going, or the line of work that you'll be doing. Whenever you meet someone, remember them and just simply keep their info (just being Facebook friends is sometimes enough). Don't be afraid to reach out. I'm sure you're strong willed and outgoing, but you probably can't do this s*** yourself. There's no shame in asking others for assistance.
Best of luck.
Although I've got the job, the salary, and the benefits.... I'm at a resort I never considered working at/for. Don't get me wrong though, I love the resort I work at. But I had always limited myself to larger mountains nationwide and ruled out anything but. I also would not have even considered applying to the position I'm currently in if it weren't for a good friend, and college classmate, of mine who worked as the recruiter for our HR department. Luckily I had this friend as a resource and they informed me about the position and guided me through the application process.
If there's anything I've learned up until this point... it's this: Don't limit yourself. Make connections. Reach out to people.
Don't limit yourself in where you'll be going, or the line of work that you'll be doing. Whenever you meet someone, remember them and just simply keep their info (just being Facebook friends is sometimes enough). Don't be afraid to reach out. I'm sure you're strong willed and outgoing, but you probably can't do this s*** yourself. There's no shame in asking others for assistance.
Best of luck.
jblaski
Active member
13854329:TaranItUp said:
My "dream job" is actually a career, full time firefighter for a large city. I got my associate degree in "fire protection" but it really was nothing more than a piece of paper. In the application and hiring process it really served no purpose. In the long run, it gets me and extra few bucks a month and allows me to take the promotion process in the future.
As for any advice, this is what I can think of.
#1. Don't limit yourself to a single area, be willing to move anywhere and everywhere for your job (it sounds like you ARE willing to move)
#2. No job is below you. I spent years working at ski resorts and golf courses, delivered sandwiches, roofed, installed appliances, warehouse work, cooked, worked in a ski shop, etc. I did any job I needed to do to keep moving forward. Sounds like you're living off savings, even if you find a job that just pays OK, and you have to spend only part of your savings.
#3. Don't ever give up. I took nearly 20 fire department tests over 8+ states all across the country. I studied every test prep I could find. Scrapped together all the spare change just to pay for a plane ticket and entry fee just to keep taking tests. I worked all those odd jobs, but never lost sight of where I knew I wanted to end up.
#4. Don't limit yourself. Now, I know this sounds contrary to what I just said about not giving up, but there are a TON of jobs out there you've never heard of, that would be great jobs. Always keep your eyes open for something you've never thought of.
#5. Find something you enjoy doing AND you're good at. There's lots of things I enjoy doing, as hobbies, but I'll never be good enough at to make a career out of. The trick is, finding passion in the thing that you can make a career out of .
About 36 hours upon moving to where I wanted to live. Turns out jobs aren’t hard to find if you go to places where rent is tough to afford and the locals have nowhere to live. Places where the classifieds ads have ten pages of jobs but only one column of rental homes. This has worked for me in maui, little cottonwood canyon, tahoe, humbolt, portsmouth nh, and jackson
Load up your gear in a vehicle that you can sleep in if needed, pick a place to go, and send it. Good luck
Load up your gear in a vehicle that you can sleep in if needed, pick a place to go, and send it. Good luck
WoFIowz
Active member
topic:SkiBum. said:
Hmmmm. I'm new to the adult world (1.5yrs), but finding a job highly depends on the demand in the field you are educated in. What is your field of experience? Did you leave your employers on a bad note? Or have a habit of leaving jobs frequently? Not sure, but that might impact your job search if they see you bounce around a lot. The bigger cities have significantly more jobs, and to find a job if you're desperate enough, you may have to be willing to move to BFE or far away. Consider meeting with someone skilled in recruiting. Have your resume or CV reviewed and critiqued. Include a cover letter. Show up to interviews in a suit. Don't be afraid to apply to jobs you are overqualified for (I know people older than me who were so qualified, the jobs they were looking for were slim. They had to start smaller again.).
Myself personally and my classmates mostly had jobs lined up 3-6 months before graduation, but that was due to demand in our field. I ended up quitting that job for another. A good tip is to not leave a job if at all possible until you have secured another. You could always find a job lower than what you want to be at and work there until you find your desired job elsewhere.
**This post was edited on Nov 10th 2017 at 2:00:00pm
TaranItUp
Active member
13854358:jblaski said:
Right on, are you a firefighter here in SLC? If so how do you like working in a larger city, are shifts fairly consistent and is it primarily medical incidents? I worked as a medic on a tall ship and I enjoyed the sailing but didn't deal well with being responsible for others lives in the middle of the ocean. I'd like to spend some time on a private truck fighting wildfires.
Thanks for the advice, I'm pretty stuck and am burning out of the educational system. The EMS system might be a bit different than other career paths, but did you find that school really helped in your career or have you learned more from working hands on in the field. I'm about ready to take some time off and try and get an internship in the design field to build up my portfolio through experience opposed to education.
WoFIowz
Active member
13854715:TaranItUp said:
I'm not a firefighter, but I work in an ED in a major city in the east and 95% of non-helicopter scene runs are from the fire department. People get sick or hurt more often than fires occur, so expect to possibly have lives in your hands. I can't comment on wildfires, but know people who have headed out west to do specifically that.
**This post was edited on Nov 12th 2017 at 12:33:53am
prosnurfer
Active member
iv worked as a EE for 10 years after highschool, and have had stable work but just quit my job and i feel like im 19 again hahahha. cheers to running the system. its hard work but somone has to do it. noone else is going to feed lilly lil paws. looking for a higher paying job now also desigining loaded cabinets and folded horn speakers. speaker companys brahchachas
CabbyArrant
Member
I'm still in college but I've already got an offer after I'm out working for the company I'm working a co-op for now. I'll just be moving from an engineering tech to engineer position
freestyler540
Active member
My parents wanted to charge me 300$ a month to stay at home when I turned 18. At the time, I was working as a climbing guide, instructor, ski instructor, mogul coach and mowing lawns and made 300$ a month (remind you that minimum wage in 2006 was 8$/h). I was finishing a social sciences degree and had no idea what I was going to do with it. They were offering to help pay for another round of school (and if I dropped out or failed, I had to re-reimburse them).
At that point in my life, I wanted to ski everyday and climb mountains. But I was also broke as fuck and it seems I was always taken advantage of in the eco-tourism industry.
I threw a college guide book on the ground and marine engineering showed up. After giving it a read, I was interested in it, but I had no mechanical background (think mamas boy in the big city). I found a school, signed up and got accepted a few days later.
After 3 years, I graduated with a degree in Marine Engineering Technology, a 4th Class Canadian Marine Engineering certificate STCW and found a job in the shipping world a week later as an engineering officer on cargo ships. My first 3 years were hell; I hated working with assholes. But, after working with some great people, I built up the experience to be the senior engineer on the ships assigned for me. I still dont have a house, girlfriend, dog and a single shit-mobile, but I rack in 65G a year and ski everyday of winter and moved to the Kootenays. Life couldnt get much better, but it took a suicide attempt to realize how bad it was.
When people told me to fight hard for a job and try to change your fate by force, they are the type of people that was given everything since day 1. Life is pretty random and when opportunity knocks, take it and dont ever look back. Dont try to force a situation, just let it happen.
At that point in my life, I wanted to ski everyday and climb mountains. But I was also broke as fuck and it seems I was always taken advantage of in the eco-tourism industry.
I threw a college guide book on the ground and marine engineering showed up. After giving it a read, I was interested in it, but I had no mechanical background (think mamas boy in the big city). I found a school, signed up and got accepted a few days later.
After 3 years, I graduated with a degree in Marine Engineering Technology, a 4th Class Canadian Marine Engineering certificate STCW and found a job in the shipping world a week later as an engineering officer on cargo ships. My first 3 years were hell; I hated working with assholes. But, after working with some great people, I built up the experience to be the senior engineer on the ships assigned for me. I still dont have a house, girlfriend, dog and a single shit-mobile, but I rack in 65G a year and ski everyday of winter and moved to the Kootenays. Life couldnt get much better, but it took a suicide attempt to realize how bad it was.
When people told me to fight hard for a job and try to change your fate by force, they are the type of people that was given everything since day 1. Life is pretty random and when opportunity knocks, take it and dont ever look back. Dont try to force a situation, just let it happen.