How long did it take you to find a "real" job or career

S

SkiBum.

Active member
Curious how long and how did people find their job or career. I'm not talking about being a ski instructor or working at the beach in the summer. I'm talking about life after college, finding a stable company, job, career, benefits, etc...

Reason I am asking as I am in a rough spot of my life where I am having trouble finding work. For the past 8 years I have had a great job and career. Good money, good benefits. Bought a house, two cars, vacations, good life, all that shit. Left said company for a "better offer". Sold house, packed up life, moved 32 hours away, started life over. Said company sucked, job didn't work out, now I am back to square one.

I have all my info out there on the job sites (indeed, monster, linkedin) and have not had much luck. I have looked in my areas of experience and have found some, but nothing landed yet. Been on and off looking now for few months. Picked up some odd jobs, but none worked out, and now I am living off savings while searching for the real thing again.

Just curious others stories or successes.
 
13722132:happygaper said:
What is your degree in? Your experience? What made you happier at your old job?
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To keep it easy say about 5 years experience in resort management, ski area management, equipment management, fleet tracking, fuel management, employee management, budgeting, capitol projects.

I'm very comfortable in high stress, high work load, lots of employees, sharp deadlines, that sort of thing.
 
I don't know why you can't edit stuff in these posts...

I have a 4 year Bachelors degree in resort and operations management. You can kind of twist it to a business degree almost, but business degrees are a dime a dozen (sorry for those that have a degree in business)

And my old job and company I was with them for like 7 years. I knew everyone, I was high up the totem pole, I was respected and respected everyone else, I had long and good lasting relationships with my boss, fellow managers, employees, etc. I knew the in's and out's of the business and exactly what to do and not do on a daily basis. My commute to work was 5 minutes. My schedule was flexible, but I usually ended up working 50-60 hours a week.
 
13722144:SkiBum. said:
I don't know why you can't edit stuff in these posts...

I have a 4 year Bachelors degree in resort and operations management. You can kind of twist it to a business degree almost, but business degrees are a dime a dozen (sorry for those that have a degree in business)

And my old job and company I was with them for like 7 years. I knew everyone, I was high up the totem pole, I was respected and respected everyone else, I had long and good lasting relationships with my boss, fellow managers, employees, etc. I knew the in's and out's of the business and exactly what to do and not do on a daily basis. My commute to work was 5 minutes. My schedule was flexible, but I usually ended up working 50-60 hours a week.
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Are you close to any sort of mountain resort?
 
I got a "real job" after about a year and a half after i graduated, but my situation is the complete opposite of yours.

With the experience you have, I wouldn't be surprised if you found a new job before winter season starts. Might not be the job you want, or the career you'll have in 5 years, but its better than nothing.
 
Took me a couple months after graduation. I quit after working there a year a couple weeks ago cus it sucked and I was becoming depressed. Anyway, I think one of the best ways to find employment is to email people who are responsible for the hiring and ask to speak to them. VP level type employees, not HR.
 
13722196:fuckmekevin said:
Are you close to any sort of mountain resort?
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Many. I have reached out to most, if not all. Not a lot of positions open for my stuff...they want you to start at the bottom again...I also don't really want to be back in the ski industry. So I have been looking elsewhere, and its frustrating.
 
I got a temporary contract immediately out of the final practicum of my degree (social work). Got another temporary contract as soon as the first contract ended. A few months later, I packed up and moved to another province and had a permanent contract/full benefits with a gov't organization within the first year of working there. I worked there for three years before deciding it was sucking my soul away and resigned in spring and moved to a bigger city (small town Alberta to Calgary). I'm currently working as relief staff for an amazing organization until a full time opportunity opens up (should be in the next few days). I took about a $12/hr cut in pay, but I love the work I do now and my quality of life has improved dramatically (with the exception of my income).

no-ragrets-1.jpg
 
I just recently got a "real Job" after being out of college for close to 3 years.

It seems like you have ton of experience in your which should make finding a job a little easier. Starting from the bottom again will suck for a bit, but everyone has to do it.
 
13722431:Deepskier said:
I work at a starbucks so the only advice I could give you is dont get a job a Starbucks.
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I wouldn't work at a Starbucks, but worked at a small coffee shop in university and loved it. I have definitely considered going and working at a small, local roaster/coffee shop for something part time. There is a shop a couple blocks from my place that has a guy who's placed 3rd at the world barista championships the past two years. It's be fun to work with and learn from someone like that.
 
13722445:saskskier said:
I wouldn't work at a Starbucks, but worked at a small coffee shop in university and loved it. I have definitely considered going and working at a small, local roaster/coffee shop for something part time. There is a shop a couple blocks from my place that has a guy who's placed 3rd at the world barista championships the past two years. It's be fun to work with and learn from someone like that.
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Haha thats dope. Yeah starbucks is just such high standards and unnecessary shit.I dont know, it pays.
 
13722203:SkiBum. said:
Many. I have reached out to most, if not all. Not a lot of positions open for my stuff...they want you to start at the bottom again...I also don't really want to be back in the ski industry. So I have been looking elsewhere, and its frustrating.
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Your career is a long play, homie. If you really are as good as you say, you should be able to go from the bottom of the totem pole to where you should be now, in about 2 years.

You only know ski areas right now, so no shit no one is gonna hire a manager level employee who doesn't even know basic lingo.

Take the interview for low level jobs. Be sure to let them know you used to be manager level in a loosely related industry, but you are excited to learn this industry from the bottom up, and would like the opportunity for increasing responsibility as you learn.

That said, hustle in the meantime. An awesome gig while trying to find a job is graveyard at a 24 hour gym/convenience store etc. Something to keep days free for calling, emailing, interviewing and general job hunting. $12/hr for a few months really isn't too terrible if you have no dependents.
 
yeah dude, good luck. the experience/expertise you described aren't specialized enough to make you desirable. 'resort management experience' is something ski areas hire from within. i see it all the time in the ski industry - general management jobs go to bro brahs or people who have been with the resort for years. why would they give cushy jobs like that to an outsider? outside of the ski industry...maybe go back to school?

anyway, it took me about a year to get a real job in my field AND in the ski industry. after 6 years in upper level ski area jobs i'm moving on to do seismic research on PNW volcanoes.
 
13722688:howlongcanausern said:
yeah dude, good luck. the experience/expertise you described aren't specialized enough to make you desirable. 'resort management experience' is something ski areas hire from within. i see it all the time in the ski industry - general management jobs go to bro brahs or people who have been with the resort for years. why would they give cushy jobs like that to an outsider? outside of the ski industry...maybe go back to school?

anyway, it took me about a year to get a real job in my field AND in the ski industry. after 6 years in upper level ski area jobs i'm moving on to do seismic research on PNW volcanoes.
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Yeah, it sucks. I worked my way up from within before. But then I got hired into a new company at a bigger role, so occasionally ski areas hire from outside

I just don't want to start at the bottom again. It's quite the kick in the balls, and wallet.
 
13722712:SkiBum. said:
Yeah, it sucks. I worked my way up from within before. But then I got hired into a new company at a bigger role, so occasionally ski areas hire from outside

I just don't want to start at the bottom again. It's quite the kick in the balls, and wallet.
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oh definitely, it's rough starting over. and i didn't mean to sound harsh maybe i'm just a grumpy old man. 'kids these days dont work hard enough and get off my lawn'

if you're not working maybe consider traveling or working abroad...WOOF or work at a winery in the southern hemisphere maybe. take some time off and think deep about what you'd like to do for a career. i guess my advice would be think about something marketable and specific - like computer science, IT, finance, etc. i hear about peers of mine going to school for business/ski area management and i can't help but think wtf are you going to do after college - broad degrees like those are near worthless IMHO
 
13722791:howlongcanausern said:
oh definitely, it's rough starting over. and i didn't mean to sound harsh maybe i'm just a grumpy old man. 'kids these days dont work hard enough and get off my lawn'

if you're not working maybe consider traveling or working abroad...WOOF or work at a winery in the southern hemisphere maybe. take some time off and think deep about what you'd like to do for a career. i guess my advice would be think about something marketable and specific - like computer science, IT, finance, etc. i hear about peers of mine going to school for business/ski area management and i can't help but think wtf are you going to do after college - broad degrees like those are near worthless IMHO
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The more I look at it now, I wish I got a degree in something else. But I can't go back to school now, I just don't see how two more years of school, another degree and then I'm 30 and looking for work again...I guess my degree really did help with my original job/career...but who knows now.

I'd love to travel, but the Misses has a good job, and we are in the market for buying another home (once I get another job...ha ha)....
 
Not long at all. i work as an animal tester for the Mars corporation. its really easy and pays well, basically i dunk rabbits in chemicals and see if they get seizures or die and i have full benefits and everything. i won't disclose my income here but if you're in need of a job contact mars chocolate or any makeup brand. they're always looking for animal testers and the job pays top dollar.
 
Been working in the broadcast industry for the past 10 years now.

Graduated from school to work in the industry as a broadcast engineer/technician about 3 years ago, and I continue to work in the industry.

However; I do not work as an engineer for any company, more so a video technician. This applies to a good chunk of what I went to school for (audio, video, radio, etc...).

With the broadcast industry, I work freelance. So I'm contracted out by multiple companies to work different events (usually sports). Since it isn't steady work, I don't consider it a "real" job, but it is how I make my living, and I enjoy every day I'm out there doing it.

With the freelance gig, there comes its downsides.

I enjoy it too much to settle in somewhere like a TV studio, or anything else related. Which means finding something in between gigs can be tricky.

Its hard to find something where I can be "Hey, I'll work full time for you, but a quarter of the year I'm going to want to do something else".

Currently, my second job is an AV technician, its this grey area of "part time employee, full time hours". It's flexible, I enjoy it and its location in Lake Louise, and I'm moving on up.

Bottom line at what I was getting at, I never feel like I'll have a "real job" or career. I'm love what I do, rain or shine, and I'm able to do what I love.

I hope to continue with this for the next 25 years.
 
i'm a fishy ski bum

gots 5 decades of life skills from retail to foodservice to carpentry mainly roofing to river guiding , to horticultral pursuits

and ski teching to sums 11bravo fuck shits up skills

i dont stress to much about which ones i use to continue to pursue the passions of bummery

only higher edjumacations i haz other than trade certs would be an emt cert to patrol

which wasn't my thing

granted i have an awesome well educated soulmates who's a career workaholic

and don't mind buying fixer uppers and spending a decade or remodeling gives me another not so much a "job" as a chance to use life skills to get what you seek

and appeasing women is a life skill in its own.

find a part time gig that you enjoy spending time at or learn a new skill and the rest will probably fall into place would be my advice

and

"the secret of enjoying life is the passing of time"- james taylor
 
13723008:SFBv420.0 said:
i'm a fishy ski bum

gots 5 decades of life skills from retail to foodservice to carpentry mainly roofing to river guiding , to horticultral pursuits

and ski teching to sums 11bravo fuck shits up skills

i dont stress to much about which ones i use to continue to pursue the passions of bummery

only higher edjumacations i haz other than trade certs would be an emt cert to patrol

which wasn't my thing

granted i have an awesome well educated soulmates who's a career workaholic

and don't mind buying fixer uppers and spending a decade or remodeling gives me another not so much a "job" as a chance to use life skills to get what you seek

and appeasing women is a life skill in its own.

find a part time gig that you enjoy spending time at or learn a new skill and the rest will probably fall into place would be my advice

and

"the secret of enjoying life is the passing of time"- james taylor
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I hear ya. My fall back plan in life is to take the savings and ski all winter and be a ski bum.

But until then, I might be a weekend warrior or up and dawner to go ski. Anywho, snow is coming, soon to be skiing.
 
13723040:SkiBum. said:
I hear ya. My fall back plan in life is to take the savings and ski all winter and be a ski bum.

But until then, I might be a weekend warrior or up and dawner to go ski. Anywho, snow is coming, soon to be skiing.
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Curiously, why aren't you working a part time customer service gig to help out instead of just eating into your shared savings? It sounds like you aren't overly optimistic on landing a full-time position you're happy with for a while.

I know I'm much more likely to hire someone who has a history of always working even"between jobs"
 
Get ready for my novel. TL:DR CaptainObvious provides you with some solid advice and my career history in that order.

I feel like there are a lot of factors not discussed here.

Are you looking for advice on what to do or simply looking for others stories of success and failure?

In terms of some sage advice, where do you live? You said you moved, where was it to? If it's a larger metropolitan area, look at larger companies that are headquartered where you are. With the background you're telling us you have it should not be difficult to land a job. It's all about translating the experience you have into the role you're applying to and its applicability. Write cover letters for each job. That's where you have the opportunity to spin all the previous experience you have an how it will make you a BETTER candidate than someone with a stale background in the same shit they're trying to fill a position for.

You've listed a lot of intangible subjective accomplishments. What are you concrete and measurable accomplishments? How many people did you manage? What did they do? What types of improvements did you make for you team while you were there? What kinds of crosstraining did you do? How many activities were you responsible for? What kinds of activities were you responsible for managing? Did you cut costs? How much? Did you improve efficiency? What stats? Even if the numbers don't seem to apply, it's important to show you can think in that capacity. Also, this whole paragraph applies directly to your resume. Make that shit concise and factually dense all at once.

You have to be able to sell yourself without seeming like you're trying to sell yourself. It's this fucked up tango that can be a little tricky to navigate. If you were staying in the same industry, then it would be easier, but the switch is tougher. It can really make you stand out if you work it right though.

How do I know you know what you're talking about, you ask? Well, let me tell you what path I followed and it might help. (the tl:dr version is I'm an English major who has now spent about 6 years in financial IT)

-Got my degree in English and spent a year serving tables at Olive Garden (it was 2008, jobs were basically gone)

-Moved to Denver and got a shitty IT job on the phones at DISH network. Paid 35k and I worked the grave shift while I kept full time at Olive Garden

-After about a year of that I jumped ship to do Software QA at a financial company. Everyone has their own internal software stuff nowadays. So IT is easy and plentiful. How did I land Software QA with no experience? I spent my time at DISH teaching myself SQL, Java, and C++. I worked my way into the networking team so I understood that. I got friendly with access management so I understood AD roles and security. So the job was a JR. SQA Analyst. It was entry level, but since I changed companies (and DISH pays like shit) it bumped me to 45k.

-After doing that for about 2 years I moved into an IT Business Analyst position. That move was easier because it was the same company and I had two years worth of marketable skill within the company under my belt. It wasn't just "I played with SQL" it was "I write SQL everyday and code in C#". But those skills are for developers. Not BAs. I have an English degree. I love to write and I'm good at it. BAs do a shitload of documentation. There was my in. My English degree and my heavy IT background made me the perfect bridge between the two. So after various promotions and pay increases I moved from Sr. SQA Analyst to an entry level BA. Pay had still been bumped over time and I started at 65k.

-After another 2.5 years of that I decided I needed to switch companies. Unsavory shit was going down and I needed out. So I took all the skills I had and spun them to apply to not testing....not business process (what my BA position was) but to a Bank and Regulatory Reporting position. So I'm now a Business Systems Analyst doing heavy IT work for the high profile and high risk bank operations at another financial institution.

I know that was long., but I wanted to make the point that you can adapt your background to nearly any position within a certain amount of reason.
 
Graduated in may 2015 > Got a serious (but not "real") seasonal management job for the summer after graduating > worked on my resume and applied for jobs throughout the summer > landed a real job in September and was able to set my start date for mid October when I knew my seasonal job would be over.

I guess I'm lucky?
 
sorry for the double post (i suppose my previous post was useless as well, hah) but i'm wondering if anyone here got a sociology degree in college? what are you doing?
 
13723079:CaptainObvious. said:
AD roles and security.
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do you really think the average stoned NS user knows what AD means?

...jokes

sounds like you did IT (haha) right man. i just put my 2 weeks in at my sysadmin job so i'm coasting like a motherfucker blowing up NSG.

can you elaborate bout your current responsibilities? always curious as to what other sysadmins are doing.
 
13723082:Randy_Quench said:
Graduated in may 2015 > Got a serious (but not "real") seasonal management job for the summer after graduating > worked on my resume and applied for jobs throughout the summer > landed a real job in September and was able to set my start date for mid October when I knew my seasonal job would be over.

I guess I'm lucky?
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I'd also like to chime in for those criticizing college majors that I was a Business Administration major with a communications minor.

I work with sports management majors, drama majors, sales majors, and I have found that what you studied in school really doesn't matter. It's more how you tie your work experience, skills, and knowledge you learned in school to whatever work you are doing.
 
13723086:howlongcanausern said:
do you really think the average stoned NS user knows what AD means?

...jokes

sounds like you did IT (haha) right man. i just put my 2 weeks in at my sysadmin job so i'm coasting like a motherfucker blowing up NSG.

can you elaborate bout your current responsibilities? always curious as to what other sysadmins are doing.
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I'm managing two apps. One of them is like a big ass calculator with some workflow tied to it. Pulls in data from multiple warehouses and aggregates it and spits out a big fancy report at the end that gets sent to The Fed.

The other one is all for internal reporting. Similar function, but all custom internal reports. Like Cognos, but on crack.

In terms of my responsibilities, a whole shitload of it is vendor management right now because we need a bunch of contractors for the project load. Another huge chunk is really project management. Then there's some actual configuration of the tool. It has as pretty friendly UI so I rarely have to do anything code-wise. It's a lot of changing settings on the thousands of aggregations that produce the report. And making changes to accommodate what The Fed tells us they need.
 
13723069:californiagrown said:
Curiously, why aren't you working a part time customer service gig to help out instead of just eating into your shared savings? It sounds like you aren't overly optimistic on landing a full-time position you're happy with for a while.

I know I'm much more likely to hire someone who has a history of always working even"between jobs"
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Quoting for emphasis.
 
13723069:californiagrown said:
Curiously, why aren't you working a part time customer service gig to help out instead of just eating into your shared savings? It sounds like you aren't overly optimistic on landing a full-time position you're happy with for a while.

I know I'm much more likely to hire someone who has a history of always working even"between jobs"
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I picked up two jobs since I moved back. Both didn't work out. Not even as a temp job. It's been rough getting back into things. The one job had some serious safety issues that arose week 2 and I ran. It was scary. The other job I could have stuck it out but I wanted to put all my efforts into finding another career.
 
13723347:SkiBum. said:
I picked up two jobs since I moved back. Both didn't work out. Not even as a temp job. It's been rough getting back into things. The one job had some serious safety issues that arose week 2 and I ran. It was scary. The other job I could have stuck it out but I wanted to put all my efforts into finding another career.
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So you are literally spending 100% of your time researching companies, and filling out applications? Obviously not, you're bullshitting on NS.

Shitty gigs may seem below you, but firstly it isn't fair to your wife that you are letting g pride get in the way of contributing, and second as a hiring manager myself. You cannot even land or keep a shit shop on the Interim? You must not be much of a catch.
 
13723354:californiagrown said:
So you are literally spending 100% of your time researching companies, and filling out applications? Obviously not, you're bullshitting on NS.

Shitty gigs may seem below you, but firstly it isn't fair to your wife that you are letting g pride get in the way of contributing, and second as a hiring manager myself. You cannot even land or keep a shit shop on the Interim? You must not be much of a catch.
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I echo this sentiment. Gaps on a resume don't look good. Especially if the reason is "I was holding out for something better". Waiting tables for six months while you try to negotiate a career change is acceptable and way smarter than just sitting on your thumbs waiting.

Also, could be why you're not getting calls. People are less likely to call back if they see an end in employment and nothing since.
 
Got my degree (associate) at 20. Landed my dream career job at 30. Lots of part time and seasonal jobs in between.
 
Worked at the resort doing various mtn ops jobs for 3 years before i locked down a career in lift maintenance with benefits. No degree, just connections
 
13723389:CaptainObvious. said:
I echo this sentiment. Gaps on a resume don't look good. Especially if the reason is "I was holding out for something better". Waiting tables for six months while you try to negotiate a career change is acceptable and way smarter than just sitting on your thumbs waiting.

Also, could be why you're not getting calls. People are less likely to call back if they see an end in employment and nothing since.
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Also, the fact you can work and excel in a customer service role shows you have tge people skills that make you an employee the customer likes to deal with.

I'm a professional engineer. But when I graduated in 2010 I spent 9 months working athletic events for the Stanford ticket office during the evening, then went to my graveyard shift at 24hr fitness, and worked an internship for the city in its engineering Dept. I needed to make ends meet, and I know that my recent hardworking history was a big reason why I was the first hire since the recession for one of the more high profile firms in the bay area. My 3.2GPA from WSU beat out a ton of other candidates from Stanford, cal, UCLA etc.

Hard workers with people skills are candidates I want to hire. You are out of work. You don't have the luxury of being too good for a paycheck.
 
Did the suit route right out of school, made good money but hated working for someone else. Ended up opening up a consignment buy sell trade store and couldn't be any happier.
 
13723580:TheClap. said:
Did the suit route right out of school, made good money but hated working for someone else. Ended up opening up a consignment buy sell trade store and couldn't be any happier.
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What made you choose the second route? Like what events transpired to make you say "Yeah....that's what I want to do"?

Totally curious.
 
13723582:CaptainObvious. said:
What made you choose the second route? Like what events transpired to make you say "Yeah....that's what I want to do"?

Totally curious.
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Use to sell a shit ton on here when I was in HS/College so I always wanted to work for me. When I was working the suit job I picked up a part time job at my local ma and pops shoe store so I could guarantee my pairs I wanted. It also opened the door to meet alot of performers as they would come through before their concerts. Ended up building up a solid following. At the time not many people I knew were buying used jordans and shit so I started. Would clean them up and flip um. One thing led to another and I was making more money then what I needed. So I said fuck it I'm just going to do this full time.
 
13723597:TheClap. said:
Use to sell a shit ton on here when I was in HS/College so I always wanted to work for me. When I was working the suit job I picked up a part time job at my local ma and pops shoe store so I could guarantee my pairs I wanted. It also opened the door to meet alot of performers as they would come through before their concerts. Ended up building up a solid following. At the time not many people I knew were buying used jordans and shit so I started. Would clean them up and flip um. One thing led to another and I was making more money then what I needed. So I said fuck it I'm just going to do this full time.
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That's sick. Good for you man.
 
13723566:californiagrown said:
You are out of work. You don't have the luxury of being too good for a paycheck.
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I didn't want to say anything towards this but I do have the luxury of not having to work. I have made some good investments over the years, and could comfortably live for maybe 2 or 3 years. But that is me, is not what I want to do.
 
13723608:SkiBum. said:
I didn't want to say anything towards this but I do have the luxury of not having to work. I have made some good investments over the years, and could comfortably live forward maybe 2 or 3 years. But that is me, is not what I want to do.
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That is an awfully short sighted way to look at things. Yikes.
 
In some regards I started over in my career when I was 28. I had been working in commercial construction for about 6 years, kind of barely stayed employed through the recession, and was getting burned out with killing myself 50 hours a week with a bunch of mandatory Saturday work and stress. So I took a huge pay cut to go work for the government. Four years in I have pretty much gotten back to what I was making, plus I have paid time off, better retirement, way more chilled out job environment overall it worked out pretty good. Even if you have to start at the bottom if you are qualified you will move up.
 
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