How do you build up from ground zero?

[BRUTE]

I feel unemployable, yet employment seems to be the answer to my problems. I guess this isn't making me employable, at all, so it's just a way to get a little bit of cash

while a little bit of cash in the short term is good and sometimes needed, does Arbo have a long-term plan for becoming employable? if not, this quandary will occur again in a few months/years.

it is hard to recommend paths to become employable, because each human's history/skills/interests/tolerances are so different. but here are some basics paths brute knows are viable for many humans:

1)blue collar/trades - relatively good start pay, no need for degrees, training likely on the job
2)white collar/professional - only very few professions actually pay well, like engineering, law, medicine, etc, def. do research before you choose. will require multi-year degrees

in brutes personal opinion, unless Arbo has a talent/interest for/in a certain white collar job, a degree is merely a personal status thing. if Arbo seeks to be respected by people for having a degree, or feels like he wants one, sure. but if it's just about the money, very few degrees pay. and Arbo probably can't just "become" an engineer or doctor, it'll require decades of interest and just happening to like it. i.e. if Arbo hasn't ever been interested in doctoring or engineering so far, that's unlikely to change, and without the interest, it's unlikely he'll endure the 5+ years of school that cost lots of money and time.

there's no shame in being a union electrician and making good money. or fixing people's clogged toilets for $300 a pop.

[FBeyer]

...there's no shame in being a union electrician and making good money. or fixing people's clogged toilets for $300 a pop.

Or a carpenter installing kitches, windows, floors, drywall, building patios, fixing leaking roofs, and fixing creaking doors.
Or a mason. Learn to set tiles. It takes very few tools (you can probably haul around most of what you need on a bike and a trailer) and start your own tile setting company.

Get an apprenticeship if sitting on your ass is a bore. Learn as much about construction as you can on youtube and stackexchange. Learn to build it well first, then learn to build fast.

Start your own company.

Fuck everyone who thinks craftsmen are less valuable than PhDs. The skills you learn at a construction site can be employed at ANY other institution as well, mainly because construction is about getting shit done!

[cmonkey]

+1 to the blue collar recommendations. I have often thought that being a tradesman is much more suited to an ERE life because you are learning the skills that you can use to lower your own expenses while making a decent amount of money and not taking on as much debt. Honestly you're probably in a better position than you think. Look into a trade school of some sort. Being a plumber or electrician (or some other trade) you could probably make more than a lot of us do. BAs are a dime a dozen these days.

Ultimately this sounds more like a problem of motivation and attitude. If you are like me, if you haven't 'gotten something done' in quite a while then you start getting discouraged with yourself. I am that way with my current renovation project. If I haven't gotten anything done on it for a few days or a week, I start feeling unmotivated to do anything and my attitude shifts negatively toward the entire project. That act of 'completion' even if its just putting in an electrical switch is very pleasing to me and really boosts my mood. I have been in a great mood for the past week because I've been getting something done each day. Each small step of completion leads to completing the big picture goal. Maybe its the same for you and just completing this one class will help you out and give you something to be motivated for. Focus on that and then take the next step.

[FBeyer]

Just for the record, I am a carpenter doing a PhD in physics. Getting that education will cost you a lot in terms of opportunity as well as actual income. On the other hand, grinding through university gives you another set of skills that are valuable: dealing with shit and stress for years on end.

A trade, especially one where the skills you learn aren't totally pigeonholed, will let you buy, repair and manage a LOT of stuff in the future. It will also make it easier for you to pick up new skills later.

Your attitude is MUCH more important than your age or skills, when you're starting from zero. A 30 year old with a can-do attitude will get an apprenticeship much easier than an 18 year old slacker.

[enigmaT120]

For me, writing classes were required in the liberal arts core curriculum but luckily I had saved most of my papers from high school writing classes and was frequently able to re-use them in college. I also would make essays multi-purpose, like using a cell biology essay in a writing class as well. Just jumping through hoops.

[thrifty++]

Hey Arbo, so I noticed you back on here again posting, and was wondering how things have gone for you? Have things gotten better,

[James_0011]

To the op,

If you’re willing to relocate, look up a company called the prince William aquaculture corporation. It’s a salmon hatchery in Alaska. They’ll take pretty much anyone, and you can take the winters off as it’s a seasonal job.

In any case, it’s a chance to learn a marketable skill as a fisheries technician. After you get more experience, job opportunities in the lower 48 will open up.

The pay starts at $10/hr as a tech, but if you stick it out and move up to a manager role you can make six figures. Let me know if you have any specific questions - you can also put me down as a reference at pwsac if you want.

[Stahlmann]

has OP delivered?
are there any folks who built up from gound zero in this time frame? (i.e. 2010-2012)

good luck to everyone who struggles.

[George the original one]

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