(no subject)

[sathor]

There's a Gas Plant Operator position being advertised locally, in the Warren/Kane area. I just finished writing my resume for it. Is this the right course of action? Well, maybe. Depends I guess.

They advertised it as, besides doing the normal operator thing (something I'm completely familiar with) the operator will be assisting mechanics with maintenance on compressors and pumps as well. That's what I wanted to do at United, and I was years away from it. If by some stroke of good fucking luck I land this job, I'll have just skipped a few years of waiting around. Who cares about the pay? They want a salary requirement in the resume, so I put $35,000 - well below average (average is $52,000) but this area IS economically depressed, and I don't want them to throw it out because they think I won't take anything less than average. I'd rather have a conversation with an interviewer about it, if it comes to that.

If it's a straight shift of some sort, with just call outs, I'd be willing to do it for $35-$40k. So I guess my salary requirement is okay? I'm not really sure if I SHOULD ask for more or not.

It took me quite awhile to write my resume out, and I've had to reduce it multiple times. The number of tools I'm familiar with, and skills I built at United, are pretty extensive. I wanted to keep it all on one page though, which basically left no room for any other employer in my history. I barely squeezed my education and salary requirement in at the bottom. Kinda crazy - back when I had just finished at endeavor, I think I could've fit my entire work experience on a couple lines.

I really doubt I'll get a call, and I doubt even further that I would be taken after an interview (I'm just not a super personable person) but I suppose I should at least make the attempt. I know this area lacks people with the kind of experience I have, and I'm hoping that maybe I can serve this smaller propane company well for a little while if they need it.

Even though I know I should probably be doing something else with my life. But whatever. The more I think about all of that, the less inclined I am to do anything about it. Investing so much money (and future earnings) paying the salaries of other people already living the dream (professor, college admin, whatever) just seems almost...ridiculous, doesn't it? Especially when I'm already a fairly well-educated person...

Comments

"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

Yay, this sounds like a very promising course of action! I say, if the average salary is $52,000, then put that down as your requirement. It sounds like you have all the skills they could possibly want, so don't under-value yourself: asking for the higher salary makes it look like you believe you're worth that; thus they will be inclined to believe it too. If they can't afford that, they will negotiate with you.

There's every likelihood you will receive a call, since they're hiring and you have the skills they need. As for the interview, you don't have to be super-personable - they're hiring for mechanical skills, not people-skills - but you do have to be confident and direct. So buy yourself some new pants and a nice shirt - not black - and get a good haircut; nothing boosts confidence like going in knowing you look sharp.

Consider this, young Jedi: since you have no way of knowing whether they will or won't hire you, there's no rational reason for believing one way or the other. However, the rational mind is not all the mind you have, and actually controls very little. If you walk in to the interview believing that of course they're going to hire you at the price you ask, and will be glad they did it (if you like them well enough to work for them) it will increase the likelihood that you do get hired, because belief is contagious. If you can't bring yourself to actually believe it, then simulate the belief; "fake it till you make it".

It does seem ridiculous to go into debt for more college at this point. The economy feels pretty unstable; a better time to be making and saving money, than spending it. It would be different if you had a specific goal in mind; a career that required certain credentials. It also seems like Warren is your home, and though you may dream about other places, you don't really want to leave it. With this new job, you'll be able to get yourself an apartment if you want one, and/or start saving for a house.

You're fairly well educated, and you're a self-motivated learner, which means your education never stops. As you say, you don't need to pay someone else to teach you stuff you can learn on your own.

*hugs hugs* Happy Solstice, dear friend; wishing you joy!

Re: "Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."

[sathor.livejournal.com]

I made a compromise at the last minute at your suggestion - I decided I'd change my requirement to $45,000 Negotiable. This area is lower paying than most (United isn't, but United is a special sort of animal) so I have to consider that at least somewhat. If I get in there and they chew me down, fine - if I get in there and they tell me it's a salary position and overtime isn't compensated, I will probably tell them I want at least $50,000 and if I work a lot of overtime, I will expect a raise the following year. That's the problem with salary positions.

You're right about not knowing whether they will call me or not. So I won't fret about it. I have some decent dress shirts (or a nice flannel) and a pair of jeans (dress pants, in my opinion, would not be necessary for an interview for a position that will likely involve wearing FR clothing or coveralls, and a great deal of filth.) As for the haircut, my hair is still long and usually in a ponytail - maybe I'll get it trimmed here soon, but I can't really cut short or style because of all the scars. Those kinds of questions aren't ones that I like answering to anyone - let alone an interviewer (or having them make assumptions.)

If they don't call me, there is one other option locally in the same line of work. That would be my ex girlfriends father. He owns a gas plant in Sheffield (multi-millionaire.) They pay fairly well, and I'm sure he'd love to have an experienced refinery worker at his disposal. Who knows.

Of course there's all the other options. But I'd like to see if I can keep skill building in this direction. The oil and gas industry is also not the only industry requiring identical skills - power plants of all kinds have operators who perform similar tasks on much larger equipment, water treatment and city water, as well as chemical plants. I could also just pick up my life and get a job at a gigantic refinery on the west coast, or anywhere. Having a few years of experience counts for a lot in an industry that tends to hire complete newbies and lose many of them to attrition early on.

There's the trade unions (that also involve a move) too, and there's of course university. I agree with what you said completely, and I do have goals that require credentials - always have. The problem is that I often feel the credentials are all I really need (because I can learn so much so easily.) A high price to pay for a piece of paper that says society gives me the right to do x.

I wish teaching children and young adults was like it was in the old days. So many brilliant people taught...and they didn't necessarily need to spend six years in an institution and go into debt to do it. I feel like learning a curriculum front to back and teaching it as you go would be incredibly easy for someone like me. Four to six more years of schooling wouldn't make that any easier - arguably, I'd be burned out again on reading.

Happy Solstice to you as well! I hope you have a great couple holidays -hugs-

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

It all sounds good - your pay requirements show self-respect, but also willingness to be flexible. New jeans and a nice flannel shirt were exactly what I was picturing - one of the perks of an engineer-type job is never having to dress any fancier than that, and also being able to keep your long hair. (I'm a big fan of long hair on guys, as long as it's well cared for.)

I'm not sure teaching per se was ever any easier. It's one thing to learn a curriculum; quite another thing to induce a random bunch of children to learn it. But the public school system that's grown up around teaching (like strangling ivy) makes it extremely difficult to actually teach. What you'd learn in a College of Education - that you will not learn from independent study - is how to be part of that system. (You might also learn why you didn't want to be part of it.)

If what you want is just to teach, there are many ways to do that without either a certificate or a classroom, but most of them pay poorly or not at all. Even with a Ph.D, teaching pays relatively poorly, unless one is lucky enough to make it to full professorship with tenure in a well-heeled college or university - and that's a long, bloody climb. I don't think most associate professors see themselves as 'living the dream'.

If you stay in industrial operations, where does that take you? Do you have a particular field of interest, such as hydro-electrics or city water, that you'd like to specialize in? Would you like to become a plant manager or an actual engineer, or do you prefer to remain an operator?

Seems to me that you've got a great many viable options open to you - "an embarrassment of riches", as they say; so many that it's a lot harder to choose among them than it would be if you only had two or three. Which one would be best? Well, you'll never know that, because there is no 'best'; there's only what you make of whatever path you choose. But after you've analyzed all the risks and benefits, what does your heart say?

*hugs* Thanks! Solstice was great; now it's Christmas Eve, and that'll be nice too. Blessed be, my dear friend; here's to joy and success in the coming year!