What happened to entry level jobs? Observations from a lazy, idiot bum.

reply to post by onequestion


And ats will be the first place i list job postings!

Now off to the mines lol

reply to post by onequestion

I wish i was that shallow.

See how you are! I make a suggestion about how you could improve your financial situation . . . but OH NO . . . you're above that . . . you're too good for that!

I have changed careers twice already, and may be doing so again in the next year again, starting over at the bottom...

My advice is this:

Find a workplace that will recognize and reward an outstanding individual. The whole problem with the major corporations y'all are talking about working for, is that they don't really notice whether you do your job well. They assume that in 5 years, you will have found a better job, or be due for a promotion; either way it will be cheaper to let you go and replace you with an inexperienced fish who will work for entry level.

But a smaller company has a constant shortage of management potential, and a problem with a steep learning curve while they pay a trainee the full management price who still isn't delivering.

I once made it from entry level to management in less than 24 months. It was outdoor work, with a lot of hard-living types. I was in the minority because showed up early and sober for work every day. I worked like hell and didn't make excuses or ask for time off. I also solved all potential problems I could see, whether I got paid to or not.

By my first Christmas with that firm, the boss tied my bonus to my department's bottom line. They had the best year they'd ever had that year, and I bought myself a car with the bonus money. Even though it was in the middle of a recession.

The worst company was one that started small---I was their 13th hire (signficance?). About the time I started eyeing a manager position when they opened up a new department, they hired the new manager from outside. I should have left right then. The new manager was incredibly threatened by me, and all the other males with prior experience. I tried to stick it out when I should have just left.

So:

1) Find a company small enough that you can get noticed AND REWARDED for outstanding work.
2) Provide outstanding work
3) Get a certificate in something. Forklift. Backhoe. Welding. Paramedic. Anything that will set you apart. Your pay will begin going up, as the certificate (not the popular college diploma) shows a specific skill that other applicants will lack.

onequestion
reply to post by CleanCare

 

I know... two posts for 1 response.

Asking to start on the bottom and work your way up isnt the easy option.

Go to a public library. Get books in a field your interested in. Read the books and amerce yourself in the subject matter.
Get on the computer at the library to access as much info about the subject your trying to learn about.
Work hard at learning skill from the information available.
Eventually learn a new specialized skill or two or three.

Use the learned skills to make money online via freelance contracts.

Hell if you know more than english then you can get a job using that skill.

onequestion
reply to post by 1Providence1

 

Can you add more to what your saying?

Very interested.

Shifting of large age groups, accomodation for their "needs" in terms of expenses, younger generations owing massive debt that cannot be paid, staggering currency issues...

There are many other signs. Great change is not only in sight, it is necessary. Our current system(s) just cannot handle the variables in play right now, imho.

webedoomed
Actually looking to find a solid programmer to go over an idea. That's another route. Think something up, figure out a working model, then get it kickstarted.

edit on 5-2-2014 by webedoomed because: (no reason given)

PM me and I can answer the questions if you want, might as well use my programming knowledge for something... it's certainly not getting me a good job in my area of the country.

DeadSeraph
reply to post by onequestion

 

Be thankful you haven't chosen game development as a career. It's insanely difficult to crack that egg. AAA studios want a minimum of 5 years of experience, with at least one (usually two) AAA shipped games with your name already in the credits, and a 4 year degree minimum. Entry level positions are pretty much non-existent, and if they exist they are often given to QA testers who've been slaving away filing bugs for the last 10 years at minimum wage and polishing their skills on their own time in the hopes of moving up the corporate ladder. I'm at the point now where I have fully questioned my own sanity in trying to work in this field. While I have worked on a shipped AAA title, and an indie title and have 4.5 years of experience (as well as a college diploma in a related discipline), the bar seems to be set higher and higher every time I look for available jobs. Combine that with the cheap outsourcing in India that companies can utilize for assets and the future is looking grim.

That, and every snot nosed xbox kid and his dog wants to be a game developer now, so the market is flooded with competition.

This is the field I picked but I'm not in Austin or LA so there's no jobs. I can move of course, but moving costs money. I would find a way to do it and live on the streets for a time if I had to (I've done it before) if someone hired me for an actual position but like you said those are in very high demand and a dead end QA job that has no future doesn't justify moving (not to be confused with an entry level job where promotions can happen). I have experience on a AAA title (MMO, did ongoing work on it for years), and am working on my own game currently which if all goes well will either get me hired at a company or provide ongoing development work for me (it's a game I could release regular purchased expansions for), but I'm still a year or more away from completing it, probably 2 years.

I know Max, Maya, Unity, CryEngine, HeroEngine, 7 programming languages, and a whole bunch of other software. On the education side of things I have degrees in Computer Science, Game & Simulation Design, Digital Graphics, and Computer Engineering Technology (yes, 4 degrees, avg gpa of 3.5), I have a few random certifications, as well as some trophies and other rewards for winning game jam's and game conferences (first place in one 3 years in a row) so I'm not entirely unskilled. I'm well aware of how difficult it is to get a job in that field.

onequestion
reply to post by DeadSeraph

 

Damn man. This is the thing with programming careers is that coding is being taught in countries like India and China and their coders work for 9 an hour while the ones in the US want to start at least at 17.

That's because coding isn't really skilled labor. It's literally one of the easiest things in the world to do. Describe a series of steps in order to accomplish a task, and then write them down. That's all there is to it unless you're using Assembly, that takes actual skill. You even get to sit in a comfortable chair in a heated/ac office while doing it. Why coders think they deserve an actual salary I have no idea (I have this opinion of most jobs) but companies pay a wage for some reason that makes no sense to me.

GogoVicMorrow
reply to post by onequestion

 

I wasn't keen on the idea of giving digital copies of my fingerprints. Not that I have ever been involved in crime, but I mean.. what If I decide to turn to a life of crime?

edit on 6-2-2014 by GogoVicMorrow because: (no reason given)

I've always had this same thought. While I don't plan to do something bad right now, I can easily see a day in the future where it would be in my interest to not have my fingerprints on file. If such a thing were to happen and I needed to not have fingerprints I would have to go through the pain of removing them which I've heard is extremely painful, so I would rather avoid that.