|
Wang Commander posted:Is there a way to go from blue to white collar? Covid has made me realize how lovely of a deal I am getting working blue collar, but I have never worked in an office environment, and cannot move into one in my current field for a lot of reasons. How do you get a "corporate job" later in life? Is it possible? I know a few people who switched careers fairly late in life. It was mostly into computer touching but they went on a boot camp and got some certs and applied for jobs. You can do it but it really depends on what kind of job you are wanting to do and not just jumping at something that comes a long. A good example of that are those "Sales" jobs that are really just cold calling people and dealing with pissed off lovely people.
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2022 17:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 06:33 |
|
|
BigPaddy posted:I know a few people who switched careers fairly late in life. It was mostly into computer touching but they went on a boot camp and got some certs and applied for jobs. You can do it but it really depends on what kind of job you are wanting to do and not just jumping at something that comes a long. A good example of that are those "Sales" jobs that are really just cold calling people and dealing with pissed off lovely people. I know a bartender that did a 6 month coding academy and got a white collar IT support type job. That seems to be the consensus on how people should progress to white collar work now because it seems to work.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2022 18:05
|
|
|
Cacafuego posted:I know a bartender that did a 6 month coding academy and got a white collar IT support type job. That seems to be the consensus on how people should progress to white collar work now because it seems to work. I guess that's it then, there's certainly lots of it around
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2022 18:29
|
|
|
Wang Commander posted:I guess that's it then, there's certainly lots of it around Beware predatory bootcamps. There are ones that basically sign you on as an indentured servant after through their staffing company. If a community college near you offers one, jump on it. Otherwise make sure you can find people who have gone through it on linkedin and get some opinions. Basic IT work? Figure out how to lift-and-shift on prem stuff to Azure. There are MSP's out there who do that all day long and it's as good as any way "into the field." But there are also like, HR generalists, office managers, a decent number of only barely technical support jobs where if you can navigate a website and comprehend industry jargon you can help people out.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2022 20:33
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:But there are also like, HR generalists, office managers, a decent number of only barely technical support jobs where if you can navigate a website and comprehend industry jargon you can help people out. Holy poo poo this is like my fantasy. How do you get into this? edit: I think I'm qualified to be an "HR Assistant" right now Wang Commander fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jan 7, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2022 21:01
|
|
|
I think the recent labor crunch might help you out. Pretty recently my lab was struggling to find an office person, and I know several law firms which are still looking for an office assistant type person. Not glamorous or super well paid, but if you just want to be at a desk I bet there's options out there. uh, i think i misunderstood the question Wang Commander posted:I make $150k/year in an individual contributor role, and have numerous offers to move into a ~$200k Epitope fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Jan 7, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2022 22:01
|
|
|
Epitope posted:I think the recent labor crunch might help you out. Pretty recently my lab was struggling to find an office person, and I know several law firms which are still looking for an office assistant type person. Not glamorous or super well paid, but if you just want to be at a desk I bet there's options out there. Hah yeah.  HR Generalist is going to fetch $65k with benefits. Again, where do you live? What are your skills? Can you become a trainer in the equipment you currently maintain? Teach the next batch of youthful idiots how to make build I'm a little confused on how $150k looking at $200k is living in an area that is "very high cost of living" but "travels 50%+" jives? Where do you live?
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2022 00:27
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:Hah yeah. My current work has no relevance to where I live. I spend half the year at sea, and the rest of the time I could live anywhere I wanted. I live in a tech/biotech hub in the South that is seeing explosive growth in cost of living, to where I am now on the lower end for mid-career. I have essentially lost the rat race because I will never crack $225k and our raises are well behind inflation, and will not be able to purchase a home or raise a family, and so I am looking at downsizing my career and lifestyle substantially. I cannot relocate due to family considerations that require me to physically live here but which are not money-intensive. No one where I live does anything related to the equipment I maintain, unfortunately. The marine equipment is extremely niche, the average person does not see it beyond news articles on "largest engine in the world!" etc.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2022 00:59
|
|
|
I know you work a lot and travel a lot but you make a gently caress ton of money man (in 6 months as well?). about 6% of households in the US make over $200K per year. So I don't think you have lost the rat race (unless you just have to keep up with the jones's). For context you make way more than my engineers in Denver with 4 year engineering degrees, PE license, 10+ years experience, etc. Denver is pretty expensive to live in. Not saying you shouldn't change careers but if you want to just move to a desk with basically no skills you can go work front office jobs for like $40K a year. Even if you try to become a computer toucher you are going to have years and years of way less pay. You are going to have to be willing to take a big pay cut to do this. Could be worth it but just be aware. spwrozek fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Jan 8, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2022 02:17
|
|
|
150k household income in my hideously expensive northeast city (which I guarantee is more expensive to live in than wherever you live - the paper's real estate section had to discontinue a feature highlighting apartments for sale that cost less than $500,000 because there weren't enough anymore) would put you just slightly below the median household income in the most affluent neighborhood in my city. I don't think you're calibrating your expectations very well. You make very good money and it will be difficult to exceed your current pay in less than a decade after a career change, maybe more. Since you're pinned to your area, that will put you even further behind in terms of saving for a house etc. I think there are a couple things here with different answers: 1. Career dissatisfaction. If you don't like the work you are doing, you should absolutely figure out a way to change careers. However, without going in to coding type jobs, there's not really a path to make $150k in anything like a short amount of time. You are going to have to balance this with the need to either make drastic lifestyle changes. 2. Financial trouble. If you think you are falling behind and not making enough money, bluntly: you need to honestly understand where you are really at financially, which is something like a top 10%er income level or better. Which either means you have extravagant lifestyle expectations, or it brings me to the last point... 3. Perception problems. Who are your peers that you are comparing to? Why do you think you are falling behind? Why do you think that white collar jobs pay so much more? What do you actually want to do with your life and why do you need to make more money?
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 16:47
|
|
|
Wang Commander posted:My current work has no relevance to where I live. I spend half the year at sea, and the rest of the time I could live anywhere I wanted. I live in a tech/biotech hub in the South that is seeing explosive growth in cost of living, to where I am now on the lower end for mid-career. I have essentially lost the rat race because I will never crack $225k and our raises are well behind inflation, and will not be able to purchase a home or raise a family, and so I am looking at downsizing my career and lifestyle substantially. I cannot relocate due to family considerations that require me to physically live here but which are not money-intensive. No one where I live does anything related to the equipment I maintain, unfortunately. The marine equipment is extremely niche, the average person does not see it beyond news articles on "largest engine in the world!" etc. just to level set here: ~97% of American HOUSEHOLDS never crack 225k in a single year
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 16:49
|
|
|
I don't see why purchasing a home is coupled with raising a family. Basically everyone in the world makes drastically less than you, lots of them have families, and lots of those people sure as hell don't own homes. I'm one of them. Get a grip and stop looking at social media. As someone working at a white-collar job for 14 years--and making drastically less than you even after that--my advice is to find a way to fit your goals into your current career track. I can understand not wanting to be at sea for half the year away from your future kids, so find a way to avoid that. That said, your future wife will be extraordinarily disappointed if you take a >75% pay cut just because you saw your college roommate on Instagram buying a mansion in malibu and decided you lost the rat race. You might see a few rats in front of you and think you've lost, but the vermin horde is so far behind you can't even see them.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 22:21
|
|
|
Also I'm still not understanding "I'm not keeping up in the rat race, so I'm gonna take a massive pay cut". Does it just suck that bad working on oil rigs?
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 22:26
|
|
|
Pham Nuwen posted:Also I'm still not understanding "I'm not keeping up in the rat race, so I'm gonna take a massive pay cut". Does it just suck that bad working on oil rigs? it's not rigs, which are usually rotated in weeks (you spend two weeks off rig, two weeks on). it's container ships where you spend months on ship, and then months off.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 22:35
|
|
|
KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:it's not rigs, which are usually rotated in weeks (you spend two weeks off rig, two weeks on). it's container ships where you spend months on ship, and then months off. Yeah, an uncle was a first officer for a shipping company. He made great money, but was away for like 6 months at a time. I imagine being in the navy is much the same except they're not paid as well.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 22:41
|
|
|
definitely a situation where i can see being very dissatisfied with the lifestyle and wanting to leave, it is a life with major downsides but usually that is made up for in some time off when off ship, and also money. i have a hard time reconciling it as an underpaid job.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 22:44
|
|
|
It clearly isn't based on the numbers
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2022 23:03
|
|
|
KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:150k household income in my hideously expensive northeast city (which I guarantee is more expensive to live in than wherever you live - the paper's real estate section had to discontinue a feature highlighting apartments for sale that cost less than $500,000 because there weren't enough anymore) Let me guess: Somewhere, Connecticut.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2022 18:01
|
|
|
Armauk posted:Let me guess: Somewhere, Connecticut. He's in Boston
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2022 18:02
|
|
|
 baby
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2022 19:21
|
|
|
I'll guess again: A city in Connecticut
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2022 19:22
|
|
|
Armauk posted:I'll guess again: A city in Connecticut i will fight u
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2022 21:47
|
|
|
Armauk posted:Let me guess: Somewhere, Connecticut. If he had said single family homes instead of apartments, I would definitely agree. The only place in CT where there would be apartments over $500k would be a Stamford, and even that's a stretch. Source: lived in Connecticut my whole life.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2022 16:39
|
|
|
Asked in the BFC Newbie thread earlier in the week but figured I would try my luck here: Probably a stupid tax withholding question (US). I withhold an extra $75 per pay period so that I don't have to pay when I file in April or make quarterly payments. Since I now have a kid and pay for daycare, I get some new credits so I'll be getting a decent chunk of money back this year ($3k or so). Assuming that everything stays the same next year, would it be prudent to just "convert" my extra $75 in withholding to an extra $1,950 in contributions to my 401k? I already max out my Roth IRA so this would basically lower my taxable income a hair and wipe out the extra money I sent to the feds, lowering my refund for next year, right? I know that the expanded CTC complicates things, but my understanding is that since I did not opt out of my $300 monthly payment last year, that my refund this year is comparable to what a "normal" tax year would be, since it doesn't seem like it will be extended to this year. I have pretty boring taxes and take the standard deduction and don't have a taxable brokerage account or anything for capital gains.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2022 21:17
|
|
|
I heard that there was a thread for Data Analysis stuff, but it was dead, so I thought I'd ask about it here. I was wondering what the day-to-day is like for a Data Analytics job. I currently have a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering (also Psychology) and work for the government as an engineer, but I think it's not the line of work for me. I've seen postings on USAjobs.gov for Statistician positions and the description may be more up my alley, though obviously those are just technical descriptions. What I want to know is if there's anyone in the thread that knows what the day-to-day is like for a data analyst, statistician or something in that vein of work so I can see if it's worth it for me to go to school to pick up some coursework and experience for the transition.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2022 00:28
|
|
|
The problem with "Data Analytics" jobs is that they can be anywhere from writing dumb SQL queries or using google analytics/BI tools to respond to stakeholder inquiries (what I do everyday) to drastically more complex stuff requiring you to for example develop machine learning algos and recommendation engines. PhD level stuff. I have zero formal education, background, or training in even SQL yet my company pays me an awful lot of money to do exactly that. And for some reason they think it's amazing? My day-to-day is basically looking at the outstanding requests in JIRA, figuring out the best/easiest way to answer them, and doing the needful to provide the answers. If I wanted to take it to the next level, I'd try to learn R and/or python but I don't think it would change my comp much, so hell with that. If I could make my own title it would be "Data Janitor" rather than "Data Analytics."
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2022 04:08
|
|
|
I am in a BA type role that works with a bunch of DAs. The DAs on my team do everything from statistics heavy forcast-modeling, to BA-like tasks developing requirements for data systems, to doing BI-type work making dashboards in PowerBI or Tableau. Some even do SQL-heavy work like I do but are called a DA for some reason. It really depends on the kind of work you want to do.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2022 04:53
|
|
|
Fezziwig posted:I am in a BA type role that works with a bunch of DAs. The DAs on my team do everything from statistics heavy forcast-modeling, to BA-like tasks developing requirements for data systems, to doing BI-type work making dashboards in PowerBI or Tableau. Some even do SQL-heavy work like I do but are called a DA for some reason. What does BA and BI mean? Business Analytics and Business Informatics? I don't have a good idea of what you mean by forecast modeling besides taking data and making it into something predictive to some level of confidence and accuracy. zmcnulty posted:The problem with "Data Analytics" jobs is that they can be anywhere from writing dumb SQL queries or using google analytics/BI tools to respond to stakeholder inquiries (what I do everyday) to drastically more complex stuff requiring you to for example develop machine learning algos and recommendation engines. PhD level stuff. I have zero formal education, background, or training in even SQL yet my company pays me an awful lot of money to do exactly that. And for some reason they think it's amazing? My day-to-day is basically looking at the outstanding requests in JIRA, figuring out the best/easiest way to answer them, and doing the needful to provide the answers. If I wanted to take it to the next level, I'd try to learn R and/or python but I don't think it would change my comp much, so hell with that. If I could make my own title it would be "Data Janitor" rather than "Data Analytics." Stakeholder inquiries like what? and SQL queries for what sort of purpose? If you have no formal training or background in SQL, how did you get that job then?
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2022 00:18
|
|
|
Xelkelvos posted:What does BA and BI mean? Business Analytics and Business Informatics? I don't have a good idea of what you mean by forecast modeling besides taking data and making it into something predictive to some level of confidence and accuracy. Business Analysis and Business Intelligence. And that's exactly what I mean. Taking existing data (in our case, historical gross profits by month) and using that to create a predictive model of what gross profit will be in the future. This is often using existing models, such as ARIMA, TBATS, etc instead of developing new models.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2022 01:30
|
|
|
Xelkelvos posted:Stakeholder inquiries like what? and SQL queries for what sort of purpose? If you have no formal training or background in SQL, how did you get that job then? How many people bought stocks X and Y but not Z in the past 2 weeks? How many accounts have made deposits of at least 10,000 yen? What UTM parameters have the highest CVR last month, and which brought in the highest amount of assets? Which customer segment is most likely to be interested in mutual fund A? Are just some examples. It's basically bringing together log/trading/market data from both our frontend and backend to answer questions from managers so they can make data-driven business decisions. As for how I got the job, I was on the team that launched the company. I started in marketing, then they asked me to come up with the KPIs for the company and deliver them daily. So I set up a data analysis environment that does automated reporting (this part runs on Tableau) and also allows for ad-hoc analysis (this part is Apache Zeppelin). I had a tiny bit of exposure to MySQL outside of work because I've used LAMP environments for personal websites since like 2006. Back in those days you sometimes had to fix crap manually if your crappy CMS wasn't cooperating. So I've just kind of built on top of that, on the job. Basically any question you or I could possibly have about whatever flavor of SQL has been asked by someone on stackoverflow.com in the past, and answered by like ten different people.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2022 08:00
|
|
|
Honestly, that does seem more my speed than what I'm currently doing. Light to Moderate Computer Touching with an emphasis on data. I'd still like to stay in government if possible, but I'd need to either spend some time in the private sector or take some coursework to get those skills so I can fit the qualifications for those sorts of positions.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2022 03:15
|
|
|
I don't really know if this is the right thread to ask this, but hopefully someone here can answer. Do any of you know anything about Affirm financing? I need to make a major purchase of about $4,300 and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the hard pull on my credit history to apply for financing with Affirm, or if I should save up some actual cash and buy with that instead. I am currently unemployed (hoping this'll change soon) and relying on a parent as my primary financial support. My credit is in recovery mode but is kinda dogshit right now; my scores are all in the mid-500s as of today, and while they might go up a bit in the next few days once a bunch of card payments get added to my report, they'll likely only go up to the high- or upper-mid-500s if they go up at all. It's not a purchase I urgently need to make today, but I'll probably need to make it within the next month or two if at all possible, so I've got a bit of time to save some money if I need to go that route. I'm just wondering if my approval odds for Affirm financing are better than I think they are (guessing not, but it never hurts to ask). I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Mar 28, 2022 |
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 04:28
|
|
|
No you should not take out a line of credit while unemployed. Period. Your credit score has no bearing on this. What are you wanting to buy?
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 06:45
|
|
|
I. M. Gei posted:I don't really know if this is the right thread to ask this, but hopefully someone here can answer. Read only the bolded. Is this something you absolutely need in order to start working? If the answer is no, then don't buy it until you are gainfully employed. As far as affirm vs buying cash, if they even approve you, are you are going to be pushing over 20% with a credit score in the 500's. Don't do it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 18:21
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:What are you wanting to buy? Chiasmus posted:Read only the bolded. Is this something you absolutely need in order to start working? If the answer is no, then don't buy it until you are gainfully employed. This is the big part. $4300 for a reliable motorcycle (surely you can't find an acceptable car for $4300 right now...) to get to work makes some sense. $4300 for a fursuit does not. Post the fursuit.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 18:45
|
|
|
Chiasmus posted:Read only the bolded. Is this something you absolutely need in order to start working? If the answer is no, then don't buy it until you are gainfully employed. Yeah this is about what I figured. I'll get a job and save up for it the old fashioned way. It's not a purchase I need to make in order to work, so I can definitely wait a bit on it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2022 23:03
|
|
|
New Sales thread is up here: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3998781
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2022 17:22
|
|
|
I'm renegotiating my pay and job situation right now with my boss. I'm working from home in Oregon and the rest of the company is in california, which has been helpful for some things and kind of annoying for others but in general has been pretty nice. I get my health insurance through the state so it's not tied to my company at all. We're talking about switching me from hourly entirely and just making it a salaried position. I asked for this so I could have some time in my schedule for some other stuff and also because they have a tendency to ask me for things when i'm not on the clock. usually not super difficult things and i don't really mind, but things that TECHNICALLY if i wanted to be a dick about i could be charging overtime for at the moment he was talking about needing to run the numbers and talk to the head boss about it but his plan was just a flat rate per week but he was spitballing something about making it not taxed and then at the end of the year set me up with an accountant and make like an llc or something (i didn't quite catch it) so we can make a ton of tax writeoffs for basically any expense i have in the year. I might need him to clarify since I'm not very familiar with any of this, but I'm wondering if that sounds like something you guys have seen before. I really don't think they would try to gently caress me on this so I'm sure it's a legal and reasonable plan but because I'm so unfamiliar with it I was wondering if that rang a bell for you guys. Downsides are apparently that I wouldn't have health insurance through them (which I already don't) and they'd have to stop 401k matching but it's not very much anyway and I don't really care. In all honesty the flexibility is what I'm really after, if I can switch my times around I can just get a second full time job in a field I actually want to work in so the money won't be much of an issue
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2022 19:44
|
|
|
They're trying to 1099 you. You don't sound like a contractor to me. So this is a bad idea. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee It also doesn't sound like you have/will have any significant deductions. Most people who can work remotely and only need a phone and/or computer do not.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2022 19:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 06:33 |
|
|
Yeah that's probably what the plan is. I'm not sure what I could write off either, since I basically ONLY need a computer. It sounds like this is something that's good for them and possibly not that good for me. i feel like they're trying to sell "no taxes" as a benefit but it's just something that comes back for me later, yeah?
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2022 20:18
|
|