Career resources and frustrations

[Mainly Mattias]

First things first - here are a few resources for you guys:

1. Globe & Mail Salary articles series. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/topic/Salaries
   • There are around 80 careers that they write on, but unfortunately, they're not in a searchable or otherwise easily accessible format; you just have to keep pressing the "Load more articles" button at the bottom of the page to reveal more.  It's much easier than doing your own informational interviews though.  Tattoo artist, craft brewer, funeral director.. some non run of the mill professions on there.
2. MOOCs (massive open online courses)
   • You can learn stuff about anything and the courses are created by professors from universities like MIT, Harvard.. UBC is jumping on the bandwagon too.  All of the courses are free to take but charge you for the certificate, if you need it.
   • Some are non-profit, like www.edX.org (elite universities), but I think most are for profit: udacity.com (for industry accepted tech training), coursera.org (lower level universities), and udemy.com (where anyone with the expertise can put out a course).   I've liked the broad selection at coursera, personally, but haven't really explored the others TOO much.  My current ones are hard enough!
3. Payscale.com
   • It gives a range of salaries in the city and profession you're in.  Used to only be useful for american values but there are a lot more canadians adding to the data so it's pretty helpful now if you're doing research or any salary negotiation.  It's nice to look at the anonymous profiles of people who share the same profession - what kind of pay they have, the benefits, how satisfied they are, the job they used to have and the years of experience they have.
4. Lynda.com
   • This is another course provider but is a paid subscription model.  HOWEVER, it's free if you are a vancouver public library (VPL) member.  (Course categories are: developer, design, web, photography, business, education, 3D animation, video, music audio) http://www.vpl.ca/news/details/lynda_com

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I've been spending years and years and years figuring out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing as a career and I'm still not doing it.  Boy, do I envy those of you who have found what they like to do and are doing it.  Every time I figure out a job, I think, "That's it?  This is all you do?" and I try to find something new.  Even these professions that require years of training, you narrow down your niche and then do the same thing over and over again.

I've come to the conclusion that I am not meant to work at all and really should just win the lottery.

 

[Nuxfanabroad]

No infinite growth on a finite planet.

What used to be a lovely pie, is now mere crumbs, & elites will ensure their progeny gets first dibs.

Find beautiful things that don't require cash. You'll be a rare one.

I hear your laments, & am not trying to be facetious. I had the same kinda' questions 2 decades back.

Soon society/gen economy hit the tree..brace for impact.

[drummer4now]

15 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

No infinite growth on a finite planet.

What used to be a lovely pie, is now mere crumbs, & elites will ensure their progeny gets first dibs.

Find beautiful things that don't require cash. You'll be a rare one.

I hear your laments, & am not trying to be facetious. I had the same kinda' questions 2 decades back.

Soon society/gen economy hit the tree..brace for impact.

It's a due process for something coming down the pipeline.. 

[Scottish⑦Canuck]

I won £5.60 on the lottery tonight.

Slowly but surely I'm heading for early retirement.

[falcon45ca]

.....that's kinda what life is, you do the same thing every day (or very similar things) til you die.

Eat. Sleep. Procreate. Repeat.

Find a gig that gives you enough money to do that & doesn't make you want to kill yourself. Remember, the grass is always greener on the other side.

[Mainly Mattias]

30 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

No infinite growth on a finite planet.

What used to be a lovely pie, is now mere crumbs, & elites will ensure their progeny gets first dibs.

Find beautiful things that don't require cash. You'll be a rare one.

I hear your laments, & am not trying to be facetious. I had the same kinda' questions 2 decades back.

Soon society/gen economy hit the tree..brace for impact.

1. There's tons of ways to grow!!  It just likely won't be at work, I guess.
2. As for the nepotism, sure, that is unfortunate, and does make for obtaining a job difficult.
3. Cash - i don't need more cash or things or beauty.  I need purposeful, interesting, challenging and satisfying work.
4. You had the same questions?  What conclusions did you come up with, if any?

[CanadianLoonie]

41 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

No infinite growth on a finite planet.

Until nanotechnology solves that problem...

42 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

What used to be a lovely pie, is now mere crumbs, & elites will ensure their progeny gets first dibs.

Then stop supporting the current paradigm that is enriching the elite.

44 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said:

Soon society/gen economy hit the tree..brace for impact.

If you already have the awareness to know that something is coming, why not try to do more than just 'bracing for impact' when you can take evasive maneuvers to avoid the problem, if not position yourself to benefit from the disruption?

1 hour ago, Mainly Mattias said:

I've come to the conclusion that I am not meant to work at all and really should just win the lottery.

You'll be thanking me in a few years...so you're welcome in advance.

[Mainly Mattias]

7 minutes ago, CanadianLoonie said:

You'll be thanking me in a few years...so you're welcome in advance.

Whoa... http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/09/bitcoin-forgotten-currency-norway-oslo-home

[CanadianLoonie]

2 minutes ago, Mainly Mattias said:

Whoa... http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/09/bitcoin-forgotten-currency-norway-oslo-home

Happened quite a bit for coins mined between '09-'11...so learn from their mistakes! =)

[RRypien37]

1 hour ago, falcon45ca said:

.....that's kinda what life is, you do the same thing every day (or very similar things) til you die.

Eat. Sleep. Procreate. Repeat.

Find a gig that gives you enough money to do that & doesn't make you want to kill yourself. Remember, the grass is always greener on the other side.

That's such BS.

Just because you choose to limit yourself and are fine with a job that "gives you enough money to do that & doesn't make you want to kill yourself" doesn't mean everyone else has to.

Everyone has a choice to stay complacent and comfortable or continue progressing. 

 

[Nuxfanabroad]

2 hours ago, Mainly Mattias said:

1. There's tons of ways to grow!!  It just likely won't be at work, I guess.
2. As for the nepotism, sure, that is unfortunate, and does make for obtaining a job difficult.
3. Cash - i don't need more cash or things or beauty.  I need purposeful, interesting, challenging and satisfying work.
4. You had the same questions?  What conclusions did you come up with, if any?

Sorry M2, I don't know if my ideas/experience would be of any use. Again, it was quite a while back. Over that period, the world has changed as much as one could imagine.

Early 90's, I went to Asia. Looking back, I would certainly do it again. It's been challenging, but very interesting.

[Lancaster]

"No experience, no job..... no job, no experience"

[drummer4now]

3 hours ago, RRypien37 said:

That's such BS.

Just because you choose to limit yourself and are fine with a job that "gives you enough money to do that & doesn't make you want to kill yourself" doesn't mean everyone else has to.

Everyone has a choice to stay complacent and comfortable or continue progressing. 

 

This... and a great man even stated the bold part. 

Life is not all about consume rinse and consume.. 

Now not everyone can be a steve job etc... but atleast one should broaden their horizon to realize their potential or lack of... 

[GLASSJAW]

5 minutes ago, drummer4now said:

This... and a great man even stated the bold part. 

Life is not all about consume rinse and consume.. 

Now not everyone can be a steve job etc... but atleast one should broaden their horizon to realize their potential or lack of... 

this video is the direct result of what happens when a business savvy person takes LSD and never shakes off its influence

[falcon45ca]

6 hours ago, RRypien37 said:

That's such BS.

Just because you choose to limit yourself and are fine with a job that "gives you enough money to do that & doesn't make you want to kill yourself" doesn't mean everyone else has to.

Everyone has a choice to stay complacent and comfortable or continue progressing. 

 

That's such a BS assumption that just because you chose a job that pays you enough to live & doesn't make you crazy means that job limits you, doesn't allow you to progress, & makes you complacent.

That's called a false dichotomy. Again, you're assumptive in believing that I have chosen a job that "limits myself(sic)", and that one must "stay complacent & comfortable" or "continue progressing"...none of this is true, it's entirely possible to do all three. 

Example: A musician (such as myself) plays a lot of songs that are easy (comfortable & complacent), yet constantly challenges oneself (continued progression) by learning new songs/styles, all the while earning a living that makes life enjoyable. Sometimes those all happen at the same time.

For instance, tonight I played a private Christmas party with no rehearsal, all songs were fairly basic, but most were original and/or songs I'd never heard before, & the only cue I was given was the key & feel of the song...everything else I made up on the spot, & I was paid. Ditto tomorrow.

So there ya go, a real life situation in which I did something comfortable, complacent, yet forced myself to progress & paid me money to live.

See how easy that was? I can think of dozens of other examples & I'm not even trying.

 

[RRypien37]

17 minutes ago, falcon45ca said:

That's such a BS assumption that just because you chose a job that pays you enough to live & doesn't make you crazy means that job limits you, doesn't allow you to progress, & makes you complacent.

That's called a false dichotomy. Again, you're assumptive in believing that I have chosen a job that "limits myself(sic)", and that one must "stay complacent & comfortable" or "continue progressing"...none of this is true, it's entirely possible to do all three. 

Example: A musician (such as myself) plays a lot of songs that are easy (comfortable & complacent), yet constantly challenges oneself (continued progression) by learning new songs/styles, all the while earning a living that makes life enjoyable. Sometimes those all happen at the same time.

For instance, tonight I played a private Christmas party with no rehearsal, all songs were fairly basic, but most were original and/or songs I'd never heard before, & the only cue I was given was the key & feel of the song...everything else I made up on the spot, & I was paid. Ditto tomorrow.

So there ya go, a real life situation in which I did something comfortable, complacent, yet forced myself to progress & paid me money to live.

See how easy that was? I can think of dozens of other examples & I'm not even trying.

 

You're completely contradicting yourself in this post with your original post that I quoted. 

Also, what I said was a general consensus statement on life. You're giving me a specific one time example. 

Your original statement of:

Find a gig that gives you enough money to do that & doesn't make you want to kill yourself.

Can be corresponded to a view of finding and holding onto a decent paying job that you can bare to go to everyday for the rest of your life. Basically, as long as it pays a decent living wage, and you're not suffering through every second of the day, do it. 

Now you come out and say you're a musician. 

[Gyllenhaal]

Have you considered a trade? Some of the jobs can be challenging and make you think.

My brother has been a welder for 3 years and already makes 80k+ a year.

[Tortorella's Rant]

If you aren't naturally gifted in something like sports or acting where you can make a career out of it then you'll want to find something else you have some interest in. I started out in high school interested in game design and animation. Transitioned to computer networking (quite profitable because without computer networks none of what we do online is possible). Perhaps one day I will teach it because I like doing that - and we all know instructors especially at university level make a pretty good cheque.

[John Tortorella]

5 hours ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

If you aren't naturally gifted in something like sports or acting where you can make a career out of it then you'll want to find something else you have some interest in. I started out in high school interested in game design and animation. Transitioned to computer networking (quite profitable because without computer networks none of what we do online is possible). Perhaps one day I will teach it because I like doing that - and we all know instructors especially at university level make a pretty good cheque.

We should form as one and start a business

[falcon45ca]

6 hours ago, RRypien37 said:

You're completely contradicting yourself in this post with your original post that I quoted. 

Also, what I said was a general consensus statement on life. You're giving me a specific one time example. 

Your original statement of:

Find a gig that gives you enough money to do that & doesn't make you want to kill yourself.

Can be corresponded to a view of finding and holding onto a decent paying job that you can bare to go to everyday for the rest of your life. Basically, as long as it pays a decent living wage, and you're not suffering through every second of the day, do it. 

Now you come out and say you're a musician. 

Where's the complete contradiction? 

Of course I gave you a specific example, broad generalizations are silly, simple, & rarely accurately reflect any situation. I also said that example was easy, and that I could come up with dozens of others. Gyllenhaal mentioned a career in the trades, another instance of a job that is repetitive, easy to get comfortable in, & yet provides constant room to grow. 

No matter what job anyone does there's gonna be some real garbage days, maybe even several in a row...I'm sure Hammer is having a great time right now with his busted jaw (sarcasm).

Yeah, if you can find a job that pays you enough to live & doesn't drive you crazy, do it. Because even if you find your All-Time Best Ever Dreamed Of Since I Was A Kid Job That Pays Millions, you could spend weeks eating through a straw. Just one example, there's a lot more out there.