Honestly Jellies, if you like driving, go to trucker school. Those dudes can make bank.
+1 depends on the field of work you want to get into as well. I as many others am in the IT field.
I’ll say it, I make 16/hr… For what I’m doing, thats acctualy really good pay, most “technician” jobs are around 12-14. I do everything from maintaining a small buisness server when they need it, to helping a betty white figure out how to stop getting viagra e-mails. I enjoy what I do thats all that matters to me.
To many people got into the IT field as an easy way to make money, and none of them give a fuck about the people their working for, or helping and that royaly pisses me off. We’ve had 2 technicians in here to give us a hand in the past 6 months, both of them had degrees, both of them had a ton of certs, neither one of them knew what the fuck they were doing because they dident give a fuck, they just wanted a nice paycheck. You tried to show them something, they dident give a fuck. Most of what I know is experience not from the book.
I like to think of myself as a rareity in the IT field these days, I am great with my customers/clients… They love it when I get sent over because well we usualy have a little fun joking around while Im on site. I know how to talk to people and explain shit. I also know my shit, and not afraid to admite when I don’t know something and ask for help/figure it out on my own.
TO many IT guys are hermits, and suck with people, lacking serious personalties.
You also do something that not everyone can do, or should I say are motivated to learn to do because it requires work to get into that kind of field
Golub/Hannaford … I worked at hannaford for a bit, made 14 an hour, and with how they calculate work/time there, I could get paid for 10 hours of work and only be there for 6-7
w/o a degree you don’t have many options if you want to make more than $12 an hour. I’d look at shipping companies. Loading/unloading trucks 2nd or 3rd shift is pretty decent pay, but it’s generally pretty shitty work.
As someone suggested, use Linked In and start networking. Put your resume up on Monster and the local job sites. Also try and find a recruiting agency. Let them do some of the work for you. Its free to you, since they get paid by the employers. They’ll also know how to tweak your resume to play up your skills and be more marketable.
PJB I vote construction. VERY good pay, but it’s hard work. Put your fucking man pants on and make it happen.
+1 on everything. College/HVCC was a complete waste but it did make me more marketable I suppose. That’s the only reason why I’m going for my bachelors at UAlbany this fall (and because work pays 75% of my bill). Everything I do here is all hands-on stuff that I’ve learned by making mistakes, etc. and not a single thing was ‘taught’ to me via the education system.
As for people who don’t give a crap…my office is filled with “IT” people like that. You ask them for something and all they can tell you “well, it works on my end”. NO SHIT, but it doesn’t’ work on the users end and that is what matters! I’m not gonna lie, I’ve had some REALLY lazy days, but there is a reason why many end users by pass the help desk and email/call me directly.
And only $16/hr? I do very similar work to you and I make over $21. You need a raise bro. Hell, if I get into state at Grade 23, you can have my job lol. Brush up on your Novell skills haha.
PJB, I second whoever told you to start driving trucks. It seems like you like driving (since you are a delivery driver?), and if you don’t mind doing cross-country trips, you can make 3-4k on a single drive out west to say LA. My cousin did it for a while but now drives dump trucks locally.
As for sites, I use capitalarea and careerbuilder. I haven’t had any luck with Monster or JobsTU. Slack has a good point about agency’s. I used one on Wolf Road (forget the name at the moment - someone else here used them as well since they knew the girl Nicole that I mentioned when I first joined) and they got my a couple of interviews before I found my job on my own.
where’d you take the 23 exam and what’d you think of it??
this…go get in the union too…union is the shit…if i could go back i would have went union (still trying to get in)…starting pay for a green helper is like 12$ an hr…1 day of school a week for 10 months…after your first 6 months you get a raise then every year after you get a raise…
http://tricityjatc.org/index.php
if you need a phone # i have a friend that you could talk to and get a feel for what the union is about…as far as lay-offs go, well, anyone could be laid off at any time in this economy, yah know? you take work as you can get it weather its 6 months of 6 years.
Its a small computer buisness I work for, so I cant complain, I basicly run the place, do what I like to do etc.
but may take you up on that offer … although I dont know novelle at allllll
My oldest brother is a Sr. Programmer/Analyst for the state and sent me the links (NY Civil Service site). I applied online, the test itself was at Albany High. It was for Tech. Specialist 3. I’m also going to take a test for Tech Specialist 2 (Grade 18) and Tech Specialist 2 - Data Communications (I think - also Grade 18). Those test dates haven’t been announced yet.
As far as the test went…I thought it was kinda easy. I did it in an hour. Some of the questions were regarding Project Management so I just did the best I could there. The rest was on flow charting (which was tough at first till I slowed down my thought process), management (like what would you do with an employee in this situation), and help desk (what would you ask first on a call?), etc.
Yeah I’m lucky to have a boss like that. As long as we get stuff done, she lets us enjoy our time here. She’s awesome.
I hate Novell. And being owned by another company makes it tough to get stuff done sometimes.
Just get a contractor job for a company that also has union guys, and make bank without the union shit.
Grade 14 and 18 ITS and ITS2 tests are actually continuous recruitment and not really a test, but more of a questionnaire of your skill set. There is no Data Comm specific title either. They only really require minimum experience and a degree. If I remember correctly, you rate your experience in a particular field/area/task, and when an agency wants to fill an 18, they fill out a form that is sent to Civil Service with the requirements they have for that position, then Civil Service generates a list scoring people based on their requirements and sends it back to the agency. Then the hiring process takes place.
What they don’t tell you Ilya is with those 23 tests, you are put on an open competitive list, which won’t get touched until the promotional lists are exhausted. They do hire occasionally from it, but not all that often (and especially not now with the hiring freeze/potential for layoffs). Also, for the project management/supervision stuff, you need to think like a state worker and not use common sense. I nearly failed the 23 test because I used common sense on those parts. There are review classes out there that help, though they won’t be offering the 23 test for another 4 years.
I did it for the hell of it. I’m pretty happy where I’m at, and yeah that sounds right about the way they do the tests. That’s how my brother explained it.
And that bit about thinking like a state worker is funny. I probably failed then lol.
If I don’t get into the state for a couple of years, that’s fine. My company has been good to me, but if you don’t keep your eye out on what’s out there you tend to miss things and miss out on opportunities. Unlike many Americans, I got a raise this year and have slowly been moving up. Can’t complain. Although I wish I didn’t have to deal with orders from the enterprise managers in another state who’ve never even seen me. That’s the only down fall right now lol.
Stewarts shops are always hiring for cashiers/assistant managers and they pay $12-14/hr and have full/part time benefits, which are very good.
That or get into construction. Two years ago I worked building custom kitchens and cabinets and started out at $13/hr. I had another job offer 3 weeks to do stone masonry for $20/hr. The jobs are out there you just have to look.
I wish I was kidding about that. I will post up an example later.
Definitely fill out the 18 ITS2 test. Some federally funded and non executive branch agencies are still hiring, so you could get a position there. It definitely doesn’t hurt to fill it out now, then amend it every 6 months to update your experience.
the REAL way to contract for NYS is to contract yourself out to NYS, without the greedy CMA or whoever to take most of the pay there is SUPER high potential for $$$$ to be made. You won’t believe what they pay those assholes.
Is that the thing I filled out asking me my work/school history? I don’t recall there being many (if any) actual questions other than background info.
Yeah, they call it a test but its really not one.
Gotcha. Then I’m good. I filled out both already or what not.
This is what my company does. Started an initiative with them 2 years ago. That blew up so much (half the Medicaid paid transportation for the state runs through it) that this winter we started a 2nd project for the state.
I will correct this for you.
They call the cashiers “Partners”. There are some “Senior Partners” out there, but they are more of a milestone than anything else. You will notice an “Assistant Manager” tag every once and a while, but it’s just a “Senior Partner” that they trust.
Rate of pay
Partners - start @ $7.25-$8.00/hr on average. Bonuses given when goals are hit.
Senior Partners - See above
Managers - Huge earning potential, much higher than partners (depending on growth, good managers make 6 figures)
Benefits
Self Insured BSNENY Health (not cheap, but reasonable and coverage is above average)
Delta Dental (not cheap, but coverage is good)
Profit Sharing (very good) - An amount equal to 20% of your annual income is deposited each year, as well as growth on previous balance (compounding, 10% annual yield on average)
There are other fringe benefits if you work for Corporate, but I wont bother listing those.
And that’s the way the cookie crumbles.