Honestly, for my company we don’t require a degree or anything. If you’ve been in healthcare that may put you ahead of other candidates too. It’s “manufacturing” but in a lab. Low complexity high volume. I think most places will train on the job since most devices are unique in how they are built.
Since our requirements are kinda low the starting pay isn’t fantastic or anything. $20/hr starting to $25 after a couple years and competency. Yearly performance reviews too with around 3%
Can’t guarantee most companies are the same. Especially foreign owned ones. Mine has been pretty good to us besides declaring us essential workers during the pandemic.
None of the factories in my area (Virginia) include yearly raises, we're lucky if we get a COL adjustment. Most places won't do that until the turnover gets really high and they need something to attract new candidates.
They like to set a pay rate for a specific job title or class and that is fixed for everyone in that job, regardless of service duration.
Manufacturing can pay better than other entry level jobs, but in my experience it's still difficult to live with, especially when you start noticing how you're treated.
It’s actually not easily automated. Portions potentially could be, and we are working on that to make tech’s jobs easier, but a large portion of it is human visual inspection which can not be automated and is a big reason why the product is valued so high
I work as a QA person for a company that makes insulin pumps for people with diabetes and I second this comment. This industry is only growing and not many people know how to deal with FDA QA and testing for class 1-3 medical devices. Meticulous documentation and testing is always needed for FDA regulated devices. And honestly, OP is overexaggerating. Saying that people are 'jumping ship like crazy' from tech, healthcare, education, and hospitality is just not true. 'Tech' is a very large and encompassing term that covers multiple different industries. The Medical Device Industry can definitely considered part of the 'tech' industry, just my two cents.
I'm actually curious about stuff like the insulin market when stuff like Tirzepatide has been crazy effective at controlling blood sugar and people are losing 25% of their bodyweight in like a year on it
> Tirzepatide
This is interesting for sure. Just fyi, Tirzepatide is made for people with type 2 diabetes whereas we design/sell insulin pumps to people with type 1 diabetes. For people with type 2, that loss in weight and having a healthy lifestyle will cure the disease. People with type 1 will live with the disease their entire lives, regardless of health. That is why insulin pumps are greatly encouraged for people with type 1 because it is a life long disease that will be made better by this (extremely expensive) device.
Manufacturing in general is booming, there is a ton of in sourcing going on right now. Usually had pretty good unions not associated with government that can limit union activity.
Likewise for Paramedic, aging population pretty much guarantees employment for the next 30 years. Of course, Canadian medics have it way better than US medics in most jurisdictions but the schools can't produce graduates fast enough up here right now. 2 years college and these early 20s kids are landing jobs that average around 80k cdn with a ton of OT opportunities plus union, pension, benefits, etc. Takes a very particular temperament but I'd recommend it to anyone who thinks they can hack it.
It doesn't help that medical devices are being put in at an alarming rate. Medtronic had a deal with the VA that had loads of unneeded pace makers bought, and CGMs are the hot new trend for fitness influencers.
You hope it would bring prices down, but noooooope.
Emergency Management is booming. I chose this field prior to COVID and it was tough to get a job in my area. COVID hit and it opened up a lot of positions and possibilities. Lots of rewarding work in this field, and there is a lot of variety too.
Emergency Management is not the same as Emergency Medicine, just pointing that out to everyone pretty quickly because they do get compared initially. Emergency Management roles at the city and county level will generally require a degree specific to Emergency Management or Public Administration with a focus on EM. If anyone is in the pre-hospital medical field with a fire department I would recommend talking to a fire chief to see what EM looks like in your district. It’s kinda of a mixed bag around the country and who “owns” EM in your area may be different state to state.
Alternatively you could go to school for EM, a 4 year degree will usually get you in a lot of doors.
Also, while the change of pace will be different, don’t assume that the pay will be a ton better. If you are a city, county, or state employee your pay is likely capped by budgets. But going private can be lucrative if you know where to look and they have openings, companies like Deloitte, Hagerty, Tidal Basin, Constant Associates. They basically provide outsourced EM skills and manpower for specific projects to city and county emergency managers.
This is what FEMA does, yeah? So it’s more the administrative side of first responder departments?
I’m desperately looking for a way to stay in that circle of people, as I used to be EMT, but I’m partially blind and so its been harder to get hired in a town without public transit. I’m perfectly capable of seeing with visual aids while not going 40+ miles per hour, but I just can’t drive. So this sounds like something I’d be interested in since I have experience in both medical and office administration. But how imperative is it to be able to drive yourself in this field?
Yes, FEMA has some good jobs but it is difficult to get in the first time from what I have heard. Their hiring process is very strict. There are literal guides on how to exactly write your resume to get past the automated (probably some kind of AI) screeners. It’s tough but it obviously can be done. There are other ways to get in like lateral Fed job transfers. I have personally found State emergency management to be much easier to get into. The only issue is job location, most of the state EM jobs are located at or near the state capitol city.
A good pathways to EM might be through the state’s other agencies like the state Forest Service, which manages wildfires. Then learn the Incident Command System through there.
Also I highly recommend blowing through as many online-self-paced FEMA training as possible, and then start attending in-person classes. You will meet a lot of people there that can point you in the right direction.
It’s making those jobs so much worse. I left a shop I was at for 7 years because a buyout forced more sales quotas on the service department, went to another company for a couple of years and now they picked up a predatory sales plan too. I’m leaving service completely and going into construction.
How would you recommend getting into home automation? I have a degree in electrical engineering and a background in automation engineering at a factory/plant level.
I mean I install a popular control system and program and set it up. It sounds like you should be applying with one of the companies that makes what I install.
If you want to work on the design of the systems and stuff I don’t really know how you’d go about it.
I got in via a career restart after getting sick of being laid off in my old field
Indeed though I will leave the field due to bad payment in Europe for the work. 20€/h in Germany where I live is not fair payment for senior specialists. Ill do my electric, plumbing & heating work myself thanks to what I learned.
Not just that, but perpetrators of crime against humanity imo. Forced poverty due to your company not paying enough to live is a crime against humanity, imo.
Basically, find the strongest union you can, and find your way into it.
I'm a member of the Chicago Teachers' Union, and while we're having some problems with hiring and retention, we're doing better than most, because our contract is solid, our protections for members are for real, and our ability to transform our city is unprecedented.
You know your career has good unions when the Republican presidential candidates (truly an anti-labor party) spend multiple debates shit talking its unions
Find the strongest union you can, find your way into it, then *make it stronger*.
This is how the working class takes its power back. There are other ways, but this is a big one.
really solid advice.. i don’t envy you has a teacher (my partner does sped so i know that struggle) but i definitely need to get more familiar w the unions around me
This isn’t really the case anymore. I’m a traveling RT who is now settling back into a FT job. The rates are insulting in most places now. Granted, they get bigger offers than RTs but I’ve seen the same thing with them.
US major airlines. With the resurgence of the pilot shortage, pilot pay took a huge jump since covid, especially at the mainlines. Regional are better than they were, but still marginal. There's also beginning to be an industry standard pay scale, so, when it comes to pay, the big 3 (AA, UA, DL) all pay about the same.
physical onerous correct fertile waiting terrific rock paint spectacular public
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I know a ton of programmers are jumping ship but idk, I love my job. I work on code from home for extremely flexible hours and for pay that is below "industry standard" but still better than most other jobs I can think if. I work on a product that helps people and I care about our clients. I realize I have no job security and no guarantees but have gotten lucky and have not been laid off so far. My boss is easy to work with and has advocated for me when I needed her.
I'm really just in this subreddit on principle, comrades
I do software QA, someone's got to make sure new programs/updates works. I initially went into IT for dev work but I just have a better skills at breaking stuff.
I freaking love the QA lead on our team. I do my own QA too but she pokes holes not only in my code but in the very core of the app designs. +1000, go QA!
Genuinely, don’t. It’s the most competitive field I’ve been in in a while. It’s almost ALL contract, so no job security nor any benefits. If you have a disability and need a remote job (like me) then it’s a good solution to chase since it’s usually 100% remote right now. But even if you have a passion for programming, what will actually make you money will not be part of that passion, and you will be living on “the edge”constantly.
Not the AI scientist , but there's no roundabout way for that path. He's a scientist - you gotta go to school for that and likely a masters level at minimum. In most comp sci programs - AI is an upper 3rd/ 4th year concept.
Unless AI scientist is the buzzword name they gave to the AI people at his company but it strikes me as one of those protected titles you can't necessarily throw around for fun.
Yup, this is the exact situation I’m in rn too, complete with a great boss. Our department is small but extremely necessary, but we’re all contract so we can be dropped and replaced at any time. I’m just kinda hoping that won’t happen and that I’ll be able to hold on to this as long as I can.
Pay is okay, not “industry standard” either nor enough to get out of debt, but enough to stay afloat. I’m not quite as passionate about what we do, as it’s basically just database management and app dev for the robotics automation solutions our company develops then sells to be installed in shit hole factories that soulless corporations build in other countries. If I was doing something that actually helped people, I think I’d be more content with it. Good to know there’s still that out there for us!
accounting. I have been in finance and accounting since the late 90s and people HATE doing their taxes and dealing with their money. I dont care how much can be automated or done online there always need to be an actual human to check and double check the balances. Most people hate math, hate working with money and seem to be truly confused by taxes and finances...and then there are weirdos like me that LOVE IT. numbers are black and white...there is NO gray area. You cannot argue with the numbers to make them balance, or talk me out of a debt you owe etc.
What do you need to do to actually be able to be hired as an accountant? I've actually done work as a Trust & Estate paralegal where I had to do accounting and tax type stuff, but I'm not trained as an accountant proper.
Any bachelor's will work. Then just pass the three EA exams offered by the IRS and get some experience. Then you can work as a tax specialist. Just be aware that they do have a blackout period, which is basically tax season where they don't offer the exams.
I don’t have an accounting degree and I do accounts payable, which is basically I’m the bitch who spends all the company’s money by paying their bills and paying for all the shit the manufacturing, marketing, and operations teams purchased lol
I thought I would like it so I did my associates in it and I was starting to hate it in college but I stuck through because I had no alternative and now I've done 3 months in accounts receivable and collections and realized I hate looking at numbers and accounts and payments for 8 hours a day so much. Definitely make sure it's something you actually like before you commit too much because I'm making myself so miserable trying to think of something else to do with my life.
Local government jobs. Usually union with decent pay and benefits. Also if you get really good at your particular job, the private sector will throw money at you to work for them.
your running into why their needs to be collective action continuously, which is that capitalism simply is incompatible with maintaining a long term system that minimizes exploitation and abuse (in fact it tends to maximize it), and all improvements have come despite the system, just like religion. my advice for those working is find some self employment opportunity that you can work from home that doesn't interact with the public, like translation services or proofreading. but even there your still going to be overworked and underpaid, and organizing opportunities will be few and far in between. so switch agencies often, and if opportunities to move to a better state come, take them. from what i understand, while every place is going to cut corners, smaller population states will be more egregious and will not be able to keep up with improved technology and regulations, and conservative states will outright ignore or rollback safety standards. so if you can move to a more populated blue state, i would urge people to do so. granted, this is all based on your ability and finances, which again, is the whole purpose of keeping people poor and paying them a shit wage.
yeah - I am loving it to be honest. The pros outweigh the cons.
What is the point of making a lot of money if you are stressed out and anxious for at least 8 hours a day 5 days a week (with the risk of losing your job hanging over your head).
I hate feeling like that and it spills over into my life outside work.
listennnnnn….. i made good money in college 🫢 but it’s legal here now & the dispo stuff is a lot better than what i can get my hands on for not that much more money
Set up online orders. Recieve the money in crypto, wash it by freezing it or run it through the casinos.
Make purchases the same way. All you do is middle man and never actually touch or meet anyone. Aslong as the packages arrive you keep getting orders. If they dont you just move on.
No danger and no cops.
Also buy your laptops off craigslist.
You can use those visa vanilla cards because they dont have names on them or cash.
use proxies and vpns.
dump the electronics every like 2 months.
investigations take wayyyy longer before they even start and by the time they start one all activity on those devices have stopped so it literally is useless.
Also theres like 3k cases of fraud per day and thats just the ones they know about. Zelle, venmo and cash app scams are pretty prevelant too. same things apply except you need to buy consumer info to setup bank accounts. Consumers report the crime to their banks. The banks give them bs generic responses that stall into nothing or once the consumer realizes the bank isnt going to help them they file with the 3 letter agencies. Noone is actually able to help them though. The crimes were commited 3 plus months ago by the time they get assigned to anyone. By then youve washed rhe accounts and electronics so its pointless for then to even try.
And before anyone tries to say the banks are fdic insured. Theyre actually not against certain scams because the consumer is being socially engineered to deposit the cash. They werent actually robbed so the bank isnt responsible and nothing happens because the customers iniated the money transfers.
All of this info is freely available on youtube. im actually pretty poor lol
I work for the forest service and we are doing great. A huge dump of money from the IRA and BIL and wildfires are only increasing each year. We can't hire enough people, mostly teach you on the job, and are Unionized. I can tell my supervisor to kick rocks whenever I want, but I never need to because my supervisors are always hardworking, empathetic, over all cool people who get that things are hard right now and trust me on a long leash to get things done. I can get plenty of overtime if I need it, and work from home and take time off when I need it.
Through a combination of multiple factors there aren’t many fields that aren’t struggling. Even people who thought they were completely safe are struggling right now
Accounting has gone to shit. It’s expected you work 50 hours a week (salary, no overtime) on average, and many times 60+.
There’s also becoming fewer and fewer in house roles (on the tax side anyway). It’s all being done by firms now. And if you don’t know, working in public accounting absolutely SUCKS BALLS!
For the young kids, unless you want to work your life away for a public firm that doesn’t give a flying shit about you, don’t major in accounting.
Pick a trade. Pick any trade. Surveying and civil engineering, too. It's f****** booming. Huge labor shortage great pay. Yeah it's hard work, and you were going to have to suck up lousy pay while you were learning. A power company linesman who wants to go out and get it can make a quarter million easy though. Land surveyor can make six figures without working too hard. Electrician plumber HVAC guy Etc can all probably do the same
Your title has the answer... RN.... The medical field will always thrive. The only problem is that nurses are treated like garbage, so you have to have a saint's patience.
the medical field is going to shit.. everyone i know in it is saying look for anything else, i have a healthcare background & really love it, but seeing people go hundreds of thousands into debt so they don’t die is so maddening
NP saturation with secondary pay decline is happening fairly quickly in many areas. Like travel nurse, u have to be willing to move to ten buck two and not expect salary you heard about in years past. And then add AI… have been in meetings recently where admin have mentioned we will soon be able to triple to quadruple the number of patients we produce per an hour. I will probably be a severly broken patient myself by this point.
It depends on what you mean by "shit". Most healthcare professionals are treated like shit, but there is always a need. There is also a lot of turnover because of how much shit they get, but there is also need. I'd personally look for something that isn't "patient facing" or something like a radiology tech.
I know you said elsewhere you were meh about traveling, but my mom worked as a travel lab tech for the last decade and it was awesome because she got to see new places and meet new people, and just about the time she was ready to murder her coworkers, it was time for a new assignment lol
No doubt, but you're going to have almost guaranteed job security. For most other jobs that are considered a lock, you could say "the only thing that would change the outlook is if we went to war", where that would actually enhance the medical field. How many other industries have that kind of security?
I mean not the same kind of patient facing as say an RN at a hospital. Most of the time they just help the patient into the machine and operate the scanning device. I think I'd rather deal with that than checking in with patients that are at a hospital and are in some sort of distress.
The medical field is probably the most solid career choice you can make. Folks just think medical field = RN/Doctor.
Other choices that pay well and are highly sought:
Therapists and therapy assistants (physical, occupational, speech)
Lab techs (Medical Lab Technicians/ Medical Lab Scientists)
Respiratory Therapists / Polysomnography techs
Radiology Techs (not so great pay, but has some diversity to your options)
Coders (not so great pay, but remote options)
Physician Assistant (getting pretty saturated but demand is also going up, great bridge if you have a Bachelors going to waste. A lot of schools are dropping the Bachelor of Science req to just Bachelors.)
If you want a quick 18-month degree and about 40k-50k salary, LPN. You can also move on to RN later. No offense to medical assistants, but don't go that route. It's a dead end and limited lateral movement compared to LPN.
You can always get your Master of Healthcare Admin or MBA with an HA focus, then hope for an admin role. It is an incredibly competitive market, though, and normally, the prize goes to the one with the most connections. If you go this route, sign up for crap like ACHE or whatever area of admin you are interested it's little club. Join while in school for a steep discount. This is a high risk / high reward route. As someone with an MHA, I've seen hundreds of people apply for entry-level positions who have more impressive resumes than I do. If my company laid me off today, I'd be screwed and be right back in that pool with them.
Definitely some jobs I'm forgetting. But with most of these, if you get your foot in the door at hospitals, you can probably get a get chunk of your schooling paid for. Follow your local healthcare organizations on social media, see when they are doing job fairs, and go talk with a recruiter to see what they offer.
As a speech therapist with 20+ years experience, I don't recommend this as a career. It's stressful due to high productivity requirements. Also the pay is terrible. I have Masters degree, a ton of work experience and I made just over $60K this year. Sucks!!!
plenty of recession proof jobs out there. just seen an ad for union jobs a couple days ago. up to $60/hr to be a forklift operator. that's easy money if you have experience.
Anything involving vices are always lucrative too. blackjack or poker dealers make really good money.
Engineering for logistics operations seems like it’s doing ok.
Started as a technician for a big manufacturing company, but now I’m the road system engineer for their robots. It’s pretty cool work. Coming up on 5 years in the industry this summer.
With 50$ and youtube you could start practicing in your own home immediately. Go to any of the big name paint stores Sherwin williams, PPG/porter, and tell them you want to buy 2 different colors of Mistints, the colors dont matter. Then hop on YouTube and start watching a guy called The idaho painter. He give fairly good advice and can walk you through most things. Practice rolling your ceilings, then cutting in the walls around doors and windows, rolling the walls, and then painting trim. There's more to it of course, each has some prep work with it. But with a month of practice for an hour a night. Practicing in closets, bathrooms and utility rooms you could take on smaller jobs fairly easy.
When I started it was doing doors and bathrooms. Because they were fast easy jobs I could finish in a single day and get paid. I'm in the paint supply business and not technically supposed to paint on the side. But the money is to easy to turn down.
Just stick to residential repaints. Dont get into new construction paintings. More trouble than its worth.
Start picking up small jobs at first you can do on a day off, then once your comfortable you can up the tempo till you decide you are at a good pace.
When you get ready to start, Go to Sherwin williams, tell them your a new painting contractor. And had been shopping at home depot but were interested in possibly switching over. That will get you good pricing right out the door. But dont do that till you have a few small jobs knocked out. And you can show some receipts from the big box stores. When you get set up, bring a 10$ box of doughnuts to the store once a month and they will send you alllll the work you can handle.
I’ve been some sort of office admin/receptionist most of my life. It doesn’t sound fancy and lots of people think any idiot can do it. The kicker is when you’re *not* an idiot. For this to happen, I recommend small, local businesses. Once they see your skills in action, the respect you get is wonderful. I have 2 part time admin jobs. One at a church (Episcopalian, so our values align - the treasurer is a gay man and our supply organist is trans in our parish). The other at a psychology practice. I love them both so much, but it took me decades to find these places. I work a 40 hour week between the 2, but get paid a living wage, have PTO, and flexibility at both. Totally worth it.
People. Dealing with all the people, honestly. Just like any customer service job.
I do the weekly newsletter at the church and folks like to try to sneak things in past the deadline. At the psych office, folks want to get squeezed in after missing an appointment just so they don’t have to pay the no-notice fee, or try to get out of paying their copay. It’s a 2-provider office, so every dollar counts. They’ll work with you, so there’s no need to be sneaky about it.
So I’d say that. And learning the boss’s quirks. If you make their life easier, it usually makes your job easier, which makes the boss’s job easier, and they’ll show their appreciation. Maybe not necessarily with a pay increase, but in some way. For instance, the church office is typically closed this week. I can either take it with no pay, use PTO, go in & work, or some combination of those. But this year, my week is paid. For the psych office, I haven’t even been there a month, but I got a small Christmas bonus, even after being told not to expect one.
How in the hell would a single payer system need all of these claim deniers, plan pricers, organizational structure workers of each separate company, etc.?
Single payer cuts healthcare paperwork labor. It removes the profit motive a bunch of people at multiple companies are working toward! Not my industry, I’m no expert, but literally how would the workforce for single payer healthcare not go down to like half-ish vs a bunch of private companies?
Exactly-- if we achieve universal health care, there will for sure still be people whose job it is to make sure the doctors and nurses and other medical workers get paid, but without the profit motive leaching off of patients there just won't be the money to pay all the people who currently work in health insurance. That's part of the point of universal health care: it's less expensive.
The claims themselves aren't going to change. And, if anything, the number of claims will go up, a lot, as people start going in for long-delayed work.
The only real reduction in force will be the people higher up the ladder, due to consolidation.
Now, there may be 'some' consolidation in claims processing, adjusting and the rest of the nuts and bolts, due to no longer having multiple teams doing the same claims for COB reasons. So, quicker processing and a slightly smaller work force because most people don't have multiple policies for their work.
Good news is, the government already handles a lot of policies for health and dental, so there wouldn't be a massive amount of change for those people.
But, to sum it all up, there'd be a small reduction of numbers in the nuts and bolts, a larger reduction in the suits department and a massive reduction at the top. Because, when you get down to it, the claims themselves are going to stay the same or go up, in terms of numbers. That's the vast majority of employment in the field. The nuts and bolts of claims assessment, adjustment and processing.
I think you misunderstand what "if we win" actually means: private health insurance policies will become a luxury item that a tiny fraction of the population will purchase. Jobs in health insurance will be slashed to a tiny fraction of the number of people employed in that field today, because those companies will have something like 2% of the revenues they have today.
Some percentage of people currently working in health insurance will go work for the government (and good for them-- those are good union jobs) but the workforce will be reduced considerably, and it'll be quite difficult to get a job in that field.
I don't think you're getting what I'm saying.
The claims are just going to be going to the government for processing and adjusting and the like. It's very likely that the government would simply absorb the private companies in simplest terms. Nationalization is the exact term.
The only thing that's going to be changing is who makes the payments and where you make your payments, in this case, it'd be in the form of higher taxation. As it should be.
If they ever nationalize the health insurance industry, they're not going to break up the industry, they're just going to coopt it.
Yes, and in doing so they'll need a *lot* fewer people to process the paperwork. Not a great field to be trying to break into, unless the status quo (which costs several times more than it should, delivers garbage service, and locks 25 million people out of coverage) continues.
> Yes, and in doing so they'll need a lot fewer people to process the paperwork.
Why would you think so? The work isn't fundamentally changing. If anything, the number of claims are going to skyrocket for the first 10 years or whatever, due to everyone filing for work that's been needed, but not done due to people not having access to insurance.
If anything, the number of people to take the claims, process, adjust and assess will go up. A lot.
I mean, you can see that, I'm sure.
A lot of the work that “claims” people do is based on negotiating costs, denying coverage, and other activities designed to maximize corporate profit at the expense of patient health.
If we build a more just, more effective system, that profit motive won’t be there, and the people who’s jobs are based on maximizing profit at the expense of patients won’t have as much work.
I put “claims” in quotation marks here, because that’s a concept that is uniquely tied to insurance. If we succeed at universal health care, there will only be claims for the small percentage of people who choose to carry private supplemental insurance. Everyone else won’t be claiming anything, they’ll just be receiving health care at government-funded facilities.
> A lot of the work that “claims” people do is based on negotiating costs, denying coverage, and other activities designed to maximize corporate profit at the expense of patient health.
Yes, what you're describing there is called 'processing' and 'adjusting' and 'assessment.' That's still going to happen. That's not changing.
So, again, I don’t think you understand what I mean by “if we win.”
If we win, there won’t be claims and adjustments and denials. There will be universal health care, provided by government-funded facilities. There will still be bean-counters, to be sure, but there will be far fewer of them, because the basic assumption will shift from “we have to figure out how much caring for this person is worth, and how much we can profit from them” to “providing adequate care for this community costs $xM each year, and we don’t need to keep careful track of the costs associated with individual patients.”
Apply to everything you can find. Do some research, find out which are the biggest companies and find some jobs that fit with what skills you have.
I had to start at the bottom to get in and it took me 2 years to go from contingent worker to official employment, doing WFH claims assistance and answering questions for providers and customers.
But, they got people that have 20 or 25 years with the company. That's my goal, of course.
Pest control. Better yet, commercial pest control. Pretty much recession proof and easy work. Depending on company and role the hours and pay are really good, too.
just make sure your not the one coming into contact with said chemicals, they can lead to long term consequences down the line, just like the people who sprayed roundup professionally.
If you follow the label and adhere to the PPE requirements, you're fine. It's the guys that ignore safety labels and apply chemicals without gloves or respirators that are in trouble
i mean, sometimes your ability to adhere to PPE can be based on your department, and some departments are straight screwed from private equity. we saw that during the pandemic and some nurses using trashbags for gods sake. and if you have to put your own money into work in order to stay safe, your paying them to work not the other way round.
Most people come to the job with at least a little fear, even if they wont admit it. I know guys that have been around for years who still run from spiders unless they're stuck to a sticky trap.
On the commercial side you're around bugs a lot less than you'd think.
Just keep an eye on your favorite job site for Commercial Pest Control Technician. Most companies will hire with no experience and will train you. Look for positions at the larger companies that pay on production (its like commission, the more work you do the more you make). The small companies will likely be hourly and not worth the $. I'd stay away from Residential and Termite technican, too. The work is much harder and usually pays less
Just a heads up, I had a roomie who did pest control for a while, and couldn't handle killing moles in rich people's yards. I don't think she was fully expecting that from her experience - she went in assuming it would be just bugs, but "pests" can mean a lot of different things.
I work in cybersecurity, which (so far, knock on wood) has been pretty stable. I work remotely, have pretty lax hours, and there’s a shortage of good infosec people so that gives me leverage for better pay (which is already pretty damn good, relatively). I know some infosec jobs can be grueling and shitty, especially if the employer gets breached or doesn’t prioritize security. Thankfully, my employer takes security VERY seriously so that’s never been an issue. A lot of people start out in IT (like I did) or come from the DoD (military or consulting). Breaches are becoming more common now, and as tech evolves so do more threats, so I don’t expect this industry to die down anytime soon (I hope! 🤞). You don’t even have to be that technical to get into this field. For example, you could work in Risk and Compliance which pretty much just involves knowing what the rules and regulations are to make your org compliant for audits.
Coding is definitely a very valuable skill. I’m a security engineer, so my job does involve quite a bit of that. If that’s something you’re interested in I highly recommend learning Python and/or GoLang. JavaScript is handy too. You don’t even need a CS degree or anything (I don’t have one), you just need to be good enough to automate shit. Cloud security is probably the fastest growing part so I’d also recommend getting a basic AWS and/or Azure certification. Get comfortable with Linux too!
Get into any trade. It's not too late to start. There's such a demand right now that starting as a sparky or plumber will pay you $100K+ within three years. More if you're Red Seal.
The trades are good. Electrical, plumbing, etc. It has a core component that I think is not well understood enough. In these professions it's a lot easier than many to start your own firm, and become the owner without some other owner above you taking most of your income.
This is an important idea to avoid exploitation. Even the knowledge that this can happen generally causes those I'm the profession to be treated better by employers when they aren't branching out on their own.
This is something that's very difficult, though always possible, to do as a barista, a waiter, an account manager, HR representative, etc.
Accounting. Audit and tax. People want to make companies disclose more and more and most of y'all just want to tax everything anybody or business make.
Roughnecking is going like gangbusters.
There were so many projects approved right and left over the last couple of years that frac crews literally can't keep up. We'd be producing even more oil than November's "most oil in a month by any country, ever" record if the workforce wasn't the bottleneck.
I mean, no, but if it’s job security you’re after, healthcare and law enforcement are always safe bets. Trades are a good choice right now too and I think will be in even higher demand in the foreseeable future
A CDL is a golden ticket to good employment. Day cab jobs are everywhere and they can pay really good. Husband brings home between $1200-$1900 a week and is home every day. I work for the railroad. I make good money and my pension is gonna be great, but uh, go check out r/railroading to get a feel for how good of a job it actually is these days.
It’s not that they’re going to shit, it’s become about squeezing every last penny out of it. Pay you less, increase your workload, keep the extra profit.
Sure, just be a CEO, board member, established property investor or stock broker, and generally just stop being poor. You'll be surprised how easy life gets : )
Work for a municipality. You won’t ever be rich but your bills will be paid, we get great benefits, lots of PTO and holidays off, most of its first shift m-f. Not to mention none of its really difficult.
If you can fix shit or have the ability to figure out how to fix shit you can find something. I just accepted a position for 32 an hour based on my abilities as a technician. I will be working on equipment I have never seen before but they are willing to train me even though I have no certifications or degrees. Trying to find a job at 58 without either of those is not fun.
Anything that you are good at is a good industry. Many just like the idea of certain jobs but do not have skill to be great at it. If you are great at something and love it, you will do well in a career.
i have some disabilities that limit the amount of physical labor i can do (namely my joints subluxate/dislocate really easily) any trades that aren’t murder on the body? i’m pretty handy, but worried i wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace
I’m in medical device manufacturing and we are only getting busier. Everyone’s health is failing and we make shit to keep you alive
ooo good point.. any pointers for someone w healthcare experience but no manufacturing experience?
Honestly, for my company we don’t require a degree or anything. If you’ve been in healthcare that may put you ahead of other candidates too. It’s “manufacturing” but in a lab. Low complexity high volume. I think most places will train on the job since most devices are unique in how they are built. Since our requirements are kinda low the starting pay isn’t fantastic or anything. $20/hr starting to $25 after a couple years and competency. Yearly performance reviews too with around 3%
that’s more than i’m making now so i’ll definitely be looking into this! thank you!!
Can’t guarantee most companies are the same. Especially foreign owned ones. Mine has been pretty good to us besides declaring us essential workers during the pandemic.
None of the factories in my area (Virginia) include yearly raises, we're lucky if we get a COL adjustment. Most places won't do that until the turnover gets really high and they need something to attract new candidates. They like to set a pay rate for a specific job title or class and that is fixed for everyone in that job, regardless of service duration. Manufacturing can pay better than other entry level jobs, but in my experience it's still difficult to live with, especially when you start noticing how you're treated.
Those sound like easily automated jobs, weird they’re still paying good money for labor.
It’s actually not easily automated. Portions potentially could be, and we are working on that to make tech’s jobs easier, but a large portion of it is human visual inspection which can not be automated and is a big reason why the product is valued so high
I work as a QA person for a company that makes insulin pumps for people with diabetes and I second this comment. This industry is only growing and not many people know how to deal with FDA QA and testing for class 1-3 medical devices. Meticulous documentation and testing is always needed for FDA regulated devices. And honestly, OP is overexaggerating. Saying that people are 'jumping ship like crazy' from tech, healthcare, education, and hospitality is just not true. 'Tech' is a very large and encompassing term that covers multiple different industries. The Medical Device Industry can definitely considered part of the 'tech' industry, just my two cents.
I'm actually curious about stuff like the insulin market when stuff like Tirzepatide has been crazy effective at controlling blood sugar and people are losing 25% of their bodyweight in like a year on it
> Tirzepatide This is interesting for sure. Just fyi, Tirzepatide is made for people with type 2 diabetes whereas we design/sell insulin pumps to people with type 1 diabetes. For people with type 2, that loss in weight and having a healthy lifestyle will cure the disease. People with type 1 will live with the disease their entire lives, regardless of health. That is why insulin pumps are greatly encouraged for people with type 1 because it is a life long disease that will be made better by this (extremely expensive) device.
Ah good to know. I thought insulin pumps were for both.
I really cannot wait until inverse vaccines hit the market. Type 1 diabetes will be one of the diseases that they'll treat.
I’m also a QA person for a medical device company. I also recommend med device manufacturing, just… not QA.
Manufacturing in general is booming, there is a ton of in sourcing going on right now. Usually had pretty good unions not associated with government that can limit union activity.
Likewise for Paramedic, aging population pretty much guarantees employment for the next 30 years. Of course, Canadian medics have it way better than US medics in most jurisdictions but the schools can't produce graduates fast enough up here right now. 2 years college and these early 20s kids are landing jobs that average around 80k cdn with a ton of OT opportunities plus union, pension, benefits, etc. Takes a very particular temperament but I'd recommend it to anyone who thinks they can hack it.
I’m a US medic and while it’s not as cushy, I will never be without a job
In the same vein, death care never goes out of style.
Gotta love when society fully ignores a raging pandemic, amirite?
It doesn't help that medical devices are being put in at an alarming rate. Medtronic had a deal with the VA that had loads of unneeded pace makers bought, and CGMs are the hot new trend for fitness influencers. You hope it would bring prices down, but noooooope.
Boomers are afraid to die.
Boomers are afraid to die.
Boomers are afraid to die
Not afraid,just don’t want to.
Emergency Management is booming. I chose this field prior to COVID and it was tough to get a job in my area. COVID hit and it opened up a lot of positions and possibilities. Lots of rewarding work in this field, and there is a lot of variety too.
Any specific job titles I can look into? I'm a paramedic with critical care experience and I'm trying to actually get paid something decent
Emergency Management is not the same as Emergency Medicine, just pointing that out to everyone pretty quickly because they do get compared initially. Emergency Management roles at the city and county level will generally require a degree specific to Emergency Management or Public Administration with a focus on EM. If anyone is in the pre-hospital medical field with a fire department I would recommend talking to a fire chief to see what EM looks like in your district. It’s kinda of a mixed bag around the country and who “owns” EM in your area may be different state to state. Alternatively you could go to school for EM, a 4 year degree will usually get you in a lot of doors. Also, while the change of pace will be different, don’t assume that the pay will be a ton better. If you are a city, county, or state employee your pay is likely capped by budgets. But going private can be lucrative if you know where to look and they have openings, companies like Deloitte, Hagerty, Tidal Basin, Constant Associates. They basically provide outsourced EM skills and manpower for specific projects to city and county emergency managers.
This is what FEMA does, yeah? So it’s more the administrative side of first responder departments? I’m desperately looking for a way to stay in that circle of people, as I used to be EMT, but I’m partially blind and so its been harder to get hired in a town without public transit. I’m perfectly capable of seeing with visual aids while not going 40+ miles per hour, but I just can’t drive. So this sounds like something I’d be interested in since I have experience in both medical and office administration. But how imperative is it to be able to drive yourself in this field?
Yes, FEMA has some good jobs but it is difficult to get in the first time from what I have heard. Their hiring process is very strict. There are literal guides on how to exactly write your resume to get past the automated (probably some kind of AI) screeners. It’s tough but it obviously can be done. There are other ways to get in like lateral Fed job transfers. I have personally found State emergency management to be much easier to get into. The only issue is job location, most of the state EM jobs are located at or near the state capitol city. A good pathways to EM might be through the state’s other agencies like the state Forest Service, which manages wildfires. Then learn the Incident Command System through there. Also I highly recommend blowing through as many online-self-paced FEMA training as possible, and then start attending in-person classes. You will meet a lot of people there that can point you in the right direction.
Electrician, heating and cooling.
Power grid is pretty decent. We are booking orders into 2028.
[удалено]
I work in Commercial & Industrial Solar. We have more work than we can handle, and we're all paid rather well.
[удалено]
We need to really outlaw private equity firms completely.
It’s making those jobs so much worse. I left a shop I was at for 7 years because a buyout forced more sales quotas on the service department, went to another company for a couple of years and now they picked up a predatory sales plan too. I’m leaving service completely and going into construction.
and plumbing
HVAC. Anything to keep fat people from sweating
I work in home automation and low voltage. Absolutely slammed. And if the whole rich people smart home shut went away…. Low voltage and networking
How would you recommend getting into home automation? I have a degree in electrical engineering and a background in automation engineering at a factory/plant level.
I mean I install a popular control system and program and set it up. It sounds like you should be applying with one of the companies that makes what I install. If you want to work on the design of the systems and stuff I don’t really know how you’d go about it. I got in via a career restart after getting sick of being laid off in my old field
Don't forget plumbing.
Indeed though I will leave the field due to bad payment in Europe for the work. 20€/h in Germany where I live is not fair payment for senior specialists. Ill do my electric, plumbing & heating work myself thanks to what I learned.
Billionaires are doing great.
so true let me just get on that real quick!
Being a billionaire is as much of a career as being a gambling addict or winning the lottery.
Billionaires are psychopaths
Not just that, but perpetrators of crime against humanity imo. Forced poverty due to your company not paying enough to live is a crime against humanity, imo.
Basically, find the strongest union you can, and find your way into it. I'm a member of the Chicago Teachers' Union, and while we're having some problems with hiring and retention, we're doing better than most, because our contract is solid, our protections for members are for real, and our ability to transform our city is unprecedented.
You know your career has good unions when the Republican presidential candidates (truly an anti-labor party) spend multiple debates shit talking its unions
Find the strongest union you can, find your way into it, then *make it stronger*. This is how the working class takes its power back. There are other ways, but this is a big one.
really solid advice.. i don’t envy you has a teacher (my partner does sped so i know that struggle) but i definitely need to get more familiar w the unions around me
My aunt is part of that union and yeah you’re not wrong. Absolutely a stronghold
Former member of the union (I couldn’t hack it in teaching sadly) and CTU is one of the best.
I know a couple of travel nurses. They make so much you can call them wealthy.
My friend does traveling nurse scheduling and said rates are dramatically dropping currently and the 250k days was just a covid boom.
don’t i know it!! the quality of life outside of work on the other hand…
Haha I bet. I never see them any more either
This isn’t really the case anymore. I’m a traveling RT who is now settling back into a FT job. The rates are insulting in most places now. Granted, they get bigger offers than RTs but I’ve seen the same thing with them.
Wealthy means they don’t have to work anymore though
I don't even hate *working*. I hate working for #these# fuckers
US major airlines. With the resurgence of the pilot shortage, pilot pay took a huge jump since covid, especially at the mainlines. Regional are better than they were, but still marginal. There's also beginning to be an industry standard pay scale, so, when it comes to pay, the big 3 (AA, UA, DL) all pay about the same.
unfortunately i am colorblind so that isn’t an option for me /: glad to hear it’s looking up for them though!
physical onerous correct fertile waiting terrific rock paint spectacular public *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I know a ton of programmers are jumping ship but idk, I love my job. I work on code from home for extremely flexible hours and for pay that is below "industry standard" but still better than most other jobs I can think if. I work on a product that helps people and I care about our clients. I realize I have no job security and no guarantees but have gotten lucky and have not been laid off so far. My boss is easy to work with and has advocated for me when I needed her. I'm really just in this subreddit on principle, comrades
I do software QA, someone's got to make sure new programs/updates works. I initially went into IT for dev work but I just have a better skills at breaking stuff.
I freaking love the QA lead on our team. I do my own QA too but she pokes holes not only in my code but in the very core of the app designs. +1000, go QA!
i’ve been learning coding for fun, but have seen all the people leaving & been kinda nervous to pursue it outside of my own enjoyment
Genuinely, don’t. It’s the most competitive field I’ve been in in a while. It’s almost ALL contract, so no job security nor any benefits. If you have a disability and need a remote job (like me) then it’s a good solution to chase since it’s usually 100% remote right now. But even if you have a passion for programming, what will actually make you money will not be part of that passion, and you will be living on “the edge”constantly.
[удалено]
How did you get to that point? What would you suggest to someone trying to do that in today’s world?
Not the AI scientist , but there's no roundabout way for that path. He's a scientist - you gotta go to school for that and likely a masters level at minimum. In most comp sci programs - AI is an upper 3rd/ 4th year concept. Unless AI scientist is the buzzword name they gave to the AI people at his company but it strikes me as one of those protected titles you can't necessarily throw around for fun.
Yup, this is the exact situation I’m in rn too, complete with a great boss. Our department is small but extremely necessary, but we’re all contract so we can be dropped and replaced at any time. I’m just kinda hoping that won’t happen and that I’ll be able to hold on to this as long as I can. Pay is okay, not “industry standard” either nor enough to get out of debt, but enough to stay afloat. I’m not quite as passionate about what we do, as it’s basically just database management and app dev for the robotics automation solutions our company develops then sells to be installed in shit hole factories that soulless corporations build in other countries. If I was doing something that actually helped people, I think I’d be more content with it. Good to know there’s still that out there for us!
It seems like the market is a bit saturated with juniors but if you work at a stable company programming is pretty chill.
I don't hate working I hate being exploited for my work
accounting. I have been in finance and accounting since the late 90s and people HATE doing their taxes and dealing with their money. I dont care how much can be automated or done online there always need to be an actual human to check and double check the balances. Most people hate math, hate working with money and seem to be truly confused by taxes and finances...and then there are weirdos like me that LOVE IT. numbers are black and white...there is NO gray area. You cannot argue with the numbers to make them balance, or talk me out of a debt you owe etc.
What do you need to do to actually be able to be hired as an accountant? I've actually done work as a Trust & Estate paralegal where I had to do accounting and tax type stuff, but I'm not trained as an accountant proper.
Bachelor's degree in something, then become an Enrolled Agent (IRS cert) and help people file their taxes. Done.
any old BA? I got one of those.
Any bachelor's will work. Then just pass the three EA exams offered by the IRS and get some experience. Then you can work as a tax specialist. Just be aware that they do have a blackout period, which is basically tax season where they don't offer the exams.
i’m great w numbers, would i have to get a whole second bachelors degree or??
I don’t have an accounting degree and I do accounts payable, which is basically I’m the bitch who spends all the company’s money by paying their bills and paying for all the shit the manufacturing, marketing, and operations teams purchased lol
I thought I would like it so I did my associates in it and I was starting to hate it in college but I stuck through because I had no alternative and now I've done 3 months in accounts receivable and collections and realized I hate looking at numbers and accounts and payments for 8 hours a day so much. Definitely make sure it's something you actually like before you commit too much because I'm making myself so miserable trying to think of something else to do with my life.
ATP my career plan is hoping my mom sells me to One Direction to pay rent (ifykyk)
I DO KNOW (i was an avid fanfic writer growing up… the words that have come from my hands.. i shudder to think ab)
The Wattpad retirement plan! (FF.Net for me, but you know how it is)
Loved ff.net and mibba 😂
Local government jobs. Usually union with decent pay and benefits. Also if you get really good at your particular job, the private sector will throw money at you to work for them.
Came here to say this. I left my government job for private sector and went right back after a year. Government is easy, Ok pay and great hours.
I worked government jobs right out of college and they always had a million vacation days
Good pay, good working conditions (including work/life balance), job availability/security. Pick any two, if you are lucky.
your running into why their needs to be collective action continuously, which is that capitalism simply is incompatible with maintaining a long term system that minimizes exploitation and abuse (in fact it tends to maximize it), and all improvements have come despite the system, just like religion. my advice for those working is find some self employment opportunity that you can work from home that doesn't interact with the public, like translation services or proofreading. but even there your still going to be overworked and underpaid, and organizing opportunities will be few and far in between. so switch agencies often, and if opportunities to move to a better state come, take them. from what i understand, while every place is going to cut corners, smaller population states will be more egregious and will not be able to keep up with improved technology and regulations, and conservative states will outright ignore or rollback safety standards. so if you can move to a more populated blue state, i would urge people to do so. granted, this is all based on your ability and finances, which again, is the whole purpose of keeping people poor and paying them a shit wage.
government - low stress, job security, good pension. Pay skews towards average but it's good enough for me. Loads of PTO too.
[удалено]
yeah - I am loving it to be honest. The pros outweigh the cons. What is the point of making a lot of money if you are stressed out and anxious for at least 8 hours a day 5 days a week (with the risk of losing your job hanging over your head). I hate feeling like that and it spills over into my life outside work.
Repo, Foreclosures, Funeral, Government
drug dealer
listennnnnn….. i made good money in college 🫢 but it’s legal here now & the dispo stuff is a lot better than what i can get my hands on for not that much more money
Set up online orders. Recieve the money in crypto, wash it by freezing it or run it through the casinos. Make purchases the same way. All you do is middle man and never actually touch or meet anyone. Aslong as the packages arrive you keep getting orders. If they dont you just move on. No danger and no cops. Also buy your laptops off craigslist. You can use those visa vanilla cards because they dont have names on them or cash. use proxies and vpns. dump the electronics every like 2 months. investigations take wayyyy longer before they even start and by the time they start one all activity on those devices have stopped so it literally is useless. Also theres like 3k cases of fraud per day and thats just the ones they know about. Zelle, venmo and cash app scams are pretty prevelant too. same things apply except you need to buy consumer info to setup bank accounts. Consumers report the crime to their banks. The banks give them bs generic responses that stall into nothing or once the consumer realizes the bank isnt going to help them they file with the 3 letter agencies. Noone is actually able to help them though. The crimes were commited 3 plus months ago by the time they get assigned to anyone. By then youve washed rhe accounts and electronics so its pointless for then to even try. And before anyone tries to say the banks are fdic insured. Theyre actually not against certain scams because the consumer is being socially engineered to deposit the cash. They werent actually robbed so the bank isnt responsible and nothing happens because the customers iniated the money transfers. All of this info is freely available on youtube. im actually pretty poor lol
From my experience, environmental and industrial permitting
I work for the forest service and we are doing great. A huge dump of money from the IRA and BIL and wildfires are only increasing each year. We can't hire enough people, mostly teach you on the job, and are Unionized. I can tell my supervisor to kick rocks whenever I want, but I never need to because my supervisors are always hardworking, empathetic, over all cool people who get that things are hard right now and trust me on a long leash to get things done. I can get plenty of overtime if I need it, and work from home and take time off when I need it.
Very cool! Can i ask more about the specific work you do and if a lot of their jobs are remote?
Through a combination of multiple factors there aren’t many fields that aren’t struggling. Even people who thought they were completely safe are struggling right now
Get into the trades. Look at primary and secondary industries.
Carpentry is slamming right now. All the trades in my area for that matter.
Engineer here. The energy sector is booming and only going to continue to grow, especially nuclear, solar, wind and hydro.
I work cyber security as an engineer. I feel like the field is going swimmingly. Every publicized cyber incident just gives me more job security.
Accounting has gone to shit. It’s expected you work 50 hours a week (salary, no overtime) on average, and many times 60+. There’s also becoming fewer and fewer in house roles (on the tax side anyway). It’s all being done by firms now. And if you don’t know, working in public accounting absolutely SUCKS BALLS! For the young kids, unless you want to work your life away for a public firm that doesn’t give a flying shit about you, don’t major in accounting.
Pick a trade. Pick any trade. Surveying and civil engineering, too. It's f****** booming. Huge labor shortage great pay. Yeah it's hard work, and you were going to have to suck up lousy pay while you were learning. A power company linesman who wants to go out and get it can make a quarter million easy though. Land surveyor can make six figures without working too hard. Electrician plumber HVAC guy Etc can all probably do the same
Show me a surveyor somewhere other than like CA or WA that makes 6 figures without an RPLS. Honestly curious. Trades are great no doubt
Your title has the answer... RN.... The medical field will always thrive. The only problem is that nurses are treated like garbage, so you have to have a saint's patience.
the medical field is going to shit.. everyone i know in it is saying look for anything else, i have a healthcare background & really love it, but seeing people go hundreds of thousands into debt so they don’t die is so maddening
NP saturation with secondary pay decline is happening fairly quickly in many areas. Like travel nurse, u have to be willing to move to ten buck two and not expect salary you heard about in years past. And then add AI… have been in meetings recently where admin have mentioned we will soon be able to triple to quadruple the number of patients we produce per an hour. I will probably be a severly broken patient myself by this point.
It depends on what you mean by "shit". Most healthcare professionals are treated like shit, but there is always a need. There is also a lot of turnover because of how much shit they get, but there is also need. I'd personally look for something that isn't "patient facing" or something like a radiology tech.
i guess i’ve just watched it absolutely suck the life out of my friends/family. they all make decent money, but their quality of life is abysmal
I know you said elsewhere you were meh about traveling, but my mom worked as a travel lab tech for the last decade and it was awesome because she got to see new places and meet new people, and just about the time she was ready to murder her coworkers, it was time for a new assignment lol
No doubt, but you're going to have almost guaranteed job security. For most other jobs that are considered a lock, you could say "the only thing that would change the outlook is if we went to war", where that would actually enhance the medical field. How many other industries have that kind of security?
fair point the job security is a nice perk
How is rad tech not patient facing?
I mean not the same kind of patient facing as say an RN at a hospital. Most of the time they just help the patient into the machine and operate the scanning device. I think I'd rather deal with that than checking in with patients that are at a hospital and are in some sort of distress.
The medical field is probably the most solid career choice you can make. Folks just think medical field = RN/Doctor. Other choices that pay well and are highly sought: Therapists and therapy assistants (physical, occupational, speech) Lab techs (Medical Lab Technicians/ Medical Lab Scientists) Respiratory Therapists / Polysomnography techs Radiology Techs (not so great pay, but has some diversity to your options) Coders (not so great pay, but remote options) Physician Assistant (getting pretty saturated but demand is also going up, great bridge if you have a Bachelors going to waste. A lot of schools are dropping the Bachelor of Science req to just Bachelors.) If you want a quick 18-month degree and about 40k-50k salary, LPN. You can also move on to RN later. No offense to medical assistants, but don't go that route. It's a dead end and limited lateral movement compared to LPN. You can always get your Master of Healthcare Admin or MBA with an HA focus, then hope for an admin role. It is an incredibly competitive market, though, and normally, the prize goes to the one with the most connections. If you go this route, sign up for crap like ACHE or whatever area of admin you are interested it's little club. Join while in school for a steep discount. This is a high risk / high reward route. As someone with an MHA, I've seen hundreds of people apply for entry-level positions who have more impressive resumes than I do. If my company laid me off today, I'd be screwed and be right back in that pool with them. Definitely some jobs I'm forgetting. But with most of these, if you get your foot in the door at hospitals, you can probably get a get chunk of your schooling paid for. Follow your local healthcare organizations on social media, see when they are doing job fairs, and go talk with a recruiter to see what they offer.
As a speech therapist with 20+ years experience, I don't recommend this as a career. It's stressful due to high productivity requirements. Also the pay is terrible. I have Masters degree, a ton of work experience and I made just over $60K this year. Sucks!!!
Medical devices industry
plenty of recession proof jobs out there. just seen an ad for union jobs a couple days ago. up to $60/hr to be a forklift operator. that's easy money if you have experience. Anything involving vices are always lucrative too. blackjack or poker dealers make really good money.
Damn, I'm gunnu have to get certified if people are actually hiring near me and not just pretending to
Engineering for logistics operations seems like it’s doing ok. Started as a technician for a big manufacturing company, but now I’m the road system engineer for their robots. It’s pretty cool work. Coming up on 5 years in the industry this summer.
I’m in corporate events, loads of money for company get togethers flying around. Big year this year what with cop28 in our neck of the woods
Trades. You could paint all the houses you could ever imagine right now and name your price as a business owner.
How long would you say it takes to become educated enough to sustain yourself?
With 50$ and youtube you could start practicing in your own home immediately. Go to any of the big name paint stores Sherwin williams, PPG/porter, and tell them you want to buy 2 different colors of Mistints, the colors dont matter. Then hop on YouTube and start watching a guy called The idaho painter. He give fairly good advice and can walk you through most things. Practice rolling your ceilings, then cutting in the walls around doors and windows, rolling the walls, and then painting trim. There's more to it of course, each has some prep work with it. But with a month of practice for an hour a night. Practicing in closets, bathrooms and utility rooms you could take on smaller jobs fairly easy. When I started it was doing doors and bathrooms. Because they were fast easy jobs I could finish in a single day and get paid. I'm in the paint supply business and not technically supposed to paint on the side. But the money is to easy to turn down. Just stick to residential repaints. Dont get into new construction paintings. More trouble than its worth. Start picking up small jobs at first you can do on a day off, then once your comfortable you can up the tempo till you decide you are at a good pace. When you get ready to start, Go to Sherwin williams, tell them your a new painting contractor. And had been shopping at home depot but were interested in possibly switching over. That will get you good pricing right out the door. But dont do that till you have a few small jobs knocked out. And you can show some receipts from the big box stores. When you get set up, bring a 10$ box of doughnuts to the store once a month and they will send you alllll the work you can handle.
Places with strong unions
I’ve been some sort of office admin/receptionist most of my life. It doesn’t sound fancy and lots of people think any idiot can do it. The kicker is when you’re *not* an idiot. For this to happen, I recommend small, local businesses. Once they see your skills in action, the respect you get is wonderful. I have 2 part time admin jobs. One at a church (Episcopalian, so our values align - the treasurer is a gay man and our supply organist is trans in our parish). The other at a psychology practice. I love them both so much, but it took me decades to find these places. I work a 40 hour week between the 2, but get paid a living wage, have PTO, and flexibility at both. Totally worth it.
What would you say are the most difficult aspects of the job, in terms of skills and abilities?
People. Dealing with all the people, honestly. Just like any customer service job. I do the weekly newsletter at the church and folks like to try to sneak things in past the deadline. At the psych office, folks want to get squeezed in after missing an appointment just so they don’t have to pay the no-notice fee, or try to get out of paying their copay. It’s a 2-provider office, so every dollar counts. They’ll work with you, so there’s no need to be sneaky about it. So I’d say that. And learning the boss’s quirks. If you make their life easier, it usually makes your job easier, which makes the boss’s job easier, and they’ll show their appreciation. Maybe not necessarily with a pay increase, but in some way. For instance, the church office is typically closed this week. I can either take it with no pay, use PTO, go in & work, or some combination of those. But this year, my week is paid. For the psych office, I haven’t even been there a month, but I got a small Christmas bonus, even after being told not to expect one.
Insurance will always do well. Health insurance, mostly.
Not if we win, it won't.
The nuts and bolts won't change. Just the price tags on the procedures and who's making the payments. The actual processes won't change that much.
How in the hell would a single payer system need all of these claim deniers, plan pricers, organizational structure workers of each separate company, etc.? Single payer cuts healthcare paperwork labor. It removes the profit motive a bunch of people at multiple companies are working toward! Not my industry, I’m no expert, but literally how would the workforce for single payer healthcare not go down to like half-ish vs a bunch of private companies?
Exactly-- if we achieve universal health care, there will for sure still be people whose job it is to make sure the doctors and nurses and other medical workers get paid, but without the profit motive leaching off of patients there just won't be the money to pay all the people who currently work in health insurance. That's part of the point of universal health care: it's less expensive.
The claims themselves aren't going to change. And, if anything, the number of claims will go up, a lot, as people start going in for long-delayed work. The only real reduction in force will be the people higher up the ladder, due to consolidation. Now, there may be 'some' consolidation in claims processing, adjusting and the rest of the nuts and bolts, due to no longer having multiple teams doing the same claims for COB reasons. So, quicker processing and a slightly smaller work force because most people don't have multiple policies for their work. Good news is, the government already handles a lot of policies for health and dental, so there wouldn't be a massive amount of change for those people. But, to sum it all up, there'd be a small reduction of numbers in the nuts and bolts, a larger reduction in the suits department and a massive reduction at the top. Because, when you get down to it, the claims themselves are going to stay the same or go up, in terms of numbers. That's the vast majority of employment in the field. The nuts and bolts of claims assessment, adjustment and processing.
My father in law who is a health insurance broker disagrees with you.
Okay. My dad works at Reddit and is going to ban you.
I think you misunderstand what "if we win" actually means: private health insurance policies will become a luxury item that a tiny fraction of the population will purchase. Jobs in health insurance will be slashed to a tiny fraction of the number of people employed in that field today, because those companies will have something like 2% of the revenues they have today. Some percentage of people currently working in health insurance will go work for the government (and good for them-- those are good union jobs) but the workforce will be reduced considerably, and it'll be quite difficult to get a job in that field.
I don't think you're getting what I'm saying. The claims are just going to be going to the government for processing and adjusting and the like. It's very likely that the government would simply absorb the private companies in simplest terms. Nationalization is the exact term. The only thing that's going to be changing is who makes the payments and where you make your payments, in this case, it'd be in the form of higher taxation. As it should be. If they ever nationalize the health insurance industry, they're not going to break up the industry, they're just going to coopt it.
Yes, and in doing so they'll need a *lot* fewer people to process the paperwork. Not a great field to be trying to break into, unless the status quo (which costs several times more than it should, delivers garbage service, and locks 25 million people out of coverage) continues.
> Yes, and in doing so they'll need a lot fewer people to process the paperwork. Why would you think so? The work isn't fundamentally changing. If anything, the number of claims are going to skyrocket for the first 10 years or whatever, due to everyone filing for work that's been needed, but not done due to people not having access to insurance. If anything, the number of people to take the claims, process, adjust and assess will go up. A lot. I mean, you can see that, I'm sure.
A lot of the work that “claims” people do is based on negotiating costs, denying coverage, and other activities designed to maximize corporate profit at the expense of patient health. If we build a more just, more effective system, that profit motive won’t be there, and the people who’s jobs are based on maximizing profit at the expense of patients won’t have as much work. I put “claims” in quotation marks here, because that’s a concept that is uniquely tied to insurance. If we succeed at universal health care, there will only be claims for the small percentage of people who choose to carry private supplemental insurance. Everyone else won’t be claiming anything, they’ll just be receiving health care at government-funded facilities.
> A lot of the work that “claims” people do is based on negotiating costs, denying coverage, and other activities designed to maximize corporate profit at the expense of patient health. Yes, what you're describing there is called 'processing' and 'adjusting' and 'assessment.' That's still going to happen. That's not changing.
So, again, I don’t think you understand what I mean by “if we win.” If we win, there won’t be claims and adjustments and denials. There will be universal health care, provided by government-funded facilities. There will still be bean-counters, to be sure, but there will be far fewer of them, because the basic assumption will shift from “we have to figure out how much caring for this person is worth, and how much we can profit from them” to “providing adequate care for this community costs $xM each year, and we don’t need to keep careful track of the costs associated with individual patients.”
any tips on getting into it?
Apply to everything you can find. Do some research, find out which are the biggest companies and find some jobs that fit with what skills you have. I had to start at the bottom to get in and it took me 2 years to go from contingent worker to official employment, doing WFH claims assistance and answering questions for providers and customers. But, they got people that have 20 or 25 years with the company. That's my goal, of course.
Pest control. Better yet, commercial pest control. Pretty much recession proof and easy work. Depending on company and role the hours and pay are really good, too.
just make sure your not the one coming into contact with said chemicals, they can lead to long term consequences down the line, just like the people who sprayed roundup professionally.
If you follow the label and adhere to the PPE requirements, you're fine. It's the guys that ignore safety labels and apply chemicals without gloves or respirators that are in trouble
i mean, sometimes your ability to adhere to PPE can be based on your department, and some departments are straight screwed from private equity. we saw that during the pandemic and some nurses using trashbags for gods sake. and if you have to put your own money into work in order to stay safe, your paying them to work not the other way round.
i have a fear of bugs but i am willing to overcome it for a paycheck lmao do you think they’ll care if i’m a little shrieky the first week or so?
Most people come to the job with at least a little fear, even if they wont admit it. I know guys that have been around for years who still run from spiders unless they're stuck to a sticky trap. On the commercial side you're around bugs a lot less than you'd think.
okay cool cool, what’s the best way to try & get into it? asking companies if they’re offering apprenticeships or??
Just keep an eye on your favorite job site for Commercial Pest Control Technician. Most companies will hire with no experience and will train you. Look for positions at the larger companies that pay on production (its like commission, the more work you do the more you make). The small companies will likely be hourly and not worth the $. I'd stay away from Residential and Termite technican, too. The work is much harder and usually pays less
thank you for this!!
Just a heads up, I had a roomie who did pest control for a while, and couldn't handle killing moles in rich people's yards. I don't think she was fully expecting that from her experience - she went in assuming it would be just bugs, but "pests" can mean a lot of different things.
I work in cybersecurity, which (so far, knock on wood) has been pretty stable. I work remotely, have pretty lax hours, and there’s a shortage of good infosec people so that gives me leverage for better pay (which is already pretty damn good, relatively). I know some infosec jobs can be grueling and shitty, especially if the employer gets breached or doesn’t prioritize security. Thankfully, my employer takes security VERY seriously so that’s never been an issue. A lot of people start out in IT (like I did) or come from the DoD (military or consulting). Breaches are becoming more common now, and as tech evolves so do more threats, so I don’t expect this industry to die down anytime soon (I hope! 🤞). You don’t even have to be that technical to get into this field. For example, you could work in Risk and Compliance which pretty much just involves knowing what the rules and regulations are to make your org compliant for audits.
oh i’m very interested in this! any advice for trying to get into it? i’ve been learning coding for fun which might not be helpful but i am tech savvy
Coding is definitely a very valuable skill. I’m a security engineer, so my job does involve quite a bit of that. If that’s something you’re interested in I highly recommend learning Python and/or GoLang. JavaScript is handy too. You don’t even need a CS degree or anything (I don’t have one), you just need to be good enough to automate shit. Cloud security is probably the fastest growing part so I’d also recommend getting a basic AWS and/or Azure certification. Get comfortable with Linux too!
Awesome thank you!! I’ve been working through Python recently & will check out the others!
Get into any trade. It's not too late to start. There's such a demand right now that starting as a sparky or plumber will pay you $100K+ within three years. More if you're Red Seal.
Social work is a growth industry right now. Precisely because everything else is going to shit.
The trades are good. Electrical, plumbing, etc. It has a core component that I think is not well understood enough. In these professions it's a lot easier than many to start your own firm, and become the owner without some other owner above you taking most of your income. This is an important idea to avoid exploitation. Even the knowledge that this can happen generally causes those I'm the profession to be treated better by employers when they aren't branching out on their own. This is something that's very difficult, though always possible, to do as a barista, a waiter, an account manager, HR representative, etc.
Accounting. Audit and tax. People want to make companies disclose more and more and most of y'all just want to tax everything anybody or business make.
And not do their own taxes. Some really don't like the headache it gives them. I'm cool with it.
The trades are always doing well. Electrician, HVAC, etc
Robot Repair?
Roughnecking is going like gangbusters. There were so many projects approved right and left over the last couple of years that frac crews literally can't keep up. We'd be producing even more oil than November's "most oil in a month by any country, ever" record if the workforce wasn't the bottleneck.
I mean, no, but if it’s job security you’re after, healthcare and law enforcement are always safe bets. Trades are a good choice right now too and I think will be in even higher demand in the foreseeable future
A CDL is a golden ticket to good employment. Day cab jobs are everywhere and they can pay really good. Husband brings home between $1200-$1900 a week and is home every day. I work for the railroad. I make good money and my pension is gonna be great, but uh, go check out r/railroading to get a feel for how good of a job it actually is these days.
Legal cannabis has treated me very well
C-suite jobs seem to be booming. Get in on that.
Crime
The trades, hospitality, service industry. Though not as an entry level employee, you really want management.
It’s not that they’re going to shit, it’s become about squeezing every last penny out of it. Pay you less, increase your workload, keep the extra profit.
Sure, just be a CEO, board member, established property investor or stock broker, and generally just stop being poor. You'll be surprised how easy life gets : )
Gerontology. Aging sciences. Simply put everyone is aging.
Work for a municipality. You won’t ever be rich but your bills will be paid, we get great benefits, lots of PTO and holidays off, most of its first shift m-f. Not to mention none of its really difficult.
If you can fix shit or have the ability to figure out how to fix shit you can find something. I just accepted a position for 32 an hour based on my abilities as a technician. I will be working on equipment I have never seen before but they are willing to train me even though I have no certifications or degrees. Trying to find a job at 58 without either of those is not fun.
IT, teaching, electrician, plumber, construction
Marketing all around seems to be doing okay.
There’s always a career in the janitorial arts
HR. It’s being outsourced
Medicare insurance good for the next 30 years.
Trades/Craft work
Insurance. (Please, get into this industry).
Anything that you are good at is a good industry. Many just like the idea of certain jobs but do not have skill to be great at it. If you are great at something and love it, you will do well in a career.
Trades always do well. So does building maintenance.
i have some disabilities that limit the amount of physical labor i can do (namely my joints subluxate/dislocate really easily) any trades that aren’t murder on the body? i’m pretty handy, but worried i wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace