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should i change jobs? need advice

Motorsports-X

Hot Rolled
Joined
Nov 22, 2014
Location
Texas
So where im at now is a multi billion dollar global conglamorate. they have access to anything they need, and the pay is excellent if you dont mind working alot of hours. there is no over time limit. Unfortunately, said company has management problems BIG TIME. there is some really good guys in those posistions but there is a very good ole boy way of doing things there and if you dont fit the mold, or try to venture outside it, your shunned. They dont seem to care about anything but the ammount of hours they turn in. the condition of the equipment shows this. day starts at 5am, and your not 'allowed' to leace until your 10 hours is up, but the vacation pay is 8 hours. (aggravating) all in all, its a great place to make alot of money very fast, i just started a few months back and in a year i would be somewhere around 110. The job is basically using mazatrol all day and making parts. very boring. no chance of getting to know cam, or growing that i can see.


company b, is the standard 10-15 million a year mom and pop shop. been in business a very long time. posistion is salary, and pays 65k (eek, as i type that) so walking away from 45k. with the potential to make much more. so they say. the shop isnt in bad shape, but its an older place, and its cluttered, not much organization or maintenance. the machines are clean though, and the employees are friendly. The boss already ordered a new workstation at my suggestion after doing some free lance work on his current machine. the position is project management, and i get to learn every thing there is from top to bottom in the plastic industry. ill be modeling with cad, probably working with cam every now and then (they have some mills but they are severly underutilized) and then your standard project managment work top to bottom. they basically want someone to come in learn quick and deal with customers and get stuff in and out of the shop.

i guess it boils down to money.. 45k is a huge hit, and im not sure that company b is somewhere id want to be long term. its not a 'bad" place... its just kinda stoneage...(maybe i can change that) the people are much nicer though, and the boss tells me the last guy in my posistion was knocking down close to 200 after 16 years..


im 28 by the way... so its not like its gonna be my last new job either way..

help
 
$110k? $200k? Can you sign me up? What geographic region do you reside in?

Determine whether accumulating savings ('savings' being noteworthy here) or learning is what you desire at 28. There are plenty of opportunities to learn outside of work- perhaps take some of your disposable income and do something online or part-time, or just a class once a week. 50-hour weeks are not conducive to the former. It doesn't sound like you're happy, which is not acceptable in the long-term.
 
@Motorsports-X This post is music to my ears. I'm about the same age as you and stacking a lot less paper so won't get into too much advice other than this:

Write down what you like about work
Read it back to yourself
Do this for at least a few weeks

It won't make your decision for you, but it's a good way to gather your thoughts and keep yourself from second guessing regardless of which way you go.

By the way, I'd love to hear more of your story if you're willing to tell me. Young, high-dollar machinists are like f'ing unicorns but I keep telling myself they exist...shoot me a PM in one of the five minutes off a week that you get.
 
Salary changed my life. I still work 84 hours, but i don't "have to". It works great when you have 6 kids and suddenly realize that you coach baseball, basketball, football, field hockey, lacrosse, and cheerleading, simutaneously.
 
guys don't get me wrong.. right now I make over 100k and could easily make 160 in a few years, but I have 0 life and work 80+ hours a week to get it. this new job is a big hourly raise and 40 hours per week. .. im in Houston.. there is no shortage of money or work here.
 
My cousin spent a few summers in Antarctica (northern hemisphere winters). Everyone stationed there got paid a crapload of money, but had nowhere to spend it "on the ice" except in the bar or playing poker. Didn't take a brilliant investor to turn a few stretches of 100% work/0% life into a hell of a foundation for a quiet life raising a family with a normal 9-5.

I've been trying to figure out how to swing a similar deal in northern Sweden, but no luck so far.
 
Big money can buy you a lot of things, but it can't buy you time.

As I get older I wish that I had more time rather than more money.:codger:
 
mister honey it's less than that. a chunk of my overtime is double time so it's more like 44k.

I think 65 in Houston. can get you buy pretty good. your not going to be buying a house in river oaks but if you are smart with your money then you should be ok. I have a feeling like this guy is telling me the truth and that raises happen pretty frequently and I won't be at 65 long.. I just found out that 7 people just quit where I work now (been sick a while and haven't been in). seems like I'm not the only one tired of the bs. I think I'm gonna do it. why not. don't get many chances to be one step down from the ceo
 
Motorsports; I am 56 years old. I have four grown children and one still at home. So I am in a much different situation than you. At this point in my life I would much sooner take a job working with friendly people waaay before I took a job for the money.

However, I know what it's like to be young and need to have the money so you take the job with less pleasant working conditions to cover your financial burdens.

At 28 I would say learn everything you can - you will never regret it. Sometimes you take a lesser paying job for the opportunity to learn new things. Hopping around a bit when you are young is often the only way to have new learning opportunities.

If you are married and have children then that will obviously have to be weighed in on the decision.

So you are already doing some work for the mom and pop shop and they bought you a new work station? To me - that's all the encouragement I would need. They are showing a committment to you that is invaluable. They are showing you that they WANT you!

You will never find the perfect opportunity. Every job is only what you decide to make of it.

Best wishes and keep us posted.
 
You don’t have a location as required.. So is that part of your problem that you don’t like authority.
Current shop [don’t fit the mold, or try to venture outside it, your shunned.]That sounds like a high school attitude not fit for a major machine shop.
Then the new shop…its just kinda stoneage...(maybe i can change that)
Sounds like you should be the owner because your boots are too big for a worker.
Be the guy who thinks about the work and ignores politics and personalities and you may become a person in charge working 40 hours and logging $200K at the big shop.

[and in a year i would be somewhere around 110] what is it now?

[no chance of getting to know cam, or growing that i can see.] Some guys in that shop are going to become leaders..

boss (at the smaller shop) tells me the last guy in my position was knocking down close to 200 after 16 years.. What position is that..the$65k position guy? he /you could explain that better.


[don't get many chances to be one step down from the ceo] If you take the 65K job being that close to the CEO be the guy he likes not a burr on his but. * That guy, the one who goes to 200k will work well, speak well, be kind, polite and punctual.

The f this and the like guy will stay on the handles for a long time.
 
you said you've only been there a few months so basically you are still pretty much a new guy.

Making that kind of money at 28 (and even 50+) in an industrial job is pretty rare unless you are really in some kind of a hardship position. From your job description, in my part of the country you would be most likely
be making 16-17/hr and I'm pretty sure that housing costs are just about near double than what they are in Houston.

Since you've only been there a few months, why not take the opportunity to save as much as you can in say the next 3-4 years. If you said in no time you can make 160k (!!!) you should be able to easily save 100k per year.
A few years of that and you can pay for a comfortable house in cash. You would only be 32 and you would have plenty of time to work somewhere else in a laid back atmosphere.
 
I can offer a quote that i quite like. I wish I lived it more but try to keep it in my mind. Its by the Dali Lama. During an interview he was asked what surprises him the most, his response was quite mind altering.

“Man surprised me most about humanity. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
 
We have new guys like the OP at our place too. They think they know what's going on, but they don't. They think they need to change the world, but they don't. They think they're smarter than us (management) but they're not. My advice would be to stick with the current job, but don't be so arrogant. You're only 28. You don't have a clue yet. I don't mean to be offensive, and don't take this the wrong way. You are in "a multi billion dollar global conglamorate"! Look at the big picture. Pay your dues now, put in your time, don't rock the boat, and your options will be limitless.

But that's just me...
 
I am all for being happy with what you do. 65k a year is nothing to sneeze at, and future earrings sound great.

Here is a little dissent among the ranks though:
I was on the road, with our chief engineer. BRILLIANT (I don't use that term loosely) man, warm, friendly. Enjoys his life. He was, for the first time since I knew him, depressed. Over diner that night I asked him what was wrong. Today, he told me, was his retirement date from his first job. At that job, he was well paid, had good benefits, and a defined pension plan. He left that job because it was boring. He wanted a challenge. Now he had 20 more years to work. He told me he was happy with how things turned out in life, but couldn't get it out of his mind that if he would have just let himself be bored he could be home with his wife playing with his grand babies.

FWIW
 
It sounds to me as if you have already made up your mind to move. I think that is a good decision. The thing to be aware of in a "Mom & Pop" operation is the "Boy". If the kids or uncles are working there, be prepared to either work with them or push them to the side. It won't be long before Mom & Pop make it clear what course they wish you to take. Your position will either be "buddy" or "axe man". Take your cue from the owners, and take care of your interests. Regards, Clark
 
In HOUSTON! Where exactly? I myself have been working for 7 yrs in the oil and currently gas field in HOUSTON. lots of work yes but it goes and comes. plenty of shops on NW 290.
 
So where im at now is a multi billion dollar global conglamorate. they have access to anything they need, and the pay is excellent if you dont mind working alot of hours. there is no over time limit. Unfortunately, said company has management problems BIG TIME. there is some really good guys in those posistions but there is a very good ole boy way of doing things there and if you dont fit the mold, or try to venture outside it, your shunned. They dont seem to care about anything but the ammount of hours they turn in. the condition of the equipment shows this. day starts at 5am, and your not 'allowed' to leace until your 10 hours is up, but the vacation pay is 8 hours. (aggravating) all in all, its a great place to make alot of money very fast, i just started a few months back and in a year i would be somewhere around 110. The job is basically using mazatrol all day and making parts. very boring. no chance of getting to know cam, or growing that i can see.


company b, is the standard 10-15 million a year mom and pop shop. been in business a very long time. posistion is salary, and pays 65k (eek, as i type that) so walking away from 45k. with the potential to make much more. so they say. the shop isnt in bad shape, but its an older place, and its cluttered, not much organization or maintenance. the machines are clean though, and the employees are friendly. The boss already ordered a new workstation at my suggestion after doing some free lance work on his current machine. the position is project management, and i get to learn every thing there is from top to bottom in the plastic industry. ill be modeling with cad, probably working with cam every now and then (they have some mills but they are severly underutilized) and then your standard project managment work top to bottom. they basically want someone to come in learn quick and deal with customers and get stuff in and out of the shop.

i guess it boils down to money.. 45k is a huge hit, and im not sure that company b is somewhere id want to be long term. its not a 'bad" place... its just kinda stoneage...(maybe i can change that) the people are much nicer though, and the boss tells me the last guy in my posistion was knocking down close to 200 after 16 years..


im 28 by the way... so its not like its gonna be my last new job either way..

help

I have a feeling you want to learn and do different things but the only thing is stopping you is money. Move on. Money is important but not that important
 








 
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