Oh, my company is doing fantastic also. They hired almost 150 people after me (and this is a relatively small company, 1000 employees).

But both are anecdotes, and to draw a conclusion from them is stupid.

Luck is probably MORE important than hard work. I worked really hard for a company when I was in school. Then the accountant fudged the tax records, stole a bunch of money, and ran away. It doesn't matter how hard you worked when your boss says "the IRS froze our accounts, I can't pay you anymore."

But I am lucky to be good with computers, and so there will always be headhunters calling me up and bothering me.

To add to Nuge's post: It depends on what education you have, what experience you have, and what sector you work in as to how the events from '08-now affected you.

I've seen 3 raises in a year, plus a substantial promotion on top of that during one year alone. But that's just our :2cents: it appears - trying to brush everyone with the events of one industry is obviously inherently a fallacy.

This thread rocks.

FYI, anyone looking for a job. Move to Williston, ND. Lowest unemployment rate in the country. McDonalds is paying $10+/hr to flip burgers, and they are begging for all the help they can get. All thanks to the oil and gas industry :bigtu:

I know somebody who's not feeling the pain at the pump . . .


I'll give you a hint; There are 2 of them with a price tag of 325 million dollars each and fuel consumption of 3378 gallons per hour, per unit..

The DoD bought 1,500 Volts. GM took a $49,000 hit on each, for a net loss of $735,000,000

I wonder, does the DoD get the $7,500 credit?


Does money work in a vacuum?

Just wanted to update this thread for the new year.

So far the winter has been great to us! We have enough work to keep the guys working 7 days a week and more keeps coming in. One of the modular companies just called me to schedule 2 more jobs, meanwhile we already have 2 other big ones lined up to both start next week.

Tomorrow we're taking the day to drive up north to go look at some trucks to buy. I dont want to get crazy and go on a shopping spree, but man it feels great to be able to throw some money around without much worry.

For those of us that work hard, it'll always come around in the end. :bigtu:

I'm at a dead end IT job and it's really been kicking me in the pants. I make bottom of the barrel money for the amount of work I do.

I've been actively seeking other employment but all of it is contract work. Which means I loose my current AWESOME benefits and pension... Plus the nice thing about my job is crazy good job security.

So what's better, shitty pay but awesome benefits? Or great pay and no benefits and the possibility of being out of work?

Anyone have good luck with personal health/dental insurance companies?

Are you young, unmarried and childless? Go contract. Work steady, make a good rep, and slowly increase your salary every time you jump jobs. Eventually, you'll make out.

Never, EVER burn any bridges as a contractor, or it will come back to bite you in the ass. Work hard to develop a good reputation, and it will pay off years later. My last two jobs as a contractor, I was hired sight unseen because of my reputation.

It has paid off. I make more now as a direct employee, have great benefits and found a perfect fit. I expect to be here for the rest of my carreer.

you dont know awesome benefits until you work for fed.

Coming from the guy who makes TSA posters at work.

Fed benefits would be tits.

I work for low funds but get a FoMoCo excutive benefits package. Pretty nice.

Yes the pay is a bit low for the standard but I get a raise every year, no micro managment, I come and go almost as I please and the position is solid. One of my biggest deal breakers is the people you work with. If you can't count on them, can't stand to be around them, don't trust them or have no/get no respect from them then no amount of money is worth it. If you're that person, no amount of education, training or job swapping will help you.

I work for / paid by the Taxpayer, my blue cross is top of the line.

Also the machine shop i'm working at is doing awesome in these times. We are constantly flooded with orders. I'm only part time, but i put way to many hours in just to fill the orders we get. We really are doing good. (lot of foreign car companies, not so much the big 3, who would have thought)

So every week I take my office day to do payroll, make the bills, pay the bills, etc, I fuck around with quickbooks a little more each time.

Last week I started exploring the "reports" section.

So on the 13th I did a profit/loss comparison to last year and I couldnt believe it when I saw we had a 95.2% increase in profit! I just checked again and now we're at a 109.9% increase! Holy shit!

Is it just me, or is that an absurd amount to show for an increase during the slow time of the season for construction? Ohh yeah, dont forget that bad economy.

Any advice on other things I should look at?

My wife works for Fed, so I too enjoy those awesome benefits. Hope there is not a furlough in her future, or yours.

Uh, Federal Government or "The Fed" (Federal Reserve Bank...)?

i didnt say the fed.

if i worked for the fed, I'd just print myself money.

Thought that's what you said.

One problem, The Fed doesn't print currency. That's done by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. ;) The Fed does destroy physical currency, though.

sorry, if I worked for the Fed, I'd have them inject digital numbers into my bank account.

They would do precisely that at the end of every pay period. :giggle:

now we are getting somewhere!