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Do your own thing. Fuck working for someone else. Construction is a wide field with a lot of room for artistry and skill expression, you certainly have picked something up by now.
Amen. Being self employed for too long has made me never want to work for someone else again, although I probably could if I needed to. But I don't feel comfortable right now taking on a big job that has any kind of significant upfront costs.
I left IT to open a small amusements company (link) a few years ago. So far we've been doing well and just doubled our floor space. Arcades, amusements, movies, etc, usually do well enough in recessions because they are cheap forms of entertainment. A family can't afford a huge trip over the holidays, but they'll stay home and see movies and other things.
The one thing that will change is what we have in our candy story. We JUST brought in a bunch of US candies. I'm not pulling them off the shelf but once they sell, I won't be replacing them. We're going to look for more UK and Japan candies which have always done well.
That's awesome. Id come drop off a resume if I wasn't on the opposite side of the country.
I wish I could find something. I'm in IT out in Alberta, and there's only one market; big oil. If I could leave, I would, but my wife is a teacher and that's not a career that migrates easily. I'm no fan of the UCP mismanagement and shutting down any opportunity for diversifying our economy, but we just can't seem to overcome the rural conservative base. It's like being tied to a rock and watching an avalanche coming straight for you.
Curious, why doesn't teaching migrate easily? Doesn't every place on earth have children, who are hitting the same development milestones at the same time and need to be taught a similar level of things?
I don't know about Alberta, but in Ontario your pay is directly related to your seniority and that doesn't carry over between provinces. So you would be taking a pay cut if you moved provinces, maybe a big one if you've been at it awhile.
Oil is some people's identity out here, it's insane. It's like your rich uncle dies and you inherit everything, and your whole life then becomes focused on finding dying uncles
god that sounds annoying jfc
I'm a shipyard welder in the US and I would love love love to move to Canada right now. With Canada shifting trade away from the US and towards other countries, the need for trade ship building and maintenance will skyrocket. Ships are always in need of repairs, and being a welder means a guarenteed job.
I would love to see Canada rebuild their ship building industry and expand Atlantic and Pacific fleet as well as create some world class Arctic icebreakers.
Skilled hands would be welcome, let's hope it happens.
Skilled hands would be welcome, let's hope it happens.
We'll see, I guess. It would be nice to move away from the craziness. I'm still an apprentice, but I know my craft and could teach it.
Thanks for sharing. That makes a lot of sense. I have experience as a hobby welder. Maybe I should go get a cert or something 🤔
It is definitely hard work, but it's rewarding work. Some welders specialize in one specific thing with one specific process, but I believe this is a career mistake. A well-rounded welder should have some experience and training in every process.
There's SMAW (often called stick), GMAW, TIG, flux core, brazing, plasma cutting, oxy/acetalyne cutting & welding, carbon arc'ing, etc.
My shipyard job almost exclusively does stick welding. Occasionally we'll do TIG, but I can count on one hand how many times I've TIG welded last year.
The shipyard trained me, but I had to go on my free time and money to learn the other processes. I think it was worth it, IMO. I'm not great at the other processes, but I can do them well enough to pass workmanship inspections.
Plus if I ever lose my job (in the US it's looking more and more likely), I still have a robust skillset to find another job. It's a good trade to have, it's extremely difficult for a company to hire someone overseas to do it. In a sane world, the job security from welding is great.
Do you think it's too late for someone like me in my 40s to start learning the skills to land a job in your field? I don't need the job, but it would be cool ass skill to have and maybe have as a back up job option.
I started when I was around 40, I kid you not. Born 1982, I'm currently in my forth and final year of apprenticeship. I've got all of my qualifications done almoat a year early.
Before, I was leaping from crummy job to crummy job when I got a fire watch gig. The job was dumb, but I worked with welders. One even encouraged me to become a welder. He also taught me a few basics.
Best advice I can give for becomig a welder is to really committ to it. Dedicate your heart, mind, body, and soul to it. Master your craft, and don't settle for "good enough" work. Don't worry about the money, it will come in abundance.
When instructors and employers see your passion and dedication to the trade, they'll respect & hire you.
Also, your reputation as a welder is crucial to maintain. It follows you everywhere you go. So build up a good reputation. When you make a mistake as all welders do, own up to it and try to make it right. If you build up a reputation for honesty, integrity, and reliability, even if you're just a mediocre welder, it will still supercharge your career.
This is amazing advice, thank you!
And I totally get that about reputation. I'm an interpreter and that's really important to me too, especially now since AI could easily replace me if all someone wants is "good enough".
People tell me the reason choose me over other interpreters and AI is because they want more than "good enough" and want someone with a good reputation and easy to get along with.
Thanks again for your insight!
This is amazing advice, thank you!
And I totally get that about reputation. I'm an interpreter and that's really important to me too, especially now since AI could easily replace me if all someone wants is "good enough".
People tell me the reason choose me over other interpreters and AI is because they want more than "good enough" and want someone with a good reputation and easy to get along with.
Thanks again for your insight!
I work in corrections. Doubt we'll see a drop in crime any time soon.
you'll probably side with the fascists then eh
Why would I do that?
historically that seems to be what always happens
What history?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_state maybe you'll be one of the good ones
Canada isn't a police state. People are in jail here because they broke the law.
Not at the moment. But let's say hypothetically we become the 51st state, and you are ordered to arrest someone or shoot someone who is an insurgent, would you do it?
That's not how corrections works. I don't do the arresting. Cops arrest, I look after them in jail. And if we become the 51st state, I'll end up being on of the insurgents. COs at least where I work are incredibly defiant of almost any type of authority. Maybe the inmates rub off on us in a certain way. But I can't see most of the people I work with laying down and letting it happen.
Or false arrests...
Wouldn't know. Courts and police do all that.
Not my problem. Just doing my job.
Almost like people on here think there shouldn't be jails for people who break the law.
Almost.
What would you do instead?
Yeah I work for a company that does a lot of cross border stuff in N America. About 30% of the business is going across the border and that's gonna get ugly real fast.
Even if we don't lose 30%, only 10% of that would lead to major reshuffles and a lot of layoffs.
In your opinion, is your company going across due to the tariffs specifically or other regulations? Or just because the market is bigger?
I believe they meant that 30% of their product goes across the border, not that 30% of the company was splitting off and moving country.
oh right, I can't read
Lost my job right after the election because of the results because my former employer dealt in overseas markets. Our major customers all stopped putting in orders in a bid to wait and see meaning my employer had to cut jobs, lucky me. That company is limping along right now even after the cuts.
New job is less susceptible to those shocks as the big customers are all domestic and there’s always a need for their products. I just looked for jobs in my sector that didn’t depend on overseas markets to stay in business.
That probably doesn’t apply to construction trades though as a whole lot of the materials seem to be imported. Military might not be a bad play, just maybe aim for something not front line grunt and pick up some transferable skills for after exiting
Do you mind me asking what industry you are in?
White collar desk-jockey job in manufacturing
this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2025
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