REAL MAN TRUCKWORKS & SURVIVAL
GENERAL TOPICS => D.O.T. => Topic started by: Flyin6 on August 05, 2015, 09:48:44 AM
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Well it's back to school time
Now the fact that I'm like 130 years old and still having kids in school is a testament to several obvious facts:
1. I am not too bright
2. It shows God's abundant love
3. It shows that God has a sense of humor!
4. The span between my changing diapers and someday wearing them is vastly reduced!
5. I will never get to enjoy the "Empty nest, mature lifestyle!"
So at my well seasoned age, I still get to do the back to school thing, which I have effectively been doing for decades now. But here in our school district, we actually go back to school tomorrow, the 5th of August! We didn't get out of school until the second week of June, so, yea, WHAT SUMMER VACA????
Anyone else going back now?
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there is a school district here in el paso that only has like 1 month off during the summer.
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Maybe we'll start calling you Job....mine go back 24th
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Our schools started monday, and i could sure tell, with the morning traffic.
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Ours started yesterday. They got out 3rd week of May.
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Mine start the first week of September. I have a senior in high school, and we are having sophie tested to start kindergarden early this year as she is a sept baby. turns 5 on the 14th, but she's wicked smaht. I feel you on the age spread; we could have been empty nesters by next summer, but noooo I had to go and want another one, lol.
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I start on Aug. 11th and kids come the 17th, the saving grace of it all, is we'll be done before Memorial Day for the first time since I was in college! (in the era of big hair and parachute pants)
Meaning? The ability to head to the Boundry Waters before it gets crowded!
Me too, on no empty nest! Ten to Twenty-five...........I'll retire just in time to drive my youngest to her first day of High School!
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Ours normally start this week Friday. For some reason this year it's this coming Wed. They get done the 2nd week in May just in time to help with spring field work. Never mind the fact everyone will have planted by April 15th LoL
Our youngest two are freshman in HS this year....empty nest may some day be possible. But as often as the grand kids are here, it's not likely to be empty often.
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I nicknamed my 4 girls Boomerang #1, #2, ......
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I cant say that I envy any of you's! I had that turned off 18 years ago, don't regret it one bit, the wife has had hers turned off 18 years ago as well.
now we have our 2 boys named maynard and cash and they go with us everywhere and we are told that they act better than most folks children....;D
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Yeah, Nate but were you doing squats in the gym on Monday after having it turned off on Wednesday ?
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You don't want to hear about my jumping on the tractor the same day as the operation!
Big, Really BIG mistake. More than all the frozen peas in Northern KY could cope with!
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Mine go back next thursday, 2 diff schools, opposite end of town, pickup and d/o.
Summer vacation used to be 3 months. Out mid June, back mid Sept. Now it is just 2 months and half the school year are short days or teacher training.
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You don't want to hear about my jumping on the tractor the same day as the operation!
Big, Really BIG mistake. More than all the frozen peas in Northern KY could cope with!
Ha ha! Yes I know. I drove myself home from the procedure. It was a torrential downpour and the traffic was horrendous. It was 1:45 to get home. I paid for it. Lortab was my friend for the next three days.
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My little one doesn't go back until 1st week in Sept....not sure when she'll be out but it was 1st or 2nd week in June this past year. But generally the winter dictates that.
When I determined I would be done I went (stupidly I guess) to the place my wife had worked for 16 years....laying there on the table the nurse walks in..."oh Hi! How's M? How re the kids?" Sheesh....not good planning on my part. Ha.
I had a little help from Mr. Daniels for that one. ;)
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Jack??
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Jack??
Oh! You've met him! ;)
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Jack??
Oh! You've met him! ;)
I was an Armee A-V-8-or
Of course I know him and all his cousins, especially Mr. Bailey!
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jack can be a butt head, i like his brother jim better even though he has sold out to the japanese.
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Jack??
Oh! You've met him! ;)
I was an Armee A-V-8-or
Of course I know him and all his cousins, especially Mr. Bailey!
One of my wife's aunts makes her own Mr. Baileys....wow that's good. ;)
I prefer the Gentleman best....hoping maybe it will rub off on me from the inside out. ;D
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jack can be a butt head, i like his brother jim better even though he has sold out to the japanese.
We have the same taste I see. I still have an American jug set aside in the fridge.
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;D
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Old No 7 for this redneck. I am not a gentleman. When I pretend to be its Makers Mark.
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This is back to school? Or how we feel after the first week??
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When I go back to school (work) "Mark" is my favorite student/nurse/psychologist as "it" Makers it all better!
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I think I must be a 60+ year old soul;
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I think I must be a 60+ year old soul;
No, I think you're an Ad photographer! Nice picture Tate-
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Great picture. I always feel like I need to shave my tongue the morning after a cigar....
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When I go back to school (work) "Mark" is my favorite student/nurse/psychologist as "it" Makers it all better!
Had a drink with Mark and a buddy of mine one night who was drinking away his Mogadishu demons
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I pray your friend find solice with those demons, I have been in both ends of that situation and don't wish it on anybody.
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I pray your friend find solice with those demons, I have been in both ends of that situation and don't wish it on anybody.
Likewise and Amen.
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Great picture. I always feel like I need to shave my tongue the morning after a cigar....
Thanks, sent that one into their facebook page and they posted it for a few days!
I hear ya on the tongue shaving thing... always wake up looking for the cat that used my mouth for a litter box. Started my scotch drinking with my best man. He was with 3rd ID engineer. 1st deployment was Fallujah in 2003 where he fell off his armored transport and destroyed his shoulder and got med boarded out. Has some pretty bad survivors remorse. Got him a bottle of 21 yr laphroaig when he got back. Not quite on back to school topic, but definitely my go to for back to school stress.
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I understand the frustration with a reduced summer vacation since I had that as a kid and thought it was awesome. But the flip side is that kids and public school teachers should be happy you still get any vacation at all! In my world of infant daycare and private school through 6th grade we run year round. The parents that use our services work a full time schedule, so their kids need school year round. The only break we get is a 2 week shut down over Christmas. And even then our parents are all angry that we are closed because it forces them to use their personal vacation time.
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Mogadishu was a bad gig. Scumbag Clinton. One more reason we don't need another Clinton in the white house
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I understand the frustration with a reduced summer vacation since I had that as a kid and thought it was awesome. But the flip side is that kids and public school teachers should be happy you still get any vacation at all! In my world of infant daycare and private school through 6th grade we run year round. The parents that use our services work a full time schedule, so their kids need school year round. The only break we get is a 2 week shut down over Christmas. And even then our parents are all angry that we are closed because it forces them to use their personal vacation time.
So as a "contractural parent" you're providing what ,years ago, our parents/family used to do. Explains the problems we experience across society- lack of parenting. Any educator will tell you- kids NEED to be away from school to play, camp, decompress etc. I've watched things decline in education proportionally for the past 30 years and it is NOT teaching methods - it's the lower and lower aggregate functional intelligence of students, which correlates to the decline of the family etc.
Education has taken on the role of parents and communities and is often expected to teach values, morals and the basic learning that was expected to happen at HOME well before kids went to school, and continued through out their lives. Now, parents and society expect schools to do all of that on top of educating their kids. Hell, we even have a school based Health Center with occasional dental services for low income students.
Being a Private School and Day Care provider - you have the ability to decline service/admittance to students. Public Education cannot do so - you don't have to take students who cannot pay, have severe medical or behavioral needs, or are disruptive to others and the educational process. That doesn't even start to discuss the Legislative impositions placed upon public education that private institutions usually don't have to comply with.
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Bingo Cuda,
It frustrates me to see both parents working to keep up with the joneses when it's not necessary. My wife punched out of the workforce at 7 months of pregnancy with our first and never looked back. We believe that the wellbeing of our children trump material gain. Now I get that there are situations where there is only one parent or both parents HAVE to work to make ends meet. But I'm talking about the rest who covet material things at the expense of the kids and expect the school system to raise them. Then wonder why little Billy is on dope and always in trouble...
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You don't want to hear about my jumping on the tractor the same day as the operation!
Big, Really BIG mistake. More than all the frozen peas in Northern KY could cope with!
LoL..... I did something similar. I had operation #1 and my homes septic backed up the same day. Dug a 40' long ditch to replace the septic line. (bad idea)
Operation #2 to fix what I most likely screwed up digging after #1 I laid on the couch like the Dr told me to and I thought all was well. But it didn't completely take, this is why I have 3 sons now. #3 I had done a year latter and it has worked now for 20 years or so.....
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Bingo Cuda,
It frustrates me to see both parents working to keep up with the joneses when it's not necessary. My wife punched out of the workforce at 7 months of pregnancy with our first and never looked back. We believe that the wellbeing of our children trump material gain. Now I get that there are situations where there is only one parent or both parents HAVE to work to make ends meet. But I'm talking about the rest who covet material things at the expense of the kids and expect the school system to raise them. Then wonder why little Billy is on dope and always in trouble...
This is why my wife works out of her home office. We had Sophie in public pre-school for about 6 months before we pulled her. She learned plenty; how to talk back, hit, swear, refuse to eat what she was given, demand things, and all other sorts of rude behavior that she never did before. Granted she's almost 5 and some of these things just happen, but the third time she was forced to nap when we had strictly instructed she was not to was the last straw. Oh and after 6 months, she still couldn't spell CAT. She's with my wife every day now as she was before and is spelling her name herself, my name, her mom and brother's, counts to 20 in English and spanish, (and many more words that I've been teaching her), is able to add basic numbers, and is testing in for early kindergarten at the end of this month. Ourschool system here in WA has been on a steady decline, bowing to the new regime's rhetoric and even going as far as to change what is taught in history class. It's disgusting.
Last year, my son who just turned 17 and is exceptionally well behaved outside of last weeks antics, was failing math towards the end of the first quarter. He's a bit of a math genius so I was perplexed and asked to speak with his teacher. The "new" algebra they were teaching was a different method then what I remembered and an extremely long route to get to a simple answer. Sam had figured out the shortest route possible, was answering all the questions, homework, tests etc correctly, but wasn't using the preferred method so he was given failing grades. After exhausting conversations with teachers, principals, even district offices, I finally relented and told Sam "I don't care how you get it done, but do it their way so we can graduate." He got on his computer and wrote some code and created a program to complete the superfluous bs legwork they required. Still had to complete the work himself, but finished the year with a B after catching up. Guess this could have gone into CIEMR, but it was relative.
I have a feeling we will both still be working through Sam's college years to keep up with the costs, but we stopped chasing the Joneses a long time ago, and as long as Cyndie is working from home and with the kids for all of their at home time we have and will continue to be more successful in my opinion than the vast majority of sheeple.
Side note: Since I speak fluent Spanish and have been working with Sophie on teaching her a second language, she's started recognizing that "brown people" (her words) respond to hola in the grocery store. Some pretty hilarious reactions have ensued. 4 year olds just call em how the see em.
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Tate- LOL, there are a few other "phrases" the respond to as well, "émigré" comes to mind as well as a host of others!
The story of your sons math BS is what makes me almost giddy (and pissed) that I have only four years left in Education! God bless his ingenuity in "getting it done" by working smarter not harder! The sad state of beurocratict Ed. BS is such that his math teacher probably only "learned" one way to skin the cat, so cannot phatheom how your son is calculating his answers, so he MUST be cheating! Governmental idiots have created such BS that there are fewer and fewer smart kids going into teaching, because they can make more $ with less hassle in the Business world. This sometimes leaves the dolts who aren't sharp enough to cut it elsewhere to "teach" - blanket statement that isn't gospel, but accurate enough to cause concern within teaching by veterans, seeing what's walking through the doors! Same is true in Higher Ed. as they don't want to shatter someone's "dreams" telling them they aren't cut out for teaching early on, they wait until the kids in a school student teaching and want the host school to do the dirty work so as to not loose the $ or deal with an uncomfortable "discussion".
Good for you and your wife taking things by the horns-
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Preach on brother. I had initially wanted to teach music when I was a fledgling, but saw that part of education rapidly being removed from the curriculum and at the same time realized that I had a talent for making friends with total strangers and therefore a great leg up in sales. Higher pay won out over higher education, but these days should I lose my job I have nothing to fall back on. My truly valued teachers and mentors, many of which I am still in contact with to this day actually talked me out of a career in education as I believe they saw the future and it wasn't bright. All of the teachers I had respect for retired shortly after I graduated in '99, so they were part of the old system that actually gave a crap about educating students, not shoving them up through the system to achieve numbers worthy of federal funding. Students today are as you stated, starting out dumber and leaving dumber than previous generations, and I for one will not allow that to happen to mine.
Sam successfully completed a computer tech program through running start early college class this last school year and will apply for grants, loans and scholarships and work for 1/3rd the cost of his tuition. His collective grand parents will provide him with another 3rd and we will pay for the last 3rd. Providing he maintains his grades/employment we will continue this until he has graduated. My stepfather has worked for Microsoft for 20+ years and has taken him under his wing as well and has advanced his knowledge and understanding of that field above what most of his college level interns are at, so he has a good head start. Most of his peers are already on the fast track to lifelong careers at Mac & Don's steakhouse or Wallyworld, and he's taking notice. Last weeks extra curricular activities and the subsequent conversations he has had with us, and multiple friends and family members has enlightened him to the path he was starting to take and an about face seems to have taken place. I plan to report here to his continued success and lean on you all for insight and help as well.
It takes a village, but it's better to pick the smarter village.
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Bingo Cuda,
It frustrates me to see both parents working to keep up with the joneses when it's not necessary. My wife punched out of the workforce at 7 months of pregnancy with our first and never looked back. We believe that the wellbeing of our children trump material gain. Now I get that there are situations where there is only one parent or both parents HAVE to work to make ends meet. But I'm talking about the rest who covet material things at the expense of the kids and expect the school system to raise them. Then wonder why little Billy is on dope and always in trouble...
This is why my wife works out of her home office. We had Sophie in public pre-school for about 6 months before we pulled her. She learned plenty; how to talk back, hit, swear, refuse to eat what she was given, demand things, and all other sorts of rude behavior that she never did before. Granted she's almost 5 and some of these things just happen, but the third time she was forced to nap when we had strictly instructed she was not to was the last straw. Oh and after 6 months, she still couldn't spell CAT. She's with my wife every day now as she was before and is spelling her name herself, my name, her mom and brother's, counts to 20 in English and spanish, (and many more words that I've been teaching her), is able to add basic numbers, and is testing in for early kindergarten at the end of this month. Ourschool system here in WA has been on a steady decline, bowing to the new regime's rhetoric and even going as far as to change what is taught in history class. It's disgusting.
Last year, my son who just turned 17 and is exceptionally well behaved outside of last weeks antics, was failing math towards the end of the first quarter. He's a bit of a math genius so I was perplexed and asked to speak with his teacher. The "new" algebra they were teaching was a different method then what I remembered and an extremely long route to get to a simple answer. Sam had figured out the shortest route possible, was answering all the questions, homework, tests etc correctly, but wasn't using the preferred method so he was given failing grades. After exhausting conversations with teachers, principals, even district offices, I finally relented and told Sam "I don't care how you get it done, but do it their way so we can graduate." He got on his computer and wrote some code and created a program to complete the superfluous bs legwork they required. Still had to complete the work himself, but finished the year with a B after catching up. Guess this could have gone into CIEMR, but it was relative.
I have a feeling we will both still be working through Sam's college years to keep up with the costs, but we stopped chasing the Joneses a long time ago, and as long as Cyndie is working from home and with the kids for all of their at home time we have and will continue to be more successful in my opinion than the vast majority of sheeple.
Side note: Since I speak fluent Spanish and have been working with Sophie on teaching her a second language, she's started recognizing that "brown people" (her words) respond to hola in the grocery store. Some pretty hilarious reactions have ensued. 4 year olds just call em how the see em.
Tate,
I find this so disheartening, perplexing and disappointing.
But, your son wrote code to fool the fools! Not the teachers, mind you, but the Waffen SS administrators who enforce and buy into this way-to-far-reaching federal government!
We are so broken as a society. Well, it all points to a break, and after that happens, perhaps we can re-boot our America to be a free and rational nation once more.
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I'm hoping for that re-boot someday too. But until then I'll continue to shore them up the best I can physically mentally and spiritually because it's obvious no one else will. >:(
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Preach on brother. I had initially wanted to teach music when I was a fledgling, but saw that part of education rapidly being removed from the curriculum and at the same time realized that I had a talent for making friends with total strangers and therefore a great leg up in sales. Higher pay won out over higher education, but these days should I lose my job I have nothing to fall back on. My truly valued teachers and mentors, many of which I am still in contact with to this day actually talked me out of a career in education as I believe they saw the future and it wasn't bright. All of the teachers I had respect for retired shortly after I graduated in '99, so they were part of the old system that actually gave a crap about educating students, not shoving them up through the system to achieve numbers worthy of federal funding. Students today are as you stated, starting out dumber and leaving dumber than previous generations, and I for one will not allow that to happen to mine.
Sam successfully completed a computer tech program through running start early college class this last school year and will apply for grants, loans and scholarships and work for 1/3rd the cost of his tuition. His collective grand parents will provide him with another 3rd and we will pay for the last 3rd. Providing he maintains his grades/employment we will continue this until he has graduated. My stepfather has worked for Microsoft for 20+ years and has taken him under his wing as well and has advanced his knowledge and understanding of that field above what most of his college level interns are at, so he has a good head start. Most of his peers are already on the fast track to lifelong careers at Mac & Don's steakhouse or Wallyworld, and he's taking notice. Last weeks extra curricular activities and the subsequent conversations he has had with us, and multiple friends and family members has enlightened him to the path he was starting to take and an about face seems to have taken place. I plan to report here to his continued success and lean on you all for insight and help as well.
It takes a village, but it's better to pick the smarter village.
If your boy ever needs any help with building/refining his resume or has questions about school programs and things like that, by all means I'd be happy to help. I look at tons of resumes, as I hire lots of interns and people fresh out of college into full time positions, so I can give you some ideas of what I look for at least. On the school front, I got some bum advice when I went into undergrad by a ho-hum adviser, and it really limited my options later...
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We have 3 left in high school. We have managed to get 5 through the system and onto further education/life. It's becoming clear things are changing, not in most cases for the better. It's going to be a long 4 years I suspect.
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I'm hoping for that re-boot someday too. But until then I'll continue to shore them up the best I can physically mentally and spiritually because it's obvious no one else will. >:(
Yep, It's up to we Fathers and we men of God
No one's coming to help
But we don't need any other help!
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Preach on brother. I had initially wanted to teach music when I was a fledgling, but saw that part of education rapidly being removed from the curriculum and at the same time realized that I had a talent for making friends with total strangers and therefore a great leg up in sales. Higher pay won out over higher education, but these days should I lose my job I have nothing to fall back on. My truly valued teachers and mentors, many of which I am still in contact with to this day actually talked me out of a career in education as I believe they saw the future and it wasn't bright. All of the teachers I had respect for retired shortly after I graduated in '99, so they were part of the old system that actually gave a crap about educating students, not shoving them up through the system to achieve numbers worthy of federal funding. Students today are as you stated, starting out dumber and leaving dumber than previous generations, and I for one will not allow that to happen to mine.
Sam successfully completed a computer tech program through running start early college class this last school year and will apply for grants, loans and scholarships and work for 1/3rd the cost of his tuition. His collective grand parents will provide him with another 3rd and we will pay for the last 3rd. Providing he maintains his grades/employment we will continue this until he has graduated. My stepfather has worked for Microsoft for 20+ years and has taken him under his wing as well and has advanced his knowledge and understanding of that field above what most of his college level interns are at, so he has a good head start. Most of his peers are already on the fast track to lifelong careers at Mac & Don's steakhouse or Wallyworld, and he's taking notice. Last weeks extra curricular activities and the subsequent conversations he has had with us, and multiple friends and family members has enlightened him to the path he was starting to take and an about face seems to have taken place. I plan to report here to his continued success and lean on you all for insight and help as well.
It takes a village, but it's better to pick the smarter village.
If your boy ever needs any help with building/refining his resume or has questions about school programs and things like that, by all means I'd be happy to help. I look at tons of resumes, as I hire lots of interns and people fresh out of college into full time positions, so I can give you some ideas of what I look for at least. On the school front, I got some bum advice when I went into undergrad by a ho-hum adviser, and it really limited my options later...
^^^^ Networking^^^^^
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The more we get over educated kids with no work ethic to the more the basics become the basis for the cut.
I hire highly compensted employees and I could care less about advanced degrees that their parents paid good money for to spend 8-10 years in college only to graduate and have zero common sense (street smarts)
I look for competitive sports, military service, employment history (no gaps and more than a year or two with each company), and I've gotten good at vetting out the embellishments in the resume.
I want someone who has realistic expectations: They must outwork the people around them and bust their hump if they are to get ahead. Manners, work ethics, and street smarts, and a good attitude mean much more to me than some sheepskin.
Herb Kelleher, SW Airlines said. Give me someone with a great attitude and I can train them to do anything.
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Mind you I am just a farmer... but in today's world that's becoming a pretty sophisticated business. When it comes time to hire folks for positions in the business, I used to try and hire those with some form of advanced education. I went through a period where we just could not get decent help. Then it struck me... most of the issues we were having derived from genuine lack of problem solving skills, and just sheer lack of common sense. Two things I have begun to recently connect very much to higher education.
So even in my line of work, the point Red Neck brought forth is noticeable as well. FWIW
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Mind you I am just a farmer... but in today's world that's becoming a pretty sophisticated business.
I'm guessing up around here they are having a hard time finding help. Saw an ad for farm help, the farmer would provide trans...
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The more we get over educated kids with no work ethic to the more the basics become the basis for the cut.
I hire highly compensted employees and I could care less about advanced degrees that their parents paid good money for to spend 8-10 years in college only to graduate and have zero common sense (street smarts)
I look for competitive sports, military service, employment history (no gaps and more than a year or two with each company), and I've gotten good at vetting out the embellishments in the resume.
I want someone who has realistic expectations: They must outwork the people around them and bust their hump if they are to get ahead. Manners, work ethics, and street smarts, and a good attitude mean much more to me than some sheepskin.
Herb Kelleher, SW Airlines said. Give me someone with a great attitude and I can train them to do anything.
So you never hire anybody with an advanced degree? That's a shame, there's lots of us out there that work our asses off :/
I learned a ton in my masters program, and paid for my sheepskin myself. No regrets whatsoever.
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The more we get over educated kids with no work ethic to the more the basics become the basis for the cut.
I hire highly compensted employees and I could care less about advanced degrees that their parents paid good money for to spend 8-10 years in college only to graduate and have zero common sense (street smarts)
I look for competitive sports, military service, employment history (no gaps and more than a year or two with each company), and I've gotten good at vetting out the embellishments in the resume.
I want someone who has realistic expectations: They must outwork the people around them and bust their hump if they are to get ahead. Manners, work ethics, and street smarts, and a good attitude mean much more to me than some sheepskin.
Herb Kelleher, SW Airlines said. Give me someone with a great attitude and I can train them to do anything.
So you never hire anybody with an advanced degree? That's a shame, there's lots of us out there that work our asses off :/
I learned a ton in my masters program, and paid my sheepskin myself. No regrets whatsoever.
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I think RN is saying he does not weigh it as heavily as the candidate or others would wish, that he looks for a balance with the preponderance of his decision going to other factors...Did I get that right???
I was in the same position, hiring guys into 200 and 300K jobs. I looked for experience above everything else, and time spent doing what I was looking for. Then I considered (for pilots) if they were instructors and had their AEIOU ratings...
The most important factor, I learned to look for was, could I lock this guy inside a closet with another guy for 30 days and still get a job done and have no fatalities at the end
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I think it's a person to person basis in any interview process. I have a job opening right now..because we have so many irrigation wells and ponds we employ a water conservation "expert" if at all possible. It's to our advantage to have a person with credentials as a buffer between us and the State. The above said, the last fella I took a look at had a impressive educational background. He seemed to have a decent work ethic as well which was attractive...but at the end of our interview he asked me if he had to drive a 4x4. When I said yes it's pretty much a requirement, that and a ATV he got nervous and said he had no training on either one.
I then mentioned I was not in the habit to extend training on such equipment much past handing him the keys... he said he wasn't sure he wanted the job. When i asked why he said he wasn't comfortable learning on his own....
My new add may in the future read: If you can read and count, and drive a 4x4 please apply... I will work out the rest latter.
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I think it's a person to person basis in any interview process. I have a job opening right now..because we have so many irrigation wells and ponds we employ a water conservation "expert" if at all possible. It's to our advantage to have a person with credentials as a buffer between us and the State. The above said, the last fella I took a look at had a impressive educational background. He seemed to have a decent work ethic as well which was attractive...but at the end of our interview he asked me if he had to drive a 4x4. When I said yes it's pretty much a requirement, that and a ATV he got nervous and said he had no training on either one.
I then mentioned I was not in the habit to extend training on such equipment much past handing him the keys... he said he wasn't sure he wanted the job. When i asked why he said he wasn't comfortable learning on his own....
My new add may in the future read: If you can read and count, and drive a 4x4 please apply... I will work out the rest latter.
Could have been he didn't want to get dirty and 4X4 use usually means mud. Sorry Don I forgot you also have a 4X4. I guess they don't all see the mud.
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Don you are on track. I don't discriminate against advanced degrees. Especially if they worked their way through itpaid for it themselves. I'm saying that I'm not overly impressed with titles and initials. Problem solving and work ethic and attitude are very important.
I have MBAs and actuaries that work for me but I have people without degrees too. All very good and very highly compensated.
There was a study recently that said the same. People that had their education paid for made bad hires on the whole
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going thru my transition classes right now, the only thing they are talking about is everything is online and these programs look for key words. they had a figure that said something like 1 resume out of toughly 1500 gets thru the system before it even gets real eyes put on it.
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Very true Nate. Most of my hires are not from sifted resumes. They are from networking and referrals. Making a connection via LinkedIn or some other way is important.
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Very true Nate. Most of my hires are not from sifted resumes. They are from networking and referrals. Making a connection via LinkedIn or some other way is important.
Yup. Works the other way too.
Me:"Hey, so-and-so worked at the same firm as you, he's applying for a job with me and I can't decided whether to bring him in for an interview or not. Give me the skinny on this guy".
Buddy: "That guy's a total gomer. Man this one time, ____."
Me: NEXT
LinkedIn has become a very effective means of networking, and vetting. I'm pretty particular about who i'm "LinkedIn" with. Certainly personal networking and referrals are big too.
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I will chime in here as well.
I have been hiring and firing for the past 30+ years. First in construction and trucking then starting in 1993 in the Information Systems world.
As I have told my kids "it's good to have options"! When I was in High School I wanted to be an Architect. Being ignorant as to how that happens I only applied to two colleges and was only accepted to one. The one I didn't necessarily want but it is where my bigger brother went. Good school so I try to slam in all the STEM credits I could and was overwhelmed with the amount of work it takes to handle Chemistry, Calculus, Biology, New Testament, etc... all in one semester. SO long story short I bailed out of college after one year and went to build water towers for Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel all over the Midwest.
Then I got into Transportation (Trucking) and Logistics (Brokers) and haven't looked back. By 1993 I switched over to the Information Systems side of the world and became VP of IS with no college degree of any kind. I have been a CIO or something similar since.
I can say over the years that I have been denied consideration for top I.S. jobs because I haven't had a degree. Any degree. I would get a call from a recruiter and they would be all interested in me due to my background and would even get to the interview stage. Then someone in HR or whatever would finally read my resume and ask the question. Do you have a degree? I would say no and they would tell me that I wasn't a viable candidate any longer. This happened many times. They couldn't believe I got where I was without a degree most of the time. It was basically a filter to take the applicants from 300 down to a manageable interview group. And hey! we can't discriminate! :)
I got to where I was and am now by working harder than my peers. It was at time a sacrifice of relationships and personal life but it worked. I was one of the few that was ready to move any where in the country for the next better job. I normally spent 8 to 10 years in each location.
So the point of all of this is that if you can afford to get a degree then by all means do it. It gives you more options! If you can get your Masters then do it! It gives you more options! I tell my kids all the time you want options in life and then make great decisions. They don't always have to be right but learn from them. If you have a great idea and can start your own company do it! Also try to do it before you have family and kids because your priorities change after that.
I agree that LinkedIn is a very valuable resource for job seekers and employers. You basically have your resume on the web for everyone to see but if you expand on your profile with actual projects, wins, accomplishments, referrals, recommendations, etc... that what recruiters and HR personnel are looking for.
When I have my HR department post a position I tend to cast a generic wide net for applicants to respond. Some of my best hires in I.T. have been people without degree's but they had "wanna". They wanted to learn. They wanted to explore. They wanted to do the very best job possible and they didn't care if they were a 9am to 5pm'er. When I look at resumes if they are a job hopper (a new job every year or two for several years) I will automatically can them. I want commitment. In I.T. the average length of employment at a company in less than three years. So I want to find those that have bucked that trend. It is becoming harder with the younger Millennials coming up but not impossible. I want people with wanna. I also try to give priority to Arm Services personnel. I work around Guard Duty and stuff like that but it is the least we can do.
I also need to hire a lot of specific talent. Engineers, Programmers, Technicians, etc... I always look for a balance of education, certificates, and hands on experience with similar technologies and scope of systems. I have seen engineers that had tons of certificates and education but couldn't set up a real world network. I have also had all experience individuals that could set something up and it worked but couldn't be supported because they followed no industry standards. So it is nice to have a little of both.
My daughter entered the work force a year or two back and I told her a couple of things. Always communicate! Always be early for the shift! Always volunteer! Always work harder than anyone else! Always ask what more you can do to help out! She seems to be doing very well with the two jobs she has. Options!
As RN and others state, one of the best things you can have are great references. People you have worked with that will attest to all of the above. The best hires are referrals. Our company pays referral bonuses for specific positions like drivers and mechanics. So back to the LinkedIn thing, you can have people post referrals on your profile that explains the job or project and how you made it better. That works very well.
I have looked a 1000's of resumes and would also be happy to review any that you would want to send my way. Sadly with the really large companies, like Nate said, they do use key word filters and other software tools to filter out applications.
One final word of advice (this was a lot of chiming in...sorry) it is always easier to find a better job when you have a job. Any job. For some reason across the spectrum if you are not working they tend to slide over you in favor of someone that is currently working.
DOT out! Hope this helps!