Work and study. Reyne's messy story

[Reyne]

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[Adam Strange]

At 19 years i graduated from high school (it's the correct age in my country). I didn't want to study. I wanted to work. But there was no work for me, so I decided to continue studying, also because of parents pressure. I liked biology and chemistry, but there are few job opportunities here. So, because the average job is well payed, and there is low unemployment, I chose to study economics in university. Depression increased, and I was very suicidal, but I was capable of hiding it. Despite of this, the grades were good, and I did the exams that I had to do. The second year (last year) I didn't feel like attending classes. I promised myself I would study on my own. I lied to myself. I knew I wasn't going to study. University was a trauma for me. I searched a job, but couldn't find one. This year, the third university year, I decided to stop studying. I just found a job. I'll be an insulation worker. I'm happy because I'll learn some practical skills, and it's well payed. I won't have the stress caused by university, but I don't know if they'll keep me for long in the company, so I'm still looking around. I want to try the test to become police officer. It's kind of a dream of mine. In case they won't keep me in the company, the police test fails, and I can't find another job, next year I'll start college again. I'll be 22, so I would get my degree at 25 probably. This time I would choose something more practical, like medical laboratory science. Keep in mind that the university fees in my country are very low. I don't even know why I'm writing this. Probably just to talk. Don't know. Tell me if you think my plan sucks. Or if you have some recommendations about a nice bachelor, or other job opportunities.

This sounds exactly like what I did.

Since the age of 12, I wanted to be an Astrophysicist. Studied hard in HS while working factory jobs in the summer, got into the honors program at the best undergraduate school for astronomy (at the time) in the US, launched into classes and approached the Astronomy professors with offers to work for them on anything they had going. They treated me like a bad odor. I gradually realized that, since jobs in Astronomy are so scarce (jobs open up when guys die), these guys had to

eat miles of shit to get the jobs they had, and they thought that I should, too.

The realization that these guys were all timid, self-important assholes (and my ignorance of the fact that not all Universities are run like this) left me thinking that I really didn't want to spend the rest of my life in their company, which meant I had to choose a different major.
This was a major crisis, since all I had ever wanted to do was Astronomy.
At the year of my epiphany, I was working in the summer in local factories, making money, and going to school during the school year. I dropped out of school for one semester to postpone my decision on a change of major, and went back to school, did a couple more semesters, dropped out, did a few more, until crunch time came and I had to decide what to do.
I decided that, after having taken all the University's Astronomy courses and all the Physics courses, including some graduate level QM courses, and all the math courses through hypergeometric functions of complex variables (I'd had two years of calculus in HS), I might as well finish and get my degree.
And then I went out and got a job in one of the companies near Detroit. I stayed in that job about nine months, which was long enough to learn about 80% of all there ever would be to learn, then quit and found another job for more money.
Rinse, repeat, at intervals of 3-23 months for ten years, then I started a company to compete with one of the best ones I had worked for.
After that failed through my lack of business experience and insufficient selfishness, I consulted for a while and then started another company.

If you ever decide to start a company, DO NOT take on partners, unless you would marry them. And even then, don't do it. And NEVER give up control of the company by giving away ownership in exchange for scarce cash. Just don't do it.

As for your present plan, you don't seem to have one, but that's not so bad. You seem to be trying a bunch of stuff and chasing the activities which you are both good at and which you like. If you keep doing that, you will end up in a position where you are both accomplished and happy.

[Adam Strange]

In my experience, SLI's tend to do well in very secure jobs where they primarily work by themselves under bosses who trust them completely. Any job which involves managing resources, either in the way of time, material, or money, would suit them. They can organize other people's work, but generally don't seem to be attracted to jobs where they are involved with direct supervision of others. In the military, this would mean they are staff officers, rather than line officers.

But I'm sure you already knew that.

[Tallmo]

I did the whole university thing, and it took me my entire 20'ies, and after that I found I couldn't work in that field. So after that I tried other stuff and I went into a practical field and now I'm there. But for Si base to be satisfied you have to work with materials, wood, paint, mechanical parts. Something like that.

The key is to find a field where you are able to be productive and still feel good, and then stay there so you can accumulate skills. The actual job has to feel good, not just the idea of the job. If you like the insulation worker job, then stay with that and learn as much as you can. If you are talented, maybe they'll keep you. Then you can proceed to something similar, maybe construction work etc. If you don't like studying it should be possible to start working quite soon, as long as you are talented with practical things.

SLIs have lots of possibilities in technical-practical jobs. At my work the most talented house painter is SLI. In technical school the teacher was SLI. Last time I needed an electrician it was a SLI who knocked on my door. When I needed a mechanic at my former work place I called a SLI who came and fixed the machine. I have a friend on facebook who is building music instruments - SLI.

I think police officer is better for LSI, they are just very common there.

[FDG]

Your plan doesn't seem that bad. Dropping out after 2 years makes sense, that's about the amount of time when you decide that something's really NOT for you. (Ftr, I studied economics in italy and loved it. Wanted to become a professor, but like Adam I understood it's a really complicated path)

Manual labor is nice because you quickly see the results of your work. But I think you still constantly need to update your skills since you can't do heavy manual labor for 40+ years - some people can but most, not really.

[at sirac son of sirac]

In my experience, SLI's tend to do well in very secure jobs where they primarily work by themselves under bosses who trust them completely. Any job which involves managing resources, either in the way of time, material, or money, would suit them. They can organize other people's work, but generally don't seem to be attracted to jobs where they are involved with direct supervision of others. In the military, this would mean they are staff officers, rather than line officers.

But I'm sure you already knew that.

Not so sure how much jobs should be type related, but,

This has always been my kind of job.

[Adam Strange]

Not so sure how much jobs should be type related, but,

This has always been my kind of job.

Jobs are entirely type-related.

At least, they are if you want to be happy doing them.

[at sirac son of sirac]

Jobs are entirely type-related.

Some people can get a technical related job through personal charm and high IQ .... I haven't thought too much about whether they enjoy that job though.

However, as for doing well, they do well because they are there, but I often think someone with other qualities would do the job better.

[Tallmo]

Manual labor is nice because you quickly see the results of your work. But I think you still constantly need to update your skills since you can't do heavy manual labor for 40+ years - some people can but most, not really.

For SLI it is anyway better to stay out of the really heavy jobs. Stay withing light construction, carpentry, painting, electricity, laboratory etc. Those jobs are possible to do for an entire career, and usually the jobs get physically lighter anyway, as the person proceeds more into planning/leadership at the end of the career.

But yes, it's a good idea to stay out of ...

Manual labor is nice because you quickly see the results of your work

I agree. And I hear this a lot. But it depends on who's doing the job. What matters to me the most is pure joy of working with strong/conscious functions. Seeing the results quickly is a bonus.

[The Reality Denialist]

In a way it is good to have some practical abilities.

Just to give you an example:

People do not trust you on higher level stuff if you are total spastic with space even though you might carry things through correctly. There is some sort climbing up the ladder ingrained in lots of people.

Like they put me on first doing practical lab work. That was the most painful experience work experience I ever had. Following same routines and procedures mindlessly. Oh god...
When I did some math teaching in high school... it was much easier no preparation needed. Just skimmed through the books in few minutes and I was ready.

[FDG]

Welder doesn't really seem to be a good option imho, it's a fairly dangerous job in most cases (I actully had a friend who died in a work accident involving welding...)

[Tallmo]

If you go into a practical field there is usually a whole bunch of skills and opportunities that you can develop:

For example, since I know something about this, house painters can specialize in these:

- normal house painting / spackling
- special painting / decorations inside historical buildings (requires additional training)
- wall paper
- building floors
- bathrooms (requires special training / certificate)
- furniture restoring
etc.

So if a person choses that field he has lots of opportunities. One can just start somewhere and then work and decide later. Some people specialize in hanging wall paper and then they only do that. Because it requires special skills if done professionally. People who have certificate in fixing bathrooms are wanted, and they can just concentrate on that. Or some people master everything.

Even if a painter doesn't specialize he can just as well do normal painting throughout his career. There alone is enough to learn and master.

These jobs can be quite well-paid when one has gotten into it

[Adam Strange]

I'm also considering that when my contract expires, if they don't renovate it, and if I don't enter the police forces, instead of trying college again I could attend a welder course. The welders I know have some heavy job, but they're happy and have enough money to maintain their family. One of them lives in a nice house, with two kids, and his wife is an housewife (so he's the only income of 4 people). These practical jobs are so fascinating to me. Being a smith would be cool too. I've spent days watching smiths making blades on discovery channel. I envy these people.

I just want to be an expert using some tools. Some months ago I tried to find some butcher work. The idea of becoming an expert with the blade fascinated me so much. And when I talked about it with the people I know, they all considered me to be mad. It was like they thought I wanted to become homeless. Or a terrorist.

Your impulses seem similar to mine. One of the 3 to 23 month long jobs I had between the ages of 15 and 30 was working as a welder. Basically, I wanted to learn how to weld, and thought that claiming to be a welder so that I got paid to learn was better than paying someone to teach me welding. Welding burned lots of holes in my clothes, let me inhale some bad stuff, put permanent scars on my retinas, and paid very well.

There are four kinds of welding; gas, stick, mig and TIG. TIG is like surgery and pays the best. After doing that for four months, I had learned 80% of all there was to learn, I bought a 450 amp TIG welder in case I ever needed to weld something, and then tried a job as a machinist for a while. Earlier I had worked in a library, then in a cyclotron, then had a lawn care business. Later I worked as a salesman and instructor and had a lot of other different jobs. Fourteen in all, before starting my first company.

Just try doing the jobs that interest you. They are usually not fatal, and you can get a good sense of what that job is like by working it for a short while.