Survival Skills for Techies

There's always work for truck drivers, Idid it cross country for a while inbetween jobs, it can be tough.

Yeah, there are still driver jobs around here. How long a training period does it take to learn that (and get the CDL licenses)?

schools vary in time and cost, it can also be done part time. the lic. varies from state to state. but its not that tough getting the lic or job.

As with most engineers today, I am being pressured to do more "project management" (PM) and recently even sales assistance (Which I truly hate)

The sales effort stopped once they realized that I needed to engineer the entire project, before I could come up with a price!

Seriously though, PM involving document, scheduling, tracking, and software skills; along with a whole new PM vocabulary, is a good skill set to have on a resume for an engineer, especially an experienced (aged) one.

This is a tough question to answer, and certainly in this era.

Truck driving and forklift driving have been mentioned.

Do some of that and you'll quick understand why the Teamsters Unionized, regardless of how that story has played out.

As far as driving forklifts, I have not found that to be particularly lucrative.

I have been told directly by auto mechanics that they have all the business they can handle since people are not inclined these days to buy a new car, and take on payments when work in general is so uncertain.

Hence I would suggest auto, truck, or motorcycle repair, over actually driving.

Of machines I worked on I was most fond of working on aircraft, but this area has long been fraught with insecurities.

In many of the most depressed economies, welding has been a secure position.

You may have more consistent work welding in a Port City repairing steel ships, than in just anywhere, but even just anywhere welding is typically a skill constantly in demand, and something many engineers are well suited for.

I had attained a certain level of skill "technically", as a Movie Set Grip or Electrician, but when the business in NC went to Canada, and New Orleans I drifted into more and more Stagehand work.

If there are Concerts, Plays, Conventions, and the like around where you live, you might call the IATSE Local, and say you are available. Many whom I worked with did not necessarily have Union Cards, but the call for labor for putting together and taking down sets can be great enough that you could get some work.

This work is more in demand, and pays better in major metropolitan regions than less developed regions. Las Vegas, NYC, LA, Chicago, are primary locations for ideally highly educated and competent engineers will find designing the set, more attractive than the brute work of putting it together, and taking it apart.

The work I have mentioned is physically demanding, so I am qualifying my answer by what you might consider an operative adjective embedded in the question, by asking what do you consider "older".

Though it is aboard that you can work till you die, and people are healthier longer than ever before, from my experience there is a lot of truth to the saying that the best working years of your life are between 35 and 55.

This is especially true when we are talking about work that is from the neck down, and neck up, equally demanding.

If you are in good physical shape and 45, the stagehand work as a stopgap, may be possible for you to do, as well as being irregular, and allowing you to look for more appropriate and better paying work, whereas if older is 55 and above, this stuff is pretty tough.

I should have framed the question better. It looks like there will be some stimulus money coming into regions like this for "retraining". Most politicians think that means a laid-off manfacturing engineer should now become a radiologist. I think people need to get back to work within six months at most or we're gonna see more foreclosures and family breakups. So, my question, is what could help in the short-term? There's even about a 1 in 8 chance I might get to make a suggestion locally.

I thought the question was framed fine.

I think it unlikely that an engineer will become a radiologist and secure a job in 6 months.

What is short term?

Short term to me is short term, like 6 months.

Right now I'd have to have the money to go to school full time for 2 or three years to get certifications in most anything. Then I would be competing with people half my age with the same certifications.

I was let go from USSTeel in a 177 manager purge in 1984. I started a 1 year certificate in quality control course at local community college. The first company i interviewed with wanted to hire me, but was going private and had a hiring freeze. So i studied spc, gaging etc. for three months, started in 1985. (never did finish the other 2 qtrs; just finished my Masters.

Been a great career ever since.

Now that implies that there are factories needing QA, but I'm always seeing open machinist jobs, and that implies to me that a good QA guy could find a position.

Also, if you have any credentials, teaching at Voed or community colleges.

my 2 cents.

milo

Becoming an educator whether public, private or military may be applicable.

Get a permit to carry and start a loss prevention business.

Contact OOIDA, get a truck lease and go to work, an abbreviated truck driver school is acceptable if you can pass the licencing exam and you're a businessman.

History has shown the entertainment industry does well during economic down turns.

Be a repo man.

Undertaker is a steady career option.

Start a temporary service.

A legal aide, tax consultant.

Hello TVP45,

This is a good thread. I will suggest based on my own experience recently.

Build on what you know and are good at.

Ask yourself, would you hire 'you' for the job at hand.

Based on your engineering background, were there or are there niches that you remember when employed that were difficult to get experienced people to help with.

Have you any passion for design. Do a course in CAD at you local community college. This can open many doors as you will meet engineering people who may know of needs or wants that you can fulfill. The teachers have a wealth of knowledge of what industries pick-up their grads and may be able to help.

Go to local machine shops and offer to consult free of charge with the intent to network using their contacts. If they like you they may keep you on.

Small projects always have lots of items on a BOM that must be purchased. It is a very time consuming part of the business and you can sell yourself as the solution. Allowing the machinists to do what they are best at and you take care of the paperwork. Offer to vend the BOM at a better price than the business can get. Sit at home and price stuff out, order stuff and have them pay or have a better mark-up if you sell it to them. Add padding where you can and you will be surprised how much you can make.

Offer to do 'Time and Motion studies' at a reasonable rate. Do a scrap reduction study at no cost to the customer. Use some of the areas you spot cost reductions as your sales tool and ticket in and then charge a fee based on potential savings. Be honest about your intentions and your customers will trust you. Most customers will give, if you show that you are prepared to go the extra nine yards to save them time and money and they have little long term liability in terms of employment.

Be a good local resource for business. Use your list of contacts to network. Have business call you when they need a specific trustworthy person to perform a job. Example, they need some emergency welding done. You know a good welder. He will be happy with the extra work and you charge a fee and handle the P.O. and billing for both the Welder and your customer. Caution here, do not put your butt out too far on the line. Make sure you have a meeting of the minds and the written paperwork to cover all parties before you spend anytime working. When a potential customer sees your attention to these details it is comforting to him and also to the person that you are providing as a service to him.

The more experience you have in an area the quicker this type of business will grow. Be really picky as you will only be as good as your last referral. Craftsmen will want to be on your call list if you pay quickly. So in return you hold the bar high on quality and this will pay dividends. All businesses are in it to make a buck. If they understand that that is also your goal and you are fair, they will give you a shot.

I better sign off.

Darn, I like your purchasing idea. That's a short-term learning skill and one you could probably do on a contract basis. Good answer.

A. k. a. Expediter

I don't know the country you are from and i am not good englishspeaker so may be i didn't understand clearly and sorry about in such case but if you are (even not) so good in forklifts you could work in a port if it is close home.trucks, forklifts,sidelifters, every kind of load-lifters and cranes: you can get jobs (good pay) as operator or in mantenance or in related suppliers for equipment companies.I was in a bad moment after 11 years as "technical purchaser for engineering office" and then i found better as crane operator at 45 years old.May be at first should accept anything and then inthere get the contacts for mantenance,lets say technician, clerk,...I don't know if you are so badly as i was.Best luck.-

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/37885#comment393751

Start reloading ammunition - simple skill, small equipment, short supply right now.

Geographically limited of course by local law - but no restriction in most of the US.

i dont know what your basic qualification,ie your a graduate engineer or so.am from india here an engineer means who is an engineering graduate .in america i heard engineer means simply a truck driver or something.

the question is very complicated.it run into many areas politics ,economics etc.i have some suggestions to survive during tough times 1. continuous study in one subject or in specific direction.keep in touch with new developments and research by readind techincal publications research journels etc.

2.develop and devote time for hobbies which helps gain income immediate or in future.

3.develop a taste for farming.study farming and if necessary start it.all this is for living.if developments fail.return to farming.it gives us good free time and income too.with technical knowledge u can excell in that.