[Coco] Re: Out of work.

[James Hrubik]

Frank, you have a great idea, but you also have an advantage in that  
once you retire, the private lesson business does not need to be your  
primary income source.  There is no shortage of teachers in this  
country; there is an oversupply except in some very arcane fields.  I  
have a masters in education, experience at both the secondary and  
post-secondary level (I have taught Basics of Appraisal for John  
Carroll University), and tons of experience.  My daughter-in-law just  
got her masters in education, and was fortunate to find a position --  
at a private school.  Richard is on the mark with his comments; a  
masters is still a minimum requirement at most colleges.  However, I  
can never again teach at the secondary level because my education and  
experience makes me too expensive, and the teachers unions will not  
let me compete with the newbies.

It still comes down to who you know, and who you haven't irritated.   
If you are a salesman, you will succeed.  I couldn't sell watermelons  
at a picnic, but I could teach you how to grow the melon you wanted.   
That's why I never made it in real estate sales.  I seemed to always  
end up teaching people how the system worked, and they would thank me  
and then go sell their house themselves.  I tried all sorts of ways  
to build business, including a monthly newsletter.  After a year of  
sending that out, and eating the costs with no real increase in  
business, I discontinued it.  People stared calling, wondering when  
the next edition would come out.  There was no way they would pay for  
it, though, or at least I was never able to sell newspapers, either.

Just about every industry has two tiers : production and sales.   
Producers have technical skills.  They are the inventors.  They make  
the industry competitive.  When the costs of production go up, the  
company looks for cheaper ways to do things, like outsourcing.  The  
majority of people are producers.  The majority of people on this  
list are producers.  They work hard, they are inventive, and the good  
ones are VERY skilled.  However, in every company, even in exotic  
high-tech fields, the sales staff makes more money than the  
producers.  Remember the CoCo -- you can have an excellent product,  
but if you lack the will or ability to sell it, something else will  
take its place. (Grin - see, we are still on-topic!)  And when I  
worked at the Shack in Norton for Gary Lubliner, who hired me because  
I could explain the CoCo's advantages to him -- BTW, Richard, he  
lives right behind you, on Lee Ann Drive -- I couldn't even sell  
CoCos; I would explain what it could do, and the customer would buy  
from another salesman who knew how to "close".

Again, get those reference letters, build your network of contacts,  
and get your resume out to as many places as possible.  Polish the  
resume, and create several different "flavors".  Most geeks list what  
they are able to do.  That isn't enough.  The headhunters will tell  
you that:

(1) You need to state clearly and specifically what job you are  
applying for.  If you don't know, they don't either.

(2) You need to state clearly and _briefly_ some professional  
accomplishments that helped build your current (or former) company's  
business organization.  You have to sell the idea that you can be a  
benefit to the organization beyond just "doing your job".

(3) You need to _summarize_ your work experience.  Details can be  
handled at the interview level.

(4) You need to _summarize_ your professional development.  So what  
if you have a doctorate in demolition earned in Viet Nam; what did  
you learn to blow up yesterday or last week, and can you tell how you  
got to where you are today in ONE paragraph?

(5) You need to _summarize_ your RELEVANT education.  If you are  
applying for a job designing supercomputers (because you're tired of  
breaking things), the doctorate in demolition is not relevant, even  
if you are the top expert in your field.

(6) If your resume is more than one page long, throw it away and  
start over until it all fits on one page.  Then get somebody (several  
somebodies is better) to critique it and tell you what is wrong with  
it.  AT MINIMUM, HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE PROOFREAD THE THING!!!  My  
cousin's husband is in HR for a large bio-engineering firm.  He (and  
several other HR people) have let me know that they see dozens of  
resumes a day.  If it is more than one page, they pitch it.  If they  
can get past the top few lines, and you have told them how you will  
be an asset to their company, they will keep reading; otherwise, they  
will pitch it.

Here's an idea, off the top of my bald spot.  Send your resume to the  
HR department of your current employer, and ask them to critique it.   
Maybe it will get you a raise.  Or maybe it will get you fired, if  
you haven't done anything lately %^(.

Finally, sometimes you have to face the music and realize that  
although there is still some interest in making horseshoes, it is not  
a real good field for career advancement.  I'm at that point right  
now.  I think my second career has about played out its string, and  
I'm broadening my search to include areas in altogether different  
fields where my skills will still be relevant.  For those who think  
they have job security, I can only say that the best time to look for  
a new job is while you are still employed.

On Sep 21, 2006, at 6:53 AM, farna at att.net wrote:

> I do find that upsetting! Most technical colleges I've talked to  
> have said that teachers with a two year degree and experience in  
> the field the degree is in can teach subjects in that field. With  
> teachers hard to come by you'd think schools would be more  
> interested in people willing and able to teach! In some states you  
> can teach as long as you're working toward a BS and making  
> progress. It's a shame that experience isn't more recognized! AS  
> degrees in a specialized field should be worth more than a general  
> studies BS, but it isn't. You need the BS in anything to teach.  
> I've a degree in construction management and a degree in technical  
> instructing through the USAF -- both accreditied degrees. You'd  
> think the technical instructing degree and four years experience as  
> a technical instructor would be worth a bit more than it is. I'll  
> be looking for something when I retire from the military in just  
> under a year. I've looked into giving private engine rebuilding  
> classes. I can't give any
> thing but a certificate which won't mean anything, but I'm looking  
> at reasonably priced training for hobbyists, not job training. $250  
> for a class in which you and a friend rebuild an engine. Machine  
> work and parts would be paid for by student also. I'm hoping I have  
> some takers. If you have a space that you can use (maybe an  
> agreement with a local community center?) you might consider  
> advertising private lessons. The local community college might not  
> like it though, especially if you undercut them to get business!  
> But you don't have to have any credentials to teach something  
> privately -- it's just that your certificate may not mean anything.  
> But someone seeking help/instruction for their own pleasure/ 
> knowledge won't care.
> --
> Frank Swygert
>
> ---original message (from Richard Crislip) in reply to Jim  
> Hrubik----------
> First I want to tell you that I know your situation all too well.  
> Except in
> my situation, the company decided to reduce the number of gray- 
> heads. I
> think I was in that situation the day we had dinner at Wendy's in  
> Norton. I
> know that I am not being too uplifting when I say this, but I still  
> do not
> have a full time job since my departure form FirstEnergy Oct 2003.  
> Almost
> three years ago. Damn... time flies. Since then I have been adjunct  
> teaching
> MS-Office classes at Brown Mackie College until they realized that  
> I do not
> posess a bachelors degree. I am now a computer lab assistant. My  
> employement
> runs month to month. My programming associates degree from Akron U.
> and 40 years in the computing field were not good enough for  
> teaching 8-/. So if
> you do
> not have family attachements in this area, I'd say don't let the  
> door knob
> touch your posterior on your way outta here because all that you  
> mentioned
> about age discrimination and the sorry economic situation in this  
> area is so
> true.
> I have family here so I am stuck. I am
> currently finishing up my studies towards a bachelors degree at Malone
> College in the hopes something a little more perminate will occur  
> at Brown
> Mackie. If not, I will be more salable to other technical colleges.  
> Unforch,
> Ohio and probably most of the other states in this nation have  
> bought into
> the crap that one can not possibly be a good teacher without a master
> degree. I am getting sick and tired of being a day late and a  
> dollar short
> 8-/. Anyway good hunting to you too.
>
> -- 

+||||||||||###########################|||||||||||+
+||||||||/  HRUBIK APPRAISAL SERVICES  \|||||||||+
+|||||||/   James C. Hrubik, Sr., RAA   \||||||||+
+||||||/  Appraisal & Appraisal Review   \|||||||+
+||||||  Consulting & Litigation Support  |||||||+
+||||||\        V/F-(330)745-8435        /|||||||+
+|||||||\         C-(330)472-3023       /||||||||+
+||||||||\   jimhrubik at earthlink.net   /|||||||||+
+||||||||||###########################|||||||||||+