Tech schools and college ND

[Kurtr]

Care to share this 150000+ a year job with the rest of us,

The guy that runs our shop his kid is in his second year of work is doing heavy lineman work in the south west made 175k last year . Moving around lives in a camper works a lot but owes nothing to nobody. Another kid does inspections on lines and worked 6 months in California last year and was just shy of 150k. He hunted and fished the other 6.

 

[db-2]

When one gets old, and one looks back at all the roads one could have/should have gone down.
Maybe a different road but then would be wondering about the road i did go down. I consider linemen school and i believe the monies would have been better. Too young to know at the time what was best and for some reason monies at the time was not the major reason for what i wanted.
So i live with what i did, feel good about it, make it to age 77, five kids who have done better than i did with salary. The wife and i have got our wants and needs taken care, funds put away for the funeral, still drink beer and look for tomorrow with the thrill of another day. db

 

[lunkerslayer]

The guy that runs our shop his kid is in his second year of work is doing heavy lineman work in the south west made 175k last year . Moving around lives in a camper works a lot but owes nothing to nobody. Another kid does inspections on lines and worked 6 months in California last year and was just shy of 150k. He hunted and fished the other 6.

I believe those 2 high risk examples are truly exceptions to the pay scale granted making +85000 is avg for north dakota lineman. Regardless even an oil patch pipe welder makes 90 to 110000 thousand if he is willing to work lots of hours to achieve that. The weld inspector makes the same but what I'm getting at those are jobs that takes a dedication to working in an environment that comes with long hours and not afraid to get dirty.

 

[5575]

Care to share this 150000+ a year job with the rest of us,

He's telling the truth. You'll be making about that at most of the gas plants, power plants and mines after 2-4 years if you want to work some ot and learn. Most I work with make at least 90k and those are the new 19-21 year old kids that just started. Majority of the operators that have been here 5+ years make 140-175k with overtime and still only work about half the year "hourly, not management". We had a big retirement group go out a couple years ago, average age was 55-58, and with the great benefit\retirement packages most walked away with millions. Not bad for a 1 year associates degree from BSC in the 80s..
The degree now takes two years, and we have a hard time getting young folks to apply its crazy. I had to live out of state for 9 years working at plants to get enough experience to apply in the 90s here at home and there were over 1,000 applicants fighting over maybe 20 jobs. Now we can barely get a handful of young folks with zero experience to apply even, must be allot of great paying jobs around I guess.

 

[db-2]

For me it is hard to believe the kind of monies some make.

Brother-in-law worked the mines out west. Retire younger than me but i am glad his body is not mine. Health wise and mental wise he had to retire. Took a hit on him with the hours, the work, and the whole environment of that job plus the lack of freedom he had with the family life that i enjoy by being at home every day with my kids and wife.

I could not have made it to my age with his job. db

 

[5575]

For me it is hard to believe the kind of monies some make.

Brother-in-law worked the mines out west. Retire younger than me but i am glad his body is not mine. Health wise and mental wise he had to retire. Took a hit on him with the hours, the work, and the whole environment of that job plus the lack of freedom he had with the family life that i enjoy by being at home every day with my kids and wife.

I could not have made it to my age with his job. db

That would suck..
It's not like that in the operations field that's for sure.

 

[Petras]

that be farming. db

Nah, not farming. Theres a reason my initial post said people should be encouraging there kids to go to BSC for the 2 year Process Plant Tech program... Just because someone works in the oilfield that doesn't mean they are working on a rig or doing some shithole nasty ass job... find a job working for a gas plant or a well kept refinery and you can make damned good money. Best year I ever had for earnings was a little over $210k. I worked plenty of over time, but even at that, I still only worked about 8 months of the year.... thats the beauty of shift work. the position I'm in now is salaried and has me overseeing the ops in our facility. My "hourly" pay is up considerably, but because it's salaried, it was a little bit of a hit not being able to work OT whenever I want, but it's fine for me. After all my bonuses fully vest I'll be back on track with where it should be. Is it the top of the dogpile? Not quite, but it's far closer to the top than it is the bottom.

 

[Petras]

I feel like I should also add that in the ops world it really does matter what company you go to work for. They are not all equal. Some of them only give a shit about the plant/company. Then there's companies like the one I work for that actually want people to have a good work/life balance and staff accordingly to provide it.... OT is available if people want it, but it is never forced on people (aside from certain required training days which is usually only 4 or 5 days a year)

 

[Bfishn]

I had to live out of state for 9 years working at plants to get enough experience to apply in the 90s here at home and there were over 1,000 applicants fighting over maybe 20 jobs. Now we can barely get a handful of young folks with zero experience to apply even, must be allot of great paying jobs around I guess.

This is the reason a lot of people quit going into the program and why I'm sure its a struggle to find people now, they literally caused their own problem. They should have been willing to hire and train kids directly out of college. Not a single person I know in my age group that went to BSC is working at a plant in ND. A few moved and stayed out of state because they met their wives where they moved, but most just left the industry and created other careers.

 

[johnr]

Shift work takes on average 9 years off your life. By shift work I mean working nights one week, then days the next. Life is short already, this is not something to take lightly. $150k + is not worth 9 years of your life.

 

[Petras]

Shift work takes on average 9 years off your life. By shift work I mean working nights one week, then days the next. Life is short already, this is not something to take lightly. $150k + is not worth 9 years of your life.

Personally the swapping from days to nights from week to week never bothered me when I was doing it. For me, as long as I planned accordingly it didn't have much of an effect on me. I will say though, shift work is not for everyone...

I guess another way to look at this is from a stand point of yea, I may die a couple years earlier cuz of the schedule, but I'll probably also be able to retire a good deal earlier.... my goal is to retire between the ages of 52 and 55. Average retirement age for male college graduates is 65.7 according to Forbes.... If i can beat that by 10+ years then I'd say thats a fair swap for the 9 years lost from shift work

Besides all that, the fact that as a shift worker I had a nice stretch off(damned near a mini-vacation between 4 and 7 days off) every time I went on days off to spend time with my family and live my life.... It was awfully nice back then going to the ramps at Van Hook and being one of only a handful of people on the water on a Tuesday/Wednesday morning. Sure beats the shit out of the idea of having only 2 days on the weekends off.... To be honest, the part that I miss the most in my current position is the schedule... I'm now a M-F 7-330 guy. I'm jealous of my people that are still on shift work just because of all the time they get off...

On a side note, I can think of plenty of other far dumber things that people do that take years off their lives that they don't get paid for and actually costs them money... smoking, drinking, drugs etc....

 

[Petras]

He's telling the truth. You'll be making about that at most of the gas plants, power plants and mines after 2-4 years if you want to work some ot and learn. Most I work with make at least 90k and those are the new 19-21 year old kids that just started. Majority of the operators that have been here 5+ years make 140-175k with overtime and still only work about half the year "hourly, not management". We had a big retirement group go out a couple years ago, average age was 55-58, and with the great benefit\retirement packages most walked away with millions. Not bad for a 1 year associates degree from BSC in the 80s..
The degree now takes two years, and we have a hard time getting young folks to apply its crazy. I had to live out of state for 9 years working at plants to get enough experience to apply in the 90s here at home and there were over 1,000 applicants fighting over maybe 20 jobs. Now we can barely get a handful of young folks with zero experience to apply even, must be allot of great paying jobs around I guess.

I'm currently interviewing candidates for 1 opening on my ops team. I've had 50+ very well qualified and exprienced candidates and 2 fresh out of BSC candidates.... For some reason, even though we post our jobs on the Handshake platform that BSC uses for career placements, our company struggles to pull applicants directly from the college. I believe I have an idea of why, but I'm not so sure it's such a bad thing for us.

 

[johnr]

Personally the swapping from days to nights from week to week never bothered me when I was doing it. For me, as long as I planned accordingly it didn't have much of an effect on me. I will say though, shift work is not for everyone...

I guess another way to look at this is from a stand point of yea, I may die a couple years earlier cuz of the schedule, but I'll probably also be able to retire a good deal earlier.... my goal is to retire between the ages of 52 and 55. Average retirement age for male college graduates is 65.7 according to Forbes.... If i can beat that by 10+ years then I'd say thats a fair swap for the 9 years lost from shift work

Besides all that, the fact that as a shift worker I had a nice stretch off(damned near a mini-vacation between 4 and 7 days off) every time I went on days off to spend time with my family and live my life.... It was awfully nice back then going to the ramps at Van Hook and being one of only a handful of people on the water on a Tuesday/Wednesday morning. Sure beats the shit out of the idea of having only 2 days on the weekends off.... To be honest, the part that I miss the most in my current position is the schedule... I'm now a M-F 7-330 guy. I'm jealous of my people that are still on shift work just because of all the time they get off...

On a side note, I can think of plenty of other far dumber things that people do that take years off their lives that they don't get paid for and actually costs them money... smoking, drinking, drugs etc....

Lots and lots of guys making 150k+ not working shift work. Not saying your choice was wrong, just stating that shift work is a life shortener, and you are not making piles more than the next fella.

If its good for you is all that matters, as my $.02 means nothing to more than me.
I have a son in law doing the shift hoopla up in the Beulah area, I know he is making a good living, it works for him, and that is what matters. I would never trade places, but I enjoy being around my kids after school, and on the weekends when the family is all around, and gave up zero income to do this, but probably shaved some years of my life with a pack a day habit back in the early years. Cant stand the smell of cigarettes' now, in fact makes me mad when I can smell the smoke from the car in front of me

 

[YCbtx]

There is really no right or wrong answer to this conversation. It all really rests in the type of person an individual is and what their goals are (unfortunately, too many young individuals never truly give any amount of in-depth thought to these questions). Bottom line, we need individuals in the tech trades just as much as we need 4yr+ grads in the engineering/medical/education fields. Success all really just boils down to the amount of effort an individual is willing to put in. I personally worked hard in high school and was able to get a scholarship for a 4yr degree...went and worked for a few years to get experience and save some cash. At that point, with my experience, I was able to apply for graduate school and get a graduate assistant position that offered a full tuition waiver and a small stipend (so I finished both undergraduate and graduate work with less debt than what a 20yr old beat down F150 would cost me because I put the work in). Do I have friends that have a bigger bottom line than me...yes...do I enjoy my current career...absolutely! I gladly sacrifice my bottom line a little because I enjoy my job, do not "punch a clock"...have an extremely flexible schedule that allows me to attend every family event..spend summers at the lake. Heck, I am no where close to retirement age yet but feel like I am partially retired already and my friends who have a bigger bottom line give me grief constantly about the amount of time I have off. Arguing that one is better than the other is like the old pepsi vs coke taste tests....there is a correct direction for everyone but its definitely not all the same direction.

 

[lunkerslayer]

I'm currently interviewing candidates for 1 opening on my ops team. I've had 50+ very well qualified and exprienced candidates and 2 fresh out of BSC candidates.... For some reason, even though we post our jobs on the Handshake platform that BSC uses for career placements, our company struggles to pull applicants directly from the college. I believe I have an idea of why, but I'm not so sure it's such a bad thing for us.

That's it one opening for a 150k job, and the way the left keeps winning these federal elections these jobs are going to be less and less if they get their way, that's reality like or not. You do realize that the price of living out west especially in the Williston area is going to keep going up, everything west of minot tax infrastructure is going to increase. And like it or not the east will never go for an outright change in property taxes that's reality. Perhaps I'm wrong about property taxes and maybe in 24 the people of North Dakota will vote to be done with property taxes. Congratulations on your heck of a good job because anyone who has any kind of work ethic and be willing to take the shit positions for a few years woukd be dumb not to take it.

 

[bravo]

My 0.02 is that everyone’s goals and priorities are their own. There’s exceptions to every rule and everyone knows someone who climbed the ladder with little education and lots of sweat. Personally I did the BSC 2 year program, got in a plant as a laborer/trainee and worked shift from there. It’s a good living and good money but you sacrifice a lot. Everyone suffers from the sleep schedule, you miss important days with family and friends, and taking time off is difficult since someone has to cover for you at all times. It can be hot, dirty, and dangerous. I realized that the pinnacle of my career would be more of the same, just pay bumps. Shift work gives you a lot of time off so I finished my bachelors online and took a promotion to management at another plant. More money, shorter days, lots of paid time off. I never thought I had issues with fatigue but I felt 10 years younger leaving shift work. I believe the BSC program is doing a fine job, but the field is risky to plan a career around. With the aging plants, political pressure to shut them down, it’s hard for a new grad to plan their life with a major change possible at any moment. Some plant operators are treated like janitors who are the lowest on the ladder and they lose talent, some plants ops is the top dog. Also, everyone knows the plants are often kind of a “you need to know someone there” type place to be hired. Nepotism exists.

Now, those wanting to go electrician or instrumentation, I’d push that all day. Even more so there are plenty of specialized medicine jobs like sonography that only require 2 years and pay over 150k.

 

[FightingSioux]

Funny, I ain't got a lick of college.. heck I think they graduated me from high school just to get me out of there. I've been managing people since before my 20th birthday and where I currently sit I'm the man driving the bus... College ain't nothing more than indoctrination any more.. bunch of parrots.

I’m talking corporations in general. I’m sure there is outliers here or there but you don’t see many CEO’s without a college degree.

 

[FightingSioux]

Yea, you don't need a 4 year degree... Anyone who says you do doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground. I know plenty of guys with no college education that are making $150k+/year. And no, they are nowhere near the "bottom". Show up with a desire to work, learn, and improve yourself and the people around you and you'll do just fine.

Just suing it’s harder to climb the corporate ladder without the 4 year degree. And gets harder the bigger the corporation is. This obviously doesn’t apply as much to small businesses or if you own your own.

 

[FightingSioux]

He's telling the truth. You'll be making about that at most of the gas plants, power plants and mines after 2-4 years if you want to work some ot and learn. Most I work with make at least 90k and those are the new 19-21 year old kids that just started. Majority of the operators that have been here 5+ years make 140-175k with overtime and still only work about half the year "hourly, not management". We had a big retirement group go out a couple years ago, average age was 55-58, and with the great benefit\retirement packages most walked away with millions. Not bad for a 1 year associates degree from BSC in the 80s..
The degree now takes two years, and we have a hard time getting young folks to apply its crazy. I had to live out of state for 9 years working at plants to get enough experience to apply in the 90s here at home and there were over 1,000 applicants fighting over maybe 20 jobs. Now we can barely get a handful of young folks with zero experience to apply even, must be allot of great paying jobs around I guess.

Must be why all the coal plants are going under ! $150k for an plant operator is unreal. Must be why basin electric is barely holding on. Man if I worked in any other plant such as a sugar beat I would be beating down the doors to go work in an electric plant! Triple the pay!

 

[FightingSioux]

My 0.02 is that everyone’s goals and priorities are their own. There’s exceptions to every rule and everyone knows someone who climbed the ladder with little education and lots of sweat. Personally I did the BSC 2 year program, got in a plant as a laborer/trainee and worked shift from there. It’s a good living and good money but you sacrifice a lot. Everyone suffers from the sleep schedule, you miss important days with family and friends, and taking time off is difficult since someone has to cover for you at all times. It can be hot, dirty, and dangerous. I realized that the pinnacle of my career would be more of the same, just pay bumps. Shift work gives you a lot of time off so I finished my bachelors online and took a promotion to management at another plant. More money, shorter days, lots of paid time off. I never thought I had issues with fatigue but I felt 10 years younger leaving shift work. I believe the BSC program is doing a fine job, but the field is risky to plan a career around. With the aging plants, political pressure to shut them down, it’s hard for a new grad to plan their life with a major change possible at any moment. Some plant operators are treated like janitors who are the lowest on the ladder and they lose talent, some plants ops is the top dog. Also, everyone knows the plants are often kind of a “you need to know someone there” type place to be hired. Nepotism exists.

Now, those wanting to go electrician or instrumentation, I’d push that all day. Even more so there are plenty of specialized medicine jobs like sonography that only require 2 years and pay over 150k.

Would you have been able to get that management job without that degree?

I would also encourage kids to go into the electrician and instrumentation field . Tons of jobs that will never go away even with the green transition. Also these careers easily transition into starting your own company. If you want to make the big bucks start your own company and learn how to milk these big corporations for millions! That’s how you make it big.