General Adulthood, Planning for the Future: Business, College, Budgeting, Investments, etc! $$$ - General

Anyone have any ideas for decent entry level jobs that make anywhere between $20k -30k a year but probably won't be too fussed if you leave after six months? I'm planning on relocating but I need something for about half a year to build up some savings. Really rather not go to minimum wage since that's not gonna do me much good, but I'm not above retail if I can find something that I'd at least be somewhat good at and doesn't suck at pay. Just having a hard time of thinking of more specific places lol. I've already applied for a manager position at a nearby Michael's since that's at least tangentially related to my degree, but I can't really think of things that are on that vein. For the record, I'll be graduated with a B.A. in Studio Arts and a studio internship under my belt by mid December. If anyone has any suggestions, lemme know. I already do freelancing with my art, but it's not a reliable income, unfortunately.

Look into being a local insurance broker. The regulations will differ state to state but as an entry level job it's fine. You don't need to know much, you don't need a lot of sales skills(I had none) and it's a desk job which based on my memory is better for you than a physical job. It's not too intensive on any level, and from what I've personally seen, it's an industry/field where almost no one young is going towards.

I don't know jack shit about insurance lmao but I'll look into it sure. There's a few insurance places that are pretty big here.

Neither did I. I joined the industry with literally 0 knowledge. I took one course that took about a week and cost about 300$ and I was qualified and had a job a week later because they were like "a young person!?". I totally get why you'd have apprehension, not having any knowledge of the subject is exactly what made me stressed about it, but it's a fairly straight forward job on a daily basis.

Oof. Would have to find a job that covers any course material if that's a thing that's required. I'm flat broke atm lol. But I'll keep it in mind.

Some companies do cover that, it also depends on the structure of the insurance council in your state. For example my company covers that costs for new employees we hire who don't even have the 101 course because were that desperate for people.

[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;52848567]Follow up to everything. Already interviewed with Kemet (Electronics Manufacturer) in SC and their HR manager got back to me saying that the engineers (who were super friendly and knowledgeable) loved me (I had brought in a few demo projects to show off my talents) and that I was a final candidate and will probably get an offer! Also the company that I had the phone interview with (Neptune Technology Group) is bringing me in next monday for a full day of interview, tours, meet & greets and more. They even booked hotel accommodations for me for the night before. I really hope this is the company I sign on with because the position is literally <10 minutes away from my SO and the work ticks all my check marks of what I want to do. (Also Atlanta just has alot more things to do than anywhere in SC).[/QUOTE] Follow up to the Neptune TG interview that I had today (Let me know if I'm spamposting). It went absolutely awesome, all the engineers there were friendly, intelligent and geeky. They really highlighted that they support their employees and work as teams in an open workspace. The work itself checks off everything I want to do with my degree (EE embedded system design work) and more. It was a full day of interviews, a few technical challenges/questions by some of the firmware and EE engineers. Which for the most part I aced, they were impressed and happy that I also do my own personal projects (which I wow'd them with my RGB LED Controller). After that they gave me a tour of the manufacturing plant (which was pretty impressive and expansive) and were kind enough to take me out to lunch! While there me and the other engineers (I was the only candidate) geeked out over personal projects, education background and other ancedotes. Afterward one of the Sr. engineers grilled me some more with more technical questions (i.e. Evaluate and explain the purpose of these circuits) which I nailed and will plenty of bonus time to which he was impressed and noted that usually other candidates take twice as long. He was pretty cool because every technical question he threw at me, I gave a good answer that's correct but then he threw a few curveball gotcha's here and there that I (for the most part) got correct. Ala a respectful battle of the minds. HR was super nice and happy with me too and was open (when I asked) about relocation assistance too. Overall I felt I asked all the right questions too (Even one of the Sr. Engineering Managers said "with your tinkering skills and team work, you seem like a solid fit"). Oh man I could continue gushing (sorry for the long post) but it was the first time I ever felt both happy and like I actually had fun with this interview. I genuinely want to work at this place and feel like I'll enjoy working there (plus being super close to my SO). Knock on wood, I'll be beyond-words happy if I get an offer.

[QUOTE=Pascall;52863685]Oof. Would have to find a job that covers any course material if that's a thing that's required. I'm flat broke atm lol. But I'll keep it in mind.[/QUOTE] If it's anything like unarmed security, they'll take it out of your first paycheck.

what is the best phone company for me to get a new phone service because i have a job that pay 490 a week. I'm in the us so any opinons would be great

What are some good work flow habits you guys have? With my new role in my company I handle way more things than I can keep track of and frankly I've just got too many projects on the go at once to actually be sure of my progress on all of them. I'd love to just be able to finish a given project in a go but that's not always feasible as sometimes I get calls to deal with random support issues that suck up my time or sometimes I'm stuck in the waiting game or playing phone tag or various other things of that nature. What are good ways to manage things when you're more or less autonomous?

Have you used [URL="https://workflowy.com/"]Workflowy[/URL] before? It's a really basic interface but really good for making project lists. I used it a lot a few semesters ago when my workload was colossal. It feels nice to cross stuff off as I complete it.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;52815925]Like, "hi, I'm a random 27 year old foreigner with no college degree and only one year of official real estate experience. Want to give me a bunch of money to go buy apartments buildings in Saint Louis?" Prolly wouldn't get me too dang far right now lol.[/QUOTE] If you can come to Canada, please be in Toronto so you can do well enough to replace Sam McDadi's face on every single goddamn billboard here in Mississauga I'm not quite sure he's human. [t]https://yt3.ggpht.com/-q8KE3aEb1mE/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/X4eae139inQ/s900-c-k-no-mo-rj-c0xffffff/photo.jpg[/t] I've seen your mug, which is infinitely better than...whatever the hell his face is. Those eyebrows, jesus christ.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;52867149]What are some good work flow habits you guys have? With my new role in my company I handle way more things than I can keep track of and frankly I've just got too many projects on the go at once to actually be sure of my progress on all of them. I'd love to just be able to finish a given project in a go but that's not always feasible as sometimes I get calls to deal with random support issues that suck up my time or sometimes I'm stuck in the waiting game or playing phone tag or various other things of that nature. What are good ways to manage things when you're more or less autonomous?[/QUOTE] I use [URL="https://trello.com/"]Trello[/URL] to organize my work using these lists: Staging (for jotting down things that I'll elaborate/organize later), To Do, Doing, Pending Further Action, Done, Incomplete/Disregarded, and Templates (for my cards that I copy/paste frequently). I've also recently discovered the [URL="https://blog.trello.com/gtd-getting-things-done-maximizing-productivity-trello"]Getting Things Done[/URL] approach which I've been using for my at home to do list. edit: One other thing I do with Trello is that I use a separate board for projects/longer tasks. That way my regular to do list doesn't get clogged up with cards that are going to be sitting under the Doing list for a long time.

monospace is my favorite note app but its android only and the organization is poopy :downs:

Im a unix server admin and i cringe whenever someone uses the word "workflow" [editline]8th November 2017[/editline] If i forget to do something it must not have been important

[QUOTE=Dysplasia;52776323]update to this, they accepted the offer for 65k in cash, gonna pull a couple personal loans after the results of the water and septic inspection drop by and assuming those are in good shape I'll have a mortgageless home of my own at age 22. Not a bad house either, a few things to repair, 1200SQFT, 3 acres of land... basically if the inspections go through i got a killer deal. :excited:[/QUOTE] I'm a homeowner as of today, deed signed, cash moved. Now to fix it up a bit so it's properly livable. Also the final price was 55k cash

Last follow up because its an amazing follow up. I got a job offer from Neptune TG in Atlanta that I'm going to jump on! $70k/year starting salary (which is above the median for entry level EE in Atlanta), solid benefits and relocation reimbursement! Plus me and my SO have talked about it for a few months prior (and have been together for 2.5+ years now) and we feel that we're ready to move in together. Everything is looking [URL="https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/georgia/state-food-agriculture-symbol/peach"]peachy[/URL] and then some! :excited:

[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;52873045]Last follow up because its an amazing follow up. I got a job offer from Neptune TG in Atlanta that I'm going to jump on! $70k/year starting salary (which is above the median for entry level EE in Atlanta), solid benefits and relocation reimbursement! Plus me and my SO have talked about it for a few months prior (and have been together for 2.5+ years now) and we feel that we're ready to move in together. Everything is looking [URL="https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/georgia/state-food-agriculture-symbol/peach"]peachy[/URL] and then some! :excited:[/QUOTE] Congrats!

So I had an interview today at that I thought went well and they said they would phone me later today, but it is now past 10 PM. Should I phone back? I am guessing this is their way of saying that I didn't get the job.

definitely call them tmrw morning

[QUOTE=LennyPenny;52874320]definitely call them tmrw morning[/QUOTE] I am hoping I got the position as the interview went really well, although in my previous experience no call = no job. Starting to run out of savings.

[QUOTE=Mr Kotov;52874274]So I had an interview today at that I thought went well and they said they would phone me later today, but it is now past 10 PM. Should I phone back? I am guessing this is their way of saying that I didn't get the job.[/QUOTE] My advice is to leave it for another day, perhaps they got busy and they might have forgotten or will call tomorrow. If you don't hear anything by the end of the week, you should give a call, reintroduce yourself, ask them how your applications is doing etc etc. Don't get too hung up on it, you'll just hurt yourself in the end. The way I applied to jobs is just apply everywhere, and assume you didn't get the job at any of those places. This way, you really broaden your blanket of applications, and you build some very valuable practice with interviews once you get them.

[QUOTE=Swaggernaut;52895010] The way I applied to jobs is just apply everywhere, and assume you didn't get the job at any of those places. This way, you really broaden your blanket of applications, and you build some very valuable practice with interviews once you get them.[/QUOTE] This bottom part is actually really good advice. It's what I did for my first major job, and it's what im currently doing for my second. That being said, I just did an interview for a marketing director position and they really like me and want me to interview in front of their board. It's a school so it should be easy work. Anybody have any advice on how to nail an interview in front of 5+ people?

[QUOTE=Dysplasia;52870467]I'm a homeowner as of today, deed signed, cash moved. Now to fix it up a bit so it's properly livable. Also the final price was 55k cash[/QUOTE] Septic guy came by, it isn't nearly as bad as we initially thought, quoted me 5k, which is a huge chunk off of the 10-15k I was thinking I'd be paying. My dad offered to help me clean up the mold in the home, that's $3k less I have to spend since I was gonna get a mold remediation specialist in here, but his estimate came 4 days late, and it's clear he's trying to get more money than is necessary. Going to be picking up new appliances this weekend, finish the huge amount of yardwork, and mold remediation. Hopefully get the driveway redone with some recycled asphalt, which should give it a much cleaner look. Everything Is Terrific

After doing 6 months of unpaid internship to work as a travel photographer, they offered me work to organize media, and coordinate with other photographers or videographers. Which means to say, they are changing their work model, and that is instead of paying me to photograph, they pay freelance people. I'm not sure if I should take it, while its an opportunity to add to my CV having worked overseas, but I don't see myself stuck in an office, and I was told, that one of my friend, a german guy, gets paid average thai wage, which is about 730 USD a month, (but food, accomodation, travel expenses will be covered)

So my first ever real full time paycheck is gonna come in at the end of the month and I kinda want to start thinking of how to use that money wiseley I will get 1300-2000€ per month after taxes in the first few months (no idea how much I can talk about actual salary so it's somewhere in that area) - note that I'm in Germany so healthcare and stuff isn't a factor, as well as being let go without a 4 week period of prior notice I think I'm going to spend 50€ of after tax money per month on a retirement plan for starters and get some other insurance that will be in that ballpark in total as well Other than that I have a really low cost of living as I'm still 19 and live with my parents This brings me to my real problem - I have like 1000€ per month I can't spend even if I try really hard to have an "expensive" (not as in luxurious but as in not letting opportunities to have actual fun go by because of money reasons) lifestyle I should probably invest that money somehow but every time I read into that stuff it just feels like glorified gambling and that makes my stomach ache Putting like 500€ each month into a savings account also feels weird as money sitting around also feels like a waste (other than like 3 months salary of emergency savings) Are there some recommended youtube videos or short blog posts I can read to feel more secure? I'm not one to read books unfortunately

[QUOTE=Dysplasia;52901489]Septic guy came by, it isn't nearly as bad as we initially thought, quoted me 5k, which is a huge chunk off of the 10-15k I was thinking I'd be paying. My dad offered to help me clean up the mold in the home, that's $3k less I have to spend since I was gonna get a mold remediation specialist in here, but his estimate came 4 days late, and it's clear he's trying to get more money than is necessary. Going to be picking up new appliances this weekend, finish the huge amount of yardwork, and mold remediation. Hopefully get the driveway redone with some recycled asphalt, which should give it a much cleaner look. Everything Is Terrific[/QUOTE] Congrats on the new house, dude! Homeownership has so many advantages to renting, as long as you're planning to stick around for at least five years or so. If you need any help or advice, let me know. Cleaning up the mold can be hard work, but it's pretty straight forward. A scrub brush and a bit of bleach will take it off any hard surface. If it's in the drywall or insulation, you may need to strip that shit out and toss it, but that's pretty straight forward. If you have to take out walls, just be aware of where your pipes and cables are so you don't bash up anything important. Once the drywall is out, putting new stuff back in is actually pretty easy, too. Just measure, cut, and nail in place. Tape the seams, slap on some mud, texture and paint as desired. Youtube videos will walk you through everything step-by-step. Once the mold is taken care of, it's important to identify [I]why[/I] there was mold, and fix any conditions that may have caused it to grow. Do you have leaky pipes somewhere? A crack in the basement wall? Is moisture leaking through a window seam, or is the shower not sealed properly? Wherever you find mold, try to find the source of the mold, and address it as necessary. If the house has been vacant for a while, and there is no obvious source to the mold, then it may just have been a simple matter of the empty house having a lot of heat and humidity in it while it sat.

So I've been doing my new job full time for 3 months, I'm loving it so far. However, I have an issue. I'm underpaid. My wages haven't changed since the start of my new role. Now I've asked my direct boss to go to bat for me to get me a higher wage and he's agreed to do so, and even gave me a look of displeasure when I told him what I'm making. That was two weeks ago. Should I expect him to move faster on this, I mean we're both super busy with tons of projects on the go right now and tons of issues to fix for people so he's had a reason why he's been busy but still. Talking about money makes me a tad uncomfortable, and I don't want to harp on him about it. Thoughts?

I'd bring it up about once a week until he's had a chance to take action, since he already agreed that you should be making more. It's insistent enough that it should be front of mind for him, without being so frequent that he would see you as a nuisance.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;52903471]Congrats on the new house, dude! Homeownership has so many advantages to renting, as long as you're planning to stick around for at least five years or so. If you need any help or advice, let me know. Cleaning up the mold can be hard work, but it's pretty straight forward. A scrub brush and a bit of bleach will take it off any hard surface. If it's in the drywall or insulation, you may need to strip that shit out and toss it, but that's pretty straight forward. If you have to take out walls, just be aware of where your pipes and cables are so you don't bash up anything important. Once the drywall is out, putting new stuff back in is actually pretty easy, too. Just measure, cut, and nail in place. Tape the seams, slap on some mud, texture and paint as desired. Youtube videos will walk you through everything step-by-step. Once the mold is taken care of, it's important to identify [I]why[/I] there was mold, and fix any conditions that may have caused it to grow. Do you have leaky pipes somewhere? A crack in the basement wall? Is moisture leaking through a window seam, or is the shower not sealed properly? Wherever you find mold, try to find the source of the mold, and address it as necessary. If the house has been vacant for a while, and there is no obvious source to the mold, then it may just have been a simple matter of the empty house having a lot of heat and humidity in it while it sat.[/QUOTE] Yeah, the house sat empty for a year or two, the mold dude said this was the most likely cause for the sporadic mold throughout the house, he recommended and AC unit for the summers since that's likely the time where condensation forms the most due to the block walls, and the unit should take a lot of the moisture out of the air. There was also a roof leak which was another big contribution... Nonetheless we have made plans to move some land around to make sure the water doesn't stagnate around the house so much. The leaks are sealed, and I'll put up a new metal roof next spring since it's a bit late in the season to do it now(got snow the other day). Also gonna take a look at the wood surrounding the leak, most of it looks okay, but it's best to be sure. Best part is that since it's underground the walls are all block, no drywall or [any way for the] insulation to get all moldy, just needs a good scrubbin. :D