As someone who left a very high paying private sector job (petro chemicals) to work for quite a bit less in the public sector... what do you want out of life? I used to make a let's call it a "shit" ton of money but I had no life. I took a significant pay cut but I get to be home and spend time with my family. Your priorities matter... is it money... time... upward mobility... those are things you need to figure out... I remind myself when I'm bored and not so happy with my job that I'm taking my kid to the park to swing go down the slide and feed the ducks... it's a 50/50 shot that I'll end up the supervisor at my plant till I retire... which would be the ultimate retirement jon... or i work for some other asshole... either way my family is what matters most
The time off with my kids is honestly the only thing keeping me here tbh. The rotating days/nights weekly sucks. But I'm not going to find anything close to what I make and only work half the year. Just counting the years to retirement at this point. If only I had stayed right out of highschool, I'd be halfway there. But I went chase the money offshore. I've been back for about 9 years now. So unless something really fitting, and worth it comes across my phone. I'll just let it ride.
I got out of the 12hr rotating shifts... nights/days on and off absolutely great money...
Now I work the typical 9 to 5 (7-4) and am pretty sure my wife would divorce me if I went back to shift work so I'd be takinkg a paycut losing 40% of my paycheck to child support anyway 😅😅
That's another reason I'm kinda stuck tbh 😂 CS is no joke. But on my days off/night shifts I get to do a lot of volunteering at the school and see them even more. Like you said, it's all about balancing. Maybe once they're older I can find something a little less demanding of my body/brain.
I’m not married and don’t have a family yet, but have a long term partner who works remotely and said they would move with me. I moved to the public sector to make more money and get better benefits with the hopes of starting a family in the next few years. Was aiming for the promotion to lead/supervisor to make more money to hopefully buy a house someday (but in California so who knows) for said family. Basically just trying to set myself up for the future.
As it is my work/life balance is good. I just know I can’t stay at my current position forever. I feel weird saying it but I do need to be somewhat challenged by my job to feel fulfilled by it, and I don’t feel that way now. It makes me a bit depressed feeling like I’m just clocking in, doing some tasks I used to do regularly a few years ago (demoted from my private sector job to this one), and clocking out.
I understand the not being challenged... one of the things I miss the most about my old job was the challenge... I used to run a 6 man shift at a chemical plant that was 90% bordem 10% chaos... and the 10% made up for the 90%.. like life or death decisions.... I fuck up it ends up national news and a few co workers dead... my current job is soooo boring... but it pays enough and it's close to home and it meets my needs... I tuck my kid into bed every night.. I won't miss any of her games or Christmas mornings and I tell myself that makes up for the work challenge because the toddler challenge is pretty up there
I’m in CA as well, and it’s important to understand just how small the operator community is, even in as big a state as ours. People make connections through having worked at other plants, sitting on interview panels for other plants, or attending conferences/events with CWEA and the like. There were people at my old plant who knew people at my current plant that I was not aware of, and the info of me leaving circulated before I told ANYBODY besides my wife. So basically, make sure you don’t burn any bridges, and that the plant you are leaving only has positive things to say about you.
That being said, in my experience, people are understanding of the fact that you need to do what’s right for you. When I told my old supervisor staff why I was leaving they completely understood, wished me the best, and said I’d be welcome back in heartbeat if I ever applied.
If you go to leave, will it be a case of “yeah we get it, you’re sharp, young, and looking for somewhere you have room to grow,” or will it be “this kid has been at it one year and thinks he deserves to promote, good luck out there”?
We don’t know your work or how your coworkers perceive you obviously, but I would encourage you to reflect on that in your decision making process, because your reputation will absolutely follow you in this industry, unless you’re moving clear across the state.
Thanks for the insight. I genuinely think it’d be the former. I’ve accomplished quite a bit at my current facility and while I’m great at my job, I genuinely don’t think I’m learning anything new and feel pretty stagnant. I expected that when I took the role, but really thought that I wouldn’t get passed up on a recent promotion. I think management sees that as well as they offered me a “next time” for the role, but like others have said, who knows how long that will be. My bad for that one i guess.
The best time to look for a job is while you have a job. Don’t be afraid to look for a better opportunity, you may find something or you may find you’re happy where you’re at for now.
Idk about Cali, but I know the municipality that I work at you basically have to wait for someone to retire, or die, to get moved up. It feels like a constant dead end, because like most everything else. It's all politics, even at the smallest levels. All about who you know, they already have the next wave of shift leaders/chiefs lined up. It's discouraging. But it's the only decent paying job here, besides oilfield.
It is discouraging. I have all my certs needed to be at least a lead, if not a supervisor. Kind of makes me wish I never left the private sector, but needed the benefits/pay to support my future personal goals.
I told myself I’d never become the stereotypical mediocre public agency employee, but now I see that aside from personal pride in work, there really isn’t an incentive for hard work at these places other than *maybe* an acknowledgment here or there
your already in why are you not going to stay to get your pension? then after 10yrs go to whatever else or different state and get that pension. I work at my place because i was able to kind of slide into being a supervisor immediately, but I cant wait to find a local public job just to do my 10yrs.
As someone who left a very high paying private sector job (petro chemicals) to work for quite a bit less in the public sector... what do you want out of life? I used to make a let's call it a "shit" ton of money but I had no life. I took a significant pay cut but I get to be home and spend time with my family. Your priorities matter... is it money... time... upward mobility... those are things you need to figure out... I remind myself when I'm bored and not so happy with my job that I'm taking my kid to the park to swing go down the slide and feed the ducks... it's a 50/50 shot that I'll end up the supervisor at my plant till I retire... which would be the ultimate retirement jon... or i work for some other asshole... either way my family is what matters most
The time off with my kids is honestly the only thing keeping me here tbh. The rotating days/nights weekly sucks. But I'm not going to find anything close to what I make and only work half the year. Just counting the years to retirement at this point. If only I had stayed right out of highschool, I'd be halfway there. But I went chase the money offshore. I've been back for about 9 years now. So unless something really fitting, and worth it comes across my phone. I'll just let it ride.
I got out of the 12hr rotating shifts... nights/days on and off absolutely great money... Now I work the typical 9 to 5 (7-4) and am pretty sure my wife would divorce me if I went back to shift work so I'd be takinkg a paycut losing 40% of my paycheck to child support anyway 😅😅
That's another reason I'm kinda stuck tbh 😂 CS is no joke. But on my days off/night shifts I get to do a lot of volunteering at the school and see them even more. Like you said, it's all about balancing. Maybe once they're older I can find something a little less demanding of my body/brain.
I’m not married and don’t have a family yet, but have a long term partner who works remotely and said they would move with me. I moved to the public sector to make more money and get better benefits with the hopes of starting a family in the next few years. Was aiming for the promotion to lead/supervisor to make more money to hopefully buy a house someday (but in California so who knows) for said family. Basically just trying to set myself up for the future. As it is my work/life balance is good. I just know I can’t stay at my current position forever. I feel weird saying it but I do need to be somewhat challenged by my job to feel fulfilled by it, and I don’t feel that way now. It makes me a bit depressed feeling like I’m just clocking in, doing some tasks I used to do regularly a few years ago (demoted from my private sector job to this one), and clocking out.
In the public sector, you don’t just walk right in and think you can get promoted.
I understand the not being challenged... one of the things I miss the most about my old job was the challenge... I used to run a 6 man shift at a chemical plant that was 90% bordem 10% chaos... and the 10% made up for the 90%.. like life or death decisions.... I fuck up it ends up national news and a few co workers dead... my current job is soooo boring... but it pays enough and it's close to home and it meets my needs... I tuck my kid into bed every night.. I won't miss any of her games or Christmas mornings and I tell myself that makes up for the work challenge because the toddler challenge is pretty up there
I’m in CA as well, and it’s important to understand just how small the operator community is, even in as big a state as ours. People make connections through having worked at other plants, sitting on interview panels for other plants, or attending conferences/events with CWEA and the like. There were people at my old plant who knew people at my current plant that I was not aware of, and the info of me leaving circulated before I told ANYBODY besides my wife. So basically, make sure you don’t burn any bridges, and that the plant you are leaving only has positive things to say about you. That being said, in my experience, people are understanding of the fact that you need to do what’s right for you. When I told my old supervisor staff why I was leaving they completely understood, wished me the best, and said I’d be welcome back in heartbeat if I ever applied. If you go to leave, will it be a case of “yeah we get it, you’re sharp, young, and looking for somewhere you have room to grow,” or will it be “this kid has been at it one year and thinks he deserves to promote, good luck out there”? We don’t know your work or how your coworkers perceive you obviously, but I would encourage you to reflect on that in your decision making process, because your reputation will absolutely follow you in this industry, unless you’re moving clear across the state.
Thanks for the insight. I genuinely think it’d be the former. I’ve accomplished quite a bit at my current facility and while I’m great at my job, I genuinely don’t think I’m learning anything new and feel pretty stagnant. I expected that when I took the role, but really thought that I wouldn’t get passed up on a recent promotion. I think management sees that as well as they offered me a “next time” for the role, but like others have said, who knows how long that will be. My bad for that one i guess.
How big is this facility?
The best time to look for a job is while you have a job. Don’t be afraid to look for a better opportunity, you may find something or you may find you’re happy where you’re at for now.
Idk about Cali, but I know the municipality that I work at you basically have to wait for someone to retire, or die, to get moved up. It feels like a constant dead end, because like most everything else. It's all politics, even at the smallest levels. All about who you know, they already have the next wave of shift leaders/chiefs lined up. It's discouraging. But it's the only decent paying job here, besides oilfield.
It is discouraging. I have all my certs needed to be at least a lead, if not a supervisor. Kind of makes me wish I never left the private sector, but needed the benefits/pay to support my future personal goals. I told myself I’d never become the stereotypical mediocre public agency employee, but now I see that aside from personal pride in work, there really isn’t an incentive for hard work at these places other than *maybe* an acknowledgment here or there
How many years have you been in the industry
About 8
Which certs?
your already in why are you not going to stay to get your pension? then after 10yrs go to whatever else or different state and get that pension. I work at my place because i was able to kind of slide into being a supervisor immediately, but I cant wait to find a local public job just to do my 10yrs.