Table of contents for Blue Collar Job Search
- Blue Collar Job Search – What Do You Want in a Job
This is a series to help blue collar workers in a blue collar job search. It starts here.
My buddy is quite versatile in his skills and can do a number of different things. He also has worked in different types of environments, from corporate to entrepreneurial… I really don’t know what kind of job he’d want, or what kind of environment he’d excel in… this job needs to meet various personal needs… here’s a list of things I want him to answer, which will really help refine what kind of jobs or companies he should look at (or rule out):
What do you want in your next role?
- What hourly or salary considerations do you have? Are you okay to work hourly, or do you want to have a salary (which could mean no overtime pay)?
- What benefits are important to you? Pension is probably not an option but what kind of vacation and sick leave do you expect? What are your health insurance needs (bigger companies will likely have better benefits).
- Do you want to be in an entrepreneurial (wear many hats) or well-structured (you do very specific things while other team members do complementary tasks) role? This again helps you determine the type or size of the company you should look at or rule out.
- Are you okay with travelling? Some jobs are at one location, others are travelling around to different locations just during the day and others require lots of out-of-town travel. Do you have a preference or any needs that make one of these not an option?
- Do you want to supervise others? This is not a power struggle issue, it really plays into your personality… do you strive to be the boss or do you just want to go to work and get the job done?
- Are you interested in being over any budgets or driving any strategy? I found a number of job postings that crossed the line from “being an amazing technician and doing the job” to “in charge of the overall strategy and budgets and planning,” which are two different kinds of things (strategy and budgets and planning can be quite frustrating if you really just want to roll your sleeves up and fix or build something).
- What kind of commute are you comfortable with? There are a lot more opportunities within a 1 hour and 15 minute drive than just a 30 minute drive… but that kind of commute each day is hard on you and your vehicle :/
- What kind of shift or hours do you want? Do you want 9to5, or can you do swing or nights? Do you want to be on-call (with high likelihood of getting called)?
What are other considerations that you should be able to list/answer, to help you figure out what kinds of companies and job titles you should look at?
via jibberjobber.com
