What do you want to be when you grow up?

[BuzzH]

Ha, just don't quit....sounds good....I have some of the same memories early on...I have been able to spend time over seas in different countries that I would have never seen possibly..etc.etc...that is why I said ...it's now different for me. I wish is was only 6 years for me ....you don't HAVE to retire Buzz....

Nope, many hang around too long for all the wrong reasons. It will be time to pass the torch in another 5.5 years, I'm comfortable doing that.

 

[Bambistew]

I think a city fire fighter is the career to have. The way their shifts are structured, they have so much time off it allows you to pursue something else on the side that you have a passion for and having the real and stable job makes it so the pressure to be immediately profitable in your passion project is not there.
I have several friends that have done this and built successful businesses in real estate, outfitting, etc. And the firefighting job itself pays well and has great benefits and all of that

I know a few FF. They see some the worst things imagined and take that stuff home. I'm greatful they do their jobs. But man. I couldn't imagine scraping a kid off the highway, or showing up to a suicide with family present. They get paid well for a reason.

I'd be a surveyor if I didn't do what I do now. Seriously I love surveying and property record searches, drawing plats, finding property corners, setting lines, etc

I really like what I do (mining/environmental/civil engineering). I remember having a conversation with my dad when I was about 14 about what I wanted to do... I told him either mining engineering or Dr. I took the easy way out.

Not sure I would pick a different career. I hate to see people waste their talents on mindless jobs, though. I had a good friend in HS that should have been an electrical engineer. When he was a freshman he understood imaginary numbers and all the weird shit electrical engineers do. He didn't have the money for school and went into construction as a laborer. I tried to get him to reconsider but he was happy doing what he was doing school isn't for everyone.

I see us as all having civic duty to contribute to the betterment of society. I'm not sure being a delivery driver really checks many boxes, but at the same time I want my Amazon stuff on my porch!

 

[Kentucky Jack]

Gotta start off with the fact that I like the career path I chose. Descent money but better benefits. With 7 weeks of vacation time a year for plenty of hunting trips I can't complain.
But If I had to do it all over again I would have definitely pursued an acting career after high school. Always enjoyed it in high school and definitely not camera shy. Was in several commercials and multiple historical documentary's on the history channel in my teen's and really enjoyed it. I definitely think I could have done it. But with the politics and political correctness in Hollywood I definitely wouldn't fit in!

 

[Jbotto]

Man, been thinking about this a lot. Went to school for natural resource management and did a job in the private sector for a few years. It burnt me out and I couldn’t imagine the red tape of a government job so I walked away. Worked construction for awhile and then fell into a good job with a surveying company. Did that until moving a couple years later. They kept me on remotely and I was about to go crazy in front of a computer in my home all day. Went back and worked construction again before I found what I do now. I was promoted before I was ready for it and the job stresses me out and challenges me daily. But I do think I’ll have the hang of it after another year or so. Peers and my boss says im doing great, so that helps but it’s a steep learning curve. If I had to do it all over again, I think I would have started with some short trade school path and worked until I wanted to try another trade to try. Rinse and repeat. Lots of life skills can be learned that way instead of paying others to take care of your own life. a guy would be able to do basically everything for himself after a little time.

 

[CowboyLeroy]

Big fin but with hot sauce

 

[BackofBeyond]

I’d probably still be in construction, but if I could do it over again I’d be a union electrician.

 

[DouglasR]

I wish I would’ve finished school so I had a backup plan, then I’d keep driving big rigs but I’d tell a lot more people to kiss my ass.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Marine biologist.
I made my money in concrete, both retail and construction but I was born and raised to do my 2nd career as a charter boat operator. That was a good gig most days. And pretty profitable once you proved yourself.
I tell the younger generations to get a job with full benefits and stick with it. 20 years goes by before you know it. A secure pension without the worry of investing in uncertain times is priceless.

 

[RobertD]

I wanted to be a writer and get paid to write and that's what I finally am. I don't think I would change anything.

I'm not a world renowned novelist or a hard hitting investigative reporter but I have a good job with a good company and I get to paid to write s little bit everyday.

If I went back and did it over I'd just wind up on the farm, which would have been just fine.

I think if I really had to do it all over and couldn't be a writer or farmer I would be a criminal defense lawyer. Would have been good at it.

 

[MTGomer]

I know a few FF. They see some the worst things imagined and take that stuff home. I'm greatful they do their jobs. But man. I couldn't imagine scraping a kid off the highway, or showing up to a suicide with family present. They get paid well for a reason.

I'd be a surveyor if I didn't do what I do now. Seriously I love surveying and property record searches, drawing plats, finding property corners, setting lines, etc

I really like what I do (mining/environmental/civil engineering). I remember having a conversation with my dad when I was about 14 about what I wanted to do... I told him either mining engineering or Dr. I took the easy way out.

Not sure I would pick a different career. I hate to see people waste their talents on mindless jobs, though. I had a good friend in HS that should have been an electrical engineer. When he was a freshman he understood imaginary numbers and all the weird shit electrical engineers do. He didn't have the money for school and went into construction as a laborer. I tried to get him to reconsider but he was happy doing what he was doing school isn't for everyone.

I see us as all having civic duty to contribute to the betterment of society. I'm not sure being a delivery driver really checks many boxes, but at the same time I want my Amazon stuff on my porch!

Surveying is a good one and the demand is going to go up up up as most of them retire in the next decade. I enjoy it most of the time. Some parts more than others. GLO retracement across a rural township is much more rewarding that staking curb for a new Arby’s

 

[WildWill]

I have a 20 year old cousin making $70k a year building cabins in the resort towns of Hochatown and Broken Bow Oklahoma. Learning a skilled trade like plumbing, carpentry, heat&air, etc can make a guy good money especially if he's reliable and competent. I think about this more as my kids get older my wife of course wants them both to go to college and become doctors or something. I love my kids but sometimes when I watch them I'm not so certain they are doctor material.

 

[Bulldog0156]

State of Montana is hiring for plenty of positions if anyone's interested

 

[2rocky]

 

[FairWeather]

I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, but I’ve stopped caring. I’ve come to realize, for me anyway, what I do is less important than what that job allows me to do when I’m not at work. My current job has amazing benefits and lots of paid time off. That’s what matters to me.

If I could go back, though, I’d tell 13-18yo me that while playing music is a fun hobby, it’s a terrible career option. Kill that dream as quickly as you can, listen to your dad, and just go to business school. Or still join the army, but don’t enlist as an infantryman.

While there’s pride in being an infantryman, I could have been way less miserable in a cushier MOS that actually had civilian transferable skills when I got out.

 

[rjthehunter]

I'm only 25, but a few years into a career in project management for construction. It pays well, I enjoy it, and I get plenty of time off! My goal is to make enough money to do the things I love. I have a hell of a boat, a house, and get to hunt & fish all the time. Not much else I could ask for.

Winning the lottery would give me a lot more free time and opportunities, but I enjoy what I'm doing now. If I had to pick something different, being a hunting or fishing guide sounds attractive.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Maybe it’s because of the shorter days (thus more Netflix), but I would travel the world and do food documentaries. Like a Lady Bourdain…

This is what I wanted to do too! I loved to write, so I wanted to travel abroad and write about different cultures and the foods and the lifestyles, the scenery, EVERYTHING!

Oh well, Now I work construction and want to be Randy Newburg when I grow up

 

[MTGomer]

I'm only 25, but a few years into a career in project management for construction. It pays well, I enjoy it, and I get plenty of time off! My goal is to make enough money to do the things I love. I have a hell of a boat, a house, and get to hunt & fish all the time. Not much else I could ask for.

Winning the lottery would give me a lot more free time and opportunities, but I enjoy what I'm doing now. If I had to pick something different, being a hunting or fishing guide sounds attractive.

There must be a huge demand out there right now for competent CM.

My company is providing the surveying for a big commercial park that has some 1/4 million sq ft cold storage warehouses being built. The lack of real management is making it a nightmare. No knowledge, they don’t have a schedule, no weekly meetings, nothing. No coordination or control over subs. Just pure chaos. They’ve poured footings in the wrong spots, moved the same dirt about 4 times, and have had some serious close calls with scraper traffic.

The PM is a well meaning kid but he’s a kid. Like 22 years old, just graduated college. This is his first job and he’s 1200 miles from the company’s home base, with zero support from anybody above him.

 

[DFS]

The best job I ever had was when I fenced the summers when I was in college. If I could turn back time I would have taken that job and ran. It was satisfying work.

 

[Nick87]

There just be a huge demand out there right now for competent CM.

My company is providing the surveying for a big commercial park that has some 1/4 million sq ft cold storage warehouses being built. The lack of real management is making it a nightmare. No knowledge, they don’t have a schedule, no weekly meetings, nothing. No coordination or control over subs. Just pure chaos. They’ve poured footings in the wrong spots, moved the same dirt about 4 times, and have had some serious close calls with scraper traffic.

The PM is a well meaning kid but he’s a kid. Like 22 years old, just graduated college. This is his first job and he’s 1200 miles from the company’s home base, with zero support from anybody above him.

It's always amazed me the difference in project managers. Some of them know there job like the back of there hand other guys are so clueless as to what's going on its embarrassing to talk to them. I mean thats a job that takes a lot of experience in my opinion and I see them throw these new guys in like its nothing. Like you said they must A. have a shortage for and B. a hell of a profit margin. The amount of money some of these guys drop the ball on I could live large on.

 

[Gerald Martin]

There just be a huge demand out there right now for competent CM.

My company is providing the surveying for a big commercial park that has some 1/4 million sq ft cold storage warehouses being built. The lack of real management is making it a nightmare. No knowledge, they don’t have a schedule, no weekly meetings, nothing. No coordination or control over subs. Just pure chaos. They’ve poured footings in the wrong spots, moved the same dirt about 4 times, and have had some serious close calls with scraper traffic.

The PM is a well meaning kid but he’s a kid. Like 22 years old, just graduated college. This is his first job and he’s 1200 miles from the company’s home base, with zero support from anybody above him.

How does one define what competency in CM is?

I’ve already spent over an hour this morning on my weekend coordinating schedules with my radiant heat sub, talking through my plumber’s frustrations and concerns with his boss/partner’s way of approaching plumbing.

I have my framers onsite moving a chunk of wall with a 1200 lb window in it that the guy who the hired to prefabricate wall panels transposed numbers from the print and got the window three inches off center.

I took three days off my projects each of the last two weeks to do final punchlist/rework on another PM’s site because the subs are so frustrated with how picky the customer is they are not coming back to fix real issues they never should have left in the first place.

That includes over eight hours of laying on a staircase chiseling caulk off the hardwood stairs that should have never been caulked in the first place and trying to address crooked/wavy drywall that was caused by a framer not keeping his wall/floor joist connections flush. That same framer was fired from the job because he was subbing out the work to his friends and wasn’t paying them and keeping up with quality control.

Did I mention architects that will draw up a dream design costing tens and tens of thousands of dollars for a multi million dollar project and then allocate mechanical rooms smaller than the walk in closets beside them to accommodate mechanicals for 10,000 square feet? The same architect designed all of the structural steel and framing to be buried in the main floor which was also supposed to carry all HVAC ductwork, plumbing, electrical, radon, etc. in the same 18” deep floor trusses. Never mind the fact that there is full depth steel beams and glu-lam beams running diagonally inside those floors joists.

Competency and professional pride of excellence in craftsmanship in all areas of work seems to be in short supply while at the same time lack of awareness and appreciation of how difficult it actually is to bring a dream to reality is missing from a lot of customers.

I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

However, I have subscribed to the theory of keeping what I enjoy to do personally separate from what I do professionally so I don’t ruin either. I would do that again.