A recruiter cold called me. I’m usually pretty rude to cold callers, so I played hardball out of the gate and I managed to get a $30k raise vs my current position.

CEO reached out to me on Linkedin and asked if I wanted a job

First job ever: Highschool work program. I slung coffee in a Costco.

First job in a field related to what I wanted to do: Needed any job I could get, applied a bunch of places, got hired by one basically sight unseen because they were desperate for anyone they could get and practically pulling people in off the streets.

First job specifically doing what I wanted to do: Used experience moonlighting and doing stuff somewhat related to get a full-time job doing the actual thing I loved.

Current job: With experience under my belt and a better resume, I applied at a better company (that paid well), and got the job. Planning to stay with this company until I can retire, if possible.

I was looking for a video game controller and a school in China accidentally posted their ad for an english teacher in the for sale video game section of craigslist.

I responded to the ad and told them I could teach English, and they invited me to China, where I taught for many years.

Networking.

I job hopped a few times over the years and as I was shopping around last time an old boss pinged me to chat about the field. He left our prior company and went somewhere bigger. Got me an introduction.

So far best job ever.

I confidently confused a CRM with CMS, and then spent the next four months on my new job frantically working to understand how a CRM works. Lol I figured it out, mainly because nobody before me had taken the time to do so.

First real job? Got lucky - the hiring manager was incompetent to the point where he hired everyone. It turned out great, though, as I happened to love what I do and that propelled forwards very quickly.

I didn’t get it, I created it. I’m self-employed.

Speaking of which, time for my 12pm frisbeegolf session.

a competitor hired everyone in my department without even a single interview when the first employer was starting to go bankrupt.

I tried to strike out on my own, failed. College halfheartedly with a couple different courses (Programming, and Hearing Aid Practitioner) just kinda throwing shit at the wall. Both I’d last a year or two, then decide nah and drop out. Welding I did okay at, and it’s a useful skill at home, but wasn’t for me as a career. Same with vehicle mechanic. Since Canadian, that didn’t actually put me in much debt despite being a massive waste of time. Plus I worked part time through education, and split rent on a house five ways with my friends turned roommates.

Miserable warehouse work for a couple years after all this. Moved up to manager in a year because every other manager was on drugs or alcoholic and unreliable. The other workers were mostly ex-cons or fried out temp workers. Used that exp to apply to a manufacturing plant for warehouse packaging. Adjacent career, but pays way better. Especially with a union.

That position got taken, but they offered me an Operator position instead which is great work if you’re a loner and just wanna run extruders mostly unsupervised and with only one co-worker in your crew. Which I do. Some days busy and you don’t sit. Some days are hell. Especially when equipment isn’t quite broken, but is on the way out, or you have a bitchy development product with a bunch of unknowns with the techs watching and asking about your every move. Most days you have almost nothing to do but hourly readings and you sometimes never see any manager or tech for months at a time. It’s a clean manufacturing process, so not much housekeeping outside of a fuckup. Thankfully, I’m allowed personal electronics in our control room. I like read, draw, and write at work. Sometimes Steam Deck. Used to scroll online way too much at work, so I found healthier habits to stave off night shift cabin fever and not break my mind reading American media.

As of this year, the career pays out ~110,000 a year. Union plant. Thank fuck, because the Americans own it.

After graduating, I had to compete in a big city with people who have a higher degree and more experience than I do. Obviously, that didn’t work out so well for me, so I ended up working in the wrong field for a while. I kept my eyes open, until eventually, I found the right job in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Turns out, there was hardly any competition, and I got the job. Being willing to relocate and having the right degree was all it took.

Backwater places like that can’t afford to demand 15 years of experience and a PhD in precisely the one thing they care about. If you have a degree in anything close enough, and are willing to relocate to a small town, you’re in the top ten. If you happen to have the exact right degree, you’re going to win hands down.

Years later, I met some of my friends who stayed in the city. Oh boy, has it been rough for them! Several low-paying jobs in the wrong field, several career switches, more studying and all that.

If you’re a fresh graduate, here’s my advice: If things don’t work out in the city, consider relocating. When there’s a job opportunity in a small town, apply anyway and see where that takes you.