Is basic DIY skills enough to get you a job in facilities maintenance?I am currently a degenerate NEET, but I do enjoy working with my hands but I have absolutely zero education past high school or any job experience. Not sure how competitive the market is for this field, should I try to do a two year community college degree/cert first in some relevant discipline?
>>2993096No. Skills do not get you jobs unless a company is desperate. Connections get you jobs. You need to know someone that works to get a job.
>>2993099>You need to know someone that works to get a jobBeing a NEET doesn't really help build connections.
>>2993096go to school for HVACmake 6 digits
>>2993096Can you glue PVC pipe together and neglect the primer? Then yes, you can work in facilities maintenace.
>>2993096go do an engineering school, its like six months in the east coast and you can get very well paying jobs, just need connections.
>>2993096Buddy I got a job as maintenance at a hotel, and I can tell you the other people who worked there were fucking retarded and had zero skills at all. You can do it.
>>2993096Community Colleges got a rep for lying to students about value of programs they offer, plus look up "course articulation". Not saying its not better than nuthin', but VERIFY with 3rd parties that matter, and FORMER STUDENTS.>>2993099I tell everyone to consider first becoming Security Guard, for a couple few reasons. With own car you will likely be a "floater" and cover shifts, and see inside 1/2 dozen diff businesses a month, and since Security only answers to top management, and The Boss is often first to arrive and last to leave, you might get connection.Security would also be a way to start getting into "facilities maintenance". Start by picking up odd trash during patrols (let boss or someone see you do it in such a way "looks much better") and make a good written report of any issues like janky door locks, leaking gutters, etc.98% of hiring is "do they personally like you". Don't worry about those they don't, just be ready for the one that does.At least doing Security will give you SOME exp in different types of operations, just from seeing beyond the receptionist's desk, and SOME is a lot better than none.Plus most Security is just hanging out and you can be a NEET but paid.9/10 Security will sit on ass shit posting in office at night or sitting on company car and make same money as Janitor who has to clean toilets all night.
>>2993195>go do an engineering school, its like six months in the east coastYou mean technical school?
>>2993096Apply to be a maintenance man for a section 8 complex. You WILL get hired if you have even half a brain cell (probably optional), and it will help you gain experience fast with how run down those places are.
>>2993309>section 8 complex>You WILL get hiredI wonder if there might just be some reason for why no one wants those jobs and how it's so easy for someone to get hired at them...
>>2993309this. My interview was assembling a doorknob, assembling a sink drain and wiring a lightswitch. Ironically one of my coworkers couldnt do any of those correctly but he got hired because his brother already worked there. So yes, you can get hired with basic skills but you always have a better chance based on who you know
>>2993432>>2993133I managed to get a job like this.Written test was stuff I shouldn’t know except I’m an autist, like “what is a VFD?” and “What is cavitation?”Bench test was using calipers, a torque wrench, testing fuses with a meter, gluing some PVC, and wiring up a 120V motor (can you see colors and follow directions?).
>>2993309>section 8 complexI live in the south, every complex is a section 8 complex.
Not OP but I want to start a small business using my almost non-existant DIY and electrics skills, installing access control devices, self-checkout systems and such. Still haven't got a single client and I'm afraid that I'll fuck up on my first ones but idc lol
>>2993482>I live in the south, every complex is a section 8 complex.I lived in Georgia for a work thing for about 14 months. We couldn't find ANY rentals that weren't Section 8. Single family home, apartment, duplex, nothing. As I was only going to be there for about a year I ended up buying a brand new 5th wheel, setting up in a trailer park, and using the company housing allotment to pay for it. Work took longer than expected and man was I glad to put that place in my rear view mirror. The people were great, but the infrastructure was dogshit and it was like stepping back in time 30 years. The worst part was the weather. Clear day, 85 degrees, 100% humidity, then a storm rolls in, drops 6 inches of water in 30 minutes, and 30 minutes after that it is sunny again. No fucking thank you.
>>2993128>go to school for HVAC>make 6 digitsI never understood this. Why do HVAC, carpenters, plumbers, etc., make more than maintenance guys?Most maintenance guys I know do all of that work and more yet get paid pennies on the dime and are overworked on top of it.How is it that having MORE skills leads to you having less pay?
>>2993583Jack of all trades, master of none.Also, a lot of lower tier trades people make dogshit money. At least in places with weak unions, picture related. Where I live all of the local building outfits hire exclusively illegals. To be fair, these are all tract home and commercial property builders. Outfits that are all about throwing it together as fast as possible. These illegals are all getting paid less than the people working at McDonald's and it is all under the table or falsely reported. The difference between the two is the 'under the table' people have no papers at all and are getting maybe $12 an hour while the 'falsely reported' people are using a stolen identity. On the books they are getting like $22 an hour but in reality they are getting maybe $14.You never see these companies posting job listings either. If they need people they just talk to the one guy on a crew that speaks passable English and more illegals turn up. They also have all the local ICE people in their pocket. All the business that hire illegals do. Why do you think so few businesses get raided? All these illegals coming here, "taking our jobs", and yet no one is actually employing them. Strange, right? What is even stranger is that, even when a company is raided, all they do is round up the illegals. Charges are almost never filed against the business. Almost like someone is getting paid to look the other way and the company missed payment. Wouldn't want to actually put them out of business though. That would stop the money flowing. You just want to remind them who to send the checks to.
>>2993583I knew in Washington State parks, the government would hire maintenance people and they would do all the work of a tradie combined and get paid less, it's weird
It was for me but I read the fuck out of tech literature and am a demon at parts sourcing such that my last boss went from asking why I was on the internet to asking me to find the best deal on tools and equipment. I always get tech manuals for everything I work on and I kept those on a USB fob along with Firefox Portable so I could keep all my research on my hardware (backed up at home of course). If you want a fast track to a career with benefits join the fucking Air Force to work on drones, aircraft etc where DIY gives you an edge. I could teach a rock to fix fighters and left industrial maintenance to go USAF because the career path was poor on a good day. Do not join the Army or USMC for tech stuff. The Navy has great welding schools but is horribly overtasked.Anything that fails to get you a vested retirement plan with full medical is shit. Life is a desperate grim struggle of desperate grimness alternating between desperation and grimness atop simultaneous desperate grimness. I've never felt a recession since 1981. That was well worth occasional inconvenience in a career that's lower risk than many industries. (Ignore the news, wise government employees outlast multiple POTUS and joining when things suck is a fine way to make rank in future.)Never think like a young person. Whatever you do, copy what is proven to work. The armed forces train worse than you and they do fine. I did facility and industrial maintenance, wrenched cars/trucks/bikes etc but only as jobs, not for a career which is very different. The auto mechanic industry is desperate for labor because it sucks but you can learn vastly more than enough from say taking a CC program then working a few years to branch out because the multiple skills apply throughout mechanical and electrical trade jobs. I'm proof. Other wise options include any Federal or state job you can manage to accumulate retirement points. Your adult working life will end sooner than you imagine so push hard.
>>2994328But you get to play HVAC tech, plumber, and landscaper all in one day for the pay of a landscaper!My backup plan is learning so much random shit that I can take weekend jobs as much as I need. Made $400 cash last Saturday doing some automotive, had a little $100 job today and probably a couple hundred more on Juneteenth if my parts come on time.
>>2995526>tfw you learn that adjustable pulleys are a thing and belts do not enjoy running at angles for more than a couple monthsIt is quite an interesting job compared to driving the ol’ Bepis truck
>>2993099FPBP Your number one barrier to entry at any job is the HR lady who throws your CV in the trash for fun. Having connections means you skip that part and get to have a direct interview with your new manager who doesn't care that you don't have 10 years of experience and 76 certificates because he's been demanding new employees for months and getting nothing from HR.Ask your friends and family if their job is hiring and get interviews that way, I've gotten jobs I'm not even qualified for in the past just by being referred and having a chat with the manager for the position that's hiring. It's always been this way btw, people complain about the job market being shit but having connections has always been the best way to get hired (rich people call this "networking", not nepotism)
>>2995572Spitting facts
>>2993201Basically this.It's true having connections will get you a job quicker, but showing up on time, not being a dunk or druggie, following directions, and being halfway competent will keep you hired.If you want to go the schooling route take a forklift program or something equivalent. See what type of things the community college offers for that type of stuff. You might be surprised.If you can do basic handyman shit and have a set of tools and transportation, you should be able to get a job with a local general contractor.Browse Craigslist under Skilled Trades and under Gigs: Crews-Labor.
>>2995572>>2995598Still wondering how my semi-autistic ass did it. Must be my stunning good looks.
>>2994328>they would do all the work of a tradie combined and get paid less, it's weirdAnd have job security and benefits.I knew a guy that painted houses, had his own crew, and did fairly well. His wife started making more money than him, and he gave up painting and drove a public school bus simply for the benefit package for his whole family.He applied for promotion jobs as they came up. Now he's in charge of the whole district fleet and hires/fires other bus drivers.
>>2995572Yeah.Always remember that when you are writing resumes and cover letters, the purpose of that is to entertain some retarded bitch.
>>2993583because they didn't go to the schoolthey will do most of the basic maintenance but when they encounter a problem beyond their knowledge level and ability they call the professional professionals also do the initial installs which is when developers are expecting to drop a lot of cash so they don't balk at the price, but everyone wants to cheap out on the long term maintenance
>>2995324>Navy has great welding schoolspeople join as HTs to learn welding but 99% of them end up fixing clogged shit pipes on a boat
Happy Juneteenth! No work today so we get to do side jobs to make up for low gov’t worker pay!All 4 motor mounts were fucked
