What do you for a living. And what do you earn.

HackMan162
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514
Joined
2/16/2007
Location
Austin, TX US
3/17/2020 10:46am
dirtnasty wrote:
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year. Would probably make more money living in the...
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year.

Would probably make more money living in the states with my resume but I like it here and every time I head home to visit the family in So Cal I really can't picture myself livin that life. Although I do miss having a garage with a KTM in it.
What, no garages or KTMs in Denmark?
Daniel816
Posts
218
Joined
4/22/2012
Location
Winnemucca, NV US
3/17/2020 11:07am
Heavy equipment mechanic at a gold/copper mine in northern Nevada. Working on my 9th year. Make $41 an hour, right now we can work all the overtime we want, and with our schedule we only work 6months out of the year. Rotating shifts can start to suck after awhile though, we get paid for 12 but from the time you get up to the time you go to bed is about a 17 hour day with travel and such.
Titan1
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8620
Joined
2/3/2010
Location
Lehi, UT US
3/17/2020 11:28am
I'm a residential mortgage loan officer. For the past 17 years. I'm an employee of a national correspondent mortgage bank (but I'm only licensed here in Utah)

I've got an associates degree.

I literally pick my own hours...nobody looks over my shoulder...I do what I want, when I want. I just have to make sure that my clients are taken care of, deadlines are met, people get at closing what I promise them when I take their application. So occasionally I'll have to work an evening or a weekend...but very very rarely.

It can be stressful sometimes, as any job with deadlines is...but its magnified, because I'm dealing with peoples homes, with hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a huge chunk of peoples income...I'm not financing refrigerators, or even cars...its a huge deal for every one of my clients (and because I do it all day every day I constantly have to remind myself of that).

I've probably averaged working 20-30 hours per week for the past 5 or 8 years. Partially because I've got a four amazing employees that work for me that are complete rock stars!...One processes, one underwrites, one prepares closing docs...and the other is my assistant/loan coordinator. I'm built a team that allows me to almost take a loan application and then forget about it and move on to the next. They are paid well, and I cater to whatever they want.

Straight commission...I make 1.25% of the loan amount on any loan I close. (Lots of loan officers have higher commission rates than I do...but because commission rates affect the interest rates I can offer, I keep my comp low so I can keep my rates low and then just close more loans...and then I also keep it low so I can afford to keep my support staff paid well).

Average loan amount in Utah is about $300K...I generally close between 20,000,000 and 30,000,000 per year...(I'll close more than that this year because mortgage rates are the lowest they've ever been in the history of mortgages...and I've never been so busy)
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Markopolo400
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1377
Joined
7/24/2012
Location
St. Paul-ish, MN US
3/18/2020 7:25am Edited Date/Time 3/18/2020 7:31am
newmann wrote:
What do you make?
That hammer comment made me lose my coffee lol

The Shop

Naanak
Posts
625
Joined
9/9/2014
Location
NJ US
3/18/2020 11:05am
I live in Finland and work as a Lineworker and monthly i will earn 2800$ before tax. And yearly when all the taxes and pension has...
I live in Finland and work as a Lineworker and monthly i will earn 2800$ before tax. And yearly when all the taxes and pension has done it, i will have around 27 000$, for myself i always find it hard to have much cash over for dirtbikes end of the months. so it would be cool to se what you guys in US earns, form what i gather the monthly pay out is usually higher in US
Lineman at the utility I work at make almost 10x that. That’s obviously with crazy amount of OT. My primary job is Cut/collect credit work. I drive around doing meter maintenance and shutting people off. Take home vehicle and bring home $1100 a week before OT. Thanks to the union we do not work hard and get treated very well here.
dirtnasty
Posts
123
Joined
2/10/2012
Location
Copenhagen DK
3/18/2020 11:42am
dirtnasty wrote:
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year. Would probably make more money living in the...
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year.

Would probably make more money living in the states with my resume but I like it here and every time I head home to visit the family in So Cal I really can't picture myself livin that life. Although I do miss having a garage with a KTM in it.
HackMan162 wrote:
What, no garages or KTMs in Denmark?
Taxes on motor vehicles are absurd out here. so the car + bike is just something i dont prioritise at this point, especially considering the riding out here would suck and the weather isnt really conducive to riding year round. Sweden would have some good enduro/off road though id bet.

i live in an apartment in the city, no houses for a solid distance from here = no garages around here either.

i do enjoy throwing my dads Husky dual-sport around Milestone when i get the chance though!

hubbardmx50
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2490
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11/17/2016
Location
Rancho Cucamonga, CA US
3/26/2020 1:23pm
Any guys in here run a pool cleaning business? If so, how’d you get started? I’m interested.
newmann
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24444
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
US
3/26/2020 2:03pm
newmann wrote:
What do you make?
That hammer comment made me lose my coffee lol
Laughing

Still wondering what it is you are doing R&D for...the industry sure has been changing a lot the past few years.
newmann
Posts
24444
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4/1/2008
Location
US
3/26/2020 2:20pm
Any guys in here run a pool cleaning business? If so, how’d you get started? I’m interested.
That would be Sumdood. He has posted in this thread. I would guess the first thing would be to have a really good understanding of pool maintenance and water. Second would be to show up and do a good job. That means being there on a regular schedule and doing what you are supposed to do. Biggest problem I see in the service industry is people not showing up when they are supposed to and not completing a job to a good standard. If you can do that, you'll be successful. Troubleshooting and repairs of the equipment is going to be a big part of the job as well.
1
hubbardmx50
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2490
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Location
Rancho Cucamonga, CA US
3/26/2020 3:29pm
Any guys in here run a pool cleaning business? If so, how’d you get started? I’m interested.
newmann wrote:
That would be Sumdood. He has posted in this thread. I would guess the first thing would be to have a really good understanding of pool...
That would be Sumdood. He has posted in this thread. I would guess the first thing would be to have a really good understanding of pool maintenance and water. Second would be to show up and do a good job. That means being there on a regular schedule and doing what you are supposed to do. Biggest problem I see in the service industry is people not showing up when they are supposed to and not completing a job to a good standard. If you can do that, you'll be successful. Troubleshooting and repairs of the equipment is going to be a big part of the job as well.
Yeah I just remembered him, I'm pretty sure he even posted in this thread too about it. Thanks.
hubbardmx50
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2490
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Rancho Cucamonga, CA US
3/26/2020 3:33pm
sumdood wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/03/01/408022/s1200_BPS_LOGO.jpg[/img] I make almost as much money as I spend, tens of dollars man we're big time time ballin'....:laugh: :laugh: Actually we do ok, we're by...


I make almost as much money as I spend, tens of dollars man we're big time time ballin'....LaughingLaughing Actually we do ok, we're by no means "Rich" we get by and have fuck off money, but it took awhile to build it up to this point, We have about 140 pools and spas on service, (18 commercial accounts that are multiple stops per week) I have 2 full time guys doing the cleaning and weekly service. My wife does the monthly billing and I do all the rest of the office work, phone calls, parts and chemical ordering, tracking and bill paying, customer pr and most repairs,myself. I have an independent repair guy I sub out technical repairs to like heaters, electronic and wifi issues to. I hate electronics and trouble shooting electronic problems. I can plumb a pool and spa combo with solar, a 3 tiered waterfall and 4 water features no problem, but if a customer can't turn his spa on with his phone I'm baffled, I sub that shit out.Unsure Most days I'll put in 10 plus hours between the office and physical work, more in the summer, but then I can also blow off a Friday and a Monday if I want to go away for a long weekend. I never schedule anything on Monday after a race or camping weekend, so that parts cool. Officially we make about 75K a year, the unofficial books look better. But I have been building this thing for 40+ years now.
How did you get started? Where would someone go to learn about pool maintenance? I assume you got started before the internet was around so it was probably much harder.
dylanmx45
Posts
29
Joined
11/17/2014
Location
Austin, TX US
3/26/2020 10:59pm
Any guys in here run a pool cleaning business? If so, how’d you get started? I’m interested.
I own a pool company. We maintain around 350-400 weekly service accounts and build about 75 new pools a year. Warehouse, showroom, 18 employees, etc... Feel free to message me.
hubbardmx50
Posts
2490
Joined
11/17/2016
Location
Rancho Cucamonga, CA US
3/27/2020 11:24am
Any guys in here run a pool cleaning business? If so, how’d you get started? I’m interested.
dylanmx45 wrote:
I own a pool company. We maintain around 350-400 weekly service accounts and build about 75 new pools a year. Warehouse, showroom, 18 employees, etc... Feel...
I own a pool company. We maintain around 350-400 weekly service accounts and build about 75 new pools a year. Warehouse, showroom, 18 employees, etc... Feel free to message me.
For sure, what's your email Dylan? I never understood how to use PM on here.
XMuttX
Posts
71
Joined
2/25/2020
Location
Austin, TX US
3/27/2020 11:39am
I’m in the car business, 25-40% of nothing is still nothing. It’s gone from being a six figure career to being just above, “would you like fries with that”!
1
NvHermit
Posts
851
Joined
7/21/2018
Location
Poeville, NV US
Fantasy
4326th
3/28/2020 7:00am
I chase bears and lions with hounds, the pay is not that good but it gets me out of the house.


1
4
SEEMEFIRST
Posts
10987
Joined
8/21/2006
Location
Arlington, TX US
4/1/2020 6:23pm
Journeyman Tool & Die Maker by trade. I Now work at a refinery in the rotating equipment department as a “Machinist Specialist”. I made $131k last...
Journeyman Tool & Die Maker by trade. I Now work at a refinery in the rotating equipment department as a “Machinist Specialist”. I made $131k last year with around 550 hours of O.T. Also a Volunteer Firefighter which pays $7.50/hour for the first hour on an incident scene and then $5.00/hour after that
Respect.
1
SEEMEFIRST
Posts
10987
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Location
Arlington, TX US
4/1/2020 6:25pm Edited Date/Time 4/1/2020 6:29pm
Journeyman Tool & Die Maker by trade. I Now work at a refinery in the rotating equipment department as a “Machinist Specialist”. I made $131k last...
Journeyman Tool & Die Maker by trade. I Now work at a refinery in the rotating equipment department as a “Machinist Specialist”. I made $131k last year with around 550 hours of O.T. Also a Volunteer Firefighter which pays $7.50/hour for the first hour on an incident scene and then $5.00/hour after that
SEEMEFIRST wrote:
Respect.
Respect because few know what a tooler does.
We used to joke about toolmakers being the laziest men on the planet. All we do is find the easiest way to do something.

That's why we say "Tell my Mom I'm a piano player at a whorehouse ".
1
SEEMEFIRST
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10987
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Location
Arlington, TX US
4/1/2020 6:37pm
Raise on the side...for now...this doesn't add to the bottom line.



3
newmann
Posts
24444
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4/1/2008
Location
US
4/1/2020 7:53pm
newmann wrote:
Laughing

Still wondering what it is you are doing R&D for...the industry sure has been changing a lot the past few years.
Darn almost slid under the radar Silly Newmann I work for 3M.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/collision-repair-us/
I have more old obsolete 3M part numbers stuck in my head than you can imagine. I sold the stuff for years and have used it ever since.Laughing We burn through quite a bit. Had some good sales reps over the years that came out of Minnesooota.

Good stuff.
1
hubbardmx50
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2490
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Location
Rancho Cucamonga, CA US
4/2/2020 5:57pm
dirtnasty wrote:
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year. Would probably make more money living in the...
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year.

Would probably make more money living in the states with my resume but I like it here and every time I head home to visit the family in So Cal I really can't picture myself livin that life. Although I do miss having a garage with a KTM in it.
Why can't you picture yourself living here? What don't you like about Socal compared to Denmark?
Rawly
Posts
525
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9/12/2019
Location
Simi Valley, CA US
4/3/2020 9:39pm
Retired aerospace technician / prototype machinist , put in 35 years at the same company. Hired into Hughes Aircraft Company ( satellite division ) El Segundo ,Ca which was bought by GM , then Boeing. Making what I did as an employee, minus the OT money , which was double base salary some years. Old fashioned defined benefit program allowed me to retire early at 55.
reaptheheat
Posts
2
Joined
2/23/2020
Location
Denver, CO US
4/7/2020 10:38pm
Daniel816 wrote:
Heavy equipment mechanic at a gold/copper mine in northern Nevada. Working on my 9th year. Make $41 an hour, right now we can work all the...
Heavy equipment mechanic at a gold/copper mine in northern Nevada. Working on my 9th year. Make $41 an hour, right now we can work all the overtime we want, and with our schedule we only work 6months out of the year. Rotating shifts can start to suck after awhile though, we get paid for 12 but from the time you get up to the time you go to bed is about a 17 hour day with travel and such.
Small world. What site?
4/8/2020 3:23pm
I'm a Journeyman Powerline Technician in Canada. Got a really sweet gig right now. We work mon to fri, with every second monday off. Lots of overtime (all double time) if you want it. As an apprentice last year I made 94k gross + about 15k tax free in per diem. Upper end while still on the tools is about 150k + per diem.
WhiteTaco
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151
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10/8/2009
Location
Wake Forest, NC US
4/9/2020 5:42am
dirtnasty wrote:
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year. Would probably make more money living in the...
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year.

Would probably make more money living in the states with my resume but I like it here and every time I head home to visit the family in So Cal I really can't picture myself livin that life. Although I do miss having a garage with a KTM in it.
HackMan162 wrote:
What, no garages or KTMs in Denmark?
dirtnasty wrote:
Taxes on motor vehicles are absurd out here. so the car + bike is just something i dont prioritise at this point, especially considering the riding...
Taxes on motor vehicles are absurd out here. so the car + bike is just something i dont prioritise at this point, especially considering the riding out here would suck and the weather isnt really conducive to riding year round. Sweden would have some good enduro/off road though id bet.

i live in an apartment in the city, no houses for a solid distance from here = no garages around here either.

i do enjoy throwing my dads Husky dual-sport around Milestone when i get the chance though!

Dirtnasty....do you work at Novo?
Skylebones
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51
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Location
Marietta, GA US
4/9/2020 4:38pm
I'm an Art Director making video games for a large entertainment company. Basically guide the look of the art and paint some when I can. Been doing it for 20 years for companies like Disney, Warner Brothers, etc. I love it! combines both art and video games, my two favorite things besides motocross.
1
sumdood
Posts
5561
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San Clemente, CA US
Fantasy
1267th
4/10/2020 1:05am
How did you get started? Where would someone go to learn about pool maintenance? I assume you got started before the internet was around so it...
How did you get started? Where would someone go to learn about pool maintenance? I assume you got started before the internet was around so it was probably much harder.
Just saw this. I'd say go to work cleaning pools for someone else, might as well make some money while you're learning. Learn as much as you can, ask a bunch of questions. It's fairly easy to learn how to keep nice pools nice, but before you try going out on your own you're going to want to feel comfortable getting not so nice pools nice again. Do minor repairs, be able to troubleshoot problems etc. You tube is your friend. And like newmann said just freaking show up, sounds like a no brainer but you'd be surprised. Once you get on your own it's just like running any other business. First the pools have to be perfect obviously, if the pools don't look good you're done. 2nd the customers have to like and trust you, you're in their yard, it's not like working in a store or restaurant, you'll be part of their life, you can't be looking in their windows or pissing in the planter or yelling if you step in dog shit lol. You're in their castle. Just common sense. 3rd. you need to get paid so you need to figure out monthly billing, be a businessman. There's some pool service specific programs out now that make it easier. And the most important part (imo) is communication and honesty ! Let em know whats going on, the pump started leaking, the gate needs work, the dog got out, I broke the clay pot that was on the wall, how was your vacation etc. The more communication and interaction the better.
I started off by cleaning pools for a local company, then wound up working for a pool builder. When the pools were finished I sold them on using me for monthly service and it snowballed from there. You can try and get accounts by running ads or buying an established route. But make sure you can troubleshoot and repair problems, or find a repair guy you can sub problems out to. Everybody can keep a pool that works good clean, but when something breaks you need to be able to trouble shoot and fix the problem, as well as communicate with the customer what broke and what it's going to cost to fix. When things don't go smooth is when you need to shine lol. I'd hire a reliable guy with a good personality, people skills, and no pool experience over a great pool guy that has reliability issues or isn't good with the customers every time. To find work google the closest swimming pool parts warehouse and go there. They all have a bulletin board and there's always guys looking for reliable help. There's a few, PWP, PEP, SCP, Superior to name a couple. Good luck.
FIREfish148
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5443
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Location
Kirkland, WA US
4/10/2020 1:57am
Shawn142 wrote:
I'm a toolmaker with a specific focus on metrology, which is precision measurement via laser tracker. In the aerospace world a toolmaker is responsible for taking...
I'm a toolmaker with a specific focus on metrology, which is precision measurement via laser tracker. In the aerospace world a toolmaker is responsible for taking all the other parts (frame from the weld shop, milled parts from the machine shop, and all the nuts/bolts/hardware) to make a jig or fixture look like the engineering drawing. The tracker comes in handy for this because our tolerance windows are so small. All the points of contact with the actual aircraft being built have to be within .005 of their 3D model engineering versions. The laser trackers these days have accuracy down to the 10 thousandths (.0001). Our tolerances are extremely tight so that production can have the most room possible when actually building the plane. This is absolutely necessary because often planes are built in pieces all across the country by sub-contractors and shipped to one place for final assembly. So it's important everyone plays by the same rules and works off the same systems.

This is also how ship building operates these days, as well as complicated structural assembly. I've been pretty lucky because there aren't many people who do this job anymore. The old guard who grew up doing my job with transits,bucking boards, and levels are all aging out. Now you need to not only be good with your hands, you also have to have computer skills. The ability to understand complicated measurement software and hardware skills to keep the tracker itself alive and operating.

This gig has been a sweet one for me. It pays very well (last year I made 130k) and because the skill is so hard to find it's very in demand. I have worked for Vought Aircraft on a huge variety of projects from Boeing commercial lines to military aircraft like the C-17 and V-22. I fulfilled a childhood dream of working in the space industry for SpaceX and NASA contracting on their new SLS mega rocket. And I got to come back home and get a job with the largest defense contractor in the world Lockheed Martin, building the F-35 and supporting legacy jets like the F-22 and F-16. All before the age of 40.
Is your job a union job? I work on 777's. Took me 6 yers to actually start making decent money though. I worked around 400 hrs OT in 2019 and made 125k and last year I made about 115. The worst part about my job besides the crazy hours is having to work the weekends.
4/10/2020 6:35am
SEEMEFIRST wrote:
Respect because few know what a tooler does. We used to joke about toolmakers being the laziest men on the planet. All we do is find...
Respect because few know what a tooler does.
We used to joke about toolmakers being the laziest men on the planet. All we do is find the easiest way to do something.

That's why we say "Tell my Mom I'm a piano player at a whorehouse ".
Lol you’re right on finding the easiest way to do something. There’s days I miss the die shop. Usually the days where it’s 95°F outside and I’m working on a governor for a 650°F steam turbine. But the stuff I work on now is a completely different ball game.

Conrod out of a 6 cylinder 6,000hp recip compressor.

Operations reported a “slight” noise after the compressor shut itself down. They tried restarting it not once but three times.
1
agn5009
Posts
6757
Joined
6/8/2012
Location
State College, PA US
4/10/2020 6:58am Edited Date/Time 4/10/2020 7:03am
dirtnasty wrote:
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year. Would probably make more money living in the...
Data and business analyst for a pharma company in Denmark. Just a tick over 100k USD last year.

Would probably make more money living in the states with my resume but I like it here and every time I head home to visit the family in So Cal I really can't picture myself livin that life. Although I do miss having a garage with a KTM in it.
Why can't you picture yourself living here? What don't you like about Socal compared to Denmark?
I dont know much about Denmark but I do know some things about California. I live in PA and i absolutely despise cold weather. We've been getting hammered with snow the past 24 hours and I'm pretty dang ticked off about it. With that being said, I would never live in Socal. It's a very interesting place with a bunch of people who have a different way of living but think everyone acts and thinks just like them. I guess I dont know a better way to describe it. Beautiful location, beautiful weather, beautiful women but not so beautiful way of thinking.

Edit: I went down the rabbit hole of researching Denmark. Simplicity, politeness and equality are what the Danish live by. Right theres probably your answer as to why he couldn't live in socal. It's literally the opposite of Denmark.
2

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