hey ATS, tell me what you think

So I'm about to get fired from a sales jiob, in three weeks or less.

I spent 18 yrs. running pawnshops, then 1 year selling cars. I hate selling cars and I'm not doing pawnshops anymore. In high sxhool and college I was a DJ at radio stations, also worked for a pizza place for a few years and a hotel inbetween.

I am sharing waaaaay too much personal info but what the hell, whichever 3 letter agency probably has me on the FEMA camp list anyway so what does it matter?

Anyway, the question is, what do I do now? What field should I try to get into? Where do I have the best chance?

All suggestions are welcome.

(great time to be job hunting, eh?)

Alpaca herding. That's where the money's at.

it would be nice if there were jobs to be had, but seems to me you put your "time" in. do like everybody else...foodstamps and welfare it's time the gubbmit pays back.

reply to post by Signals


18 years running pawn shops? Were you bouncing around or was it a chain...there some business experience in there...I would focus the resume around buisness and customer service..

I saw this ATS thread about Backflow Assembly Testers, I don't know if it's something you'd be interested in but it looked kinda cool to me. Here's a link to the thread.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

This may sound odd but with all the person on person experience I would think you must have developed some awesome people skills over the years. There has to be something said for a person that can deal with the public and in the capacity that you have requires more than just your average "run of the mill" retailer so to speak!

So my vote goes to something professional, like in the Social Sciences of some sort...maybe a social worker or a counselor of some kind...and what an effective way to share your views with others. I don't know where your education stopped...but going back to school and working toward something in a field like this might be your cup of tea!

I hear theres a reactor job going in Japan that pays good money
Once in a life time experience
but im not sure of the long term prospects...
but i hear the land around there is hot hot hot !!!
(not too early for this i hope, )

I'd say that you'd probably be a good candidate for any number of sales jobs. If you've run pawn shops, you've probably got a good bit of experience in retail management as well. I know that running pizza joints or something isn't exactly ideal, but it's a job.

I suppose it depends on what industries are currently doing well in your area, but one solid piece of advice:

Apply for jobs NOW while you are still employed. You have a a much greater chance of being hired if you already have a job. Many employers automatically disregard applicants who are unemployed (which sucks, for sure, but that's another topic... ).

Hey thanks for the comments, some great ideas so far...

To answer 2 questions, some college, and 2 different national chains, not mom & pop stores, the last one was the biggest shop in a major city, we were hoppin'.

Thanks Again.

reply to post by VariableConstant


This is some good advice. I've been on the hiring side of things and when employers are widdling through 700 applications, they need something to act as a basis for keeping or ridding of applications.

In my neck of the woods, the fields that are heating up are conservation positions. Water/Wastewater reclamation, water shed, and green jobs (wind, steam heat etc.). Air traffic controlling (I know, they've been in the news ALOT lately). Not to mention the aging baby boomers. So healthcare is going to be booming even more than it is now.

Just some ideas. Hope they help and good luck.

Here's what i did my man..

once the union got overwhelmed with illegals..

I got a job as a maintenance tech..

I like to fix things..

worked out great for me...

now i am the head of a small maint. dept.

and doing quite well...

and i get to fix things..

because fixing things is cool..

and everyone loves you for it..

I am a hero to my wife....lol...

just my ideas..putting food on the table and paying bills..you have experence i pawn shops..its a job and pays the bills..meanwhile you are employed you can put out feelers for something better..run a booth at gun shows (need ffl)..maybe an antique shop ..just some ideas

reply to post by jlv70


Good call, and good memory, I almost forgot about that if it wasn't for you.

Excellent... To the O.P. stick to what your good at, but in your spare time do whatever you can to develope
more skills pertaining to what you like to do, but are not yet fully skilled at.

As your tone suggests you would like to be in a different field. That is my humbly vague advice anyway.

Whatever you do, don't quit! Unless you have got something better lined up!

reply to post by Signals


at this time of this posting you have 6,666 stars - that means you're evil!!! jk

your resume sounds like mine except I didn't do anything for 18 years (never stayed anywhere more than 3, unless you count the internet addiction, 14 years last march)

I really have no advice for you except that you should do something you enjoy doing, something you want to do, knowing what you want is the hard part I think - I still don't know what I want

reply to post by Forevever


Now he has 6,667. You're welcome.

reply to post by Nosred


I didn't want that!!! but I guess now I'm free to give the star also ;D 6,668