Summer Job

[coldharvest]

bullshit
Do the math on a $1000 day planting trees.
It's hard, sore, bug-infested work in remote areas (that's why you should go) that most people never get to see but it's not for the faint -hearted or those who expect easy, big money.....more of a "How Mexican was my Summer" situation.
Ask yourself how many business students do it if the money's so good?

[Kurt]

The math would be 10,000 trees a day to make $1000.00 a day. I'd imagine stumbling across a nest of yellow jackets would be a daily occurrence sometime around the beggining of July.

[Kerouac]

I am leaving Sunday for Alaska to work as a deckhand on a salmon gillnetter in Bristol Bay.

Mi dos centavos on the recommendation you have received to look here:

1. Be aware that most processors/ canneries require you to have US working papers,
2. If you get hired as a deckhand on a salmon boat your captain may turn a blind eye to this, but immigration won't if you get caught (I have never seen an immigration official anywhere besides Dillingham and Kodiak),
3. The pay is risky if you get on a boat. Boats break. Captains suck. The fish don't hit. You realize it's not what you bargained for and you suck at picking fish. All sorts of crap.

I did the math on working at a cannery and yeah, you might make a few thousand dollars and, unlike a boat- the pay is reliable. You pay nothing for rent or food- but you will work 7 days a week in a hairnet and on your feet and about 50% of your fellow workers will speak Portuguese or Spanish, not English. For the latter two weeks of June and the first two in July, you can also expect to pull 100 hour weeks or more.

Working on a boat, however, you (and the crew) are captain of their own fate. You "eat what you kill" so to speak and the harder, more often you fish and the less sleep you get during openings- the more money will be in your pocket at the end (Probably why Dillingham has a lot of cocaine for a town on the Aleutian arm).

Plus, you get to do this:


Anyway- if you really want to read more about fishing in Alaska, we discussed this back in 2006 before I went up there the first time in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15791

PS: Alaskajobfinder.com is a legit service but it's also a complete crapshoot. It's how I got my first gig and that was dumb luck. The captain was young and didn't have any friends to hire. Don't bother paying for anything more than a month and if you're looking to work during the summer you really need to pay for it from late April to late May. Almost everyone has a gig by now, and anyone who doesn't is desperate- probably for a reason. Talk to the captain on the phone and go with your gut. The season is already over in Copper River and already long started for the Kodiak seiners. All that's left is Bristol Bay and that will kick off in 2 weeks or so. If you want to get a gig there you have to hop on the hobby horse ASAP.

Don't spend any money @ fishingjobs.com or Alaskafishingjobs.com. Both suck and cost too much for an antiquated list.

Most captains aren't very net savvy. If you want a job on a boat as a greenhorn, I'd try my luck with alaskajobfinder.com or I'd put an ad up in the 'jobs' section of Craigslist in Anchorage or whatever services the Bellingham Washington area. If you are *really* resourceful, I'd call the PAF Yard (google for the #) in Dillingham and ask that they put a 3x5 card up with your contact info on the jobs board.

Once you have a season or two under your belt you can either stay with the original captain or move around. Your work will speak for itself and you'll be able to land gigs via word-of-mouth.

[Woodsman]

Depending on where you are in Canada (or where you're willing to drive to) there are tree planting companies that you can make a fortune working for during the summer. You make about 5¢ - 10¢ a tree and I have heard tales of people clearing as much as $1k in a very, very long brutal day. The work is hard, but I've got a number of friends that do it to pay for college every year.

Plus depending on where you work you get to ride in helicopters and / or Unimogs to get to your site.

That or live in your car and work in Ft. McMurray. Not recommended, but I hear the pay is good.

What cold said. I find the above quite laughable actually.

[Firedraik]

I misspoke. Mistyped? Something. I apologize.

Even my treeplanting buddies laughed at me.
I was informed It's more like 18 - 25¢ a tree depending on the type of tree and the conditions, give or take.
And also that any of them had only ever heard of a scant rather experienced few making that kind of money in a day, and it wasn't a common occurrence.

Please bear in mind that I'm talking about saplings, not grown trees.

I stand corrected.


...what a way to start off at the Flag

[coldharvest]

I misspoke. Mistyped? Something. I apologize.

Even my treeplanting buddies laughed at me.
I was informed It's more like 18 - 25¢ a tree depending on the type of tree and the conditions, give or take.
And also that any of them had only ever heard of a scant rather experienced few making that kind of money in a day, and it wasn't a common occurrence.

Please bear in mind that I'm talking about saplings, not grown trees.

I stand corrected.


...what a way to start off at the Flag

It's a perfect way to start at the Flag......Welcome.

[Firedraik]

Thank you Cold. I look forward to it! Been reading the BFC for a while now. Finally decided to man up and join.

Now if only I could find myself a job.
I'm kinda new to this whole "living internationally / abroad" thing.

[coldharvest]

I'm kinda new to this whole "living internationally / abroad" thing.

what is it you want to do boy?

[LechoZX]

Ask yourself how many business students do it if the money's so good?

None because business students are pussies.

[Firedraik]

Well, if I'm honest, I have no idea.
I just graduated - not that my degree will have anything to do with whatever I end up doing.
It's a BA in Outdoor Adventure after all. (Actually, reading RYP while working on a degree in "adventure" is pretty demoralizing. In an awesome sort of get-your-ass-in-gear kind of way.)

I'm living in Canada for the time being, but can't work (yet) because I'm technically still a student. I'd like to do something that helps people, gets me outside, and my wife would appreciate staying on this continent, and something that doesn't involve me getting shot at regularly. I know you guys are into that and all. Looking online I've found plenty of work all over, but it's all seasonal. Nothing worth moving for, you know?

Originally I was going to be a camp Rec. / Program Director, or a guide. However the idea of escorting drunk yuppies through the mountains and being entirely responsible for them doesn't really appeal to the part of me that doesn't like going to prison or literally having my pants sued off me. I've found Ranger jobs a few places, but people are being let go like crazy there too.

...and the middle of Saskatchewan doesn't exactly have a lot to offer on the Outdoor Adventure / Recreation front. Don't know if that means I should get to work and invent some or get out ASAP.

I don't expect the BFC to find me a job, but you asked (well, Cold did), and so that's where I am.

[redharen]

Just do something you're interested in and commit to doing adventurous things. I worked in an office for 3 1/2 years but that didn't stop me from going and doing what I wanted to do. If this degree doesn't give you exactly what you want, try doing "what you want" in your down-time, and then once you have some experience under your belt, you might be able to make a career out of that.

[vagabond]

Welcome to the BFC. I didn't know there were such degrees in Outdoor Adventure. I would do a lot of different stuff and find out what you like best. That's what being young and having lots of energy and good knees is for. Go on LinkedIn or some other site like that and search for the title/position job you might want to have in 5 years, find people that have that, and check their profiles to see how they went up the ladder - some is luck and some is hard work at the bottom. In regards to 'outdoor adventure', I've met a lot of people who do interesting stuff from leading Outward Bound groups to one guy that runs the whole outdoors program at a major US university.

Some advice from Scott Adams, the Dilbert cartoonist:

Career Advice

Last night I met a script supervisor. She works with directors to make sure a movie has the right continuity, and one scene fits the next. It’s a fascinating job, hobnobbing with top directors, writers, and celebrities. No two assignments are the same. How do you get that kind of career? She earned a degree in anthropology and just “fell into it” through a series of events.

I know the feeling. I majored in economics, got an MBA, worked at a bank, then a phone company, and became a cartoonist.

For every person who studies something specific, such as the law or medicine, and actually ended up in that sort of career, I think there are five who let chance pick their careers. That works out more often than you’d think, but you can’t recommend it as a career strategy. Instead, I recommend a general formula for success. Allow me to explain.

If you want an average successful life, it doesn’t take much planning. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like. But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:

1. Become the best at one specific thing.
2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.

The first strategy is difficult to the point of near impossibility. Few people will ever play in the NBA or make a platinum album. I don’t recommend anyone even try.

The second strategy is fairly easy. Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort. In my case, I can draw better than most people, but I’m hardly an artist. And I’m not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most people. The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes. It’s the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare. And when you add in my business background, suddenly I had a topic that few cartoonists could hope to understand without living it.

I always advise young people to become good public speakers (top 25%). Anyone can do it with practice. If you add that talent to any other, suddenly you’re the boss of the people who have only one skill. Or get a degree in business on top of your engineering degree, law degree, medical degree, science degree, or whatever. Suddenly you’re in charge, or maybe you’re starting your own company using your combined knowledge.

Capitalism rewards things that are both rare and valuable. You make yourself rare by combining two or more “pretty goods” until no one else has your mix. I didn’t spend much time with the script supervisor, but it was obvious that her verbal/writing skills were in the top tier as well as her people skills. I’m guessing she also has a high attention to detail, and perhaps a few other skills in the mix. Probably none of those skills are best in the world, but together they make a strong package. Apparently she’s been in high demand for decades.

At least one of the skills in your mixture should involve communication, either written or verbal. And it could be as simple as learning how to sell more effectively than 75% of the world. That’s one. Now add to that whatever your passion is, and you have two, because that’s the thing you’ll easily put enough energy into to reach the top 25%. If you have an aptitude for a third skill, perhaps business or public speaking, develop that too.

It sounds like generic advice, but you’d be hard pressed to find any successful person who didn’t have about three skills in the top 25%.

What are your three?

[Firedraik]

Thanks guys - good food for thought.

[camel]

do you have your heart set on staying in NA?

i'd be inclined to head for someplace in north east asia, japan, korea, taiwan, china.

even without the appropriate visa you can make some decent coin teaching english.

what you're shooting for in the 4 months you should be able to bank in less than 2.

[grawp]

Good morning, sir.

Had you considered working for Canadian Pacific in track and roadbed repair?
Good pay and outdoor work with great scenery.

grawp