Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post

Freefinger · 01-20-2007, 04:15 PM

I just found this site and think it's good to get these discussions going.

I also found that eastcoastgirl did in fact raise some good points about the article.

I'm also a Gov Employee (Canada), but I'm just starting out, only got little more than 5 years now, so I'll respond thru my eyes.

So here's my go at it:

1. Income for dummies. “Why is getting a job so dumb? Because you only get paid when you’re working.” I'll give this one to eastcoastgirl, 'cause she did nail it. We get sick leave, vacation time, 1 day for personnal reason, 1 day of Volunteer work, Leave with income averaging (salary is lowered for one year but you get 5 weeks of extra vacation up to 3 months - Depens what you can afford to lose on the pay check), and many more that compensate for money not coming in while at home.

2. Limited experience. “You might think it’s important to get a job to gain experience. A job only gives you experience at that job….” I started out as an HR Assistant, within 5 years I help a group to develop and look out for Data Integrity for our Human Resources System. That HR Assistant job gave me the experience I needed to proceed upwards and try out new things.

3. "Lifelong domestication" I think the previous generations my feel like that. But it's only because the Managers once gave someone a job and kept them in place for 20 + years. Now the Gov employees seem to move from one position to another every 2 to 5 years. Times change.

4. "Too many mouths to feed. Taxes" - That one I will give you, but at the same time, anyone who earns a living pays. Only the ones who have a business get lots of deductions. But as far as I can tell, if they only claimed what they were suppose to claim, they would be paying like everyone else. Cheating on Taxes appens way more in Businesses than your average joe. Am I mad at them? Well Owners do give people a job and a salary, so I guess it's kind of a give and take situation. So no. They decided to take risks, they can take it, I'll just pay what is due.

5. "Way too risky." This one is true for anyone who work outside the Gov. We have (had) a great employer in the Tech industry, employed thousands of people, then one day the "tech crash" came in. A friend of mine who had decline a Gov job (paid 65K) had accepted a job with them about a year before (they paid 120k + bonus), he asked is manager about the situation and got the "don't worry response", so he went ahead with the purchase of a house. Three weeks after he took ownership of the house, he got the pink slip and about 1 month salary. If you work for the Gov, you'll get paid less, but you'll also have the benefit of more job safety.

6. "Begging for money" I never begged for money, I never over spent either. If you respect the amount coming in and the amount going out, you won't have to beg. Why the 50 inch tv if you have problems paying the morgage? Why the nice speakers in the car (which to this day I'll never understand teens today wanting to lose their hearing by the age of 30) if you can't fill up the frige with food? You make your choice by spending less than what you have coming in, this way when a rainy day comes around, you'll have money aside to help out.

7. "An inbred social life" Gotta go with eastcoast girl, I think people who do have this "inbred social life" are the ones who live away from friends and family. Who else are they going to go out or do something with? Since I grew up in the Ottawa region, I stayed here, lots to do always have friends near by. I don't go out with the co-workers, I think it's better to keep it at a business level. I'm not saying I would refuse to go out once or twice in a year but regularly hang out? Nah.. Not for me. I still hang out with friends from grade 1 and high school, and being 33 now says alot about our lasting friendships.

8. "Loss of freedom" this one I don't understand for the most part. Ok, people with businesses can do something else during the day once in a while, but all my friends who have businesses (succesfull businesses) have to always compensate one day or another for any time they took off. They live, breath, sleep and eat thinking about what's next on their list. Yes they do have money, but I don't call that freedom. While I come home at 5 and that's it 'till next morning and my weekends are dedicated entirely to my family.

10. "Becoming a coward" Depends on the people but most companies today have Unions and they help those who don't dare to fight.

Just my thoughts!

01-20-2007, 04:15 PM	#29 (permalink)
Freefinger Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 2	My own top 10 responses... I just found this site and think it's good to get these discussions going. I also found that eastcoastgirl did in fact raise some good points about the article. I'm also a Gov Employee (Canada), but I'm just starting out, only got little more than 5 years now, so I'll respond thru my eyes. So here's my go at it: 1. Income for dummies. “Why is getting a job so dumb? Because you only get paid when you’re working.” I'll give this one to eastcoastgirl, 'cause she did nail it. We get sick leave, vacation time, 1 day for personnal reason, 1 day of Volunteer work, Leave with income averaging (salary is lowered for one year but you get 5 weeks of extra vacation up to 3 months - Depens what you can afford to lose on the pay check), and many more that compensate for money not coming in while at home. 2. Limited experience. “You might think it’s important to get a job to gain experience. A job only gives you experience at that job….” I started out as an HR Assistant, within 5 years I help a group to develop and look out for Data Integrity for our Human Resources System. That HR Assistant job gave me the experience I needed to proceed upwards and try out new things. 3. "Lifelong domestication" I think the previous generations my feel like that. But it's only because the Managers once gave someone a job and kept them in place for 20 + years. Now the Gov employees seem to move from one position to another every 2 to 5 years. Times change. 4. "Too many mouths to feed. Taxes" - That one I will give you, but at the same time, anyone who earns a living pays. Only the ones who have a business get lots of deductions. But as far as I can tell, if they only claimed what they were suppose to claim, they would be paying like everyone else. Cheating on Taxes appens way more in Businesses than your average joe. Am I mad at them? Well Owners do give people a job and a salary, so I guess it's kind of a give and take situation. So no. They decided to take risks, they can take it, I'll just pay what is due. 5. "Way too risky." This one is true for anyone who work outside the Gov. We have (had) a great employer in the Tech industry, employed thousands of people, then one day the "tech crash" came in. A friend of mine who had decline a Gov job (paid 65K) had accepted a job with them about a year before (they paid 120k + bonus), he asked is manager about the situation and got the "don't worry response", so he went ahead with the purchase of a house. Three weeks after he took ownership of the house, he got the pink slip and about 1 month salary. If you work for the Gov, you'll get paid less, but you'll also have the benefit of more job safety. 6. "Begging for money" I never begged for money, I never over spent either. If you respect the amount coming in and the amount going out, you won't have to beg. Why the 50 inch tv if you have problems paying the morgage? Why the nice speakers in the car (which to this day I'll never understand teens today wanting to lose their hearing by the age of 30) if you can't fill up the frige with food? You make your choice by spending less than what you have coming in, this way when a rainy day comes around, you'll have money aside to help out. 7. "An inbred social life" Gotta go with eastcoast girl, I think people who do have this "inbred social life" are the ones who live away from friends and family. Who else are they going to go out or do something with? Since I grew up in the Ottawa region, I stayed here, lots to do always have friends near by. I don't go out with the co-workers, I think it's better to keep it at a business level. I'm not saying I would refuse to go out once or twice in a year but regularly hang out? Nah.. Not for me. I still hang out with friends from grade 1 and high school, and being 33 now says alot about our lasting friendships. 8. "Loss of freedom" this one I don't understand for the most part. Ok, people with businesses can do something else during the day once in a while, but all my friends who have businesses (succesfull businesses) have to always compensate one day or another for any time they took off. They live, breath, sleep and eat thinking about what's next on their list. Yes they do have money, but I don't call that freedom. While I come home at 5 and that's it 'till next morning and my weekends are dedicated entirely to my family. 10. "Becoming a coward" Depends on the people but most companies today have Unions and they help those who don't dare to fight. Just my thoughts!