Great article Mr. Smith! I'm a retired Plant Engineer who has worked across many industries. I write that to describe that I have personally "hand picked" people to work for me, and I would only accept "truth tellers" who had a moral backbone and operated on strict principles. While working in commercial nuclear, I worked alongside Morman's and Mennonites who were universally "outstanding" men. (Very few women work in intense work environments, and frankly they don't have the stamina to work more than 16 hours straight. My wife (an RN) is clearly one of the exceptions - a wildly tough woman, who is on a ketogenic diet, despite being 44 kg., and a few years younger than me). Hiring quality people nearly always necessitates the "way above average pay rate"", and it harmonizes the work environment. (I'm neither a Mormon, or Mennonite). Good character is necessary on any successful project or workplace. There is a consequential "firing" of those individuals who don't meet "standards", where as soon as "substandard" work almost always results in "here's your last paycheck", have a pleasant day. Occasionally, some of the workmen would be given "a second chance", if they admitted fault, and promised contrition. I may add that often "good men" will suggest that someone they know, who should be hired for a specific task, or just a "hard worker", sometimes it was a family member. Great post Mr. Smith! You're learning, adapting, and are a great lighthouse for the youth!!!
Absolutely fabulous advice and actionable direction for young Preparationists, Maxim. Delighted to see how you brought Louis L’Amour’s spirit of adventure into the current picture. Big fan and admirer of him as well. You are doing amazing pioneering work. Hope you are feeling better and on your way to tip top health. All best to you.
This article feels especially tailored for me. Just last week, I wrote that my direction was to pursue Fire-EMT after hearing about the idea from my NREMT instructor. (Something I had already been attuned to in The Preparation book itself.)
I was still a little hazy on the exact steps to take, so this is the perfect roadmap. Thank you, Maxim.
Maxim...this post is GOLD for young men! Not only for the concrete work examples and the way you write about them, but for the blueprint you gave them for how to FIND the work. As an executive recruiter and mostly volunteer career coach to youth, your instructions have broad application. I know you are about helping forge a LIFE path for young men, but purely from a job/career perspective, the good news is that, "in the land of the blind, a one-eyed man is king."
What I mean by that is, most job seekers are hiding behind their computer and endlessly clicking "submit" to apply for jobs they see posted. Good luck with that. But if people deploy your suggestions in just about any area of employment, they will instantly differentiate themselves and be in the top1% of candidates.
And even where they are "rejected," they have the chance to make a contact who is willing to help and reward their initiative that they too rarely see.
The only thing I wish your post included is a challenge to your readers to send you suggestions about other "diamonds in the rough." (Email me if you want help creating a larger database of job resources for Preppers. I've already been noodling this as a resource to provide to Preparation enrollees.)
1. For those that just past the time of Preparation stage, that have a job and rather not go without it, is there a way to get involved in these activities or jobs on a weekend bases at all or something close to it?
2. To add another diamonds in the rough job I would put field/commissioning engineer. You get to go to a variety of places like oil refineries, nuclear plants, data centers, space observatories, concrete plants, factories of types of flavors to name a few. While there might be a bit more in office work than these two jobs you still get to travel the country and sometimes the world going to places that I am not sure few other jobs get the breath (hence the reason for comment 1 for I am not loosing this job.). Also, it is really rewarding to be the helping a lot of these people. Additionally, it is very intellectually stimulating as there is a great difference in design between these places and you are often thrown right into it with the traveling time to the location often being your time to try to get yourself up to speed on the complex system that you have to work with and often get it working again.
As a bookworm, weakling teenager I decided that I didn't want to just read books about people having adventures--
I Wanted to Be the Person Having Adventures!
And it worked!
Spent my twenties on these jobs in SC and NC:
~ Driving/riding on a powerboat to work on a barrier island to rescue the nests of endangered loggerhead sea turtles. At night we watched loggerhead females dig and lay 100 eggs in their nests (a vase-shaped hole in the ground), then we dug them up to move the eggs above the high tide line and put them in a nest we dug and covered with fence wire to keep raccoons from eating them. Three of us young men rotated overlapping three-day shifts and lived in a cabin on the island.
Beach time, explored the interior jungle (alligators!), birdwatching (painted buntings!), seeing dozens of meteors and the Milky Way (that is normally overwhelmed by city lights so most people have Never Seen It!), swimming in the ocean at night amidst bioluminescence, etc. Got this job from the marine biologist I had taken a class with at the local university branch. He sized me up and offered me the job.
~ Driving a workboat to get to an island with 2000 feral Rhesus monkeys. Spent the mornings driving a yellow CJ-5 jeep, ,filling troughs with monkey chow and tanks with potable water for the monkeys. Spent the afternoons tracking and studying the animals' social groups in the wild like Jane Goodall (RIP!). Got this job from a help wanted ad in the newspaper. They hired me because I was the only applicant who had worked construction and didn't mind hard work outdoors.
~ Helping my BIL on his shrimp boat for a bit. Seeing the sunrise over the ocean, dumping nets full of shrimp and fish on the deck to sort them out, rescuing a young loggerhead sea turtle that had gotten caught in the net (this is before shrimpers used turtle-excluder nets), feeling the water move the boat under your feet is like dancing with a woman! OMG!!
~ Working with an archeologist to explore colonial sugar cane processing sites, enslaved peoples' quarters, Native American sites.
(One of the workers was John Denver's lead guitarist/song-writer who had retired from the music biz, wanted to be an archeologist and didn't need the money!)
The boss was contracted for the work by developers, as many state laws require developers to search for historically significant sites before the bulldozers come in. Got this job from taking his class on cultural anthropology at the local univ. branch. He sized me up and offered me a job.
~ Worked one summer as an IPM (integrated pest management) scout for six tomato farmers. Meaning I was given enough training to ID good and bad bugs and diseases of tomatoes. The chemical salesmen selfishly encouraged the farmers to spray to kill Everything, Every Week. My job was to assure the farmers whether there were any pests at all to justify the hassle and expense of spraying. Mostly the fields were "clean" so I saved the farmers a shit-ton of money and time. They were always glad to see me. And I learned a shit-ton about growing tomatoes.
~Ran an organic tomato farm. I had joined the local food co-op and one of the members had a bit of land and other members wanted to grow organic food to sell at the co-op. In the 80's organic food wasn't as readily available as now. I joined, thinking I would learn more about growing food. They put me In Charge because of my IPM experience and because I had the most growing experience!: two years of growing on six raised beds, each about the dimensions of a single grave site! I was able to sell excess tomatoes to chefs for 50% more than the few other organic tomato growers were getting, because they were bigger and better looking.
40 years later, I turned that experience into my third book: "Ripe Tomato Revolution" which comes out in March!
~ At 26 when friends started getting married and having kids, I decided to learn about raising kids (better to learn in advance then learning on the fly I figured!) got a part-time job at a pre-school looking after 3 and 4 y.o. kids. Learned So Much about children! Parents love it when I play with their kids now!
~ Balanced that with another part-time job at a bookstore. If you have to work retail...the only decent job is at a bookstore: totally kind and interesting customers, smart co-workers and a discount on book purchases!
~ Picked up jobs in every phase of construction: carpentry, concrete, drywall, roofing, electrical, plumbing. Didn't become proficient at any of them except carpentry--which I still do at 65 y.o.--but I know enough that I could build a house from the ground up if I needed to. And women Love It When a Man is Handy--even if all that means is that he can make the toilet stop running at night!
Last, while reading an interesting obituary in the newspaper one morning, a few years ago, I spontaneously asked my self, "Frank, if you could only have one word for your obituary...which word would you use?"
Pretty quickly, that one word to describe my life came to me:
Great article Mr. Smith! I'm a retired Plant Engineer who has worked across many industries. I write that to describe that I have personally "hand picked" people to work for me, and I would only accept "truth tellers" who had a moral backbone and operated on strict principles. While working in commercial nuclear, I worked alongside Morman's and Mennonites who were universally "outstanding" men. (Very few women work in intense work environments, and frankly they don't have the stamina to work more than 16 hours straight. My wife (an RN) is clearly one of the exceptions - a wildly tough woman, who is on a ketogenic diet, despite being 44 kg., and a few years younger than me). Hiring quality people nearly always necessitates the "way above average pay rate"", and it harmonizes the work environment. (I'm neither a Mormon, or Mennonite). Good character is necessary on any successful project or workplace. There is a consequential "firing" of those individuals who don't meet "standards", where as soon as "substandard" work almost always results in "here's your last paycheck", have a pleasant day. Occasionally, some of the workmen would be given "a second chance", if they admitted fault, and promised contrition. I may add that often "good men" will suggest that someone they know, who should be hired for a specific task, or just a "hard worker", sometimes it was a family member. Great post Mr. Smith! You're learning, adapting, and are a great lighthouse for the youth!!!
Oh dude! "a great lighthouse for the youth!!!" Fantastic metaphor and I totally agree! Well put!
First class. Concise, well written, entertaining, actionable and wise. Thank you.
I’m an old guy! mid sixties, so enjoying your journey of a lifetime!
I look forward to your writing coming in to my inbox! If your ever in eastern Kansas, my wife and I will have a meal waiting!
That means the most! I’d like to take you up on that offer sometime!
Absolutely fabulous advice and actionable direction for young Preparationists, Maxim. Delighted to see how you brought Louis L’Amour’s spirit of adventure into the current picture. Big fan and admirer of him as well. You are doing amazing pioneering work. Hope you are feeling better and on your way to tip top health. All best to you.
This article feels especially tailored for me. Just last week, I wrote that my direction was to pursue Fire-EMT after hearing about the idea from my NREMT instructor. (Something I had already been attuned to in The Preparation book itself.)
I was still a little hazy on the exact steps to take, so this is the perfect roadmap. Thank you, Maxim.
Great to hear that it’s helpful!
👊
'Love this!
Outstanding encouragement step-by-step. Laying out the process most helpful to those beginning to think outside the box. Gives them a place to start.
Maxim...this post is GOLD for young men! Not only for the concrete work examples and the way you write about them, but for the blueprint you gave them for how to FIND the work. As an executive recruiter and mostly volunteer career coach to youth, your instructions have broad application. I know you are about helping forge a LIFE path for young men, but purely from a job/career perspective, the good news is that, "in the land of the blind, a one-eyed man is king."
What I mean by that is, most job seekers are hiding behind their computer and endlessly clicking "submit" to apply for jobs they see posted. Good luck with that. But if people deploy your suggestions in just about any area of employment, they will instantly differentiate themselves and be in the top1% of candidates.
And even where they are "rejected," they have the chance to make a contact who is willing to help and reward their initiative that they too rarely see.
The only thing I wish your post included is a challenge to your readers to send you suggestions about other "diamonds in the rough." (Email me if you want help creating a larger database of job resources for Preppers. I've already been noodling this as a resource to provide to Preparation enrollees.)
Keep up the good, hard work!
A very good article. Two comments.
1. For those that just past the time of Preparation stage, that have a job and rather not go without it, is there a way to get involved in these activities or jobs on a weekend bases at all or something close to it?
2. To add another diamonds in the rough job I would put field/commissioning engineer. You get to go to a variety of places like oil refineries, nuclear plants, data centers, space observatories, concrete plants, factories of types of flavors to name a few. While there might be a bit more in office work than these two jobs you still get to travel the country and sometimes the world going to places that I am not sure few other jobs get the breath (hence the reason for comment 1 for I am not loosing this job.). Also, it is really rewarding to be the helping a lot of these people. Additionally, it is very intellectually stimulating as there is a great difference in design between these places and you are often thrown right into it with the traveling time to the location often being your time to try to get yourself up to speed on the complex system that you have to work with and often get it working again.
OMG dude, that post is so on target!
As a bookworm, weakling teenager I decided that I didn't want to just read books about people having adventures--
I Wanted to Be the Person Having Adventures!
And it worked!
Spent my twenties on these jobs in SC and NC:
~ Driving/riding on a powerboat to work on a barrier island to rescue the nests of endangered loggerhead sea turtles. At night we watched loggerhead females dig and lay 100 eggs in their nests (a vase-shaped hole in the ground), then we dug them up to move the eggs above the high tide line and put them in a nest we dug and covered with fence wire to keep raccoons from eating them. Three of us young men rotated overlapping three-day shifts and lived in a cabin on the island.
Beach time, explored the interior jungle (alligators!), birdwatching (painted buntings!), seeing dozens of meteors and the Milky Way (that is normally overwhelmed by city lights so most people have Never Seen It!), swimming in the ocean at night amidst bioluminescence, etc. Got this job from the marine biologist I had taken a class with at the local university branch. He sized me up and offered me the job.
~ Driving a workboat to get to an island with 2000 feral Rhesus monkeys. Spent the mornings driving a yellow CJ-5 jeep, ,filling troughs with monkey chow and tanks with potable water for the monkeys. Spent the afternoons tracking and studying the animals' social groups in the wild like Jane Goodall (RIP!). Got this job from a help wanted ad in the newspaper. They hired me because I was the only applicant who had worked construction and didn't mind hard work outdoors.
~ Helping my BIL on his shrimp boat for a bit. Seeing the sunrise over the ocean, dumping nets full of shrimp and fish on the deck to sort them out, rescuing a young loggerhead sea turtle that had gotten caught in the net (this is before shrimpers used turtle-excluder nets), feeling the water move the boat under your feet is like dancing with a woman! OMG!!
~ Working with an archeologist to explore colonial sugar cane processing sites, enslaved peoples' quarters, Native American sites.
(One of the workers was John Denver's lead guitarist/song-writer who had retired from the music biz, wanted to be an archeologist and didn't need the money!)
The boss was contracted for the work by developers, as many state laws require developers to search for historically significant sites before the bulldozers come in. Got this job from taking his class on cultural anthropology at the local univ. branch. He sized me up and offered me a job.
~ Worked one summer as an IPM (integrated pest management) scout for six tomato farmers. Meaning I was given enough training to ID good and bad bugs and diseases of tomatoes. The chemical salesmen selfishly encouraged the farmers to spray to kill Everything, Every Week. My job was to assure the farmers whether there were any pests at all to justify the hassle and expense of spraying. Mostly the fields were "clean" so I saved the farmers a shit-ton of money and time. They were always glad to see me. And I learned a shit-ton about growing tomatoes.
~Ran an organic tomato farm. I had joined the local food co-op and one of the members had a bit of land and other members wanted to grow organic food to sell at the co-op. In the 80's organic food wasn't as readily available as now. I joined, thinking I would learn more about growing food. They put me In Charge because of my IPM experience and because I had the most growing experience!: two years of growing on six raised beds, each about the dimensions of a single grave site! I was able to sell excess tomatoes to chefs for 50% more than the few other organic tomato growers were getting, because they were bigger and better looking.
40 years later, I turned that experience into my third book: "Ripe Tomato Revolution" which comes out in March!
~ At 26 when friends started getting married and having kids, I decided to learn about raising kids (better to learn in advance then learning on the fly I figured!) got a part-time job at a pre-school looking after 3 and 4 y.o. kids. Learned So Much about children! Parents love it when I play with their kids now!
~ Balanced that with another part-time job at a bookstore. If you have to work retail...the only decent job is at a bookstore: totally kind and interesting customers, smart co-workers and a discount on book purchases!
~ Picked up jobs in every phase of construction: carpentry, concrete, drywall, roofing, electrical, plumbing. Didn't become proficient at any of them except carpentry--which I still do at 65 y.o.--but I know enough that I could build a house from the ground up if I needed to. And women Love It When a Man is Handy--even if all that means is that he can make the toilet stop running at night!
Last, while reading an interesting obituary in the newspaper one morning, a few years ago, I spontaneously asked my self, "Frank, if you could only have one word for your obituary...which word would you use?"
Pretty quickly, that one word to describe my life came to me:
"Rollicking"