I've worked in the food industry for several years, working my way up from dish, all the way to lead caterer, planning out recepies and meals for parties of up to 500 every weekend. The pay hasn't been great, but it is better than most other places around here, the job is easy to me and allows me to be flexible with my schedule for the most part.
Meanwhile my dad has been constantly recommending that I apply for line work or welding (I learned as a kid on the farm) for the local factories as they start at $20 an hour. Sure, more than I make now, but not life-changing amounts that would offset the misery of hot factory work in my opinion.
A few weeks ago, a new job opportunity dropped into my lap very unexpectedly when I was speaking to a member of the board of directors of a local historical site (for a completely different thing, i wanted to use the site for a family event i was planning) about what I do for a living, and he offered me a job on the spot. It's my dream job, able to do something I've always wanted to do for a living, full creative freedom, and lots of opportunities to expand as the site is in the middle of a huge expansion with national funding as its a historical site undergoing a massive restoration/expansion.
I gave them a number I thought was stupidly high for the position when they asked for an expected salary, and they added on another $5000 to it as well as bonus pay for certian things.
I accepted the job, and my dad's first thing he said was, “50k a year seems kind of low, don't you think?”
I pointed out that it's much higher than all those factory jobs that he's been pushing on me for years.
He didn't believe me and did the math 3 times before he finally asked his Alexa, which she confirmed what I had told him, ending with him making a comment about how he thought “it was closer to 70k a year”….
I'm resisting the urge to say “I told you so,” but it's very hard when I know that if I had taken his advice and gotten a job in a factory like he wanted me to, I never would have had the resume built up that allowed me this oppertunity.