I am nearly twenty-five years old and have a high school education. My husband is currently training for a job in which he will be working on ships for the U.S. Navy. Our two children and I will be living “on the farm” with his parents. They have a lovely farm with land, animals, and garden.

The problem is the only place to work there are a couple of fast-food restaurants and a retail store or two. I love being outdoors. I love the farm and want to learn a trade so I can stay on the farm and out of a greasy kitchen if at all possible. Please help! I’ve thought about Farrying but would like to know what my other options are.

Farriery work would be an interesting job and a tough one at that!

For readers who are more used to the city life (or on a boat), Farrier’s prepare and treat the foot of a horse who will be getting shoes.

You could consider the other side of that and try blacksmithing. Try talking to the local college and ask if they have a list of blacksmiths or metal shops in your area. There are quite a few blacksmiths that are available to teach blacksmithing.

Of course, there’s always the position of a farm worker. Typically a farm worker moves animals around from range to pasture and oversees the animals on the farm making sure they don’t wander off. Some farm workers also clean stalls. That’s back breaking work, at least it was for me, and the smell is something I never quite got used to.

You said there was a big area for gardening. How about growing your own ingredients for Salsa and take your (nicely packaged) salsa around to the few local restaurants and non chain grocery stores? My mouth is watering already. Before you get too deep into that, you’ll want to come up with a great recipe and purchase store bought ingredients. Then take samples to the local establishments. Smaller, non franchise restaurants and groceries could agree to take the salsa (or other food) on consignment and pay you as your product is purchased. You’ll have to check to see if you’ll need licensing.

You can also take some vocational classes in Horticulture. Contact the local FFA to see where they might be offered. Many night classes offer horticulture. From there you have a large variety of jobs, which would depend where “the farm” is located.

Most farm positions are for 6 months out of the year so take that into consideration. Let us know how you do!

The Captain

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22 Year Old Looking For A Job

I’m 22 yrs old. Not a lazy, been working since age of 13. About 6 months ago I made a foolish mistake and quit my job, as a sales assistant/co-manager of a small mens retail store. Due to my foolish mistake I had to let go of my apartment and move back with my mom.

Don’t be too hard on yourself here. We all make bad choices. It’s how we learn. It’s quite admirable that you’ve taken possession of your mistake. Kudos for that.

I know I should go to some sort of college or a trade school, but right now I have to find a full time job because its too crowded in my moms house.

In fact, it sounds as if you are on the right track as far as frame of mind. The one thing I try to tell people in similar situations is you don’t need a full time job. Now WAIT, before you start swearing at the monitor, please hear me out.

Consider this. You’re young. Right now it seems as though you don’t have college loans that you’re paying off. Why not opt for one or 2 part time jobs instead of a full time job. Also, count your lucky stars your family is close by. Many people are homeless due to not having a job. Besides, I’ll bet your mom likes having you around.

If you got one or hopefully 2 part time jobs you will enjoy some of the freedoms that those with a full time job have. First, your hours will be more flexible. This could work out well for anyone, not just a young adult. Second, there’s a little more job security in 2 part time jobs. What if you hate one of them? What if you get laid off from one of them? Chances are, you won’t lose both jobs at the same time, right?

You have other options with part time jobs. They give you the opportunity to explore other career choices. Maybe one of your jobs is working in a hospital as a dietary assistant. Perhaps the second job is working in a plant nursery. You may find that you can’t stomach working in a hospital but love working around plants.  You’ve just now learned what you don’t want to do . People with full time jobs don’t have that luxury.

It also gives you the opportunity to take on a couple of classes as you spoke about. Trade school or College courses.

So I need your help in giving me some suggestions. I’m looking for a job that will support me and that can pay my rent and bills.

Any suggestions?

Places I worked: 2 retail stores, restaurants, warehouse, medical office, and a bunch more which lasted a short time.

I have good social skills, and am very persuasive, I’m a good salesman but that just doesn’t pay the bills too well…

I just need job suggestions. Going and giving our resumes, I don’t need to do that, I can find another sales job.. I just want to get more ideas

There are just too many jobs to list. See this time as an opportunity. What do you really love to do? What are you good at? What are you great at?

You say you’re good in sales, ok… sell yourself to an employer because with skills like you have, you could “persuade” most any employer to give you a try. Find what you love and what you’re good at. Sounds like you have the “getting the job” part covered.

Best of luck to you

The Captain

PS: Put your skills and the area you live in on the small form at the top right of the screen… you’ll find a job you love.

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A 21 Year Old Looking For A Job In Sports (Football)

I’m 21 years old, and a student at a community college. I’m a General Studies in Health & Physical Education major. I want to transfer to a university, and get into the exercise science program. I want a job that works with (American) football players. I wanted to play football in high school. When I transfer to a a university,  I want to transfer to a division 3 college and try out for football.

What are some careers that specialize in working with football players? I was thinking about becoming an athletic trainer, but I want to specialize in working with football players.

Hello, thanks for asking. What a great field to get involved in!

The NFL typically has quite a few internship programs. You could check at the University you’re enrolling in as well as online. While most, if not all, of these positions probably wouldn’t be in dealing with the players themselves, this could get you in the door. That’s always the first step and where we all must first start out.

From there, you can get a feel for what you’d really like to do. There are sports agents (think Jerry McGuire). These are people who negotiate employment and endorsement deals for a particular player. Sports agent typically earn a commission or percentage of the football player’s contract. Not bad!

For this, you’d need to be well versed in public relations, marketing, and finance.

A lot of sports agents are also lawyers in contractual law. So law school could very well be in your future and your niche’ would be in football.

Working intern positions or taking small piddly roles at first is what will help you get your foot in the door here in the bigger role.

You could also consider a career in sports medicine. How about physical therapy?
Educational requirements for a doctor in sports medicine are fairly hefty but typically a sports doctor would need to be an M.D. and a specialized residency. At the minimum a sports doctor requires a degree from an accredited academic institution, state certification, and state license.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

The Captain

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From a high school student…

I’m a 18yr old hard working student top of my class. But for some odd reason I can’t seem to land a job but all my friends can. This is really starting to become a problem because i am constantly getting ridiculed by my mother for not bringing my A game to the table.

I have about 40hrs a week of free time just going to waste. Also this is my last year in high school and its not free (class dues and everything else).

I do have prior work experience. When i was 16 I landed a job doing security work at a hospital which was out of pure luck. I’ve tried looking just about everywhere, made countless phone calls but still nothing.

My father says just stay in school you don’t need a job. However, I really do because I am going to college soon and i will have to pay for it myself. If anybody can provide some advise or help about locating a job in the Philadelphia area it would be greatly appreciated.

Hello and thank you for writing. Let me start by saying how impressed I am with your overall substance.  I wrote an article about high school jobs for students and also a checklist that can help you prepare to enter the workforce beginning with actually finding a job.  While you should certainly take a glimpse at the article “High School Jobs for Students”, it would be wise to thoroughly go through the checklist.

My daughter went through a similar situation. She consistently reminded me, starting with the roll of her eyes, that “Everyone has a job but me.” Dramatic as she is sometimes, she really felt something was “wrong” with her and it outwardly showed.

She wasn’t hopeful, much less enthusiastic when she was called in for an interview. In her mind she believed that the job belonged to someone else and not her.

Think of it as a life lesson. As we get older, we don’t always get what we want in the real world. Now, move on.  My daughter thought I was being hurtful when I said that to her, however now she understands that I wasn’t being hurtful or uncaring at all. It was just the truth.

You will find a job. She found one too. One thing you want to ask yourself is if you are being too picky about a job. Right now, there’s not a ton of jobs to be found, but there are jobs available. Try to be a little less picky about your options. Once you do get hired, if you find you’re really not happy, look for another. Stay with your job until you are hired elsewhere and make sure you do your absolute best even if you’re not happy with the job itself.

Check out our job board. We have thousands and thousands of jobs available.

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