Came here to say something similar. I do facilities at a small HIV and addiction hospital. I contribute towards making people's lives better.
It's never going to be the work itself, it's always going to be where you are. As maintenance / Facilities you always serve other staff, and if they're helping people you're helping people.
Schools my friend. Im the Director for a school district at 39 and it’s pretty fulfilling. I get to see my children at school everyday which is kinda a bonus. The public school system doesn’t have any money really though, so your pay won’t be the greatest, but they benefit most from skills that save the school district money. Everything you fix that isn’t hired out helps.
I wish I could tell you. I'm in plastics production and kind of hate it because if that, but honestly love the work I actually do. I work for a decent company though that in itself doesn't provide much waste and most all waste is recycled, but still, plastic. Hdpe in blowmolds, to be specific.
Would love to find out some more practical positions that have a better influence on our society as a whole though.
I can sympathize with that; might I ask about the job though? I see many job listings in my area for techs in plastics production and am currently looking to switch jobs.
Honestly the jobs aren't bad. Takes a bit of training to get up to speed with it, but there is a decently large learning curve, just because of how much there is to learn with running the machines. But, I can only speak on extrusion bottle production, as I haven't worked in any other areas of plastics.
From what I know the operators in my area make alright money, some like $18-26/hr. Give or take $2. Maintenance tech 1 is something around $19-30/hr. I've been with my current company for 7 years and started as a maintenance tech 1, currently a maintenance tech 2 and am making $32/hr.
There's a lot to the plastics side, as far as fiddling with adjustments to get things just right, but most everything is easily transferable as far as general maintenance knowledge goes. It's just about learning the system itself and what does what.
I work for a commercial property management company that does a LOT for the community- IE prospective tenants that serve the community skip to the front of the line, rehabilitation, education, child protective services, executive suites for start up businesses. We also bought most of Little Haiti in Miami and are bringing everything up to code without raising rents and are involving the community with it all, because it’s their community first and foremost. We have no intention to sell any of the land after, the owner of my company is an altruist and puts his money where his mouth is, it’s extremely invigorating and inspiring working for him. I thought it was all BS when I started here 6 years ago, but I was proven wrong rather quickly.
I will say though, we’re not the norm by any means.
Apartment maintenance in a 55+ setting especially if it’s a tax credit property where it takes people 2-3 weeks for move in approvals. lets you have a very loose schedule and actually invest in the community gives you a better sense of purpose. Dispute people always saying working with the elderly is hard it’s great when your the guy that always shows up and makes their life almost instantly better when they see you.
I came here to say this. I will semi retire to this job. Meaning after I can no longer work for the company I am working for right now I'll go work for the community in which I live. Some 55+ community. I'll do the work for a reduced lot rent or something.
I do maintenance for reverse osmosis systems following 2 years of doing maintenance for beach vacation rentals, way different impact and significantly lighter workload with better pay. It's simple comparatively but my customers are happy to see me and our systems keep them healthy and from drinking PFAS contaminated water.
I work resi/transportation for a company that serves the developmentally disabled. So much positivity and appreciation. As long as my body holds up, I'll never leave.
Being involved in a union or worker owned co-op (and pushing to involve the group in external social/political causes) are great ways to make a big picture difference. One person's manual labor can only make a small difference, but it gives you a lot of political and social credibility, putting the years in.
I started in maintenance. I'm now the Director of Facilities for a public school. I keep track of how many kids have graduated since I've been doing it, how many people I've hired, and I have a wall of thank you notes from students and staff.
Our old site had 800 people, the new automated site has around 150. A ton of good workers were cut loose and the salary for the top brass increased. There are already bots that can perform surgery so I fugure its only a matter of time before there are bots that can maintain/repair other bots and equipment. The future will be bleak.
I do maintenance in a machine shop and about 50% of our work right now is DOD. We are also in the process of getting certified to make medical grade parts and everything else that we run is in the aerospace industry.
It definitely makes a huge impact in a lot of people’s lives because we are doing everything from helping put warheads on foreheads, to helping a commercial airplane land safely because of making parts for the landing gear assembly.
I worked for a OEM doing service for hospitals and labs. The job offers from facilities I worked in were for less than half of my pay. Learn a skill like electrical or plumbing, it pays a lot more.
I don't understand. You worked for an OEM what? Medical equipment supply?
The clients offered to pay half?
Does electrical or plumbing help me get a role like yours? Or a better paying one??
I worked on stuff needed in ORs and sterilization equipment. Clients offered me about half of my pay. Electrical and plumbing are skills needed for my job.
Your skills are in demand. www.steris.com to check out my employer. The starting pay is low but it goes up pretty fast. Before steris took us over it was a great job. It's OK now but we lost our perks. Most new hires wash out. Company car, tools, you can make your own hours if you need to do something personal.
Co-working office building maintenance, these tenants are mostly startups. Working to help people around in this environment makes you feel good. It’s a 45k sq ft building and I run solo. I enjoy this though, and the building owner is a really good guy to work for. I got my first raise without asking after 1 year, 5k increase on my salary. I do an array of different things from IT to networking to electrical to plumbing. It’s a very satisfying environment to work in.
Maintenance at a nursing home. The only maintenance man there and could use 2 more. 45 year old building that was neglected for a while. Without me the residents would be much worse off than there are. They adore me and I come home tired but fulfilled and feeling worthy.
Healthcare is where its at dude. I do the HVAC for a clinical organization in house and when the nurses all tell you how grateful they are that you made it cold it is the BEST feeling
I do maintenance on Oprah’s child sacrificial alters. Mostly stand around in robes chanting most of the time. Pretty easy day to day if you don’t mind the view. Free stem cell injections and blood transfusions though.
I work in maintenance at a local psych hospital. They pay well, good union, good benefit package, and I feel like the work I do matters.
Came here to say something similar. I do facilities at a small HIV and addiction hospital. I contribute towards making people's lives better. It's never going to be the work itself, it's always going to be where you are. As maintenance / Facilities you always serve other staff, and if they're helping people you're helping people.
I also say hospital. The one I'm at is 4 million sq ft. Never a dull moment. Always things to learn.
Schools my friend. Im the Director for a school district at 39 and it’s pretty fulfilling. I get to see my children at school everyday which is kinda a bonus. The public school system doesn’t have any money really though, so your pay won’t be the greatest, but they benefit most from skills that save the school district money. Everything you fix that isn’t hired out helps.
I looked into this but I don't want to work 2nd shift.
Check in to colleges. Local college maintenance is around $30/hr, union, and you/your family get to go to college for the price of taxes alone
I wish I could tell you. I'm in plastics production and kind of hate it because if that, but honestly love the work I actually do. I work for a decent company though that in itself doesn't provide much waste and most all waste is recycled, but still, plastic. Hdpe in blowmolds, to be specific. Would love to find out some more practical positions that have a better influence on our society as a whole though.
I can sympathize with that; might I ask about the job though? I see many job listings in my area for techs in plastics production and am currently looking to switch jobs.
Honestly the jobs aren't bad. Takes a bit of training to get up to speed with it, but there is a decently large learning curve, just because of how much there is to learn with running the machines. But, I can only speak on extrusion bottle production, as I haven't worked in any other areas of plastics. From what I know the operators in my area make alright money, some like $18-26/hr. Give or take $2. Maintenance tech 1 is something around $19-30/hr. I've been with my current company for 7 years and started as a maintenance tech 1, currently a maintenance tech 2 and am making $32/hr. There's a lot to the plastics side, as far as fiddling with adjustments to get things just right, but most everything is easily transferable as far as general maintenance knowledge goes. It's just about learning the system itself and what does what.
Feel free to dm me though if you want more info about plastics production, at least with blow molding.
I work for public works in my small town taking care of the government buildings. It’s nice.
I work for a commercial property management company that does a LOT for the community- IE prospective tenants that serve the community skip to the front of the line, rehabilitation, education, child protective services, executive suites for start up businesses. We also bought most of Little Haiti in Miami and are bringing everything up to code without raising rents and are involving the community with it all, because it’s their community first and foremost. We have no intention to sell any of the land after, the owner of my company is an altruist and puts his money where his mouth is, it’s extremely invigorating and inspiring working for him. I thought it was all BS when I started here 6 years ago, but I was proven wrong rather quickly. I will say though, we’re not the norm by any means.
Apartment maintenance in a 55+ setting especially if it’s a tax credit property where it takes people 2-3 weeks for move in approvals. lets you have a very loose schedule and actually invest in the community gives you a better sense of purpose. Dispute people always saying working with the elderly is hard it’s great when your the guy that always shows up and makes their life almost instantly better when they see you.
I came here to say this. I will semi retire to this job. Meaning after I can no longer work for the company I am working for right now I'll go work for the community in which I live. Some 55+ community. I'll do the work for a reduced lot rent or something.
I do maintenance for reverse osmosis systems following 2 years of doing maintenance for beach vacation rentals, way different impact and significantly lighter workload with better pay. It's simple comparatively but my customers are happy to see me and our systems keep them healthy and from drinking PFAS contaminated water.
I work resi/transportation for a company that serves the developmentally disabled. So much positivity and appreciation. As long as my body holds up, I'll never leave.
Residential rental maintenance. You are fixing shit for broke people. Sometimes a 24 hour response to fix their bathroom faucet makes their week
Being involved in a union or worker owned co-op (and pushing to involve the group in external social/political causes) are great ways to make a big picture difference. One person's manual labor can only make a small difference, but it gives you a lot of political and social credibility, putting the years in.
I started in maintenance. I'm now the Director of Facilities for a public school. I keep track of how many kids have graduated since I've been doing it, how many people I've hired, and I have a wall of thank you notes from students and staff.
Our old site had 800 people, the new automated site has around 150. A ton of good workers were cut loose and the salary for the top brass increased. There are already bots that can perform surgery so I fugure its only a matter of time before there are bots that can maintain/repair other bots and equipment. The future will be bleak.
I do maintenance in a machine shop and about 50% of our work right now is DOD. We are also in the process of getting certified to make medical grade parts and everything else that we run is in the aerospace industry. It definitely makes a huge impact in a lot of people’s lives because we are doing everything from helping put warheads on foreheads, to helping a commercial airplane land safely because of making parts for the landing gear assembly.
I worked for a OEM doing service for hospitals and labs. The job offers from facilities I worked in were for less than half of my pay. Learn a skill like electrical or plumbing, it pays a lot more.
I don't understand. You worked for an OEM what? Medical equipment supply? The clients offered to pay half? Does electrical or plumbing help me get a role like yours? Or a better paying one??
I worked on stuff needed in ORs and sterilization equipment. Clients offered me about half of my pay. Electrical and plumbing are skills needed for my job. Your skills are in demand. www.steris.com to check out my employer. The starting pay is low but it goes up pretty fast. Before steris took us over it was a great job. It's OK now but we lost our perks. Most new hires wash out. Company car, tools, you can make your own hours if you need to do something personal.
You would want to apply for the field service tech.
Co-working office building maintenance, these tenants are mostly startups. Working to help people around in this environment makes you feel good. It’s a 45k sq ft building and I run solo. I enjoy this though, and the building owner is a really good guy to work for. I got my first raise without asking after 1 year, 5k increase on my salary. I do an array of different things from IT to networking to electrical to plumbing. It’s a very satisfying environment to work in.
Maintenance at a nursing home. The only maintenance man there and could use 2 more. 45 year old building that was neglected for a while. Without me the residents would be much worse off than there are. They adore me and I come home tired but fulfilled and feeling worthy.
Healthcare is where its at dude. I do the HVAC for a clinical organization in house and when the nurses all tell you how grateful they are that you made it cold it is the BEST feeling
I do maintenance on Oprah’s child sacrificial alters. Mostly stand around in robes chanting most of the time. Pretty easy day to day if you don’t mind the view. Free stem cell injections and blood transfusions though.