18 year old riding up to Alaska to work for the summer.

[Unstable Rider]

It's neat to see some of you coming up with ideas for the feller with plans to come up your way.

Not to vary from the lad's goal, but can I ask, is Alaska like Williston, ND, lots of work but not enough workers?

Or is it just for those with heady degrees or those that want to hump pipe around?

Thanks, just curious. Back to regular scheduled programming...

[Brendon@TMS]

Due to our wonderful and abundant natural resources, Alaska has been able to weather this economic "storm" quite well. Our housing market dipped, but only slightly. The oil industry and world wide tourism industry kept us performing quite well. From this performance we are faring exceptionally well with respect to the rest of the US.

As in most businesses in Alaska, good help is always hard to find, and people will pay for something to be done well, and done right. A competitive work environment favors those that strive to be the best at their job,hence always keeping my eyes, ears, and doors open to those entering the state looking for work. Who know, I just might make a relationship that can benefit my company.

As for employment elsewhere, ND is experiencing huge growth from the recent oil contracts. As this has provided a huge stimulus to the local economy, many oil based workers are moving to ND for the setup of those oil fields. Alaska still has many openings and the lure of the "last frontier" ND probably has more oil based openings at the moment (as they are building their infrastructure, much like we did with the initial pipeline build).

[kfsinc]

Originally Posted by Brendon@TMS

A competitive work environment favors those that strive to be the best at their job,hence always keeping my eyes, ears, and doors open to those entering the state looking for work. Who know, I just might make a relationship that can benefit my company.

Capitalist!!

Good on ya man -- we need lots more of your kind down here in the lower 48.

[Wheeldog]

Originally Posted by Unstable Rider

It's neat to see some of you coming up with ideas for the feller with plans to come up your way.

Not to vary from the lad's goal, but can I ask, is Alaska like Williston, ND, lots of work but not enough workers?

Or is it just for those with heady degrees or those that want to hump pipe around?

Thanks, just curious. Back to regular scheduled programming...

Work is down some in my biz.......hauling dirt. I must agree with Brendon that finding qualified employees is pretty tough. There are lots of people out there who are basically "worthless" but think they should get $25.00 an hour as a trainee.

I put an add with the state employment agency for a dump truck driver. Of the 64 people who showed interest in the job......about half bothered to send a resume in. About half of the resumes sent in didn't have the qualifications for the job or had some serious criminal background problems. The other half I interviewed on the phone and sent applications. Only 4 people actually bothered to fill out the application. It's like 25 pages long due to federal DOT regulations. BUT hey......it meets the federal paperwork reduction act. One guy couldn't figure out how to address the envelope with the right address and it eventually got to me a couple of weeks after I hired someone. The other 3.......had a hard time shifting the truck. I picked the best one out of the 3 and shit canned him after a month as he screwed up everything he touched.

Now you got a bunch a state workers in the labor dept who need to justify their jobs. They don't give a shit if your employee is worthless or not. They are gonna back em if you fire them and don't cross all your T's and dot all your I's and do it right. They have unlimited $$$$ to screw with an employer. They could put me out of business overnight if they wanted to.......even if I was in the right.

Bottom line.....Guess our economy is doing good.......if you can't find any qualified help.

Prolly more than you wanted to hear.......eh????

[Unstable Rider]

wow.... interesting perspective you had there....

The things I am seeing in my area, Minnesota, employers want a degree, years of experience (but dont be "too old now"...) offer crap for medical, if any, want specific certifications that you would only have been exposed to if you were born in a hangar at NASA and your Dad flew rockets, and then the clinker, they want to pay $10.00 - $14.00 an hour, which is not a living wage even an hour from Minneapolis as I am.

I see job postings where as the employer can't spell "machanac" or "expeirence" in their job postings, yet they want heady-certifications. I enjoy e-mailing those types and asking them if spelling (or teeth) is part of the criteria, as obviously it is not.

As a previous business owner myself, I see both sides, but I see lots of employers taking advantage of the economy, offering 1976 wages, and picking the criteria to qualify for the job from a text book instead of the real world.


Also, any chance of anything with on-the-job training in any field is gone. Once upon a time, if you told an employer you had a strong interest in their potential trade, substantiated that you don't drink, smoke, take drugs or have a criminal record, and show up for work regardless of the hour of the day or how many days a week it would buy you an opportunity to prove yourself. Not any more.

Always two sides I guess.

Things still actually sound better up your way than here though (Minn).

[Tom S]

Originally Posted by Brendon@TMS

Due to our wonderful and abundant natural resources, Alaska has been able to weather this economic "storm" quite well .....

Don’t encourage ‘em! We already have too many people here now. Way too many to suit me & a lot of others.
Even this guy that got here pretty late IMO.

Originally Posted by Wheeldog

We don't mind tourists $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ as long as they go home. It's the ones who hang around and try to turn Alaska into California that get some of us (at least me) excited.

That’s what they have been doing to Anchorage, my hometown. I can’t ride, shoot or play in the places I used to. Even in some places 40- 50 or more miles from town.

It's a lot like this ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ituP5X7kP64

[Jam333]

Thank you for all the replies!
I've been meaning to get on here but the bike is a higher priority at the moment. I just gotta finish changing the oil in the forks and I should be out of here by Saturday.
I serviced the rear swingarm, installed heated grips, changed both tires, changed front and back sprocket with new chain for quieter highway speeds.
A few late nights, but there all gonna pay off as soon as I get on the road.

Brendon: I'm going to try to find time to write a cover letter up for you tonight.

And to this guy:

10 days to go 2300 miles? Is this route entirely single track or something?

My route is actually more like 3,000 miles because I'm riding along the Oregon coast like I've always dreamed, and doing 300 mile days. I wish it was single track though!

My goal is to get up there before the fourth of July so I can celebrate with friends, and light fireworks while its light out!

[Vagabond]

Originally Posted by Brendon@TMS

It's called professionalism, you might try it sometime...

Don't have to.

A simple application is more than sufficient for the "industry" you play in

[Brendon@TMS]

I appreciate the condescension, thanks and have a great day!

Look forward to the cover letter, have a safe trip, see you in a few weeks!

[Vagabond]

Originally Posted by Brendon@TMS

I appreciate the condescension, thanks and have a great day!

Okay, okay. Maybe I did go a little too far on that last post. For that, I apologize.

And, yes, I did have a great day yesterday. I'm addicted to using my new JD tractor on my land (not to be confused with my HD with Russian farm tractor technology)

[chugak]

you might try Prince william sound aquaculture in Cordova a list of seasonal jobs on line greta place to work mostly in the bush of PWS @ fish hatcheries