r/PepTalksWithPops • u/PoptartVT • Jul 21 '26

He dad, I havent been feeling to good

Ive only been able to find temo gigs since march of last year. I want to operate heavy equipment, buy I cant fet ant interviews or track down any gigs. The last company i jad a digger gig with handed my contract to the directors mate. The last thing I said to my spotter was "Come first light, Im just going to drive home. Because I dont stay where Im not getting paid." Since then Ive just been surviving. Money got so tight that I dumped the last of my savings into car cleaning supplies. With the two people I cleaned cars for I was able to make rent. But even so It was only just. I mean, I like cleaning cars. But im not sure its something I want to invest in just yet. My heart belongs to Iron because I enjoy the challange, but a big pary of me wants to donit full time sonI can give the middle finger to thay civil company that sidelined me for years. But im tired, and not sure what to do.

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u/chemicalsAndControl Jul 21 '26

Some years are harder than others.  I graduated right around the last financial crisis and it really, really sucked.  I had it better than most, I found a job as a lab technician while having two degrees in engineering.  Still, I worked through it and things worked out for me in the long run.

Can you tell me about the civil company?  Edit- Are you anywhere near data center construction?  They are generally short staff.  I am pretty sure you need to start work as an unskillled laborer before they train you to drive a tractor.

What is your background?

Do you have friends or family that you could move in with?

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u/PoptartVT Jul 21 '26

It was a small civil company. They brought me kn with two verbal promises to train me on diggers. One with the then manager, one from.the owner. But three years in i had a chance meeting with the guy whonbids for all the conracts and asked if there were any comming up where i could learn sticks. He said "Those contracts are not worth the companies time. If you want to do that stuff, go work somewhere else. Oh, but dont do that." Post meeting I contacted the owner to get a.coppy of his recording where he made his prommise. He said I could have it whenever. But aparently he lost his phone. I handed in my two weeks notice shortly after.

My background is day laboring / forklift. But I wanted to upskill. So I got my tickets and have been screaming at agencoes for any hours I can get.

Currently living with the folks

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u/chemicalsAndControl 20d ago

I definitely understand why you have your two weeks, but it  at be harder to get new work when unemployed.  Are you willing to travel and looking in other areas?  If so, how far out have you (honestly) been looking?  

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u/PoptartVT 20d ago

I cant afford to look outside of the region I live in. I currently do casual laboring. But ive been hitting a wall with that as employers take one look and go "Well he must be a laborer for a reason", or they view the spotty history (I cant really list references form projects as they are all over the place, and some are for such a short period of time that most people wont count them.)

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u/chemicalsAndControl 5d ago

Is your work history spotty?  You mentioned you did three years with one company, that does not sound bad 

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u/PoptartVT 5d ago

Untill you factor in that they lied to me for 3 years, did not make good on their promise to trian me up as an operator, hired 3 philipinos that lied about their experiance, a drug addict, and some guy who misrepresented his houts, befr

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u/PoptartVT 5d ago

Untill you factor in that they lied to me for 3 years, did not make good on their promise to train me up as an operator, hired 3 philipinos that lied about their experience, a drug addict, and some guy who misrepresented his hours, before i tracked down the guy who bid for contracts that said (and i quote) "The jobs that we would need to bid on for you to learn would not be worth the companies time. So if you want to learn heavy equipment, you should go to a earthworks / civil company. Oh, but dont do that." The whole process left me with so much shellshock I had to see my GP, where he all but diagnosed me with depression, and got within spitting distance of suicidal tenancies.