General Life Lessons
INTRODUCTION
So. I know too much. For my age. I've been called a lot of names by friends and family - and I end up being the person lots of people go to for info and advice, so I thought - why not just put it out there for everyone to benefit? So let's get into this.
DISCLAIMER
I'm a religious type. I don't have anything against anyone regardless of race, colour, gender or sexual preferences. If I say stuff that offends you then I apologize. The internet is a big place - you can find somewhere else to search for general stuff.
The information expressed here is entirely my opinion and should not be taken as professional advice.
I have always had a tendency to be long-winded. I beat around the bush a lot too, but if you can wade through the bushes you'll eventually get to the point.
UPDATES
This section will be updated and more details added as I am able to.
School & Education
This is a topic that's a sore point for me. One of my friends referred to me as "the most knowledgeable uncertified person" he knows. So let's get into a bit about me first.
A Bit About Me
PRIMARY CERTIFICATIONS
Diebold Certified
WinCor Certified
CompTIA A+ Certified
CompTIA Network+ Certified
Vector Technology Institute Diploma
Comprehensive Computer Systems Certificate
SECONDARY CERTIFICATIONS
MS 70-410
MS 70-659
HP2-T21
HP2-T25
HP2-T26
HP0-S34
HP0-S35
HP2-H27 (PSG)
SKILLSET (IT)
- Hardware installation and troubleshooting.
- Hardware repairs.
- Software installation and troubleshooting.
- Data recovery.
- PC electronics diagnostics.
- General IT networking. Copper and wireless.
- Camera system configurations.
- IP PBX system setup and configurations.
I started at a university and quit after the first year. This was due to my lack of knowledge, lack of information provided and general frustration. I wanted to finish up school but decided against it after literally wasting a year. I thought I'd have started some courses after my certification at the time would have let me spend 2 years - or so I was told by the department. Turns out I was doing prerequisites that I could probably have skipped with my certifications at the time - and then after checking back with the department I was told I had 4 years left. Wasn't having it. Walked away.
Why Schools Change Requirements
This is something I found out much later and wish it was explained up front. While I'm not sure about anywere else in the world, we have an accreditation system in Jamaica that requires universities to recertify themselves every 7 years I believe. If you happen to be enrolled or graduating at the point when the school is redoing their accreditation - and your course requirements change based on the certifying bodies - then your credits required to graduate may increase, or additional courses may become mandatory. This information isn't public knowledge and it should be. Persons could then make educated decisions on how to proceed with their courses.
EDUCATION / LEARNING / CERTIFICATION
Now on to this topic which is a bit.....touchy. It also comes back to the time I spent (wasted) at university. I was doing a biology class and got somewhere about 95% on the paper I did. The instructor then asked me if I could "repeat what I did on that paper". I wasn't sure what he meant, because it was a topic that I knew, understood and could teach others if it came to it. I was then told that I would be guaranteed a pass if I could do the same thing once more. While I had some idea of what he was saying, it wasn't until those of us who wrote papers on similar topics were grouped together. There was someone in my group that got 98% on their paper. They had absolutely no idea about the topic, and when we exchanged papers for getting ideas from others and discussion, I realized that this person wrote stuff out almost verbatim from the book. They had learned how to memorize and regurgitate the information fed, but had no idea what it meant.
EDUCATED FOOLS
Moving into the working world full-time lead me to understand what was going on even further. Many persons in ever single industry may be there because they got good scores, but have no idea what they're actually doing. Most people learn on the job - with the exception of industry specific training, many persons will say that things they learned in school did not help much in the working world. You end up becoming an apprentice or understudy of someone else and learn the ropes. You may then apply some things from what you learned in school to make the job easier, but many times it doesn't help.
The problem is, we have persons in leadership roles - in companies and governments - that may have the certification in the field, but have no knowledge of how things work or how to actually do the job. The term "educated fools" comes to mind, but the meaning behind it is so much deeper.
TRAINING FOR A JOB / INDUSTRY CERTIFICATION
If you want a job in a specific industry, it's always best to go through the motions and figure it out. The problem as students is - many times you may not know what you want to do. If you can't figure it out then go with what may be easier for you to do. It took me some time to come to terms with the fact that.........some people are just like that.
I had a friend that was extremely frustrating. Between myself and other friends, we paid for courses and had direct hands-on training done to get this friend as much experience as possible. This would ensure that walking into an interview, there would be no doubt that they'd be an ideal candidate for the specific job. All efforts were wasted, exams paid for were not done and course material provided was not used. In the end, they will have to make their own way.
Back on topic - if you decide on a job (something you'll do) or a career (something you love/enjoy) then focus on doing that. Find out which courses/classes will take you to the goal and head in that direction.
JOB BENEFITS / INVESTING
Now this is an area that I've had some experience with. And it was hard to learn. Hopefully you'll learn from my mistakes and do better.
Big or Small?
What kind of job are you in or searching for? None of the jobs in Jamaica will pay what you're worth. None. Typically if someone comes from overseas (like the US) and lands the same job, they will be paid 2x to 4x your salary to match their US pay scale and benefits. The local government publishes a pay scale guideline, but most employers will only pay the minimum or mid-range amount stipulated. They will be within their legal rights to do so, and the amounts are usually between half and a quarter of what it would be overseas. If your current or landed job pays enough to pay the bills and you have extra - great! If you are only getting by from week to week or month to month (depending on your pay dates) then you need to fix that. Either improve on yourself or get an extra job. You can throw "partner" but I'll explain why that's not the best idea.
SAVING
Regardless of what you do, you should always try to save something. I've heard it said by my parents - it's not what you earn but what you save. That's a simple statement but it has a lot if implications. Even if your job gives you benefits like pension, you should still put something down for emergencies - regardless of how small. If you save $1,000 each month that's $12,000 at the end of the year that you can use for whatever you want. And during the saving process, should something come up - you have it available.
HOW TO SAVE
This is the part that most of us are never taught. Including myself. But it's not that hard to do. You already know which things exist and are going to be there yearly or monthly. JPS and NWC (our power and water companies) don't suddenly surprise you each month. You know the bills are coming. Let's give an estimated amount and work with it.
SALARY: $10,000
JPS: $3,000
NWC: $1,000
FLOW: $2,000
TRAVEL: $1,000
LUNCH: $2,000
Taking those out of your total for the month, you have $1,000 left. Save half or all of it since the rest of your pay is budgeted out. If your bills go up then cut back on things. Get rid of services that are not absolute necessities - don't pay for internet at home and then use a data plan unless you can afford it. Most places have free wireless these days, and even businesses will have wireless available for staff - slow but available. Put down as much as you can to ensure you have it available to use in case of an emergency.
PARTNER PLAN
This is something that has been around forever, and many persons have been in things like this during primary school days. The truth is, it's no better than saving on your own. The time it takes for the final draw is the time it would take for you to save that money outright and on your own. The main benefits to this would be being able to have faster access to the money (at earlier draws), or having something more disciplined to do that rewards you at the end (later draws).
I'm not saying it's not a good thing if you can manage it, but if you could wait for the later draws - it makes better sense to save it.
WHERE TO SAVE
Most banks will charge you a fee for keeping your money. It's best to save with a building society or credit union as their fees are much lower. What happens with mainstream banks is, the fees for your account exceed the interest earned on the balance. Because of this, you will see fees taken out of your account.
INVESTING
Don't invest until you've got some savings down. Depending on your risk appetite - don't go with the higher risk stuff. If you have pension or other plans through your company, go with their low risk options, and consider investing in those options directly as well.
RELATIONSHIPS
This is going to be probably quick, or faster than most of the other parts. I'll have to edit this later, but don't want to lose the train of thought.
Using a Biblical reference, there's a statement about being unequally yoked. That's the thing used to join two cows together, not the yellow part of an egg.
I believe this applies regardless of your religious beliefs or lack thereof, and does not necessarily speak solely to religious beliefs. Most churches use this as a way to say you shouldn't marry outside of your religious beliefs, but I'll take that a bit further.
Your partner should be someone that is on a similar mental wavelength as you are. Religious or not, once the other person shares your reasoning, thought process or is logical in their thinking - similar to yours - then you're fine from there. To put it another way - when you both hit 70+ and blue pills no longer work - or are high risk - the only thing you have left is conversation. If you can't talk to or reason with your partner, it really makes no sense.