what do you guys do when you get fired?

[Scoobie]

I get head hunted quite a bit, but a lot of it is 6 months term..$85.00 hr, minimum benefits right away, no $5k sign on..no thanks! I easily write up $600k worth of "clean" commercial repair and replacement work yearly...

i am more than ready to find/upgrade my job with easy 40 hour work week/full benefits/profit sharing, with no weekends, paying over $120k a year...i actually lose more money on OT with taxes, so its not worth it..i dont want to burn myself out physically either...i do have my random clients call me on evenings/weekends where i do make the real money though...

Can you explain how you lose money on ot with taxes. Makes no sense to me.

[Unlimited1]

Can you explain how you lose money on ot with taxes. Makes no sense to me.

the federal government and state takes much more taxes out at the higher rate...and i am also physically worn out as well at times..if you ever worked a 75-80 hour week, you pretty much want to sleep in, or see a doctor from feeling like crap....so if client work comes in and im very tired, i lose more money because i cannot handle it right away..emergency calls pays much more...

[valdelocc]

It sucks because they always preach "we are a family" "we are a small company" "we are close knit" or any variation

Mom&pop business are the worse and they always BS you with cliche phrases.

[WAYNE3298]

Get over your anger Frosty and the quicker the better. I don't mean pretend you're over it I mean forget everything about that job that is negative and remember the good especially where you learned. Family businesses are just that and if it was you you would operate in a similar way. Maybe not the same but blood is blood.
The first job I had was janitorial. My best friends dad hired me because my friend wanted him to. There was a lady working there that the boss had confidence in but she didn't like me. My work was done after hours and she refused to leave the women's toilet unlocked so I could clean it. It got real dirty and she left me a real nasty note about how it was a pig sty. I left her a note that since she was a hog a pig sty was what she needed and I didn't see a problem. Needless to say I got fired. My friend was concerned that I would turn on him and ask me if we were still friends. I told him of course we are because you got me the job and my own mouth took it away. I'm not mad at your dad either because to tell the truth the lady and I both handled the situation wrong but I was more wrong than her because the toilet was dirty.
That didn't make me anything more than honest about what happened and so have you been until you start getting angry and shooting off you mouth. Drop the tantrums and get back to work. Make it your goal to get so good at your job that you can quit a job this morning and have another this afternoon.
I hope this didn't piss you off but you did ask for advice.

[YOUNG FROSTY]

Get over your anger Frosty and the quicker the better. I don't mean pretend you're over it I mean forget everything about that job that is negative and remember the good especially where you learned. Family businesses are just that and if it was you you would operate in a similar way. Maybe not the same but blood is blood.
The first job I had was janitorial. My best friends dad hired me because my friend wanted him to. There was a lady working there that the boss had confidence in but she didn't like me. My work was done after hours and she refused to leave the women's toilet unlocked so I could clean it. It got real dirty and she left me a real nasty note about how it was a pig sty. I left her a note that since she was a hog a pig sty was what she needed and I didn't see a problem. Needless to say I got fired. My friend was concerned that I would turn on him and ask me if we were still friends. I told him of course we are because you got me the job and my own mouth took it away. I'm not mad at your dad either because to tell the truth the lady and I both handled the situation wrong but I was more wrong than her because the toilet was dirty.
That didn't make me anything more than honest about what happened and so have you been until you start getting angry and shooting off you mouth. Drop the tantrums and get back to work. Make it your goal to get so good at your job that you can quit a job this morning and have another this afternoon.
I hope this didn't piss you off but you did ask for advice.

Thanks but i am not mad. I am just mildly irritated and inconvenienced. Far from angry though.

[WAYNE3298]

Post #24 looks like anger to me. If it is frustration you don't need that either. What benefit is there in frustration? I am old guy and have been there. Put a time limit on all your negative feelings and stick to it. Get up Monday morning knowing you are going to find a job because you are going to look until you find what you want.

[pecmsg]

I was working for a local business doing residential installs and service. I did comparable portions of PM's, service calls, and install jobs (AC and natural gas furnaces). I also have my app in to the local steamfitters union, but that's more of a longer term plan. I need a shorter term plan for right now haha.

Find a contractor that’s part of the fitters. Hire on for any position. Helper if need be. They have X amount of time to sign you up and your in the next apprenticeship class!

[Adlerberts-Protege]

As quickly as you can, achieve the skill-set necessary to run your own show. Once you do, if you do it right, you will never go back.

[GoCougs]

I get head hunted quite a bit, but a lot of it is 6 months term..$85.00 hr, minimum benefits right away, no $5k sign on..no thanks! I easily write up $600k worth of "clean" commercial repair and replacement work yearly...

i am more than ready to find/upgrade my job with easy 40 hour work week/full benefits/profit sharing, with no weekends, paying over $120k a year...i actually lose more money on OT with taxes, so its not worth it..i dont want to burn myself out physically either...i do have my random clients call me on evenings/weekends where i do make the real money though...

Regarding increased taxes with OT, that is simply untrue and for some reason is a common misconception.

First thing to understand is that OT is not taxed any differently than straight time. It is true that the larger your taxable wage is for that pay period, the more proportionately you will pay in taxes.

For every pay period, payroll will withhold the amount of taxes from that check that you would owe if you made that exact amount the entire year. So if you make 25-50% more that pay period, you will almost guaranteed be pushed up into the next tax bracket, thus paying more proportionately in taxes. This is the only way they can Estimate your withholdings, without have you end up potentially owing significant amounts of money after filing taxes. So for the short term you do pay more in taxes.

This balances out when at tax time when you have your entire gross taxable wage compared to your total tax liability. If you have had sporadic periods during the year with pay periods much larger than your average check, you will get a larger refund, getting back what you overpaid.

Essentially the excessive taxes you see during those large checks is what people who make significantly more than most of us in the trade see on every single check, overtime or not.

I'm no financial expert by any means, but it is how I understand it.

[YOUNG FROSTY]

Regarding increased taxes with OT, that is simply untrue and for some reason is a common misconception.

First thing to understand is that OT is not taxed any differently than straight time. It is true that the larger your taxable wage is for that pay period, the more proportionately you will pay in taxes.

For every pay period, payroll will withhold the amount of taxes from that check that you would owe if you made that exact amount the entire year. So if you make 25-50% more that pay period, you will almost guaranteed be pushed up into the next tax bracket, thus paying more proportionately in taxes. This is the only way they can Estimate your withholdings, without have you end up potentially owing significant amounts of money after filing taxes. So for the short term you do pay more in taxes.

This balances out when at tax time when you have your entire gross taxable wage compared to your total tax liability. If you have had sporadic periods during the year with pay periods much larger than your average check, you will get a larger refund, getting back what you overpaid.

Essentially the excessive taxes you see during those large checks is what people who make significantly more than most of us in the trade see on every single check, overtime or not.

I'm no financial expert by any means, but it is how I understand it.

tax brackets are in tiers. So making more money, in absolutely zero circumstances, will result in less net income. Only the income BEYOND the threshold of the next bracket gets taxed at that higher rate. Example below:

0-35k is 4%
35k-65k is 6%

So if you make 35k a year, you pay 4% on 35k for your taxes. But if you work overtime or get a pay raise, and next year you make 40k, you pay 4% of 35k and 6% of 5k in taxes, not 6% on the whole 40k.

I always roll my eyes when people say they didn't take OT because it would result in a smaller paycheck. That is the case in a grand total of ZERO situations.


Anyway, today I wrote a short thank you letter like the user above mentioned. I closed off the letter saying if anyone ever asked me to recommend a quality HVAC contractor I wouldn't hesitate to mention their name, and I hope that they can say the same for me. I tried to slip in a back door recommendation for myself in the future to future employers.

[Artrose]

I've been in this business a long time. Been there done that, and left on my own a couple times too.

Always remember. ...... You are your reputation. ........

If you have a good reputation, you'll always have friends, and you'll never be out of work.

Shake it off, and get back out there. I always did better each time I made the switch. You will too.

[pageyjim]

tax brackets are in tiers. So making more money, in absolutely zero circumstances, will result in less net income. Only the income BEYOND the threshold of the next bracket gets taxed at that higher rate. Example below:

0-35k is 4%
35k-65k is 6%

So if you make 35k a year, you pay 4% on 35k for your taxes. But if you work overtime or get a pay raise, and next year you make 40k, you pay 4% of 35k and 6% of 5k in taxes, not 6% on the whole 40k.

I always roll my eyes when people say they didn't take OT because it would result in a smaller paycheck. That is the case in a grand total of ZERO situations.


Anyway, today I wrote a short thank you letter like the user above mentioned. I closed off the letter saying if anyone ever asked me to recommend a quality HVAC contractor I wouldn't hesitate to mention their name, and I hope that they can say the same for me. I tried to slip in a back door recommendation for myself in the future to future employers.

My goal was to pay more in taxes every year. It meant that I made more money.

I worked jobs that guaranteed 40 hrs/wk and ones that didn't. I made more money and had more time off at companies that did not guarantee 40/wk. When it was busy I socked in the OT and I hated busy work so would ask to be off when it was slow. That gave some others who needed it the chance to make money while I enjoyed days off. I looked at my ytd total and not my weekly total and you have to budget of course which you already said you do nicely. But of course to each their own.

I think you have a good attitude and want to learn. Those are two of the best attributes to ask for in a young tech imo. You'll do fine and never need to look back.

[madhat]

Think of it as an opportunity, get a job in the Commercial Side, which is what I did. Never regretted that move. With my Squeaky clean record, in a few years, I was making more money than my old service manager. Had a custom built house constructed, that made his look like a cracker box. Tell your employee prospects you got fired over Family Politics, don’t elaborate, or tell them anything else. Believe me this info is already out there in the trade. BTW I got Fired for the petty reason of refusing to wear a company hat. I can’t wear any hat that isn’t washed on a daily business, it’s like I’m allergic to my own scalp. Been that way since I was a toddler.

[Unlimited1]

I can tell you on my end with commercial work, I will always be busy......I find lots of WTF did they do here???? Especially on new contracts! Hacked wiring, blown compressors due to safeties bypassed/swapped also.., booger welded TXVs Causing more restrictions, filter dryers not changed out...lots of flat circuits, tons of clogged evaps, plugged micro channel condensers...CFMs running backwards..

Never ever bypass/delete a safety (Especially a heat safety) And leave it that way unless it’s only for testing! Keep these replacements in your truck at all times! If you don’t have the correct part leave it down and non operational...been to new places where the RTUs caught on fire because the high limit safety was removed...a simple $35.00 part is now a $7,700 RTU replacement!!!

The largest issue I also see is units shut down on smoke detectors..relays hacked. Less than 22v returning from them..anything less than 22v causes burned out coils on relays and contactors..
I have been to 35-40 RTU buildings completely shut down due to the central smoke alarm panel not being reset...Not just the 2-3 RTUs cooling /heating....

I have schooled many a fire smoke tech also who said it’s my problem...where they break my 24v At the transformer I put back together And boom! Unit(s) is working! Then they “oohhh, ah, er, let me check something else” Exactly!

As per the fire marshals in All my service areas, I cannot legally leave them bypassed if I’m not going to be on site...if I am caught leaving it bypassed it’s a $25k fine per unit...so I photo document everything prior to leaving showing it not bypassed....

So, never piss off a Fire Marshall, you need them as an ally! If they say they want it done a certain way, never question it( unless it doesn’t work then you can question them) they are normal people At the end of the day..

I still don’t like working on the ladders diagram 120v controlled , above 25 ton intellipak units (The size of a Small freight car) with electrical issues! You need an 8’ ladder just to check the CFM operation...But I learn a bit more each time...

[YOUNG FROSTY]

**** me, man. What you do sounds really challenging. I would LIKE to become as skilled as you, but I need someone willing to invest in me and train me. I think the union is great but I know of non union shops that do quality training and such as well. I've been shoveling out resumes to the contractors in the union directly.

[Sooty]

**** me, man. What you do sounds really challenging. I would LIKE to become as skilled as you, but I need someone willing to invest in me and train me. I think the union is great but I know of non union shops that do quality training and such as well. I've been shoveling out resumes to the contractors in the union directly.

It all comes with time. Really my advice is to not count on any employer ever training you and to read everything you can get your hands on and look for your own training. Don't look for a perfect job that promises training any job you can get can teach you something if you keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut.

[YOUNG FROSTY]

I already do this. Any time I ran into peculiar situations at work I would go home and research it later. For example, doing combustion tests. I'm not an expert on them but now I have a better idea of what sorts of problems will cause certain sets of conditions on the combustion analyzer.

[stumpdigger]

Can you explain how you lose money on ot with taxes. Makes no sense to me.

They take 50% and you never get it back!

[stumpdigger]

Regarding increased taxes with OT, that is simply untrue and for some reason is a common misconception.

First thing to understand is that OT is not taxed any differently than straight time. It is true that the larger your taxable wage is for that pay period, the more proportionately you will pay in taxes.

For every pay period, payroll will withhold the amount of taxes from that check that you would owe if you made that exact amount the entire year. So if you make 25-50% more that pay period, you will almost guaranteed be pushed up into the next tax bracket, thus paying more proportionately in taxes. This is the only way they can Estimate your withholdings, without have you end up potentially owing significant amounts of money after filing taxes. So for the short term you do pay more in taxes.

This balances out when at tax time when you have your entire gross taxable wage compared to your total tax liability. If you have had sporadic periods during the year with pay periods much larger than your average check, you will get a larger refund, getting back what you overpaid.

Essentially the excessive taxes you see during those large checks is what people who make significantly more than most of us in the trade see on every single check, overtime or not.

I'm no financial expert by any means, but it is how I understand it.

That's what they tell you , but when you file your 50% is gone, been there done that.

[stumpdigger]

Think of it as an opportunity, get a job in the Commercial Side, which is what I did. Never regretted that move. With my Squeaky clean record, in a few years, I was making more money than my old service manager. Had a custom built house constructed, that made his look like a cracker box. Tell your employee prospects you got fired over Family Politics, don’t elaborate, or tell them anything else. Believe me this info is already out there in the trade. BTW I got Fired for the petty reason of refusing to wear a company hat. I can’t wear any hat that isn’t washed on a daily business, it’s like I’m allergic to my own scalp. Been that way since I was a toddler.

F them and there light up in flames uniforms that melt to your skin!