NigelW Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Good Evening, I am posting here, in the Self Knowledge topic group, because I am unsure of where else to post it. I seldom post but often I listen to shows and donate. Aside from that, I place a lot of value on what FDR has offered me and in this case I am looking for advice. I need funding for when I technical school in three months in the evenings for my degree which is job related. The program includes an internship and I want to take it at a different company...because I want to work somewhere else entirely and I have not told my current employer that. Option 1: My current employer has agreed to fund 50% of my tuition backed by a signed conditional agreement for repayment if I fail to complete the program. Nothing has been signed yet. My Grandfather has agreed to help me financially if I can't pay for the other half. Option 2: Get a student loan. I will be able to cover most of the costs with the loan and the rest will be covered by my day job. Option 1 would be great if I intended on staying at my current job, but I don't because, aside from the lack of mentorship, I was yelled at when I first started with no mention of it to this day and my coworkers joke about child abuse (No HR Dept.). I'm certain that Option 2 will put me in a better position to move on because I will not be depending on my current employer for resources when I make my move while in school... because damn, that would be awkward. "Please continue to pay for my schooling while I add value to someone elses company". Yeaaahhh... no. Can I be more reasonable in this situation? Regards, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirgall Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 I did a form of Option 1 that had even more teeth, which was if I left my employment with them voluntarily within three years of graduation I was responsible for repaying the full amount. It sounds like you don't intend to stay, so i wouldn't pursue that option at all, unless there was some way to feed what you learn into your job to expand your role to something both more fulfilling for you and more profitable for the company. Talking to a company about making them more money shouldn't be off the table, but it sounds like you have a dysfunctional management system there. Do you like your manager? Do you feel like you can be totally honest with him or her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Green Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Is the different company a known, or is it just that you want to do it somewhere/anywhere else? Maybe the other company would also be willing to partially fund your education. Any company you do that for will likely be keen on keeping you around contractually somehow, though. Given that you're using a symbol that represents architectural room elevation details, I'm gonna assume you're looking to get into some sort of architectural engineering field. I'm in a related field so if you ever have any questions about something in your technical schooling feel free to contact me if you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdiaz03 Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I would ask your current employer if he expects you to stay and for how long. Maybe you can ask in the case that you go, that you would be willing to pay him back at a reasonable rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelW Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 Hey shirgall, My "gut" says not to bring up the fact that I was yelled at. I don't feel like I can be totally honest with him because no one else has brought it up and I don't know how to. Is it ideal to like your manager? Hey Carl, I assumed that for an employer to even want to fund my education I would already have to be an employee. I am not confident in my ability to negotiate something like that in an interview, but have you ever seen someone swing that? Yeah, my profile picture is an interior elevation symbol. I have a background working for a subconsultant and subcontractor and intend on getting into construction management. Would you happen to know about construction management? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Green Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I was already in a technical school when I got my job. I work for a commercial/industrial electrical contractor creating/managing construction drawings so my experience with construction management is mostly from the other side of the table. I'm not sure what the rate on a student loan would be for you, but if you find that out, you can at least determine if it would be financially smarter to try and get a company to pay for your education with a repayment promise if you end up leaving after a certain number of years or just going to a bank. Management, particularly of other people, isn't the most appealing to me personally but from what I can tell, as a construction manager, you would do well to really hone your people skills and get good at negotiating issues between trades and tradesmen. You'll be dealing with various personality types, not all of which are pleasant and depending on how the projects contractual arrangements are set up, you can end up with everyone at arms and pointing fingers at the end of a project when it comes to getting paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirgall Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 My "gut" says not to bring up the fact that I was yelled at. I don't feel like I can be totally honest with him because no one else has brought it up and I don't know how to. Is it ideal to like your manager? Managers are agents of the company and they should be looking out for any activity that diminishes the company's value. Yes, you should not treat them as your confidant on all personal matters, but also you should be able to point out things that hurt the company and they should try to fix them. It is ideal to trust that your manager will recognize the value to you bring to the company and will remove unreasonable obstacles to bringing more value. A virtuous manager will also be looking at your value to the company in the longer term, including whether you would be more valuable in a different role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelW Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 Hey Carl, I'll give an example of what I mean by construction management. I know of an electrical contracting company that was bought by a construction management company here in Canada. From what I can tell, if the construction management company gets clients then the electrical contracting company, now owned, is guarenteed work as opposed to being a subcontractor to a general contractor. Are you guys a subcontractor? I've applied for the expense through my company already but I feel awful. I feel awful trying to take up your time in explaining this problem. Truth is I have no one else giving me feedback. I have a slightly different view of management in general. It's about managing the process and not the people. If the people make mistakes, it's the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Green Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Ah okay, you're talking about construction management as in what the company does. Yeah, we're a subcontractor, and don't worry about taking up my time, I'm responding on the clock so I'm gettin' paid to do it. Okay so I can see what you're talking about with the process management and you're right, people are just a part of it. They're the actuators of all things involved though (unless you guys got some kick ass robots up there) so the advice on being able to interact with many different personality types still applies of course. You wanna flesh out your issue with the financing of the education though, right? And the issue is that the company you're now integrated with contractually has some ...less than stellar people in charge? Skype is also an option for me if ya wanna do a voice call or something about it. My id is carl.h.bartelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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