Some people are used to finding whatever job they can and then struggling to pay their bills. They are generally getting jobs that any unskilled person can qualify for. These types of jobs don’t pay a lot and they aren’t long lasting because the skills required are not valued. It puts someone in position to not have extra money, be impacted by typical/periodic emergencies which require extra money and both of these make things very difficult.

First of all, there is an important principle in life in regards to money to have a more stable, less stressful life and that principle is “You MUST spend less money than you make – consistently!” One must control their expenses compared to their income. To accomplish this, there are two options: 1) Spend less money. 2) Make more money.

If you get a standard unskilled job, you may make, let’s say on the high end, $20/hour. We’ll ignore deductions for this example and say you’ll bring home $800/week gross. That would be about $3,200/month or $40,000/year. If you invested in training to learn a skill, let’s say you then might earn $35/hour which results in $1,400/week, $5,600/month and $70,000 per year. That would be a significant difference.

When one gets training and a better skilled job, there are several advantages: 1) More money which means more options and hopefully less financial stress. 2) Jobs that require more skills are generally more enjoyable because their are more engaging. 3) If you have a valuable skill and if something happens at your current job, this skill is more likely to be valued at other places than would be needed for an unskilled job. 4) If, for example, you make $15 more per hour, over 10 years, that is $300,000 extra that you will make.

How do you get a better job? It is not easy but almost everything of value is not easy. I am happy to sit down and discuss ideas with you. I have put some ideas below to get you started. I would encourage you to look over this information and dig deeper and follow up with some things. Again, I am happy to assist after you have put in some work.

Higher education schools almost always have a career center. It seems that they are set up to serve just current vs. prospective students. It would seem better to me if they would allow people from the streets to come in and for the school help them determine their skills and interests and then help them get training at this school that matches their interests. This doesn’t seem to be the case. Given that, for the schools in the area like Indiana Tech, Ivy Tech, St. Francis, PFW and IU, you can check out what they might offer. You could consider taking a general course and then getting their help. This is one option.

I called the PFW Career Development Center at careercenter@pfw.edu or 260-481-0689 and left a voicemail message explaining my interest and asking them to call back. Tammy called back and said they just provide services for students and alumni of PFW. She suggested many other resources that are available by searching.

I called WorkOne Northeast, 201 E. Rudisill Blvd., Ste. 102, Fort Wayne, IN 46806, 260-745-3555 on 5/22/26.  A person there suggested https://www.onetonline.org/ first and foremost.  She also suggested https://alison.com/ Take a look at these two websites.

I searched different websites and this was one of them. https://www.greaterfortwayneinc.com/talent-workforce/madebyme/careers/#skilled-trades – list of Career Opportunities in Skilled Trades

This is another website I found: https://www.indianacareerconnect.com/vosnet/default.aspx

This is another website I found: https://indianacareerexplorer.com/adult

This is another website I found: https://www.in.gov/dwd/nextleveljobs/workforce-ready-grant/available-job-training

This is another website I found: https://www.makemymove.com/guides/fort-wayne-indiana-employment-guide

This is another website I found: https://www.ivytech.edu/classes/skills-training-classes/how-skills-training-works/?location=Fort%20Wayne

This is another website I found: https://indianacareerexplorer.com/#SplitModal

This is another website I found: https://www.truity.com/test/career-personality-profiler-test

This may be a difficult process but we all have faced difficult situations in the past. Being able to overcome difficult situation where we don’t even know the next thing to do and we are unsure of what might happen is a good adult skill that we can work on that will help us in many aspects of life including being good at challenging jobs.

I would also suggest prayer (God loves you so much!) and talking to other people for advice and encouragement. Think about a more enjoyable, stable job and the extra $300,000 over 10 years that you can use to enhance your life and the lives of others. Blessings!