Oklahoma City Aerospace Jobs That Lead Somewhere

Miles

Twenty four ninety five. That's the average hourly pay for aerospace work in Oklahoma City, according to ZipRecruiter data. And I keep picturing someone stuck at, say, sixteen an hour, scrolling right past that number and thinking, yeah, that's for engineers.

Claire Brooks

Which is the assumption. Defense manufacturing means a degree.

Miles

Right. Um, and the same ZipRecruiter data says most aerospace workers there land between seventeen twenty one and twenty eight sixty one an hour. So the, the floor isn't the basement.

Claire Brooks

Okay, so what does the door actually look like? Last time we were in distribution warehouses. This is the next rung, southwest OKC.

Miles

Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems, zip code seven three one seven nine. The listing we're working from wants Aircraft Assemblers and Composite Assemblers, level one. High school diploma, basic tape measure skills, aptitude with hand tools and you're assembling jet powered unmanned aircraft.

Claire Brooks

Jet powered. With a tape measure.

Miles

I know. I had the same face.

Claire Brooks

The schedule is what caught me. The Kratos posting says swing shift is 3:00 PM to 1:30 AM, Monday through Thursday.

Miles

Hold on, that's, uh, ten and a half hours a day. Four days. Forty two a week, by my math.

Claire Brooks

Your math holds. And the trade is, no Friday commute, so gas money stays in the tank, and you get three days in a row. Childcare, sleep, a side gig.

Miles

But one thirty in the morning. I did mornings on the radio for years, and a weird body clock is, it's not nothing. Nights aren't free just because Fridays are.

Claire Brooks

Fair. It's a trade, not a gift. Now here's the other thing about reading job boards. They show you the hourly wage and nothing else.

Miles

Which is the number I'd look at.

Claire Brooks

Sure. But the City of Oklahoma City's benefits page says its total compensation package, benefits and retirement, averages about twenty two thousand dollars per employee on top of your wages. Spread that over a full time year, roughly two thousand hours, and that's around eleven dollars an hour. My rough math, so don't quote me to the penny.

Miles

Wait, so a city job posting with a lower wage could beat a higher one once you count the healthcare and retirement.

Claire Brooks

That's the point. The city also reimburses tuition for full time employees on most pay plans, up to twelve fifty per semester. You apply at four twenty West Main Street or through okc dot gov slash careers.

Miles

Okay, so say you get in the door. How do you climb past entry level without drowning in student loans?

Claire Brooks

Moore Norman Technology Center. Franklin Road campus. Their admissions page lists tuition at two dollars and fifty cents per academic clock hour for in district students, and three dollars for out of district.

Miles

Two fifty. Per hour. That's, that's a vending machine snack.

Claire Brooks

Do the hypothetical. A program that ran a thousand clock hours would be twenty five hundred dollars in tuition. Hypothetical, so check the real program hours. The outline we're working from points to CNC Machining and Electrical Trades, aiming at twenty four to thirty dollars an hour.

Miles

And that range is the target, not a promise.

Claire Brooks

Right. Also, for eligible Native students, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation's NACTEP program is described as offering full tuition sponsorship and living stipends. Kourtney Jones manages it, four oh five, eight seven eight, three eight five four. Confirm eligibility with her.

Miles

Alright, my turn. Cash flow while you're retraining. Thunder season, Paycom Center, one Myriad Gardens. The range we're working from says event attendants and guest crew work four to six hour evening shifts at fifteen to eighteen an hour.

Claire Brooks

And that fits with the Kratos schedule how?

Miles

Um, Kratos is Monday to Thursday, so weekends are open. Two or three shifts is about a hundred fifty to two fifty dollars. But, uh, weeknight home games would collide with a swing shift, so pick your nights.

Claire Brooks

And confirm the pay with the venue. Numbers move.

Miles

Yeah. Now the hard one. What if the car dies or the medical bill lands, and the rent is due Friday?

Claire Brooks

A Heartline 211 listing describes NSO's Stay Housed program as providing eviction prevention services and legal advocacy for renters experiencing sudden financial crisis, such as medical bills or emergency car repair. The Tenant Advocacy Center is at thirteen eighteen Linwood Boulevard, phone four oh five, nine eight four, four two oh two.

Miles

So call before it's a court date, not after.

Claire Brooks

That's the idea. And here's the day one challenge. Before 5:00 PM today, do one thing. Submit an online profile on the Kratos Defense careers page, or call the Moore Norman Bursar at four oh five, eight zero one, five zero nine zero and ask about course start dates.

Miles

One thing. Not a whole life plan. I can do a phone call.

Claire Brooks

Then go do it. That's the show.