Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with careeradvice

Former classical musician not qualified to do anything but be broke...?

vilolagrl — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:53:41 -0800

Professional musician going through a career change, not having much luck, what am I qualified/supposed to do? What methods do you recommend? So, after spending 10 years working as professional (classical) musician, I'm changing careers because of economic (and physical/mental) necessity.

I'm 26, just dropped out of a performance masters program, have an undergrad in musicology (with about 23 credits of English work) from UVA, and a performance certification from another conservatory. All through my undergrad/grad years I ran a booking business to help my quartet and other friends get gigs, I was a TA in grad school, and have had multiple waitressing jobs/coffee shop gigs plus a few semesters as a library assistant at UVA. I also have been teaching lessons close to full-time for about 10 years.

I'm now living with my parents in northern-ish Virginia (close enough to commute to DC if I really need to, but far enough that I'd like to avoid 4+ hours in traffic each day if possible).

I'm subbing at schools (my mom is a reading specialist in the local school district), teaching at a local music studio and starting/conducting a youth orchestra in the area, but I need a 9-5 career-type job (Full disclosure, I would love to get into copywriting, as writing+money = awesome, and have taken a few classes through Media Bistro. I've had some experience with graphic and web design, so I currently trying to pimp out any and all freelance-type skills I have. I'm doing some Elance gigs and some volunteer things to get my resume/portfolio in shape. Music biz-type jobs are right up my alley and I'm experienced, but in VA they're hard to come by. Music education would require at least a year and a half of full-time study and the programs don't start until the fall).

I've been applying to government jobs, administrative jobs, and lots of minimum wage Target/Kohls/Walmart/Starbucks gigs, and despite trying several different resume tricks (dumbing down my resume considerably, trying my regular resume, leaving out "music", etc) for the past 7 months I've gotten a handful of interviews (maybe 2, and they were because I refused to leave without seeing a manager... stuck my foot in the door essentially).

I did try the public-school route, but I'm only eligible for alternative certification. There is a glut of certified music teachers in this area - each county's HR has to abide by the "more certified teachers we can hire, the more funds we get from the government", so I have literally been recommended by three principals to be hired (In other words, I went through the interview process, the principal liked me, called and offered me the job, then sent my application to Human Resources who called me and said something to the effect of "we can't allow the principal to hire a non-certified teacher in the current economic environment, we have to wait for a certified teacher... sorry but we're sure you'll find something!").

Well, I'm not finding anything (like many others in this economy). But I'm also feeling like I'm not qualified for anything other than teaching!

I'm really trying to get into a new, and more lucrative, career but as a "starving musician" I didn't have cash to save (for real, paying full-time tuition and squeaking by on 6-8000 a year since I was in a conservatory at 16). So I am completely tapped out, and the parents will NOT provide any assistance for schools/training programs/trainings... I'm 20, 000 grand in the hole because of grad school. It's hard to get ahead and look toward any Ad Schools/real estate, or even like, cosmetology school, when I can barely put gas in my car... or get a McJob. They're trying the "tough love" route, which blows, frankly (but I get why they're doing it).

I'm open to many different fields, so long as they are creative-ish and I can make a reasonable amount of money eventually. I can work the mail room and intern like nobody's business, so building up from nothing isn't a problem, I just don't know where to start.

Arg, help me mefi people, if you can! Being really good at something while being completely unqualified for anything else is frustrating, but I'm trying my hardest to stay positive.

When the economy was better/I was in college, I never had a hard time landing jobs, so I don't think it's me... at least I don't think so!

Oh, and just fyi I was in/first chair of several pick-up (ie weekend, one concert a month) professional orchestras but frankly I don't have the skill, patience, or physical/mental fortitude (My doctor recently told me that I would need between 3-4 surgeries to continue playing as much as I am/would need to... carpel tunnel and rotator cuff problems) to do the full-time orchestra route. I have a performance certification from a very good school and have studied with some masters, but honestly, I didn't go to Indiana or Julliard so the numbers game of "open spots v. amazing players willing to audition for 10 years until they get one" has me screwed either way.

Sorry for the length. I'm at my wit's end with all this.

How to advance a career in Content Managment/Tech Writing

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:23:39 -0800

Straight out of college, I stumbled into a nice job as a Content Manager/Technical Writer for a major corporation's website. What can I do to help my career in this field? So, I just graduated with an English degree from a respectable liberal arts college, and I do an excellent blog that won a recognizable national award. I know my way around html and css, but have no experience with more complex computer science. At my new job, I'm getting some great experience working with the most popular Content Managment System for enterprise, and I'm writing help docs and design patterns. I have no previous expereince in either of these areas.

I'm hoping that when I've got some good work under my belt and the economy turns around, I'll be in a pretty marketable position (I live in one of the tech capitals of the US). But since I never planned to enter this field, I feel like I'm missing some context as far as career advancement goes. Say I want to work for Microsoft, Apple, Google, or Amazon some day. What should I do now to start down that path?

Anon because I guess this implies dissatisfaction with my current gig.

I used to be crazy, now career me up!

xchmp — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:34:11 -0800

My many bad decisions about education and work that have left me in dead-end jobs. What's the career of my dreams? And how do I get it? But first, some quick background on how I got here. I have bipolar disorder which is now treated to the point where I have essentially no symptoms. My years of mental illness led to lots of bad decisions with education and careers (and lots of other things, too). I went to a third-rate university, got a degree in international relations and have worked in call-centres since. About two years ago, my years of non-treatment caught up with me and have been off-work since. Since I'm now well, I'll be going back to work in the near future (my last call-centre job's still open for me), but I'm finally in a position to start making long-term plans.

I also have a severe circadian rhythm sleep disorder. I'm seeing a neurologist about this. My sleep patterns are very disorganised and I suspect that even after treatment I'll find it difficult to keep to a fixed schedule.

I asked a more general question about this a couple of months ago and got some good advice. This question's rather more specific: What career options should I be looking at and how do I get there? All the career advice I've seen has been aimed at people who are making these decisions for the first time, or people who are switching from an established career. I'm switching from no career, which makes things a little more complicated.

My current situation:

Awful employment history. No experience in anything other than answering phones. 2:1 degree in international relations from a poorly rated university. I enjoy programming, but have no qualifications; I'm reasonably competent, but probably not at a professional level. I like solving problems, working under pressure and rather enjoy dealing with crises. I'd prefer to deal with people rather than technology. I'm think I'm academically able enough that I should be able to complete any course of study fairly easily, however if I do a second degree I'll have to fund it myself. I'm 26 and live in England.

What I want:

I have nothing specific in mind at the moment. But I've lived on very little money for years and I want to end up financially comfortable. I want to be able to catch up with people who've a few years' head-start; it would need to allow a reasonably flexible schedule from the beginning; and obviously it needs to be something where my history of mental illness won't necessarily hold me back. I'm willing to put in plenty of time and effort, though.

So, AskMe, what career or professions should I be considering and what will I need to do to qualify myself for them?

Need advice on getting an entry level IT job

bsexton — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:53:35 -0800

Help!! Looking for Entry Level IT position - ZERO Professional experience. Need some advice. I am currently enrolled into a 2 year Computer Information Systems Bachelors Degree with an expected graduation of 2010. I've worked on computers pretty much all my life and am really interested in making it a career. After getting the hang of administration and whatever else I need to learn I would like to get into management.

Here's what my plan is so far...

I will be going to class 2-3 nights a week. I work full time but I am off by 5 or so. If I go to summer classes I could graduate earlier.

In the mean time, I am thinking about getting some certifications (CompTia A+ MCDST anything else I can afford) so I can get an entry level help desk position (for experience).

Without a doubt I want/need to go to college but I want to get some experience in the field while I am going to school and possibly after school progress to a new opportunity.

I would rather my career path be on the Admin side and not the programmer/developer side of things.

I have a pretty stable work history outside of the IT field. In the past 10 years I'm on my 3rd job (which I just started)

If I go for the certs what should I go for first? The A+ or MCDST?
What other certs should I go for?

Here's the kicker I'm an IT recruiter and place candidates with clients all day long but not entry level. I've talked to several candidates about their career path and it seems like I would be right on track. Also networking with client to find out more about their entry level positions.

All help is appreciated

Made redundant in IT at 45yo. Career change advice?

lndl — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:28:44 -0800

TERROR! After 25 years in the IT industry in Ireland I feel like the 21st century equivalent of an expendable 19th century coal miner. I'm about to be made redundant (again) this afternoon and am gripped by terror. I don't even know now what I want. Any career counseling advice? OK, I'll be 45 in a few weeks. I've been working in the IT sector for 25 years, (though I wasted the first 10) but a series of changes outside my control meant there's been no clear carer progression though I've gone from an electronics tech to recently a business development manager. I've been in my most recent company for 8 years. I don't feel I have any actual detailed expertise any more.

I live almost literally in the middle of nowhere in Ireland and have worked from home for the last 8 years (pure luck originally). I don't really want to move, I've spent my life doing that. I just completed a MSc in Environmental Negotiation as a potential aid to escape the IT sector but no idea how to apply it. I'm not particularly entrepreneurial so Consultancy seems inappropriate for my personality.
The fear of change is overwhelming me as I'm highly introverted (but always rated highly by those I work with due to intelligence & drive) so the whole job-finding process is more suited to extroverts.
PS I doubt my redundancy payment will be much (after all the CEO had to be paid a $1m bonus for the same project that actually failed) but I have mortgage payment insurance that'll protect me for a while and any payment I get will have to provide a car and living moey for a few months.

How to be a good PM.

StephenF — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 08:41:17 -0800

Help me be a good product manager. Rather to my surprise, I have ended up in a product management role at a very large tech company. I'm not going to be managing major release and products, but for about 50% of my time I'll be looking after smaller projects, mostly internal-facing.

I'll be working with hard-core engineers who are experts in their field. I am deeply interested in technology, but I'm not a programmer by any stretch. I can easily grasp technical concepts when someone explains them to me, or understand why a potential technical solution is not possible, for example. But I would have no idea at all of the relative merits of Java vs Perl and so on.

What I bring to the table is a deep understanding of our internal and external customers' needs, and lots of ideas for how we can do things better.

I see my role as either defining or helping define the vision of the product we ultimately want, working with the engineering teams to define what is actually possible, working with the business teams to make sure what we can deliver will meet their needs, and then creating an environment where the engineers can deliver the product as quickly as possible (protecting them from sales management intrusion, endless additional feature requests etc).

What I don't want to do is become a Pointy-Haired Boss and alienate or antagonise the eng teams. If it's relevant, my own background is an undergrad in mechanical engineering, a few years in journalism, and three years in this company.

So for any engineers or PMs or similar out there - do you have any thoughts, experiences, anecdotes, book recommendations or anything else that might help me be a good PM?

Thanks MeFites.

Dietitian vs. Baker

meringue — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:12:35 -0800

Career path: Dietitian or Bakery Owner? I'm trying to decide whether or not it's worth it to go back to school and become a dietitian, or if I should concentrate on opening my own bakery.

I currently work as a baker, and have for about seven years. When I graduated from high school, I moved out, and to support myself I worked foodservice jobs while I attempted to go to university. After a couple of years of attending classes on and off, I decided that there was no point in continuing to study. I had been pursuing a BA in Geography with the intent of going on to study Urban Planning at the graduate level, but I felt that there were too many obstacles, no guarantee of a job at the end, and that I would be better off choosing a vocation that would pay me more than minimum wage.

So, I took a course in baking and was able to find better paying work, and while I enjoy baking, I have always been dissatisfied with my jobs. For the first month or so of a new job, it is challenging and interesting, and I think that I've found someplace that I can stay for a while and be happy doing it. Then it all becomes routine, boring, and I start to dread going to work. I always feel that I have to stay for at least a year though, partly because my resume is starting to get a little long, and partly because I feel guilty for leaving - I feel like I would be letting down my boss and my coworkers. I also have a mortgage and bills to pay, so I have to have another job lined up when I leave, and I have become increasingly picky about where I will even apply, let alone accept a job.

I know that it's time for a change, but I am unsure what direction to take. I think that I have it narrowed down to two options - Dietitian or Bakery Owner - but even then I have my doubts, and wonder if I should get away from anything to do with food. I have struggled with disordered eating much of my life, and while I feel that it is under control now, I did go through a serious eating disorder phase, and have also struggled with depression. On the one hand, part of me thinks that by working with food, it has become less of an obsession and that by becoming a dietitian I could help other people with food issues; on the other hand, I sometimes wonder whether any career associated with food is part of an unhealthy obsession.

Leaving aside the above issues, I have specific pros and cons about each career, and about the impact following either path will have on my personal life.

Bakery owner pros: I have experience and training as a baker, enjoy the hands-on nature and creativity, would allow me to be my own boss
Bakery owner cons: the hours can be detrimental to home/family/social life, a large investment of money and time, I would not be able to start it for several years because I would like to have children soon, wherever I start a bakery is the place I would be committing to live for several years.

Although the idea of having my own bakery is appealing for the freedom and control over product I would have, I worry about being tied down to one place. I have always wanted to travel but haven't been able to afford it, as my husband and I were focussed on buying a house and paying off old bills. We also want to have children soon, and that would preclude starting a bakery for several years. However, the idea of working as a baker until any potential children are in preschool is very disheartening.

Dietitian pros: can work for myself (I believe) or for someone else, interesting and challenging, my background both in foodservice & with eating issues could be an asset, I would be helping people and "making a difference", I prefer dealing with people one-on-one rather than working with the public, could take university classes part-time if I had children, professional status
Dietitian cons: many years of schooling, required one-year unpaid internship, salary seems low (as per dietitians.ca), requires me to retake highschool classes.

The schooling required to become a dietitian is one of the biggest things holding me back. Although I took sciences in high school, my marks were poor as I was dealing with depression & an eating disorder. I would have to retake the high school courses, which would add an extra year to my studies. I am also not especially scientifically inclined, although I checked the specific course requirements for the degree and believe that I could do it. Adding school to working part-time and having kids would be tough, but it would also give me a goal to work towards which is something I really crave.

Any advice/information about either career is appreciated, or feel free to tell me not to pursue either, just tell me why.
Thanks!

What does one do with an advanced degree in economics?

mandlebrotz — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 10:42:29 -0800

What does one do with an advanced degree in economics? I'm posting on behalf of my fiance, who's in his early 30s and is considering a career change. He's always been very interested in finance and money matters, though ended up working in web production. Going back to school for a graduate degree in economics seems like a good idea, but what does one do with it? He's not interested in a career in academics, or working in a big-city financial district (ie, Wall Street).

Do you know anyone who has followed a career path in economics, and are they happy with where they've ended up? Any relevant advice (including specific schools/programs) would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Project Management Advice from PMs and Developers

dame — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:09:43 -0800

Project managers and delevopers, please give me advice so I can be awesome and give developers proper care. I am moving from doing what is essentially project management for books into a position as a web project manager at a small ad agency. The folks who hired me know this, and they know I have a lot to learn about the new processes, workflows, types of team members, etc., and I should have some good mentoring. At the same time, I really want to do a great job and I really want to have good relationships with the developers.

So please tell me, developers, what do you like and dislike from your PMs?

Project managers, what are your hints? Any good links I should check out?

Thanks so much.

What's so bad about being a librarian?

Rock Steady — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:06:09 -0800

Librarians -- rain on my parade! What didn't they tell you in school? What are the worst parts of your job? What do you regret about your schooling/early career? So I have decided to go back to school to get an MLIS degree (at Simmons), and while I am completely excited about it and I am committed to going, I suspect that the large group of librarians here on AskMe can open my eyes to some of the pitfalls of the profession, with an eye towards avoiding them, if possible. I have seen the obvious questions here about careers in Library Science, but if you know of any that elude the site's search function, I'd be happy for pointers to them.

What keywords am I supposed to put in here?!

twiggy — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 07:29:12 -0800

What should the next step be in my career? I'm a techie who has moved into business for purposes of upward career mobility. I've excelled here, but I'm ready for the next step, and I'm not sure what I should be looking for. The key problem is I have no idea what kinds of jobs would appeal to me, I just know I need change.

I'm going to be 29 in under a week, so I'm several years out of college and have 2 semi-lengthy job experiences since. Here's the synopsis though:

I decided halfway through college, where I majored in Computer Science and Mathematics, that hardcore programming was not for me. I finished my degree anyway, and got a job as a web developer.

After 3 years and becoming incredibly unhappy where I was at career wise, I made a great move to a financial services company.

My time here has been good, and I've received very favorable reviews, been promoted once, etc. Now I'm about on my 3rd year and for various reasons I've decided it's time to seek out the next step in my career.

I've got technical experience/skills and business experience/skills and I'd like to best use this combination to my advantage. My resume [pops] is relatively up to date for reference.

Miscellaneous useful info:
- I'm interested in managing people (which I believe I'd actually be good at) and/or large projects
- Despite my technical background, I'm known by my coworkers as friendly, outgoing and well spoken - a "people person"
- If location vastly limits things or helps in ideas: I live in Chicago on the northwest side. Downtown would be nice. Suburbs would be less than ideal.

My questions:
- Given my skills, what kinds of jobs might I be good at?
- How the heck do I guess good keywords / job titles to search for based on the answer to the above?

What is this job called?

quibx — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 11:17:55 -0800

What would you call a web job that has the following duties... Rignt now I am an experienced web designer with a major university. I was asked today what my career plans were, and what I'd like to be doing in the future. I came up with a list of things I would like in a future job, but was at a loss to what that job would be called. So, here's what the job would entail: Taking content from someone and designing the look, feel, and navigation of a site. Providing direction to programmers and coders to make the site happen. Focus on standards compliance, browser compatability, while not worrying about "grunt work". Knowing how PHP, JSP and ASP work, but not actually writing them by hand. Right now I do a lot of this, but then actually build the pages myself. Would this be a Creative Director? Information Architect? Usability Guru?