Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with job and college

I don't want these bridges to burn...

DRoll — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:09:12 -0800

I just learned that I have been fired from my resident assistant position. How do I handle my final two weeks and move on? I was hired to be a resident assistant at my university this fall after living on campus for two years. I had had a decent experience living in the residence halls, and I wanted to continue to have that experience while being a student leader. I was very excited to start, but also a little nervous. My excitement disappeared, however, when I learned that I had been assigned to a building that had a bad reputation and was known as the "party dorm" instead of returning to the dorm where I had previously been a resident. This assignment was not a good fit for me at all. I was very disappointed, and I came in with a bit of a chip on my shoulder.

The year was not a great one. Half of my building's original staff had been fired by the end of the semester, and we had a fairly large number of problems with residents. My floor was relatively well-behaved, but it was a struggle to build a community. The entire experience was a HUGE adjustment after living in the (relatively quiet) Honors hall on the other side of campus. I am an introvert, so I had to quickly break out of my shell. I tried the best I could to handle my responsibilities, but it was a huge struggle and very stressful. When combined with other personal issues, I was not always in a positive mindset.

Now, we have come to the end of the year evaluations. I just learned this evening that I have not been rehired, primarily because of my attitude towards the job. This was not entirely surprising to me, but I am still disappointed. I don't know if this job is a good fit for me, but I was really hoping for a fresh start this fall in a different building with (hopefully) a more mature group of students. I had already told several people that I was really looking forward to starting over, and now, that's not happening. My firing is somewhat of a stress release, but at the same time, it is also a huge personal failure to me. I have never been fired from anything before.

I also have a younger brother who has just been hired as an RA, so I'm hoping that I am not negatively reflected onto him. He is a great fit for the position, and I know that he will succeed.

We still have two weeks to go, and I am not really looking forward to everything that is still going on in our building, including several building-wide programs and resident check-outs. I have a decent relationship with everyone on my staff, but I'm really not looking forward to dealing with them once they found out I'm not coming back. How can I best handle these next two weeks and make a graceful exit? Is this a blessing in disguise?

What's it like being a university staff lifer?

serialcomma — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 20:34:05 -0800

After three and half years as a university staff member, I'm trying to figure out my next step. Tell me about your college staff career and help me decide whether the field is right for me, longterm. I'm a communications/social media person with about ten years total experience in my field and three and a half years as university staff. I worked two and a half years at University A, left the job to move across the country, applied to a variety of communications jobs, and only got interviews at schools, colleges, and nonprofits before accepting basically the same job at University B.

Now that I've spent a year at University B, I'm starting to think about my professional future. When I'm ready to move on, I expect that the easiest next step will be another job at a university, but I'm not sure that's right for me. Can you help me decide?

Here's what I like about university work:
--Good work-life balance
--Access to campus amenities (gym, cultural programming, etc.)
--Working with students

Here's what I don't like:
--Salaries seem low in general, and low compared to similar jobs in other industries
--Lack of room for growth (For instance, everyone else in my department has had the same role for more than a decade. Stability is good, but I don't want "promotions" that are in title only.)
--Stagnation and bureaucracy--I run into a lot of "we do it this way because we've always done it this way" situations

So, three questions:
1. What has your experience as a longterm staff member been in terms of career growth, salary growth, and job satisfaction?
2. What should I consider as I decide whether to continue as a university staff member?
3. If I opt to move away from university staff jobs: Given that I previously had a terrible response rate applying anywhere other than educational institutions, how can I best market myself and my experience to other kinds of employers?

What should I do?

jumelle — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:01:54 -0800

I've only been at this job a few weeks, but I'm worried it's going to interfere with my college work (it hasn't yet). Should I stay at it or no? How could I get out of it if I left? tl;dr: I've only been at this job a few weeks, but I'm worried it's going to interfere with my college work (it hasn't yet). Should I stay at it or no? How could I get out of it if I left?

I'm not really sure what to do. I applied to this store job when a lot of my summer work plans fell apart and wasn't expecting to get a callback. A week or so before the start of school, I got one, and I've been working there since.

This job is not terribly out of the way, but it's not like it's easy to get to either. There's a lot of bussing around involved. When I work my shift that goes to 11:30, there's probably no way for me to get home before 1am.

That's not horrible by itself, but like I said, I go to school. Also, the pay at this job is, to put it bluntly, terrible. The work study job that I have gives me the same amount, and is a lot less demanding. The boss there doesn't mind if I do homework on shift, and if I want to, I can choose the work and projects that I want to do (meaning there's a lot more potential there to tailor my resume for when I escape from school).

However, there's a downside to this position-- I can only work it so long I am an enrolled student. So this means no hours during winter breaks, or in the spring when I graduate. Furthermore, the amount of money that I make here might be limited to a certain amount (once I reach a certain earning point, I have to ask the school for permission to work more hours. This is not always approved).

Ideally, I would just keep both jobs, but I doubt that I could handle it on top of school. I have an incredibly nervous disposition and I feel it's pretty much inevitable that I would have some kind of breakdown if I tried following this route.

I like the store job because is my best bet for making money. However, I can't do other things on my time here and they're a lot stricter with scheduling. I'll be out late more with less time for school stuff-- I really don't want to wind up sacrificing all the work I've done so far for this really lame job, but...that hasn't even happened yet. School just started. I feel like I'm getting ahead of myself.

But I still feel like I have to make a decision now. I can't wait for everything to fall apart and then decide I want to quit. At the end of the day, this job is nothing special. I could probably get another one very similar to it, I'm thinking (Though maybe I'm wrong; ya never know). Aren't I being greedy by trying to hold onto this even though I think I can't handle it?

But then there's also the matter of my not having worked there for very long. It seems incredibly dickish to bail after a month, which is the greatest amount of time that I can realistically see myself juggling all of this. When I submitted my application and when I did my interview, I stated that I was looking for employment for "less than 90 days" but when I talk with my supervisors it seems like they were expecting me to be there for a lot longer than that. I already stated that I wasn't 100% sure I would stay that long, or longer (they said this was a possibility, meaning working the store job in the spring might be a possibility), but for whatever reason, they don't seem aware of that...and I've already gone through training and everything too. I have no idea of how to resign tactfully from this, or what would be a good time to do it. I was being weirdly impulsive when I took this job and I admit that this whole mess was probably extremely avoidable.

I don't want to quit this job but I feel that I'll be in trouble later on if I don't. The WORST that could happen to me personally is that I decimate my savings during the school year, while being being unable to replenish my funds due to lack of employment.

Of course, I can also quit the work study job instead. The benefits and cons of that have been listed above.

I am really not sure how to proceed.

Advice/Thoughts for a recent college grad who doesn't like his job.

laffytaffy9000 — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:51:51 -0800

I just graduated college and have been working full-time for one month. I really don't like my job because I think I ended up in the wrong industry/type of business. I'm hoping for any suggestions, advice, or thoughts about how I can go about figuring out what industry/type of business/job would be a better fit for me. I am talented, smart, and hard working, but I feel like I am wasting my life because I'm not interested in my company or the work we do. Hi everyone! I've been a long-time lurker of AskMeFi, and I look forward to contributing now that I'm a member.

For now, I'm hoping people can give me some advice and thoughts about my life and career, as I find myself particularly frustrated and angry with how things are going for me.

I just graduated from a top university (hint: we’re ranked above Harvard on the latest Forbes top colleges list—not that these rankings mean anything though) where I majored in philosophy. I wasn’t very pre-professional in college, nor was I involved in extracurricular activities, which made my job hunt more difficult since I couldn’t spin extracurricular interests into a job or focus on a particular track (e.g. economics major → banking). For most of college I thought I wanted to be a philosophy professor, so I just focused on academics and hanging out with my friends. I did very well (got a 3.8/4.0) and made some great friends. Then I did some research about the lack of tenure-track positions at good schools and I realized that I wouldn’t be secure after going to graduate school in philosophy, so I decided to look for a full-time job following graduation. (I also realized that philosophy is my personal passion, not my professional one).

I had some summer work experience, though nothing special, and I’ve ended up working for a PR/communications consulting firm in NYC full-time.

Although I’ve only been working for about a month, I have a very strong feeling that I want to leave in one year. I know most young people don’t stay at their first company very long anymore, but it is still frustrating going to work everyday feeling like I’m wasting my time.

I’m hoping for advice on two fronts: (1) how I can figure out what industry or type of work is a good fit for me; (2) whether any industries or work fits with what I think would be a good fit for me, based on what I’ve learned in my month at work.

Starting with (2), here is what I don’t like about my current job:
(a) PR/Communications is very, very time sensitive. If one of our clients needs help with a communications or PR issue, it doesn’t matter what time of day it is or if it is a weekend, we have to work (we do bill by the hour, though). I don’t like this because I don’t feel like I have a life and, to be honest, I don’t care about the issues of our clients.
(b) It is not intellectual. When confronted with an issue, the solution or procedure is usually “Just go find examples of other companies that went through the same thing and see what they did.”
(c) I don’t feel like I’m in control of what I’m doing. Since I’m in a client-focused business, it’s all about the client.
(d) My workday never really ends. This is related to (a), but also because I have a company blackberry that my superiors use to ask me to do things based on the clients’ schedule and needs.

Also, I’ll just mention that I’m not very happy with the pay. I’m earning 50k, which is a lot better than many people in this economy, but its not a great deal considering the living expenses of NYC and considering the time I work after I leave the office and on weekends. Things have been pretty slow since it’s the summer, so I haven’t really experienced what it is like to work at my company, but I’ve been told that the hours get much more intense (leaving after 8 pm) if there is a client issue (which is frequent since that’s what we work on).

In any case, are there any industries that have the opposites of (a)-(d) as working conditions? Let me say this, too: I don’t have a problem working long hours—the “good old days” of the 9-5 are over. But I don’t want to work a lot at something that I don’t care about, and when the work day ends (even if that is like 8 pm) it should end; I shouldn’t get emails on my blackberry asking me to do more stuff before the next day (that being said, maybe that wouldn’t bother me if I cared about the work I was doing). I’m having a really hard time figuring out what type of work, industry, or companies would be a good fit for me. I’ve come up with the following, but I don’t know if they match up to a possible job:

(A). I need to work with other people. I had a summer job where we worked in small teams working out particular issues for the company and we got to present those issues and our solutions in meetings. I really enjoyed working closely with other smart people for the entire work day. At my current job, I’m often told to do something that I then just email off to whoever asked for it. I understand that’s part of being new at the company, but I also think it’s a waste of my talent and intellect.
(B). I like working at an abstract level that actually applies to the concrete level. I just finished reading the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson and I love how philosophical discussions about the user experience and design influenced the actual products Apple makes. A job where conceptual thinking makes a difference in how something is done, or in imagining what is possible, would be great for me given my interest and talent in abstract thinking. Really, I feel better about the work I’m doing when I’m helping to determine how it’s going to be done. I like making a plan to accomplish something and then executing the plan.
(C). I prefer customers to clients. I hate how I basically work for the client. That can interfere with innovation since you have to do something the client is comfortable with. Although customers and clients are similar, they are also very different. I think making something that a person uses would be good for me (I currently make information that a company uses for PR/communications purposes, but I feel like that is either too abstract or just fluff; whatever the reason, it doesn’t excite me).
(D). Laid-back/more relaxed culture. My company is mostly older people and that definitely gives it a more conservative corporate feel, even though it’s a small company. I like working with young people that are a bit more laid back. I have to wear a suit to work everyday even though clients don’t come to our offices….that just doesn’t make any sense to me.

All of this seems to tell me that I should try to land a job with a start-up in California, but I’m really open to anything because life is too short not to be happy with what I’m doing. Money is important to me, but after having worked for a month, I realized interest in my work is more important, and will lead to greater overall happiness (possibly even wealth).

That leads me to (1). How do people figure out what type of job, etc, is good for them? I’m sure a big part of it is just trying different stuff; just being in this job for one month has helped me figure out a little bit what matters to me in a job. But, what are some other things that people do to figure this stuff out?

I have reached out to my friends and family about this, but most of them just say “well that’s work, it’s not supposed to be great every day” or “just be happy that you have a job in this economy.” I definitely know everyday isn’t going to be fantastic in any job, but I really think I’m in the wrong industry/type of business. And, I know the economy is terrible, but I really don’t want that to make me feel like I’m stuck at this company forever; things will change eventually and even if I have to wait it out a few years, I’d like to have an idea of where I might try going next.

My apologies for how long this is, but I wanted to give you a full picture of where I’m coming from. I really feel awful every day because of my job and I want to start being constructive about it, so this is my first step!

Thank you in advance, everyone!

the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:13:52 -0800

How do I explain a university medical withdrawal to a prospective employer without damaging my chances of being hired? I've lived with varying degrees of depression and anxiety since my teens. Despite this I've done very well in school and went to university on a full academic scholarship to study biochemistry.

My first two years I took credit overloads every semester (usually at least 20 credits per), took more difficult course levels than required for my degree, and kept my grades up (mostly As and a few Bs). I also partied a lot those first two years, so I don't think school was stressing me out that much. It's not like I was in the library every day.

My anxiety hit a peak the summer between my second and third year of school. I experienced extreme somatic anxiety every waking hour that manifested physically in various ways. My third year I was taking 5 different 500 level science courses and by the middle of the fall semester my anxiety was so bad I often couldn't remember my phone number or apartment address. I remember being on the verge of tears for basically no reason all the time.

After breaking down one night from full blown panic attack I decided to seek a medical withdrawal from school. It is university policy to take a full year off when pursing a medical withdrawal for mental health reasons, so I withdrew from all classes that semester and remained unenrolled for the spring semester as well. I sought help (both drug therapy and talk therapy). That year was the darkest year of my life, as I sat in my apartment alone every day with no job or school. I engaged in various self-destructive behavior, basically went insane, hung out with vagrants and criminals, blah blah blah. I really wish I did an internship or got relevant job experience was I was far too depressed and messed up to successfully job hunt even though I put in some effort. So I did nothing except take three summer courses.

I'm back in school now, doing research in a lab, got As in my difficult courses last semester, and I'm going to graduate in spring. I'm going to have a biochemistry B.S. with honors after only being in school 3 years.

But how do I explain the year gap in my transcript to employers? If I tell the truth, that I suffer from anxiety and depression, I'm worried they'll see me as a liability: someone who cannot be depended on because they might be inconsistent in performance. Should I tell the truth and slant it toward a tale of perseverance or should I lie and say that I was injured or had a non-mental illness?

Help an ENTP narrow down their career path choices....

sawyerrrr — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:43:43 -0800

In the last couple months I've come to realize that I am not alone. My personality is my problem and it is what has made this post-college thing so hard on me. ENTPs are sort of visionaries who can be the best and innovate and succeed at anything we put our heart to but we get bored very easily if we aren't socially, creatively satisfied and doing some "analysis" or "innovation" or "problem solving". We also don't take well to being "told what to do". (Sort of like a cross between Steve Jobs (visionary, creative, secretly self-obsessed) Calvin (from the comic), Jack Sparrow, The Joker, and Wile E. Coyote. ) All of these have their "downsides" or "impossibilities" associated with them but they are all things I can see myself being fairly happy doing...some more than others....

novelist
futures/equities(stock) trader
innovation/strategy consultant
venture capitalist
film editor
relationship/seduction coach
bounty hunter/surety recovery agent
also i want to learn sign language at some point
architect (designing cool houses)
semipro poker
overseas english teacher
publisher/editor/literary agent
entrepreneur
marketing/branding
bartending (good way to pass the time)
restaurant/bar/club owner
travel journalist
lawyer (don’t want to be a lawyer but i would kick ass at it)

Anyways, how do you go about narrowing this list down?

what full-time jobs, other than retail, can i find?

morning_television — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:26:49 -0800

i didn't go to college. what full-time jobs, other than retail, can i find? i'm 25 and currently unemployed. i'm an inspiring cartoonist/artist, your typical creative soul. i don't know what to do with my life yet but i really need to take care of some money problems i've been having as soon as possible.

my job history is nothing but retail experience. sales positions, key holder positions. i never made enough money to support myself and i feel like i've always worked way more than what i actually earned. i really dislike retail environment and i'm a very quiet and reserved person. i need to find a job that pays decently (obviously 'decently' considering that i don't have a degree). i've tried applying to office positions/file clerk positions but most of them require office experience.

are there any other full-time jobs that i can apply for?
i'm having such a horrible time job searching that i really regret not going to school. i can't right now because i don't have the money. and it's very discouraging to find job openings requiring certain experience that i don't have.

thank you

I need life advice badly......

sawyerrrr — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:35:03 -0800

Need some life advice, I don't really know what I'm doing, I've failed so far miserably. It's 5 am. Adrenaline is pumping, can't sleep.

I've got that feeling of suicide, not the real kind, just the curious, dramatic, pensive sort of self loathing and hopelessness only found at these quiet hours of the day.

The only thing I seem to have learned is that what you want the most, will elude you. Some people have found ways to turn this rule of life around, but I haven't.

I don't know where to start. I'm 22 and 3/4. Yesterday I was a kid. Today I'm the same kid.

I didn't realize it until just the other day, but I think I am manic depressive. I go through phases where it seems like I have all the money in the world, the sun is shining bright, the words I speak flow beautifully, people love me, and I love them. Then there are times where all I want to do is hole up, eat, play video games, and pass the time.

Now is a period of the latter. I find my relationship about to end within the next couple of days (whether by my doing or hers if she beats me to the chase). My best friend has moved overseas, all my friends are MIA across the country working their new jobs. I have lots of quasi-friends but I'm not sure I like them enough to stay in L.A.

I want to move home, but I feel like L.A. is such a beautiful place. I can drive with the top of jeep down. I can go to the beach. The girls are beautiful, the guys are chill.

But something is beckoning me to NYC and something is telling me to leave this place. The true love of my life lives in NYC.

I have no marketable skills besides a shitty GPA from a top 50 college. I know that I could write novels for a living, but I don't want to. I don't even read books myself really, so I don't want to waste my time in a dying art.

I like making music but more and more it is apparent to me that "bands" are not for me. They have a way of twisting, contorting what is good and turning it into something terrible.

I want to trade futures but I don't want to sit at a computer all day. That type of behavior is what causes me to be depressive.

So really I don't know what I need or what I need to do or where I need to be or what I should be doing. I know I am smart, but I have no idea why I've been so stupid my whole life.

I don't know what to do. It's getting to the point where my parents won't keep feeding me money, and I need to find a way to make it. But the things I truly enjoy are either too difficult to get a job in or they aren't really a job to begin with. I don't know, I really don't know.

Posting here is sort of a last ditch effort to figure this shit out. I really never thought I would feel like this again, but here I am. I don't know what to do.

Ethics of leaving a college teaching job near the start of the semester?

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:17:53 -0800

I agreed to take a teaching job at certain community college, and now, just two weeks away from the beginning of the semester, it looks like a much better job is about to come through for me. What are the ethical considerations of backing out? I have been applying for positions at various community colleges, and got a string of rejection letters and one job offer, which I took. It's a tiny, underfunded school in a rural area, where the most advanced technology in the classrooms is a chalkboard. But my wife was laid off and I was working part-time, so we had to say yes to it. I thought (given how tight the academic job market is) that probably no other offers will come through, but now I am on the short list for a much better position at another college: large, urban, better salary, better teaching load, modern facilities, more interesting course content. If it comes though, it will be much, much better for me and my family, and could led to even better positions in the future.

Although I have been an adjunct for a while, I haven't taught full-time before, so I'm not that familiar with the inner workings of college hiring processes. What I want to know is, how much of a bind will I put Countyside Community College in if I take the position at Big City College just 10 days before the semester begins? I know there are a lot of people out there looking for teaching work, so they could certainly get someone, but that's not much time to look. How often do things like this happen? Will I be seen as an enormous jerk, or just another guy who got a job he couldn't turn down?

For what it's worth, I haven't signed a contract yet (Countyside is very casual about getting paperwork done), so that's not a factor, but I don't want to be inconsiderate of their needs. On the other hand, I don't know how long it will be before I'm on the shortlist for Big City College again, and I hate to let the opportunity slip. My final interview before they choose someone to offer the position is this week.

How to find a college major in stats

CWitt — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 09:55:12 -0800

Trying to find somewhere to discover a college student with a major in statistics for some odd job work. Anyone have a recommendation on where to start posting to find someone?

Career software for academic advisors?

cute little Billy Henderson, age 4 — Tue, 31 May 2011 07:50:10 -0800

What career interest inventory testing procedures and career related computer software programs would a college academic advisor use? As part of my ongoing job hunt, I would like to apply for an opening as an academic advisor at a nearby community college. I have a lot of the education and experience that they want, but they would like someone who is already familiar with career interest testing and "career-related software programs." I would like to get up to speed on those as much as possible before I apply (the closing date is still a couple of weeks away).

JET vs AmeriCorps

elephantsvanish — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:37:11 -0800

JET (teaching English in Japan) vs AmeriCorps (cool community stuff in my city). Or, how do you decide between two paths that seem comparably engaging/difficult/unknown? I know to a certain extent, I have to make this decision myself, by whatever personal moral/pragmatic/whatever rubric guides my life, and live with the successes and problems with that choice. Still, I'd like some help wrapping my head around a choice that somehow seems to shift every time I think about it.

I'm just about to graduate with an anthropology degree, a bunch of enthusiasm for community activism/service, and a great girlfriend in the city I live in. And I'm applying for an AmeriCorps job that (a) seems uncommonly well-run and intriguing, even amongst other AmeriCorps positions, and (b) means I could experience my college's city as a graduated adult contributing meaningfully to this community. It's a great match for me, I love the idea of AmeriCorps' mission and would feel much pride and fulfillment serving my community.

On the other hand, I was just accepted into the JET program. I was lucky enough to study in Tokyo a year ago, and while difficult and overwhelming, found it to be a pretty great time. The idea of deepening my experience of Japan and being involved in others' lives in a meanignful way definitely appeals to me. I don't love the idea of just teaching English, but I think JET is more than that; I also embrace the challenges of rural life, a potentially difficult (and potentially quite interesting) school context, etc. Pragmatically, it would be great to return to my city after a year with some solid work experience, a sense of independence/self-direction, a better idea of how I feel about teaching, and some savings. I could also go to a new city with some money and experience and make a fresh start there. But this would be incredibly trying on my relationship, and I'm unsure if I would experience the same sense of serving my community that I likely would here. But who knows?

Not only am I trying to assess the specifics of each opportunity and what each one brings, but I'm also trying to come up with new ways to meaningfully approach making a difficult decision such as this one. (To a certain degree, this is also quite premature, as I haven't yet been offered the AmeriCorps job!) My relationship is newer, but very important to me; though my partner will be studying abroad for some of that time, so the challenge of distance/etc is something we'd face no matter what. I would like to be financially independent as soon as possible, and both pathways would help with that, though AmeriCorps would put me in a much tighter situation financially.

I also have a sense that if I don't do JET right now, I'll never do it. I'll get involved in community type things and want to stay in my city or in America in general for a few years, etc. While I'm not a Japanophile and don't need my life to revolve around East Asia, it would be nice to see through certain possibilities (such as getting a phD in cultural anthropology).

Thoughts? Thank you, and sorry for the special snowflake vibe.

Abandon my job for future prospects?

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:31:49 -0800

Abandon my job for future prospects? I'm having troubling processing what I should do. I was recently offered a promotion (the day before yesterday) at my fun college job. The promotion will take effect at the beginning of the fall semester but I'm working some hours during the summer, at most somewhere around 10 or so.

This is all excellent but the summer job I really want just got posted. One of my profs is offering a summer research position closely related to the field I intend to apply for graduate school. I've been telling myself to ask him about positions all semester but never got around to it (and the one time I did he wasn't in for office hours). I'm friends with one of his graduate students who also mentioned he would be posting the positions around this time. This is complicated by the fact that it starts in mid-June and likely continues up to a week before school starts when I would need to start organizing training sessions for new hires at the other job.

The wrinkle comes in that I'm applying for grad school in the fall. I have been doing research with a professor in a field (biochem, other prof is evolutionary ecology) I enjoy. However, I think the experience and recommendation letter would be invaluable.

I have a meeting with my boss tomorrow to discuss the promotion position. To summarize:
1) Should I apply for the position with the prof? (just asking this makes me realize how far ahead of myself I got...)
2) Do I tell my boss about this possible conflict (I'd ideally like to keep this job)?
3) Is one recommendation letter going to have that much influence? Currently I have one strong, one meh, and one who-is-that-again (along with a middling GPA).

Sorry for the wall of rambling text. I just woke up and this is bothering me more than it should as I'm fortunate either way. I'll follow up through mathowie or jessamyn if there are any questions or clarifications needed.

Career options for the passionless

Roman Graves — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:50:03 -0800

I've been through four majors and I'm no closer to figuring out a career. Now what? I'm 28 and about half way through a bachelors but still have no idea what I want to do. So far I've tried social services (too high stress too low pay), anthropology (dead end), geoscience (didn't want to be a GIS cube monkey), and nursing (stress/personal involvement). Now I'm at the point where continuing to try on different programs is wasting a lot of time and money. Should I even finish?

I'm not particularly passionate about anything, and I'm not even sure what I'm really good at. At this point the options seem like:

1) Finish a degree in something I like but that isn't specifically useful, i.e. history or anthropology.
2) Look into a two year program with more job security, like radiography. However it seems like that particular market may be over saturated.
3) Get a cert in something like phlebotomy. Doesn't take very long and it's something to do while I continue to figure things out.

Most of my work experience is in call centers (sales/tech support). I don't want to make a career out of that but I can accept that I'll probably never love my job. I just don't want one that I hate, or one that will keep me living paycheck to paycheck. Something that isn't geographically dependent is a huge plus, which is what seems appealing about allied health jobs. If I do finish a bachelors, that'll probably be it for me. I have no desire to go to grad school.

You know where you hope this train will take you, but you don't know for sure.

two lights above the sea — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:03:16 -0800

Around Thanksgiving, I was given a temporary full-time staff position at a well-known university research lab. (See this question.) Well, I've been officially offered a job as a proper member of the lab, tuition benefits and all. This is quite literally the best opportunity I've ever had. I'm extremely interested in the field of clinical psychology and eventually becoming some kind of therapist. Where do I go from here? The job is contingent on funding, which is 99.9% a sure thing. I am currently sitting in on my boss's class (Human Memory), and although it's extremely math-heavy (definitely not my best subject), I'm doing the assignments and doing well. My boss offered to "mentor me" as far as which classes I should be taking, etc. I should be able to start classes in the Summer. Currently, I have an associates in General Humanities, and I've taken Psych 101 and Developmental Psych.

So, what should I be reading? What are the most important clinical psychology (or just general psych?) books or papers?

Aside from getting my PhD, what other advanced certification options are available? Where can I find information about them?

What are the best conferences for Clinical Psychology?

If you have any other information about the field, I'm certain it would help me. I know my heart is in this for the very, very long run (at least two years until I finish my BA!), but I want to be mentally prepared for this long journey. Knowing where I want to end up will make it much easier. And right now, I'm clueless as to what my journey will actually be like!

Thanks!

How to move to the West Coast

carmel — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:00:19 -0800

Moving to the Bay Area… How can a recent college grad find a job on the West Coast when they live in the East Coast? I'm finishing my degree in Electrical Engineering in May and I'm now looking for a job. I'm constantly thinking about moving to the Bay Area and starting my career there, but I have no idea how to make this happen. I've been looking for jobs and have had a few interviews already, but they were all local (I'm in MA), and I didn't get any offers. How can I get a job all the way on the other side of the country?

Here's the catch though: I'm not a US citizen. I'm a student on a F1 student visa, which makes finding a job harder, and limits my legal time to stay in the US after graduation. Once I've graduated I can stay here for about 120 days legally without having a job. So if I don't find a job by graduation, I only have 4 months to find a job before needing to leave the US.

Also, I don't really have any money. If I was a US citizen I'd just move to the Bay Area and look for a job there, maybe while I was working some sort of temp job, etc. I don't know. But I don't really think I could do this due to the fact that I'm broke, and also due to the fact that I'm not legally allowed to work temporary jobs.

I'm obsessing about moving to the Bay Area and it's hindering me from being able to focus on school - it's completely stressing me out. I need someone to either give me advice on how I can do this and accomplish my goal, or tell me that I need to focus all of my energy on finding a job in MA or somewhere around here, and then figure the whole Bay Area sometime later in the distant future.

So, is my dream possible? Can I possibly move to the Bay Area? Can I find a job there while I'm here in MA?

I want to kick some cognitive memory ass!

two lights above the sea — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:48:58 -0800

I just got hired at a psychology research lab at a very prestigious university. I have no background in academic research and very little academic background in this field. I have an associates degree in humanities, and psychology is a field that interests me greatly. What can I do to not mess this up? Specifics!

Me:

I am a 26 year old, uh, human being who has been working full-time in the heating oil business doing random accounting work and customer service for the last 5 years. I have been going to school part-time at a local community college and recently earned my associates in humanities. Finishing my bachelor's degree has been put on the back burner because holy crap school is expensive (I already have a ton of debt from getting my associates degree), and it's been hard to figure out what I want to do with myself. I have a strong academic background mostly in the hard sciences and creative writing. I've taken two psych courses in my academic career, however it is definitely something I would consider pursuing as a potential career.

The Job:

The research lab is run by a fairly well-known doctor in the field of psychology. It focuses on computational memory. I was hired to do annotation full-time. Normally, the annotation is done on a part-time basis by undergrads who are interested in the field. The director of the lab has already admitted that he does not see me as a big part of his lab in the future, due to my lack of experience in academic research and psychology.

The Question:

How the heck do I not mess this up? The job itself is easy. I've done it for 15 hours or so already, and I'm doing well with it. However, I DO want this job to be one in which I can grow and be useful. I'd like this to be a great experience for me to point to down the line, or perhaps one to help me get my potential dream job. How can I earn this doctor's respect so I can eventually be better paid, get benefits (tuition, mostly), and, in general, have a great learning experience. I'm also very interested, now that I've mentioned tuition, in studying at this university in a related field.

I'm pretty set on subject-specific reading material, but if you are experienced in a situation like this, or you have any advice for me, please let me know. I really want to shine here, especially since I feel I've been given a chance to do something a poor, first-generation college kid from the ghetto would never dream of having. I realize I'm being dramatic, but god damn, I want this so badly. How can I rock this situation?

Thanks!

How do I work with history?

billypilgrim — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:45:38 -0800

What's the best way to find a career in historical preservation/art restoration from where I am now? Basic info first:

I'm a recent graduate (2008) of a small art school in eastern Massachusetts. I have a BFA in illustration, and while I have a good deal of experience in digital art-making/vector graphics programs I'm mostly a traditional painter (acrylics, oils, gouache, etc). I've taken standard undergrad art history classes from prehistoric to modern, but nothing particularly focused. My artistic skill is very much in painting.

Illustration was a great field to major in, but even before graduating I realized that my level of self discipline just isn't enough for a sustainable freelance artist career, and during the course of going to school and in the period of time afterward I've definitely decided my heart lies in a field that's historically oriented. Until I was eighteen my family and I lived in the caretakers cottage of a historic home in Gloucester, MA (Beauport Museum) so the idea of working with a piece of history and contributing to the growth and understanding of that history is incredibly attractive to me.

Right out of school I got an internship at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass in the graphic design department, which lasted for six months, and I now have two jobs, working at a small local gallery and working at a paint and decorating shop. Working at the museum and working at my current job at the paint shop are definitely responsible for rekindling of my love of decorative arts and history, and now more than anything else I want to find a way to get a job in some kind of preservation/restoration capacity, whether it be with paintings or architecture. The paint shop I work in is pretty high end, and I work primarily as a stain and color matcher and faux-finisher. My job requires me to replicate a lot of complex decorative arts processes and I have a very good eye when it comes to creating and matching color and texture with pigment. A lot of our clients are historical associations or design firms, and a good deal of the decorative finishes I make are historically oriented.

Current skills:
-BFA in illustration from a small but respected art school
-traditional and digital media knowledge, with a major focus on acrylic and oil painting
-museum experience (both personal history-wise and professionally)
-hands on experience in decorative and architectural finishes
-basic art history knowledge (though no particular expertise)
-extensive American and European historical knowledge, as well as respectable world history
-interests in film and cinema, architecture, literature
-I'm a fast learner and I have spunk (also, pep)
-And as relevant knowledge, I live in Northern Massachusetts, my traveling options are reasonably open, and I'm a 24 year-old male.

So I guess my overall questions are, what is the best way to narrow down what I want to do in this relatively expansive field? How specific do I need to be in my focus? What are the areas most likely to net me a livable income? What kind of experience do I need beyond an art history/museum studies/etc. degree? What books should I read and what places and people should I study? What kinds of jobs are available and what kind of jobs should I consider? Any and all information is welcome, I know this might be broad but I'm just looking for a lot of good ideas!

Is it worth it to drop my work in favor of school?

Scientist — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:51:37 -0800

Should I quit my job in order to better focus on my academics? So I'm a university student, 26 years old, second semester as a Freshman, and back in school for the second time around. I'm doing well and I love everything about my life, except for my job.

I've been working the same job for the last two years or so, about a year longer than I've been back at school. It's a fairly lame service-sector job, but it's been relatively easy and stress-free up 'til now and I've been able to balance it against my academics to prevent it from unduly affecting my grades. Recently, things have changed a bit.

First, this semester is a little harder than the previous one. Classes are mostly still pretty smooth, but I'm taking a significantly heavier credit load (16 instead of 12) and the work is a bit more technical. It requires more of my time, and I'm starting to find that my need to study and do homework is butting up a bit against my need to pay the bills. Next semester will be significantly more serious – more on that later.

Second, work has gotten more stressful. I've recently moved into more of a managerial position and it pays a little better but not much. There's more responsibility though, and I find that I worry more about work when I'm not working. Also I'm responsible for the heaviest shifts, which means I'm there every Friday and Saturday night, usually until at least 2AM. Overall I find that this combines to make me feel tired and anxious about work, which is not something that I really need from that part of my life.

I don't think that there's a lot of wiggle room to try to create a compromise. Things at the shop are a little tight overall and in my recent conversations with my boss I've gotten the impression that there's not a lot of room for me to cut hours or rejigger my schedule. Cutting hours would mean not paying my bills, in any case. So I feel like if I can't maintain the status quo, I need to quit.

Now, I was planning on quitting fairly soon anyway. As I said above next semester is going to be significantly more serious, and I want to move from my current job to a work-study position (hopefully a non-technical position in a lab, such as washing dishes) and from there into a technical lab position in the summer after I've gotten some more lab experience under my belt. Classes will be more difficult, the credit load will be heavier again, and I just don't think that my current employment will be sustainable. So I was already planning on transitioning out of my current job in a couple of months. My question is about whether I should push that schedule up and give my two weeks notice sometime in the next week or so.

The only thing that worries me is the obvious: if I quit, how am I going to get money? I don't have a lot of savings. Between tuition, fees, rent, bills, food, gas, etc I pretty much use all the money I make in a given month. I'm not starving mind you, but I have to scrape a little occasionally. I'd say my minimum expenses are probably about $1500 a month.

I do have some money (about $8000) stashed away in a mutual fund, the remains of my college fund which my parents were kind enough to turn over to me after my first failed attempt at school, lo these many moons ago. It will be used up regardless by the end of my academic career, but I could pull from it now to cover my expenses for the next few months.

I could also apply for loans – my church offers a low-interest loan of about $2500 which I could probably get pretty quickly, and there may be other options which would be available in the short term (if you know of any, I'd love to hear about it here). I'm not crazy about the idea of going into debt, but it's something that I've come to terms with somewhat and I was fully expecting to have to do it eventually – just not for another semester or two.

In the longer term I intend to get more agressive about applying for grants and scholarships (I currently get a pell grant of a couple of grand which helps a lot with tuition, and I have some AmeriCorps money available as well, again about a couple grand) as well as the aforementioned work study and eventual lab work. So I don't intend to be living entirely off of loan money, except for these next few months in the event that I quit my job right away.

I must confess, the idea of being able to focus 100% on school is very attractive. I love my classes and the work that I'm doing in them, and I'd like to be able to have time to properly devote myself, which I don't think I'm fully doing right now. I'd like to be able to have a steady sleep schedule instead of having to stay up until two or three in the morning every weekend and spend the first part of my school week feeling tired and hungover, recovering only in time to begin the next work week. I'd like to be free of the stress and anxiety about a job which is essentially irrelevant to my long-term success.

So, should I take the plunge? If so, what's the best way to go about managing the next few months and transitioning into the next semester? If not, what might I do instead to make the next few months more bearable? I don't think I'm headed for a major breakdown or anything, but I think that I could be doing better than I am.

Thank you all for your time and for the considerate and thoughtful answers that this community is so famous for. I look forward to reading your replies.

what's a good job for someone who isn't great at anything?

lovelygirl — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:09:28 -0800

College senior here. What's a good job for someone that really isn't that good at anything? Longtime lurker, first time asker. I'm about to start my senior year in college as a Communications major and I feel so behind. I have no clue what I want to do with my life (and don't say 'you have the rest of your life to figure it out' because that's a bunch of BS. I'm going to graduate soon and will need to get a job and pay back loans and pay rent and all that. I can't pay rent with thoughts about the rest of my life). I haven't done any internships so far so I know I'm behind my peers in that regard. I'm aware that internships are not only essential experience-wise, but also to find out what you really want to do. I have been trying to find one for fall via craigslist and indeed.com (but nothing beyond an interview thus far) in marketing or PR.

The fact that I'm not incredibly talented in anything and I'm indecisive as heck is not helping me decide. I keep thinking about different things that I would want to do, ranging from being a flight attendant/airline pilot, lawyer, or simply working a low-wage pencil-pusher job because I really don't think I can do much better.

What I currently would like to be is a fashion publicist because I love fashion and want to work in the entertainment industry. Being a publicist would be a more behind-the-scenes-but-not-hidden-in-an-office/showroom job and I like that idea. When I started researching this, I found a snafu in my 'greatest job ever' idea. Apparently you have to be a good writer to be a publicist. I guess I should've been a publicist when I was younger, because I was an awesome writer then and I loved it! Now, notsomuch. I really dislike writing-- or at least college-level writing. I just don't get how to write properly, like MLA format and citations and all that and when I try to learn (usually because a paper is due) it feels like torture. I imagine formatting and citations would be quite important to a publicist.

Before the whole fashion publicist thing, I wanted to be a copywriter for a long time. I figured the whole format thing wouldn't be a big deal there because it's more creative. I was just (and still am) kind of in love with whole Mad Men Madison Avenue bigshots coming up with awesome ad campaigns thing, even though it's likely unrealistic.

I really need to pick a job so I have something to work towards. I would like to work both with others and alone because although I'm an introvert, I think its still good to bounce ideas off other people and whatnot. I could NOT have a job where I work at home because I know I would get nothing done. I'm big on planning things, making lists, and following schedules. I would rather be supervised/managed than not, at least in the beginning. Do NOT want to have to wear business suits to work (I figured a fashion publicist can wear whatever as long as its fashionable and professional-looking, please correct me if I'm wrong). I also would like a job that pays well (of course not right out of school). And I mean well as in being able to send future kids to private schools, own a beautiful home, able to buy Louboutins once a year or so (LOL). And yes, I would love to have a job that I enjoy so much that it doesn't even feel like work. A job that would allow me to travel would be fabulous. Does such a job exist beyond my dreams? If anyone out there is a publicist, can you share what a day in your life really is like?

Please help me catch up! Snarky commenters need not post :)

Help me while away my early 20s

resiny — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:25:39 -0800

Graduating from college in 9 months. Willing to travel anywhere, do (almost) anything. Suggestions? I spent a lot of time thinking after my last question along these lines. It occurred to me that if pretty much everyone from my family to my professors to my friends in law school were telling me it was a bad idea, it was probably a bad idea. So that's out.

And I'm leaning toward taking some time off before grad school. (Even if I don't and go ahead and apply this fall, I've had some very intelligent friends get rejected from every school they applied to, and I realize the same could happen to me.)

So, now it looks like I'll probably need something to do with myself in 9 months. I have a couple of internships/fellowships I'm applying for, but they're selective. So I want to have some other possibilities as well.

I'd be perfectly happy bouncing around from 9 month stint to 9 month stint for a bit right after college. What I need, though, are meaningful or useful 9 month stints. So, for example, good: teaching English in Japan, assisting at a research station in Alaska, etc.; bad: shift manager at Arby's, ski bum, etc.

So, my question is: what are some specific opportunities I should be looking into, and what are some resources for discovering others?

A few notes: I'll have precious little in the way of capital when I graduate. I'm a philosophy + russian double major. I have few "practical" skills other than web design and a little Excel (unless you count "critical thinking" and "problem solving" - har, har). I have no geographic ties.

I want to do the kind of stuff people always say they wish they'd spent their years right out of college doing instead of locking themselves into 9-5s.

What can a BSc of Physics do for a living, other than flipping burgers?

ye#ara — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:38:01 -0800

Finishing a BSc in physics. What are my job prospects? Do I need to study some more? I'm on my final year of a BSc in Physics and I'm lost. I will graduate around September. I don't want an academic career and I don't want to do a PhD. What I do want is to do interesting and meaningful work, but I'm really not into solid state or optics. It seems to cancel many job opportunities, although I'm not really sure if these options are even real.
I can find an interest in many industries though - defense, aerospace, medical, even geophysics.

I can continue studying computational physics, applied physics or medical physics for a Masters' to improve my employability. My other option is to go for a certificate in computer science and get some kind of a coding job, hopefully something which has to do with physics.

1. If you're a physicist working in the industry, what do you do?
2. Are my expectations to an increased employability after a Master's realistic?
3. What areas of applied physics or computational physics should I focus on, to find a job later?
4. What are my jobs prospects at the moment?
5. Is there interesting work for BSc of physics who knows basic computer science?

transportation planner post-college

elephantsvanish — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:45:35 -0800

what jobs are out there in transportation planning for the liberal artsy type just out of college + wandering back home to Boston? I'm gradually falling in love with transportation systems. I'm in Tokyo, in awe of the massive&intricate railways, and feel myself wanting to help people, whether daily commuters or special needs students, get where they need to go. And I want to do this work in or near Boston, where family lives.

What entry-level jobs are available in the field? I am less interested in driving or conducting, and far more of a planner/writer type. However, I would be willing to try various things out. My dream criteria for work is that I want to serve a community in some sense, and have an outlet for situated creativity (ie not freelancing poetry, but problem-solving in a way I can feel immersed in and proud of.)

I am currently still an anthropology major in college, and will be done next year. I may intern with a district planning council in my college town in the fall and (hopefully) work on a youth bus project; I also just finished a year internship with a cooperative business planning/education council. Yada yada, resume. But I want to jump out of the interny framework and better understand the spectrum of possibilities in Boston, perhaps in a longterm-career sense. I also would like to avoid becoming an NGO nomad, and instead, work with civic/governmental infrastructure directly.

Any particular types of jobs come to mind? I'm considering grad school but want to give it a little while. If I should think smaller (or about serving chai-mocha-whatevers at Starbucks) for the time being, you can let me know that, too.

How to find job/ pay for college

xopaigexo — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:17:15 -0800

What can I do to make life easier on my family and i? (were broke) About a year ago, my mom lost her job. It's been hard on us, and it just keeps getting harder. My family has never been rich, but at one time we were doing really well.
I have three siblings who are all just out of college and pretty much on their own except that my parents are still paying off student loans. And me, I've been the most expensive child- I needed braces for an impacted tooth, alot of mouth work done, and I've been to the ER alot for freak things like intestinal spasms and broken bones. Also, I really want to go to the Art Institute of Houston next year for college because they are the only school remotely close to me that has an animation major- only problem is the tuition is $22,000 per year, and Texas Tomorrow fund won't cover near that amount. I have been scouring the internet for scholarships, signed up for a few and awaiting responses. I am white, which eliminates me from so many potential scholarships (not meant to offend anyone). I have a 3.6-3.7 gpa and do 2 sports in school but all academic scholarships seem to care about is class rank, which is so-so.
Also, another issue is me finding a job. I have applied so many places, have job experience, good personality, and a good record, and nobody will hire me still. It's hard because I'm on my own now as far as anything but groceries and absolute necesities, and i cant afford clothes or gas, even, which my boyfriend insists on paying for.
I know there are many people that have been affected by the economy, but is there anyone who can give me good, honest advice about how I can pay for college/ find a job at 17?

How do I help someone escape Retail management?

InvestorMD — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:40:22 -0800

Trying to help a family member out. He graduated with a BS in business administration but feels stuck in retail. Help plot his next course of attack. So my cousin has graduated with a degree in Business Administration from university system (small satellite campus though). He ended up doing an internship in Walgreens. Specifically, the business management internship. After he finished, he got a position as assistant manager. However, this is retail and he feels like its not exciting enough.

When we go through possible jobs, for example, entry level jobs at Accenture or various other jobs that he seems he would enjoy, we find that they need experience in the industry. This usually requires an internship or some other luck.

Would anyone recommend doing an internship 1 year after graduation? To me, it seems risky. Giving up a paycheck/job for a possible short paid internship seems like the only choice for now.

He is interested in a variety of things. He took some accounting courses (not enough to be a CPA) and does some accounting work at Walgreens. He likes supply chain management, operations, etc.. Basically, a lot of the choices at these consulting firms.

Can anyone help? Any experience on getting a job in these types of firms from retail or another pathway that was traditional (traditional meaning recruited for internship from a target university).

He's open to any advice even if not dealing with consulting. The main goal is to jump out of retail management in a horizontal fashion.

Thanks in advance.