Posts tagged work
“When I graduated from college, I thought I’d get a job!”
Jul 11th
I was SO EAGER to graduate. Looking back now, only two years later, I am full of regret. I should have taken longer with my studies so that I had a better GPA. I should have involved myself in on-campus activities. I should have volunteered or found some kind of work that had SOMETHING to do with my degree. I didn’t do ANY of these things, and I’m paying for it now.
I keep editing and re-editing my resume… but no matter what font or design I choose, nothing changes the fact that it is merely a laundry list of retail jobs. How am I to negotiate my current work experience into a better, more fulfilling, relevant job* that, in turn, will aid me in settling onto the career path of my choice? I don’t know.
I am comforted that I’m not the only one in this position. Each on of my small group of friends is in a similar predicament… having a liberal arts degree, but no real clue what do with it. It doesn’t really help that where we live, there isn’t really a demand for an English degree unless you are a technical writer.
I have absolutely no desire to be a technical writer. I suppose I could be a copywriter, but I don’t know anything about that really… or how to get into it. This is where having internships and trying things out in college would have been helpful… Luckily, I know what I want to do. I want to study literature. I want to study, analyze, write criticism.
(Another personal dilemma of mine is that I have two parents who always encouraged me to do what I love… this being instilled in me at early age has made it difficult for me to stick with the retail jobs I’ve hated.)
My Solutions
- Volunteering
I love the job I have right now. Being a modern day Mary Poppins is so much fun and it is really perfect for the in-between state I’m in. Most places I would want to work, were I looking, rarely hire. If they did hire, I don’t have the experience they would be looking for. I’m thinking local museums and the public library. Volunteering gets my foot in the door, gives me experience working there, and enables me to do the second solution which is… - Networking
I’m horrible at networking. I don’t know how to do it. But, I need to start. I read a piece of advice somewhere that said you should never stop looking for a better job… and I believe that, to an extent. Most people find jobs through other people and I’m really not utilizing who I know.
Any other suggestions?
*not to say that my current job isn’t fulfilling, because it absolutely is. It’s a dream job for me, at this point in my life.
Works sucks… that’s why they call it “work.”
Jul 7th
That’s another saying I absolutely hate. You should not hate the work you do, whatever job it is you currently occupy. Work is a part of life. That is to say, life does not stop happening the 8-12 or more hours you are in your work place and it does not start happening the minute you leave. What happens outside of work effects what happens at work, and vice versa. If you are miserable at your job, chances are you are going to carry some of that misery home with you… regardless of what anyone says about “leaving work at work.” It’s a part of your life, and thereby part of you.
It is important, then, to make it worth your while and a valuable experience. Not valuable in a monetary gain sense of the word, but in a “how does this benefit me as a person” way. If you are passionless about your job (and cannot change for whatever reason), then a different attitude toward it must be necessary. Try to extract some positivity out of your situation, because that negative outlook of “work sucks” will just drag you down.
Life After College: My Journey Thus Far
Jul 5th
In December of 2007, earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature. Immediately following graduation, I jumped right into taking graduate classes as a non-degree-seeking student. The most important thing I realized from this was that I was not ready for graduate school, which was fine… I was accepting of that, on one level. On another level, it was a huge blow to me. I had always anticipated continuing on with my education in pursuit of a Ph.D without stopping for a breath of air.
So, from Summer 2008 until Autumn of 2009, I worked. I did a month-long internship in which I was able to utilize my research and organizational skills, but did not really learn anything about marketing, nor did I successfully network. (This was my own fault). I “temped” as a secretary for a month until I obtained a regular job in a book store. I mistakingly thought that working in a book store would be an appropriate environment for someone with a passion for literature, such as myself. Again, I was terribly wrong. The book store at which I worked put a higher emphasis on sales (especially the dreaded “discount card” and magazine subscriptions) than they did on anything else. I should have known better – it is, after all, a retail establishment. I toughed it out from March 2008 until March 2009, when I finally received an opportunity to nanny. Now, I describe myself as a modern-day Mary Poppins. While I am still working for an hourly wage, I no longer feel that my work is necessarily menial, nor do I feel undervalued as a person.
Yet, I am by no means a “young professional.” I finally feel like I am back on the “right” path in that I am returning to the wonderful(ly safe) world of academia. I joke, in way, calling it wonderfully safe… It’s a world in which I walk happily and comfortably, also one in which I’ve always imagined myself living and working. I remember saying in the 3rd grade that I would obtain a Ph.D. Now, I feel like I’m on the way. Though I am not a “young professional,” nor will I ever seem to be (by the time I begin a true profession, I’ll probably be in my 30s), I am on a path on which I know I am not travelling alone.
I suppose I should have known way back in 1992 that I was destined to read for a living.