"Thanks, they have gone onto my "to buy" list. I can see they are pretty versatile! I have been able to control the transition on negatives to a certain extent but have been struggling. I like the idea of the elastics to help build up the…"
24 Year Old College Senior - Considering Potential Career Options
Gents,
As my penultimate semester approaches (Spring 2013), I'm now fully concerned on 1) finishing my damn college career, and 2) doing real work when I'm done. I'm sick of school - I want independence and to be a working man for a change.
The problem I'm facing is that of what to do - most of the things I am interested in have low job prospects in this economy. Ideally I'd love to teach at the college level, but other levels would work as well. However, those aren't the only things I'm interested in. I love brewing beer - that would be something awesome yet I have no clue how to get into that besides trying to get into the UC Davis brewing program. I also know some people here in politics - urban planning has always appealed to me.
I do volunteer with the Coast Guard - and was considering that, but I'm 24. Part of me wants to settle down a bit. I mean find one place and use it as a base for my travels. And it's not easy to join the USCG - the waitlist is long and they are ULTRA stringent - even though by the time I'm done I'd probably be advanced enough in the Auxiliary to qualify for an A-school straight outta basic. I do love to travel though, and I lived in Italy this summer so conosco un po di' italiano. If I could do something to get me back there. I would also love an outdoorsy job as well. I'm a good public speaker, have lots of teaching experience due to my volunteering and my old job as a writing tutor.
I just honestly have no freaking clue what to settle on. Have you gentlemen faced this conundrum before?
- Dan
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nick H on -
6 years already in? I think you've already used up your free-loving college experience years. At this point I'd just find a career that can pay the bills and focus on that. Maybe the Navy would be a good option. I'm not a Yank so I don't know the specifics.
I'm curious though if you have a father-figure at home. You blew a scholarship and are now 6 years in on an Arts degree with no job prospects. How is there not a parent-shaped boot on your arse yet? If there isn't then you're going to have to put your own there. Times a'wasting.
Point is. You have no plan and you are building up debt. Better to get a plan and stick to it. If it fails, you can at least learn from it and start a new one. But to be honest you sound pretty aimless. Inspiration is not going to strike out of nowhere. I think its easier to find what you want in life while working on something than just waiting for "it" to come to you.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel T. on -
Absolutely not. I had a piece of sh!t for a father, and our lives are better now that he's dead. I don't get the antagonism - I haven't been doing nothing the last few years. When I got back to Philadelphia I went immediately back to school, started working, volunteering, getting my life sorted out. I'm quite proud that I've made it this far from what I was. That was four years ago - I finally have graduation on the horizon, I have contacts from volunteering, I've gotten to leave the nation and see Europe. So your image of me as sitting around doing nothing is very much not the case. I've got a lot of options, I don't know what the hell to pursue - I have a hard time narrowing my options because I have a few places I could go in the next few years of my life and I don't know what to do.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Shelton on -
It's tough having choices.
If you go into the CG or Navy would you continue schooling to get the Chem or GIS degree?
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Permalink Reply by Nick H on
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It isn't antagonism I'm going for. And I don't think you've sitting at home doing nothing but I do think that there comes a time when you have stop building up volunteer experience and such and get going on a career. I had a great uncle who once enlightened me to this without even trying. He was telling me about finding his first job during the latter years of the great depression. He got a job, didn't matter what, and was so happy because he could then marry his woman and start his life. Later on he got his papers as a ship engineer and went on to a great career with CN rail (he was the superintendent for Eastern Canada by the end). I at the time, like you, was in my 20s, still in university, still sitting on the fence pondering what I wanted to be in life. I think there comes a point where you just have to get off the fence and pick something. I think its better to pick and then if it was wrong, to go back and pick again after a year or two than to just spend that time searching (ie wasting your life). Europe is overrated. And volunteer contacts only means you have a pool of people who know you'll work for free. I'm not trying to shit on your parade but I think you should hurry up and start something. University life is a bubble. I think its an industry whose primary function is to employee other former university students who also didn't know what they wanted to do in life.
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Permalink Reply by J. on -
The first two things I'm asked about in every interview are my travel experiences (I went abroad for language immersion in both France and China) and my volunteer experience (which shows community engagement, civic-mindedness and dedication to causes and life outside work. Non-profits are big money, too, you know). Neither is a waste of time if you know how to frame the experiences properly.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Shelton on
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I think if someone is passionate about a field then sure, they should get an education in that field. However, having said that, their primary goal should be a career in a field that has potential. Take courses in your 'interesting' field and get a minor or dual major. We had a young woman in my graduating class who achieved her BS in Physics, BS in Math, BA in Music, and Minor in CS; all within 5 years. Yes, she busted her @$$ but she did it.
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Permalink Reply by Nick H on
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Why not go to the nearest brewery and inquire about a job or at least talk to someone there as to how one gets into the industry? I swear college diplomas in X are an industry on themselves.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel T. on
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Well thank you for writing so much - it's given me a lot to think about. That's all I really can say right now :P
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Permalink Reply by swmnguy on -
Travel. I know a few young people who've gotten work teaching English in private schools in Asia. Get a job on an Alaska fishing boat. Join a rock-n-roll road crew.
If you're not sure what to do, don't do something that's hard to un-do. There's a ton of pressure to commit right now!!1!! while you're young, and if you take even one step off the treadmill you'll never get a chance to do anything and you'll be living in a van down by the river when you're ancient and useless and 30 years old. It's baloney. If you aren't feeling the call of anything in particular, you can't force it. Take advantage of not really having any firm responsibilities, and put yourself in some very different situations. Something unforeseen may pop up, or if it doesn't, at least you'll have some different perspectives when you decide to get a career job. Employers really are looking for somebody who brings more than a degree to a job.
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Permalink Reply by Adam on -
Yes, you can get a job and do all that; but I suggest dedicating some of your time to writing. I say this because you express your thoughts very well.
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