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Job Highs and Woes


Couch Tomato

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When I got laid off in February I took 2 months to find the perfect job. What's that saying about god laughing when you show him your plan. Well my perfect job is perfectly hellish. Love the people so at least it's tolerable going to work. COMMUNICATION people! Dang, I guess all the peons are just supposed to learn everything by some sort of psychic power. Anyway, craigslist, here I come.

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I have a great job (if not a bit boring sometimes!), but I've just been informed that our company is being taken over by the end of the next fiscal year (March 31, 2006)... we won't know anything until the fall (like October/November), so everyone at our company is totally up in the air and doesn't know if we should start looking for another job, wait for a severance package or whether we'll be transferred to the new company (which is a good possibility)... anyway, I feel your pain, couchie!

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Oh my god...Craigslist is the best thing ever invented, after the ipod of course.

Craigslist

Basically it's an online classified ads. It has job listings, people sell and trade everything you can imagine, find exercise partners, and other types of clubs, apartment listings, and even those looking for dates. It also has all sorts of forums for discussion. And it's all free. From what I understand only companies in the two largest markets pay to post their job listings. What I like about it is you don't have to sign up and give them your life story or post your resume. You just find the job you like and then send them your resume.

It's the only place I look for jobs now. Also, I found bar stools and a desk through Craigslist. People usually post photos. I don't know how great it is in every city.... once you're on the site you can locate your city...but in the Bay Area it's "happening."

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Dang, I wish I knew about craigslist before! It looks great for Houston too.

I don't know - I'm in an odd position - my job is incredibly boring, but pays fairly well for what I do, and with my child moving up and out, I will have fewer obligations. But I have no idea what on earth else I really WANT to do. I'm not even sure where to start looking.

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Does Craigslist help you pick a career too? One more year in school and I have no idea what I want to do for a living.

Gosh...that would be cool if we can find a website that does that? So are you in HS or College...cos the truth is...sometimes it takes several career changes before someone can figure out what they really want to do. I started out being very sure that I wanted to be a psychologist. Then in graduate school I started getting disillusioned with it...quit before I can defend my thesis. Then worked in Market research...got disillusioned too...now I work as a substitute teacher and trying to start a career in webdesign...

the only job I felt most comfortable with is being a mom...so that is what I am mostly.. :D

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Long story short:

I'm a 29 year full time college student. I am a rising senior this year majoring in sociology/american studies. I am applying for grad school this year. I was thinking MBA, but lord... Then i thought social psychology. My fear is getting out of grad school and to end up making more than $30K. I could have stayed in payroll/human resources for that kind of crap money.

The mother role is of interest of me, of course, nothing has worked out like i thought it would when I was 16. So that seems like another life. Right now I'd settle for figuring out a career path.

But I'm like you, Ansamcw, in that just about everything I've studied has left me disheartened. I want to make a social difference with the disadvantaged but that is like asking a one winged bird to swim upstream in our current social and political climate.

*sigh*

Everyone keeps telling me i'm still young, but I don't feel it and definately think I should have a better idea of what to do next. Bah! So any insight is more than appreciated. Including links to websites that will tell you exactly what to do with your life.

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You know, honestly I don't know that degrees matter all that much. The key is to work hard and know your goals. I'm currently working in a non-profit situation in pretty much what I've wanted to do, but I took a nice winding path to get here. I'm a big believer in everything happening for a reason.

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I'm a big believer in everything happening for a reason.
I also took a kinda windy path to get where I am now, but my path was all within the same big beaucratic company. Big companies can be a pain in the butt, but with mine, I have been able to move around within the same company doing several vastly different jobs. I have worked in the front end with Sales, worked in the middle with manufacturing, and now I work at the back end of the product life-cycle with Customer Support. It took me 12-13 years, but I realized I LOVED working directly with our customers and helping them solve their technical problems. The organization I am currently working in is the one I hope to remain in the rest of my career.

And dont forget to NETWORK. Several of my job changes have come as a direct result of knowing and talking to the right person at the right time. You never know when those doors will open for you.... sometimes they come at the most unexpected moments.

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And dont forget to NETWORK.  Several of my job changes have come as a direct result of knowing and talking to the right person at the right time.  You never know when those doors will open for you.... sometimes they come at the most unexpected moments.

That is so true. Knowing the right person at the right time is key (and that "everything happens for a reason" thing is also very true). I know that for me, I happened to get the exact right job right out of college (my professor referred me). It enabled me to meet someone who was able to get me my next job who passed me on to their friend for the next job and so on and so on and so on... I didn't have to show anybody my resume for three years. I just kept getting shared between business associates... of course, that is how it works in the freelance television production world... there are so many desperate wannabes that don't know how to do anything that if you get somebody who is actually good at their job (like me!), then you hang on to them for dear life and you recommend them to all your associates... of course, since I hate freelancing, I eventually opted for a stable 9-5 job - but I never would've been able to get that job without the specific experience I had from all those years of freelancing...

However, now that I am getting kicked to the curb (read upthread about my impending layoff), I am starting to wonder what I am qualified for besides television production and administering arts grants (which is what I do currently)... what the heck do you do with a B.A. in Communications? If I remember back to when I graduated from university, you do nothing! ;-)

We had a 'counsellor' come in to speak to us when we found out our company was being taken over and my question to him was - what the heck am I qualified for? I really really don't know... I'm not sure I want to stay in television production and I know there aren't any other arts grants administation jobs available for me, so I am out of ideas... I know what my strong skills are - organization, planning events/specific tasks, certain computer programs, customer service, money management to name a few. But how do I apply those skills to another industry - one that I have no experience in?

S.O.L. - if you find that place that tells you exactly what you should do, please let me know! ;-)

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what the heck do you do with a B.A. in Communications? If I remember back to when I graduated from university, you do nothing!  ;-)

I've been asking myself that for years now. Degree sure looks pretty though...but my answer to that question is ....you become an accountant.

ShelleyC - you have a lot of useful skills..you're really going to have to think outside the box but you'll be surprised at what you are qualified to do.

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Hmm, so it sounds like you ladies are saying I should relax a bit, network and continue my education. Like maybe I can't plan everything out? Some things just need to happen, I guess.

Shelly, Communications degrees are very popular now. Can't you do Public relations, non-profit, planning and development? Plus, you have experience now. I am sure you'll find something. But, I'll let you know if I find the site-that-knows-all. Just in case. Hee.

Thanks for the tips ladies.

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Why am I the only one who uses this.

It will be interesting to see if I have a job today. I really don't sit by and passively take shit from anyone, even if you sign my paycheck.

keeping my fingers crossed for you couchie...goodluck!!!

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Well good lord. I have to get my friends and family to understand that I AM WORKING. Just because I'm at home doesn't mean it's not a real job. I only squeezed in one hour of work tonight because folks just kept dropping by. Hopefully that's it for the week. Something to work on...

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Couchie, I've been working as a medical writer from home for the past couple of years, and I find that it can be hard to be disciplined about "work time." Most people just don't consider it work when you're at home--but I have to say that it's a lot better than going out to a job.

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Couchie, I've been working as a medical writer from home for the past couple of years, and I find that it can be hard to be disciplined about "work time." Most people just don't consider it work when you're at home--but I have to say that it's a lot better than going out to a job.

Yes I'm really trying to get a schedule down and stick to it. But again, tonight, I had company. I do so enjoy it though. I'm still giddy over the fact that I found one of these jobs.

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