If you were me..

[Discuss Thrower]

and have the listed options in the poll, what do you do? I already have a bachelor of arts and have been applying to jobs but haven't interviewed for anything since April.. the no interviews thing is a product of applying for jobs that only require a HS diploma and therefore am "overqualified" for. My longest stint of employment is as a freelance sports reporter and have two or three short internships.

I've reached this point because I feel that every month I'm not employed in a legitimate field, the greater the chances I'll never be able to find a job.

Barring a total economic collapse, funding is not an issue.

Even though I'd be discouraged, I won't be surprised if I get lots of CP flaming for this poll. It's only natural but I'd still like to hear opinions from people more experienced than I.

[Chief_For_Life58]

Originally Posted by Kiimosabi

I couldn't find a job in my degree (advertising) in KC at all after 9-11 so after about 5 years of chasing BS jobs I picked option five and moved to California. Got a job almost instantly because the job market here is so much better, especially for hard-working midwesterners with no aspirations to act. Haven't' stopped working since.

So...pack your bags. P.S. no bugs or humidity here. Just sayin.

I did the near identical thing and got a good job in the field I wanted in 3 weeks of searching

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

What do you want out of life? Just paying bills and having a house you can get drunk and eat nachos in?

Do you want adventure?

Do you want travel?

Do you want to create something that will affect people or live on in posterity after you're gone?

Do you want to achieve massive financial success? Or help shape public policy? Do you have any ambition whatsoever?

Getting a "job" is about as pointless an existence I can fathom. I despise having jobs. I despise working for someone else, and having the service I offer to "be present" at their place of business.

Start your own business. That's what I'd suggest. Find something you're passionate about and go start your own business. You will never work harder than you do for yourself. Additionally, you're young, you have no mortgage, no kids, no responsibility. You can afford to fail right now more than any other time in your life.

Go for it.

Or ****ing pack up and move to Thailand. Teach english and bang the hottest girls you've ever seen two at a time.

Insurance underwriter? Are you ****ing kidding me?

Youth is wasted on the young.

I want to golf and afford the life I live now affluence wise. Be able to buy the season tickets at Arrowhead off Discuss Dad in a few years. Stay within reach of KC or live in KC itself. Pen the Great American Novel.

Beyond that I have no desires.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

I want to golf and afford the life I live now affluence wise. Be able to buy the season tickets at Arrowhead off Discuss Dad in a few years. Stay within reach of KC or live in KC itself. Pen the Great American Novel.

Beyond that I have no desires.

Go to law school.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Go to law school.

A crisis is looming in legal education. Last month, a notable group of legal educators who call themselves the Coalition of Concerned Colleagues released a letter declaring that law schools have spewed forth more graduates than the legal market can absorb, resulting in rising unemployment among young lawyers, who cannot pay off colossal student loans.

-Source

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Go to law school.

Good luck.

I've told anyone that's asked me - go into law school with both eyes open and realize that it's not the field for everyone and that some days will really suck. In that regard, it's like most jobs really.

I know you're probably being mostly facetious, But here's a nasty little secret - lawyerin' ain't exactly the most lucrative gig these days. Oh don't get me wrong, it pays alright, but if you're looking at going to law school and stepping into a six figure job, you're going to have to be in the top 10 of your class. And I don't mean top 10%, I mean top 10 period. You'll probably also have to be a stellar writer because most of the firms that are going to pay that much that soon are the silk stocking firms that will be using you to pen briefs and write research memos for them. You'll probably hate your job because you'll be working 80+ hours/week, but you'll make good money. Then after 5 years, if you aren't on partner track, you'll be stuck writing briefs for your whole life and you'll probably end up hanging a shingle of your own (because nobody wants to be the 40 yr old in a room full of 20 somethings banging out memos for 80 hrs/wk).

I think of myself as a pretty articulate, sharp guy. I'm a good, not great writer. I didn't come anywhere near the top 10 of my class and didn't make law review. I got butt-lucky to end up in the job that I have and ascend as quickly as I have. I look at some of my junior associates and realize they're probably better than me (but **** 'em, my timing was better...) and I know they're fighting uphill.

I got lucky. Positions opened above me right as I was ready for them and I slid seamlessly into them. In my firm, those positions are filled now.

Law school isn't the ticket to easy riches it's often viewed as. For most, you're likely looking at a decade or more at the 50-70K/yr range. Well shit, you can get that being a claim rep at State Farm and with a lot less stress. And being an average law student makes still makes you a very smart person...that's trying to wedge into a saturated market. You'd be among the most qualified applicants in many fields, but if you're in that 50th percentile or so from most law schools, you're likely looking at a pretty mediocre job market. And that's assuming you can even get a job that requires the degree.

My recommendation is the masters - learn to communicate. It's quickly becoming a lost art. The tech degree makes you valuable until the next wave of guys with tech degrees come in with advanced training on the new tech and lower price-tags. The comp-sci majors of 15 years ago are all jammed into cubicles, working for Cerner right now and desperately wishing they'd have taken some basic management courses that might have them able to lead a department.

If I were 18 right now, I'd major in English and use it to get a masters in something like business finance. Know how to shuffle money and communicate well and you're ahead of most of the work force right now.

[Brock]

I would agree money management is probably where it's at. Money doesn't change, like tech and other bullshit like that.

[saphojunkie]

Originally Posted by phillip

This just isn't true at all. I think it's what people who don't get those jobs like to say.

My firm starts associates in 6-figure salaries. None of us were in the top 10 percent of our class. None of us work anywhere near 80 hours a week. This is also true of many of my friends at other firms.

It comes down to the same shit of every field.

1. Connections.
2. Luck.
3. Hard work.
4. Talent.

Probably in that order.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by phillip

This just isn't true at all. I think it's what people who don't get those jobs like to say.

My firm starts associates in 6-figure salaries. None of us were in the top 10 percent of our class. None of us work anywhere near 80 hours a week. This is also true of many of my friends at other firms.

Where are you located?

You would be very very much the exception in this region.

[saphojunkie]

Wait wait wait...

How have we gone this long without asking...

Spoiler!

Can he play quarterback?

[Hoover]

I'd by a 2004 Cadillac CTS!

[Discuss Thrower]

Got the email three hours ago. No interview with the SEMO job.

As of now I'm batting 1-7 on interviews and 0-1 on jobs.

[Discuss Thrower]

Bump (Neg reps expected here):

Withdrew from school Sunday night and went back and forth with a RantSports.com supervisor about blogging about the Chiefs. Sent an email a few minutes ago turning down the opportunity.. namely because there's no way I can write to their minimum quota and expect to make more than $.50 a word.

My goal now is to move out of Springfield for "greener" pastures in the KC area. Any suggestions on where to look and how I can best market myself to employers is graciously accepted.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Go to law school.

That's what I tell every young kid who asks me what to do with their life

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

It comes down to the same shit of every field.

1. Connections.
2. Luck.
3. Hard work.
4. Talent.

Probably in that order.

I think one and two are the same: It's up to you to make connections and to make your own luck.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Where are you located?

You would be very very much the exception in this region.

I think you'd find you'll make a shit ton more money on the coasts or even in cities like Dallas and Chicago than in Columbia, MO.