How did you end up with the job you have?

emdella · May 2012

Back story:

I have worked only 1 job since college...in a restaurant. I've worked there 10 years now. I was just under 1 (full-time) year away from finishing my psychology degree when I started there. I was offered a management position and relocated. Time flies and now I am a committed GM of the restaurant. Don't get me wrong, I like my job, but I'm at a point that I know in my gut that it isn't for me anymore. Crazy hours, crazy times of the day, every holiday. Good pay...crappy life. Called on at anytime...and stressful.

So my question to you is... How did you end up with the job that you have? How did or would you go about a big career change?

I'm not feeling the idea of more school and feel like online searches just bring about a lot of manual labor jobs.

thanks....

chetrick · May 2012

I actually have a degree in marine biology and chemistry and thought that I would be swimming with whales everyday. Reality set in and I took a job out of college with an environmental consulting firm - not swimming with whales. When the housing market began to tank in 2005 (it was when the construction of new houses first began to slow), I was laid off and was in search of a new job.

My husband and I moved across the country (from RI to CA) and I took a job teaching science at a private school. Private school teachers do not need to be certified, so it was an easy transition. I did eventually take a job at a charter school where I entered a program to become a certified teacher in CA and am now certified to teach both science and math.

I currently teach both to 8th graders at a charter school in southern California.

catycate · May 2012

Actually, I was waiting tables as my second job (my day job was preschool teacher, with a particular interest in inclusion with special needs kids) and a co-worker was waiting on a table the had a little boy with Autism. I talked to them, they gave me info for the school their son was going to, I applied and, after 8 years, just put in my notice to stay home. It really was fate- I have loved my career since I started with the school and have furthered my education in the field.

new2011mommy · May 2012

I went to college to become a teacher. The summer before my senior year, I got a summer job as an administrative assistant at an office. When I went back to school, I continued working part time around my classes. When I graduated, they offered me a full time job making more then I would have as a teacher. I live in a HCOL area and was getting married the following year so i chose the higher salary. They then promoted me to a sales job, which came with a lot more hours, but another raise. A year later, I was offered a big raise to join a competing company. I was unhappy with how I was being treated at my old company so I took the new position. I have been doing this job for 11 years and up until last year, it was really rough. I had very long hours, worked weekends, holidays, and was on call. I really wanted to quit many times, but I knew if I stuck it out, things would get better. When I got pregnant, my boss who I have been with for 9 years did not want to lose me. I took a fair paycut to cut down to a 4 day work week, no holidays, no weekends, no on call. I also work from home. I am now so glad I stuck this career out because I love my new situation and that I am home with DS. I hope to retire in a couple years and be a SAHM. I think once my children are older that I may see what I need to do to become a teacher.

spring_time · May 2012

I went to college with no real idea of what I wanted to do other than learn a second language and study abroad. I knew there really wasn't much I could do with a Spanish degree, so I knew I needed something else to do with it. My friends were all choosing education, I loved kids, it sounded like a great idea. My parents warned me not to go into education, my mom had been a teacher. They told me that it is not as stable of a profession as one would think. My mom had been through multiple strikes and lay-offs. Her breaking point came when a student took a swing at her when she was pregnant. They tried talking me out of it, but I dug in my heals.

My first job was teaching Spanish in elementary schools. I traveled to a different classroom every 45 minutes. I serviced 4 schools and over 1500 students. I hated it. I spent a year going back to graduate school for my masters degree in Language Education, My parents tried talking me out of it...but I knew what I was doing.

My second and current job was teaching at a two-way bilingual immersion school in an (failing) urban district. My parents warned me against it, but I loved it for my first 5 years. One state takeover, 2 strikes, two emergency financial managers, 12 lay-off notices, 3 pay freezes, 1 loan to the district to keep it afloat, a 10% paycut with talk of a new one, and now being forced to re-interview for a job I already have...I wish I had listened to my parents. No job is worth the mental anguish of constantly being berated and told you are not doing enough, while also be completely expendable. I need one more year to be vested in the state pension system, and then I am throwing in the towel.

I am not quite sure what I am going to do, but the positive thing about my crappy salary and awful working conditions is that there is nowhere to go but up.

vflipo · May 2012

I'm in retail, have been for 7 years. I have my current position thanks to practically annual restructures that have eliminated positions I've held. I like it for now, since it's a M-Th(sometimes F) 6-2:30 gig. Not many people in retail have a sweet schedule like that. However, I am pre-med so I'm definitely making a career change at some point Wink

cynnichinny13 · May 2012

I had a baby.

SAHM.

vflipo · May 2012

cynnichinny13:
I had a baby.

SAHM.

Smug. Wink

hmp1 · May 2012

This is my 3rd company since graduating. I loved my first job because it was easy and my boss was cool but it was an entry level job without very much room for advancement. My second job was busy and I loved the job but hated my boss with a passion. After a year, I started looking for something else. There was a huge company that was in my field and had a big campus near my house. Once they had a position open that fit my requirements and skills, I applied. I got the job and have been moving up and loving it ever since (5 years next month).

I have a feeling it would be really difficult to change fields without a degree in this job market. GL!

sw_in_kc · May 2012

After college, I up and moved out of state on a whim with a friend. At the end of the year that I had been there, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, so I moved home. I had started working retail while living in the other state, so I was transfered to a new store opening and was promoted to store manager.

I had always planned to return to school to get my master's degree. Once I was back in my home state for a year, I applied to grad school (in state tuition vs out of state).

I'm doing what I've planned to do since undergrad and wouldn't change the path or years it took me to get here.

amykins1283 · May 2012

I was looking to get a teaching position closer to home to cut down my 45 minute commute after Liam was born. Turns out the Pre-K teacher at his daycare was retiring at the end of that year. Now I teach Pre-K where Liam goes to daycare. It's perfect!

abs05 · May 2012

I'm a SAHM now, but before that I was a retail manager. I fell into it in a similar way. I worked at a store PT while in college, and soon after I graduated 9/11 happened. Everyone was scared, no one was hiring, and my degree was getting me nowhere. My boss offered me a management position, and I took it. 10 years and a few promotions later I was getting paid pretty well and was still there to my disbelief.

Then I had a baby. Retail life does not fit into family life very well so I knew I wanted to stay home when we started talking about kids. Next year I will go back to school and when LO starts pre-K in 2014 I'll go back to work part-time.

grr_aargh · May 2012

I was on track for a PhD in English/Native American Studies when I got pregnant with my first. I left school and was a SAHM for 2 1/2 years. We moved within 8 blocks of a community college - so I sent them a note on a Wednesday asking about teaching a composition class or two and by Monday I was in the classroom.

I got pregnant with #2 that month, but I haven't taken a semester off since I started - I only teach a few classes, but to step away means I might not be able to come back - so I stay.

KJmashup · May 2012

My BS is in communication, and my master's degree is in liberal arts, with an emphasis on creative writing.

While I was in my grad-school program, I applied for and got a job as a medical copy editor. I've been in that field ever since, although now I'm a medical writer.

I have also taught an English course at the university from which I earned my BS, because I had excelled in that class as an undergrad student and was a peer writing tutor.

HappyMama2011 · May 2012

The start up that I worked for imploded and everyone got laid off about a month before DD1 was born. Perfect timing and a decent severance package, so I'm not complaining. We decided to hold off on me finding a new job because we wanted two kids close in age. I plan to take a 2 1/2 - 3 year break from work to be a SAHM. Luckily, I enjoy being at home a lot more than I thought that I would. If I hadn't been laid off, I'm 99% sure that I would not have quit.

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