I had a post half-written and saved as a draft for a week. Just reread it and the information in it was so old as to be irrelevant. Stuff about Kaia's ear infection a week and a half ago. Stuff about The Dark Knight. Doesn't make sense to post it now, so I deleted it.
lame. I'll leave the title, tho. Maybe we'll have a contest to see if you can guess what the rest of the post was about...
So at work, there's this group of us that get together at lunch sometimes just to bitch about work. We've dubbed ourselves "The Whiners' Club." Today, one of the people in the group had a birthday. And typically, we ended up bitching about work. About the boss. About the other characters in the office.
And a thing occurred to me. Maybe this has something to do with The Last Lecture, maybe it doesn't. But I'm tired of whining about my job. I'm tired of feeling powerless and bitter.
I've spent the better part of the afternoon looking for jobs on monster and careerbuilder. All over the country, mind you. Nintendo has a writer job open in Redmond.
Anyway, it's become obvious to me that I have no idea how to find a new job. I do searches based on category, and it gives me pages of direct marketing jobs. Or advertising copywriter jobs. Is that all I can do?
Is that the only way out?
School is another obvious answer. Steph asked me about a month ago if I knew what class I was going to take. No. Still don't, really. I keep reading that "more schooling" isn't an answer, it's avoidance. I can see that. Especially in regard to all manner of liberal arts degrees. In order to go do more school, it has to be a "professional" degree -- engineering, architecture, law, mba. Has to be. Or you're just wasting your time and money.
I read somewhere that a Liberal Arts Master's degree will get you a whole $5 extra a month. Sure, mine was a MS, but still, technically in a liberal arts field, though you can make the argument that journalism/pr/marketing/advertising is a trade. In any case, I wish someone had told me that before I wasted the time getting it. Make no mistake, my master's degree was a waste of time and money. Sure, I have one. So what? It has not, and likely will not, benefit me professionally.
Unless I was to teach, but that doesn't pay enough.
Ugh. So frustrating. I'm not giving up on the school thing, but as of this moment, I'm unsure of which way to go with it. So it's on hold. I'm not avoiding it, but until I figure out which way to jump, there's no point in jumping.
Which brings me back to the job search. I don't think I've ever really known how to do that effectively. I think if I did, I would not still be here in Stillwater working for OSU. Looking through these sites is no different than searching through the want-ads in the paper. Some of the guys on the site suggest just making a big list of the companies I'd like to work for then sending them query letters. That seems to me like waiting to win the lottery.
So my question is... how do you make this happen? Not wishful thinking. I'm done with wishful thinking. Practical answers.
Yeah, I know. You don't care. But it's my blog and that's on my mind. Change what you don't like or stop bitching about it.
Themematic Harmony
About that more schooling thing. There is one school I'd love to go to before all's said and done. The Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers' Workshop. That would rule. It's like a six-week intensive writing bootcamp.
The Girl
She's good. She's pretty much over the ear infection and generally wakes up in a good mood. She's trying to sit up. In the mornings, she does crunches in her wee bed. Cracks me up. She wouldn't have any balance once she got up there if she made it.
She also stood on her own, leaning against me, yesterday morning. That was pretty cool. I don't think she realized I didn't have hold of her. Didn't wobble or anything. It was pretty awesome. We're going to have to get her an exersaucer soon, though that'll rule as it looks like she enjoys them at day care. And speaking of daycare, I gotta go pick her up in half an hour.
She's been cooing in the morning when she wakes up. Like insta-good mood. I could hear her this morning when I got out of the shower, even with the bathroom door closed. It's hard to leave for work in a bad mood when you hear that (yet another reason the job hunt is ON).
A Magic Trick
4 comments:
To me education isn't about the money and isn't about the job but if you are like most of us, we love money. My last boss had a degree in Liberal Arts yet made $20,000 per month. You could be like my new boss and start an agency. You could go off to Europe for 3 weeks while us pee-ons run the place. Stranger things can happen.
keep checking amazon, if you ever seen anything let me know. I'll actually be searching for a new job myself here shortly, time to make more money, sites set on MS. My basic plan is to keep checking the companies I would really like to work for and also hit the normal sites - monster, hotjobs, etc.
move west young man, move west.
"networking" - the dreaded word. Yet since you've joined the halo online world, I'm sure you've come to realize that all networking means is talking to people. So talk to those people, all of them, and put out feelers. Send them all your current resume. AND do the searching thing.
Just please don't make me move so far away that Kaia will never know her grandmas.
It's hard for me to throw advice to you when I haven't really had the experience. Any job I've ever wanted I've just walked in and gotten it. I don't know if it's me or if I just have really lucky timing. But here is my buck o' five-
What do you want to do? What are your career goals, both fiscally and emotionally? How do those goals fit in with the goals you have for your family?
Perhaps 'looking for a new job' isn't the answer or even the question just yet. I know you aren't looking to move until you have that loan paid off, so maybe you can use that time to prep. Really take a look at what you want for your family and for yourself. Once you have that narrowed down better you can take the next step and look for companies that will match those goals. Then create a gameplan on how to get yourself in.
I know it sounds brash to just say that, but why not? You are a talented individual and your services would not only benefit their company, but make their company better. Have confidence, it will change if you make it change. Just get some direction so you know which road to take when you get there.
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