Ok... college degree... now what?

halkun

Let me start with the photo to set the tone.



This is a picture of me and my $82,000 bachelor's degree in business. Truth be told, I actually only owe a little south of $22,000 on it. GI Bill covered the rest. I knew the suck of the first gulf war was worth something.

I've come up with a very strange problem, and I'm not quite sure how to resolve it. Not to give a long drawn out story, let's just say five years a ago my life was a ball of suck and I decided to make it better. I bit the bullet, got a job at a hydraulics plant for $8 an hour, and went to school full time. After I got my degree last year my friend hired me and I was working retail for a whole $9 an hour fixing computers. It was an OK job, but I was kind of biding my time ticking up hours in the computer industry in a low-level position.

Last month the company decided to consolidate some stores. I had worked my way up to assistant manager. I was still at $9, but had a bonus that was supposed to push me to ~$20K a year, depending on how well the store did. As you can tell, the store wasn't doing very well, and that's why they consolidated. I was also not getting much in the way of bonuses. The company brought in another assistant manager from another store.

Now the store could not afford three full-timers. On top of this, the manager and new assistant only had High School diplomas. Because I had the college degree, single, and could live on little income, it was deemed that I would be able to survive the job market much better than the other two. The upshot was I was overqualified out of the position. I'm still technically employed. I can be still called in for maybe an hour or two a week to cover rushes and to offer a hand.

I have enough savings to go about three and a half months. (about $3500) After this I start starving and have to make excuses for rent and car payments. Here comes the crux of my dilemma.

I have no idea what to do...

I know the obvious answer is to "get a job" but I have no idea how even execute this. The last two jobs I had were given to me by High School buddies. I don't have a family to speak of, or friends other than those two. My Rolodex is amusingly empty.

I went to my school's career center, and was very politely yelled at by my counselor for about 45 minutes. The school has a 98% placement rate, (It's a very expensive private school). I was *supposed* to show up 6 months before graduation to get a "package" started, not show up a year and half later. Because I wasn't placed, I hurt the numbers. I told her I needed a job in about two weeks, and she told me it was a 6 month process. I told her I was looking for the last month or so on Monster, and she told me I was wasting my time for the last two months. Monster is not where you get a career. She put me in a database and have me a packet I was supposed to use to find contacts. She wanted me to come back in a week with a career choice and she would help me network properly. She also wondered why I never took an internship. The sad truth was I thought internships were no-pay positions that you did for school credit. I took the packet and left.

That was more than a month ago.

I have no idea what to do...

I'm about a month into my technical "unemployment". I have no idea what kind of a job I want. Not even a clue. I originally got the degree because Japan requires a BA to work there. The company I wanted to work for filed for bankruptcy a few days after I interviewed with them. I interviewed for Mitsubishi too, but I discovered that after 10 years, my Japanese had atrophied to the point where I lost my conversational ability. (I lived in Japan from 1992-1996)

As a matter of interests, I follow the Japanese Media industry. (Video games, comic books, TV, but most importantly, music) I also study intellectual property law as a hobby. I did my senior thesis on the economics of artificial scarcity, and how it effected the Japanese music industry. It was wildly interesting, but pretty worthless as I live here. And you thought Luke Skywalker lived the furthest away for the brightest spot in the universe.

So, anyone have any advice before I visit my school counselor and tell her I'm a complete retard who can't figure out what he wants to be when he grows up?

tldr;

How do you make go a "college degree"?

Toefoo

I'll be in your situation next year when I finish my lengthy, money-pit degree.

Was there any other reason (besides the company going under and you losing your conversational Japanese skills) that is preventing you from working overseas? It sounds like you really want to go back to Japan. There are still some eikawas that are in business, and there's the JET Programme as well; both ask just for a BA in anything and proficiency in English. Last I checked a few months ago, some even prefer you don't know much Japanese so that you're forced to use only English in your teaching sessions.

You could also check into various music/media/entertainment companies from both countries and see if they want someone with your knowledge (and that interest in IP is a perfect fit for those industries). Who knows, you may find a company that is willing to relocate you from the middle of nowhere to somewhere more lively in the States, or even overseas.

halkun

As of right now, I only have $3500 to my name and in 8 days it's going to be $2400. Also I'm too old for JET. I'm 34. The age limit is 30. I was going to go the NOVA route, but they went bankrupt. After the fact, I discovered that those "English Schools" aren't really for me.

The real bastard of it all is I'm REALLY enjoying not working. I would probably be on WoW every waking moment if it wasn't for the fact I completely lothe MMOs.

BlackbeardonGuitar

I know you said it'd atrophied, but if you thought you could get back to being able to use it on a constant basis you might have an in with some japanese based companies or companies that do frequent business in both US and Japanese markets. Apparently Tokyo-based Mitsubishi UFJ just bought a 20% stake in Morgan Stanley...

I'd say give that career center another try, maybe see if another person also works there that isn't a total bitch and schedule an appointment with them instead.

I'm also unemployed here's some advice I got

NotYou

Well, chances are you're not going to get a good "career" job in the next month or so. So, I'd say start applying all over your town at restaraunts, best buy, etc. Get a steady job to pay the rent and continue to search for that career you want.

(go to places. Wear nice clothes. Fill out applications. Have your info with you so you can fill them out on the spot)

Drew_9999

Man, you are wasting your time making $9 an hour if you have a degree in business. I'm sure you know that, but I just want to make it totally clear. Since you have no idea what you want to do even after spending all that time in college, just pick something and do whatever the lady tells you to do. Seriously, just pick something from the list that sounds tolerable and profitable. You're probably not going to figure out what you really want to do in the next few months, and that's fine.

Meanwhile, go out and apply for small jobs, or even management positions. You are insanely over qualified for the low end jobs, so it really shouldn't even be hard. Get clean, dress well, go in and ask for an application, fill it out there or at home, and return it to the manager or assistant manager. Always to some kind of management, don't let some idiot lose you application. Also, as long as you're talking to them, try to get an on the spot interview.

Months from now, when you have a real job in some field that you're not really interested in, at least you'll be making real money. Maybe you'll love the job, maybe you'll hate it. At least then you'll have a better idea of where to go next, and the funds to make it happen.

Bucketman

Man I won't lie. My best friend and his now wife (got married last week) and several other people I know who got degrees in Business and Japanease to work in Japan are having a major hard time finding jobs. Like business with japanease is the new Computer Tech degree or something.

What they are doing: They both got jobs teaching english as a second language in Japan, they move in 4 months and will be there 2 years. They get free housing and get roughly 30K a year on top of that, each. Durring that time they plan on attempting to fine full time work either in the states or in japan.

That might not be a doable option for you because as it is with most people, you don't want to uproot for just 2 years for a job, but hey it might work.

Edit: Nevermind, I didn't know what JET and NOVA where at first. my bad.

amateurhour

If you're in the US, with that degree and your computer backing, look at getting on the register for state government work and take the placement tests. In the mean time, get on back with retail to have a cash flow coming in, because the state can take up to six months before you might get a job. Once you do though, you're looking at free health insurance, supplimental benefits for next to nothing, retirement, and private investment packages.

Yes, it's the state, and it's boring, but it will get your feet wet and give you a chance to start a nest egg. I did three years in the state IT department, and when I decided to up and move, I took roughly $3500 from my retirement (which I could have rolled into a 401K at $6000), my last full pay check, and all of my holiday leave in cash, so I was good for a couple of months while I job searched.

Usagi

Another thing you might investigate is working (at least in the short term, like <2 years) as in the HR/business department for any federal offices close to you. Because you are a veteran you will receive preferential selection, above and beyond those other job candidates that don't have military experience. And once you build a few contacts in your industry you can move wherever you want, either inside the gvt engine or into the private sector.

Cauld

Right now go to a temp agency. $9/hour is nothing. I made that working at Subway.

Keep going to your school's career center. If the woman there gets angry at you, tell her something like: "Look, I know I screwed up. That's why I'm here, I'm looking for help. You telling me I screwed up isn't helping me or your numbers." Explain to her that you need more help than "fill out this packet" because you don't even know how to do that.

Also, you could always teach English in a different country. It might not be Japan, but it would still be neat.

Scooter

Right now I make $11 an hour "temping" (at the same place for 1.5 years) while I school. I don't know how things are in WI but you should easily be able to get a temp job, and keep on applying for every retail and Monster job you can too. The important thing is to find a job so you're not broke in a few months. Then, then, keep on looking for a real job. Maybe it's not helpful now, but your adviser was right, you've wasted a lot of time working in retail while just sitting on a degree. I hear some people enjoy retail, but my experience is that it's work suitable only as punishment for our worse criminals. The pay sucks too.

I would suggest temping for office type work, and if you find a company you like, try and get hired with them for a full position. While continuing the online hunt for anything in your area.

halkun

I don't know where people are getting Temp agencies as being a method of income. I've interviews with three of them and then after the first interview, nothing happens. It's got to the point where I looked on my resume just to make sure my phone number was right.

The major thing is I have no Idea what I want. I guess I can get another job at geeksquad or something, but that's not exactly solving the problem after 6 months and I'm still not using my degree.

Let me put it another way.

When I was in school, I was in a statistics class. We were supposed make a chart of out incomes and calculate any outliers. The guys in my class were making something along the lines 85,000 to 170,000 a year. (Many were Johnson's Wax/Case executives that had no degree and needed one to be promoted via company policy.)

When I said I made $12,000 a year, they didn't believe me and accused me of rigging the outlier. They had no idea that someone could live on $1000 a month. They were wondering if I was on welfare/foodstamps. I found the questions a little insulting until on guy said. "You realize that poverty is $16,000 a year, right."

Oh, I guess that's why I got my taxes back all the time

I've never made more the $36,000 a year, and that was for 6 months as a Database programmer. I go so burnt out by that job I quit. I do not have the discipline to sit in a chair for 8 hours. It was then I discovered I love computers but hate application development. I was a janitor at a hospital after that, but was let go 6 months after that because 1) I was massively overqualified 2) There was a bit of a culture clash between my fellow "housekeepers" and I. They were mostly uneducated low income household heads trying to make ends meet, and had issues when I did things like bring in a laptop in during lunch and browse the web/play videogames (Evidently, they thought I was showing off, when in fact I was just bored during lunch)

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

There's always masters! Because who doesn't want more debt. I know I do!
Seriously, there really is more higher education to be had.

Scooter

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud wrote: »

There's always masters! Because who doesn't want more debt. I know I do!
Seriously, there really is more higher education to be had.

Not when you're feeling aimless about job careers.


For my temp job, I did the test and applied for one specific position that didn't come in, but the next week I was working as an usher and I forgot about it. A few weeks later though they called up and offered my current job. If I hadn't been working, I would've been calling them up every week to see if anything came in.

MrMonroe

First of all, go back to the Career Center and follow up with everything the counselor puts you through, while you work a temporary position in the mean time.

Second, what I tell everyone: Temp Agency.

Going into Best Buy with a business degree and they are going to think: wow, this guy is way overqualified, he'll be around for two months before he finds something serious. You go to a temp agency, they are looking for overqualified people who need money. They'll send you to a few places where someone is needed on a temporary basis to do fairly skilled work. If you're lucky, someone at one of those places will recognize a talented guy and offer you a permanent position in another capacity. The agencies love sending out overqualified people because they get placed more often, which earns the agency a finder's fee and they get to brag about how many people they place. If all goes well, you can go back to the career center and tell that woman to eat a dick because you found something perfectly good.

amateurhour

also, just to be clear, a degree, no matter how much it costs, doesn't entitle you to a job.

I went two months with seven temp agencies before one of them finally got me a job, although I was a little picky about salary requirements.

that's just in response to the whole "I've already been on three interviews and nothing has happened" comment. You're going to go on about fifty interviews, you just have to keep at it.

PeekingDuck

Go back to the career center.