post lolcollege advice thread

stay off ilx

I settled for a place that paid so-so but was a shitty work environment not relevant to my work interests. I was fired within 3 months and didn't qualify for unemployment which sucked. Don't feel bad about taking money from your parents until you find a good fit.

Don't stay in it too long, unless there are serious career progression opportunities ahead of you, 18 months should really be the maximum for your first job.

coincidentally, i started in PR/radio two weeks ago. this is specific advice and prob obvious, but i'm an idiot - when calling places to confirm addresses to send invites/media releases/media packages by courier, ask for the building address, not their PO Boxes. this would've saved me a couple of hours not having to call the same places twice.

I got a nice mindless job (starting 2 weeks today) to pay ze student loans n shit for a year or two (assuming I don't drop out at the training stage). Will be eyeing this thread with interest.

real answers:
-curbed my week night show-going/drinking/what have you. i don't feel it necessarily affected my performance, but once i quit coming in hung-over an avg of two days a week, my outlook was much brighter w/r/t silly job nuisances.

-probably would have worked harder to hide the pained expression on my face whenever I had to interact directly with my spoiled, bumbling, dubya-esque boss.

also Matt DC otm

stay off ilx

-- will, Monday, August 18, 2008 11:53 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Also stay the fuck out of office politics, particularly prolonged bitch sessions, they don't actually do you any good at all.

Figure out what kind of assistant your boss wants and whether you can bear to be that person. Ie:

Do they want a Mini Me? Can you be the Mini Your-Boss without selling soul and killing self?

Do they want a details person so that they can be Big-Picture-Only? Do you mind haggling over details with someone who will never meet your deadlines or remember that they're supposed to do something which YOU will then be responsible for somehow completing?

To what degree will that employer expect you to "pay dues" ie do scut work to get anywhere, and are you okay with that?

Etc. If you find you're not a good fit for the assistant your boss wants, LEAVE. There's nothing wrong with doing 30 or 60 days or even 6 months and then leaving a first job. Find a good fit.

generally being opportunistic is good from the pov of advancement and income but its also psychologically wholesome to avoid the pitfalls of an unimaginative depressed attitude towards work

Do they want a details person so that they can be Big-Picture-Only? Do you mind haggling over details with someone who will never meet your deadlines or remember that they're supposed to do something which YOU will then be responsible for somehow completing?

In my experience this is pretty much "lol any creative industry" and it makes me absolutely crazy. I can't work for these people at all. So...see what you think.

Best new job advice I can give: learn everything you possibly can and ask as many questions as possible in the first few weeks, because if your job or your disposition is anything like mine, you'll feel insecure as hell about anything you don't know after that point and/or bitter about how poorly you were trained.

Matt DC otm, especially early on you are only really going to progress through jumping around. Find out who the headhunters are in your field and try to avoid staying anywhere longer than 2 years, look to start looking 18 months in.

Matt DC OTM except with the caveat of if you find you really, really love the job and they are advancing you within the company, there's no shame in staying.

invest every dime you can

post lolcollege advice question - how do i find a new job in a dying industry in a crumbling economy?

my spoiled, bumbling, dubya-esque boss.

haha fuck that guy

xpost Get a loan and start your own? Guy I know is getting funded by the gov't to run a web comics business under some make-work thing.

May only work in C4n4d4

lol socialism

i heard the observer just lost its eic u think theyd go for some 'yung blud'??

what happened to the nyer tv reviewer/replace nancy franklin camapaign

max, i think u should be a lawyer ; )

whats the job market like for revivalists

it's been a banner year

http://www.bethel.edu/~rhomar/HymnalScans/Revivalist.jpg

ughhhhhhh I am on this sinking ship too

another thought--how much $$ can i make throwing warehouse parties

prolly a lot back when people had money to go to parties

depends on the party and your ethics and whether you're dealing drugs.

Try to find a decent job in any field. A lot of entry level jobs are basically the same shit anyways. Go abroad and work as an English teacher. Be flexible and try to find something worthwhile.

xpost

Oh, and finding a job is usually a difficult and discouraging endeavor.

one reason I don't want to teach english abroad is that even though I imagine I'd enjoy the experience, I feel like after it was over I'd find myself exactly where I am now career-wise

^that very well might be true. It depends what field you want to go into, and the whims of future potential employers. Some people value that kind of experience, other people don't care so much.

Set yourself a goal of finding a temporary gig to pay the bills, and a second one of finding a permanent gig.

Map out your daily metrics on how successful your search is - number of responses received, calls made, resumes sent out, leads found/followed.

Treat finding a job like a job. And when the work day is over, its over. Go to the gym. Go for a walk. Play music. Have a drink.

Most important:

- Don't always stress about looking for a job. you'll just burn out that way.
- Don't do drugs that could cause you to fail a drug test at a new job.
- Have a bit of fun each day.

One foot in front of the other, man. And don't discount any possibles if you don't have any probables or definities.

"perfect is the enemy of the good"

xpizzle.

how do i find a new job in a dying industry in a crumbling economy?

If you're me, you find two or three part time jobs in that industry and sign up for state-subsidized health insurance, all the while feeling like a failure, living paycheck to paycheck instead of building savings, and applying to graduate school. I don't know if any of this has been a good move, but I'm still not sure if the alternative of just trying to make a secure living in a full time job, ANY job, would have been a better option.

looking for a job?
some guy on dr. phil said that applying online only works 5% of the time at best. more like 2%, he said.
so to get a job you have to actually pound the pavement so to speak.

ok SERIOUS question this time--

how stupid is it for me to leave a job without having another one secured in this kind of economic climate?

lol

max hav u heard abt my shanty town

hey I feel like doing this a lot but then I don't

max i did basically this but:

a) had money saved
b) left w/ a decent bonus plus a bunch of accrued o/t and vacation time
c) i've got some freelance work lined up to make a little money so im not completely w/o income
d) i have not a great but a decent picture of what i want to do w/this time and i'm reasonably certain i couldn't accomplish it working 65-70 hour work weeks quitting really was my best option
e) also have some outside income making this feasible

i think at least some of those things need to be true for you otherwise its ~~~ maybe not the greatest idea?

lol @ "outside income"

i have a) and maybe could put c) and d) together

http://www.miltonglaser.com/pages/milton/essays/es3.html

IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE NEVER HAVE A JOB.
One night I was sitting in my car outside Columbia University where my wife Shirley was studying Anthropology. While I was waiting I was listening to the radio and heard an interviewer ask ‘Now that you have reached 75 have you any advice for our audience about how to prepare for your old age?’ An irritated voice said ‘Why is everyone asking me about old age these days?’ I recognised the voice as John Cage. I am sure that many of you know who he was – the composer and philosopher who influenced people like Jasper Johns and Merce Cunningham as well as the music world in general. I knew him slightly and admired his contribution to our times. ‘You know, I do know how to prepare for old age’ he said. ‘Never have a job, because if you have a job someday someone will take it away from you and then you will be unprepared for your old age. For me, it has always been the same every since the age of 12. I wake up in the morning and I try to figure out how am I going to put bread on the table today? It is the same at 75, I wake up every morning and I think how am I going to put bread on the table today? I am exceedingly well prepared for my old age’ he said.

lamp otm

i have a) and maybe could put c) and d) together

i think a and d are probably the most important - the others just make it less of a sacrifice but if you dont really have a plan then its just like suck it up or find a better job

lol if u do this we could always go see midafternoon matinees a true summer delite

ya its getting harder and harder to suck it up and pretend i have any kind of future here, afternoon matinees sound pretty rad

i found pr pretty spiritual draining even more so than banking which could just be dull i think w/i banking theres such a gap btw analysts and the world outside of finance u can write reports on economic instability in the caribbean and how to make money off of it w/o really feeling connected in anyway to it - this is a bad thing obv! but it makes it easier whereas w/ what i was doing in pr some of our clients were pretty shitty and its v. blatant that your job is helping them stay shitty no matter how much conference room bs you talk about community outreach and the importance of a "digitally connected, customer relevant" brand

will not miss having to refer to companies as brands either

luckily our clients arent scummy at all--funny enough tho it doesnt seem to make a difference i still hate bein a soulless flack & am a really terrible salesman

lol yah i was going to xpost to myself that probably wasnt helpful or relevant, sorry! and really i think pr can be fun in a lot of ways too the clients/projects that i had and i ran i really liked unfortunately work was i guess is really slow so i had to bill time w/ less enjoyable jobs which is the price of working for an agency owned by another agency owned by a holding corporation owned by a massive conglomerate lol @ modern lyfe i guess

i think if u can find a way to make this time worthwhile and play it so that - if you have to - you can explain any gaps on the resume when/if you do go back then do it

eh ultimately im just having a bad morning. dont want to stay here 4ever but i can hardman my way thru it. probably will quit no matter what at the end of summer & move unless some opportunities come thru here.

move where

mars hopefully

i quit my first post-collegiate job w/o another one lined up and spent the next 2 years in temp hell. this was during the early 90s recession. finally went to grad school when i completely ran out of ideas about what i was going to do.

at least u had sublime 2 get u through the tough times

how many of you guys had some clue of what you wanted to do @ age 23

i did not, and do not.

i had no idea

i did not, and do not.

― goole, Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:04 PM (21 seconds ago) Bookmark

i had some ideas and failed miserably. still failing pretty well, actually

At 23, I knew I didn't want to be a teacher anymore.

other than the six months following my 23rd birthday, I haven't been.

The only thing that you don't want to do when you're trying to figure this type of stuff out is to not do anything. Get a job that you think you might like, work hard at it, and see where it takes you. Things are not handed to us, for the most part.

lyfe is a journey

not a clue, took me till the end of my 20s to get close.

BLAM, otm, my first post-college job took me all kinds of places and at least focussed my mind on that fact that I didn't want to to it.

i want 2 be rich and famous

so far my first post-college job has taken me to this place, where i hate my job, and wish i didnt have anymore

:( sorry dude, that's a shitty feeling.

at 26 i still have very little idea of what i want to do -- considering grad programs but i don't want to pile up debt to figure out my vocation, if i even have one. 9 to 5 lifestyle / recession economy isn't v conducive to "trying things out" but maybe that's a cop-out. i struggle with doubts abt whether i will ever enjoy work, if i or anyone can or deserves to enjoy their work, or if i should drop the soul-search in favor of a work vs. leisure bifurcated lifestyle (sell out oh noes).

emo blog post but shit i'm bored and insecure and wtf is the next step here

ya elmo thats kind of how i feel too

sorta had no clue...vaguely knew i wanted to do medicine, but it took another four years to get around to it

I'm 24 and at this place

i'm 25 and have essentially figured out that i will probably never "enjoy" work (though i will always "be fine with" work). this:

a work vs. leisure bifurcated lifestyle

has been my solution for going on three years.

the idea that work is supposed to be personally fulfilling is a bourgeois fiction

...i sometimes think

a couple days ago I realized that the point that I began applying to new jobs since I started my current one after college was about a month in. A year and a half later I'm still applying to jobs with pretty much the full knowledge that I don't want to do them.

honestly I think I just want to be around people I like and doing work, no matter what it is

so far my first post-college job has taken me to this place, where i hate my job, and wish i didnt have anymore

did i tell u this story? maybe. when i was 22 and like 6 months out of undergrad i quit my job in finance and went traveling and bummed around l.a. for half a year. it didnt really help me know what i wanted to do but it was better than doing something that i h8ed so much that waking up everyday was a chore

then i got a different type of job i ended up not liking :/

sometimes i agree w/you geoff, but i dunno, i keep holding out hope that i'm not gonna hate being a doctor. thing is, i ~know~ i'll be frustrated working in american healthcare as it is currently configured (many practicing docs try and talk students out of going to med school), but i really want to do foreign aid stuff, and think i'd be really very content with that. then again, i could also just jump over to the school of public health and maybe accomplish much of the same w/o 8 years of training, iono

i don't need rich & famous, wd settle for comfortable & notable in my field

the idea that work is supposed to be personally fulfilling is a bourgeois fiction

i agree w/this

i dont.

keep holding out hope that i'm not gonna hate being a doctor. thing is, i ~know~ i'll be frustrated working in american healthcare as it is currently configured (many practicing docs try and talk students out of going to med school)

im pretty sure that the ambivalence i felt about doctoring was what made the med school intrvws difficult for me. im certain is was easy enuff to pick up on.

so the "i love my job" ppl just liars or just easily satisfied or what

i "get" that its supposed to be a "bourgeois fiction" but since like 90% of my lyfe/happiness is composed of "bourgeois fictions" i dont see why i shouldnt hold out hope for that one too

this is america

america the land built entirely on bourgeois fictions, and also the idea of owning other human beings being ok with god

i'm sure I wd probably feel different if I didn't work a job in a family biz w/ no room to advance tbh

one problem i have is that i can't stand ppl being the boss of me

thats a problem

Man, what a bunch of sad sack ninnies.

If you don't like what you're doing, tolerate it while you find something else you think you might like. The average American changes careers blah blah blah blah....but its true!

The worst thing you can do is to accept the feeling that you hate your job because of a system of "bourgeois fictions" or whateverthefuck.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, every day, and you'll get somewhere. Even if it isn't where you thought you'd end up, at least you can be sure that you'll move away from a place you don't like quickly, and continue to do so.

just please don't wallow. I lost three years of my life to that shit, and I'm never going back.

aw max, i'm sorry you hate your job so much! really in no position to offer advice about this stuff. i did know i wanted to be when i was 23 but i was wrong!

lol xpost

And if it means that you're designed for a life where you pay the bills, sack a little away, and live for not being at work, so be it!

this is a totally valid and widely practiced lifestyle.

Just don't crap on those of us who like work and place it very high in our personal worth calculus.

horseshoe, one day, when u and i are tagteam writing the tv review section of the new yorker, we will look back on this thread and laugh

i thought i hated my job, then i was laid off and now i realize how "not bad" it was.

But yeah....having a shitty job sucks. Start looking now, and continue until you find something. Every time you get that "FUCK, this SUCKS!" feeling, apply for a new job. If you can read ILX, you can apply for jobs.

Just don't wallow. No good will come from it.

23 is young and a free time for most people. If you don't like what you're doing, do something else. Go somewhere.

I didn't know what I wanted to do when I was 23. I was just trying to have interesting experiences and take care of myself. Incidentally, what I did age 23 actually helped me find a satisfying career, but I had not idea that would be the case.

well it's sour grapes innit since i don't support myself by doing anything that i personally care about that much, even though it's pleasant & renumerative enough, but i hear tell there are ppl who do

lol xps thanks for the sunshine blam, there is a thing called a recession occurring, u might have herd

don't get me wrong dude! it's awes if people find their work fulfilling and i am totally onboard with them--they are lucky folks.

but it's not going to happen for everybody or probably even most people--the fiction of it is that it's something we all deserve.

really i think the new yorker would be lucky to have us.

bougie fiction or not, it's not that i need to really enjoy my work 94/7 but i hope i can at least find some career that uses my best skills / allows me develop skills i want

I hate being trapped somewhere for a predetermined period of time, esp when there isn't much going on. If I could take off when things are dead and it not afect my salary or benefits or standing, I would be much happier.

Or if my co would come off some real dough in return for me spending th bulk of my young life making up shit to do to fill up the work day.

some people consider being paid for doing very little a luxury.

i don't even think the fiction is that we all deserve it, it's that our jobs are who we are. except, like max said, that's a fiction whose influence it's really hard to escape. i don't think it's only a bourgeois one?

thinking of moving to india for a while.

(I'm 23 next month.)

DO IT

you can teach English or something.

one of my best friends from high school--whos 25? i think?--just moved to india w/ a blotter sheet of acid to find himself

a friend who was there last year that there are hella NGOs who will pay room and board, so I'd rather do something like that than teach english, just resume-wise. but I'd be up for whatever at this point. I have some v. close friends who live there already, so that makes the idea less scary. I dunno, I could totally change my mind in a few weeks.

year *said* that

lol xps thanks for the sunshine blam, there is a thing called a recession occurring, u might have herd

Well, then get the fuck off ILX and find a damn job!

I got laid off in late December, and didn't find this gig until mid-February, and only found it through continuous, concerted effort.

I'm not trying to be mean. I'm sensitive to the fact that there is a recession on, and people are having a hard time at finding/keeping work.

But please don't wallow. That's what I'm saying. Seriously.

how many of you guys had some clue of what you wanted to do @ age 23

I knew I wanted to write, read, and fuck, and would probably need a primary source of income. As I get older the first two come a lot easier.

i have a job.

i have a job.

Good for you!

yes b.l.a.m. we get it, do not wallow, pull yrself up by yr bootstraps, etc. etc.

srsly dude i don't see any wallowing or whining itt, just some well-intentioned ppl trying to talk some stuff out.

like i think we all know that finding a job might take "continuous, concerted effort"

maybe if everyone on this thread would stop crapping on him for enjoying his work, we'd get somewhere

dude this is not abt wallowing it is about the introspection re: "what do i rly want" and other lyfe lessons

speaking of new yorker, just read great article about all of this.

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2009/06/22/090622crat_atlarge_sanneh

written about b.l.a.m.:
http://anabasius.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/image003.jpg

Crawford’s distaste for office work can make any alternative seem preferable, and he comes close to idealizing life among the gears and gaskets, lauding the admirable simplicity of “the relationship between a machinist and his shop boss.” This nostalgic tribute is, of course, proof positive that hard jobs get much easier to love as soon as they start to disappear. If Crawford is correct about the decline of America’s information economy, we should brace ourselves for a series of mournful, indignant books that eulogize the modern office—a highly networked, quasi-social, semi-autonomous refuge, where turn-of-the-century workers spent their pleasant days solving problems, exploring the limits of coöperation, and wasting valuable company time on the Internet.

yeah actually dan that article was one of the things that really got me thinking about this

while this article isn't so much about whether you're supposed to love your job, it does imply that simpler jobs are inherently more lovable, due to joy of "craftmanship" and whatnot, which isn't to say that making widgets on a factory line is more satisfying then talking about websites or whatever. In any case, article covers several related issues, I just liked that last quote.

good quote but lol @ this:

For Crawford, offices are profoundly feminized places. Reading a study about the sneaky ways in which managers assert their authority, he compares office life to “being part of a clique of girls,” with a brutal hierarchy hidden beneath “the forms and manners of sisterhood.” He singles out management-theory books for particular scorn, and he excoriates a (female) consultant whose corporate indoctrination sessions masquerade as touchy-feely exercises in self-realization. Far better, he says, to work at a garage or a construction site, where dirty jokes are not only tolerated but encouraged; where there are (as yet) no seminars on sexual harassment; where “one feels like a man, not a cog in a machine.” The modern workplace reflects our evolving views about gender—and, for Crawford, that might be part of the problem.

is there some sort of career wizard i can pay to figure this shit out for me

one of the things i liked abt the article was that i though it didnt really imply that simpler jobs are better! i tend to be the kind of corny german philosophy enthusiast who is all abt handcrafted work & like i dunno farming or whatever & not being alienated from yr labor but i thought sanneh complicated the question admirably.

You're a man of the land, max?

is there some sort of career wizard i can pay to figure this shit out for me

why be in a rush to figure it out? Cliched and all, but just keeping moving forward. It'll figure itself out.

lol no im a man of the alienated white collar middle class managment

i tend to be the kind of corny german philosophy enthusiast who is all abt handcrafted work & like i dunno farming or whatever & not being alienated from yr labor but i thought sanneh complicated the question admirably.

― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:30 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

oh this is me, totally :-/

like if i'm being totally honest with myself, what i really want to do is just have a hobby farm/bike workshop in the pacific nw or something

u bourgeois fantasist

hey now

it's true :(

i tend to be the kind of corny german philosophy enthusiast who is all abt handcrafted work & like i dunno farming or whatever & not being alienated from yr labor but i thought sanneh complicated the question admirably.

maybe this is desirable for stoic silent old-skool manly types, but it seems kind of lonely to me.

About Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Writing in this magazine, George Steiner compared it to “Moby-Dick.”

ok waht

haha that was the most wtf line to me in that article, too, Alfred. it was funny because it was clear Sanneh thought it was wtf.

post lolschool i think about farming all the fucking time

you could learn how to be a whaler by reading moby dick though

Getting federal subsidies for harvesting corn = free money

the main bougie issue i have with farming is that you can never take a vacation

and ~that's~ why i'm not a farmer

i am a goatherd

yeah but your whole life is a vacation where you run in corn fields and play with cows and sheep *i think*

Getting federal subsidies for harvesting corn = free money

― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:40 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

and then sometimes you get the federal subsidies for not harvesting the corn. win win.

I think about things like opening a sandwich shop or ice cream parlour (special emphasis on egg creams). More realistically I think about printing things by hand instead of being stuck behind a computer all day. But it's all hard work!

No one's figured out how we can make money being on ILE all day.

^google ads

the neighbors of my mom's farmland have a goat operation, it was really cool to visit but i never felt more like little lord fauntleroy. it was very clear that, despite spending their days with such magnificent creatures, it was a life of dreadful constant physical taxation. dreadful!

even cooler/more forehead-slap was realizing the small-time capitalist nature of it. they're close enough to rochester and the twin cities that doing organic goat's milk production is like $$$

having done handcrafty shit for pay, I know that I find it very satisfying -- much more than pushing paper at least -- but I'm like, shit, do I really want to be a tailor? I dunno. what if I did?

xp "$$$" for farm work anyway, which is always very touch and go. constant risk, farming, i don't think i could take it. xp

No one's figured out how we can make money being on ILE all day.

Send me 5 dollars and I'll teach you how!

Seems like most of these occupations don't provide much in the way of intellectual challenge/stimulation. Could be wrong though.

out in the san juans last weekend i went by all these hobby farms / art studios and was like damn, you're just gardening all day and hanging out with goats and ponies.

yes, really physically taxing, but i like physically taxing!

also: they either inherited those places or dropped bill$ up front to invest. farming, even as a hobbyist, is a thing you have to start in your early 20s or after you retire, i think

think you're totally wrong about intellectual stimulation, fwiw. like, many of the advances we've made in the life sciences came from agricultural research, and understanding the delicate ecologies of farms and the environment in which they are situated seems like a lot to keep track of! not to mention basic problem-solving stuff like what to do about irrigation and broken machinery or whatever.

honestly part of the appeal of farming or other tradecraft is the fact that it seems way ~more~ intellectually stimulating than being, like, a writer

yes b.l.a.m. we get it, do not wallow, pull yrself up by yr bootstraps, etc. etc.

srsly dude i don't see any wallowing or whining itt, just some well-intentioned ppl trying to talk some stuff out.

dude this is not abt wallowing it is about the introspection re: "what do i rly want" and other lyfe lessons

I get these. Just saying - In the past four years, I've gone through the job search thing three times, and it sucks. Hard.

The only way to get over it, and to get to a place where you can be introspective, and try to suss out what it is you want in lyfe - which is a huge thing, and needs to be done, for sure - is by having a job that at least provides you with the ability to pay bills and eat.

In a worse situation, "trying to figure things out" turns very quickly into "spending too much time in coffee shops/bars/online" and not getting you to a place where, after the work day is done, you can think about what you want to do to get over.

I'm not trying to be all big brother over here. Srsly.

real problems, need real solutions

^That makes sense. I don't shit about this kind of work.

xxpost

i basically hate having a stimulating job

I have a stimulating job, and I often wish it was less so.

max, go to grad school already

lol

http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=ede42d3631df4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=cbc6e3b5f64f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD

gbx let's buy a farm

cool i'm into it

you can go on vacation and i'll hold it down because i hate vacations

i like this arrangement

gbx, farm doctor

secretly that is sorta the plan shhh

all creatures gr8 and lol

i'll be the farm lawyer

all creatures gr8 and law

ok that was a little forced

all creatures gr8 and LOL

i got two more semesters left yall - im majoring in poli sci even tho i have zero (0) intentions of getting into anything involving that field but i enjoy the classes so \(o_O)/ - my best friend got a job writing about fantasy baseball - he gets paid too! - i want a job when i leave school

btw

http://the3xgp.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/asher_roth_01.jpg

can i get a job as a professional crabdancer? i want a job as a professional crabdancer

i will make the special farm doctor bike-riding pants and fancy farm lawyering hat ok

farm lawyer lmao

it would be cool if we had a commune because then we would def need a tailor and a crabdancer

hey jordan i have made a lot of mistakes in my life but so far the biggest mistake was graduating college, never do it

see, that's why you need to go to grad school on your way to becoming a professor. i think max outside of the campus environment is no max at all

maybe not a tailor, i could be a haberdasher and purvey fine men's sundries

yeah that's cool, we'll just have a general store

ok and i'll become a notary public, on the side, for extra cash

can i sell magic tricks

:(

Notaries make like NO money (my mom is one).

even farm notaries?

"yep, this cow is official, it's a cow, alright"

i'd be all "birth certificate for your baby horsey" *witnessed* and *stamped*

ok i guess i have no idea, do horses even have birth certificates

they do on gbx's and horseshoe's Farm of Tomorrow

oops i mean harbl

You can totally take vacations as a farmer - it's a very seasonal occupation if you're growing crops.

yeah i guess i forgot that it's having animals that makes vacations hard

well i wanna have sheep and goats and probably pigs and cows

I would imagine a pedigreed/registered animal of any kind would have some kind of certificate, if not a birth certificate. Cows and horses probably need docs that need to be notarized but hey, not much call for that in the Minneapolis suburbs.

you grow crops so you can take vacations and shoot animals and put their heads on your wall - one of the farmers my mom works for does this.

(it must be how he keeps the domestic animals terrified into compliance)

I don't think his dogs see the elk and deer heads as any sort of warning.

actually thought about applying for the summer apprenticeship: http://www.polyfacefarms.com/apprentice.aspx

Your mom works for a farmer? I thought farmers were poor and employed "hands."

(xpost)

She works in accounting. Not all farmers are poor. This guy is very much not poor:
http://www.gilroyvisitor.org/images/christopher_ranch.jpg

moving to montana soon
gonna be a dental floss tycoon

pretty sure i've talked about this on another thread but:
i dropped out of lolcollege after 2yrs, managed a restaurant for a few yrs, freaked out that that was all i'd be doing for the rest of my life, went back to school (lol english degree!) which killed some time, finished with absolutely not any more of an idea about what to do.

this last yr, since moving to US, i've been on a Path to Acceptance concerning my career - have realised i will probably work retail for a living wage for the rest of my days (at least until hubby gets a huge promotion). BLAM might call this wallowing but really it's about coming to terms with who i am, i.e. cautious, anxious, a slow learner, completely unable to see myself back in school, no talents. sounds pretty lame and maybe over-selfdeprecating, but it's also true, and i actually feel better about my job now that i've kinda 'resigned' myself to it.

the fact is, realistically, i'm not a high achiever. someone has to do the retail/garbage collecting/waitressing jobs. i would love to stay at home and make books all day but 1) there's no $$ in that field, esp right now 2) altho i <3 i don't have any mindblowing talent for it.

max, i think velko is probably most otm about yr situation: don't know you all that well, just what i read from u on ilx, but you def seem like someone who'd flourish in academia.

You are a stranger but you have me worried by proxy about your ongoing existential problem and I just want you to be happy.

the kind of lol but really sad thing is, if 99% of ILX could pass the background checks and be willing to live in the DC area, I would love to have just about any of you come and work for me making 70-100K a year, because you can all apparently put in a full day at work reading and writing english sentences. Seriously I would be happy to teach the rest. It's the copy editing and utter lack of shame that I can't abide.

OK never mind, no lols, it's your taxes at work. 100% sad.

(seriously if everybody in america knew what the salary premium was on being able to be a boring wuss and/or lie convincingly regarding usage of substances heh heh, there would be legislation)

When I get a college degree I will think to myself that El Tomboto's got my kind-of-lol-but-really-sad-thing backup plan in D.C.

what if u r one of the 10 or so ilxors that doesnt rate?

boto ill come work for you next year i could pass the background test

thanks for yr concern, bamcquern, but i am actually pretty happy - i mean, i've realised that there are much worse jobs in the world, and at least when i finish for the day i don't have to think about my work, my free time is my own time. and part of the reason that i've been a little more accepting of fate is that i found something i love to do (making books). altho i still moan about my job and how much i hate it all the time.

I never inhaled

i'm 23 and going into a phd program this fall, so i really hope i don't change my mind around when i turn 30. if i change it in 3 years i can still get out at a fairly young age with an MA, but longer than that and the opportunity cost is quite high. also i hope there are jobs to be had if i finish the degree, it'd be pretty lame to have to start all over at minimum wage AGAIN after six more years of school.

Although they don't put it quite like this the AAAS have a booklet called "beyond the bench" which is advice on parachutes for Phds.

maria what's ur phd gonna be in?

see tom that's interesting cause i would sincerely love a job that is basically about reading and writing complete english sentences.

tom gimme a job, i need a timeout from school

it's gonna be in anthropology

I don't know too much about the field of anthropology, but I will say what I always say to people contemplating a PhD: if you are going into a PhD program because you think it will improve your job prospects then honestly don't bother. Do it because you really love the subject and/or because you want a career in academia (and if it's the latter then you should be looking to network like crazy at every opportunity).

I say this as someone from the UK who has: seriously considered doing one myself (Classics); had many, many, many friends who have started and never completed PhDs; and worked as a postgraduate admissions administrator for the last couple of years.

first, I was in a bit of a mood yesterday, so I apologize if I came off as too much of a bitch.

second, the wallowing part is when you know you're unhappy, but instead of doing anything about it, you do things to palliate that symptom instead of actually solving the problem by finding a new job.

third, any anti-wallowing statements I made yesterday were made out of concern - I've been there recently, and it really, really, really sucks and will only suck more unless you do something to change it.

It sounds to me like you've found a peace in your life - this, to me, isn't wallowing.

life has not gone the way i wanted or expected it to

i must bend it to my will

(this is an xpost, sorry to interrupt) sadly, i am well aware the phd will qualify me for a really small subset of really competitive jobs, that's what makes me most nervous! on the other hand, i'm getting paid to study something awesome for a few years, which is pretty cool as far as employment during the 20s goes. and i know there is a different set of jobs available in my subfield with an ma, but i'd have to take on a lot of debt to get that as the terminal degree, which seems foolish when i have another option.

There are a number of lucrative careers available to the social scientist. Consultancies like Rand and Mckinsey hire loads. Ethnography and grounded research skills are really marketable, so you'd be surprised where you might end up. Maria, if you want to talk to a late stage sociology phd, then I can put you in touch with my girlfriend, and she could hook you up with some anthropologists if you like.

Which school are you going to?

Yeah, I know a few anthro PhDs (though one has since gone onto law school), too.

Personally, I'd say the, uh, global public health apparatus lol could use a few anthropologists

hey LYFE CHANGES

if i know im taking a fairly long trip (2-3 weeks maybe more) in september, how do i juggle that w/ job applications? i.e. do i bother applying? how likely is that to be a problem (or is the answer "depends")? how up front do i need to be about letting potential employers know i need that time?

bother applying, don't mention the trip until your employer starts talking about start dates.

just put "goin 2 africa brb" on your resume

bodyguard/publicist

have u considered this?

To answer the original question-- don't ever accept a job working for a husband/wife team in a tiny office. Should be obvious but I've managed to do that twice. Eurgh.

Here's my post lolcollege advice question. How do those of you in your late 20s/early 30s meet new people? Not for dating, I'm happily married, but to put it simply - how to shot new friends? Over the last several years friends of mine have moved away or faded out of my life and I've found myself kinda stuck for things to do/reasons to get out. Work isn't really an option, I work in a tiny office and just really don't click with any of my co-workers, despite many valiant attempts. I'm not really a sports person, so those co-ed softball, kickball, whatever, aren't my thing. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to find some sort of activity group, considering I live 3 miles from a major state university... but it appears everything they offer is aimed at either students or retirees who like to meet in the middle of the afternoon. Nothing aimed at those of us working folks in our late 20s/early 30s. Local library seemed to present similar options. There was a women's reading group, but sadly my penis precludes me. Any advice wizened ilxors?

^^^ strugglin with this myself :-/

i play d&d and do a lot of coke really helped establish a new social circle when i moved to a new city

Go to shows, take up music things whether you play something or just listen. You prob do this already, jvc, since all the ChILXors are music people too, but that's my first suggestion.

To answer the original question-- don't ever accept a job working for a husband/wife team in a tiny office. Should be obvious but I've managed to do that twice. Eurgh.

I did this once - and it was perfectly fine. It was the couple's business, and they had two employees besides me. They were in their 60s at the time. The real problem that I've had - and at least one of my friends - is working for a business owned by a couple that has grown/expanded past the small office/a handful of employees stage.

There was a women's reading group, but sadly my penis precludes me.

just show up one day and ask HEY IS MY PENIS GONNA BOTHER ANYBODY and they'll probably let you stay

makin friends sucks

i <3 friends

Nobody?

no sure-fire answer but being persistent -- maybe taking classes, or getting involved in a political cause that you care about?

i don't have any good answers but i agree this is hard as hell and probably the biggest undiscussed adjustment if you lived at college for four years.

take out a personal ad

I've had this problem even in NYC even in my 30s, of getting into a rut and realizing that the friends I have (and love!) still aren't going to cover all the bases of things I want to do musically, socially, professionally, etc. It just happened that eventually there'd be an opening with someone in conversation or at a show or something, that I could make another connection and start something new.

I def had to put in the legwork of going to stuff alone and striking up convo w strangers and stuff, which wasn't enjoyable in and of itself...but I felt like it was good experience.

Yeah, I usually don't have a problem talking to strangers, in fact my wife likes to joke that I'm always brought into random conversations when we are out and about, just having the trouble of turning that into anything longer than an enjoyable, incidental conversation.

It isn't as if I sit home wishing I had more to do, I'm often out with my wife and our mutual friends. Its just that lately I've noticed that I've really not had a lot of friends of my own that aren't identified as part of our relationship, if that makes sense. Its nice to have friends unconnected to your significant other.

This is totally one of the hardest things about moving or otherwise starting over in a new place. It took me over three years to get something together over here.

when you meet a stranger you like / feel some sorta connection w/: "hey, what's your last name, I'll facebook you"

then sometime later you wall post them or something saying 'yo lez hangout sometime?'

this has led to as many non-friendships as friendships for me. but it's also led to tons of good friendships!