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 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!