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I'm going to grad school starting this fall. I'm taking 10 hours the first semester, and I'm a good student- meaning that, even with studying and projects, I'll have a good chunk of free time. Now, here's the issue. There are no jobs or internships related to my field in the area. I've checked many, many different sources, and the pickings are extremely slim. There are, however, many different volunteer opportunities that are very closely related to my field.
So the choice is pretty much (a) find an unrelated part-time job to mitigate some of the cost of attendance and prevent a respectable amount of debt, or (b) instead invest my time in a non-paying position that would be better experience and would most likely help me find a job in my field in the long run.
I have at least enough money saved to pay for the first year of school, and I'm ok with taking a loan out the second year if necessary. I'd just want to be sure that it's a good trade-off in terms of financial gain vs field experience. Any thoughts?
I'm in the same boat, and I plan on doing part-time during the week and picking up volunteer hours on the weekends, if I can/they're available. There's slim pickings in my field right now, but I really don't want to coast on my grant money.
I'm going to grad school starting this fall. I'm taking 10 hours the first semester, and I'm a good student- meaning that, even with studying and projects, I'll have a good chunk of free time. Now, here's the issue. There are no jobs or internships related to my field in the area. I've checked many, many different sources, and the pickings are extremely slim. There are, however, many different volunteer opportunities that are very closely related to my field.
So the choice is pretty much (a) find an unrelated part-time job to mitigate some of the cost of attendance and prevent a respectable amount of debt, or (b) instead invest my time in a non-paying position that would be better experience and would most likely help me find a job in my field in the long run.
I have at least enough money saved to pay for the first year of school, and I'm ok with taking a loan out the second year if necessary. I'd just want to be sure that it's a good trade-off in terms of financial gain vs field experience. Any thoughts?
What's the field? It's hard to say without knowing. However, volunteer experience can be almost as good as job experience - after all, most internships are basically volunteer work. Sometimes you can even get a company to let you volunteer and call you an intern so it looks bette
What's the field? It's hard to say without knowing. However, volunteer experience can be almost as good as job experience - after all, most internships are basically volunteer work. Sometimes you can even get a company to let you volunteer and call you an intern so it looks bette
Education and environmental interpretation- basically teaching school groups and visitors. I can most likely volunteer at an aquarium doing exactly that, or I can find an unrelated entry-level part-time job for the money. I've already looked into subbing and parapro positions, but it'd take at least 14 weeks to get a subbing license and there's no parapro or otherwise education-related positions around :\
If your end goal is 'informal education' rather than being a teacher, I recommend doing the volunteer work. Plus, sometimes that can lead to a job, and it will be doing what you want to do.
I'm going to grad school starting this fall. I'm taking 10 hours the first semester, and I'm a good student- meaning that, even with studying and projects, I'll have a good chunk of free time. Now, here's the issue. There are no jobs or internships related to my field in the area. I've checked many, many different sources, and the pickings are extremely slim. There are, however, many different volunteer opportunities that are very closely related to my field.
So the choice is pretty much (a) find an unrelated part-time job to mitigate some of the cost of attendance and prevent a respectable amount of debt, or (b) instead invest my time in a non-paying position that would be better experience and would most likely help me find a job in my field in the long run.
I have at least enough money saved to pay for the first year of school, and I'm ok with taking a loan out the second year if necessary. I'd just want to be sure that it's a good trade-off in terms of financial gain vs field experience. Any thoughts?
Volunteer in your field. Network, network, network...this can get you jobs, even years later...
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