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I graduated college last May. I studied analytic philosophy. While I might seem like the stereotype of the unemployed philosophy major, I don't think that's the case. I messed up by assuming I was going to go to grad school and then realizing I didn't want to during my senior year. I graduated and then rode my bicycle 2,300 miles from Vancouver to San Diego. That was invigorating, until I finished and moved into my father's in Phoenix. I had no money. I didn't really know what other option I had. I could have trimmed marijuana in CA but thought I was going to be excited to be stable in Phoenix working towards a career.
Fast forward three months later. I'm now working in retail getting paid a lil' above minimum wage at ~20 hours per week. The jobs I really wanted never got back to me. I feel like I'm [Bleep]stuck. I just found out my ex girlfriend moved to NYC. I feel like a [Bleep] failure. I sleep in my dad's office and his roommate is thinking about moving out because he thought there would only be two people in the house. My dad is broke and that can't happen. I need out.
I have no idea what I want to be doing "in the long term." I don't want to keep working for for-profit companies, unless they are using that profit for good. I really just want to work somewhere that has values that aren't reducible to making shareholders wealthy. But that's my idealism talking. I know I just need to make money right now and take what I can get.
In any case, the reason I'm making this post is to ask other people with more creative minds than mine to recommend me out of state jobs that I could theoretically get hired to. As of right now I really want to move to Austin, but I'm open to other places so long as they aren't Phoenix. My friend has worked for various national park companies/resorts where they hire you after they just do a background check and a phone interview.
What are some jobs out there that hire people before they relocate? What are some opportunities I could take that I'm not thinking about? What would you do in my situation?
I've been under so much stress lately that I feel like my thinking is impaired. It's been really hard to think about "the long term" when I can't really think at all, and I barely have enough money to eat.
Thanks for any advice.
I would save up and buy a van. Then when you find somewhere you;d like to live, move there and live in that for a while while you work. Put an add on Craigslist to park in someone's driveway and tell them what you need. Sign up for Food Stamps. You need to work 20 hrs a week to get those
Then after you get situated enough, then apply for jobs. See what is available before you move. There are very few jobs that will hire out of state just because of the recession and there is so many people out of work already. UPS will make you work your tail off but will work you very little hours, and it appears youre in good shape. Also you may want to start a Bike Touring Business, where you map out the routes then charge people to ride them. It's a bit complex but if you keep cycling, maybe down the line keep that in mind. Sorry that's all I could come up with. My College age son has been there, he was so stressed and his friends are similarly stressed. IT's rough, hang in there knowing you are the norm right now.
I am not going to lie or sugarcoat it, a philosophy degree is a hard sell to an employer outside of employers that don't really care what you studied (usually retail, fast food). I do not discredit your work ethic or your ability to learn or improve upon a skill any less than someone who majored with a in demand/ "real" degree. However with more job applicants than open jobs, with more people graduating with in-demand degrees, with "entry level" wanting previous experience-your degree will be a hard sell unless you bring significant prior experience.
Aside from the sales and call-center jobs which seem to always be recruiting I guess I would hit up the temp agencies, hit up linkedin, family and friends for leads and start looking around for classes that can teach applicable work place skills (Microsoft office, visio, peachtree, lawson etc...).
I am not going to lie or sugarcoat it, a philosophy degree is a hard sell to an employer outside of employers that don't really care what you studied (usually retail, fast food). I do not discredit your work ethic or your ability to learn or improve upon a skill any less than someone who majored with a in demand/ "real" degree. However with more job applicants than open jobs, with more people graduating with in-demand degrees, with "entry level" wanting previous experience-your degree will be a hard sell unless you bring significant prior experience.
Aside from the sales and call-center jobs which seem to always be recruiting I guess I would hit up the temp agencies, hit up linkedin, family and friends for leads and start looking around for classes that can teach applicable work place skills (Microsoft office, visio, peachtree, lawson etc...).
A degree in philosophy is a real degree. He just didn't continue with that career path that most do who get a degree in philosophy such as going on to law school, or getting a masters and PhD in it and seeking a professorship. People change careers all the time. I'm an IT professional and I know many people who didn't get their degree in Computer Science that work in the field. Why is this? Because it wasn't about what they got the degree in, it's about the experience they have and the skills they have obtained along the way. And for most people, at least in IT, what is in demand now isn't what they usually teach in college anyway. His philosophy degree isn't going to be out of date in 3-5 years like a tech degree will be. It's a myth that having a certain degree in any field is always going to guarantee employment. It might be true for some that week or that month, but it isn't always the case. One month a huge employer is hiring people with tech degrees and the next month they aren't. One month a huge company is hiring MBAs and then they don't for 5 years. Graduation is called commencement which means the beginning for a reason, because it's all on your what you do with your time. You can look at job ads now and say, "I should get a degree in that!" but in 4 years that might not be what's in demand.
A degree in philosophy is a real degree. He just didn't continue with that career path that most do who get a degree in philosophy such as going on to law school, or getting a masters and PhD in it and seeking a professorship. People change careers all the time. I'm an IT professional and I know many people who didn't get their degree in Computer Science that work in the field. Why is this? Because it wasn't about what they got the degree in, it's about the experience they have and the skills they have obtained along the way. And for most people, at least in IT, what is in demand now isn't what they usually teach in college anyway. His philosophy degree isn't going to be out of date in 3-5 years like a tech degree will be. It's a myth that having a certain degree in any field is always going to guarantee employment. It might be true for some that week or that month, but it isn't always the case. One month a huge employer is hiring people with tech degrees and the next month they aren't. One month a huge company is hiring MBAs and then they don't for 5 years. Graduation is called commencement which means the beginning for a reason, because it's all on your what you do with your time. You can look at job ads now and say, "I should get a degree in that!" but in 4 years that might not be what's in demand.
Question what skills should the philosophy major acquire along the way to make him/her desirable for an IT career? If he/she had absolutey no background in IT whatsoever and just graduated with the philosophy degree would he/she still be competitive for the IT position and if not what should one do to gain the skills needed to be competitive for the IT role?
Question what skills should the philosophy major acquire along the way to make him/her desirable for an IT career? If he/she had absolutey no background in IT whatsoever and just graduated with the philosophy degree would he/she still be competitive for the IT position and if not what should one do to gain the skills needed to be competitive for the IT role?
In 2014, anyone can afford to PC that runs Windows. The skills in demand now are Linux, so in order to become skilled in LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL and PHP), you can download Linux for free and all of that comes with it. You go to centos.org and download it, burn it to DVD-ROM. Then you installed it on your Windows PC laptop or tower, and make it dual boot. This means when you turn on the computer, you can boot to Windows as before or to CentOS Linux. CentOS is in wide spread use in MANY companies, so knowing it is in demand. Every web hosting service I use, uses CentOS, for example and all my clients servers.
OK, that takes care of the platform. Then to learn about Linux, and again LAMP, there are User Groups all over the country. Most are free to attend. There is a great PHP one in NYC which is free to attend. Learn about other open source products which are also free that are in common use among employers.
There are also many online forms such as Stackoverflow.com to ask question and learn. All I have mentioned is free and I didn't even talk about buying any books. Speaking of books, many excellent books on these subjects which can be checked out of the library and through intra-library loan.
I have mentioned things which anyone can do and cost them no money to do. All they need to have is the desire to do it. I knew many in college who majored in something else and didn't take any computer courses but instead of spending their time at football games and taking the summers off to goof off, they learned about IT.
Having on your resume that you know Linux and LAMP, and have picked up additional skills such as working with an open source CMS (Contact Management System) such as Joomla or Drupal, can make you qualified to be a webmaster or website designed or developer.
I know a young guy that just a few years ago, I met him on a forum, was majoring in something else in the arts, and got interested when a friend showed him open source products like openoffice.org, and then during the summer he set-up a Linux network in his home with two computers. Then a few months later got a job working in the college's lab taking care of their systems as a Linux Administrator. Then he got hired for a full-time job at a company doing that job.
You can learn it by getting a degree, but that isn't the only way. But the User Groups are a great way to network to find a job, because it's a community. Even if you can't attend some or any of the monthly meetings they all have a mailing list where discussions take place. I have seen people on there post about entry-level jobs asking if does anyone have any recommendations before they post the job publicly.
These are the things they don't teach you in college, in any degree program. When you see an IT job posting and the requirement usually says something like a tech degree or related or equivalent experience...ignore all that and if you have the skills by-pass HR and make contact with the hiring manager directly, which is why the User Groups are great, because you find out where everyone else works and then when you find a job posting there you can them to forward your resume. At the very least, have them look it over for feedback.
1. The OP doesn't seem to be very appreciative of the productive suggestions they've been given.
2. That car service/wash suggestion wasn't productive, which is what the gist of that "arguing" was about.
I disagree. If the OP had put an ad on craigslist offering this service and had only 3 calls so far, he would have $150 or more in his pocket now, for less than a day's work total.
He doesn't need regular clients. People usually only get their cars detailed once or twice a year. (I laughed when he talked about a leaving his "client base" behind) The demand is there. Short-sightedness seems to be an issue here.
I disagree. If the OP had put an ad on craigslist offering this service and had only 3 calls so far, he would have $150 or more in his pocket now, for less than a day's work total.
He doesn't need regular clients. People usually only get their cars detailed once or twice a year. (I laughed when he talked about a leaving his "client base" behind) The demand is there. Short-sightedness seems to be an issue here.
Actually, you spammed the thread by advertising a job you're hiring for.
I graduated college last May. I studied analytic philosophy. While I might seem like the stereotype of the unemployed philosophy major, I don't think that's the case. I messed up by assuming I was going to go to grad school and then realizing I didn't want to during my senior year. I graduated and then rode my bicycle 2,300 miles from Vancouver to San Diego. That was invigorating, until I finished and moved into my father's in Phoenix. I had no money. I didn't really know what other option I had. I could have trimmed marijuana in CA but thought I was going to be excited to be stable in Phoenix working towards a career.
Fast forward three months later. I'm now working in retail getting paid a lil' above minimum wage at ~20 hours per week. The jobs I really wanted never got back to me. I feel like I'm [Bleep]stuck. I just found out my ex girlfriend moved to NYC. I feel like a [Bleep] failure. I sleep in my dad's office and his roommate is thinking about moving out because he thought there would only be two people in the house. My dad is broke and that can't happen. I need out.
I have no idea what I want to be doing "in the long term." I don't want to keep working for for-profit companies, unless they are using that profit for good. I really just want to work somewhere that has values that aren't reducible to making shareholders wealthy. But that's my idealism talking. I know I just need to make money right now and take what I can get.
In any case, the reason I'm making this post is to ask other people with more creative minds than mine to recommend me out of state jobs that I could theoretically get hired to. As of right now I really want to move to Austin, but I'm open to other places so long as they aren't Phoenix. My friend has worked for various national park companies/resorts where they hire you after they just do a background check and a phone interview.
What are some jobs out there that hire people before they relocate? What are some opportunities I could take that I'm not thinking about? What would you do in my situation?
I've been under so much stress lately that I feel like my thinking is impaired. It's been really hard to think about "the long term" when I can't really think at all, and I barely have enough money to eat.
Thanks for any advice.
Hi there,
Nowhere in this post did I see your passions, interests, and values. I hear your frustration and anger about your job situation but what is your action plan? It seems as though you are not very clear about what you are passionate about. Why did you choose a degree in analytic philosophy? Were you looking to turn your education into a job / career?
I hate to break it to you that if you do not have a plan prior to your relocation, you will not have a job in your next city either. What types of skills do you have? How can you turn your skills into profitable income?
Actually, you spammed the thread by advertising a job you're hiring for.
It's funny you look at it that way. My point (rhetorical, not literal) of course was that this is a service that is in demand everywhere. Are you one of our resident binary thinkers?
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