24 year old looking for a little career guidance... (employees, degrees, unemployed)

[el98464]

I want to start off by saying that this is my first post but I have enjoyed reading different posts and discussions in this forum over the past couple of months.

A little about myself: I am a 24 year old (turning 25 in March) recent college graduate (Dec. 09) with a degree in Management. I currently work for an insurance company as an underwriting administrator with a salary in the low 30 thousands. I am very grateful that I have a job but now that I am a college graduate I would of course like to make more money.

After reading numerous posts and discussions in these forums I have seen comments such as if you don't have a degree in accounting, nursing, or engineering then basically you went to school for nothing. This is very discouraging, as a management major did I really just waste 6 years of my life?

I'm looking for a salary between 40 - 50 thousand/year. As a 24 year old management major with over 6 years experience in fields such as retail, government, manufacturing, and insurance...what kind of jobs should I be looking for?

Should I continue my education? My current job pays for insurance classes and exams 100% and these classes would be very useful if I decided to stay in the insurance field (underwriting, claims, etc.) But I don't know how much longer I can willingly continue to be content making a little over 30 grand a year. For all of you insurance professionals-is the insurance field a good field to stay in? I already survived one wave of layoffs at my current place of employment and who knows when the next one is even though the president of the company assures us that we are in "great shape" (same thing he said before the first round of layoffs).

I was thinking about going back to school immediately and getting my associates degree in accounting. Combined with classes that I already completed I would only need to take another 3 or 4 classes to complete the associates program for accounting. Would this be a good move seeing that accounting degrees are so important? What kind of career opportunities could i be looking at with a bachelors degree in Management and an associates degree in Accounting?

Or should I go into an MBA program and get my graduates degree and hopefully that would open more doors for me? In the meantime what kind of jobs should I be looking for now?

As you can see I have a lot of stuff running through my head lol. Like I said I am 24, very responsible and I have a great work ethic. I've owned my own condo since 22 and while making around 30 grand a year i've been able to manage thus far but when the student loans start kicking in (around 15-20,000) I wanna be ahead of the curve or at least on the right track.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate your advice and/or opinions

[Charles]

Would you be willing to relocate?

Hypothetically, would you take a job of $80K, if the job was in North Dakota, Alaska, or the California desert?

[gentlearts]

The more degrees you have, the more this weeds you out from those who do not have them=more opportunity. The question is, what jobs will you have a passion for? If you are an accountant making $80000. a year, will you be eager to go to work every day, or will you want to slash your wrists? Life is short and while money is certainly important, what will make you happy?

[maf763]

Are there professional certification programs that might serve you better than an associate's degree? You already have a history with insurance - maybe some of the posters here who are more knowledgeable about the field can offer some insights.

[BagongBuhay]

What type of insurance company are you working for? Reply and I'll give you my thoughts on a career plan under each (property/casualty vs health vs life).

[Renaldo5000]

Originally Posted by el98464

Thanks for reading and I appreciate your advice and/or opinions

An Associate's degree in accounting means nothing. If you are interested in accounting then study for and take the CPA. That opens doors. Also, from what I have read MBA's are only worth it if you get into a top school or if your employer pays the bill.

[f_m]

Depends on what kind of work you want to do. You can only really get bigger pay increases if you change jobs or change positions. Are you able to make a move to a management position in your company? Or will they pay for classes if you want to choose a different path.

[el98464]

Thanks for all the replies.

Charles: Am I willing to re-locate? Definitely, that will not be a problem for me...I'll rent out my condo (since the housing market is so bad to sell) and pack my bags in a heartbeat if the opportunity is right. I currently live and work in Hartford, CT (the insurance capital of the world?)

Gentlearts: What will make happy? That is the million dollar question. I chose a degree in management because at the time of entering college my current job was in retail and ultimately my goal was to become a manager of a store. My ideal job would be to become a manager at a an establishment doing something that I love to do in my personal life (videogames, restaurants, casino, etc.) but in the case of a videogame retail manager or things of the like, what kind of money is really in that right now? A buddy of mine is a manager of a popular retail chain and he's making around 40 grand a year if that?

Money definitely isn't everything and your right life is short but at this time I can't really put a finger on what it is I want to do exactly as a career, but i'll rather make some money in the meantime while I figure it out.

Iwonderwhy: Thanks for the heads up concerning the associates degree in accounting. I'm not really an accounting guy really but I do have courses under my belt in accounting and if there is a occupation out there such as accounting that is in demand at the moment I don't want to miss out.

maf763 and bibit: Im currently work for an insurance company that specializes in high risk commerical and property insurance. For example if your looking to open a bar/nightclub or your looking for insurance for your roofing company in the heart of manhattan that is what the company I currently work for specializes in.

f_m: There is no way I see myself becoming a manager of any sort in my current company, the company is rather small (around 100 employees in my current office) and it's filled with a bunch of "settlers" those are people who are content with doing the same thing they are doing now (entry-level type duties) everyday for the rest of their careers until they retire and that is the total opposite of the type of person I am that is why I am here looking for direction.

It's been about three weeks since I finished school and now is the time I get serious about starting the second half of my life.

[e_cuyler]

In most states, you could qualify to take the CPA exam if you get a certain number of hours in accounting and business. Only problem is that there is a glut of unemployed people in accounting right now [public accounting firms are basically in a state of meltdown, and no one is sure what is going to happen other than hiring is going to be a lot less than in years past.] It's pretty hard to get started now, especially for people who are already out of college. Not to mention exam prep courses and fees for the exam itself are not cheap.

If you did go into accounting I would recommend getting a master's in it and working toward passing the exam while you are in school [and hope things turn around before you graduate], but that is a lot of money, time, and commitment and it probably isn't a good idea unless you are dead certain that's what you want to do.

[el98464]

Thanks for the great advice e-cuyler. Yeah accounting is definitely not my first choice and your right if I would want to take accounting up now it would be really expensive.

I think I am going to try and find something with my management degree first and if things don't work out then I might give the accounting route a shot.