I am a failed college graduate. Can someone help me find a 'good' job for skill-less people? (employee, sample)
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You could be condescending and tell me that the problem is the economy or you could attempt to understand my situation and perhaps realize that my problem is not only the economy.
Long story short, I graduated with a bachelor's in math more than 5 years ago. straight out of college I couldn't find a permanent a job (supposedly because I had no work or internship experience) and did a string of temp jobs until I finally found a below-average paying full time job at a below-average company. nothing wrong with below-average salaries and below-average companies, but having been all my life an above-average student it was not possible for me not feel like I had failed. and it wasn't even the below-average salary or the company that I worked for that depressed me, it was the nature of the job I was doing. Never in my life had I felt so much anxiety and depression on a daily basis. The job, by the way, was a job with computers, but not 'fun', or 'cool', or 'intellectually rewarding' like the computer science courses I took in school. I didn't feel like I was working with computer programs. I felt like I was just starring at lines and lines and lines of meaningless code.
again, long story short, I tortured myself at that job for more than 3 years. i didn't quit because i couldn't find another relevant job (the experience I acquired was worthless, since all this technology I was working with was proprietary) and because I believed that 'sucking it up' and 'working hard' was necessary in order to get the type of job that I wanted. so i endured torture until one day my boss felt sorry for me and fired me.
fast forward a year and i still can't find a job (since the experience I have is irrelevant and since employers obviously would feel uncomfortable hiring a person who has been unemployed for so long and who was mysteriously 'let go' due to reasons other than a mass layoff. and also the fact that the economy 'sucks')
in spite of all the misery i endured both employed and unemployed I was fortunate enough to receive a grant to go back to school for a few months and acquire knowledge of widely used technologies. the idea is to get a certificate at the end of the training course. but i've taken sample exams and it's clear that I know nothing. i probably won't even bother taking the exam because it's obvious that I won't pass it. it's not only that the training course did not prepare me properly for the exam. it's also that I no longer care about the stupid certification. even if I kill myself studying and I somehow manage to fill my brain with encyclopedic knowlege of this technology, then what? i've already been warned that just the certification won't get me a job. i still need to show initiative and do sample work and then show that work the next time i interview. and then even fi I get the certification and do the sample work there is no guarnatee I will get hired. employers can still feel hesitant to hire a person who has been unemployed for so long. or i will interview for a position and do well at the interview but fail to charm one person in human resources. maybe i couldn't explain something properly, failed to show enough passion, failed to show direction, or answered a question more honestly than I was supposed to. or maybe they'll just call my previous employer and not hear what they wanted to hear.
in short - i no longer care. even though i enjoyed doing math in high school and college and did well academically, and even though I enjoyed learning C++, java, VB, in college, and again, obtained straight As, I think it's clear that I'm kidding myself and that I'm trying to ignore the fact that professional programming lacks the quality that, at least for me, made programming enjoyable in school.
i don't need to be told that I am depressed and that i need help. i already followed the advice wise people gave me and got myself medicated. my psychiatrist actually denies that I am depressed and he says that he doesn't care if people on the internet disagree with his assessment (it's not uncommon for laypeople on the internet to diagnose me with depression). According to my psychiatrist I am discouraged. Depressed or not, I think it's true that I am discouraged.
As I have explained here, I simply don't care anyone. It's taken me many years to see this but I think it's clear that I made the mistake of thinking that just because I liked the stuff that I was doing in school I was going to enjoy doing jobs that require people to have, amongst many other things, the knowledge that is acquired in school. So I chose the wrong career path. and yeah I know that work is work and that work is not supposed to be fun but if my particular line of work is going to make my life miserable and make me with I was dead I think I might as well find another way to earn a living.
So instead of kidding myself and pretending that things would have been better for me if only I had had the job that I wanted to have (a job that probably doesn't exist) can someone help me figure out a way to get a rewarding job? By rewarding I don't mean lots of money or prestige. I don't have a family and I don't have a social life so I don't have to worry about feeding anyone or keeping up with anyone. I just want a job that's less demanding and stressful than a programming position and hopefully more stimulating than stocking shelves at a supermarket.
can someone give me some ideas? No, I am not going to teach. Yeah, I know that many school districts will hire almost any loser to work as a teacher, but I am not interested in working with kids nor do I think I have the emotional strength to take so much crap on a daily basis nor is explaining my thoughts something that comes easily to me. Driving a truck? Well. Maybe. But can I do bit better than driving a truck? how about working at a national park? that's probably a job that I could do, but those jobs are very competitive and even PhDs compete for those jobs. how about the armed forces? I'm in my late 20s and in the best shape of my life. maybe some branch of the military will take me if I successfully conceal my medical conditions from them. Post office? How about post office jobs? or how about a job with computers but doing something that at least vaguely resembles what I was doing at school? like some job making pie charts using excel or creating forms with database data using access? Do those jobs exist? someone please give me suggestions. i wish I could self-employ but unfortunately I don't have anything to sell or any service to render. any hints would be appreciated
Modern manufacturing jobs require people with math skills. Trig, geometry, you name it, we need it. People who like using their brains to create. People who are willing to work hard and think hard. There is always a demand for someone with a good head in this field.
Can you give me some examples of "modern manufacturing jobs"? What are the job titles I should be thinking of?
Quote:
require people with math skills. Trig, geometry, you name it, we need it.
I think it depends on what you understand by 'require people with math skills'. I worked with computers and never had to perform a single math calculation. My math skills would have been put to better use if I had worked as a cashier at a supermarket.
even if it's true that the jobs you are thinking of require people to do trig and geometry, what other requirements are there? and are we safe to assume that I have what it takes to meet the other requirements?
Quote:
People who like using their brains to create. People who are willing to work hard and think hard. There is always a demand for someone with a good head in this field.
I don't know what to tell you. Working hard and thinking hard is not the same thing as being productive and creative.
You could be condescending and tell me that the problem is the economy or you could attempt to understand my situation and perhaps realize that my problem is not only the economy.
Long story short, I graduated with a bachelor's in math more than 5 years ago. straight out of college I couldn't find a permanent a job (supposedly because I had no work or internship experience) and did a string of temp jobs until I finally found a below-average paying full time job at a below-average company. nothing wrong with below-average salaries and below-average companies, but having been all my life an above-average student it was not possible for me not feel like I had failed. and it wasn't even the below-average salary or the company that I worked for that depressed me, it was the nature of the job I was doing. Never in my life had I felt so much anxiety and depression on a daily basis. The job, by the way, was a job with computers, but not 'fun', or 'cool', or 'intellectually rewarding' like the computer science courses I took in school. I didn't feel like I was working with computer programs. I felt like I was just starring at lines and lines and lines of meaningless code.
again, long story short, I tortured myself at that job for more than 3 years. i didn't quit because i couldn't find another relevant job (the experience I acquired was worthless, since all this technology I was working with was proprietary) and because I believed that 'sucking it up' and 'working hard' was necessary in order to get the type of job that I wanted. so i endured torture until one day my boss felt sorry for me and fired me.
fast forward a year and i still can't find a job (since the experience I have is irrelevant and since employers obviously would feel uncomfortable hiring a person who has been unemployed for so long and who was mysteriously 'let go' due to reasons other than a mass layoff. and also the fact that the economy 'sucks')
in spite of all the misery i endured both employed and unemployed I was fortunate enough to receive a grant to go back to school for a few months and acquire knowledge of widely used technologies. the idea is to get a certificate at the end of the training course. but i've taken sample exams and it's clear that I know nothing. i probably won't even bother taking the exam because it's obvious that I won't pass it. it's not only that the training course did not prepare me properly for the exam. it's also that I no longer care about the stupid certification. even if I kill myself studying and I somehow manage to fill my brain with encyclopedic knowlege of this technology, then what? i've already been warned that just the certification won't get me a job. i still need to show initiative and do sample work and then show that work the next time i interview. and then even fi I get the certification and do the sample work there is no guarnatee I will get hired. employers can still feel hesitant to hire a person who has been unemployed for so long. or i will interview for a position and do well at the interview but fail to charm one person in human resources. maybe i couldn't explain something properly, failed to show enough passion, failed to show direction, or answered a question more honestly than I was supposed to. or maybe they'll just call my previous employer and not hear what they wanted to hear.
in short - i no longer care. even though i enjoyed doing math in high school and college and did well academically, and even though I enjoyed learning C++, java, VB, in college, and again, obtained straight As, I think it's clear that I'm kidding myself and that I'm trying to ignore the fact that professional programming lacks the quality that, at least for me, made programming enjoyable in school.
i don't need to be told that I am depressed and that i need help. i already followed the advice wise people gave me and got myself medicated. my psychiatrist actually denies that I am depressed and he says that he doesn't care if people on the internet disagree with his assessment (it's not uncommon for laypeople on the internet to diagnose me with depression). According to my psychiatrist I am discouraged. Depressed or not, I think it's true that I am discouraged.
As I have explained here, I simply don't care anyone. It's taken me many years to see this but I think it's clear that I made the mistake of thinking that just because I liked the stuff that I was doing in school I was going to enjoy doing jobs that require people to have, amongst many other things, the knowledge that is acquired in school. So I chose the wrong career path. and yeah I know that work is work and that work is not supposed to be fun but if my particular line of work is going to make my life miserable and make me with I was dead I think I might as well find another way to earn a living.
So instead of kidding myself and pretending that things would have been better for me if only I had had the job that I wanted to have (a job that probably doesn't exist) can someone help me figure out a way to get a rewarding job? By rewarding I don't mean lots of money or prestige. I don't have a family and I don't have a social life so I don't have to worry about feeding anyone or keeping up with anyone. I just want a job that's less demanding and stressful than a programming position and hopefully more stimulating than stocking shelves at a supermarket.
can someone give me some ideas? No, I am not going to teach. Yeah, I know that many school districts will hire almost any loser to work as a teacher, but I am not interested in working with kids nor do I think I have the emotional strength to take so much crap on a daily basis nor is explaining my thoughts something that comes easily to me. Driving a truck? Well. Maybe. But can I do bit better than driving a truck? how about working at a national park? that's probably a job that I could do, but those jobs are very competitive and even PhDs compete for those jobs. how about the armed forces? I'm in my late 20s and in the best shape of my life. maybe some branch of the military will take me if I successfully conceal my medical conditions from them. Post office? How about post office jobs? or how about a job with computers but doing something that at least vaguely resembles what I was doing at school? like some job making pie charts using excel or creating forms with database data using access? Do those jobs exist? someone please give me suggestions. i wish I could self-employ but unfortunately I don't have anything to sell or any service to render. any hints would be appreciated
You could be condescending and tell me that the problem is the economy or you could attempt to understand my situation and perhaps realize that my problem is not only the economy.
Long story short, I graduated with a bachelor's in math more than 5 years ago. straight out of college I couldn't find a permanent a job (supposedly because I had no work or internship experience) and did a string of temp jobs until I finally found a below-average paying full time job at a below-average company...The job, by the way, was a job with computers, but not 'fun', or 'cool', or 'intellectually rewarding' like the computer science courses I took in school. I didn't feel like I was working with computer programs. I felt like I was just starring at lines and lines and lines of meaningless code.
again, long story short, I tortured myself at that job for more than 3 years. i didn't quit because i couldn't find another relevant job (the experience I acquired was worthless, since all this technology I was working with was proprietary) and because I believed that 'sucking it up' and 'working hard' was necessary in order to get the type of job that I wanted. so i endured torture until one day my boss felt sorry for me and fired me.
fast forward a year and i still can't find a job...I just want a job that's less demanding and stressful than a programming position and hopefully more stimulating than stocking shelves at a supermarket.
can someone give me some ideas?...how about a job with computers but doing something that at least vaguely resembles what I was doing at school? like some job making pie charts using excel or creating forms with database data using access? Do those jobs exist? someone please give me suggestions. i wish I could self-employ but unfortunately I don't have anything to sell or any service to render. any hints would be appreciated
How about volunteering for x# of months at a non-profit? If you search at Volunteer Match, I'll bet you'll find a match between your computer and analytic interests and a do-good organization's needs. Pour your heart into it (which shouldn't be difficult since your co-workers are more than likely passionate about the organization's mission and that's contagious.) And start networking for your next paid job! :-)
Last edited by TylerSeguin; 11-12-2011 at 08:45 AM..
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Some of the jobs you mentioned are really not available anyway, teachers are being laid off, state and even national parks are closing, and factory jobs continue to move overseas. Truck drivers are struggling to get work and post offices are closing.
With so much competition for every job, it has become far more important to go into interviews with a really enthusiastic attitude. With many overqualified applicants, employers are looking for people that are not going to take off for something better when the economy improves. If a person meets the minimum requirements and shows that they want to work there, they will have a better chance. That means doing research in advance, demonstrating in the interview that you know a lot about the company, and convincing the interviewers not only that you are the best person for the job but that you look forward to staying there a long time and taking advantage of the opportunities they have for advancement.
If the defeat and giving up that you show in your post come through in your interviews you will never get a job. Work hard to leave that outside the door when you go in for an interview. If you have Word/Excel skills, I would look for administrative jobs that will give you an opportunity to use and further develop those skills, and keep an eye out for better positions within the company that allow you to use your education. As an existing employee there you would have a better chance to get a promotion when familiar with their operation, and good job performance reviews. Sometimes you have to work a boring job in order to get a more interesting one later.
Many who get good jobs have to start at the bottom doing things they may not want to do, living in places they may not want to live. I know I have read in recent years of jobs in meat packing plants in places like Scottsbluff Nebraska hiring unsklilled people for $12 to $15/hr. They were so shorthanded they were hiring lots of illegal aliens to do the jobs and the companies started getting raided by the Feds a lot.
Yeah, those are dirty jobs, but if you stick it out or a year or two, with your background you might get a promotion to a supervisor or management position. Of course, you have to be willing to pack your bags and go live where the job is.
My first real job was in a small town out in the middle of nowhere. I didn't want to live there, but that's where the work was so I went. After a few years I transferred to a better place.
Yeah, those are dirty jobs, but if you stick it out or a year or two, with your background you might get a promotion to a supervisor or management position. Of course, you have to be willing to pack your bags and go live where the job is.
now juxtapose the idea of taking a 'dirty' job with the hope that one day I'll be 'the boss' (as if I cared about being 'the boss', but let's mentally masturbate) with the idea shared by the previous poster:
"With so much competition for every job, it has become far more important to go into interviews with a really enthusiastic attitude. With many overqualified applicants, employers are looking for people that are not going to take off for something better when the economy improves."
So essentially I have to perform a magic act and convince the interviewer that I am the right person to pack meat, as demonstrated by the fact that I went to college and couldn't find a job doing something relevant to my degree.
I think even a person with genius-level social intelligence would have a hard time pulling that off.
"Its not uncommon for people on the internet to diagnose me with depression"??
just how often are you posting your sob story. Stop feeling sorry for yourself that life isn't as 'fun' or 'cool' as you thought it would be.
There are a plethora of office jobs that only require a college degree of any kind. And I bet they'll let you make pie charts. But you're not going to get hired by asking for advice on the internet. You have to actually search the job boards and apply for them.
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well...
