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Unfortunately, it took years of working in not-so-fulfilling private sector jobs to come to this realization. I'm only 26, so it's certainly not all doom and gloom, but I feel it's time I pinned down exactly what I really want career-wise and chase after it while there's still time.
My passions? Writing, research and academics. My background is in marketing, but I stumbled upon it only after realizing my original career path -- accounting -- was just not for me. Marketing seemed like a better fit given its heavier emphasis on writing and creativity. Though it provides a creative outlet to express myself, all that matters at the end of the day is how that copy will impact the bottom line.
I'm looking for something a bit more meaningful than costs and revenues. As I've noted in other posts, I feel I am an academic at heart, as I have a very scholarly way of analyzing the world. How many people have you met who read academic materials -- from history articles to old college texts -- for leisure?
That begs the question: What is the right career for me? Some of you might be thinking, "college professor." I've entertained the idea myself, but concluded it's probably not for me given the fact that:
1) I enjoy teaching others only in written form (e.g. writing informational articles or descriptions on hotels, landmarks, animals and the environment, etc.) I don't think I'd want to stand before 100 students and teach verbally.
2) College teaching jobs are scarce and highly competitive (From what I've read, PH.Ds are settling for adjunct jobs)
3) I'd probably have to cast a wide geographic net in order to find work -- something I am unable to do at this time
I've also looked into administrative jobs at colleges and universities, but wouldn't these non-academic jobs be like working in an office for a private company? The whole point is to find something that is academic in nature.
Museums jobs might fit the bill, but I have found these to be few and far between.
Anyone have any suggestions/comments? Thanks in advance.
Librarian
Corporate Compensation and Benefits aka Total Rewards (I know you don't think you fit in corp but comp and benefits are much research & analysis, and then writing skills are needed to prepare communication materials)
Wow, this sounds pretty much like my situation. I haven't quite pinned down what it is that I WANT to do either, though I am quite aware of what I'm passionate about. Doing what is required for a living and doing what you enjoy doing is not necessarily synonymous.
Here are my suggestions.
1) Keep a job that pays yours bills and pursue your passions in your spare time. This certainly isn't a long term solution, but in the short term it could help sustain your sanity. Start a blog or a website about something you're passionate about. I know a lot of friends who devote a good chunk of their time to things like this and they actually have a lot of followers.
2) Technical writing. I hear it's a tough field to break into, but it sounds like it'd be up your alley (the academic writing aspects).
3) I have some friends who do freelance writing work for orgs like The Onion, Groupon, Livingsocial, and Yelp. Maybe you can look into open positions with these companies.
4) Copy-editing. Maybe check out some magazines, newspapers or publishing companies for jobs in this area.
Most of the business world that I know is pretty bland. It's all about numbers crunching, tons of unnecessary meetings, and politicking. There seems to be plenty of creative sub-fields in advertising. Unfortunately, since I am not in these fields, I can only suggest that you do some Googling and other research. Check out Meetup.com also. They seem to have a ton of creative groups that would be great for networking in these fields of interest.
Last edited by Z3N1TH 0N3; 04-05-2011 at 10:45 AM..
Any jo that has any goernment is like corporate but with politcs more involved really. Work for yourself or thru contracts is more what your looking at.
Wouldn't take the librarian route unless you have some special niche experience (e.g., if you had a law degree and were looking to become a law librarian or had a technology background and were looking to do the technical end of archiving). There's a glut of librarians thanks to the ALA pushing the myth of a librarian shortage due to retirements, and unless you have some niche experience, the cost of an MLIS degree may not be worth it salarywise. Academic librarian jobs are pretty competitive...much like most positions in academia.
Last edited by OrangeCoriander; 04-05-2011 at 11:43 AM..
Academic librarian jobs are pretty competitive...much like most positions in academia.
Also, some academic librarian positions (most of them probably) include teaching as one of the duties. Many of them are faculty-level and require publishing, making presentations, and doing committee work.
And working in a public library isn't necessarily satisfying to someone with academic tendencies.
Maybe you could look into special library or archive work.
All of these options are generally going to require at least one additional degree (an MLS in the case of librarian positions--I'm not sure what's required for archivist positions). Academic librarians often have a second advanced degree in addition to their MLS.
Your description of the type of work you want sounds a lot like mine. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the perfect work for academic types who don't want to be professors actually exists. Or if those jobs exist, it's at least very challenging to land one.
Magazine article writing and independant script research and writing like for National Geographic programs. You'll need to start with some freelance articles in some small independant or industry type newspapers to build up a portfolio and you are not too old at all to start doing this. Open your phone book and look for 'newspapers' and you will find them for each little community to building and construction to minority papers. Start with those.
What you will get out of this in the long run is the ability to cover a lot of interests, research and then teaching through writing. Every industry has their own magazines and a simple phone call to say a construction company or recycling company to ask for the name of their industry related magazines will help you. Doing this also garners you recognition to be a guest speaker from time to time to schools or industry groups and conventions. It's very enjoyable and rewarding work.
Librarian or Archivist is the first career track I thought of as I read your post. As someone else posted, it's possible that it's a competitive, oversaturated field, but I honestly wouldn't let that stop me from pursuing something that interested me.
I work in a totally different field, but I've done work in both non-profit/academic offices as well as big corporations. They do have a different feel, even if the menial tasks, office politics can be the same wherever you go. I *cared* more about the mission of the non-profit and academic institutions, which affected my outlook on the work that I was doing ("It's for a good cause, we're changing lives, educating people, etc.") It was more meaningful to me to be part of that kind of organization.
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