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it is posted:I'm in Austin with 5 years of software experience split between dev and QA automation (but no degree), and I'm looking to switch careers as soon as all my debt is paid off in hopefully early July. My interest in computer science didn't translate into liking programming as a career and I'm looking for something that plays to my strengths better. Jesus christ help us. Make a thread in E/N, then go see a therapist.
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Apr 21, 2016 07:32
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I don't think "I'm primarily motivated by constant progress but I'm in a career where progress is gated behind long exploratory phases of indeterminate size" is that e/n but ok.
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Apr 21, 2016 17:02
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it is posted:I don't think "I'm primarily motivated by constant progress but I'm in a career where progress is gated behind long exploratory phases of indeterminate size" is that e/n but ok. It is.
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Apr 21, 2016 17:11
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You might be the least grittiest person in the world. How many points do you get here?
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Apr 21, 2016 19:29
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it is posted:I don't think "I'm primarily motivated by constant progress but I'm in a career where progress is gated behind long exploratory phases of indeterminate size" is that e/n but ok. That's what progress is when working on hard, professional-level problems both in engineering and outside of it. You're not a factory line worker, your progress and productivity can't be measured by how many widgets you produced today. That's a solved problem, and that's why it's a low-skill job with low compensation. Turns out that to get past the beginner stage of anything, you have to endure some boredom and put in some work. And it's not like playing a video game with floating arrows and quest logs telling you exactly what to do and congratulating you on your progress at every step of the way. I understand that it is sometimes difficult to feel weeks go by without something tangible and concrete to point to as progress or productivity, but that's just a natural part of analyzing and solving novel problems. Hard, long-term interesting work often does not have clear objectives and metrics, that's why engineers get paid a lot to be professional problem solvers. I have a friend with a similar mindset and in the past 10 years since college graduation he has started and then quit about 5 different careers, and now despite having 10 years of working experience he cannot claim to actually have more than 1-2 years experience in anything. He's junior level, at best, at a bunch of stuff rather than the mid-to-senior level that he could/should be at this point. It also bleeds into his social and personal life and has a hard time maintaining friends and relationships because he gets "bored" with things and people once they are no longer "new and exciting". It's a real problem. Being a perpetual beginner is not a good goal to have in life or your career. Going from engineeering to grocery store clerk is by almost all objective measures a huge step backwards. Maybe your specific company, team, or specific role is not a good fit for you and you should look for a change in one of those areas. Maybe you need to feed your thirst for "new and exciting" with hobbies, activities, and personal projects outside of work like many people do. Maybe you need an attitude adjustment.
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Apr 21, 2016 19:47
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I'm trying to escape newspaper hell. Creative writing seems like the next logical choice and I'm applying for everything that looks decent. I use LinkedIn and have an account on Journo Portfolio. Both it and LinkedIn have examples of just about every kind of writing platform from magazine articles to columns to game recaps (I do sports) to profile pieces. We're small, so I also double as a sports photographer. I have a 2nd place award for writing from a state contest, which is prominently mentioned. I'm on the verge of getting another one, but that can't be advertised until it happens, which is early June. Technical writing would probably be a bit more iffy to pull off as I've been doing sports writing almost exclusively. What else should I be doing? Note, if it matters: None of these jobs I'm trying for are within 150 miles of my location because I live in a shithole. Of course, I'm very willing to relocate, especially on the grounds that I live in a shithole.
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Apr 26, 2016 03:51
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What about PR or advertising/copywriting?
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Apr 26, 2016 04:03
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Xandu posted:What about PR or advertising/copywriting? Yes. I'm quite open to that direction.
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Apr 26, 2016 14:27
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Does anyone have experience with seasonal, part time jobs or work through temp agencies? I recently finished my degree and am based out of my relatively small college town for the foreseeable future. I'm looking for full time jobs, but I'm hoping to leave this town, and don't really want to take a job until later in the summer if I can help it. That said, I want some kind of work to just get me through the summer. Does anyone have good experience with this? I'm specifically interested in peoples experiences at temp agencies.
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Apr 26, 2016 17:28
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it is posted:I don't think "I'm primarily motivated by constant progress but I'm in a career where progress is gated behind long exploratory phases of indeterminate size" is that e/n but ok. look into software sales. your background is an asset and they are all about metrics
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Apr 27, 2016 01:26
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So I figured here is the best place to field this. My mind has been going to some pretty dark places, I'm scared, and I felt the need to get this out. 26 years old with a Bachelors in Public Relations/History (3.0 GPA, class of 2012). I've squandered many opportunities in school and worked at Starbucks for a year after graduating before eventually taking a job at 34k commuting into Manhattan looking up info on commercial buildings. I worked with people who don't even have degrees and it was pretty lovely. I did get a small promotion a few months in which was basically the same thing with a little more thinking involved. About a year ago, I took a job at a very niche company that writes about printers, copiers, and its accompanying software. Bumped pay up to about 43k. I recently entered a relationship with someone who's extraordinarily successful in the nonprofit sector and loves what she does. It's not that I feel inadequate, per se, but it's made me feel extremely lovely about my personal failings and for the first time in my life I'd like more for myself. Thing's I'd like to frame as positives: -Due to not really knowing what I wanted to do, my experiences have been pretty diverse. I interned and had a few paid writing assignments with a tech publication during college (had a severe break in mental health and ended up quitting the job without saying anything around graduation), have a bit of knowledge about commercial real estate, and I know some different sets of software like InDesign, a little bit of SQL, writing, research, etc. -The company I work for is small and niche but is the biggest player in what they do (write custom reports on enterprise-grade printers, solutions, and similar products). We also recently purchased another influential organization in our industry, giving further name recognition. -I've never been a self starter but this job has, by its nature, forced me to meet and know other people in the industry. At the way-too-late age of 26, I am finally learning the basics of this thing called "networking". Things keeping me up at night: -I feel like everything listed above is just as much a detriment to me. I am finding this out about myself way too late to "save" myself and lifelong mental health issues are resurfacing as a result. The company is well known in its arena, but i feel like i've pigeon holed myself into a very specific thing. -I have no real skills in networking and am very socially awkward. Again, these are things I know i should have mastered years ago. -The area i live and work in is very expensive and the median income is easily 75k in a lot of towns. I don't think i'll ever be able to afford living without roomates. A few months ago, I moved in with a guy from work who does the exact thing i do and I think that was a huge mistake. -I just applied to textbroker (only got a 3-star rating. ouch) and some other freelance gigs to try and supplement my income but so far nothing but spinning wheels. Any and all feedback on how hosed i am/advice would be appreciated. I will move this if this is meant for somewhere else and I apologize.
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Apr 28, 2016 15:32
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Nobody's hosed at 26. Outside of highly specialized professions, careers lifespans are probably no longer than 10 years long. You can expect to be casting about at least 4-5 more times in your life so what you're feeling right now will be something you go through again and again in the years to come. This is just to say that you should stop beating yourself up about feeling like you're permanently behind or trapped in a pathway. The "I'm in a lovely first job in the first few years after graduating" syndrome is pretty much universal. That being said:
In terms of careers those skills you listed are all highly marketable and employable skills and it sounds like you've already been taking an upward trajectory (moving from 34K to 43K). So what's the problem/question? El Mero Mero fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Apr 28, 2016 |
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Apr 28, 2016 16:54
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First, I apologize for the degree comment. You're right, it was lovely. Second, that earnestly helps me feel better. Thank you. I came across as rambly, but I guess what I'm trying to ask is what I can do right now to bolster my career/earnings. I know I have to figure out what I really want to do.
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Apr 28, 2016 18:16
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RC and Moon Pie posted:Yes. I'm quite open to that direction. So, uh, does anyone perhaps have further suggestions? For whatever difference it makes, I'm in Georgia. RC and Moon Pie fucked around with this message at 14:47 on Apr 29, 2016 |
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Apr 29, 2016 14:45
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the talent deficit posted:look into software sales. your background is an asset and they are all about metrics Holy poo poo I know it's only 8 days in but good call. It's like every single thing in this job was designed to motivate me. Maximizing all my numbers and talking about people's businesses all day is fun. I actually want to wake up in time to get to work at 8:15. Now I just have to see if I end up being good at this 
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May 26, 2016 04:28
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Earth Table posted:Second, that earnestly helps me feel better. Thank you. I came across as rambly, but I guess what I'm trying to ask is what I can do right now to bolster my career/earnings. I know I have to figure out what I really want to do. God, and if you know InDesign, you can get tons of gigs helping people format their lovely books and workbooks. I loving hate Indesign with the passion of a thousand suns. it is posted:Holy poo poo I know it's only 8 days in but good call. It's like every single thing in this job was designed to motivate me. Maximizing all my numbers and talking about people's businesses all day is fun. I actually want to wake up in time to get to work at 8:15.  RC and Moon Pie posted:So, uh, does anyone perhaps have further suggestions?
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May 26, 2016 05:06
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Question. I moved to a city with no contacts and Ive been working here for a year now at a lovely job. I have a CS degree and I program. I have things on git but I program slowly, mostly because I get home around 9 and pass out soon after that. I want to enter tech. I'd like to do development, but there are little entry positions. I'm going to try applying to QA positions. But I've been told that maybe I should consider doing a desk tech job. I would like to get into something programming related but I also don't really my current job. Should I take the first lovely desk job? Or wait for maybe a QA job?
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May 26, 2016 17:04
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I would not recommend doing desktop support or help desk if you want to do development. Not saying that it absolutely will not lead to a better job, but in a lot of places those are dead end jobs. Focus on getting a development or QA job.
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May 26, 2016 17:07
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A help desk position could be good if it gives you more time outside the office to work on what you actually want to do, but yeah, it's probably not going to lead to a development job through any official pathway. QA can if you get involved in scripted testing, but even that's a little tricky.
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May 27, 2016 00:18
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So I'm a recent college grad with an EE degree, and I'm looking at two different jobs at the moment. I'm trying to determine which one has more growth potential, or would be more beneficial if I hoped to start my own company one day or transfer into a higher paying position, like management. I'm also interested in which would improve my resume more, in case I wanted to move and take on a new job somewhere else in the country. The first one is a job with a local railroad. I would be a communications engineer, and I would be doing design and R&D. I would also get management experience, because part of the job is dealing with crews of union workers. It was described to me as "very political", and I would be also dealing with paperwork unions and other things. This job has an ok salary in a high cost of living area, but great benefits because it's government. Also a pension, if I stayed long enough. I'm worried that the job experience would be hard to transfer into another job, and that the field is sort of niche. I'm also worried that communications might be a bad field to get into, given all the different specilizations EE's can take on. A more minor downside is I would basically be the only woman in the office, and I'm a small person. I'm worried that this might hinder me if I'm working with union guys, in an even more male-dominated environment than your normal engineering company. Granted, I'm a local, and my entire family is also blue-collar, so I do have that advantage, but I'm slightly nervous that I won't be taken seriously. The second job is one with a submarine company, a defense contractor. They have great benefits and a good salary to start, in an area with a way .lower cost of living, but still close to major cities for when I need to get out. My official title would by a Systems Test and Integration engineer. I would be doing technical writing, lots of talking with people, sometimes vendors, sometimes other departments, some cybersecurity portions. The company has a rotation program, so if I don't like this role I can easily move into another department. The upside to this is the high salary, and decent benefits.The downsides are the security clearance process, and I'll probably have longer hours. I'll probably need an interim clearance, but I'll need to answer yes to Q21, mental health, due to college anxiety and depression, and I don't know how much this will impact my chances. Security officer says I'll be fine, the internet says I'm doomed, not sure which one is correct. Assuming I'll get an offer for both jobs, I'm not sure which one of these is a better area to get into. Systems Test and Integration seems like it would be something needed virtually everywhere, but I don't know much about this particular subfield. Communication looks stuck at a salary of 70k-90k wherever I go, and my research shows that's a low cap for this sort of work. Which one will give me more opportunities? Or are these both dead ends, and should I try and get a job in the Power or Controls industries?
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May 27, 2016 02:48
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ultrafilter posted:A help desk position could be good if it gives you more time outside the office to work on what you actually want to do, but yeah, it's probably not going to lead to a development job through any official pathway. QA can if you get involved in scripted testing, but even that's a little tricky. Yeah, QA is a really broad term and depending on the type of QA work you do it could either easily lead into development, or very much be a dead end. If as part of QA you're doing automated testing, performance testing & analysis, environment/build management, deep-dive debugging and root cause analysis, and stuff like that then you're already effectively writing and managing code so it should be relatively easy to transition into full time development as you gain experience. More often than not this is usually called "QA Engineer", but not always. If you're just a black box tester that follows manual test scripts and fills in test execution reports then you'll be hard pressed to naturally transition into development without a lot of personal on-the-side effort. That said, I started as a QAE (of the first type above) and transitioned into full-time development, and I've got a couple of friends/colleagues who have done the same. If you've got technical chops but are just a bit low on experience the barrier to entry for QA tends to be lower than dev. And it's also easier to stand out as talented amongst your peers and move up/out, too. Guinness fucked around with this message at 19:00 on May 27, 2016 |
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May 27, 2016 18:57
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So I currently work in a hospital laboratory, which is a decent, very siloed job- pay is okay but stays pretty flat, regular hours, good benefits, etc. but there's no professional growth in it. I don't like that if I stay in it, I will do essentially the same thing for 20+ years. It's very difficult to pick up new skills and have your work reflect it, or to take on new responsibilities or projects. I've been at it for 3 years and it's driving me up a wall. I've been looking at transitioning into hospital IT, particularly the applications positions since I'd have some experience on the end-user side. I like that there's an actual career ladder, and I can learn new skills and programs to make myself more marketable. Does anyone in this thread have advice for moving into IT from a position in a specialized industry? I don't have a formal comp sci or IS background, but I'm pretty functional (compared to coworkers and supervisors, at least) in the applications I use, and I pick up these sorts of things quickly. I think it would be a good move for me, but I don't really know anyone who does this sort of work in person.
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Jun 4, 2016 15:01
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Alright, some of you may have read my posts bitching about my full time job in this thread, but I'm in luck! It looks like I may be terminated soon.  It is above all else my fault, but my performance has been declining lately due to a combo of working too many hours across two jobs (I did recently cut down to one night a week), trying to study for the CPA, and frustration due to them not addressing glaring issues within the company that makes my job harder. Motivation/concentration is... down. I've been spoken to about the quality of my work. At this point, I'm trying to assess all my options. I did plan to leave the job, as I'll be heading out of the country for almost four weeks at the end of the year and my hope is to complete the CPA exam by then. But if I'm let go, that leaves a six month gap in full-time employment. I could resign voluntarily, giving up any possibility of unemployment. That would allow me to save some face, with the reason for the gap being focusing on the CPA/part time work. My bills aren't outrageous, and I could survive if I had to with the bit of income my other job provides. I could stick it out and see if it happens. It's not 100% assured I will be terminated. No written warnings or any discipline at this point. But if I am, a friend of mine in the department was similarly let go last year, and was able to obtain unemployment until he found work elsewhere. I don't know if they would fight it. According to the MA laws, I am eligible to claim after being fired for poor performance and would receive a lower amount due to my part time income. Unless they fight it. In any case, should I find myself out of a job, what should I do about employment between now and when I leave the country? I have never been on unemployment before, so I don't know the process. Any job I start, I would have to leave in six months unless they allowed for a significant time off. Temp agency, maybe? It may be a blessing in disguise, because I could at least use the time not applying to jobs to study and complete the CPA quicker. So starting with today, other than improving my performance, what should I plan for?
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Jun 9, 2016 01:42
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I can't speak to your career options because I'm not familiar with your field, but I can offer you some advice with regard to unemployment, because I've been there. If you qualify, apply the day you are let go, because it takes some time to process and you don't want to delay your first check any more than necessary. If you had health insurance and you want/need to keep having it, you'll either need to find your own coverage or go on COBRA. If you choose COBRA, be forewarned: it's expensive as all hell and will eat up a good chunk of your unemployment benefit. After a month or so of unemployment, you'll be invited to a mandatory orientation at your local Department of Labor branch to introduce you to their services. As your unemployment continues, you will be required to eventually check in every so often to prove that you're applying for work.
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Jun 9, 2016 01:57
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Globofglob posted:So I'm a recent college grad with an EE degree, and I'm looking at two different jobs at the moment. I'm trying to determine which one has more growth potential, or would be more beneficial if I hoped to start my own company one day or transfer into a higher paying position, like management. I'm also interested in which would improve my resume more, in case I wanted to move and take on a new job somewhere else in the country. I can speak very specifically to the second one, as I used to work as a contractor EE on submarines. You will be fine with the clearance issues as long as you were not actively harming yourself or others, and can show that you proactively looked for help and are mitigating your mental distress. You will likely have long periods of boredom, separated by long periods of crunch time and travel. Do anything in your power to try to get some face time with people who currently work in the role you'll be hired for, the goal being to try to get some straight talk on what exactly you're in for. It is not a dead end field, but in my experience a lot of contractors are vying to be converted to a federal employee - to do that, you have to be either insanely good/dedicated at your job, and/or become one of the managers' favorites. Oh, and if that contractor is ATR corporation, run like hell. They sucked, and now I'm happy as a power engineer.
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Jun 9, 2016 02:52
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I got a job that will pay for me to train for and take my series 7 and 63. It's basically a customer service job but I'm taking it because I've heard that getting those licenses is huge. I know pretty much nothing about career paths in finance but apparently there's stuff you can do with those besides 'be a stockbroker.' What are some options that those open up?
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Jun 24, 2016 18:36
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I have a relatively junior role on paper - I've been performing the duties of a senior contributor for a while. I requested a formal promotion, my director and VP agreed (and I believe them), only HR said no. They're not really inclined to fight HR due to how non-functioning things are around here. I was offered a 15% pay increase, as well as a 10% retention bonus if I stay at the company for 15 months. It also bars me from any internal promotions for a year. I legitimately only care about the title. Things absolutely would collapse if I was not around and I have the ability to suicide bomb everything were I to choose. The reason for rejecting my promotion is infuriating. I work in analytics, which no one else in my department really understands, nevermind HR. Their reasoning is, by definition, any analytics role can only be at junior-ish level. Despite literally having thousands of senior level people with no discernible skill. HR is unable to comprehend that analytics consists of more than Excel and MicroStrategy (as evidenced by their inability to source any candidates worth a poo poo for our openings.) There are hundreds of people in my employer with senior roles in analytics. I know the policy exists but is inconsistently enforced. I also know they're really fighting me because a new title would put me in a salary band that averages a 50% increase, and I know what strategies HR uses in their playbook, and how no promises from HR are worth poo poo. As ridiculous and unfair as it is, I would accept merely a title change if it came to that. I've been really reasonable and well behaved until now, and on paper their stance is just completely loving insane. I'm a lovely networker, but have a great relationship with everyone I've worked with. I'm trying to drum up an internal offer to force their hand and also trying a little bit harder on the external front. I don't want to really push hard externally though, as a lot of my contacts are at vendors of my current employer, and I wouldn't want to burn through certain options unless I was really desperate. I also will make a bit of cash if my options vest in a year. Apparently HR is now pushing my director and VP to get me to sign this agreement - I don't know if they told HR yet I said no. I half want to sit down and either rage, or logically rip HR to shreds - half want to just refuse to meet them, I can legitimately claim that I'm too busy. Meanwhile I'm in theory on vacation, and just like my last vacation, it's been anything but as multiple emergencies have come up where no one else could solve them. This is going to make a great tell all book some day. I seriously cannot fathom why the global economy doesn't collapse given that my employer is as large and successful as it gets, but I guess current events are kind of bearing that out.
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Jun 26, 2016 05:27
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Are there any career paths out there for someone with a Master's in Chemistry who happens to be good at writing? I'm coming up on my one year anniversary at my current regulatory position and I do not like it at all. At the same time I currently have a side job doing freelance editing and review of scientific articles for ESL authors (prior to publication), which I enjoy and am getting quite a bit of praise from my managers, but it's definitely not a sustainable single source of income. You would think that a regulatory role would have a fair amount of this but there's not a lot of writing involved in my current role, so I'm wondering if there are chemistry/science-based positions out there where you're composing written statements/opinions/etc. on a regular basis.
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Jun 28, 2016 04:30
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C-Euro posted:Are there any career paths out there for someone with a Master's in Chemistry who happens to be good at writing? I'm coming up on my one year anniversary at my current regulatory position and I do not like it at all. At the same time I currently have a side job doing freelance editing and review of scientific articles for ESL authors (prior to publication), which I enjoy and am getting quite a bit of praise from my managers, but it's definitely not a sustainable single source of income. You would think that a regulatory role would have a fair amount of this but there's not a lot of writing involved in my current role, so I'm wondering if there are chemistry/science-based positions out there where you're composing written statements/opinions/etc. on a regular basis. Technical writing would be good for you. Look at pharmaceutical and industrial chemical companies. They're always looking for science nerds that can write documentation for the FDA and EMA
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Jun 28, 2016 12:52
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Kim Jong Il posted:I have a relatively junior role on paper - I've been performing the duties of a senior contributor for a while. I requested a formal promotion, my director and VP agreed (and I believe them), only HR said no. They're not really inclined to fight HR due to how non-functioning things are around here. Don't sign, but don't blow up. Take your skills and find a senior level analytics job somewhere. Stay on good terms with everyone, especially your bosses and then come back in like 2 years @ the title you want and probably way more pay. Welcome to work in 2016.
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Jun 28, 2016 17:46
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I think if I'm gone I'm gone for good because it's a gigantic loving pain in the rear end. I'm trying to appeal to HR for what that's worth.
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Jun 29, 2016 03:43
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Bitchkrieg posted:Technical writing would be good for you. Thanks, I'll look into it a little more. Do you have any experience in this type of work?
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Jun 29, 2016 04:37
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So last week I found out that a coworker of mine is leaving the company because she accepted a job closer to home that'll allow her to spend more time with her kids. It's a really great move for her and her family and I can't wait to see how it works out. Though our positions have very little procedural overlap - I'm an assistant/paralegal that spends most of my time researching cases and building client reports and she handles nothing but loan modifications - we both work in the same department and have had the same supervisor for about 3 years now. Earlier today, our supervisor asked me if I would be willing to take on my coworker's duties on top of my own because "the company really doesn't want to hire someone else" and my "smarts and ability to quickly adapt" make me the "best fit for an expanded role." She then told me that she'd be willing to fight for a "bookoo bucks" raise if I think I can do it. She's pretty great to work with. My initial thought was "uh, duhhh," especially because I'd be learning a bunch of new things that I've been interested in for a while now, but I also obviously don't want to take on a second (arguably) full-time position without a solid pay bump. I told her that I appreciate her offer and that I'd like to sit on it for a couple days before we think about moving forward, so we're going to meet again on Thursday. Has anyone here ever combined their position with someone else's and negotiated a large pay raise? Is it unheard of to discuss the possibility of a 25-30% raise in a situation like this? There's no way I could use this as a negotiating tactic, but even if the company were to give me a 30% raise (of about $16k), they'd be "saving" somewhere around $44k a year on salary alone (and our firm offers an excellent profit sharing plan and fully-paid medical). While that's no doubt something I could bring up with my super relaxed supervisor, I doubt it's something the real decision maker(s) would openly consider. Thoughts? I've been thinking about it all day and I just don't want to come across sounding like a greedy prick 
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Jun 29, 2016 08:11
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I'd ask for a lot more than that if I had to keep my current duties and take on someone else's. Either they give you a large raise, or they can gently caress off and go hire someone else. They're trying to cut costs by having you take them on, and not paying for another FTE.
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Jun 29, 2016 12:48
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Get a better idea of what beacoup bucks means. If it means 10k+, do you think you could get that type of raise elsewhere or by changing jobs? Also depends what your experience / age / career prospects are. I know nothing about paralegal stuff. I'd go for it if your boss thinks you can do it and the company is willing to give you a substantial raise. See if you could get a new title out of it too. Senior paralegal or something.
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Jun 29, 2016 14:25
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You're talking about taking on the entire full time duties of another employee. That is, presumably another 40 hours of work per week added on to your, presumably, 40 hour work week. Realistically it will probably be less than that (no one actually works 40 hours per week at 100% capacity) but you're still looking at a very significant increase in workload. Talk to your coworker to get a better sense of what your added workload would be and try to calculate it in terms of extra hours per week. If the new duties would add another 20 hours to your 40 hour work week, that's a 50% increase, and you should accept no less than a 50% pay increase, not to mention that if your coworker earns more money than you then you should be earning an equivalent rate for the same work. Are you paid by the hour? Every hour you work past 40 per week (or whatever your comfort level is) has significant ramifications to your health, social life, free time, and general quality of life. I'd be extremely cautious about taking on extra hours unless you're positive you can handle it and you're being well rewarded. You absolutely should use the potential cost savings for the company as a bargaining chip. The money saved from one less person's benefits package alone more than makes up for a generous raise for you. You are far from powerless in this situation, and in fact I'd say you have much better leverage than them: - You can save them money on a benefits package by avoiding hiring another FTE - Time and money saved avoiding having to train a new person from scratch - you've been with the company long enough to have a jump start - New hires are risky and can turn out badly, whereas you are a tried and true good worker that they should be investing in - You can begin training and working immediately instead of waiting for a new hire - Asking someone to take on significantly more work is not an easy sell and they are practically obligated to sweeten the deal No matter what I'd also make sure there's a clear backup plan in case things don't work out - if it turns out to be too much workload for one person to handle, you don't enjoy the new duties, or whatever. Maybe a 30-60 day "probationary" period where either party can opt for things to go back to the way there were without any repercussions.
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Jun 30, 2016 03:47
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I graduate with an MBA in five months, and I have no idea what to do with it. I have a spotty resume (extensive traveling, under-the-table work in other countries) with a few bright spots (army, principal of an elementary school). My interests are pretty diverse, and could see myself in anything from PR to supply chain/operations to finance to front-office banking to political lobbying, and I don't know where to start. I'm at a no-name school with no job placement program, but I'm in Austin and networking like gently caress, so I'm hopeful. One professor is a former executive VP at Dell and he and I hit it off. He had me go through his impressive LinkedIn contacts and pick out a few dozen names, where I'll write a blurb about myself and he'll blast it off with his own recommendation. How should I approach this? What should I write? The people on his LinkedIn are all very high-level people, and I'm kind of intimidated. I realize this is a fantastic opportunity and a way of salvaging a potential garbage degree, and I can't gently caress this up. Also, what is a lobbyist's actual job title? How do I sell my soul to get in? My favorite pastime is policy/politics, so I feel I'd be most at-home there, but that world seems so opaque.
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Jun 30, 2016 17:29
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Thanks a bunch for the responses! Much of what you've all said has been running through my mind, too, so it's nice to hear it from a people that aren't just close friends, family, etc. After sitting with her for a bit yesterday and running through what she does, I'm confident that there's no way it would require a full 40 hours of attention a week and that 20-25 hours is pretty realistic. I probably find myself seriously "working" about 30-35 hours a week, so while my plate can get pretty full, there's definitely some decent wiggle room there. Looks at my new compensation in terms of hourly pay (because yes, I'm paid by the hour) is a great thought, too. So thanks to some of your points, this is where I'm at now: though the "slower" weeks look manageable at about 45-50 hours a week, everything could quickly get out of hand if I somehow find myself working 60 hours a week on a regular basis. Because of that, I think I'm going to start at 50% with my supervisor, emphasize some of the bullet points above, and assuming we can come to terms financially, push hard for a mutual "probationary" period of some kind while we figure out just how manageable this whole thing can be.
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Jun 30, 2016 18:00
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So I graduated about a year and a half ago with an Economics degree and have been at my current workplace doing excel gruntwork (99% just formatting and basic formulas, i've personally done some vba to speed it up a bit) for about a year. How do I know when its time to move on? Also, what types of positions do I even aim for? e: to add a bit more about myself, i'm interested in analytics, but I have no experience with SQL or anything like that. I wouldn't mind taking some time to go back to school either, but I dont know if I could get into grad school with my low GPA of 2.7 (made some mistakes in my freshman/sophomore years) Argona fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Jul 1, 2016 |
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Jul 1, 2016 15:54
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Argona posted:So I graduated about a year and a half ago with an Economics degree and have been at my current workplace doing excel gruntwork (99% just formatting and basic formulas, i've personally done some vba to speed it up a bit) for about a year. How do I know when its time to move on? Also, what types of positions do I even aim for? I'm no success story myself, but the advice I was given when it comes to moving into analytics jobs requiring technical skills you don't currently have is to do a project where you can use those technologies and then host it on github. In my case, I'm really into fantasy football so I used python and sql to do some data analysis. Something like that can help demonstrate that you aren't just inflating your skills on your resume, but can actually use them.
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Jul 1, 2016 16:25
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