Career options: changed or stayed the same?

[Gaze]

In today's job market, no matter where you are in the world, do you think your career options have changed because of the popularity or need for particular degrees or skills? Do you think this is good or bad in the long run? And is having many career options always a good thing?

 

[Vict]

I've built a career out of exploring the options available to me. It's been an ever-evolving way to live.

 

[acd]

I went to school for one thing, yet have years of experience in a different field. The result is that I get lots of interviews and some offers in fields where I have the experience-- and absolutely nothing for the jobs I went to school for--it's like I send my resume off into a black hole when I apply for those..my degree field usually requires experience. I guess they dont count internships and volunteering in the field experience...so I wish I had options.
But for now, I will stay where I'm at in human services until something opens up in marketing or communications..

 

[Apone]

Having a lot of options is a good thing-- but I don't think too many people do have a lot of options… the only jobs where it's an employee's market are the ones that require a great deal of specialization… now that a lot of the manufacturing has largely moved to the third world, the jobs that used to offer stable, decent, middle-class employment are gone.

Meanwhile, teachers and parents are so keen on letting 18 year olds make their own decisions about their futures that they haven't stopped to consider that perhaps someone who knows absolutely nothing about the world outside of school and whose top priority in life is to play the guitar and buy a t-shirt with his favorite band's logo on it isn't in the best position to make that call… and then by the time they finally turn 24 and realize what the world is like, it's already too late and they haven't got a clue how to proceed, because they've STILL been in school for their whole lives and STILL haven't got a clue what the world is like. I'm speaking from experience here.

So yeah, I'd actually welcome a return to the bad old days when parents did their research and told their kids exactly what they were going to be when they grew up, and the kids were upset and jerky about it but when they grew up they realized that their parents knew a helluva lot more about the world than they ever did. I wish that schools would stop worrying about what kids want for themselves and start forcing kids into things that make sense and will help them to get the kind of employment that will help them to live the kinds of lives that they deserve… the rest is nice and yes, we all love the arts, but it isn't now and has almost never been a priority… unless you're exceptional, in which case you should be encouraged-- but this is very very very rare, and no amount of postmodern 'everything's subjective' thinking can change that.

I've been back to school 3 times now-- I got my Bachelor's a while ago and then did 2 postgrads, and I'm not working in a field that's connected to any of them. I made a HUGE mistake with my original 4 year degree-- I'm just now coming to realize that-- and to be honest, even though they would probably blame me for the way things have gone (they haven't gone too too badly, but I feel like I could have done better), thinking back on that program and the way I got through with minimum effort because they wanted to justify their budget/keep their jobs-- it just makes me really angry, like I was conned.

So yeah, now there's just no way I want to go back to being a first year-- I'd probably have to review high school subjects in order to get the degree I probably should have gotten… and I'd be alone all the time because I just can't see myself fitting in socially-- and learning IS social.

If I had a lot of options (well, I kinda do because I have family connections… but I refuse to exploit them because I haven't earned it... yet)… I'd be happier.

Still, I wouldn't say I'm doing horribly. I don't have any debt, a decent nest egg, and I get to go on a kickass vacay once or twice a year. Still, there's no way I could ever settle down and raise a family or deal with any dependents…not comfortably.

 

[Gaze]

I'm experiencing something similar. The options I believed I had based on my BA degree are much lower. The only reason I think I was able to have a fairly stable job in my field is because of grad school. Colleges tend to sell undergrad a bill of goods, promising that their degrees will prepare them for multiple careers, leaving many to believe they will have a 1,000 jobs lined up once they graduate. Unfortunately, not the case. The idea of having options has become somewhat of a fairytale. Pesonally, my ideal career is far in the future. Finances are more important. Today, companies want knowledge or degree + experience. So there are many grads not working in their fields because there aren't enough "careers" but there are jobs (although they are few). So, now you've spent how much money on college along with an almost lifetime committment of student loans and working in area which is outside your degree or experience. That's a lot of money wasted for something that can't be used in the job market which has limited opportunities. Honestly, I wish I chose a different degree as an undergrad. And I wish I'd never even started a PhD. It would've been better to get a MS degree vs. MA. I like what I learned but it wasn't practical and now choices are limited to the career I'm in. Can't really move into another field without having to go back to school or do further career training in another area. So, career options are lower or maybe they were always limited but because we believed the hype about what our degrees could offer, we didn't realize it.

 

[Paladin-X]

I have a career in IT. There are always jobs. However, the threat of frequent layoffs (IT often gets hit first!) is worrisome. I do not have another path to fall back on. My only skills in life have been computers. It is now at 32, I am going back to school to pursue a degree in Psychology. I hope to pursue it all the way to PhD. The benefit to myself and hopefully the discipline, is having a different perspective in logic and problem solving, coupled with fine-tuned active listening skills, that I've learned from years of being in IT.

 

[acd]

I'm experiencing something similar. The options I believed I had based on my BA degree are much lower. The only reason I think I was able to have a fairly stable job in my field is because of grad school. Colleges tend to sell undergrad a bill of goods, promising that their degrees will prepare them for multiple careers, leaving many to believe they will have a 1,000 jobs lined up once they graduate. Unfortunately, not the case. The idea of having options has become somewhat of a fairytale. Pesonally, my ideal career is far in the future. Finances are more important. Today, companies want knowledge or degree + experience. So there are many grads not working in their fields because there aren't enough "careers" but there are jobs (although they are few). So, now you've spent how much money on college along with an almost lifetime committment of student loans and working in area which is outside your degree or experience. That's a lot of money wasted for something that can't be used in the job market which has limited opportunities. Honestly, I wish I chose a different degree as an undergrad. And I wish I'd never even started a PhD. It would've been better to get a MS degree vs. MA. I like what I learned but it wasn't practical and now choices are limited to the career I'm in. Can't really move into another field without having to go back to school or do further career training in another area. So, career options are lower or maybe they were always limited but because we believed the hype about what our degrees could offer, we didn't realize it.

This is what I find: Jobs in my field either don't require any degree, and think you are over qualified or they want 7+ years of experience. Doh.
Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places though...well, I have +60K in loans to pay back. So I have to make something happen..

 

[paisley]

Wow! I love you guys, it's like coming home to other versions of myself.

My story continues in the same thread as this thread. I went to college and got a B.A. and never found work with it. It took 6 years to get, I strategically had less than a full load some semesters while working at my college job in social services so I could be debt free when I finished, then realized I needed to get away from KRAZEENESS and went to a technical college for a certificate program and found work very quickly as a draftsman. Perhaps I shouldn't complain because I have work, and that is a blessing in times when so many are struggling, however I'm so incredibly bored as a survey draftsman. Insanely bored. I don't use my Ni Fe at all, EVER, and what ends up happening is that my work lacks drive, focus, and even professionalism, and I become lazy while my mind wanders with boredom; essentially lusting for a creative outlet. Unlike some of you, I still have hope that I will one day use my B.A. and make a difference, as I know it's where I should be in life, but for now, I'm counting on the slow crawl and perhaps one day, baby steps, that will get me there, in order to be considerable to potential employers who expect and demand college grads to have 10 years experience and a Ph.d. just to make minimum wage in the Arts.

I just came home from my 3 month review assured of the fact that I'm on thin ice, and she's only going to get colder as winter sets in here in Canada, so I thought I'd send this comment out to fellow INFJ's for some advice on how to deal with a lack of drive, focus and attention span at an uncreative, deadline driven job that's sucking the life out of me. ?? It's true what they say about us INFJ's, we need more than a job, we need a career that's an extension of our idealistic world view that truly defines us, and it sucks living in an S TYPE world where INFJ professions are scarce and poorly paid.

 

[this is only temporary]

In today's job market, no matter where you are in the world, do you think your career options have changed because of the popularity or need for particular degrees or skills? Do you think this is good or bad in the long run? And is having many career options always a good thing?

Yes, my career options completely changed right after I graduated, thanks to technology evolving! LOL. Had to completely re-learn things. I witnessed people who refused to learn new things or do things in a different way get laid off. ): Certain skills become less in demand as the world changes; this is the way it ever was since agriculture replaced hunter-gatherers, I suspect. I'm not sure if it is good or bad; there are certain skills I think we need to preserve. Overall, if you can adapt and be versatile, you're going to do better in life. I've been completely surprised to have opportunities fall in my lap to do new things and suddenly people are presenting me as an "expert" in that particular area and I've had to practically glue my mouth shut to keep from saying "I just learned about it a week ago!" and hoping like hell I don't screw up. gah.

Companies have always wanted experience + degrees, I don't think that's anything new. I know it sucks to be bored to death in a mind-numbingly routine job. Volunteer for new assignments, maybe? Talk to your boss about how you want to learn X, Y or Z because it is helpful to the company? Talking to your boss is a good place to start, anyway, he or she may actually be open to ideas or have suggestions, assuming you are dealing with a basically decent human being.

 

[paisley]

I find I have too much versatility and not enough specificity in my field, and thus I think the problem in the job market for INFJ's. Being so crazy Ni coupled with Fe and Ti, it's too easy to understand the underlying principles behind anything and everything to then sound intelligent enough to pull off what seems to be expert advice on everything, only to realize you're more interested on making those intuitive leaps than to ever ever ever ever apply them. Damn you Se coming in fourth! I might follow Paladin-x next year to shrink school.

Anyway, I've already told my boss point blank that I work best in a creative environment, surrounded by new creative design work, and he's already assured me there's no such thing in the surveying world; and after basically explaining to him that I'm a bad fit for the company and I only treat my work as a job and no more, and this job isn't even close to my desired profession, he still thinks I'll be great at it and will do just fine!! Go figure? It's not a matter of learning new things, or getting onto a new project, it's a matter of caring about and learning to quickly synthesize what I'm already bored with and slow at, so I can work with a semblance of urgency and meet my deadlines. Although my slowness is being answered to a customer by my boss which I don't like, I still feel that everyone's expectations just need to settle down and relax for a couple years until I'm proficient at this; in sum, it's not me it's them. lol!

 

[Billy]

Jobs suck, build your own business.