At 30 I realized I needed to start directing my life some how. While being a bank teller with former office manager/bookkeeping experience, I went back to school to get my Bachelors in Businesses Administration through a fast track program. Now I feel a bit more "adrift" even though having a degree should help me find a better job. I have been on job posting sites religiously since graduating this past winter, and I'd have to agree with one article I read about getting burned out for job searching after 2 months...*sigh*   When I do ask for advice people will either say its a general degree and I should be able to do anything, while others say I should have chosen a focus like accounting (I did - finance).

   When I do read job descriptions they're either looking for years of experience in that particular area, or I should already know the in's and out's of the job right off and should hit the ground running. I have to wonder if I may have been short changed on my degree that perhaps a regular curriculum would have covered??? (although a friend in the medical field assured me that even a regular curriculum can have you feel just as short changed)   I guess my question is if I should be able to do anything with the degree, how's the best way to be taken seriously since everything I might be interested in would categorize me as an entry level employee (without direction/focus)?

     Its the same vicious cycle of getting a job to get experience to get a job that requires experience. And I don't see most employers looking for people with a 'general' degree, everyone seems to be looking for accounting majors, etc. And it seems that most places have on the job training, or have a specific way they want things done...or am I just over generalizing?????  I wouldn't mind sticking with my present employer, but there's not much room for advancement unless I move to a new area, which I'm not really keen on.  I think I'm starting to rant...

    Of course the big question is what do I want to do...? I think its a hard one to answer when I don't know what any specific job is like. I like office management, but there's usually not that much $$ to be had in it, at least not in my area. I've always joked and called myself a glorified (male) secretary  I've done bookkeeping/payroll for a tiny company, and any real accounting jobs usually require an Accounting degree. Should I keep taking a few classes here and there to supplement my degree...? But again, what direction am I going? HR, payroll, accounting.....?

   I'd like to think of myself as a quick learner, and can usually figure things out on my own if I'm stuck on a problem. Maybe I'm not marketing myself better....?   Should I be happy that I still have a job and stop obsessing until the right job seems to come along?  I need something more "fulfilling"...or is that just a word that people call being overworked..?

  Yes, I've been ranting *sigh*

Wednesday, February 13, 2008