J is for...jobs
How many people end up in a job in the field you studied in College?
According to a study in November 2013 on CareerBuilder, 1/3rd of college grads will never work in the field they studied in school. I personally graduated with a degree in pharmacy, took the boards, got a job at a retail pharmacy in Michigan, but found that it was not for me.
I'll leave the details of why pharmacists deserve more respect for another blog post.
After my year in pharmacy, we moved to Austin, TX and I began taking classes in Engineering Design Graphics. The classes taught me how to use AutoCAD to draw up architect and engineer plans. Then it was a matter of the right place, right time. I was offered a job at the college to manage the continuing education classes and later asked to teach a semester long class for the community college. I truly loved my job and the people I worked with. But soon it was time to start a family and so we moved back to the midwest to be closer to family. And unfortunately, the midwest is less liberal with offering jobs to quality people without a pedigree of job experience. But that was alright because I soon found myself pregnant and well on my way to mommyhood.
Three kids and 14 years later, they are all now in school for 9 months out of the year, giving me time to write books. The first book I wrote was to pay homage to a family that came to our aid during a difficult time. It was a very short story that I self-published. I did not intend on making millions off the book, rather, I wrote it to honor the folks who were so helpful to my family during that time. But I loved it...the writing and creating, and will continue writing as long as life allows it.
What will yo be when you grow up?
8 comments:
I had a post very much like this for the letter E, to spell Engineer. I studied to be one, and now I work in a reasonably related field :) So glad to hear about your book! Dropping by from https://sujataravi6.wordpress.com/ for the A-Z Challenge.
Thank you. Even though I didn't stay in pharmacy, the degree opened a lot of doors and helped me understand medical issues my kids face. I jumped over to your blog and the book you're reading sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out.
Just over 50yrs old, I've had a few jobs. What do I want to be or do when I grow up? I still haven't decided.
Mary
#AtoZChallenge J is for Jewel
I'm still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up, and I'm 46.
My ultimate dream job is to be a writer. Or to inherit a couple million dollars.
Either one seems just as viable at the moment.
I'm 42. I had studied at some sort of a college for civil servants. Since then I work in this job. It's good to have a regular income to be able to travel and to have different hobbies. Two years ago I started horse riding. I dream of visiting the northeast point of Europe, the Nordkap. I still sleep in hostels from time to time and my last vacation included a night ride in the bus. I try to avoid Muggles (Geocaching) and looked for Robin Hood in Nottingham... Oh, I really hope I will never grow up! ;-)
ClaoWue
from
Potpourri
Life takes you places you never thought of. For me, I discovered a big job of my life never delivers a paycheck but it is an important job nonetheless.
Cheers, visiting from A to Z.
I went to chiropractic college. Practiced for seven years and that was it. 12 years later I'm a part time personal trainer trying to launch a writing career. Only because the acting career and the rock star gig didn't pan out. So now I here. Hi there, fellow challenger!
Tom
I went to college twice. The first time to get licensed to do what I wanted to do (work offshore on ships).
The second time I went back just to satisfy my grandmother who insisted I 'had to have a college degree". When I told her I already had one, she said that one 'didn't count". She insisted I would never get a good job if I didn't have that college degree. When I told her I already had a good job, a very good job (captain of a supply boat), she poo-pooed that. In the end, I went back to school. I wanted to get something useful, so I went for chemical engineering (since I live around a lot of chemical plants). I wanted a degree that would help me get a good (better) job. After 3 years of chemical engineering program, I finally figured out that job was NOT something I wanted to do. So I switched majors to math since it was the easiest way for me to finish up and get a degree.
I have never seen one job I could use that degree for (without going back for even more school). I went back to sea and never looked back.
I have been doing what I wanted to since then (sailing), until I got laid off recently when the price of oil dropped like a rock and haven't been able to find a job since.
Now I'm trying to figure out what ELSE I want to be. I'm working on "travel writer/photographer/blogger". All I have to do now is figure out how to earn a living doing that. ;-)
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