The WTF are u doing with your life thread

[timber]

I've been dirt poor for the last year, paying off my terrible school debts, selling all my shit and living mostly on rice/veggies. I've probably spent less than fifty dollars on clothing in the last year, sames goes for anything other than food and rent. Missing every single concert and event that comes into town because of never having cash.

But starting in July, I landed a five week contract as a script supervisor on a kid's tv show. Full time, $25/hr. And they have this health food catering company feeding us always.

Then I have another job lined up for September-December as a 'Social Media Liaison,' where I'm creating video content for a environmental television show.

Then I have a paid internship from January-March at the National Film Board of Canada.

AGFH, so as I'm selling the last of my dvds/video games/camera equipment to pay this month's rent, I keep telling myself -- just a few more months....

[ohsnap]

some internship at this kids' books publishing company just popped up.

what to do, what to do. it's mostly bitchwork, though.

fuck it, let's try and see what i can do with this.

[southfive]

Wasted my time in high school, skipped out on scholarship/college day in favor of sleep and/or skipping school to smoke weed. Took a pathetic amount of time to finish my AA degree while working a couple of jobs. The last job bummed me out so much that I was blessed with the motivation to say "fuck this" and finish college. I move back out in August to complete a degree in Computer Science.

I guess I got a nice, new, reliable car out of the years wasted, but living paycheck to paycheck to blow it all on a shitty apartment with shitty roommates and shitty weed is not the most financially-sound way to go in your early 20's. Oh but do continue to buy jawnz.

haha mirror image of my last few years, except i moved around a lot with friends. quit smoking weed because i was becoming quite dependent on it, and it wasn't doing shit for me. waaaste of money.

now im moving in with my girlfriend in a week in new york. will probably continue going for school, as soon as i find a major thats worth a shit. not really convinced that any degree will do anything for me, and this pessimistic ass thread doesn't help.

[tac0tron]

Right now a student working on getting into the UCLA Architecture program. As for a job, i'm currently a Student Ambassador for my community college. I get paid too much for what I have to do.

[haploid]

broooooo, chill with the guilt. u just livin life (shorty i'm just living life)

also: u the man!

also (x2) everyone who gave me such dope advice: u the man!

[longrun]

Writing the CFA Level One exam next Saturday. Anyone else?

[robgotsastaplerr]

here's my basic hit list of things in a BA that are worth taking in terms of making you a smart, rigorous thinker with some reasonably practical skills for the job market.

start by taking a few economics courses -- at a minimum, some intro micro and macro. they're useful for signalling purposes, if nothing else. they show you can do some basic math, and employers are under the mistaken impression that economics is like 'business'.

take all the social psych you can get. judgement, decision making, persuasion, social influence, attitude change. these are useful in almost any career you can think of.

stats. take your stats courses in a psych department, because they'll teach you how to do experiments and run statistics, but the profs' baseline assumption will probably be that you're innumerate and can't do math to save your life (which is nice).

philosophy. logic. symbolic logic, particularly. this is usually offered in a philosophy department. sometimes it's joint with computer science. difficult but teaches you to think really rigorously. also, get an ethics course or two. business ethics or biomedical ethics are great. they are useful (every firm deals with social-responsibility issues), and they tend to be easier than the regular ethics classes, because they're filled with business or medical students who want simple, practical stuff instead of high-octane metaphysics.

sociology. don't cop out and do the "sociology of modern fashion" bullshit ones. do something like sociology-of-health or sociology-of-education. you're going to get similar training (ooh, social structures!) in either, but the latter makes you look less flaky. do the 'sociology of science' or 'sociology of knowledge' course because it will be hard but make you a more critical thinker.

history. blah blah blah doomed to repeat it. plus, in general, the essays for history classes teach you to write clearly and persuasively.

political science. take something on international trade or int'l institutions, and something on public policy. if you ever want to be a civil servant, everyone in washington took polisci as a major and likes to pretend it's useful training.

business. don't major in business, ffs. but take one or two intro courses. they're easy, and they'll make you look somewhat employable. (if you can take an operations or optimization class, do it. if you're good at math, at least.)

computer science. maybe. i dunno. half the time, you'll just learn pseudocode, and it requires a shit-ton of math. if you want a tech job, you can teach yourself some python or ruby or something in your spare time instead. i dunno, whatever.

communications. see business, above. these courses are scraping the bottom of the academic barrel (seriously, have you ever met a communication major with two brain cells to rub together?), but there's signalling value, and you'll likely get a little practical "public affairs/public relations" type training.

so let's say that you take 4 courses a term, two terms a year, times 4 years? that's like 32 courses. take the ones above to make yourself slightly less useless, then use the other half to study things that you really love/enjoy/are passionate about. (oh and pick a major carefully, just because employers actually look at it like it matters, despite it not really mattering at all).

this was a really fun read, and overall i agree with it. don't fuckin bother with a minor and instead focus on being a bit of a renaissance man like this. jack of all trades, master of...one, being your major. don't fuck that up.

edit: oh and for the love of god, don't major in psych in the US. that is a lawlzy major for lazy fucks or weirdos who fuckin love trivia.

[dismalfuture]

In a few weeks I am taking my first trip back to America in three years (since me and winq came here on a quest to see Daul Kim) and I'm gonna do misc stuff in America for a month, and then when I come back after summer I'm moving to Tokyo for good, and coming back to Seoul for a few days every couple weeks, and living my life at home or out of a weekender.

Should be pretty good, this is this kind of stuff I wanted. My girlfriend is getting a new modeling/lifestylist job for a women's magazine and so she will have an income finally, and I will have endless shit i can sell to housewives of Japan via product placements in my house. lol. Finally gonna get a house and nice furniture and stuff on my own doing, get the kind of car I like, and have a place I can call my home, which is about the first time I can say so in my adult life, and I'm turning 30 this year. I might be behind schedule compared to the dudes who forgot to have fun, but I think I am moving at a nice clip.

[shufon]

Roadtripping for half of June, then coming back to Ithaca and doing research for a hedge fund + taking a programming class for the rest of the summer. Moving to NYC in mid-late August to start a different master's program at Columbia and hopefully an internship at Legg Mason at the same time.

Even with all of this happening, I kinda realized recently that I've outgrown my interest in finance and I no longer see it as something I actually want to do, rather just a means to an end. I feel like it's too late to turn back so I'm just going ahead full steam and hoping for the best.

[ericsena]

Found an apartment, with two old high-school buddies. One is unsure he can get financial aid, another is getting money but is a little odd. Found out today my father has to co-sign the lease. Not even entirely sure if it's worth it. Did I mention it's 3 people in a one bedroom apartment.

[ohsnap]

with all my bitching about finance and not being able to find an internship, i got a letter from my supervisor asking me if i wanted to teach tennis again this summer

loved it last summer and i'm gunning for this. now, i'm just looking for something i can do from 1PM onwards 5 days a week, june to august.

also on the roster to write for this new blog that'll offer help to high school kids who are working on their college apps/the whole college admissions process.

[gettoasty]

i am full of envy drew, and it'll be all great shufon!*

^ don't do it dude, single room apartment with 3 people!! ??

[mr.invincible]

Right now a student working on getting into the UCLA Architecture program. As for a job, i'm currently a Student Ambassador for my community college. I get paid too much for what I have to do.

gl with that! i am working on grad school for arch!

[poshpol]

I've been dirt poor for the last year, paying off my terrible school debts, selling all my shit and living mostly on rice/veggies. I've probably spent less than fifty dollars on clothing in the last year, sames goes for anything other than food and rent. Missing every single concert and event that comes into town because of never having cash.

But starting in July, I landed a five week contract as a script supervisor on a kid's tv show. Full time, $25/hr. And they have this health food catering company feeding us always.

Then I have another job lined up for September-December as a 'Social Media Liaison,' where I'm creating video content for a environmental television show.

Then I have a paid internship from January-March at the National Film Board of Canada.

AGFH, so as I'm selling the last of my dvds/video games/camera equipment to pay this month's rent, I keep telling myself -- just a few more months....

PROPS on the internship at the NFB. i applied for a job there a couple years back in film archiving but lost the job to someone with ~40 years of negative cutting. ah well.

congrats again, enjoy it there

[shufon]

Roadtripping for half of June, then coming back to Ithaca and doing research for a hedge fund + taking a programming class for the rest of the summer. Moving to NYC in mid-late August to start a different master's program at Columbia and hopefully an internship at Legg Mason at the same time.

Even with all of this happening, I kinda realized recently that I've outgrown my interest in finance and I no longer see it as something I actually want to do, rather just a means to an end. I feel like it's too late to turn back so I'm just going ahead full steam and hoping for the best.

Scratch this, still going to Columbia but decided to say fuck it to corporate. Working with another friend in finance on just going ahead and starting our own financial firm. It's already in motion, just have to get legal stuff taken care of now. Will hopefully be a fully functioning entity by the time I finish my master's.

[goat]

Writing the CFA Level One exam next Saturday. Anyone else?

Goodluck

a good friend of mine is writing that as well (his second crack at it)

don't worry - it only gets harder from there

[shufon]

^Level one is not so bad, level 2 is the real problem. If you get past level 2, level 3 is not much different from what I've heard.

[ohsnap]

Scratch this, still going to Columbia but decided to say fuck it to corporate. Working with another friend in finance on just going ahead and starting our own financial firm. It's already in motion, just have to get legal stuff taken care of now. Will hopefully be a fully functioning entity by the time I finish my master's.

if i don't leave the finance world in a few years, i'm applying for an internship at your firm

belee dat

[shufon]

Your cooking skills will be tested during the interview.

[redX]

asked one of my chemistry tutors if he could recommend me some contacts for an internship and one email and 3 days later i have a job for the summer.

can't quite believe this is happening so easy

[bfan]

I'm going to intern at a company in asia this summer! micro fluidics designed to test peoples allergies. pretty happy because I only got one call back for an interview for other internships I applied to and it was looking like everything was falling through

[OkayOkay]

up until a month ago I thought I had everything figured out, then the script got flipped and I have absolutely no idea :/

[lumberjack]

fuck uni I just want to skateboard

[redX]

just went to an interview with my future boss and had kind of a chat with him and some colleagues. sounds like i got the internship and this summer will be more about analytical chemistry (i already did 2 internships in the same area)

i'm excited - i guess. still kinda shocked how quick that went

[i wear shooes]

getting drunk on a weekday while applying for internships online.....s.ss

[freecat]

sounds cool redX

[jayrock]

Alright, I'm about to drop a serious superconfessional level post in here, so bear with me... (cliffs at the bottom)

My whole life, I've never really wanted to "be anything" growing up, aside from a jet fighter pilot. I quickly came to the realization that I was too tall, with too poor of eyesight for that to play out, and have never really had any strong ambitions one way or another as far as a career was concerned. I visited art school, but eventually decided against that route because of the outrageous tuition. I graduated from my small high school as valedictorian, and enrolled in the state university taking 20 transfer credits from AP classes with me.

Once enrolled in college, I started soaking up all the fun experiences that people go to college for -- meeting new people, trying new things, learning as much as I can about whatever I wanted. I was really enjoying the liberal arts education that I was receiving, as I found topics like history and philosophy to be fascinating. That being said, I was still unsure of a career path at this time, and was actually open option until my junior year. Well, you eventually get to a point where they make you pick a major, so I was soon to be open option seeking technical journalism. I didn't particularly enjoy journalism, and have never had any strong ambitions to become a journalist, and to be quite frank, I kind of despise the field. I only picked that major because they had some video editing classes for the video production concentration, and I thought, "Hey, this might be cool."

College was easier than high school IMO, even though I'm not sure how that worked out. I basically phoned in the entire experience, and never got a grade below a B, eventually graduating with a not-to-stellar but not-to-horrible undergrad GPA of 3.55. Writing papers the night before they were due and studying for tests the night before was standard operating procedure.

Upon graduation, I was unemployed for approximately 5-6 months, but I did have a couple interviews at a company that is an HD cable channel. I won't go into the full details of the company, as it's not really relevant, but needless to say I eventually got a job there as a Production Assistant for a news and documentary program. I was ecstatic... mostly to just finally be employed full-time, but also because it was the best position out of all three that I had interviewed for at the same company.

Starting my new "career" I definitely took the mantra that I was "working to live" and not "living to work," mostly because the pay was crap, I didn't have a work dress code at all, and the work environment was extremely laid back. I thought that I was on the career path that I wanted to be on, but I was slowly coming to the realization that this was just a J-O-B and not exactly a great way to move forward within the industry. Of course, a lot of this all falls on the individual and their personal drive, so I definitely accept part of the blame for that. After a couple years at this position, I did apply for an Associate Producer position within the promotions department, but was unfortunately denied the opportunity. The real sucky part of that situation, was that HR didn't even contact me to let me know they hired someone else, I heard it through the grapevine when another co-worker expressed his condolences that I hadn't received the position, much to my surprise. Anyway, "Oh well," I thought. I like my department much better than the promotions department anyway, so this isn't a huge loss, but I was becoming increasingly frustrated with the fact that I was stuck at the PA position with seemingly no way to move up within the company, despite being pitched the "there is lots of opportunity to move up within the company, we run a flat management system so everyone carries their own" BS fed to me from HR when I first got hired on.

This was all going on from late 2006 though about 2010. Fast forward to the end of last year. I was pretty frustrated with the job, mostly for payscale reasons, as I knew how much others were making and felt I was getting shafted. I tried to take inventory of all the positive aspects of the job, but the fact remained that I was entirely fed up with the job, and to an extent, the entire company. I consider many of my co-workers great friends, and you build really close relationships working to closely with people over the years. But as of late, things were getting progressively worse. The way the company was ran, the constant gossiping and shit-talking behind everyones' backs, and constant complaining about work at the lunch table and water cooler were slowly chipping away at my morale. I was able to convince myself that "I like my job" despite the fact that every time I talked to someone and they asked what I was doing, I would die a little bit inside when I told them essentially the same thing I had been doing since college. I was on auto-pilot.

Last October, during my anniversary hiring date, I scheduled a meeting with the director of operations to ask for a raise. The company does not provide annual reviews in any form, and instead dishes out the typical 3% cost-of-living allowance each year, except a year or two ago when it was frozen because of "this economy" of whatever the fuck. Anyway, I stated my case that I held MUCH more responsibility and contributed more than a standard PA. I was essentially doing associate producer and assistant editor tasks on top of the mundane administrative crap you have to do as a PA. I plead my case, and promptly lost as I was told that they don't give out merit raises. The kicker of the conversation being when the manager I spoke with said something along the lines of, "Look, I know you want to move up/on to something better. But the hard fact is, that opportunity might not exist here." I took the denial for a raise a bit hard at first, and immediately started contacting my brother who lived out in California at the time saying I was going to try and move out there for employment. Deep down I was pissed. I had given four years of my life to this company, and for what? So they could keep hiring young people and paying them like shit?

Anyway, I eventually sucked it up and went back to work. I really did enjoy the many great people that I was able to work with, including freelance producers, photographers, editors, etc. But I wasn't learning anything new. I was doing the same thing every week, just with different stories/topics. That said, I figured I would just keep my nose to the grindstone, put in my 9-5, and accept that I currently have a job and not a career. This did not last long.

...

[jayrock]

I was laid off in early May. I was in my office on Monday afternoon, trying to get everything that was needed for our new show that airs on Tuesday ready. This includes a myriad of things like credit lists, VO for open/teases, scripts for closed captioning, and other miscellaneous production needs. At about 4:30pm one of the HR directors calls me into his office, and I go in and sit down next to the other HR lady and they close the door. "How are you doing?" they ask, and I reply, "Well, I was doing pretty good up until about 2 minutes ago when you called me in here." They then proceeded to tell me that they have to let me go. I was shocked at first, but they reiterated that this was a decision that came down from the executive producer of the show, and there was nothing they could do. I was so surprised at first, because in typical fashion, I never heard two words out of this guy until I was sitting in a meeting with HR. (Tangent: He pulled the same bullshit HR meeting a year or two earlier with me and another associate producer, both of whom had been with the show longer than he had. He basically tried to get the other AP to quit when he first got hired on, like some crazy emotional abuse stuff. It was obvious he was trying to bring in his own people.) The real cherry on top of the HR meeting was they told me straight up, "There is no path for advancement here. We are essentially an engineering company, and we hire all of our producers from the outside." Which was fine with me, because at that point I realized this isn't what I wanted out of my future.

The first week was rough. I basically had a small mental breakdown and didn't even leave my apartment for a few days. I beat myself up emotionally, which I'm sure anyone who gets laid off does to a certain extent, but I eventually began to realize this might be the greatest thing that could happen to me. I was awarded a severance package, meaning I was let go and not fired with cause so this really wasn't a black mark on my employment history. And I qualified for unemployment benefits, of which I have yet to receive any because of the severance. The real black mark though, is that I was in practically the same position for the past 4 years and 8 months, and although my responsibilities and contributions varied greatly along that timeline, I was not awarded any title changes or increased compensation. Of course, being young and naive, I thought there was a good possibility that I could spend a large chunk of my working career at the same company, and that staying at one place over four years would be a good testament to my commitment to the job and company. Being a few years older now, I realize that is all bullshit and if anyone reading this should learn anything from my lesson it's this -- fuck the corporate world, they are only there to use you then toss you aside. Always keep your options open, and actively seek to improve your current position, even if you are currently happy with your standing. This was a hard lesson for me to learn, but my brother had been going to multiple job interviews ever since he first got hired so I could have taken his advice, but more on that later...

Right now, I'm essentially at a holding point. I'm obviously applying for jobs, preferably within my industry, but they seem to be few and far between. Every other job seems to want 1-3 years of experience for that damn entry level position, so basically I don't know what to do. I mentioned earlier that my brother had constantly kept his options open, and he just recently made the transition from working in the health and exercise industry to B2B sales and he is doing great. He is incredibly charismatic and can play the aggressive salesman role to the T. Right now he is trying to transition into wholesaling annuities or something financial like that were his potential earnings could be massive. Additionally, he has begun studying for the Series 7 test and some other crap I can't remember. The only reason I'm going into such great detail about his life, as this transformation he is going through is incredibly inspiring to me at the moment. Basically, I'm at the point where I want to take a page from my brother's book and attempt a career change. I know that's not a real drastic approach, given that in today's world the average person changes careers 3-4 times, but I'm almost positive that I no longer wish to pursue a career in my current field of television/media production. I don't want to be a producer or editor, and I rarely watch television... so I don't feel as though I'm contributing much of anything to society in that industry. Besides, I'd rather watch stupid videos on YouTube all day than anything on cable.

Which career am I changing to? That part, I am currently unsure about. I would definitely consider going to grad school, but it has to be something I can commit to or something that could provide a solid career path, because I'm definitely not taking on that debt for some bullshit liberal arts MA. I thought about just getting another shitty job and rolling with that for awhile, but at age 27 I figure it's now or never. If I'm going to do this, I might as well start now, so I don't continue procrastinating like I have for the past 7-8 years. The most serious option I'm considering is going back to school to fill the prerequisites required to sit for the CPA and hopefully making a transition into accounting. I'm looking at some MACC programs (Master of Accountancy) simply because the additional grad courses will fulfill the 150 credit hours required to sit for the CPA in most states. Accounting might seem like a big leap, but I feel that it is a profession that is compatible to my strengths and personality. I have some family and a lot of friends in the field, so I'm generally aware of what is required for that industry and feel that it is something I could be successful at. I'm scared to death of moving into sales for whatever reason, and although I could just get another job-job the idea that I might only be making $15/hour five years from now is unacceptable. In a perfect world I would start my own business, but the barrier to entry and lack of ideas is really holding me back. But that is a long-term goal of mine, and I feel that for the first time in my life I'm actually starting to think long-term and that's where the CPA comes in as that opens a lot of doors, and the general accounting background that you acquire is a solid foundation on which all businesses are ran.

So, that's it. That's WTF I'm doing with my life at this point. I met with an accounting adviser and the admissions office at a city college earlier this morning to get some more information. The only problem being, the deadline for fall semester is July 1 so if I'm jumping ship right now I'll have to make that decision here pronto. Either that, or sit back for another semester and flush out all my other options, as I'm still not entirely sure of the complications that might arise with unemployment if I try to enroll as a full-time student. I've thrown around other options such as IT certification or even getting a CDL license... but I just don't like the long-term options they provide nearly as much. I was considering ESL overseas, but feel that would just continue putting off my life and I know I need to challenge myself to achieve something greater. I know that I shouldn't go into a field unless it's something I absolutely love, but I don't think I'll be able to know that about accounting until I get some more experience under my belt. If I end up hating it, then onto the next one I guess. That said, I'm a firm believer that everyone hates their job sometimes, and at this point I'm resigned to living the life of a boring white-collar worker, so long as it provides some security and opportunities for the future.

Thanks for reading. If there's anything I want people to learn from my experience it's the following:

-ALWAYS keep your options open, and continue looking for the next best thing

-SAVE as much money as you can, because you never know when you might need it

-you can save a ton of money by buying groceries

tl;dr cliffs: don't know what I want to be when I grow up, worthless liberal arts BA, no career path, laid off, collecting unemployment, deciding on next step in life

[goat]

damn jayrock

that's definitely a hard pill to swallow

I can speak on the accounting / masters part

and I can remind you of one thing: accountants are needed in every industry. So you can stay in the media industry (if your heart desires) and play a different role. having knowledge of a specific industry and how it works is a great asset when it comes to accounting.

the other option would be to do an MBA, focusing on Art & Media (the business side of it). Again, you'd stay in the same field, but you'd have the business knowledge and industry experience to be a project manager / consultant.

I think the most you can take away from this is the experience you gained (even if you remained stagnant) in your 5 years about the Media industry.

I can say without a doubt that I got accepted into my MBA due to my experience more than my education / grade on the GMAT.

That might be something you might want to build on.

If you want to go to a completely different industry, then best of luck.

[jayrock]

I can speak on the accounting / masters part

and I can remind you of one thing: accountants are needed in every industry.

Yeah this is definitely one of the reasons I'm attracted to the profession. Every business needs accountants, so in addition to a presumably stable job market, the opportunity exists to learn and work in a variety of industries. Like I said, starting my own business is a long-term goal of mine, and I feel that this might be the best investment moving forward, as far as expected value is concerned.

Thanks for the support everyone, I genuinely appreciate it.