The Beast

I definitely need to come up with a long term vision before I go do something. I'm not trying to escape the workforce, but I am wanting to be on a path where I will be paid more, get out of making cold calls and have a career I feel satisfied or happy going to each day. In terms of what would make me happy, I am sure something where I work alongside with and not pitching ideas to would be more fulfilling, which is why admissions, guidance counseling or working in health care would suit me. The job itself that I have right now is tough when I am not making enough to support myself or pay bills if I was on my own. One person in particular in my office keeps getting promoted because her department (kind of like sales) is thriving and bringing in business. The rest of us (social media, customer service, public relations) aren't getting raises, which sucks since we're on hourly pay. With regards to the months spent at the first job, I wanted to know if an employer would view 6-8 months as being a legitimate amount of time to leave a first job for another job. My sister left hers after a year, but at least Enterprise paid her decently before she departed for Groupon. Maybe instead of school I will just have to volunteer on my nights off or do a crap ton of informational interviews and networking since I don't want to do PR at my next job. Perhaps an alternate option to going back to school is a crap ton of networking to get people to know, "Hey, I can adapt to the position you can offer (HR, IT, Higher Education) because I can learn anything on the spot. Yes I am aware none of my work experience is directly applicable." @Disco72, it's always nice to fall into a career you really enjoy.

Appreciate the post, Disco72. There's some sound advice there that I will consider going forward. I decided to try PR because I know a lot of business and journalism majors end up there since they have skills for it (persuasion, writing). To be honest, I'm not the sales type and don't see myself staying in PR for five years. That said, I was thinking of what was growing - healthcare or just something I was considering higher education. Since I am not the best in the sciences (although A&P might be easier than I think), I don't think I could be a nurse, but I could work on the admin side of a hospital in...HR or purchasing, maybe. I may have changed my major from education in college, but I still think I would be a good guidance or admissions counselor. Seeing kids succeed and find the right fit for them would be satisfying. What did you teach a class on? That sounds like something I really would be interested in. Maybe getting the MBA or something that would allow me to teach at a college would be ideal.

Not sure who is reading this but I wondered if someone could chime in. Nearly a year has passed since I graduated and since then, I have had three internships and one job that I consider an entry level position. I'm working in an in-house corporate PR position, something that I didn't go to school for and am vastly underpaid in. The company I work for has only given raises to those who are in sales, while I was told I would be given a raise after three months. Three months came and went and still, I have no raise. I'm writing this because I am coming up on six months and wondered if it was time to start looking for something else. I have some ideas for grad school since having the MBA would be nice to have if I went to work in health care, or going to get a master's in something related to secondary or higher education might be more fulfilling. I am debt free and am willing to work in retail or something else because I am making the same money in my current job (so it's not like I'm taking a paycut). I guess I have three questions for all of you are: How long should you stay at your first job, six months or one year? When did you decide it was time to go back to school and why did you? Would you make a leap to school or quit a current position without having another job lined up? Thanks for your time.

Was at the game today and was thinking about the attendance and this team. What does this team remind you of? "The kids can play?" Here's to hoping attendance averages 20,000, some of these pitching prospects pan out and they find a replacement for when Konerko is retired. This team has to decide what their identity will be...seems like they can only win if there's a home run involved. Too many men left on base today.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 28, 2012 -> 03:15 AM) Well, I currently have one part time job and one paid internship which starts Monday, and I'm waiting to hear back from another (really, really good) part time job. Are you going to the White Sox career day on May 24? That's a possibility for you since other organizations will be there.

I've got to defriend Joe Cowley on Facebook. He tries to rile up all of the Sox fans as he clearly sucks as a columnist so he has to fill Mariotti's role. 2 of 3 is rather good, and they strung so many hits together against Valverde so that was a plus. I went to the game yesterday and sat next to a bunch of Detroit fans who said they are worried about the White Sox out of all of the other teams, in addition to disagreeing with the notion that they will win the division by 10 games. Did anyone catch Ohman talking to Venture as he was taken out? Seems like there was some disagreement there about how he was being used.

What would be your grade for Buehrle being let go?

How easy is it to get loans for grad school? I'd imagine it is just like getting loans for undergrad, but I don't know that for a fact.

Good point. Let's say in that scenario he'd get 80 RBI. Or just raise his batting average to .260. Did Kenny Williams join the other Chicago GMs by acquiring a player well past his prime?

Over. He'll hit .235 with 25 HR, 100 RBI and strike out 165 times.

Does anyone have information on that bus that operates from Oakbrook to the game? I could never find it but heard this bus exists.

Not sure how many people I will reach with posts, but here's my thoughts. I am working in an entry level position with a startup in Chicago and I am doing a job that I have only three months of experience in. It isn't that difficult - write press releases, post them to the wire, monitor the media mentions of competitors and our industry and reach out to journalists or media outlets when you have news. The issue with this job? I am a self starter that takes new tasks, but I need a manager or boss that has experience in media relations given that my current boss doesn't know dick about PR. I feel like I sit there on certain days just trying to think of things to do when there's nothing to pitch. The unfortunate thing is that our founders think that the press releases we put out are newsworthy, when they most certainly are not. I get the "you're getting experience," "you could get big with the startup" and "you're learning" responses, but I haven't learned anything since October and I have three internships under my belt. Would you stay here since the economy is "that bad?" Or should I continue working till my review or six months while studying for the GRE and start looking for a new job in the meantime?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 07:20 PM) Do you and Greg have an Ozzie Supporters Forever FB group? No, I have a Kenny Williams sucks club with myself. Don't associate me with Greg.

"Bud, what would you say about the mess our organization has been put in, having spent money on long term contracts for underachieving ball players? Is there a way to cleanse the organization of bad leadership (who canned the wrong man in Guillen), maintain payroll and still be a competitive team?"

Lets hope this isn't like the Mike Sirotka for David Wells trade. Why does KW have a woody for trading with the Blue Jays?

Nice salary dump for two pitchers. Viciedo can hit, but can he play right field well?

There's no issue in making Penn State jokes - I use Sandusky's name all the time now (i.e. The Bears will get Sandusky'd by Tim Tebow this weekend). - $1 hot dog Thursdays each Thursday. - Post a promotion only on social media for games during the week that they know will not sell well and offer $7-$10 upper deck seats and $7-$10 off on lower deck seats. - Make Kid's Days like they used to be...reduced price tickets (I think it was a dollar per ticket if you were under 13) and get the players to sign autographs. - Bring back Fuji Film Photo Day.

Although I'm a bit upset that the White Sox lost Buehrle to free agency, I am glad that they aren't adding to the payroll to make things complicated. If it is truly time to rebuild, they may as well dump one of Floyd or Danks and try to revamp the outfield since Tank and Quentin have no business being out there in left and right together. What holes do the Sox have left to fill?

Here's the current scenario. I will be ending my internship with WC, a PR job where I make a lot of calls and write a lot of pitches to get the media to cover the client's news, rather soon. At CT, I will be working to do the same thing but to get coverage for the company, and will be working alongside someone who worked at Edelman. She's only contracting till the end of the year, after which I hope they hire someone to be my boss because I'm not ready to take on a role where I head a department after only three months of PR experience. Since this job will pay hourly and I make less than I would at an entry level job, is it okay to work for 6 months to a year for this place after being hired before leaving to go elsewhere? Also take into consideration that I am taking this job because I don't know what else to pursue right now and a lot of my skills align with the position, even if I'm not convincing on the phone. I actually don't really like making calls all that much and get better results through emailing pitches. Are there any skills from an entry level job where research, data entry, social media and writing could be useful in the next stage? I'm trying to find another job in the future that won't require me cold calling at all. And if I can't find something like that in this economy, what is a good thing to go back to school for right now? My undergrad is in business and I don't have loans to pay off.

Group rates also fell 18 percent. They must know they will suck this year or something.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Oct 18, 2011 -> 01:08 PM) If I read his post correctly, the internship that is currently unpaid is the one that wants to hire him. I'd see if there was a way they could just hire you now; in the very least, let you continue your current setup until the paid internship (WC) runs out, and start the pseudo-filltime paid gig with CT. Yes farmteam, you have it correct. I doubt they could just hire me now before the end of the internship, but I am trying to convince them that working at the paid internship (WC) benefits CT since I would have four months of PR skills under my belt. After sitting in on a meeting with their PR agency today, there's no question that I will need all of the help I can get to do a good job for them. Learning more about PR from my experiences at the agency (pitching, written pitches, news releases, fact sheets) will all come more naturally with finishing the paid internship. I offered to try to leave my other internship two weeks earlier so I could start full-time in December and work more days close to Thanksgiving when business is expected to just take off. And I also offered to work Saturdays which isn't uncommon for a start-up. Hopefully this will work for them - this is what I had emailed over to the acting HR rep and the co-founder tonight.

I am working at two internships. Let's put it this way - one is paid (WC) and another one is unpaid (CT). WC's internship ends December 16 and CT's ends November 10. On multiple occasions, I have been approached by management at the small internet start-up (CT) to work for them as what they described to be a full-time paid internship. Basically you are a full-time employee but the pay is mediocre and there are no insurance benefits. The issue is that they would like me to join them before WC's internship ends and work for them, OR work 3 days a week with them instead of the 2 that I do and work on that schedule until I work full-time in December (when WC expires). Personally, I like making money, and am not sure if it is a better option to leave the one that pays until it is over in its entirety. WC will not hire me on, but it is nice to keep saving money instead of working for free and logging 1 day more at the place that doesn't pay. I also want to add that CT has no HR department, has not given me a job description or details on what I would be paid. I want to work for CT after the other internship ends, but management keeps asking me to log more time at their place when they won't pay me. Should I see if I can work on an alternative schedule (2 days at CT one week and three at CT the next) until the other internship expires? Should I join up with CT now and ask to be paid? Or should I see if CT will extend my internship until December 16 and then hire me on? EDIT: CT's full-time position would entail PR related work, which is something I am interested in. It also seems that the other interns are not interested in this position so I could be in demand.

I am interning for CouponTrade, but those at the site might want to get involved with their affiliate marketing program. Basically, for each cost per action (sale), by posting the advertisement for CT on your site, you get money. Google it and check it out, maybe the account manager might be able to work something out with you. Just a thought.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 12, 2011 -> 06:54 PM) If the sox want more attendance, lower the ticket prices. Would this actually work and could they make enough revenue to put out a team with a payroll of, say, $100 million?

I got called into this season ticketholder conference call even though I am not a season ticketholder. It must mean that they are having problems selling tickets - big surprise. Anyway, I listened in and there wasn't anything that we didn't know or the least bit interesting. Basically he was a cheerleader for re-signing Buehrle and says he wants Dunn to relax this off-season. A ton of fans were real conservative on the call and didn't ask about Dunn or Rios. He dodged all of the questions regarding the roster changes in the off-season as I had expected.