Job Hunt Thread

[dasox24]

ATL? Let me check if it doesnt matter where you are located.

Yep. Thanks Rock.

[cabiness42]

Anybody want to be a partner-sales rep/relationship manager for a software company? Open position in the midwest.

 

Other than me not being good at selling things and not wanting to travel much for work, it sounds perfect!

[cabiness42]

I have no sales experience, want to hire me? Im good at convincing people of doing things I want.

 

That's not what she said.

[Steve9347]

This actually sounds right up my alley. But I'm not particularly looking to relocate to the Midwest. Bummer.

 

I am starting the process of looking around, though. I'm about fed up with my company. In a way, it's stressful because I've only been with one company since I graduated. On the other hand, I feel pretty confident about finding something better. Also, I've never had to deal with trying to do one job while interviewing for others.

That's what sick days are for...

[dasox24]

That's what sick days are for...

Oh, I know. It's just that I haven't taken a sick day in 2.5 years, and I hate doing it. It feels so sketchy unless you're actually sick. But when I do inevitably take one to interview elsewhere, I guess I don't have to feel too bad since: 1) I'm trying to leave my company, and 2) I never miss work so it would seem legit.

[Steve9347]

I have no sales experience, want to hire me? Im good at convincing people of doing things I want.

We're looking for sales people. Most of them are f***ing terrible.

 

Email me if serious.

[The Beast]

So I generally just lurk on the boards these days, but I figured I'd ask for your guys' advice since I am trying to be supportive of my girlfriend who is a high school math teacher and just found out that her school is closing.

 

She's at a private (kind of like a charter) school on the south side of Chicago near UIC. It's a start up school that is only in its fourth year of operations. Unfortunately, they also get funding through CPS for their school and two Fridays ago their administration met up with who she believed were representatives of CPS for a renewal of their funding. They were basically told that they either must shut the school down or turnover the management and teachers and start anew for the next school year. It is a pretty unique situation - CPS is basing their decision on pulling their support on old scores and not on the strides they have made in recent years. Also, she's the department chair and has noticed that their new Common Core curriculum is challenging students, but they are getting results (lots of kids are failing but some are succeeding). So she found out on Tuesday and is unsure if she'll have a job come June.

 

Since I know she has a good three years of experience and has department head experience, I wondered if anyone knew where to check for some opportunities or if anyone knew of any places to check out based on personal references. I appreciate any and all suggestions - thanks in advance.

[bigruss]

Profit sharing numbers were released today, always an annual reminder why you stay at this company

[Rowand44]

So got that job I've been interviewing for. The pay isn't that much better but I got much better benefits, better hours, more vacation time, much more room for growth and it's just a very good company to be with. I start March 11th assuming I come back from St. Louis alive.

[RockRaines]

Profit sharing numbers were released today, always an annual reminder why you stay at this company

Only until we steal you away

[bigruss]

So got that job I've been interviewing for. The pay isn't that much better but I got much better benefits, better hours, more vacation time, much more room for growth and it's just a very good company to be with. I start March 11th assuming I come back from St. Louis alive.

Congrats! Still in Milwaukee?

[Rowand44]

Congrats! Still in Milwaukee?

Nah, the job has been fine but everything else was kind of a mess. I was waiting for my Rogers Park roommates to find a sub letter before I moved there and that never happened. Because I was still paying rent in RP, I never moved to Milwaukee while working there. The travel was just too much so that's why I started looking for other things and wallah. New job is in Wheeling and my lease in RP ends at the end of April so I'll see where I move from there.

 

EDIT: and thanks, I'm really excited about this one.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Rowand44

[iamshack]

So got that job I've been interviewing for. The pay isn't that much better but I got much better benefits, better hours, more vacation time, much more room for growth and it's just a very good company to be with. I start March 11th assuming I come back from St. Louis alive.

Congrats bud!

[bigruss]

Only until we steal you away

[bigruss]

Nah, the job has been fine but everything else was kind of a mess. I was waiting for my Rogers Park roommates to find a sub letter before I moved there and that never happened. Because I was still paying rent in RP, I never moved to Milwaukee while working there. The travel was just too much so that's why I started looking for other things and wallah. New job is in Wheeling and my lease in RP ends at the end of April so I'll see where I move from there.

 

EDIT: and thanks, I'm really excited about this one.

Wow yea that's a long commute, too bad you didnt get to live in Milwaukee I've had a ton of great nights there visiting friends.

[dasox24]

I'm thinking about going back to school and making a career change. Has anybody else gone through that? I'm very good at what I do, but I don't necessarily love it. It scares me to become a poor college student again after making good money, but at the same time, I think I'll always wonder "what if" if I don't do it. Am I crazy? Most of my friends I've talked to about it have told me it's a dumb idea. A few have been supportive.

 

I'm about to turn 26 and I'm feeling the pressure. I pretty much need to make some life-altering decisions in the next 6-9 months. If I don't do it by then, I think I'm stuck where I'm at. Which isn't bad. But I feel I could do more.

 

I'm thinking about going to med school, btw. I'm short about 3 semesters of credit, so I'd have to do that first before applying.

 

The fact of the matter is that I've wanted to be a Doctor for as long as I can remember, and I've always regretted giving up on that. As a 20 year old kid, I felt way overburdened and didn't want to put in the time/effort. I wanted to be social and have fun. With all the extracurriculars I was part of, plus having a job, I felt I couldn't continue the pre-med path. For a while I was happy, but my last semester of college I started regretting it. And it's been that way since. Now the feeling has grown pretty strong the last 2-3 months and I think I want to go for it. But damn, it's a big life change.

[BigHurt3515]

I'm thinking about going back to school and making a career change. Has anybody else gone through that? I'm very good at what I do, but I don't necessarily love it. It scares me to become a poor college student again after making good money, but at the same time, I think I'll always wonder "what if" if I don't do it. Am I crazy? Most of my friends I've talked to about it have told me it's a dumb idea. A few have been supportive.

 

I'm about to turn 26 and I'm feeling the pressure. I pretty much need to make some life-altering decisions in the next 6-9 months. If I don't do it by then, I think I'm stuck where I'm at. Which isn't bad. But I feel I could do more.

 

I'm thinking about going to med school, btw. I'm short about 3 semesters of credit, so I'd have to do that first before applying.

 

The fact of the matter is that I've wanted to be a Doctor for as long as I can remember, and I've always regretted giving up on that. As a 20 year old kid, I felt way overburdened and didn't want to put in the time/effort. I wanted to be social and have fun. With all the extracurriculars I was part of, plus having a job, I felt I couldn't continue the pre-med path. For a while I was happy, but my last semester of college I started regretting it. And it's been that way since. Now the feeling has grown pretty strong the last 2-3 months and I think I want to go for it. But damn, it's a big life change.

 

Go for your dreams!! If you have the chance and its something you want to do and feel you will love then go for it.

[pettie4sox]

I'm thinking about going back to school and making a career change. Has anybody else gone through that? I'm very good at what I do, but I don't necessarily love it. It scares me to become a poor college student again after making good money, but at the same time, I think I'll always wonder "what if" if I don't do it. Am I crazy? Most of my friends I've talked to about it have told me it's a dumb idea. A few have been supportive.

 

I'm about to turn 26 and I'm feeling the pressure. I pretty much need to make some life-altering decisions in the next 6-9 months. If I don't do it by then, I think I'm stuck where I'm at. Which isn't bad. But I feel I could do more.

 

I'm thinking about going to med school, btw. I'm short about 3 semesters of credit, so I'd have to do that first before applying.

 

The fact of the matter is that I've wanted to be a Doctor for as long as I can remember, and I've always regretted giving up on that. As a 20 year old kid, I felt way overburdened and didn't want to put in the time/effort. I wanted to be social and have fun. With all the extracurriculars I was part of, plus having a job, I felt I couldn't continue the pre-med path. For a while I was happy, but my last semester of college I started regretting it. And it's been that way since. Now the feeling has grown pretty strong the last 2-3 months and I think I want to go for it. But damn, it's a big life change.

 

26 is still young. Hell I'm going back to school to get my Ph.D next year and I'm 29. Just make sure you're doing what you want to do. You only live once.

[Steve9347]

So got that job I've been interviewing for. The pay isn't that much better but I got much better benefits, better hours, more vacation time, much more room for growth and it's just a very good company to be with. I start March 11th assuming I come back from St. Louis alive.

Congrats!

[iamshack]

I'm thinking about going back to school and making a career change. Has anybody else gone through that? I'm very good at what I do, but I don't necessarily love it. It scares me to become a poor college student again after making good money, but at the same time, I think I'll always wonder "what if" if I don't do it. Am I crazy? Most of my friends I've talked to about it have told me it's a dumb idea. A few have been supportive.

 

I'm about to turn 26 and I'm feeling the pressure. I pretty much need to make some life-altering decisions in the next 6-9 months. If I don't do it by then, I think I'm stuck where I'm at. Which isn't bad. But I feel I could do more.

 

I'm thinking about going to med school, btw. I'm short about 3 semesters of credit, so I'd have to do that first before applying.

 

The fact of the matter is that I've wanted to be a Doctor for as long as I can remember, and I've always regretted giving up on that. As a 20 year old kid, I felt way overburdened and didn't want to put in the time/effort. I wanted to be social and have fun. With all the extracurriculars I was part of, plus having a job, I felt I couldn't continue the pre-med path. For a while I was happy, but my last semester of college I started regretting it. And it's been that way since. Now the feeling has grown pretty strong the last 2-3 months and I think I want to go for it. But damn, it's a big life change.

What do you do for a living now?

 

Are you married? Do you have kids? Do you own a home? Do you have a lot of debt? What do you believe your maximum earning capacity is with your current job? How much would you like to make? How much would medical school cost? Do you have the funds to pay for it? Would you have to take out a loan? How much would that be?

 

Those are the questions you need to be asking yourself and answering.

 

At 26, my guess is you can still do it, but let's just say you go take the 3 classes you need in the fall. You then apply in the spring. By the time you start med school you'll be 27. Med school is what, 3 or 4 years? Then a few years of residency? So then you are how old when you're finally ready to start practicing and working on the enormous mountain of debt you have piled up over the previous 7 years, 34?

 

I wasn't in the exact same boat as you, but a similar one. I graduated from law school when I was 30. Then took a job at 31 which I basically knew nothing about, and had a lot of law school debt. A bit concerning, to be honest, but I didn't really want to jump into trying to practice law, because I had grown to despise law firms while working for them in law school. So I jumped into the energy/utility industry, as a trader, a position without any significant connection to my legal training. I also moved all the way across the country to do it. So definitely a bit scary, and frightening...and exciting.

 

Fast forward 6 years...I am 37 now. I certainly didn't take the traditional path of my peers. But I AM doing something I love. And I AM making the money I hoped to be making at this age when I enrolled in law school 10 years ago. I still have that mountain of law school debt, but I am whittling it down, and if I continue on this career arc I am on, I am guessing I will have it paid off within 5 years or so. Despite the law degree not having a significant effect on my career when I initially started here, it has had a huge effect on it in the past 3 years.

 

I won't tell you to do it or not do it, but ask yourself those questions. Ask whether you are willing to be patient. But do know that it is possible and it can be worth it.

 

[StrangeSox]

For some reason I thought you were younger, shack.

 

My wife quit her job to go back to school to get her teaching certificate. Granted it was only two semesters and I was still working full time, but we were trying to buy a house and were getting married in about 9 months. Plus, education hasn't exactly been a booming field the last several years. Luckily, everything worked out and although it can be very stressful at times, she's so much happier now teaching than she was working an office job.

[iamshack]

For some reason I thought you were younger, shack.

 

My wife quit her job to go back to school to get her teaching certificate. Granted it was only two semesters and I was still working full time, but we were trying to buy a house and were getting married in about 9 months. Plus, education hasn't exactly been a booming field the last several years. Luckily, everything worked out and although it can be very stressful at times, she's so much happier now teaching than she was working an office job.

That's because you only know my mental age

 

Usually, I think this is a pretty easy decision...but when you start talking about law or medicine, especially the latter, it becomes a very difficult one, given the residency period. You've got to be really, really sure.

[witesoxfan]

That's because you only know my mental age

 

Usually, I think this is a pretty easy decision...but when you start talking about law or medicine, especially the latter, it becomes a very difficult one, given the residency period. You've got to be really, really sure.

 

It's not only really sure that you want to do that, but also knowing how competitive that field is in general. You need to know for sure that you have some connections built that will allow you to get into a good post-graduate residency.

[StrangeSox]

That's because you only know my mental age

 

Usually, I think this is a pretty easy decision...but when you start talking about law or medicine, especially the latter, it becomes a very difficult one, given the residency period. You've got to be really, really sure.

 

Law school tuition was also growing exponentially for a while there, leaving students from 2nd and 3rd tier law schools with $200k+ in loan debt and terrible job prospects.

 

I have a friend who got a late start on college because he was trying some other things for a few years. He's going to finish up his dentistry degree this year, and then he's doing some sort of oral surgeon/MD dual residency program that'll take 4-6 more years or something like that. By the time he's finished, he'll entering his mid-life crisis at age 37....oh, wait, sorry....

[iamshack]

Law school tuition was also growing exponentially for a while there, leaving students from 2nd and 3rd tier law schools with $200k+ in loan debt and terrible job prospects.

 

I have a friend who got a late start on college because he was trying some other things for a few years. He's going to finish up his dentistry degree this year, and then he's doing some sort of oral surgeon/MD dual residency program that'll take 4-6 more years or something like that. By the time he's finished, he'll entering his mid-life crisis at age 37....oh, wait, sorry....

 

Thing is, until what age do most of us expect to work? It is almost certainly going to be until a later age than our parents' generation. Let's just say your friend is 37 when he goes into practice. He will likely be working for another 30-35 years? One would think that is long enough to justify doing what you want or need to do, even if you don't start until 37. He probably isn't married or have kids though, I bet.

 

I dropped out of college (I actually deliberately flunked out of college) after my second semester of my freshman year (spring of 1996). Went to work in a doctor's office (June of 1996 until September 1997) and then at Abercrombie & Fitch (Sept 1997 through March of 2001) before starting back to school. Continued working for A & F and stopped going to school after about 60 credits. Finally quit A & F in 2001 at 24, went to SIU at Carbondale in Jan of 2002 at 25, graduated in May of 2003 at 26. Enrolled in law school part-time in the fall of 2003. Began working for the City of Chicago as a Mayoral Fellow in October of 2004. Switched to a law firm in April of 2006. Graduated from law school in May of 2007. Worked for a startup from June of 2007 until April of 2008, at which point I applied for the trading job out in Vegas. Accepted that position in June of 2008 and moved to Vegas on July 14, 2008.

 

That goes to show how long it took me to sort of figure out what the hell I was doing. I am very happy with where I am now, and actually making about what I figure I would be making now even if I had not taken such a circuitous route (obviously I cannot be sure). So one can certainly make some decisions and change some things later in life, and go down a less-traditional path, and be successful. But I am sure it could go the other way as well, if you're not careful and lucky.

Edited March 13, 2014 by iamshack