Stuck In A Rut

Can't find a job:

-Overqualified for "menial jobs"
-Called around, all of them referred me to the Internet to fill out some ridiculously lengthy application
-Not enough experience and no real skills to get a job I would enjoy for the long haul
-Sending out resumes and cover letters (geared towards each company) seems like a dead end (also have to follow up and mail out/deliver hard copies) *sigh*

I lost my last job as an admin at a condo because it was never meant to be permanent and also I am used to such interesting things that I have a really short attention span and a problem paying attention to details.

Really really really want to go back to school! To get REAL skills. I wish I was someone who would just say "I'm going into nursing" and then do it.

-So-so credit score = no loans
-Social worker = 70k debt making 30k (depressing, people bitching)
-Nursing (decent salary), science not my forte', was never into science
-Latin American Studies, even more obscure than English lol

Putter around for life
-you know (not enough money to do anything)

 

i'd say you should go back to school and get a degree, but it seems like you'd probably be doing it for the wrong reason ...

 

Money?

 

yes, you should only really go to school for knowledge. knowledge often opens opportunities that will bring money, but that shouldn't be the reason to study IMO.

 

Go to school for knowledge even at this point? What if you only know obscure things? I'm definitely most passionate about women's issues and Latin American culture...

 

study what you're passionate about, i wouln't want to do anything else, would you ?

 

I think I'm most passionate about the language Brazilian Portuguese. But I don't know what I can do with a Masters/PhD in Brazilian Portuguese....

 

I imagine at the very least, having a PhD get's a person a lot of respect.

 

Not necessarily. Some people think academics are marxists and that they're clueless about the real world. They "clothe their mental nudity in clouds of wonderous verbosity." They contribute nothing of value to society. They don't that it takes guts to run a capitalist enterprise. They hate whites because whites represent some institutional something or other. That's how complaining parents who call the professors would say anyway....

I also hear you're supposed to do the EXACT thing you love, otherwise you'll start to like it less because you're getting paid for it. Also Al Franken said the Enron people's passion is stealing so no not every passion is worth pursuing.

I would so love to be in school at the moment taking up Spanish or LAS to teach it or something and then get to go there every year...

 

Well what you do guys think

People here give far better advice than anyone I know...

 

c
I meant that that's what professors are accused of, not that this is what I think of them. I have had some amazing professors.

Anyway so I have eliminated some areas of study:

1. Latin American Studies
a. Too obscure
b. Identity politics
c. No deep passion for a cause of some sort
d. Not Latino
e. Marxism

2. Women and girls activism
a. "I feel like activism doesn't work. " "Yeah but it'll make you feel better" -therapist
b. Women's studies depressing

3.Social work
a. Could internalize what the clients say
b. High burnout rate
c. 70K in debt making 30K
d. Seems like quackery

 

IMO the first thing you need to change is your outlook on yourself. We only hold ourselves back from doing what we love. Take the time to find what you love then do it.
Money = the wrong reason to do anything. Find what you truly love then the money part will take care of itself.

Happiness is wealth

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jh34qoV0cE

 

Thanks for your help you two and also thanks for the interesting link.

My job coach said I shouldn't go back to school because it's unnecessary, that people with English degrees can do anything...hopefully....

 

What about some type of trade school?

 

Well I earned a BA from a very elite university so that would be like all that money and hard work went down the drain. Also I find trades very boring and would probably muck it up due to not paying attention to what I was doing. Thanks though

 

I also have a degree from a very good university. I worked in my field for about 27 years and decided to go to a trade school for something different. I went to Therapeutic Massage School, nothing boring about that trade.

 

have you ever considered teaching?

 

Yes I have considered teaching. I would love to teach Spanish. (Teaching Portuguese seems unrealistic but it would be even better).

Who would I teach though, because students tend to walk all over passive teachers. My mom is a teacher and hates every minute of it: overworked, underpaid, dealing with unruly kids....there are some perks like snow days, winter break, summer break, and respect from society. Besides, it would probably pay more than an entry-level job at a nonprofit.

i could also teach English to immigrant adults, maybe see if those language institutes have any permanent positions. I have done that before but semesters would end and there would be nowhere to place me....thanks for weighing in.

....

 

Why this language (if I may ask)? I like that language a lot too, have some family speak it as their first language.

I'm not sure how much this language is in demand to get learned either in the west (over there where you are or here in the netherlands), but there are people that wanna learn it for sure. Hey, as long as you got a class to teach right. No big classes is only better (i quit becoming a teacher partly because I got HUGE classes of unmotivated kids during my internships, like about 30 kids stuffed in a clash room. If half is unmotivated and only one has adhd I am fucked)

Also... lots of kids in Brasil that need to learn brasilian portugese But I understand if you don't wanna move (great country though )