How did you decide on your career path?

[Vishenka69]

So...I don't know what my 'career' will be in a few years when my kiddos are all in school....up here..in the frozen tundra...in Minnesota...near Kelly ...in the middle of nowhere...on I-94

Ok, you have a point, this whole Secret Santa thing proved that I barely know any of you and need to visit the site more often (which I've been doing in the past few weeks, as work is getting to me - hence dreaming about going back to school).

I only finished 5 grades in Ukraine and then it was NYC public school system for me. But for college I went to a small rather sheltered private college, which resulted in having this naive dream of teaching to 5 kids who trully care. My Russian Lit professors in college were awesome and trully passionate about their field. Of course they didn't have to deal with a huge lecture hall filled with hundreds who can barely read. The classes in the department were very small and because I was taking rather advanced classes, there were only a few of us there and we all really liked Russian Lit. These were classes that only majors and minors would take, and the only ones I would consider teaching.

I guess the problem is that I can't really imagine myself do anything at all. I just can't see that far down the road. May be I should start an MBA program and see how much I hate it first. I guess I need to be more adventurous with my life and start taking chances. My whole life I went with the safest choice possible.

I don't necessarily view them as having two distinct skill sets

Vishenka,

Sorry, another short post. I actually meant the options that the two tests would lead to (e.g. a graduate program in Russian Lit -- GRE or Business School - GMAT) would lead to paths requiring different skill sets, therefore I wouldn't look for an answer in the results of the tests for what might make you most fulfilled long term. I didn't mean sitting for the exams themselves would require radically different aptitudes and knowledge. Sorry for the confusion.

Ahhhhhhh. I just typed a very long response about my career path (probably too long) and the $#@! thing disappeared. If I can regroup in the next few days I'll try to send something similar out.

Does the board automatically log us out of a reply if it takes too long? I walked away from the computer a few times but I definitely didn't log out.

[PrincessFiona]

Kevin,

This has happened to me before when posting a long response in a PM or thread...and it's infuriating! I now always copy my post before I hit submit just in case I get logged out...


Sorry about that...isn't it frustrating?


kris

Kris,

Thanks for the heads up. I'll follow that method. It was kind of sad. I was pleased with the post and thought "wow, I'm really writing perhaps the most personal post I've written so far." Then, poof!

[Auspicious]

I hope it comes back to you--I want to read it.

[PrincessFiona]

Kris,

Thanks for the heads up. I'll follow that method. It was kind of sad. I was pleased with the post and thought "wow, I'm really writing perhaps the most personal post I've written so far." Then, poof!

That is terrible...really....there is nothing worse than pouring your heart out onto the page only to have it disappear! I am usually unable to muster up the energy to rewrite it either....there is just something so....infuriating about putting energy into writing something personal and then having it disappear.

I hope you'll regroup and then share eventually....I'm interested in hearing about your career path and choices.

kris

[Vishenka69]

I hope it comes back to you--I want to read it.

Me too.

[Meenah]

Vishenka,
How about classes at FIT?

I love being in nursing and pursuing my Masters/Nurse Practitioner was an easy decision. I now that I see how the shortage of nurses is made worse by the shortage of nurse educators. Instructors at the Bachelors degree level have doctorate degrees and they are all retiring. There is no money in teaching, a new graduate can make more at their first job than a tenured PhD can make. It is really sad. There is no incentive to go into teaching. I am considereing the PhD path and teaching after I fininsh my Masters. Holy crap I can't believe I'm admitting this.
Luanne

[SueC]

I started off in engineering, only because I was always good in math and science and somebody told me I should pursue it. I can tell you that is not the best way to choose a career. 1.5 years into that field, I realized I was in the wrong field and so I went to a guidance counselor at K-State. He had me take a really lengthy test which game me computerized results. That pointed me in the direction of Occupational Therapy, which I ended up getting my BS in. That was a really good fit for me until we had kids. I really wish I would have done a lot more soul searching about what I wanted to do after having kids. I always assumed I would continue to work, and never entertained the idea of staying home. Once I got pregnant, I realized I wanted to stay home, which wasn't financially feasible.
In retrospect, I wish I would have pursued a field that offered more flexibility. It wasn't possible to make enough money to continue working as an OT part-time without all of my money going to childcare, so it was either go back full-time or leave altogether. I wished I had done something that was more conducive to working from home or working longer, fewer shifts, such as nursing.
I still entertain the idea of going back for my Master's degree, but I'm not going to do that for a while, since I don't intend to use it right away. For right now, I'm just going to enjoy my kids. I spent the last almost 6 years either running a home daycare, a home medical billing business, or other various jobs, but all of that was just a means to an end that added to my stress level and didn't give me any personal gratification (or not much, anyway). Best of luck in your pursuits! I did go to career counseling several years back and I really learned a lot about myself.

I was going to quote...but already started this post.

What you said about the MBA -- I understand what you are saying. I had a couple of health related positions before landing in corporate finance (not much planning on my part, more like dumb luck). I really liked my work, my boss (loved her!) but I never really felt passionate about it or felt like I had chosen it. Ditto for the healthcare stuff. I ended up going back to healthcare in a slightly different form using some of what I picked up at the corporation (left due to ugly merger and sweet seperation package). Again, that was less a planned choice than a "hmm, maybe i could do this."

I agree with Fluff about rolling with the punches. I'm sort of realizing that I might not be the person to have the same career for most of my life. Living with someone who is driven and has a very specific career that he will have for much of his life (he better!) is a sharp contrast. I think it is the source of some of my worries about career (my own doing, not his).

I think a test the waters approach, to the extent you can do it, might help. Like the suggestion to take a class.

I agree with Julie about the Nieman Marcus thing -- you might see a different ugly side of working there. Though I can't imagine anything ugly about NM. But, maybe it is worth a try to find out for yourself.

I do absolutely think you have a gift in the fashion and fashion advice area. Maybe there is someone to include that other than working at a retail location.

So...I don't know what my 'career' will be in a few years when my kiddos are all in school....up here..in the frozen tundra...in Minnesota...near Kelly ...in the middle of nowhere...on I-94 :>

You have to at least try to do something you like. Not liking your job sucks the very soul out of you...even if you don't belive in souls I like the idea of taking evening classes in Russian Lit to see how it goes.

My career for the last 5 years as sahm was supposed to go until our last child was in kindergarten. We have always planned on 3. Then, after that I was supposed to open up a little plant shop/ design studio, hire some pt help and close up shop when Dh retired.

That was before med school.

Right now all I want to do is make enough to not have to go on food stamps, pay the mortgage and still be eligible forfinancial aid.

I think maintaining a certain career over say 40 years is getting rarer and rarer. People start out in one place and wind up far away sometimes. Trying to explain to my elderly co worker that DH wasn't doing something that unusual, switching careers at 36, was really difficult. It wasn't until I mentioned plant closings and retraining that he realized it isn't all that unusual.

[rainbabies]

[SuzySunshine]

Aah, the age old question that no one can really answer. I feel like this could be my question many days. When I was in college, the first in immediate family to go, I had NO idea what I wanted to do. I started as a Health Information Managment major, then switched to Accounting, then switched to Business/Marketing. When I got out of college I went to work in Corporate insurance claims which brought out my law interest and I always thought about going to law school. Then I moved to CA to be with my DH and started working for a small company in a basic business role, learning the ins and outs of business, then moved into a marketing position in that company. During that time I decided that I should get my MBA but b/c DH and I wasn't a CA resident going back full time wasn't an option. So I got my MBA at night at a small private school that no one has ever hear of unless you live in San Francisco. Bad idea! Now I have more school debt and a degree that has basically done me NO good. I would still have the job I have without it, in fact I'm more educated that 75% of the people that I work with. I personally beleive that if you have a bachelors in business or do not get your MBA from a school with a name they are worthless. With that said I wasn't interested in getting my MBA from a school with a name because of the cut throat competitive nature of it. If you watch the Apprentice that is what big name MBA schools are like on a regular basis. I could have gotten into Stanford, I had the grades and the extra in because my husband was in medical school there but I didn't want that competition and maybe that should have told me that I didn't need an MBA.

With all that said, I am not the lucky type to have found my "true calling." My DH can come home from work and he just lights up when he talks about his job, my sister does the same thing. Since I do not my plan is to bide my time while we save enough money for me to stay home. Who knows maybe someday I'll go to law school, I still regret that decision, but right now I'm content trying to have a family and managing through residency. I think you have to really look at your options and think about where that will put you in three years and is that where you want to be. You're right, we have worked our lives around our spouses for so long when we have the option to make our own choices we sometimes don't know what to do with them. Good luck! :chat: