Archive for the ‘jobs’ Category
I’m having a quarterlife crisis… Part 1
According to The Conference Board, U.S. Job Satisfaction is at its LOWEST LEVEL in two decades. See the press release Here
For those under 25, satisfaction dropped 20% from 1987. I’m pretty sure I’ve been dissatisfied with my job since my honeymoon period wore off about a year ago. Why have a stuck around? Money and I can honestly say I’m scared to move on. Today I realized I’m really sick of my damn job.
I work in customer service. People call in to place classified ads with me and my job is to upsell them items that make their ads look better.
I have a freaking Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing. What am I doing adding bolds and color backgrounds to ads? I’m not saying that I should be running a marketing department but I am saying I could be doing much better. I’ve asked for more responsibility and was turned down.
I’m pretty much sick & tired of busting my ass and not being happy. This job was not the right one for me but my “panties were in a bunch” about actually getting a full time job right after moving to a new area.
It does teach me a lesson in job satisfaction. What does job satisfaction mean for me?
• Job isn’t monotonous – Doing the same thing day in & out and not learning anything is boring.
• Having authority over how my work should be done – I should be able to be online as long as I can get my work done.
• Obtainable job growth. – I should be able to picture myself in my boss’s position one day.
What does that mean for me? I’m hunting for a job with a company that WANTS me to be satisfied.
My next steps:
• Company Research
• More networking with people who are happy with their jobs
• Reading more blogs about job satisfaction
What does job satisfaction mean to you? And am I crazy for wanting these things?
Penelope Trunk
I just wanted to share with you guys a blog that I read. It’s Penelope Trunk’s Blazen Careerist. It can be found here: http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/
Backstory:
My friend Roger told me to start reading this blog when I was in a HUGE job slump. I was (and still am) in love with my boyfriend so when he was in Charlotte after grad school, it only made sense for me to be there too. We had been living together (actually I just moved my stuff in after the summer and gave him no choice) for a few months prior but then our apartment was robbed and with him finshing grad school, his mom, asked him to come home to the Queen’s City. Well I wasn’t invited so I was living with MY mom in Norfolk, VA but was trying to find a job in Charlotte. This was around Feburary 2008ish so there wasn’t an official economic crisis yet and the job market was still steady. I was fresh out of college with a degree so I figured EVERYONE would want to hire me right?
RIGHT???
So I’m sitting in my mom’s one bedroom apartment filling out yet another online application at another large corporation that I felt would benefit from my “wonderful” marketing skills (keep in mind I’m fresh out of college so I now know EVERYTHING there is to know about marketing)and Roger calls wanting a life update.
I love Roger, not in the same way I love my boyfriend but Roger is just a great person and almost always twists any horrible situation into something better. This is why he’s Executive Director of Eastern NC Regional Science Center aka (GO-Science) and making BANK. He gives me life tips and he told me about Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist. He tells me that this lady is REAL and gives practical advice to my generation about how to get a job. So I subscribed. I tend do try to follow Roger’s advice cause he’s way worldly than I am so he must be doing something right.
I start getting the Blazen Careerist in my gmail once a week. I was gobbling it up like cake but I realized…her advice sucked. I felt like it wasn’t for me. Of course I’m in my 20′s and I feel like it should be targeted to ME!!!! Well one day I was reading the blog and I realized the reason I felt so unfuilled with the blog was that I wanted to be JUST like Penelope! I had always wanted to start my own business but in my mind, businesses were not about work. It would just happen. I didn’t like having to hear about how hard it was to run a business. I didn’t like hearing about how it was hard to balance home life and your start up. I wanted it to be easy.
That’s when I woke up about my job search. I was thinking that people should be seeking me out to give me a job. That it should be easy. I needed to get REAL about my job search, so I started looking for cheap apartments online in Charlotte. I had been using a friend’s address on my resume who actually lived there but it was time for me to be IN my job search not driving back and forth from Norfolk, VA to Charlotte, NC every few weeks for an interview.
I have this huge realization and get really excited about this next stage in life…and then the boyfriend gets a job in Binghamton, NY with a great company. So what did I do? I didn’t wait for an invite, I started looking online for apartments and jobs 
Next post…How unlike Charlotte, NC, Binghamton, NY is and how people with degrees make minium wage.
