DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Job Hunting/Career Change

I am looking for some sound advice and I am hoping some of you guys can help me out a bit perhaps. This is probably the wrong time to look for a new job/career but I flat out cannot continue working where I am presently employed. I have just about reached the end of my line of patience and if it were not for the wife, the kid, the house payment . . . I would walk out tomorrow and never look back.

For the record . . . I do have a degree in a communications field, which I have had ZERO luck in my job hunt there. I am currently employed as a supervisor in a union factory and between the lunacy that is this union and the lunacy that is this management "team," I need a change. I have updated my resume, I went to Career Services at YSU. I have applied for several jobs I have seen posted on the various internet boards in the past four-five months and have had ZERO bites. I honestly wonder if the company I work for has some sort of stigma . . .

What I am hoping for:
Is there any advice/experiences/pointers/tips/encouragement, any pros and cons any of you could relate that could aid me in job hunting and or changing careers. Have any of you changed careers, how did you do it, what obstacles did you overcome? I will hit the big 4-0 this year . . . does that present new challenges? I live in Youngstown and would love nothing more than to relocate in a more southerly direction, have any of you relocated to find a job, or to get the job? (I worry about the housing market, but I got to do what I got to do.)

I really like coming to this board and I thoroughly enjoy reading your guys' posts and I look forward to reading your guys' responses. Thanks so much for taking the time.

Wow, a lot of variables in there. I changed careers but it was in my mid twenties when I had nobody depending on me and I could afford to take a step backwards and go back to school.

I also moved south, from DC to Raleigh, I was lucky enough to find a company in the DC area that had offices south so I got in with them and waited out my time and requested a transfer, so I got to bring my DC salary to Raleigh, which was nice.

It's a tough time and you are doing the right thing by sticking it out and not telling them where to stick it until you find something else. I wish you the best and it will work out.

How is it living in N.C. ? I am looking to go through a job change and would love to get my foot in some North Carolina soil.

That's a lot to chew over.

Sensible advice: Stay put until this economy gets on stronger footing. I know some will say that will not happen, but I"m already seeing it. Hang in for a little while longer where you are, but keep your feet dangling in the waters of change.

Crazy Advice: Quit, walk out and just take your chances. I would not recommend that since it's usually easier to find a job if you already have one. Not sure why, but employers look more favorably on those that ARE employed.

When you say you have a degree in communications, is it a technical degree (Telecommunications Engineering) or is it more Adminstrative (marketing, sales etc) in nature or is it more along the lines of Radio and TV broadcasting or behind the scenes work? What was it you were thinking of going in to when you decided on that degree.

NC is great, taxes are a little high but quality of life is good and prospects for economic growth are good. Thing I like about it is you can live in he middle of nowhere and still be into a decent size city in 20 minutes.

Not sure what you do but there are some nice communities in SC too, I like Rock Hill which is a really nice little town in upstate SC and it's only 20 minutes from downtown Charlotte if you want to go see a game or have some city life.

Given the current job market, I'd be very careful. You don't want your current company getting reference calls while you're still employed there.

Keep looking but hang in there. Don't let'm get to you.Do the best you can but recognize the things that are not in your power to change and let it go. Remind yourself ts only a job and it's not forever.Don't take it home with you and don't make yourself sick over it.. Remember no matter how good you are they'll let you go in a NY minute if it suits their interests.. Been there. I wish you much luck in finding your new path.

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Don't let'm get to you . . .Don't take it home with you and don't make yourself sick over it.

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Bingo. I took this present job hoping that training would be given. That was not the case. Everything I have done as a supervisor has been trial and error and learn on my own. Over the years I have come to embrace my own maxim that I am a teacher first and a boss second. I go to all lengths to train, mentor and coach my employees to ensure their success and diminish their opportunity to fail.

Don't misunderstand I do like what I do, however, I am at my wits end on how the company is structured/organized which makes doing my job more and more difficult as time goes on.

DAMAN;
This is what frustrates me. I have a degree in writing/editing with a minor in broadcast journalism and poli sci. My original intention was to get into book publishing as an editor or ghost writer but I really think I goofed in getting that degree. About six years ago I was helping a guy write a book and he got about 3/4 of the way through it and he dropped the idea and moved on to something else.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

i have a double major in history and english. i wrote for the newspaper in high school, wrote for the newspaper in college. after college, applied to about 10 different newspapers and they all replied "news print is a dying industry. we arent hiring" and they did not even request writing samples. i feel like i goofed big time in my degree/career aspiration. i did not do my research or homework. now i work as an i.t. administrator/warranty administrator for a volvo truck dealership and i feel hopeless

My advice is never quit a job before you have a job since you have a family.....unless you have about 2 years of savings to get you through on a tight, tight budget..

Like you, I have a wife and daughter. - I understand the stress you are under.

I just left a situation very, very, similar to yours. - I took a job last April that I liked at first, but after one month began to hate it more than I have ever hated anything before. - Last summer, there were several times when I went on lunch and came so close to not going back. There were so many times when I had to convince myself to go in and put in a good eight hours, although I had zero interest in being there. - I hated everything about it, terrible management, several difficult coworkers, scant business due to years worth of bad management, - just a bad place. I can't express it enough. I hated it there.

I hated it so bad there that I opened up my own yard care company in an effort to slowly make my way out

I hated it so bad that I doubled my courseload in graduate school, again in an effort to slowly claw my way out the hell hole I was working in.

After working there for 3 months, I posted my resume on monster.com and also on careerbuilder.com. - I had a few interviews for legit jobs, but I couldn't get hired. Like you, I also felt that the company I was working for led employers to believe I was stigmatized. - Either that, or due to the economy, there is so many more highly qualified candidates than I.

Eventually, a former employer of mine gave me a call. They offered me less money than I was making at the hellhole, but I didn't care. I took the lower paying job simply because it was a means to get me out of that rathole.

There are so many positives that I took out of the situation.

- I learned to approach my workday differently. Each day is a new one, and each work day is only eight hours. All we can do is give max effort, and realize that people and situations will often challenge us, and we must remind ourselves again that each day is a new one, and each work day is a mere eight hours.


You have a degree, and you have what seems like a strong work history. You will get a different job. - Put your resume on monster.com, careerbuilder.com, and get on the phone with some former employers. It will happen man, just stay cool.

it's tough trying to find work in youngstown. I have a similar degree as yours, and had to move out of state for work.

I definitely wouldn't go on monster or careerbuilder if your employer is on there. They will find your profile, and that could burn some bridges.

Even if you find work elsewhere, it will be tough to sell your home. My dad lives in cornersburg, and his neighbor has been trying for 6 months to sell their house. It's a nice home(4 beds, extended garage). Started out at 69k, now they've dropped it to 65k. Good luck man.