Assess me

[innerslytherin]

Help me out, friends list.

I need a new job. I hate getting up every day and going to work. I don't trust my company, I don't trust my supervisor. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels.

Plus my job is scheduled to go away in a little over a year. So I'm going to have to look for a new job at some point soon.

Currently I work in accounting. I hate it. Unfortunately I have about 6 years of experience in accounting work, which means I'm qualified for this sort of work.

I've done library work. I enjoyed some of it, but didn't finish my degree.

Further schooling isn't an option.

What do you guys think I'm good at? Keeping in mind that I would like to publish my original writing, that IS my ultimate goal, and I'm working on that.

I don't want to teach. I hate working in sales. I like computers and horses and enjoy physical labor but don't tolerate heat or cold well. I'm not averse to relocating. I have a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in history and creative writing, with a minor in medieval studies. I enjoy research. I get bored easily. I would love to travel, especially domestic air travel. I'm not opposed to overseas travel, but I don't have any real skills that I can think of which would translate to overseas travel.

I type 90 wpm. I enjoy alphabetizing and filing things. I hate talking on the phone. I love the internet.

Does anyone have job suggestions? Fields I might not have thought of? At this point I'm about ready to run away to San Diego and live on the beach, but I burn easily and don't eat fish, so that wouldn't be an ideal lifestyle choice. ;)

I'm at my wits' end. There has to be something obvious I'm overlooking. Help me.

Comments

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

Administration in a university? It's office work, but in a more academic-orientated atmosphere than a company, so related to the typing/filing but also the research--you can end up dong practically anything. (I was a department assistant for Neuroscience, before, and helped edit a book on zebrafish DNA, even though I'm a medievalist.) Plus the perks are pretty good, and generally the people are too.

Human Resources might suit too, if you got on with the right company and not one that sucks.

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

Here are some near you. (Doesn't your mom do something there..? I sort of remember.)

[innerslytherin]

You're just made of awesome. And really, I can get interested in a lot of different topics, based on research. Heck, I have a passionate interest in cancer, despite the unpleasantness of the topic, just because I decided to write a novel-length fanfic about it and started doing research.

I worked for Purdue for a couple of years, back when I first got on LJ, which would be back when you and I first "met". So that might be the connection you're thinking of. :)

*runs off to click links*

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

That must be it! And those are probably a little below your actual skill level honestly, but it's the sort of thing where once you're in it's not too hard to move up.

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

Also, how do you feel about moving to Canada? (Specifically Vancouver?) It sounds like you'd have the necessary points, and I have a friend who works for an Environmental non-profit that I know is periodically looking for good office people and she seems to really love the environment.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Quality assurance computer work? More of it is being done by scripts, but they ultimately need people to do the testing at websites and for databases. Your love of organization will serve you well, and you might need to start lower on the totem pole, but I think you could move up quickly.

Is it the most interesting work I've ever done? No. But it's a good job to put down at the end of the day and go home to play.

[innerslytherin]

I'm not entirely sure what type of work you're talking about. You mean viewing websites and using web applications and such to look for bugs/user-friendliness? Yeah, I could do that. I think it would be something that would feel more meaningful than the work I do right now. (Which is, when I boil it right down, based on what I consider an ethically-questionable common business practice kickbacks and legal bribery, at its most basic level.) I don't feel that my work is important to anyone but the company I work for. I want to feel like I do something good for more people than just the person making a buck on my labor, you know?

[olizashihar.livejournal.com]

You might want to try CAS, it's in Columbus, but that's not too far is it? They have an entire section that works on user-friendliness within their programs, they're part of the American Chemists Society, but there's always a few positions open somewhere. And that's kind of doing the same thing that you've been talking about in this thread...

[emiv.livejournal.com]

OK, this may be totally off the mark, but if you are just looking for a job to pay the bills while working on your writing, I'd say maybe think about becoming a flight attendant.

From what I understand, the work is relatively easy, especially if you like flying and can tolerate people. They train you, so no real experience required. It's not really a forever career for most people, but it's a job that pays decent and gives you plenty of time off. The schedules can be very flexible; you can work depending on how much you money you need, and you would have more free time during the week for writing. You'd also have time on overnights to write.

I have a sister in law who is one, and it really works for her, as far as time off. She works maybe three days a week max.

[innerslytherin]

You know what? You are the second person today to suggest flight attendant. And I went looking just briefly, and in a short search, saw that a major airline is hiring right now in my area. So this is a definite thing I'm going to try. Of course, the airline that's hiring is the one airline I once said I would never fly on again...but then again, my best friend has already talked me into flying with them, since that's her frequent flier airline. LOL

I had a high school classmate become a flight attendant, now that I think of it, based out of Colorado. I wonder if I can find her on Facebook....

Thank you very very much for this suggestion!

[the_rainbow_jen]

Well, I work in higher ed, which has a lot of different subfields that apply to the corporate world as well. Some jobs that use your particular skills might be corporate buyer (spending someone else's money?); also consider looking at something in the non-profit sector? If you feel physically up to it, you could try Peace Corps :)

I understand, though, about having skills in an area you don't want to work in. I've been trying to get out from under the bubble of having a job title that puts me at the low end of the totem pole, but my responsibilities range a lot higher. I do like higher ed, and think there's a lot of opportunity there if people can find it. Give higheredjobs.com a look, see if anything jumps out at you. It's a good search engine for admin work at a university, but specific university websites also have more.

Best of luck! The job market is a scary place to find yourself, even if you chose to be there. I'm looking because I'm going to try and relocate to Texas this summer.

[innerslytherin]

I wish I were brave enough for the Peace Corps. But between my dietary issues, my ridiculously crazy fear of unhygienic stuff, and the amount of debt I still have to pay off, I am too scared. :/ However, I do like the idea of nonprofit work in general, and there are a couple of good universities in the area that I can look at. Thanks for the website! :)

(What part of Texas? Austin is on my short list of places I want to live. *G* )

[the_rainbow_jen]

if you check out copperbadge's tags, he's got stuff about working non-profit that might be useful.

And Austin is my short list, heh. It's where I'd land since my male bff lives there and is offering me free room (and if not him, his mom, lol).

[olizashihar.livejournal.com]

If the debt is school related the Peace Corp pays off half of school debt. Just as an FYI, if that changes how you feel about it.

[katewallace.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this would work for you, but...the daughter and son-in-law are seriously thinking of trying to get a job with the company that makes/produces (whatever the word is) "World of Warcraft". Apparently, the company is in dire need of 'tech support/answer the phones and fix the problem people' down in
Austin, Texas. They would like you to have some customer-service experience and familiarity with the game. Just a thought....

[innerslytherin]

LOL It can't possibly have escaped you that I adore World of Warcraft, can it? :D And I have a very close friend in Austin, so that was one of the cities I've been considering. This is a definite place I'm going to apply, and thank you for telling me about it!

[katewallace.livejournal.com]

Actually, I thought I'd seen you posting about WoW, but wasn't sure. (Sometimes the brain goes into 'File not found' mode). And you're very welcome. I hope everything will work out for you!

[faithharkness.livejournal.com]

If you like library work, you may want to look into that even if you didn't finish a library degree. I worked at a University library in college and then for another branch of the U library after college and my Bachelor's was not in library sciences. A library is great for a writer because there's so much freaking research at your fingertips. When I worked at the library, I loved working in searches & fines. You got to go look in the stacks for books that weren't where they were supposed to be, so you had to figure out "how could this have been misfiled?" and in fines, you got to go look and see if someone had returned it, but it hadn't been checked in. Not a lot of interaction with people other than co-workers doing the same type of thing.

[innerslytherin]

I do think I would enjoy some of that sort of thing. There's actually very few aspects of the library jobs that I didn't enjoy, and it's possible there are some technician-level jobs that I could do and not have to care about finishing the MLS. Thanks!

[faithharkness.livejournal.com]

You are very welcome. I remember when I was at the University library, there were very few people who had their MLS degree; and not just the students working there. Despite not finishing it, even having coursework done toward it would probably give you a leg up. Good luck!

[olizashihar.livejournal.com]

Wow, I know about a lot of these... weird...

Anyway, I know that there are many college level assistant librarian jobs that don't need an MLS, so you could probably do one of those, especially if you like the job. Also, there are a lot of MLS programs that are online, and you can work on your MLS online while working at a college library, and because you work at a library at a university, the majority of your tuition will be paid for by your university, possibly 100% if it's in a similar field, getting an MLS while working at a library definitely counts for this.

As you made a comment about debt earlier, this may be a good idea, and there' a lot of room for upwards movement, and a lot of free time in libraries. I work in a university library, and truly there's a lot of free time and still a lot of room for upwards mobility.

Finally, you can usually take classes at the college that you work at with little cost, if you go somewhere with an MLS program (if Kentucky isn't out of your range there's some pretty good programs there, and make sure to check the ALA website for certified programs) you can take courses and work at the same time, which might be nice.

[drusillas-rain.livejournal.com]

Depending on what kind of accounting and your personality, you could try bookkeeping/accounting for small businesses - that way you take on clients and can set the hours you work. Another work for yourself option would be pro-blogging. Or maybe even specializing in website content for accountants/finance-related firms.

On the opposite end is to look for jobs in the not-for-profit/academic/associations industry - generally the companies are better to work for and some like schools can pay quite well.

I really recommend reading books by Barbara Sher - I especially found "Refuse to Choose: A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything You Love" but you may find some of her other books more appropriate.

The best thing you can for yourself is to write down a list of every skill you have, a list of what you enjoy doing, and a list of what you wish you knew how to do. From there, you might come up with something, or at least you might start considering jobs you never would have before.

[innerslytherin]

You know, it occurs to me that something I have really enjoyed in the past is personal finance counseling. I like helping other people get out of debt. The times I've helped friends assess their financial situation, decide on financial goals, and figure out a plan to get control and achieve those goals? I've found it vastly satisfying. I guess because I know just how liberating that can be, thanks to my own 15+ struggle with debt.

As far as accounting goes...my work experience has been entirely in corporate accounting, and not the actual accountant-qualified jobs, but clerical things.

I did maintain my library's blogs while I was head of a reference department, so that's definitely something I'll look into.

I love your idea of writing these lists and thinking about it from that angle. And thank you for the book suggestion! I'll pick that up too. :)

[schemingreader.livejournal.com]

I don't have good suggestions, just cheers!

My husband works for a huge non-profit (like, 2K employees around the world) and they are hiring people with accounting skills to analyze budgets and contracts. (They provide healthcare in different countries and most of the contracts are with the US government.) So even though accounting isn't the most interesting field, you could be doing it in the service of something interesting on a team of interesting people.

You can also sell yourself as an editor.

Hey, I'm trying to get a job and I'm ready to hire you to be me, after reading this post! Though I'm not so sure I can find a way to get you working on computers on a horse.

[innerslytherin]

LOL I don't know if I'm qualified to do the mom part of being you. ;) I think the problem I have in accounting work is that for me, math is not easy. I'm good at spreadsheets and the like, but when it comes to actual principles of accounting and such? I often feel like I know just enough to fake it. If I'm completely honest about myself, I have to admit that I'm hampered by my own blend of high intelligence and high laziness, because since high school I've been very good at learning enough about any particular topic that I can throw around the lingo and sound incredibly smart...but really it's kind of a "jack of all trades, mistress of none" situation.

:-/

[heyurs.livejournal.com]

I don't have any suggestions, either, Sweetie, BUT! I have confidence in you and will be praying that you will find something suitable, and that you'll have peace of mind about it.

[innerslytherin]

Your prayers mean so much to me, Urs, I can't even express it. Thank you. *hugs*

[heyurs.livejournal.com]

Always. ♥ *hugs*

[amorettea.livejournal.com]

With your background, I'd recommend the historic preservation field but jobs in that are being cut left and right and the pay, even if you are employed, sucks. But the jobs are FUN! Even if I am currently wearing bedroom slippers held together with duct tape.

[innerslytherin]

I don't have too high of a standard, considering I just now got back over $30k this year, and could afford to go lower if I actually enjoyed the work. I don't know if we're talking lower than that even, because I know the sorts of places that need historians usually don't pay well.

I've also been applying with the National Parks Service for 10 years, but sadly those jobs seem impossible to get too.

[amorettea.livejournal.com]

I work at the city level, in a poorly paid part-time position, but I that is not my only job. Plus my husband also works at a poorly-paid full-time job for a local newspaper. We do what we love, not what makes us money.

Anyway, most cities of any size have a Historic Preservation Officer and sometimes even staff. Plus the state has a Historical Society and never forget the National Trust for Historic Preservation!

The Park Service jobs at the actual Park Service level are a bitch to crack.

[innerslytherin]

Yeah, I'm definitely planning to look into the Historical Society and some of the related places.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Looking at your resume [I used to work in HR *sigh*] I think that archival work would suit you. How much call there is for that where you are I don't know. It's interesting stuff though - recording old documents, arranging for storage and retrieval.

Yeah, get out of that job as soon as you can, babes.

[innerslytherin]

I think I would probably really enjoy archival work, but I'm concerned that most places that would be able to pay well would also want a Master of Information Sciences, which of course I didn't finish and don't want to finish. :/ But maybe my history degree in combination with library work would be enough. It's definitely worth looking into.

[olizashihar.livejournal.com]

You might want to work at a library for a few years while getting an MLS and specialize in archiving while there so you can get one of those jobs later. Long-term planning, and all that.

[innerslytherin]

Meh...I'm really leery of finishing the MLS (I only needed 4 classes. *sigh*) because of the attitude at Indiana University. (WHich is "public libraries are worthless. Academic is where you should be.") But if I could finish up at a school where I liked their attitude (because the public sector is where I belong, when it comes to libraries), I might be able to curb my attitude problem long enough to get the magic paper. LOL

[nebula99.livejournal.com]

Probably not all that helpful as I'm not in the US, but before my hubby joined the police, he was an archivist. Over here it was a one year qualification in archives and records management and there are some interesting opportunities and jobs in the field.

[innerslytherin]

Thanks! It's still interesting to know. :) I think at the moment I'm leaning towards the non-profit world, but we'll see how that goes.

[slash-girl.livejournal.com]

What about working for the UN? I only thought of this cus I was looking at their job site the other day... There are various areas to work in, etc. Link: http://www.un.org/en/employment/ That's basically the starting point, if you're interested.

I'd also suggest library work, but I'm biased. *g* And given how much I'm hearing that people with their MLS are having trouble getting jobs...it might not be the best choice.

I'm sure you'll find something fabulous! :D

[innerslytherin]

I'm...actually apparently still influenced enough by my conservative upbringing that working for the UN caused an immediate "ugh" reaction. Odd thing to realize... But then again, I think I could easily get over that reaction. After all, I still get excited every time I see my current employer's product in the media or something, and I'm so over them. LOL

[slightlyjillian.livejournal.com]

Just to round things out & what I know--you could always fall back on the medical field (and avoid the phones). Insurance billing in larger groups can break down into payment posting, refunds, claim filing, medical records, managed care contracts and (of course) management in any of those areas. Although, you know I love the head-knocking INSURANCE COMPANY vs DOCTOR appeals aspect of the job myself. *grin*

Or just move to Austin. *wink* I hear Samsung is hiring and they're just down the road from me.

[innerslytherin]

You say this with a wink, but you know Austin is on the short list, right? :) Plus I hear Blizzard has jobs available there too.

Hmm...if I worked for Samsung, would I have to switch away from the iPhone? *G*

[coffeecocktails.livejournal.com]

What about some kind of research/writing/communications/accounting etc for an NGO? One where you believed in the cause at hand. Along with your resume and skill set, you're such a helpful and compassionate person (and a good communicator) that I could really imagine you doing something like that. I know people who have worked for NGOs where some travel was involved, but generally most of them keep office hours (good for writing).

[innerslytherin]

Huh. You know, I had to go look up what an NGO was, but it looks to me like that covers a lot of types of institutions, including some that that I'm passionately interested in, like Medicins San Frontieres and World Vision. So this is definitely a job possibility that interests me.

You know, something I didn't even mention, but I actually am one of those people who enjoys making agendas and running meetings and doing public speaking (I know, right?) and that sort of thing, so I would think those skills could also benefit me at an NGO.

Thank you! (Always with the good ideas, you.)

[coffeecocktails.livejournal.com]

Yeah, those organisational and speaking skills sound like they'd be ideally suited for that sort of job. I've got a couple of friends who work for NGOs who say that even when they're doing "mundane" office stuff, at least they're doing it for something, you know? Rather than just making some rich person richer. Maybe I just thought of it because doing media for an NGO is my favourite Quitting Journalism Fantasy (haha), but it did seem like a 'you' sort of thing.

I believe there are actually specific sites to search for NGO jobs (there's certainly one for the UK). You're right about the range though... When I was looking at going to the UK, a while back, I found one job that entailed heading media/comms for a "women's charity", which I thought looked perfect... Until I looked it up and discovered their charity's primary purpose was quite agressive anti-abortion campaigning... Oops. But World Vision and Medecins sound promising :-D

[ubervirgin.livejournal.com]

Have you thought about becoming an academic advisor for a four year institute? Not sure if it would be super exciting every day, but I have noticed that having the right advisor makes a crap ton of difference on the attitude you have towards a college.