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Going to grad school in Fall '12, need a job now though (Part 2)


michigan girl

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The inspired me to create this one because I am in a similar situation. Worse, I already have a master's degree.

I will return to graduate school in Fall 2012 to pursue a second master's degree in a field that will expand my employment options. I live in the Midwest, and won't move to the East Coast until August 2012.

I am currently unemployed. Realistically, what are my options? Retail and data-entry work are out of the question because I am "overqualified." In fact, I don't even receive callbacks when I do apply. When I am searching for work, I also avoid positions that require at least a 2-year commitment (I know it's not fair to the employer since I can only work 7 months).

I will be happy with temp work as long as it pays over minimum wage. I will also be happy to hear what others have done in this situation.

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Well, I'm kind of sort of in your position, Michigan girl. I have a master's degree, and after applying to too few schools, which in retrospect weren't a good fit, I'm now applying for Fall 2012 admission. I learned a lot during last year's application season and I feel confident about my chances this year, but it's still disappointing. My MA program was also pretty time consuming (I taught three sections, wrote a thesis, and had to take comprehensive exams), so I didn't finish until August, and I didn't really have a back up plan. I moved back home, and I spent three months looking for work. I applied for tons of different types of jobs, but I ended up in retail. In the end, I don't think that being "overqualified" necessarily hurt me, but the retail job that I got is very similar to the retail job that I had during my BA (so I already had relevant experience in that area). The thing that everyone needs to realize is that the economy is really really bad right now, and I lot of people are out of work. While we were getting our MAs, someone was working in some entry level job for 2+ years before they got laid off. Even though we have graduate degrees, there are people out there with more on the job experience in these retail/temp jobs than us. Or at least that's my take on the situation. My constructive advice is this: what kind of jobs have you held outside of academia? In looking for short-term job opportunities, draw upon that experience. Employers are looking for people with years of experience, even in entry level retail jobs. I know that it can be discouraging...

Also, don't be discouraged by friends or family telling you that you're "above" some job or another. One of my friends keeps telling me "I can't believe that you're working in retail, you have a master's degree," and yeah, it's kind of upsetting, but her opinion is not constructive. I'm happy to have something to do, and at least I'm making money and paying off some of my debts. In the end, I just let my situation motivate me to seek better opportunities, and to make my applications strong.

I hope that my experience has been somewhat helpful for you. I kind of needed to vent a little bit too! Good luck, and remember that you have your program to look forward to in the fall!

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I would also take anything at this point, but I have limited experience in retail. The last time I held a retail position was five years ago. As a result, no employer would take the risk to hire and train me for only a few months. Nevertheless, I have years of research and administrative support experience, and I am hoping to find temporary work in that area until I return to school.

Edited by michigan girl
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  • 3 weeks later...

It is definitely an unfortunate situation to be in (I'm the OP of the other thread) and its becoming increasingly frustrating for me. I don't know what your situation is financially, but hopefully you have some help from parents, savings, loans etc... in the mean time. Personally, I would be royally screwed without the generosity of my folks right now because somehow I ran through all my savings (which I really thought was a considerable amount... guess I was wrong) quicker than I thought.

One idea I had recently though is substitute teaching. Sure, its not a dream gig but it certainly beats being mop-boy at a grocery store or fry cook at Burger King to me at least. I've also been brainstorming some ideas for people like us stuck in employment no-mans land.... some are better than others, but remember its brainstorming... haha

Substitute teacher

Tutor

Temp agency work

Do odd jobs people post on Craigslist (help someone move,drive them to the airport, walk dogs, write articles for up and coming blogs/websites etc...)

Do tons of paid research studies (as the person being studied, not as the researcher) and marketing research studies/focus groups

Participate in a pharmaceutical clinical trial (I'm actually somewhat serious about this idea, I've seen certain Phase II drug trials that offer over $6,000 for doing basically nothing... except the whole be a guinea pig thing... haha)

Enter tons of writing contests, hope to win one

Work as a beer server or concessions person at concerts/baseball games occasionally

Sell a bunch of stuff on Ebay

Sell sperm (or eggs), hair

Any other ideas? (even if they are a little crazy haha)

Edited by peacebyinches
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I have a friend who sells plasma twice a week (which is as often as they'll let you sell). I think he makes about $400/mo this way--not bad for 2 hrs/week of work.

Oh America...Selling bodily fluids is such a weird concept to me.

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You didn't mention what field your masters is in, but if it's the sort of field that you can do internships in, it might be worthwhile to do that. I have a master's in library science, and hadn't been able to find a job at all. I finally decided to do an unpaid internship at the university library. After a couple of months they offered me two temporary part-time jobs, so I'm doing that now, and will hopefully be able to hold on to one of the jobs until I leave for school this August. That might not be an option, but it's a good way to get into somewhere if you can afford to not get paid for a little while.

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I am doing an unpaid internship at the moment and you probably would be able to find one of those relatively easily in your masters field (they may even start paying you after a few months). Working internship part-time you could also get a part-time paid job, just about anywhere, so you have some income. That way you are getting the money you need and some relevant experience and neither should take anywhere near as long to find as a relevant paid full time job. The worst thing you can have is a prolonged gap on your CV that you'll need to spend the rest of your life explaining!

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I completely understand your frustrations, and the frustrations of the other thread's OP. It is absolutely true that companies will turn their noses up at people with MA degrees attempting entry-level positions. I've worked two separate cashiering jobs, retail, my undergrad university dining hall, medical offices, university offices; there's nothing I won't do.

But after I got my MA and intended to return to the PhD, I applied everywhere - banks, corner shops, supermarkets, delivery companies, medical offices, you name it. No one even called me back, apart from one bizarre company whose second interview was two of their administrators berating me for twenty minutes for daring to apply with an MA. Don't let anyone tell you that you aren't trying hard enough. You say you have an MA, you aren't going anywhere unless it's a career.

So I turned to volunteer work instead. I picked up an internship in the education department of my state museum and became an ambulance driver for my local first aid squad. The squad needed EMTs so I began taking night classes and now I am certified as an EMT in my state. I've been going stir-crazy without a source of income so I've just applied to a number of private ambulance companies. Here's the catch; I didn't tell them I have an MA. Less than a week after applying, I've already got an interview for one. It's next Monday evening and my fingers are crossed.

I'm not saying that you need to become an EMT, but you do need to keep busy. Volunteer, even outside of your field: the local soup kitchen, library, elementary school, whatever. You'll find opportunities and meet people who know people who are hiring. And even if you can't find a job, it's better than moping around at home waiting for graduate school.

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I was so surprised to see that so many people were in this situation; I thought I was the only one! I am currently working as a nanny for a a family with 6 children. The pay is OK and the work can be challenging but the hours are great and the family is very flexible. They know I am applying for grad school and I am confident that when I need time off for interviews they will be very fine with it. Because its not full time and I needed to supplement my income, I took a minimum wage job working in retail part time. I am still a volunteer in the labs that I worked at as an undergraduate and am producing some research this semester with my old lab mates. I think volunteer work is a great suggestion!

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I have a friend who sells plasma twice a week (which is as often as they'll let you sell). I think he makes about $400/mo this way--not bad for 2 hrs/week of work.

i did this for a while for some extra money (mainly for poker) in my undergrad. as far as i can tell, standard tends to be an incentive of 100 bucks for the first 2 weeks, then 20 bucks/session after. definitely not money you can live off. plus, do you really want to spend 1-2 hours twice a week around predominantly homeless people who are there because they literally have no other option than to sell their bodily fluids? of course, this was all in chicago, so YMMV and maybe you will be surrounded by happy, cheery people.

Edited by the lee
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I resell on Ebay PT, I bring in about $500/mo for basically going out once or twice a week (so potentially you could make more) to garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, etc. what do you know the most about? Records? Games? Jewelry? Sneakers? Art? etc. you pick that one field.. go on Craigslist to find estate sales or garage sales, and then hunt. It's great for extra cash, in my opinion.

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I have a lot of empathy, michigan girl. Reading through the "suggestions" offered up here are making a little outraged on your behalf--I guess some people have never been in a situation where the rent, bills, etc are piling up and legitimate work cannot be found. It's confounding to see how bad the economic situation is even outside of higher ed (to say nothing of matters such as personal dignity or self-esteem).

I haven't even been able to get entry level service jobs over here, and I have experience in every line of work I've tried. Shit is as bad as its been since the the 1930's; a better time than ever to take up an intense study of Marx...

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I'm right there with you. I graduated a semester early, so now I have this free semester where I had planned to get a job and save up money for grad school. Since I'm planning on only working through the summer, though, I don't want to get a "real world professional job" only to quit a few months later.

I've kept my part-time tutoring job which brings in about $400/month, but I didn't realize it would be this hard to find something to supplement that. I'm living with my parents in the meantime to save money, but their "get a job" hints are becoming depressing, especially because I am trying but no one's biting.

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Not sure if this is relevant to your background, but I am in the same situation and I just got hired for a nanny job. It's perfect because it pays super well, is low-key, and they are flexible with letting me travel for interviews/visiting days. Depending on your experience with kids and your degree (I have a master's degree in a kid-related field) and the demographics of your town, you can make a really great wage.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This might not be the kind of thing you're looking for, but I'm in a similar situation and I've been working as an office security guard. It's boring, but as long as it's temporary it's not a bad way to earn some money-- at my company the starting pay is $14/hr.

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Security guard is a good idea if you feel comfortable with that. I also had a friend who worked as security on film sets around Boston for about 7 months while waiting to hear back/go to grad school...

Personally, I find that temp work usually pays the bills... as long as they're not too high. I've temped in Boston and in LA and I've made it work. They always seem to start you out on small short term assignments for around $10/hr, but if you do well (show up on time and in appropriate clothes) then you can usually transition to something longer term that pays in the $12-15 range. It's no way to live, but it will do in a pinch!

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I think that being a private tutor in your community can be a great way to bring in a bit of extra cash. Make a craigslist ad, join a free tutoring website, and talk to your BA or MA department if you're still in the area and let them know you are looking for tutees. It could be different in different fields, but my department gets calls sometimes from parents looking for tutors. Check the going rate in your area; this is usually a well-paying gig. I'm in Colorado and I charge $30-40 per hour, and that's on the low end. It's really hard to get enough clients to make a living doing this, but the pay from even one or two students a week can be nice when you're broke, and it feels gratifying to make that much in an hour given how *qualified* we all are. Plus, being a former/ current/ future grad student in anything related to the field you're tutoring helps your chances rather than hurts them. If you can tutor high school math, languages, essay writing, you can probably find clients, especially in a college town.

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Only put your relevant experience and education on the job apps. It is illegal to lie on your applications by putting in false qualifications, but there is nothing illegal about only reporting some of your qualifications. I agree to go through a temp organization if you aren't having much luck finding something on your own. Good luck, it is a crappy job market out there right now.

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I'm not sure what your background is in, but have you considered law firm temping? At our firm, they'll periodically hire temporary administrative help to deal with overflow during particularly active litigation...things like reviewing and filing documents and such. It's usually only for a couple weeks or months at a time, and probably requires a little more brain power than your typical office gopher. Our firm is small so they usually go with nepotism hires, but I bet larger firms are looking for this sort of help all the time. There's temp agencies that specialize in filling these sorts of positions too.

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I'm not sure what your background is in, but have you considered law firm temping? At our firm, they'll periodically hire temporary administrative help to deal with overflow during particularly active litigation...things like reviewing and filing documents and such. It's usually only for a couple weeks or months at a time, and probably requires a little more brain power than your typical office gopher. Our firm is small so they usually go with nepotism hires, but I bet larger firms are looking for this sort of help all the time. There's temp agencies that specialize in filling these sorts of positions too.

I looked into it. Most of the short-term temping gigs I've seen online at law firms require at least a year of experience working in a law firm. =/

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