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Full time and 30 minute drive from my current house. Worked out pretty well.

I'm currently satisfied working for the next few years (especially with the current economy), I'm starting to get a hang of my current position, and the sky is the limit in terms of promotion, but I don't see myself here forever. If I can manage to ride out the economic turmoil in a good job being paid good money I'll be happy. However, being in a consumer driven enterprise does mean my job isn't 100% secure, though much more so than many others. I think if push came to shove I'm more than willing to return to school if it is warranted, I've luckily got the funds to survive a lot of the costs.

Actually Sigaba, I was thinking the same thing. I had a scholarship for my undergrad but I was only making 400-500 a month with my part time job. Can only imagine how harder it would be in grad school. Thankfully though I've managed to save through being frugal and some good investments more than a year's salary, I intend to keep that up for a few years and re-evaluate like you said.

I really appreciate the advice everybody, it greatly helped me. I think I'll take the drive of wanting to complete more school and work my way up my company as far as I see fit. Thanks again all.

Hello everyone, I graduated from the University of Arizona last year with a degree in economics and minor in mathematics. I've always wanted to pursue higher education, but after completing my undergraduate degree I was torn between going out into the work environment or sticking with school. In terms of school, I had my eyes set on staying at the University of Arizona and going into their Applied Econometrics program. I met with the staff, and really liked the vision and possibilities of the program. At the same time I had been applying to consultancy firms, insurance companies, etc. to see what my job prospects were. I graduated with a 3.4 GPA cumulative, a 3.7 in my econ course work (the math minor was much more difficult than most of the econ courses). After a month or two, researching which path to take, seeing which employers extended interviews, most consensus was that graduate school wasn't as important as gaining work experience. After interviewing with a few companies, I decided to take a job in the purchasing department of one of the largest auto dealerships in the world. I felt lucky to get through the interview process, the hire rate at this certain company is below 5%, the promotion prospects are very good. I spend time at auctions buying vehicles, and run the business in terms of margins, inventory levels and allocation, prices, etc. I have a lot of purchasing power. However, a lot of my time is spent in a retail environment, and while I don't really spend any time with customers (when I'm scheduled to be in the store I do appraisals on vehicles), I'm not sure I'm completely happy with my choice. A part of me is worried I'm wasting my time not going back to school. I know this is a long rant, and there really isn't a clear question. I think part of me is looking for comments from those of us who have experienced something similar. Maybe its the transition from school to work life that has gotten me wondering? Maybe its the choice I made in career? I'm happy with the company, with the work, with the challenge, but I don't know if I completely stimulated intellectually. What has really increased my pangs to return to school lately has been politics- the more I read the more I really want to contribute to the current state of affairs. I'd like to work in public policy, maybe policy analysis. I did some research in careers in the government in policy analysis when I was finishing school, and found the majority require at least a master's, most a PhD. While I'm not ready to attend a PhD program, I'm still very interested in a MS in economics, and the econometrics program sounds beneficial towards this goal. What advice do any of you have for me? I greatly appreciate any. Thank you