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What is more important? Find your passion or money?
24/f
I am a substitute teacher. I previously left my teaching position mid-year due to the lack of admin support. My whole life, I have been working jobs that I hated. I was in marketing, I was in sales, and turns out that I do not like teaching.
After soul-searching a little bit, I decided to try to narrow down careers that were a good fit for my personality. I found out I would need to get my masters to become a librarian. I was either going to be a librarian or I would go into administration.
I decided to give administration a try and to volunteer at my local library to see if it's a good fit.
I have been going to many interviews the past two months and I have not been landing any administrative jobs. I am starting to feel discouraged. The previous job I interviewed at, seems to have really liked me but the schedule for it seems very hectic (that gets me nervous because being overwhelmed with overtime hours seems to put me in depression) and the only days of breaks I will be getting are the three days during Christmas break and three days during spring break.
At this point, I am conflicted on what I need to do. I would love to find an administrative position that has hours that I need to keep my mental health in check and to find what I would like to do in life.
However, I just received my last paycheck from my district, which means my insurance has ended. My interviews have been scheduled on days that I can substitute (because business are during these days/hours). Being a teacher, insurance cost $300/month now and I tried ObamaCare and the lowest rate I was able to get was $218.00. I can't afford that, either.
I am starting to feel desparate and I'm panicking on what I should do. Should I just snatch up any administration job I get (even if it's not a good fit for me) or should I hold out on a job that I really want (even if I need money ASAP)?
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Want to answer more questions in the Work & School category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Job Searches?
DO NOT TAKE A JOB JUST TO GET A PAY CHECK. Even though at 24 you are considered young. IF I'm reading this correctly you have already started to build a bad work history. Yes it is expected that young people will bounce around the job market, though within a chosen career field. You have worked in three different career fields and are still looking for a niche.
Jumping from position to position within a career field for better pay and opportunities is expected. Your resume is already throwing up some red flags and your seeing the results. Regardless of how well qualified you may be for a position that position requires some amount of training before you become productive to the point of earning what you are being paid. Training cost money and an investment in you. Look at your resume and work history and ask yourself if you would want to invest in you. If your truthful with yourself you will say no.
Get a part-time job, go back to school and get your masters. The break in employment will refresh your resume and make employers more interested in you after you have your new degree. While working on your masters you will see the different parts of a library system and be able to refine just what area you are best suited for.
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for money asap, consider going to a temp agency and getting temp work, then you can continue to search for the job you really want.
As to passion (drive, motivation, zeal) vs money, you will experience a lot less stress and actually enjoy your work if you land a job that involves your passions. One of my passions is gardening. I could be out in the yard all day and my eyes adjusting after the sun went down until my family is asking, when are you going to start dinner. Yes, that actually happened. The time didn't feel like I was out there 8 hours and I did put a lot of time into the yard. I also put lots of time into my children. Both require being nurturing as your passion. Nurture plants, nurture kids. I have another couple passions but that one is strongest. Think of the things you enjoy doing so much that time seems to fly by so fast that you would really like more time to indulge in your activity and then decide what qualities are needed to do those activities and you'll have your passion. Then research and learn what jobs your passion will be a strong point in.
The job may not pay as much as you would like, however there is a way to possibly excell so much due to your passion that you become much needed and wanted due to your passion. Here's my own example. I've gone to Doctors who are only doing this vocation because of the money. They have no real interest in each individual they see. I have also been to doctors who are passionate about doctoring and helping people overcome illness and even a step further, give advice how to avoid having the same issues in the future. Those Drs are much fewer. Unfortunately, these good Drs. moved out of my area. They were so popular due to how their passion affected their job that they got offers elsewhere for more because a person truly passionate and not faking it for the job, is truly rare and they can get offered jobs of better position and pay.
This rarely happens a year or two out of college but is more likely when a person has first taken jobs where they can use their passions. I wish I'd known this when I was younger or I might have become a horticulturist. At this point in my life, I am just happy being a grandmother and using my nurturing passion with grandchildren.
I am sure there are some administrative jobs that one can get into shortly after getting your college degree. But if I ask myself if I needed to do hiring for such a position, would I want someone with both the book learning and the experience in a similar type position already so their abilities are proven or would I prefer to hire someone with only the degree. If you are truthful with yourself, you'll know that the one with some experience is going to be a better candidate. That may mean that no matter how much someone likes you, that could be a deciding factor. I may be really wrong but I am going based off of how I would feel if I was looking to hire for an administration job. I can't be that different from everyone else out there.
This might help you. Start making a list of all the different passions one needs to make a better than average administrator.
You could even go ask the school counselors for job search tips and see what they have to say.
Just using my imagination, so these may not apply, you decide....but I am guessing that the wanted job might require:
A person who loves organizing. You know this is a passion if there is nothing left to organize in your place and you offer to organize friends homes or closets for free simply because you enjoy it.
Someone who enjoys multitasking and is good at it. In fact, the more you juggle, the happier you are instead of stressed.
Great at communication skills, both verbal and written.
Dependable to be there. Instead of excuse to stay home because you aren't quite feeling well, as long as its nothing contagious, you prefer to go do your job so your focus is off how you feel and on the job.
A mind like a mini computer, able to hold all sorts of important bits of info both that which pertain to the job and those that don't such as names and pertinent information on the people you administrate over. If you are able to pick up on others strengths and passions and suggest or assign them tasks they'd be good at, it makes for the job place being more successful overall.
Having a good balance of ability to be kind and understanding with also firm and able to carry out whatever tasks most would hate doing.
I am sure there's more. But any job, even if you feel its not related to administrating, but will showcase your drive, zeal and passions, is a good job for a resume and possibly having a better chance at getting the position you want.
Having had a good boss who is willing to sing your praises, not to help you in the job hunt, because of course they are losing you, but because they see how valuable you are and want others to know it.
I don't think that people who were nominated for the Nobel peace prize were people who lacked passion drive, zeal for their work, because that usually makes a person find a way to excel and go beyond the basics, improve and make something better. I have my own example again. When I was young and simply a file clerk in an insurance company, every 3 months we would pick a few days to start purging the files of older claims already settled as there was no longer a need to store them. They had no way of determining which to pull except for opening each briefly to look if it could be pulled. Without doing so, the drawers got so full that no new folders could be added. It was a monumental task that took so long that after doing it their way once, I came up with a color code system and each folder got a different tag of colored paper or felt pen mark near the tab. After maybe 6 months, in looking for extra work for me to do, my boss called on me and gave me tasks to do and all of them were things I had already improved on my own without them having to ask me. ONe was the filing system. When I told her I already had created a system for purging files months ago, she looked astounded and wanted to see. There was nothing else she could ask me to do to improve things in my realm, as I had already done them all on my own. This is the kind of thing people look for, someone who can improve on whats already going on. I hope my rambling has helped you somehow.
And now an article that covers some of what I said
How Passion for your job can lead to success
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
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