You've heard me complain before, but can I complain some more?
MY JOB SUCKS!
You've heard me whine before about not having anything to do and this job being a waste of my brain, education and basically sucking my will to live.
It's been since November that I've had very very little to do sometimes squeezing out 5 billable hours a week. Well last week my time sheet had 0 billable hours. That means I had 40 hours of nothing to do. (Yes, I still get paid)
To make matters worse, I work alone. My last coworker was laid off back in March and my project manager only comes in when there is work for him to do (haven't seen him for awhile). I see my boss for about 2 minutes in the morning and again if he happens to come downstairs to the bathroom. So for 8 hours I sit alone and don't even have anyone to talk to (I practically jump on the UPS man if he comes in). Money and health insurance is the only thing that is keeping me at this job but I can't see how much longer that will last because every second I'm here makes me more and more depressed.
Ok now that I've complained, here's my situation. I have an MS in biology and this was my first job. This job is not giving me the experience I need to move on. I'm searching for jobs in the environmental field but there are not many around here and I am not able to move. The few jobs I do find are all Director or this..., Vice President of that...., Executive or such...All over my head.
Do I quit and just forget about my degree and find a completely different job? Do I just quit my bitching, wait it out and just be happy with the money until something comes up? Sorry to whine again, I know you and everyone else I know has heard it all before. So I'm taking a poll. Quit and take the risk of not having a job for a while or Quit my bitching and wait it out?
Think really hard about what you would like to do. What job would make you happy? do you need a different degree for it? take a night class & do your studying & homework while at work. I personally would not quit a job until I found another.
What is the job? I might have read it before, but I don't remember. I quit my 'job' (graduate student), and I still don't have a new one. I'm not expecting to get anything that uses either of my degrees....but I just want to find something that I semi-enjoy. I say, there's no reason to stay and make money..if you're not enjoying it/hating it. Unless you would be in dire need if you didn't find a job right away...I say get out while you still have some sanity. You could also start looking for something else while you still have this job..and see what you can find. It really depends on your situation, and what you think would be best for you. The #1 priority should be your happiness.
I work for an environmental consulting firm. Technically, my title is environmental scientist. Literally, what I've been doing lately is copying, faxing, taking things to the post office, finding files for my boss, busy work like that. My boss now has me copying old files to cds to justify my paycheck. I only graduated with my MS a year ago so I really don't have the inclination or the money to go back to school for something different.
If you're down to 0 billable hours, it seems likely that the business may close soon. Seriously, go look for a job. It's easier to find one while you still have one.
Many biologists don't work in their field. What else is interesting to you? Jewel worked at a college and then became the Director of Education at a museum, and is happier (it seems so far) in the second job. Don't be afraid of becoming creative with your options. First, I'd browse all of the job openings in your area, then think about which ones, if any, you might be interested in. Also, don't discount government jobs. Have you looked at city, county, state, and federal jobs in your area? How about special districts, like a Flood Control district, or Vector Control. Where I live there's an agency that only deals with vectors - very biologist type stuff. What's the requirements to work for Haz Mat (through the Fire Department, usually)? They get good pay, and I think they get to retire early because of lifetime exposure limits.
eta: What about consulting firms out there that do delineations?
Thanks HH. I do think the company will be closing soon. I really have been looking for another job but just haven't been having any luck. I applied with a national park back in January and I wrote to get the status of the job in April when I hadn't heard anything. They told me they STILL haven't looked at the applications. I also applied for a job with the DEP. I got word from them that they will be starting interviews soon, but that was at the end of March and still nothing. I don't know if governement offices are really that slow or that I'm out of the running. I look everyday for new jobs but there isn't much out there I'm qualified for yet. I think I'm just going to start sending my resumes out cold to different companies.
I don't know if governement offices are really that slow or that I'm out of the running.
They are that slow. Also, if you get a job, it won't be that thrilling. People like to protect the environment, so politicians fund environmental agencies, but only at the most minimal level. In what I used to do, I had over 1,000 permits to oversee. There's no way politicians expect the environment to actually be protected, but they get to look good while keeping the staff ineffective so their corporate cronies can continue to pollute. (No bitterness here. ;) )
In the private sector you get more pay and more interesting work, but they are faster to lay people off. Also, I think that if you're only a year out of school, you can still interview and they're not expecting you to have 30 years of experience. Also, hype and spin during the interview. You'll be fine.
eta: Plus, the private sector moves faster on the hiring process. It can take close to a year for a gov'ment agency to finish the process.
biodancer, I forget where you are, but the NJ DEP isn't hiring right now ( they haven't been for almost a year now) What about working in a lab environment? (water/soil analysis) try looking at the online job posts for "scientist", I would think a few things would come up.
Todays Daily Om seemed a very appropriate response to this thread...
Feeling our life...findings our life's work
http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2008/13751.html
I always meditate on things that I am having a hard time deciding on :shrugs: ...good luck. :)
biodancer, I forget where you are, but the NJ DEP isn't hiring right now ( they haven't been for almost a year now)
I applied for the PADEP, but it looks like they are taking their sweet time with the application process.
On another note, I applied for 4 more jobs in the past week so let's keep our fingers crossed.
biodancer, HH pretty much summed up my situation, but I was also miserable in my old job. I'm not one who would normally quit a job without a new one (although I've done it twice within the past 3 months) but you've got to weigh your options. How miserable are you? Is the money worth it to stay . . . especially with a wedding coming up? Maybe you've saved enough so that you could afford to be jobless for a while. Supposedly you can plan on 1 month without a job for every $10,000/year you make (i.e. if you make $40,000 it would take you 4 months to find a new job). Worst case scenario could you go that long? If the company goes out of business, would you be eligible for unemployment? It's probably not what you'd want to do, but it's an option.
While it would be ideal to find a job in your field it may not happen immediately :( In the mean time, though, you have many, many transferrable skills. I had no experience in the museum setting, but I was able to transfer my skills to my new job. I initially intended for my museum job to be temporary until I found something I was passionate about. Turns out that I'm passionate about museum work!
Hope that helps :)