The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Keep a crappy job, or pursue your dream?
I already know what I'm going to do, but I'm interested in what you guys have to say. Do you work a crappy job? Why? Do you keep it to have some security in your income, or would you walk away in order to pursue your dream, even if it's risky?
If you've done this, what has your experience been? Did you realize your dream? Are you working on it? What have your struggles/victories been? Did you lose everything and end up worse off?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Freeman Dyson on -
I'm gonna keep shopping at Walmart and Target regardless of what you do.
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Permalink Reply by Meaghan Luby on -
ha, this was my exact thought...
also, i worked at target (yellow/softlines 4 eva!). and it was not my favorite. but, i had needed the money and until i got my next part time job (working in a dining hall) and my next two (library, waitressing) i didn't leave.
my main thought for you (having now been graduated and pursuing a writing career myself) is that you should keep working at target. or some other job that will just pay the bills so you don't have your savings. because dipping into them now, before you graduate, won't be when you want them most. you're going to want to dip into your savings MORE when you graduate and are looking for a writing job. most of those (as you well know) do not pay much/at all. or at least the good ones.
i know your heart isn't in it and you already said you knew what you were going to do. but, i'm just throwing out my 2 cents, writer to writer, target may be a lame job but, it's a very decent paying lame job and doesn't ask a lot of it's employees. other part time work may demand your heart be in it, or work you to the ground physicalaly, or demand more of your time. and while a lot of the lame jobs may never have your heart, in order to pay for your heartly pursuits, you need to suck it up and have fun with the jobs that pay you. trust me when i say working as a waitress from 6:00PM to close (3:30AM) when you have an internship from 8 to 5 is NO GOOD. and i worked 3 jobs in college but still ended up having to do that in order to have the freedom to pursue my writing at any places of note.
it's easier to work a lame job in college as opposed to when you're out and trying to make your career happen. working something lame while trying to achieve the dream is bad news. good luck, lady! maybe you won't be like me and have to work for money while you work for your dream job. but, if you have to, try and just have fun with it and realize it is what it is. no one is asking your heart be in something like target but, you should be able to survive the experience with the end goal of not having to drain your funds.
love and luck!
-meg
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Permalink Reply by Summer-Claire. on -
I worked in a crappy job through my gap year to fund university and kept going back every summer to top up my savings. I finally quit this year to focus on my study and to make sure that I didn't have a safety net for the summer after they offered me a full time graduate position ready for this year - if I had the safety net, there would not have been as much of an incentive for me to reach to get the job I really wanted. That's just what I'm like though, I fall too easily into 'the easy option' and never end up doing what I really want to do, so for me I needed the push. Whether you feel the same is of course something only you know.
There are other options though, other than one-or-the-other. I have a friend pursuing journalism and he works part time in a crappy job to make sure he can pay his bills etc, but it gives him time to do his free-lancing, research and writing around it. This gives him the best of both worlds because, as he pointed out, if he spent a year trying to get somewhere and he didn't achieve anything, it makes you much less employable after that year because you have nothing to show for your break on your CV.
And I'm just guessing, but I think you're quitting? Good luck if you are!
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Permalink Reply by Ashley Koch on -
Actually, in the time I'll have not working at Target, I'll be working on a news show on campus and also a documentary, so it will be stuff that will go on my resume. I'd never put Target on my resume because I haven't gained any meaningful experience there, and it does nothing for my career. So quitting will be good for my resume because it will allow me to work on those other things.
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Permalink Reply by Emma on -
I know this is probably a little late to the party, but I don't understand why you wouldn't put Target on a resume? You say it hasn't given you any meaningful experience, but it still shows you worked somewhere for 3 years, which at the very least shows commitment to a job. Plus I'm sure you can twist some experiences you had to get you where you want; some funny stories you could write about, or dealing with a problem customer (job applications/interviews LOVE asking questions like that, at least in my - admittedly limited - experience).
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Permalink Reply by floreta on -
Oooh nice topic! Thanks for opening it up. :)
I think college is a GREAT time to work those shitty jobs. It kinda goes part and parcel with the whole experience.
That being said, I worked at dairy queen for a year during college and was faced with pretty much the same questions you're having. I came to the conclusion that it's best to quit. The time you spend wasting at work is time you could be studying, getting better at your craft, etc. which will pay more in the LONG run than working a job that barely pays. This would actually give you more overhead than continuing to work the job IMO.
I quit my day job Nov 2009 and haven't looked back since. Been unemployed since then but mostly by choice. Spent a whole year traveling, discovering, and taking a career break. Now, I'm back to working but this time, for myself. ;) Still transitioning from unemployed to self employed but I think I'm finally starting to reach that tipping point into being able to say I AM self employed. That's a great feeling.
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Permalink Reply by Shay on -
That's a toughy. Why have you not tried to get another job?
If you don't need the money then I myself would quit and focus on furthering your eventual career path. If you have nothing on the go yet, I would try and find another job something else perhaps in retail but in a store you like more?
Just some thoughts.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Gina on -
IF you can afford to live, AND you don't have anybody else depending on you during this time, AND you've planned for all contingencies (i.e.- you have a student medical insurance plan) then I think you can quit and pursue your dream.
BUT- you need a "point of no return" date. You need to know exactly when you are going to cut ties and go back to work at a "crappy" job. Stay completely out of the workforce too long, and it gets hard to come back, even to something crappy.
Here's the thing, though: if you can live for a year on your savings, and you spend this coming year doing just that, then when you graduate, you will have nothing. A degree in journalism is by no means a guarantee of a job, and certainly not a well-paying job. If you spend this next year living off your savings, and you graduate with no job... what will you do?
It's probably better to stay in the crappy job while you're in school, keep stocking away money, and give yourself a bigger cushion of time AFTER graduation. That way you can be dedicating ALL of your time towards your dream job, not just your SPARE time outside of classes.
Find a different crappy job if it means that much to you.
Though, as a former hiring manager, I can tell you that the fact that you stuck with the same company for four years, regardless of how bad it was, says a lot about your character and makes me more interested in hiring you. Just something to think about.
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Permalink Reply by Ashley Koch on
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I understand what you're saying, but if I'm going to take a year off working, this is the year to do it, not when I'm out of school. The projects I'm working on (a news show and a documentary) are done within my school, so I can't work on them after I graduate. And no news director is going to care how long I worked for Target. They're going to care about what kind of journalism experience I have, something that Target is depriving me of.
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Permalink Reply by Dom on -
I've been jobless for 3 years in pursuit of what I wanna do..everyone's been in my ear about getting a job but I refuse to do what they want..in the end..it all depends on how comfortable you are with yourself when you lay your head on your pillow at the end of the day....so just do what makes you happy
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Permalink Reply by Gina on
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If you can manage to legally support yourself while you pursuit your dream, that's okay. But if others are supporting you financially, then you owe it to them to buck up and be responsible for yourself.
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