Depressing post about my future. AKA me looking for career advice

Alright, so I graduated in December with my BA in Communication. I wanted to do finance, but it stresses me out too much, as I feel bad about losing my own money-- losing someone else's would drive me nut's. And being a type 1 diabetic, I don't need stress like that.

Anyway, I went through school not knowing exactly what I wanted to do when I got out. So, here I am looking for jobs and having quite a difficult time. I think I would like to work in advertising, as I like most media/ creative stuff. I actually have an interview for a Media Assistant on Tuesday at an Ad Agency (I think pays like 30k) . Which Brings me to my next issue; I feel like I chose a field where I have no chance of making decent/good money. And having school loan debts really makes me worry (I worry about everything), not to mention I have fairly expensive taste.

Do any of you guys have and recommended job areas to look into that make decent money with a comm. degree? Hopefully, you guys can give me some direction, advice, and/or some life input...because, as of now, I feel pretty lousy about my future

Sorry for the downer post, just looking for some advice from some of you guys, as Im sure a few have felt the same way...

-Michael

I don't really know much about communications degrees, but have you ever seen a doctor about anxiety?



munchausen said:

I don't really know much about communications degrees, but have you ever seen a doctor about anxiety?

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No. I only get upset/ worried about big things like my career.

i strongly do not enjoy my job and it stresses me out. mostly because i do **** last minute. i do everything last minute because i hate the field im in. however it does pay well. point is, its hard to find both, a job you enjoy and one that pays you. i would sacrifice 15kish/yr to find a job i enjoy (i.e. something with less numbers and more human interaction). my 2 cents

As far as I know, communications/advertizing/PR jobs nearly always pay bad right out the gate. When you start running your own accounts (as in you get corporate/government clients) then you start making money. Look into companies like APCO worldwide, Edelman, WPP etc. They are really big firms that pull in big big clients. There are more specialist companies that do pull big companies too (the one that does the GEico commercials is a regional/local firm out of Northern Virginia.

Seriously, isn't this the type of **** you think about while in college? That's what your career services and alumni network are for. Anyway, as an alumni you can still contact your career services department for advice. You should also start looking up alumni in your field (communications/advertising/pr/marketing) to see how they got to where they are, their thoughts, etc.

Some resources:
http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/industries/industry-overview/Advertising-Agency?industryId=239

Vault is great for industry information. Their guides are usually about $20, but some career services departments have free access to the members only section of their website (with access to all guides and rankings), my 2nd tier college had one so check with yours as well.

First of all, you have to realise that with the job market saturated not only with fresh graduates but recently laid off people with similar skillsets and more experience, you have to take what you can get.

You're going to have to sit down and ask yourself just what your skills are, what your track record looks like and who would think you were the perfect job candidate.

Do you have any big differentiators? Did you do any especially unique extracurriculars while still in school? Who does your dad/mum know? Does anyone owe you any favours? These are the big ones that will get your foot in the door and provide you with experience and contacts so you can lateral into something you may like more.

Forget about your student debt for now, as long as you can keep up with repayments you're good. Think long term.

You could do the assistant job and then network like crazy in hopes of getting something better. Job market is turning around a bit (hopefully) so you might be able to get something better in a few months.


Some side gigs such as freelance writing / graphic design, blogs/affiliate ads (like Amazon) or something of that like can bring in a bit of rent/food money.

Thanks for the info. I also should probably realize that Im not going to be making great money right away.



mikeman said:

Thanks for the info. I also should probably realize that Im not going to be making great money right away.

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I feel your pain. My field, politics, is also one in which the bottom rung of people get paid very little. Not much you can do, aside from trying to distinguish yourself and thereby move up the ladder.



NAMOR said:

i strongly do not enjoy my job and it stresses me out. mostly because i do **** last minute. i do everything last minute because i hate the field im in. however it does pay well. point is, its hard to find both, a job you enjoy and one that pays you. i would sacrifice 15kish/yr to find a job i enjoy (i.e. something with less numbers and more human interaction). my 2 cents

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can i ask what it is that you do in Sacramento? i assume not a state worker. I was born and raised in Sac so im just curious

Don't worry OP, pretty much every college graduate who didn't major in Engineering of some sort is going through this.

You do realize that a BA is not a degree certifying you for a job?

I say get a job, ANY job so that you at least feel like you are doing something, and having a job opens you up to much knowledge that only a working person can figure out.

OP, what university did you graduate from? There are a lot of industries and companies that are more interested in the quality of your school than your specific area of study - that might trigger some different/interesting recommendations from the forum.



mcbrown said:

OP, what university did you graduate from? There are a lot of industries and companies that are more interested in the quality of your school than your specific area of study - that might trigger some different/interesting recommendations from the forum.

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This is true, but no disrespect to OP, but a classical studies major from an Ivy league won't be posting this sort of thing on an internet forum. She or he would just start off working as an "ambassador" or some such highfalutin sounding title for some company they have connections with.



bringusingoodale said:

This is true, but no disrespect to OP, but a classical studies major from an Ivy league won't be posting this sort of thing on an internet forum. She or he would just start off working as an "ambassador" or some such highfalutin sounding title for some company they have connections with.

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True, and last time I checked no Ivy League school offered a degree in "communications". But the mass of non-Ivy League colleges has plenty of internal differentiation, especially on a local/regional level. A Baruch or Queens College degree might mean nothing to a business on the West Coast, but in New York City it still has a certain level of cachet. It won't get you an investment banking interview at Goldman, but it might get you an interview for trade settlement at Jefferies, or in the door as a gopher at one of the old-school real estate developers.

Just trying to be constructive here.

Do you happen to have fibromyalgia?