This is a very generic question with applicability to me, and probably just about everyone that actively posts on is board. Does a job exist where jacks-of-all-trades that are relatively bright (like ourselves) can make decent money doing just this sort of thing? Obviously, Cecil seems to have a stranglehold on the syndicated-know-it-all column. But I’m having one hell of a time finding a professional career that has any kind of variety in it, and the tediousness gets to me. I assume that I’m not alone, just looking at the fact that there are other people that post answers to a wide variety of questions.
It seems that the average Straight Doper:
- is bright in a variety of areas
- likes to learn just about anything
Without getting too personal, here’s a brief summary of me:
I graduated college in 2.5 years with a 4 year degree (in Radio TV/Film) while I worked 50 hours a week.
I was a ski instructor.
I got into Mensa.
I’ve written screenplays, and had one produced (nothing big).
Now I’m a Financial Advisor.
And that’s in 3 years.
In short, where can all of this (useless?) knowledge be applied??
Or should I just take my wide curiousities as just trivial and enjoy it for just that?
Go into social work as an administrator. Select a social problem, decide to fix it, and invade whatever programs exist to deal with it. Expect a lot of pathetically trivial infighting for contracts and hegemony, but enjoy a surprising amount of serious dedication and intensity on the part of your underpaid line workers, who tend to love to work for someone who cares about the clientele.
Deal with the politicians, funding sources, moneyed donation possibilities, and have fun as a policy maven.
Experience interesting days during which you are trying to juggle the need to listen to a very concerned social worker who needs supervisory input; trying to finish and submit an annual budget to clueless funding sources who don’t understand what it is that you actually do and therefore have unrealistic measurement devices that you have to apply, unless you can convince them to re-examine their evaluation mechanisms; and trying to finish your notes for your upcoming meeting with the State Senator who seemed to get what it is that you are trying to do. All the while watching as politicians on a higher level–a level you could leap into in a couple of years–are making political careers out of arguing that either programs like yours should get more funding or else should be discontinued altogether.
You will be underpaid but you won’t be bored.
Get on “Who wants to be a millionaire”, invest the money wisely, and retire in a cabin on the ski slopes.