While I am primarily writing this question about myself, I think it applies to a lot of people who are or will soon be graduating from college and who are contemplating grad school.
I’m graduating in December with a B.A. in English. Which, of course, means that hardly anyone cares about my degree; it’s almost worthless. Any job relevant to my coursework requires previous experience or a higher degree. I’ve decided to go for the later, and pursue an M(L)S from University of Illinois through their online program. Which, cool.
Currently, I’m looking for a job. I intend to go to grad school, but will need money to live on while doing so. Right now, I have a prospect in mind. It pays $10/hour, though, with the cost of living where that job is, $10/hour full-time is liveable (it’ll give my SO and I nearly a $40k/year income). Also, it’s essentially trained monkey work, but it’s trained monkey work with about 100 other trained monkeys, so I figure I’ll pretty much be left alone, which is what I want after having worked two jobs where it was just me and my boss. The hours are set, and the job is finite, meaning I won’t have to take work home, and won’t ever be called in to work extra hours (the thing that’s bugging me most about my current job). I’ll keep it for at least two years (the longest I’ll’ve ever had a job). It’s the same place my fiance works, so we’d be able to car pool. In a couple of years, I’ll have my degree. I can move on from there. It might even be relevant to the company I’d be working for.
Would I be better off getting a job that paid more–such as a job as low man on the totem pole of editing somewhere–or would I be fine at this job? I really, really want this job–it makes the most financial sense right now considering what I want to do–but the way people are talking, it makes me scared that I’ll somehow end up working $10/hour jobs my entire life (even though I plan on going to grad school while I’m working it). I don’t want a high-stress job while I’m trying to earn a degree…but am I wrong for that? And, if I’m not wrong, how do I convince others?
…sorry, this post is a bit rambling. This is the only place, though, where I can reach enough people of the adult and professional persuasions to answer me.