Things are getting bad at work. Really, really bad. Bad enough that I’ve been playing around with the idea of leaving librarianship for good. Where I am is double plus ungood, I can’t make a lateral move within this organization (I haven’t had so much as an interview in five years), there aren’t very many library jobs popping up at other local libraries (there’s a library school here, too) and I’m not sure that the people making my life hell here wouldn’t make sure I couldn’t get a job anywhere else, and I am unwilling to move, since my parents aren’t getting any younger, I own a house, etc. My fiance right now isn’t making enough money to support both of us in the manner to which we have become accustomed, either. (First world problems, I know: unless things become absolutely unbearable here, I’m not leaving this job until after the wedding because damn it I need those two weeks of leave for my honeymoon and I might not be able to swing that in a new job.)
Yes, I do feel bad that other people have been busting their asses looking for work, any work, and not finding it and here I am whining because I have a good job that pays well with decent benefits and health insurance but people are MEAN to me.
I’ve been idly fantasizing about the kind of job where you don’t have to deal with the public and where you can tell if you’ve done your job by whether you met your widget quota or not. You know, the skilled trades which are supposed to be in such demand. Now, keep in mind that I am a weak and feeble female (not that all females are weak and feeble, but I am) with a masters’ degree in “not working with my hands”. (Oh, it says “Library and Information Science” on the paper, but the not working with my hands part is understood.) I AM very, very good at fine detail work; I do a lot of crocheting and cross stitch and now I’m making intricate paper flowers for the wedding, that sort of thing. I’m not good at math, but I think that’s one of those biases I picked up as a child that could be overcome now as an adult. I am not good at lifting heavy things. I’m reasonably mechanically inclined, in the sense that I fix my own toilets and scored well enough on those parts of the ASVAB in high school that the damned military only quit calling when I got a new phone number. I’ve always been interested in how things work.
Is there something that I could get a job doing that:
I can learn at night at the local technical college and that won’t take years of coursework
I can make enough money with that I won’t feel a big pinch by switching (I make about $42,000 a year now)
Welding comes to mind. It’s hot work and can be dangerous (flying sparks and hot metal being what they are), but it’s detailed handiwork so it might be up your alley. But in any trade, you’d be going from a professional-degreed job to apprentice status, until you learn enough to work independently. You would almost certainly have to take a pay cut. The bigger bucks come once you’re experienced, and it also kinda depends whether there is a good union in your area.
It can also be a misogynistic field, but that’s true of most skilled manual labor.
I don’t know much about being a librarian, but how bad can it be? Sort some books. Check out shit with a barcode scanner. What could a customer possibly ever be irate about? They can’t figure out the Dewey Decimal System or whatever?
I’m mainly posting to say I am a kindred spirit in that much of your post. And best of luck finding your new path. I have a pretty much ‘great’ job with 10 years at it, but I am just not into it at all anymore. People aren’t even mean to me (indeed, leaving will break my heart in some ways), I just can’t muster any enthusiasm for a future at it. I still feel like an asshole for it, but I’ve worked my way toward accepting that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be content for myself, regardless of how content other people think I should be.
I don’t really have any creative suggestions for your next career, but I’ll share my choice anyway. I think I’ve decided to become a truck driver. It had never occurred to me until about 3 months ago, but since it has, I haven’t been able to talk myself out of it. They say it is more of a lifestyle change than a career change, and it so happens that fits me just fine. I am not as tied down as you are (mainly, I’m single and I rent). FWIW though, the only unsuitable detail I see in your post is your use of ‘weak and feeble.’ And I expect you’re not using that literally anyway. There are petite female drivers out there. The biggest hitch would be your family obligations. From what I have gathered, new drivers tend to be away from home 6 days a week (at least) but after a year, all kinds of opportunities are open, including local jobs that can have you home every night. I’ve also gathered that only 1 in 10 new drivers ever make that first year, with the biggest reason being “too hard being away from home”.
Here’s hoping other Dopers have some more reasonable suggestions! Might as well start from the absurd and work backward from there, eh?
I recommend courses in programming. A little boring, but it pays well and you don’t have to deal with the public.
There are many community-run software projects that anyone can join. If you’re good enough to contribute code, most employers will take that as professional experience. Also, I know an architect who quit his job, started his own company, programmed a web site using HTML/AJAX/CSS, and put everything he did on his resume. He had trouble with references, but in the end, he became a professional software programmer.
Easier when you own your own business, I’m sure. I’m actually getting my ass sent to anger management for trying to do something about it. (Sometimes the mean people are in front of the desk, sometimes they’re upstairs in admin. Sometimes they’re both.)
That’s a library clerk. They make $9-15/hour. She’s a librarian. They do a number of things, but basically it comes down to “run libraries and other information collections”.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh god that’s funny. Trust me on this one - a) there’s a lot more to it than that, and b) you would not believe how nasty people can be.
A friend of mine went from banker to chef. She was in school for several years, though. Median pay in the US is $40K.
Looking at the US Occupational Outlook Handbook Occupation Finder and putting in “Postsecondary non-degree award” and median pay of $35,000 to $54,999 I found a couple things that have a decent growth rate.
Surgical Technologist
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses
Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers (maybe too physically demanding, but a lot of jobs and good growth rate)
Court Reporters
Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
There’s more if you look at associate’s degree, like Radiologic Technologists and Technicians, whatever they are.
Librarian seems like a nice job to me. Care to share some war stories?
Not sure what you do at the library now, but if you might have the basic kind of competence people are looking for in administrative assistants already. Yes, it’s often just a glorified term for a secretary, but it’s also a high level administrative/management position sometimes also. And it’s hard to find people who are organized, detail oriented, and literate. Even if it’s not the kind of job you’re looking for, you may already be qualified, and could use that as a transitional position while you train for something else.
Working as an administrative assistant, at least for a time, isn’t such a bad idea. It’s something I know I can do, at least. Comes with, ugh, phones, though. It isn’t what I’d prefer to do for the rest of my natural life, of course.
I like Dave Hartwick’s suggestions. I had this conundrum a couple of years ago, Zsofia, and you and I share similar characteristics (I’m very detailed, reasonably mechanically inclined, interested in how things work, and always assumed I was bad at math). I went back to school to earn a BS in Medical Technology, although it’s taking me a few years and I’m a full-time student. At the end of it all, I’ll be working in a lab either in a hospital or in a reference lab such as LabCorp or Quest. Actually what I’d eventually like to do is work abroad, but that’s another story and not relevant here. Anyway, many technical schools offer a Medical Technician certificate (technician is a level below the “technologist”). Might be something to look into, as that’s something you could probably do in night classes and over a shorter period of time.
The Court Reporter thing might be something to look into as well.
It does sound like you could transfer a lot of your existing skills to an administrative position, hopefully in a less toxic work environment than your current one. That would put you in a better position, emotionally and mentally, to learn a new skill through a night course.
Man, it’s not that you don’t know much about being a librarian, it’s that you don’t know ANYTHING about being a librarian. As others have pointed out, sorting books and checking items out is work for a page…or even a volunteer.
I had a couple of semesters in Library Science back when card catalogs consisted of cards. In filing cabinets. I’ve also done some volunteer work at my local library, which mostly consisted of sorting returned books, and reshelving them.
I also suspect that you don’t spend much time in a public library. See, the public library is PUBLIC, which means that just about anyone can come in and hang out. The library doesn’t require that people be sane to come in. In fact, the library doesn’t even require that people be sanitary. Most library patrons are very nice, very rational people. Others…are not. I refer you to Not Always Right and similar websites for examples of how some people act in public.