# I can has career guidance? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424 "2012-05-19T14:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/21 "2012-05-19T21:49:44Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Isn’t welding really bad for your eyes? You wear UV eye protection. I was buddies with a welder back in the day- he had a lot of stories about the instructor who was too macho to wear a hood and had gone about 90% blind as a result. Wear the hood and you’re fine though. I know a guy who quit accounting to go to culinary school. It has been only a few years since he completed the program and he gets more work than he even wants along with top-level positions. He’s happy. You’ve been in the library all this time… why don’t you write a novel? Lots of specialized medical jobs require only an associates degree. Wanna do X-rays or the like? Drive a taxi. Just relaaaax about your working life for a change, don’t worry about nuthin’. People will probably be nicer to you in this, but I’m not sure- anyone ever drive a taxi? I’ve always considered this as something ‘fun’ to do part-time if I were to retire early. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/22 "2012-05-19T21:55:57Z")
Is there a university around you? Perhaps you could get a sessional position - the pay well above $42k at the u I work at. Or even an admin job - you could probably parley your masters into a pretty decent position. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/23 "2012-05-19T22:06:57Z")
You could look into becoming a paralegal. A library background would be an asset. At least when I was practicing law, really high-quality, intelligent, motivated paralegals could distinguish themselves and be treated and paid rather well. My mother is a librarian, and I will say–she complains about how horrible her job is all the time too. I’ve heard her complaints in detail (and they sound similar to yours). And honestly…compared to the crap involved with other jobs out there in the world…it doesn’t sound so terrible. You might end up wishing for your librarian position back. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/24 "2012-05-19T22:12:30Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Drive a taxi. Just relaaaax about your working life for a change, don’t worry about nuthin’. People will probably be nicer to you in this, but I’m not sure- anyone ever drive a taxi? I’ve always considered this as something ‘fun’ to do part-time if I were to retire early. I’ve read that taxi drivers actually have a much higher risk of being murdered on the job than most other jobs. After a quick google, I came up with this article that talks about the problem in terms of Minneapolis taxi drivers: > [@](#): > > The nature of a taxi driver’s profession directly places the driver at high risk for workplace violence. Both, OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), have identified working with the public, with cash, alone, at night, and in high-crime areas as risk factors for workplace violence in any profession (U.S. Department of Labor 2000). The work situation of taxi drivers has these all the risk factors; however, there is not any sort of physical barrier or defensive equipment. Drivers face physical assault, robberies, and racial/discriminatory treatment (Bidhu 2001). Continued stress from assaults leads to physiological and psychological conditions such as fatigue, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and death. Most drivers perceive their job as dangerous. They continue driving taxis because they do not have other occupational options. > > Non-Fatal and Homicide Statistics > > Minneapolis and the nation as a whole can boast about declining crime rates in the last decade, but taxi drivers are still experiencing homicide rates double that of the next dangerous profession—a police officer. Non-fatal assault statistics on taxi drivers are difficult to find because the classification of taxi drivers as independent contractors buries their numbers in multiple places (Kabrick 2001). The dissemination of statistics on taxi drivers makes it difficult to collect data and examine trends. Much of the statistics have come from taxi driver surveys and from the few cities that have kept careful records. Nevertheless, information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that taxi drivers also experience astoundingly high rates of violent assaults (184 per 1,000 workers) (U.S. Department of Labor 2000). If actual fatal statistics are anything to gauge by, then the non-fatal assault statistics are not far off. > > Fatal statistics are gathered from news organizations. Nationally, taxi drivers are sixty times more likely than other workers to be murdered on the job, according to OSHA (U.S. Department of Labor 2000). In Minneapolis, six taxi drivers died while performing their jobs from 1995 to 2003 (with three in 2003 alone) (Taxi-L 2003). Compare that number to two police officers in the same timeframe. The extent of this problem is due to reporting methods that have allowed grim data to be lost. (from [Taxi Driver: Worst Occupational Hazard in Minneapolis](http://www.taxi-library.org/mia-lor.htm) ) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/25 "2012-05-19T22:39:40Z")
In 2006, a relatively short time ago, when I moved to Montgomery, AL to take care of my terminally ill mother, I found a job as a librarian _immediately_. Not a dream job by any means, but liveable, and it wasn’t totally luck- there were usually at least one or two per year in this city (metro area roughly 250,000 people). Atlanta had dozens at an time. Since the recession started the library field has been fooking deader and dryer than Ramses II. The halfway decent jobs (not even talking tenure track/prestigious schools [never gave much of a damn about prestige] but just decent pay/benefits/full-time, which used to be plentiful, are just not there. The smaller public colleges, which is where I really preferred to work, rarely post anything at all- apparently their budgets are just so desperate they can’t replace departed staff (I know of several libraries where they’ve had people move on but haven’t been able to replace them), so I too am trying to think of something that pays comparably. So, I feel your pain. I find myself going to [indeed.com](http://indeed.com) and just kind of playing Hail Mary with various job titles and locations, and I’m starting to send “Why the Fuck Not?” applications. At least we’re doing better than Ph.D.s. According to an article in _Chronicle_ this month [more than 30,000 people with Ph.D.s are on food stamps](http://chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/)s or some other form of public assistance. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/26 "2012-05-19T23:33:32Z")
> [@Q.N.Jones](#): > > You could look into becoming a paralegal. I think this is a very good option for somebody with your training. Of the various detail-oriented office-type positions you could transition into, this one offers a better chance than most at decent money. Indeed I once had a classmate in college who made excellent money as the librarian/para-legal for a very large law firm with their own in-house library. Of course no guarantee you won’t end up working for some serious douchebag lawyers. It happens. And if you are unwilling to relocate I’d definitely check the job market in your area with a nose to where it might potentially be a year or so before you commit the money to a certification program. Trades jobs can be tougher to get into unless it looks like you have already built up some relevant experience elsewhere. Especially, all apologies, for a not very robust female librarian. Like it or not vestiges of entrenched sexism will be working against you getting entry into most blue/grey-collar fields. If you do try this route I’d suggest searching for entry-level government jobs where performing well on a civil service exam might give you a better leg up that trying to, say, break into an I.B.E.W. apprenticeship program. Something like [this](http://www.columbiasc.net/employment/42/0/60) or [this](http://www.columbiasc.net/employment/42/0/12), as distasteful as the first may sound, is the sort of position you should be looking for. An entry-level job that will teach an actual trade, but where you could at least work your way back to your current salary in a few years. Just remember in this economy there are a tremendous number of people competing for those sort of entry-level jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/27 "2012-05-20T01:39:52Z")
Yeah, and where the hell do you get three months experience in the exciting field of wastewater management if the entry level job requires three months experience? (I have fixed my own toilet. Does that count?) Might there not be any benefit, if one is seeking to work with one’s hands, in being female and therefore a minority applicant? I mean, after the honeymoon I’m seriously considering applying for ANYTHING that’s not this - wastewater management, how bad could it possibly be? (Please do not actually answer that.) Anyway, it’s not like they’ll ever do away with toilets, right? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/28 "2012-05-20T02:17:19Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Yeah, and where the hell do you get three months experience in the exciting field of wastewater management if the entry level job requires three months experience? (I have fixed my own toilet. Does that count?) That “OR” might have been for GED folks only ( the wording is odd ), but most likely refers to feeder apprenticeships like you can get in some community colleges. > [@](#): > > Might there not be any benefit, if one is seeking to work with one’s hands, in being female and therefore a minority applicant? Absolutely. > [@](#): > > I mean, after the honeymoon I’m seriously considering applying for ANYTHING that’s not this - wastewater management, how bad could it possibly be? (Please do not actually answer that.) Anyway, it’s not like they’ll ever do away with toilets, right? It’s not _that_ bad and yes I do have direct experience ;). I’m in a slightly cleaner environs these days, but I did work in a wastewater plant for a few years ( and spent a couple of months in a water plant ) decades ago which is why I thought of those positions. A number of women worked in both and yes it could help in hiring. These days the best example to think of is Homer Simpson :). Operators ( refineries, power stations, distribution, water/wastewater treatment, Mr. Burns’ nuclear plant ), generally speaking, are operators. These days at any semi-modern facility it for the most part consists of some simple bench chemistry, the occasional manual valve turning/minor mechanical maintenance and a whole lot of time sitting in front of computer screens. ---
**Author:** ![StarsApart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@StarsApart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarsApart)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/29 "2012-05-20T03:04:23Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > 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? The library I work for has a desk system where reference and circulation are together. Everyone is expected to be able to do the basics of each job, whether page, clerk, computer lab assistant, or reference librarian. If we need assistance we ask the people trained to a higher degree in that department. People will yell if you don’t have a book specifically on whatever extremely obscure medical disease/craft/weapon/episode of history they are looking for. They will yell if they don’t qualify for a library card, if you don’t speak loud enough or speak too loudly, if they have fines, if they think they returned something they didn’t, if they damaged a book, if they come in too close to closing and can’t get a computer, if they can’t renew their DVDs, if their children are acting like hellions, if they are drunk, if they forgot their password, or any other myriad number of reasons they would like to yell. Like any situation dealing with the public, from retail to call center work, etc, some people take out their anger on you. I’d say 90% of library patrons are nice or neutral. The other 10% are not. They may come in acting in a disruptive manner, they may attempt to steal, they may let their children cause a ruckus or endanger themselves, or they may simply just be rude. I’ve experienced it all in the public library I work for. Besides that, working in a library is far more than checking books in and out. Collection management, program development, literacy efforts, grant writing, general paperwork/reporting type stuff, etc… it all adds up and everyone (at least where I work) does quite a few different things regardless of their job title. In my experience, also, 0% of it consists of sitting and reading books. I’m not saying it all totally sucks but a library is no place to go for civil, polite behavior all of the time 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/30 "2012-05-20T03:39:41Z")
Allright, forget about driving a taxi. If you’re slight but nimble maybe you could get some training working with jewelry or circuit boards. Fine detailed electronics or diamond work… ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/31 "2012-05-20T07:03:27Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Is there any patient contact involved, or is it solely in the lab? There’s different kinds of medical technicians. EMTs and radiology technicians probably have a lot of patient contact, lab techs not so much. [What does a Medical Technician do? (with pictures)](http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-an-medical-technician-do.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/32 "2012-05-20T11:34:04Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > In 2006, a relatively short time ago, when I moved to Montgomery, AL to take care of my terminally ill mother, I found a job as a librarian _immediately_. Not a dream job by any means, but liveable, and it wasn’t totally luck- there were usually at least one or two per year in this city (metro area roughly 250,000 people). Atlanta had dozens at an time. > > Since the recession started the library field has been fooking deader and dryer than Ramses II. The halfway decent jobs (not even talking tenure track/prestigious schools [never gave much of a damn about prestige] but just decent pay/benefits/full-time, which used to be plentiful, are just not there. The smaller public colleges, which is where I really preferred to work, rarely post anything at all- apparently their budgets are just so desperate they can’t replace departed staff (I know of several libraries where they’ve had people move on but haven’t been able to replace them), so I too am trying to think of something that pays comparably. > So, I feel your pain. I find myself going to [indeed.com](http://indeed.com) and just kind of playing Hail Mary with various job titles and locations, and I’m starting to send “Why the Fuck Not?” applications. > At least we’re doing better than Ph.D.s. According to an article in _Chronicle_ this month [more than 30,000 people with Ph.D.s are on food stamps](http://chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/)s or some other form of public assistance. Hey, come to South Carolina! No library jobs, but I can guarantee we have openings in the poop profession, and that’s a stable industry if I ever heard of one. 🙂 Paralegal sounds like more education to just do the crappiest parts of librarianship - dealing with clients who may or may not be upset, not to mention furious or stupid, etc. - I think I could do better as an administrative assistant for no extra work. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/33 "2012-05-20T11:57:39Z")
The Large Hadron Collider has created jobs for nuclear physicists. Although you don’t wanna relocate and Cern would be a rough commute. ETA: but a physicist could probably swing some sorta near light speed travel, making the commute manageable. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/34 "2012-05-20T12:18:52Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Paralegal sounds like more education to just do the crappiest parts of librarianship - dealing with clients who may or may not be upset, not to mention furious or stupid, etc. - I think I could do better as an administrative assistant for no extra work. I’d recommend strongly against being a paralegal. For whatever reason, law firms seem to attract more then their fair share of office feuds, backstabbing and general work drama. Since that is apparently what your fleeing in your old job, I’d stay away from law-firms when choosing your new occupation. I’d look into something in the medical information field. Unlike just about every other sector, healthcare employment is growing, and medical information specifically seems to be hot. I’d imagine there’s some decent amount of overlap between knowledge and education needed librarian and medical information and I’d think that for at least some jobs in the field you wouldn’t need to deal with other people so much. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/35 "2012-05-20T12:57:20Z")
As something way out there, how about glassblowing? I’ve no idea why that occurred to me, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/36 "2012-05-20T12:57:32Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > There’s different kinds of medical technicians. EMTs and radiology technicians probably have a lot of patient contact, lab techs not so much. [What does a Medical Technician do? (with pictures)](http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-an-medical-technician-do.htm) What he said. Little to zero if you’re working in the lab itself. That’s part of the reason I picked it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/37 "2012-05-20T14:23:41Z")
> [@partlycloudy](#): > > 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. I second this suggestion, if you’re scientifically inclined. In the US, you can do either a two-year or a four-year degree. In general you get the same work for less pay with a two-year degree, but some places won’t let you do quality control, or move up to supervisory positions, unless you’ve got the full degree. LabCorp and Quest will give you more people contact, because they cross-train techs to take vital signs and to do front-desk work. I applied for a job at LabCorp and turned it down for that reason. In a hospital lab these days, you’ll rarely encounter a _patient_ directly, but you _will_ deal with nurses and doctors over the phone, many of whom can be pushy and mean. You’re under pressure to deliver results quickly, no matter which machine is currently on the fritz, so it can be a stressful job, depending on the hospital, the shift, and the type of patients. So, there’s still a risk of needing anger management classes - I was having trouble near the end of my last hospital job, because of management and staffing issues. But: it’s pretty good pay. You can work part time on weird shifts. There’s a **lot** of demand for new techs because the workforce is aging and nearing retirement. It’s important work, and fulfilling. With your librarian skills, you could easily get involved in lab computer systems, document control, and quality - fields within the lab world that are growing as hospital labs work towards better efficiency. I personally love the work and want to get back into a hospital lab once I get a good handle on Quality Assurance and can move back in that capacity. If you’ve got questions about being a med tech, please PM me anytime. I’ve also got a lot of [posts on my blog](http://antijenicdrift.blogspot.com/search/label/lab) about med tech stuff, if you want to do some reading and ask questions there. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/38 "2012-05-20T17:27:23Z")
Abstract Writer seems to me to be the perfect job for a disgruntled librarian. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/39 "2012-05-20T18:11:51Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > As something way out there, how about glassblowing? I’ve no idea why that occurred to me, BTW. I do love to watch glassblowers work. Terrified of fire, mind you. But it’s really fascinating. Wonder if one can take some sort of intro class? The whole medical lab tech thing does really sound interesting to me. It isn’t immediately apparent what the deal is at the local community college about it - they have it as a 4 year degree obviously, but I already HAVE a degree so I’m not sure how much I’d have to take. (Plus, it doesn’t seem easy to do at night.) ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424/40 "2012-05-20T18:33:21Z")
> [@StarsApart](#): > > Like any situation dealing with the public, from retail to call center work, etc, some people take out their anger on you. I’d say 90% of library patrons are nice or neutral. The other 10% are not. They may come in acting in a disruptive manner, they may attempt to steal, they may let their children cause a ruckus or endanger themselves, or they may simply just be rude. I’ve experienced it all in the public library I work for. Wow libraries sure are different. I haven’t done a statistical survey, but I would say less than 1% of the patrons at my library cause any sort of problems whatsoever. Yelling? Rude behavior? Disrespecful to staff? That will get you talked to by a manager and if the behavior continues, banned from the library. And I love the crew I work with. Best job I ever had. I don’t ever want to retire. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-has-career-guidance/622424.md?page=3)