If someone wanted to get a job in your field...

In My Humble Opinion
1

Dopers job experience is vast and since I am on the fence About What To Do With The Rest Of My Life I thought I would start a thread asking for the pro’s and con’s of job feilds that people may be interested in, thus giving direction.
Anyone who is in these feilds or is intimate about them ( family and friends) please post the pro’s and con’s, as well as what is needed to get into this position ( education-how much) and what the starting pay is in your area.

I am looking at, but not limited to:

**Teaching. **At least 7 grade and up.

School Librarian I think they have the fancy title of Media Specialist.

Jobs in a library

Postal worker ( we live semi-quasi rural and routes are very pretty.)

Real Estate This has been niggling me for quite some time.

Pilot Yes, I have zero experience in a cockpit and suck a math, but, hey, it is a pipe dream.

I am looking for a job with benefits ( IRA, health), security, and long term payout, like retirement packages. As all the jobs I’ve held this was nonexistant. I also have to like what I do and the people I work with, which is veyr important to me.

However, I would possibly squash all essence of individuality to work for one of the Big 3 Automotive companies in exchange for money, auto discounts and becoming a part of a massive Union. Yes, that would be Whoring for Money.

My previous job, Corporate Travel Agent, is pretty much a non-feild now with 9/11 and the internet being the nail in the coffin of this once popular feild. ( BTW, if you like variety, geography, fast paced business, dealing with customers on the phone and low pay, I highly recommend this career.)

So, I get to start from scratch and since my baby will be in first grade in 4 years, I really need to *Get My Act Together * but don’t want to spend an hour or more each directing stuck in traffic like the rest of the slack jawed lemmings. I would need to be able to either take the kids to or from school. I would probably need to be part time for many years

Anyone else wanting to post their dream job inquiries, please, ask.

(Oh, I also want to be a world reknown tap dancer, cowgirl, and stand up comedian book author model and possibly a ballerina, truck driver. )

2

I’d love to open my own bakery…

As for the job I currently have… all you need to do is have a kid or so. :slight_smile:

3

Health care is one of the few industries that are still expanding. It’s not necessary to be directly in patient care, and a lot of back office jobs pay pretty well, have all the benefits you mentioned, and some even offer incentive plans (profit sharing). Plus, every town has at least one doctor, so you don’t have to commute if you dont want to.

4

I was going to start a thread similar to this a few months ago, when I got some ridiculous idea in my head about going to law school. I got better, though.

I don’t know anything about most of your ideas, but I can tell you one thing - you don’t want to get into the truck-driving ballerina racket! You’ll make a good living, but the stress will eat you alive. All that driving and dancing, driving and dancing… it’s enough to make you wish you’d become a secret agent/model-actor like your mother always wanted.

5

Congratulations for your speedy recovery!

6

Real estate has some collateral possibilities in property management and facilities management, which are areas always needing new blood. A good facilities/property manager is pure gold to large business and to government.

My wife has a master’s in finance and a heavy real estate background, primarily in property management. She is presently working for GSA, salary about $65K, plus 25% locality pay. I was a facilities manager for the U.S. Department of State and was making about $55K plus 45% differential pay overseas when I quit them. From that job, I’ve moved into construction contract management and presently make about $63K/year.

Good luck.

7

Slip of the typing finger. My salary is about $75K, not $63K. Cheers.

8

…they’d better know how to mow hay.

useless non-contribution made, Doc ambles aimlessly onward

9

Well, I can answer this one! For the first, School Librarian - yes, these days the title is “Media Specialist.” For this job you’d need an MLS/ MLIS (Master of Library Science/Master of Library and Inforation Science [no difference, just depends on what that particular graduate program calls the degree]). Depending on the program, it can take 1.5 to two years to get the graduate degree. I took 2 classes per summer session (i.e. 4 classes each summer) and got my MLIS in just over a year. If you’re planning on being a School Library Media Specialist, then you usually need extra credentials - specific education classes and you’d have to be certified as a teacher (at least here in SC you do) and pass a standardized test. Now, it’s possible that this isn’t the case in every state - perhaps in some areas you can be a Media Specialist without the MLIS, but around here it’s a definite requirement and I think that’s becoming the norm everywhere (though I could be wrong - IANA Media Specialist)

For “jobs in a library”, it really depends on the library and what kind of job you’re talking about. Many of the jobs are going to be librarian jobs -which will almost always require the masters degree (some smaller public library systems still have “librarians” that don’t have the degree and don’t necessarily require it, just because they can’t afford to pay the higher salary). In my library (a fairly large system) it varies. Everyone who is in the reference department (i.e. who works the reference desk) has the degree. In the Periodicals Department, the supervisors are all people with the degree, but there are people who work the desk who don’t have degrees. In the Circulation department, there are two people with the degree (the head of the department and the second in command) but none of the circulation clerks/assistants have the degree. So, it really depends on your particular library system and the particular job. Check out your library’s Web site -they’ll probably have current jobs listed there and that will give you an idea of what’s available and the job requirements.

10

“Jobs in a library”
I’ll bite on that one. To be a librarian, you’ll need a master’s in library science. Your undergrad can be in anything, takes about 35 grad credit hours (something you could do in 2 years or less.)
If you want to be a real-and-true schol library media specialist, you’ll need some extra qualifications (a valid K-12 teaching certificate, probably, plus a license from your state.)

You can be a library assistant w/o the degree. To get an assistant’s job, you would need good luck, related experience, and knowing someone wouldn’t hurt. Given that you’re not in a big hurry, looks like you’d have a good chance.

I’m an assistant, technically. Starting pay is moderate, 10-15$/hr. For Librarian 1, I’d guess 15-20$/hr.

In this job, part time would be your friend. (There are more part time jobs than full time.)

You’d probably have a stable schedule, but it might include some eves or wknds.

My benefits are great (but I work in a hospital library.) I think you’d get at least a retirement fund and basic insurance about anywhere in the library world, though.

Let me know if you have any more questions!
I see on preview that mcms_cricket has answered as well, but I’ll still add this for posterity:)

11

If you were thinking real estate as in ‘Sales’, your chances are vanishingly slim to none of finding a job with bennies. The vast majority of real estate salespeople are self-employed, with all that that implies…

If you were thinking ‘real estate office job’, (support staff), that can be fun, but it depends on the office. Many if not most of the real estate people I know are genuine characters, which is fun. You will also find a lot of wannabe con artists in that business, which isn’t fun in the long run.

If you were thinking ‘property management’ like Chefguy spoke of, that can be rewarding and fun, as long as your office doesn’t have slum lords as clients. (My wife owned a property management company for a few years, and has been a real estate broker for over 25 years.)

It is possible to do real estate part time. The educational and licensing requirements vary from state to state, so you’ll have to check with the state. For instance, the state of Oregon, where I live, requires ongoing education, 30 hours every 2 years, for as long as your license is active.

12

I was also entertaining the thought of becoming a Cheerleader Assassin, as well. :slight_smile:

I’ve gotten some good information here. Thanks.

13

If you want to be a teacher, most of the requirements are state specific. You will most likely have to go back to school and then student teach. There are some states that offer temporary certificates if they are badly in need of help. Go to your states’ department of education website for information.

I will mention that newly certified, or liscensed teachers have to jump through many more hoops than teachers who came out of school 5 or more years ago. In Ohio, you would have to go through a mentoring process, and a liscensing procedure called Praxis, in which you would be evaluated by people from the department of education, and other teachers.

It is a very rewarding experience to teach children, just make sure you have plenty of patience and the ability to take criticism from people in the community you would be teaching in.