My degree is in interdisciplinary studies and I don’t know what is available to me with that kind of education. I’m tired of part time jobs but I don’t know what I can do with what I have. Thoughts?
Got skillz?
How did the advice you received when you previously asked essentially the same question work for you?
The two basic ways to approach this are:
- What do you want to do?
1A. Do you have the skills to do that? If not, seek out those skills - What jobs do you find when you look?
2A. If you don’t have the skills to do those jobs, either seek a different job or seek out those skills
In neither case is it particularly important that one majored in Interdisciplinary Studies, Art History, or Computer Science in college
There’s a third way to approach this - look for permanent jobs that don’t require much in the way of skills. Shelf stocker, box hauler, ditch digger*…
Taking this approach you shouldn’t expect to enjoy your job - but nobody should expect to enjoy their job; that’s not something to expect, that’s a rare perk. You take a job like that because you want to pay the rent, which sometimes is better than not doing so.
*I await somebody coming in and angrily telling me it takes skill to dig a good ditch.
I had a friend who wanted to design high-end furniture for a living. He majored in Art History in college. Lo and behold, after graduation, he couldn’t find a job. After a few frustrating years in dead-end jobs, he went to a community college and took a few technical courses - statics, mechanics of material, and CAD. He didn’t get another degree, but he landed a pretty decent job pretty quickly after that.
This doesn’t sound particularly optimistic, I mean a ditch digger?
I was thinking more like an office job or something.
What kinds of skills to you have, as a result of these part-time jobs? Any way you can do these full-time?
If you can’t spell “Bachelor’s,” or (more importantly) be bothered to proofread your post, I probably wouldn’t hire you for much of anything.
My daughter graduated with a degree in English, knowing that writing would never pay the bills. She had a few menial jobs and worked for a temp service, showed that she had mad office organization skills, and has been in office work for the last dozen years.
My son graduated with a degree in music, with ambitions to be a composer/producer. One of his unpaid internships led him to getting an actual (low) paid job teaching art to kids, which led to working at and ultimately managing a small art gallery, which led to him being hired at an auction house, where he’s now doing customer service (i.e., taking care of people who want to auction their estates, collections, etc.)
Both of them had “skills” that were probably no better than a well-rounded high school graduate, but both of them showed strong work ethics, were excellent communicators and had well enough developed interpersonal skills that they could fit into positions with both administrative and customer-focused responsibilities.
Interdisciplinary studies doesn’t give you much in the way of “skills,” like an engineering or law - or even graphic arts - degree would, so you’ll have to prove you can actually DO something. Don’t be afraid to work a lowly job, and always be open to possibilities. It also helps to enjoy interacting with people.
A guidance counselor… to advise others that a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies is not a good choice.
Seriously, if you want an office job look for administrative assistant positions… do really well and work your way slowly up.
I’d like to be able to work my way up. Because if I am going to be honest I’m killing myself at my current job just to make sure that things get done and aren’t a disaster but I feel like management doesn’t notice. It seems like they never see all the work I do but never fail to see when I mess up. I know it’s just a restaurant job but I just don’t like waiting for someone to get their task done.
It’s an internet forum and you knew what I was talking about, obviously I would make sure it was right in a professional setting.
What is interdisciplinary studies? Googling it I get a variety of things, mainly “design your own degree/major”. What was your area of concentration?
Using your terms, what do you have? What do you know how to do?
I realize there are exceptions, but usually high paying jobs with comfortable chairs exist because of a shortage of people who can do them. My (former) job required a minimum of a Master’s degree in engineering, 10 years robotics/AI experience, 5 years guidance software experience, a DOD clearance, and at least a Commercial pilot’s license. My son’s job requires an undergrad degree, an Airline Transport pilot license, 5000 hours of flight time, 4000 hours of turbine flight time, and 1000 hours of heavy turbine PIC (Captain) time. As you might expect, these jobs pay incredibly well, because they’re experiencing critical shortages.
If you have few marketable skills, your only way of earning a high income is doing jobs that are unpleasant. These also have shortages, and will pay very well to get people willing to tolerate the hours, the hard work, and the filth. Before I had the above skills, I worked night shift at a UPS sorting hub. Not getting rich, but double min. wage and benefits. Then I drove a truck for a while. Shitty job, but even better pay. Then I worked offshore rigs and pipeline jobs, awesome pay, but 12 hrs/day 7 days/wk for 6 months at a time, and working near the Arctic Circle kinda sucks. I traded seeing my family and time off for a few years to get waaaay ahead financially. Then I worked as a construction crane operator. Again, awesome pay, but shitty hours and more or less “trapped” up in the crane for the entire day. With the exception of the UPS job, these were all gig jobs, never lasting more than 6 months. One of my kids took the UPS night sort route, and after 3 years was supervisor, making pretty good bank.
As near as I can tell, jobs similar to these are still available, and seem to have openings. The “beginner” truck driving firms (SWIFT, Schneider) are always hiring, ditto UPS/FedEx. I looked around on rigzone.com and there’s no shortage of openings, although some require experience.
So… what’s stopping you?
My undergraduate major was philosophy. I majored in it because I enjoyed it. Lo and behold, it earned me first in line at the unemployment office.
However, I started a menial job. When they were looking for people to go up the ladder, I was first in line. The major didn’t matter. The four year degree helped me.
Do some research and find a good employer in an area where you want to live. Where you live is important especially if your entry level job is boring. As you can have activities to enjoy your life outside of work. By “good employer”, I mean one that takes care of their employees. Insurance, benefits, vacation, etc.
Good luck.
Hey, I don’t know how desperate you are. There are ditches that need to be dug, and if you were truly desperate you might be the guy to dig them.
Oh, you want something cushy!
See if you can get a job in some government office, doing…something. If there’s anything I know from my days interning there, things tend to be static. You get permanence and stability, if nothing else.
(Full disclosure: I got my internship through my college so I don’t know how hard it is to get hired normally, and it was for a skilled position so I don’t know what there is for the generically educated.)
I guess I’m trying to get perspective on the matter. When it comes to the ways of the society that I live in I will admit I’m like a child who has been sheltered a lot and doesn’t understand many things. I’m beginning to get why it’s so important though to have a good degree.
Sounds like you wasted a bunch of time (and presumably money). I guess it is good that you are NOW asking questions you might have thought about some time earlier.
Did you ever even set foot in your college’s placement office?
I assume I’m not the only one who feels you could do about a zillion things more profitable than post to a message board. You are going to have to decide what direction you want to go, and work hard to make something happen. But your past threads - and whatever led you to be in this position with your degree, likely suggests that such effort does not appeal to you.
I predict a life of retail sales in your future. Maybe you can make it up to manager! :rolleyes:
Hey, I have a couple of relatives who worked in retail, and (as it happens) both made it to manager.
It’s by all accounts a hell of a lot of work, and I for one am glad that people are doing that work. Sure Amazon is nifty and all but I still go to stores now and then, and like them to have stuff in them to buy and such.
Now, I’m also glad I’m not doing that work; I like a cushy desk job as much as the next Machinaforce. But that’s just because I’m a lazybutt, and I made sure to pursue a career that supported me being a lazybutt. But regardless of my (and your) personal live path, I’m not thinking that you should be denigrating retail workers.
https://www.indeed.com/q-Bachelors-Degree-jobs.html
Just put in your local city to filter the list down.
Large companies are always hiring lots of people with Bachelors degrees. It’s not really important what the degree is in, just that it has been achieved.