# So now I have a college degree, I have to look for a totally different kind of job... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 22, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631 "2009-06-22T19:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Xploder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a183cd/32.png) [@Xploder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xploder)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/61 "2009-06-25T00:14:51Z")
Having not posted in a couple of years, I find myself amazed…yes AMAZED!!! that Opal hasn’t really changed at all. Maybe she should put her stripper credentials on her resume. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/62 "2009-06-25T01:04:37Z")
It’s always good to have a fallback career. ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/63 "2009-06-25T01:05:52Z")
Since Opal has indicated she won’t be looking at this thread anymore for answers is it possible to move this thread to the pit? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/64 "2009-06-25T01:23:02Z")
> [@BottledBlondJeanie](#): > > Since Opal has indicated she won’t be looking at this thread anymore for answers is it possible to move this thread to the pit? Got something to say, do you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/65 "2009-06-25T01:43:12Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I should add that in the long term, I want to be a studio artist (painting, mainly) working for myself–my husband is a doctor, and once he finishes his residency he should be able to make enough money that we won’t have to rely on me having a regular paycheck to get by (in fact I’ll probably go get my MFA at that point)… Sounds like you are getting your MRS. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/66 "2009-06-25T01:44:19Z")
Opal, if your SO can afford it, why don’t you go back to school for your M.A. right away? People are saying, more or less, that even with a degree, there is no certainty that you’ll work in your area of expertise. Consider it an achievement in itself, and a step in your own development. If you are dead set on a career in fine arts, you’re going to have to work your butt off, and take every opportunity that comes along. In the case of a young woman I know, this meant going back for a Masters, spending a year studying art in Italy, getting a second masters, then getting a job in Abu Dhabi teaching art at University. While she did all this, she also put on many (joint, at first) exhibitions both in North American and in Europe, and solo exhibitions. She is an excellent communicator and teacher. She only married once she was pretty well-established, and her husband is supportive of the fact that she has to travel extensively to promote her work, attend openings, conferences et al. I know a few other artists, one of whom worked most of her life as a cost accountant while studying art and working with a few artists at night and on weekends. She was only able to work full-time as an artist after she retired. Another man I know is a fine painter but supports himself by working in a library. I could keep on adding anecdotes to this list, but you get the point, I hope. Congratulations again on your degree. Good luck in your job hunt. If you were my sister, I’d say take anything that is remotely connected to your art, and keep on working towards your dreams. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/67 "2009-06-25T02:24:04Z")
> [@Caricci](#): > > That sounds so awesome! Here is a [link](http://www.pearlriverglass.com/comm_church.html) to their ‘church windows’ page. If you will scroll down the page to the next-to-last row of church names, you’ll see “St. Peters-by-the-Sea Episcopal, Gulfport”. Click on that and you can look at the restorations they did for that church. Use the arrow key and you can flip through 13 slides. They are gorgeous pieces of art. Oh, and this [page](http://www.pearlriverglass.com/restor_process.html) talks a bit about the restoration process. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/68 "2009-06-25T02:33:05Z")
> [@BottledBlondJeanie](#): > > Since Opal has indicated she won’t be looking at this thread anymore for answers is it possible to move this thread to the pit? Not going to happen. I’m leaving this thread alone for now, but if **OpalCat** is quitting the thread and the remaining posts are devoted to personal criticism, I’ll lock this in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/69 "2009-06-25T02:49:19Z")
Two constructive suggestions for Opal, if she’s still reading: –Substitute teach. You can do it with a bachelors degree. If you’re reliable and take whatever jobs they give you, you will get jobs. Even in this terrible economy, my district is in desperate need of good substitutes. In Boston, there are probably several districts you could apply to and work for all of them until you get reliable work from one. It can be tough but the pay isn’t bad ($80 -$100 a day around here). –Offer private art lessons. From what I’ve seen of your art, you could definitely set up a website with your work and a resume to post online and get students. This is something you could do along with subbing. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/70 "2009-06-25T11:10:09Z")
I hate to stir the pot more than needed, but has anyone else noticed there always seems to be a major detail that is always casually mentioned in the OP? “So, I’m getting married…”, “I have an engagement ring I don’t want to damage…”, “Summa cum laude!”. It seems these are more about announcing a major life event than the content of the post itself. it’s sort of a “Where’s Waldo?\*” for threads. So…Congratulations on graduating Summa cum laude! \*Where the fuck is Opal’s point? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/71 "2009-06-25T11:41:02Z")
And my husband’s a doctor! And I’m such a buxom lass, I need to figure out how to rest my boobs on my guitar! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/72 "2009-06-25T12:18:23Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > I wonder to what degree self-selection is at work, though. Surely there are some people who love art but aren’t very good at it? By the time they join the community of self-supporting professional artists, there’s probably no question that their skills are up to snuff. But the ones that suck probably wouldn’t ever get to that point and make your girlfriend’s acquaintence. Or so I guess. Well, except that she (and the theatre person) are talking a lot about the people they went to college with that they’ve been friends with for years - who they watched struggle through ramen years. There are professions that you step out into a job (well, in this economy even some of those have been tough). Fine arts is not one of them. And honestly, my guess is that a she does have self selection bias. There are a lot of artists (my mother in law) who spend more on supplies then they ever manage to sell. But my mother in law is not a disciplined artist - and my friend would remove her from the set for that reason. Since she is talking about people who treat fine art as their business - they get up every day. They paint every day. They work at making connections, marketing, getting their name and art exposed. And I suspect that is the real skill to making it as a fine artist. You can produce brilliant sculpture, but if it sits in your studio in your back yard and you don’t let anyone know about it, its a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631/73 "2009-06-25T13:24:51Z")
> [@Spit](#): > > It seems these are more about announcing a major life event than the content of the post itself. it’s sort of a “Where’s Waldo?\*” for threads. > [@Koxinga](#): > > And my husband’s a doctor! And I’m such a buxom lass, I need to figure out how to rest my boobs on my guitar! We’re done here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-college-degree-i-have-to-look-for-a-totally-different-kind-of-job/500631.md?page=3)