<p>I am an undergraduate psychology student and I am graduating next year. I have NO idea what I want to do with my life, and I'm kind of freaking out.
I don't have any desire to work in psychology.
I could bear to go to graduate school for like 3 years, max. (I just want to start my life, now!)
Or maybe I can find something with just my bachelors? Also, I live in a very expensive area and I am going to be about 60 thousand in debt when I graduate, so I need to do something that will make me some cash.
I am sure everyone can see my dilemma. I just really don't know where to go from here. I am a straight A student, a teacher's assistant, and also a research assistant, so qualification is not an issue for graduate school.
I am very outgoing and upbeat and I need a career that will keep me out of a cubicle. Right now I am a bartender, and I love it, but I can't do that for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>Someone, anyone, suggestions? Please!</p>
<p>Craigslist.com !!! You can search jobs there to fit you!</p>
<p>You’re in the same boat as many others. I’d highly recommend avoiding grad school. Start working, gain skills / experience.</p>
<p>The best paying jobs go to people with specifically defined skills: accounting, programming, engineering, actuaries. </p>
<p>You could try getting certified to be a high school teacher. Not great pay, but enough to live on, and summers off. </p>
<p>You could try a sales job, or working as a recruiter / headhunter somewhere.</p>
<p>Especially since you don’t have any “specific skills”, the first few years of your career probably won’t be easy, and probably won’t pay will. Financially, he smartest thing that you could do now is to get a specific skill: get an accounting degree, learn how to program, get amazing at Excel.</p>
<p>Why do you recommend avoiding graduate school? I feel like I could get a pretty decent scholarship or graduate assistant position, which would cover my tuition. I have been looking into occupational therapy a lot but I will need to take two more prerequisite classes after I graduate and I will obviously need a job within that time. Plus, OT programs don’t offer a lot of financial assistance. I was trying to think of another field that would suit my personality; one that has requires a graduate program that offers more financial assistance.</p>
<p>Should’ve clarified. Grad school is a smart idea if it is for a specific “trade” that will get you a job quickly (like master’s in accounting, OT, Phys Asst, etc.)</p>
<p>A problem is that many people in majors like English, Poli Sci, History, etc., do grad school because they can’t get a job, and then, 2 years later, w/ a master’s in that same subject, they still can’t get a job.</p>
<p>There’s a large problem among college students: an anger that there aren’t jobs in fields that interest them. “I’m smart, I’m really knowledgeable in history, why won’t anyone hire me?” … there’s a large disconnect between what many college students spend years studying, and the skills that the job market demands. Especially given that we live in a world where, compared to 30+ years ago, companies are much less likely to have apprenticeship / training programs.</p>
<p>You can search your job in the job website. Now many job website that help you to get some new job offer every day.</p>
<p>The Bureau of Labor Statistics came out with a study of the occupations expected to see the most growth over the next decade. The good news is that many of the in-demand jobs that will offer the most opportunities require less education than a bachelor degree so it’s possible to find a great career without attending a pricey four-year college or university. Many of the jobs only require an associate’s degree which can be completed in two years or less at an inexpensive community or technical college.</p>
<p>Source:
USDegreeSearch.com - Top 10 Fastest Growing Occupations - That Don’t Require A Bachelor’s Degree <a href=“UsDegreeSearch.com is available at DomainMarket.com. Call 888-694-6735”>UsDegreeSearch.com is available at DomainMarket.com. Call 888-694-6735;
<p>Move away from the expensive area.</p>
<p>An outgoing personality and a psych degree might be good for a sales job, or a position in public relations, human resources, or event planning.</p>
<p>SansSerif has said it all. Many tech companies also look for marketers or marketing analyst.</p>
<p>First of all see if there’s a way to get scholarship or sponsorship to pay off some of the 60K debt. Places like *****.com might help. You can also submit your thoughts/ideas at [Upcoming</a> Awards | collegefeed](<a href=“http://www.collegefeed.com/upcoming-awards]Upcoming”>http://www.collegefeed.com/upcoming-awards) and win $1500. </p>
<p>Regardless of all the stats / debate, grad school is a “good thing”. It will go down in your personal education “timeline”. Plus, you never who who you’ll meet and what you’ll end up doing. It won’t be the same if you do it 10 years later. So I’d say if you can afford it, go for it.</p>
<p>That said, given you’re smart, energetic and outgoing, figure out if you want to be “building things” or “selling things” - two broad skills that matter mostly. If you like building things, pursue Product Management. A lot of PM roles don’t need you to be technical and your main focus is to understand user needs and define how the product should look and work. Its a very thoughtful, creative, and people oriented job that makes you think, talk to people, work with people. If you like selling, go into Sales or Marketing. </p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Hmm… I don’t understand the mentality here of everyone “needing” a specific career path straight out of college. The people who know what they want should go for what they want, but the people who don’t know what they want to do should allow themselves the freedom to explore and not be so anxious about not having a “calling.” You have the freedom to choose. Might as well just look up a bunch of job listings and work on applying to the ones you think are most interesting. The ones you think will be the most fun. The ones you think will be most fulfilling now. (Or the ones that are “okay” in regard to those things but pay well, if that’s where your priorities lie.) Too many people on this site spend time worrying about how well off they’re going to be when they’re like 50. Take a deep breath and get to searching. Now. If you find that most jobs you’re interested in require a certain skill you don’t have, start working on it right away. </p>
<p>And just wondering, why can’t you be a bartender for the rest of your life? If you love it, keep doing it. If it doesn’t make enough money to live comfortably in your area, focus on another job, but if you’ve found something you enjoy doing that will help you make a few extra bucks, who’s to say you shouldn’t try to keep at it part-time?</p>
<p>Edit: I also would not recommend going to grad school if you’re already 60k in debt.</p>
<p>If you’re 60K in debt., then you’ll need a job that pays enough to service that debt. You should concentrate on getting some skills that pay well. This can be done through low-cost certificate plans at a local college. Expensive area = city, probably. City’s often have low-cost programs where you can pick up some hard skills. The others have listed some of the skills that are very marketable: accounting, actuarial work, statistics. You should also look at the medical profession: radiologist, medical records keeping, dental hygienist. In addition, in some city’s there are programs to attract women into non-traditional fields–and they can pay a lot. Trades such as electrician, plumber, welder, are non-traditional jobs for women, they pay $80 per hour and are union. Universities often have lots of entry-level positions in labs, offices, non-science research programs. Good luck!</p>