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I don't know if this falls more under life advice or advice sought and given in general work chat, it kind of falls under both.
I have received a soft job offer from a company where I had a job offer fall through previously (a hard, written job offer that fell through... got to love at-will employment, they don't even have to wait until they've actually hired you to fire you). The pay isn't bad ($16 an hour, full time, with potential for overtime), the benefits are decent (they're on par with what I've had in the past), and best of all, assuming it doesn't fall through, it will be a job. That's the pros, the cons.
$16 an hour for someone with a bachelors level degree in accounting is pathetic, that's less than my mom made at her first job out of college... before you adjust for inflation. I know times are tough and nothing I take is going to pay me what I'm worth, so I can look past that. What I can't look past though is that there is no room for me to advance. Okay, so there is advancement options, but it is on a career path that not only am I not interested in, but have actively sought to avoid (I do NOT want to be a financial adviser, there was a time when I might have been interested, back when it was an actual finance position, but now it's just an over glorified commissioned sales job). Technically this is a client service job, so the only area I can move into out of that is financial adviser, and before you say, well you can get the job and move back into accounting later, there is a catch 22 where I can't win.
Accounting degrees have shelf lives... honestly speaking, with how quickly accounting rules and regulations change, my degree was out of date before I even completed it. Which leaves two options, start looking for an accounting job within only a few months of starting this job, in which case I'll look like I'm job hopping, and no one wants to hire someone who is willing to leave a job after just a couple of months. Or, I stick around for a year or two, maybe even three, to show that I am a reliable, loyal employee... oh, but then my degree will be hopelessly outdated with no experience to make up for it. At that point I guess it is possible for me to go back and get some sort of accounting certificate, that wouldn't be hard, but accounting certificates have very little weight behind them, for much the same reason that most certificates have little weight behind them, because they are easy to get and employers would rather see a degree.
To complicate matters further, this job offer isn't in a vacuum. I'm typing this right now from Reno, because I'm actively working on several positions here, two already with the state with three more with the state pending. For me to accept this job, would mean abandoning my pursuit of the jobs in Reno, particularly the state jobs. I don't know what my snowball's chance is with the state, but if I can get one of those jobs I'm set for life.
Which brings us to problem number, who's counting anymore. The job is in Salt Lake. Part of what got me through school was the promise that a degree would be my ticket out of the bigot infested rat hole. And while it is never easy to get an out of state job, it is sure as hell easier when you are actually physically present in that different state. In Reno, by blessing of being in the state of Nevada, we have domestic partnership rights (please no fratching comments, I won't say anything about it here other than it's a hell of a lot better than what is in Utah), adoption rights (again, please no fratching), and at least for me an existing network of friends from growing up here and for both of us a much more open minded society than what is found in Utah where it is possible to actually get to know people... yes, it is a lot easier to do when you make it beyond the point when someone finds out you're gay and they don't run away yelling "stay away from me you sick fag." I mean, I came to the realization today that I have a total of 2, and no, that isn't a typo, I did mean two, friends in Salt Lake who are straight, that they've looked past that I'm gay and have accepted me as a friend because of common interests. Of my other friends I realized that at most three of them would have been friends had the fates been different and we had all been born straight. The rest I've realized aren't so much friends as it is, "we're both miserable for the same reason, we might as well be miserable together for support." My friends in Reno... not a single one of them would not have been my friend had the fates been different.
So, I guess what it comes down to (for those of you who are still reading this long rant, thank you) is do I take the nearly sure thing that is a dead end and leaves me living somewhere that I know I hate, or do I take my chances on getting one of the positions that has growth opportunities in a place that I already know that I love... keeping in mind that it costs me $55-$65 (at current prices) each way in gas alone (not including wear and tear and maintenance on the car, which if you include that would probably at least double that number) to go back and forth, and if this job falls through again, that is potentially $110 (in gas alone, well over $200 for total costs) out of pocket for nothing.
I honestly don't know what to do, as I said, "for either way you choose, you cannot win" (damn you Andrew Lloyd Weber for your hauntingly eloquent words).
I have received a soft job offer from a company where I had a job offer fall through previously (a hard, written job offer that fell through... got to love at-will employment, they don't even have to wait until they've actually hired you to fire you). The pay isn't bad ($16 an hour, full time, with potential for overtime), the benefits are decent (they're on par with what I've had in the past), and best of all, assuming it doesn't fall through, it will be a job. That's the pros, the cons.
$16 an hour for someone with a bachelors level degree in accounting is pathetic, that's less than my mom made at her first job out of college... before you adjust for inflation. I know times are tough and nothing I take is going to pay me what I'm worth, so I can look past that. What I can't look past though is that there is no room for me to advance. Okay, so there is advancement options, but it is on a career path that not only am I not interested in, but have actively sought to avoid (I do NOT want to be a financial adviser, there was a time when I might have been interested, back when it was an actual finance position, but now it's just an over glorified commissioned sales job). Technically this is a client service job, so the only area I can move into out of that is financial adviser, and before you say, well you can get the job and move back into accounting later, there is a catch 22 where I can't win.
Accounting degrees have shelf lives... honestly speaking, with how quickly accounting rules and regulations change, my degree was out of date before I even completed it. Which leaves two options, start looking for an accounting job within only a few months of starting this job, in which case I'll look like I'm job hopping, and no one wants to hire someone who is willing to leave a job after just a couple of months. Or, I stick around for a year or two, maybe even three, to show that I am a reliable, loyal employee... oh, but then my degree will be hopelessly outdated with no experience to make up for it. At that point I guess it is possible for me to go back and get some sort of accounting certificate, that wouldn't be hard, but accounting certificates have very little weight behind them, for much the same reason that most certificates have little weight behind them, because they are easy to get and employers would rather see a degree.
To complicate matters further, this job offer isn't in a vacuum. I'm typing this right now from Reno, because I'm actively working on several positions here, two already with the state with three more with the state pending. For me to accept this job, would mean abandoning my pursuit of the jobs in Reno, particularly the state jobs. I don't know what my snowball's chance is with the state, but if I can get one of those jobs I'm set for life.
Which brings us to problem number, who's counting anymore. The job is in Salt Lake. Part of what got me through school was the promise that a degree would be my ticket out of the bigot infested rat hole. And while it is never easy to get an out of state job, it is sure as hell easier when you are actually physically present in that different state. In Reno, by blessing of being in the state of Nevada, we have domestic partnership rights (please no fratching comments, I won't say anything about it here other than it's a hell of a lot better than what is in Utah), adoption rights (again, please no fratching), and at least for me an existing network of friends from growing up here and for both of us a much more open minded society than what is found in Utah where it is possible to actually get to know people... yes, it is a lot easier to do when you make it beyond the point when someone finds out you're gay and they don't run away yelling "stay away from me you sick fag." I mean, I came to the realization today that I have a total of 2, and no, that isn't a typo, I did mean two, friends in Salt Lake who are straight, that they've looked past that I'm gay and have accepted me as a friend because of common interests. Of my other friends I realized that at most three of them would have been friends had the fates been different and we had all been born straight. The rest I've realized aren't so much friends as it is, "we're both miserable for the same reason, we might as well be miserable together for support." My friends in Reno... not a single one of them would not have been my friend had the fates been different.
So, I guess what it comes down to (for those of you who are still reading this long rant, thank you) is do I take the nearly sure thing that is a dead end and leaves me living somewhere that I know I hate, or do I take my chances on getting one of the positions that has growth opportunities in a place that I already know that I love... keeping in mind that it costs me $55-$65 (at current prices) each way in gas alone (not including wear and tear and maintenance on the car, which if you include that would probably at least double that number) to go back and forth, and if this job falls through again, that is potentially $110 (in gas alone, well over $200 for total costs) out of pocket for nothing.
I honestly don't know what to do, as I said, "for either way you choose, you cannot win" (damn you Andrew Lloyd Weber for your hauntingly eloquent words).
(And it's always awesome to have more friends out here LOL)
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