Are you underemployed?

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Here is a link to what this topic is all about.

http://mainejobs.mainetoday.com/lifeworks/004373.shtml

That is me right now. I am currently under-employed. I am bored at my work. Bored!

I have been looking for a new career but I seem to be stuck and from what I have seen it is mainly due to the fact that I have not yet completed my college degree, which I plan on going back to school in the Fall of this year. I only have one full year left if I went full time.

I hope you guys and gals could help a fellow adventure out. My current career is within the Banking/Finance industry. The department I work in does internal incentives for the sales and service employees. I do all the reporting and analysis work to help management determine who the winners are and to justify keeping this programs active. I been in this position now for over 5 years and would like to try something new. The company has been great to work for and I would like to continue my career within the company, however I would like to try something new but it has been impossible for me to get a job outside of my department without a college degree.

As for my degree I do plan to finish, hopefully in 2-3 years but I hope to change career/jobs within a month or two. I would have completed my degree or only have half a year left, but I had a lot of personal things happen to me over the course of 18 months (Marriage, bought a house & birth of my daughter). Now that things are slowing down I am planning on going back to school this coming fall (as mentioned).

The type of job I would like to get into is a supervisor position. I do have some retail manager experience but it has been roughly 5 years since I been in a management position.

What do you think? I am willing to listen to all suggestions that you may have.

 

My work is a bit crap, but I get away with murder there to be fair (flexible hours, many sick days, longer dinners!). I wouldn't get away with half the stuff I get away with there, so I'm in no rush to get a new job yet. As I get more outgoings I'll have to move though, as the pay is crap where I am at the moment.

 

Well I'm at home with a baby presently but the job I took maternity leave from was underemployment. I worked there for almost 10 years. I have a degree in fine art and I worked in an art supply store. Sure the discount on art supplies was great but it is retail and I have a lot of skills that I just wasn't using. When I finish my maternity leave I won't be going back there.

 

Yep, that's me... I currently do what's essentially menial work. Although not formally overqualified for my job, seeing how I have only finished high school, I can do loads better that what I do now.
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I am a pretty smart fellow, and my current job could be done by a trained monkey.
I'm planning to go to university coming school year, and if I can find something better in the meantime, I'll jump on it (will in fact write an application letter later tonight).

As for your situation, it seems that right now, you're going to need the dough to provide for your family, so you'd probably be best off sticking with your job or trying to climb the tree within your current employer.
If I get this wrong, though: get your degree ASAP, it simply opens up the job market, and will allow you to get ahead. It might be worthwhile to, if possible, combine this with working, but if you have to choose, and CAN choose from a practical PoV, I'd recommend doing the study thing.
That said, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about

 

Nice new avatar, Barmy.

Yeah, my job completly sucks... making shoes isn't the most interesting thing ever. Still, I need the cash to pay the damn bills. I consider it means to an end. Once done with school I'll get a better job, that's for sure.

 

My job is great at the moment. Sure it can get boring if the racks are filled with product, or if there aren't any furnaces pulling for 3 hours of so...but the benifits of my work more than outweigh the cons.

Plus, I get to brag that I work with 8 furnaces that get up to 2000 degrees, and have a constant flow of deadly gasses within them. Plus, product wafers can look pretty trippy looking after certain process.

 

Kitrax what is that you do?

I am a Report Analysis for my company. Boring at times, pay ok, but nothing to spectacular.

I actually prefer retail management. I enjoy always staying busy, having to deal with angry customer and employees. Always busy is what I like but I can't seem to find a job that would offer me that and provide me the hours I would like to work. 9-5.

 

I wish I was underemployed! I have such a long to-do list that never seems to get any smaller.

 

As stated in my BoM profile, I work in microchip manufacturing, dealing with 150mm silicon wafers. It takes about 2 weeks from the time a wafer begins the process chain until it's ready to be shipped to Asia to be "packaged" in the IC chip you and I all know. In my bay, the wafer could be inside a furnace for anywhere from 3.5 hours to over 13 hours at a time, depending on which process it's going through.

Fun stuff...

 

So, Kitrax, basically you sit by furnaces watching the wafers? Sounds good.

 

That's not *all* I do. I operate a Mercury MP Spray Acid Tool as well. It's name should hint to its function.

Uploading a furnace takes about 15 to 20 minutes, and the Merc finishes it's cycle ever 35 minutes. And the only time I actually watch the wafers move in to a furnace is when there isn't a furnace to upload/download or a 'Merc' to load/unload. So all in all, I'm usually fairly busy.

It might be a glamour job...like a nude model photographer, but it's a good job, and I don't think I'll be leaving any time soon.

[ January 11, 2006, 04:12: Message edited by: Kitrax ]

 

I've always felt that I have talents that I don't know how to use to make a living, meanwhile I'm stuck in more physical jobs (firewood, hay and scrap metal) with my elbows, wrists, shoulders, back, hips, knees and ankles paying the price for the job. I'm be right screwed by the time I'm 40...

 

Not at all. My job is reasonably challenging and quite interesting. There is a wide range of different areas that I audit within the investment banking lines of business and a lot of the financial products are fairly complex in nature.

The travel is a lot of fun too.

 

Abdel, this isn't a quick fix, but you might want to look into an online graduate course, specifically an MBA. That's a degree that will definitely open some doors, and an online program can usually be finished in less than 3 years if you don't take long breaks.

The only one I'm familiar with is University of Phoenix, though there are others. Try googling "online mba program" or something. This page (which I don't work for and don't endorse) seems to have some more info, but google around for more info:
http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-mba/

 

My wife thinks so....

 

Things might turn around for me just yet. It is now all a matter of time and preparing myself for future interviews that could lead to a change in pace and possibly the challenge that I seek. I won't know more till late March.