View Full Version : School is NOT my thing..BUT...
Kellydancer
09-05-2012, 08:09 PM
lol I guess we can agree to disagree then bc I know a fuckton of people with really good jobs and no degree. And some even work at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab doing research, so I guess thats a bad job huh? Its not so simple as "oh I'll hire her/him bc she/he as a degree!" when others may not. Its the whole package, which includes experience, motivation level, personality, chemistry with the hiring manager, age (sadly), appearance (sadly), creativity, ideas, personal and professional successes, and networking. No one is just going to hire someone because they have a degree.
Maybe things in California & New York are just wayyyy different bc there are TONS and TONS of successful people without degrees here.
I find it hard to believe that a research lab is hiring people without degrees unless it is jobs like cleaning the garbage can. A science lab is NOT going to hire a scientist without a Ph.D. I did work in a research lab before in marketing and I know many scientists (there are two labs not far from me)and NOT one was hired with less than a Ph.D.
Employers want a person with a degree and experience, employers that pay well are not going to hire someone without a degree unless it is an in demand field and even then not as likely as before.
GlamourRouge
09-05-2012, 08:17 PM
It is the whole package: all that you mentioned PLUS a degree.
Obviously not when there are a ton of jobs that having a degree would make you overqualified for, and thus crossed off the list for fear that you would leave the job the moment you finally get hired for something in your field. Not to mention, I wrote that I know a ton of people who have gotten hired on at really great places/industries without a degree (see here: ). And then there are trades. Neither of those 3 need a degree and in a lot of cases it gets used against you. One of my old university art teachers even had her degrees used against her when she applied for a part time position at a coffee shop for evenings. They said she was overqualified and not hire-able. And do you think they are going to pick a relatively new grad with a degree versus someone with excellent related experience? I doubt it.
But now we are just repeating ourselves so there no point. Fact of the matter: it depends on the industry and how much experience you have.
Jessie_tinydancer
09-05-2012, 08:20 PM
In the year I worked in recruitment I didnt place a single person who did not have at least a diploma, but most had degrees and this was in media and advertising - an industry that really doesnt require degrees. Especially since I placed mostly sales positions. But at the end of the day employers wanted post secondary education because a) generally those candidates have far superior written communication skills and b) it shows that they had initiative and perseverance to complete a difficult task. The actual content of the education i.e.. was it media related, wasnt as important as long as the course had transferrable skills and the candidate could demonstrate that through experience and interview technique. Honestly had I stayed in North America I would have gotten a masters to remain competitive in the workforce. Degrees are common there. In Australia less people have them so having an honours degree was enough to excel quickly in my old life. Theres no way I would have gotten the jobs I had here in Canada without a Masters. To me anyone who is serious about a career path would be crazy to ignore education, but obviously experience as well. As someone mentioned its almost impossible to get experience without studying though. For example no vet clinic will let someone volunteer there even picking up shit without being in at least a vet nurse course. The only place who will take volunteers would be the RSPCA.
The usual path is start a course.. get an internship or volunteer.. start work in a low paying job.. graduate... keep working in low paying jobs and do a good job and eventually you can progress. Its long and hard, but its not supposed to be easy. Thats why there was all this crap about lazy gen Ys a few years back. When I worked in recruitment some employeers even specified "no gen Y" because they get a bad rap that they all think they should graduate and start making $70k in a management position. I didnt necessarily agree with that. Ive met some very driven gen Ys and some lazy gen xers.
The point is more doors open with education, but 100% explore what makes you passionate because no matter what its gonna be a hard long road. Work is called work for a reason. Its not always going to be fun or interesting. Its up to you to decide what you value in life. I previously choose careers that paid decent but I didnt enjoy, now Im doing the opposite, but guess what? My education will never be taken away so I have so many options.
GlamourRouge
09-05-2012, 08:20 PM
I find it hard to believe that a research lab is hiring people without degrees unless it is jobs like cleaning the garbage can. A science lab is NOT going to hire a scientist without a Ph.D. I did work in a research lab before in marketing and I know many scientists (there are two labs not far from me)and NOT one was hired with less than a Ph.D.
Employers want a person with a degree and experience, employers that pay well are not going to hire someone without a degree unless it is an in demand field and even then not as likely as before.
I worked in one too. Without a degree at the time bc I was only 21. Not at LLNL though. But I gave you the name of the lab of my friends'. She also had no experience in research. She was just motivated and called up the lead person and sold herself. She wasn't desperate for a job, but it was something she really wanted to do and they could tell that so they hired her on bc she sold herself well. She got paid pretty well $22/hr.
GlamourRouge
09-05-2012, 08:24 PM
In the year I worked in recruitment I didnt place a single person who did not have at least a diploma, but most had degrees and this was in media and advertising - an industry that really doesnt require degrees. Especially since I placed mostly sales positions. But at the end of the day employers wanted post secondary education because a) generally those candidates have far superior written communication skills and b) it shows that they had initiative and perseverance to complete a difficult task. The actual content of the education i.e.. was it media related, wasnt as important as long as the course had transferrable skills and the candidate could demonstrate that through experience and interview technique. Honestly had I stayed in North America I would have gotten a masters to remain competitive in the workforce. Degrees are common there. In Australia less people have them so having an honours degree was enough to excel quickly in my old life. Theres no way I would have gotten the jobs I had here in Canada without a Masters. To me anyone who is serious about a career path would be crazy to ignore education, but obviously experience as well. As someone mentioned its almost impossible to get experience without studying though. For example no vet clinic will let someone volunteer there even picking up shit without being in at least a vet nurse course. The only place who will take volunteers would be the RSPCA.
The usual path is start a course.. get an internship or volunteer.. start work in a low paying job.. graduate... keep working in low paying jobs and do a good job and eventually you can progress. Its long and hard, but its not supposed to be easy. Thats why there was all this crap about lazy gen Ys a few years back. When I worked in recruitment some employeers even specified "no gen Y" because they get a bad rap that they all think they should graduate and start making $70k in a management position. I didnt necessarily agree with that. Ive met some very driven gen Ys and some lazy gen xers.
The point is more doors open with education, but 100% explore what makes you passionate because no matter what its gonna be a hard long road. Work is called work for a reason. Its not always going to be fun or interesting. Its up to you to decide what you value in life. I previously choose careers that paid decent but I didnt enjoy, now Im doing the opposite, but guess what? My education will never be taken away so I have so many options.
lol you guys are arguing your own personal experiences and then counting them as fact? And when someone else has a different experience you try to defend how it isn't true? Ok then. Pretty sure the close-mindedness I see on SW is the why many girls spend less time here these days.
Cool so a degree is obviously needed in the media realm whether its required or not. But not all industries even benefit from someone who has a degree.
Jessie_tinydancer
09-05-2012, 08:25 PM
Obviously not when there are a ton of jobs that having a degree would make you overqualified for, and thus crossed off the list for fear that you would leave the job the moment you finally get hired for something in your field. Not to mention, I wrote that I know a ton of people who have gotten hired on at really great places/industries without a degree (see here: http://www.stripperweb.com/forum/showthread.php?177081-School-is-NOT-my-thing-BUT&p=2394951&viewfull=1#post2394951). And then there are trades. Neither of those 3 need a degree and in a lot of cases it gets used against you. One of my old university art teachers even had her degrees used against her when she applied for a part time position at a coffee shop for evenings. They said she was overqualified and not hire-able. And do you think they are going to pick a relatively new grad with a degree versus someone with excellent related experience? I doubt it.
But now we are just repeating ourselves so there no point. Fact of the matter: it depends on the industry and how much experience you have.
Absolutely Im waaaay over qualified to work in a coffee shop. Thats why I got a degree. So I never have to. If someone is really worried about a degree stopping them from getting a part time night job. Just dont disclose it. Its not illegal.
GlamourRouge
09-05-2012, 08:27 PM
Absolutely Im waaaay over qualified to work in a coffee shop. Thats why I got a degree. So I never have to. If someone is really worried about a degree stopping them from getting a part time night job. Just dont disclose it. Its not illegal.
But its obvious when you work another job that obviously means you have one (hers was a university teacher)
Jessie_tinydancer
09-05-2012, 08:31 PM
^true she'd have to leave out big chunks or try and explain them which would get frustrating. But in the case of the OP who has little to no work experience yet having finished her course she could easily leave it out without questions asked if she needed to seem less qualified to take a low end job while she looked for something in her field.
Kellydancer
09-05-2012, 08:39 PM
I worked in one too. Without a degree at the time bc I was only 21. Not at LLNL though. But I gave you the name of the lab of my friends'. She also had no experience in research. She was just motivated and called up the lead person and sold herself. She wasn't desperate for a job, but it was something she really wanted to do and they could tell that so they hired her on bc she sold herself well. She got paid pretty well $22/hr.
Giving me the name means nothing because I still doubt someone would get a job as a researcher without a degree unless it was an internship. I know many researchers, some are even out of work and all of them have degrees. Sure anything can happen, but likely? no. I have met several famous rock bands who were the one in a million who made it big does this mean most rock bands will? nope most won't.
Kellydancer
09-05-2012, 08:42 PM
Absolutely Im waaaay over qualified to work in a coffee shop. Thats why I got a degree. So I never have to. If someone is really worried about a degree stopping them from getting a part time night job. Just dont disclose it. Its not illegal.
A few years ago when I lost my job I went to Wal-Mart and applied for Christmas help. The lady looked at my resume, shook her head and asked why I was applying there. She then said that particular store never hires college graduates. I wans't upset because the purpose of me getting a degree was to avoid those types of jobs.
kellyallstar
09-27-2012, 05:40 AM
Summary: I put off my personal goals, divorced a douchebag who took all my money, became a depressed alcoholic, didn't pay my taxes, almost ruined my life but my husband saved my ass. Don't do the same thing because most people are not so lucky. Get an exit plan whether it includes college or not and stick to it.
relating and good advice.
Nuclear Martini
09-28-2012, 06:48 PM
unless your mom is helping you fund your education....don't do anything for her. Think about yourself. It's usually us kids who want to make our parents proud who have not ever once heard them say they are proud of us...and probably never will. I hope I'm not projecting on you too much but I have done SO MANY THINGS to make my mother proud and she never even thanked me once or said "I'm proud of you". I took a year off of college (I was paying for 100%) to drive her around when she was in a wheelchair and my mother and aunt point out how I took so long in college because I wasn't focused.
I was focused...I was just trying to make a cold mother proud of me. I gave up on that goal. I know I will never hear those words come out of her mouth. Should people like us be sad about it? No....at least we learned what mistakes not to make for when we have kids.
Nuclear Martini
09-28-2012, 06:51 PM
I told my mother that my friend who is born in China working at a nail salon. She told me if an American Asian girl born in the US working at a nail salon..what would people look at me as? And that I NEED a job in an office :(!! I am in a community college studying paralegal. This is my 2nd year and I'm 1/2 years left. It shouldn't take me this long because a paralegal major ONLY needs 2 years to be completed!! I feel so tired going to school. Maybe this is the career I want. But I'm not so sure either. And since I'm living with parents now, I have no choice but to complete school AND get a job in an office.
I don't want to burst your bubble but I would not put myself through agony to become a paralegal. Chances are you will want to further your career and you will have to go back to school.
Jay12
09-30-2012, 01:14 AM
I really hope OP gets her AA and also gets to have the chance to explore other career options along with dancing. Exploring different fields, IMHO, is something very important so later in life there aren't any regrets. Also, I'm happy I found this thread because is reflecting some of my feeling regarding what to do with my non dancing jobs. I'm almost 25 and I'm still contemplating my options regarding my non dancing jobs. I feel like I'm running out of time, and I feel like I can only choose one of the following options (besides dancing):
-After I resume dancing at the beginning of 2013, put some money to the side and do a 2nd bachelors (probably in civil engineering).
-Resume my system administrator "career", despite how much I had started to hate the IT industry; I held one of those jobs earlier in my pregnancy, after I stopped dancing but quit in less than a month.
-Renew all the professional licenses I had a few years ago in Va. and/or get a new trade.
-Go back to active duty (for the ones who didn't know, I'm in the reserve).
As much as I love dancing (and camming, and the occasional private parties), is not something that I would probably be doing for an eternity, and I do think that picking one of the above options is something I must do in the near future. Not just for me, but also because of my son (and any future children I'll have).
Another thing to the OP; use dancing to gain financial freedom, so you can explore other fields and find one you like, and then use dancing to supplement your income and to save it for the future.
22lligm
10-05-2012, 09:07 AM
If there's been one thing I've learned from dancing (I'm 20 and have worked in different clubs since I turned 18.. Not too long I know ha) it is to get an education. So many older dancers have told me numerous times: "go to school, I wish I did when I was your age"
Oh and that's just it, you ARE young, and you still will be when you graduate! So you might as well get your degree while you have the opportunity and if you aren't sure what you want to do with your life dance full time so you can at least move out. You'll still be young so you can dance, or start your career, or both. You have time!
Nuclear Martini
10-05-2012, 08:46 PM
Please get a degree in something *you* like that also has good career opportunities. Research possible careers on bls.gov, they have government stats on salaries, work envirement, average hours worked, and projected job growth for the next decade.
I don't remember exactly how to get to the site but just google a job title or major and bls.
Such as: "Accountant bls", "lawyer bls", "teacher bls" and it will be one of the first links on the page.