For those of you following my personal social media you already know this, but I recently changed career paths. For those of you who have kept up with my blog you may have already figured out that I previously hated my job from before. It was a job that I got right out of college, partially in my career field, from what I studied (kind of). My degree is in Communication Studies with a concentration in Public Relations. So I’m a PR girl, or at least I was. PR is a lot of things of which I’m not delving into.
But okay, I’m in this partial career position also partial receptionist position, and I’m driving myself crazy. I’m in a position that set me up for failure from the start and I didn’t even know it. I didn’t realize that I didn’t have enough experience for the Marketing/PR aspects that they thought they were looking for. My issue with my previous position was that I felt like what they needed was a salesperson and that wasn’t me. Also, the longer I stayed there the longer I felt like my life no longer had a purpose, other than to make the owner money. Which made me extremely unhappy. I think maybe I would’ve stayed longer in the career path that I chose with my degree had I worked at an agency because I would've been working under other professionals who had the experience to teach me, but that wasn’t the case for me.
So I went months looking for a new job. Any new job.
Third shift. Cleaning gigs. Leasing consultant, other PR jobs at agencies. As long as it matched my current pay or exceeded it. I was already working two jobs, and for my sanity I couldn’t afford to work more hours than I already was. Working 7 days a week with one or two days off every few months was breaking me down mentally. I was probably crying every other week. In addition, it wasn’t fun hearing back week after week, after week “Thank you for your interest but…..” Y’all, I seriously considered quitting all my jobs and moving back home with my mom. The cost of living and my bills were just too high. Plus, to cut down on rent bills I’m picky and I didn’t really have anyone I’d want to live with, other than a select few, and they weren’t options.
Although I was so close to the edge I waited it out. Not without some much needed help from my boyfriend. We made the decision to move in together. Something neither of our parents agreed with, but overall they respected since we’re adults. However, that did mean they we’re going to stop/ween us off of the financial support they were giving us. It was a lot.
If you’re ever considering quitting your job without a backup, because you hate it, just take a look at SimplyMei’s 5 Things to Consider Before Chucking the Deuces to Your Job. We all have livelihoods that we’re trying to maintain or responsibilities that we need to keep up with. You can’t just stop paying your bills one day. It’s going to backlash on you so bad if you do.
I hate my job so what am I gonna do? Simply pick another job I'm gonna hate? No.
During that whole time I thought about what else I wanted to do in life. What was going to truly make me happy? I’m super stellar at graphic design (dead end because no private loan company was going to give me a loan without a cosigner to get my associates in it) Plus, some few months later, after doing more consistent freelance work, I learned that I simply want to keep my graphic design talents to myself. Use it for the things I love or want to help with - WITH ZERO PRESSURE.
Then it dawned on me.
My other talent or thing I love to do is: help people. I’m also super embedded in my love for my sorority, not just for what I’m able to do such as promoting and advocating for particular causes, but for the development of who I am as a woman, and who I’m becoming. Slowly it became clearer: to be the person I needed most in life. I needed my support system. At every road block I needed someone to recognize the talents within me. So that’s what I’m doing.
For the time being I’m working as an English Language Arts teacher, and although my students drive me crazy; everyday one of my students leaves a mark on me and I like to think I’m leaving a positive mark on them. I’m not asking them to be perfect, but I am asking them to try their best and show me that they’re putting forth the effort in the work they complete in my class. I don’t care if you got a 51% or an 86% on a quiz. Did you try your best? If so, then we’ll work out where you need help and get you up to par.
All in all, I told you all my story because it’s okay not to like your job. It’s okay to feel like your degree means nothing or was a waste of time. We live life by trial and error. It didn’t work so what are you going to do about it now? Your life is yours and yours alone to live. Enjoy the ride while you can, and switch up when you need to.