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This may seem childish, but it's honest. I don't know what I want to do when I grow up.
See the cliff notes at the bottom if you don't want to read it all.
This thread is basically the result of me working unfulfilling jobs, unsatisfied with the work, the income, etc. When I should probably just be glad I have a job at all. Maybe it's me being selfish, or granting myself an unwarranted sense of entitlement... like most other bastard white kids from the suburbs in this area.
Most recently, I have handed in my two-week notice at my current job, for which I don't have a title, nor a job description. I work for a BMW/MINI/Audi dealership collision center, with 11 technicians. Every estimate, whether it be our own or one from an insurance company, goes through me. I enter them as necessary, but I review every single one to identify parts that are being replaced. Then, I create a purchase order for our parts department with all of the parts to be replaced on the vehicle. Then I see to it that the technicians get the parts when the come in. At this point, I receive and invoice the parts in our estimating software (received or not, cost, list price, quantity, etc). I do all of the quality control for every car in the shop. During bodywork and paint, as well as at the end after it is totally assembled and detailed (Checking bodywork for waves, lows, highs, checking paintwork for too much peel, not enough peel, dirt nibs, fisheyes, checking panel gap alignment, cleanliness of the car, etc.) On top of that, I assist with the payroll, production schedule, accounting for parts prices, and whatever else the day may hold. Needless to say, I don't stop moving and shaking all day except for lunch. All for a very meager paycheck, something along the lines that a Sheetz shift manager would make, but with less stress. I save the shop roughly $50k a year in parts price differences between our estimating software, my parts department, and insurance companies' estimating software, and supplement accordingly.
I will be moving backward occupationally, but forward financially this week by going to a Mercedes-Benz dealership to detail, which I have been doing for years before I tried out the job I have now.
I know two things. I don't want to make $12/hr with no overtime for the rest of my life like I'm doing at my current job. I don't want to detail forever, either.
I'm ready for a real career. With benefits, a retirement, and a halfway decent income (I know I will probably never make $100k/year, hell even $70k a year... and I'm fine with that). I just want a solid career, so that I can live comfortably.
I need some input. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Science and Technology (yeah, that means I know a little about a lot, not a lot about a little like a specialized degree). Think Liberal Arts degree, but having to do with all things science and technology related. Pretty much useless. I don't know what to do with it. While I was in college pursuing a Technology Education degree, the state of PA changed the requirements for those pursuing an education (teaching) degree, and in short basically added on another year to my college career, at which point I was nearing the end of. So, I transferred (like an idiot) to the only degree at the school that took ALL of my completed credits to graduate when I was anticipating to.
I have a few options at this point.
A. Go back to college and specialize in something. (Nursing, teaching, accounting, engineering, something like that.)
B. Get my PA physical damage appraiser's license and work as an estimator for a body shop or an adjustor for an insurance company... since that's the only line of work I'm really familiar with.
C. Go to trade school, and learn something like HVAC, Electrician, plumbing, truck driving, etc.
Moral of the story is that I'm not technically "qualified" to do a whole hell of a lot. What should be the next step?
CLIFF NOTES: I have a useless bachelor's degree, but I want to start a career instead of piss-on jobs full of menial tasks, making no money as I currently do. Need some job ideas. I'm not looking to be a millionaire, but I don't want to have to struggle to keep my head above water, either.
See the cliff notes at the bottom if you don't want to read it all.
This thread is basically the result of me working unfulfilling jobs, unsatisfied with the work, the income, etc. When I should probably just be glad I have a job at all. Maybe it's me being selfish, or granting myself an unwarranted sense of entitlement... like most other bastard white kids from the suburbs in this area.
Most recently, I have handed in my two-week notice at my current job, for which I don't have a title, nor a job description. I work for a BMW/MINI/Audi dealership collision center, with 11 technicians. Every estimate, whether it be our own or one from an insurance company, goes through me. I enter them as necessary, but I review every single one to identify parts that are being replaced. Then, I create a purchase order for our parts department with all of the parts to be replaced on the vehicle. Then I see to it that the technicians get the parts when the come in. At this point, I receive and invoice the parts in our estimating software (received or not, cost, list price, quantity, etc). I do all of the quality control for every car in the shop. During bodywork and paint, as well as at the end after it is totally assembled and detailed (Checking bodywork for waves, lows, highs, checking paintwork for too much peel, not enough peel, dirt nibs, fisheyes, checking panel gap alignment, cleanliness of the car, etc.) On top of that, I assist with the payroll, production schedule, accounting for parts prices, and whatever else the day may hold. Needless to say, I don't stop moving and shaking all day except for lunch. All for a very meager paycheck, something along the lines that a Sheetz shift manager would make, but with less stress. I save the shop roughly $50k a year in parts price differences between our estimating software, my parts department, and insurance companies' estimating software, and supplement accordingly.
I will be moving backward occupationally, but forward financially this week by going to a Mercedes-Benz dealership to detail, which I have been doing for years before I tried out the job I have now.
I know two things. I don't want to make $12/hr with no overtime for the rest of my life like I'm doing at my current job. I don't want to detail forever, either.
I'm ready for a real career. With benefits, a retirement, and a halfway decent income (I know I will probably never make $100k/year, hell even $70k a year... and I'm fine with that). I just want a solid career, so that I can live comfortably.
I need some input. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Science and Technology (yeah, that means I know a little about a lot, not a lot about a little like a specialized degree). Think Liberal Arts degree, but having to do with all things science and technology related. Pretty much useless. I don't know what to do with it. While I was in college pursuing a Technology Education degree, the state of PA changed the requirements for those pursuing an education (teaching) degree, and in short basically added on another year to my college career, at which point I was nearing the end of. So, I transferred (like an idiot) to the only degree at the school that took ALL of my completed credits to graduate when I was anticipating to.
I have a few options at this point.
A. Go back to college and specialize in something. (Nursing, teaching, accounting, engineering, something like that.)
B. Get my PA physical damage appraiser's license and work as an estimator for a body shop or an adjustor for an insurance company... since that's the only line of work I'm really familiar with.
C. Go to trade school, and learn something like HVAC, Electrician, plumbing, truck driving, etc.
Moral of the story is that I'm not technically "qualified" to do a whole hell of a lot. What should be the next step?
CLIFF NOTES: I have a useless bachelor's degree, but I want to start a career instead of piss-on jobs full of menial tasks, making no money as I currently do. Need some job ideas. I'm not looking to be a millionaire, but I don't want to have to struggle to keep my head above water, either.
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