OMFG!!! I GRADUATED!!! ...so now what?

[TheBlatantKatana]

Gah. I used to HATE hearing this." Blah blah. Poor me I graduated, now what am I supposed to do?" Now I'M saying it. But seriously, college has been my life for the last 8 years. I've changed my major thrice, so I was stuck taking core classes for a major that I should have started out in the first place. But whatever. At least I ran mostly on grants, so I don't have a bunch of debt hanging over my head. Only $6000 to pay in 8 years. Not bad at all.

But yeah. What the hell am I supposed to do with a Bachelor of Fine Arts anyway? At least it's better than a degree in Philosophy...lol.

So I was thinking, maybe I could be a high-school art teacher. Paid summers off, I can go home at 3:30, and lots of breaks during the school year too. Also, at the high-school age, the students that are actually into it, and there because they wanna be can make some pretty impressive stuff. It could be enough to deal with the few (many?) deviants and miscreants that will inevitably pop up.

That way, I have a steady paycheck that is still involved in the subject that I graduated with, AND I'll have plenty of my own studio time. From my current vantage point it looks like I'm set.

However, I'm aware that there are probably PLENTY of reasons why this could be a difficult career choice. So.....

Anyone here have any experience with the public school system? What are the worst case scenarios? What would be the absolute worst things about doing this?

Should I just try to find a semi-decent-yet-still-crap job and go back for my Masters so I can teach at the college level? That was actually my 1st idea, but I have some pressure on me to get a stable job now, and be done with school... but I still could if it's my best bet.

...Or maybe I should just start buying lottery tickets and hitting Casinos at Shreveport... Then I could just sit around and art all day ^_^

[charolastra00]

I'll just put it this way- my dream was to be a social studies bilingual or ESL teacher for years. There are no jobs. Art is 100x more competitive because schools have 1 or 2 tops, and many art teachers float between districts. There are no teaching jobs out there- most of my friends with education majors ended up in something else. You would probably have more luck betting on the lottery than finding an art teacher job.

I don't mean to be discouraging, but you open up any newspaper in the past 2 years about teaching jobs and you'll see the same thing. Even math and science teacher positions are getting 200+ applications per spot.

I'm sort of in the same place as you. I graduate tomorrow after 4 years in which I did everything right. Graduating with the same major and minor that I came to my college for and added in an extra major and minor for funsies, worked, interned, studied abroad, yadda yadda. Because the lawyer market is SO BAD, I'm not wasting my money on law school yet. I have no debt from undergrad so I want to postpone debt as much as possible. Right now, I'm waiting to hear about a job that I think I have a good shot at. Because of graduation in Boston, I could not get down to Atlanta for the interview so they actually did a conference call interview and seemed really interested, so fingers crossed. I'm also waiting on hearing if I made it to the next level of the State Department interviews.

Until then, I'm literally applying for dozens of jobs a day with individualized cover letters and resumes for each. It sucks.

[Karsh]

Keep pluggin away, or just go Postal, like me.

[Less Than Liz]

I took a year off and applied to law school. If you're really desperate, look at temp work.

[Karsh]

I took a year off and applied to law school. If you're really desperate, look at temp work.

Oh I'm sure he could even go more desperate than THAT

[Less Than Liz]

Personally I see nothing wrong with temp work but a lot of people apparently abhor it. I think it's great. I'd rather cede benefits and pocket more money. It's far more important to me to minimize school debt.

[TheBlatantKatana]

I actually was planning on looking for temp work while I go about getting my teaching certificate.

Oh, and here in Texas (or more specifically, the DFW metroplex), there actually shouldn't be as big a problem finding work as a teacher, as there has been a shortage of applicants for the last few years. It's actually been worse this year than it's ever been. Because of this, there are all kinds of alternative certification programs for those, like me, who did not major in education, which make it much easier to get certified. The particular program I am looking at will have me taking classes in the summer, then actually start working as a teacher in the fall while I finish my certification. I also don't have to pay any of the fees until I start working, and they are automatically taken out of my salary over a period of several months. That's why I'm tempted to go ahead and start teaching grade school now, instead of getting my Masters and teaching college.

Actually, the pay is better too. New teachers now actually start out at $48,000. Which is stupidly more than how much teachers who started 10ys ago are currently making. And I donno about other colleges, but UTA adjunct teachers scrape by on $600 a month. I can't live on that. :P

Also, I already figured I wouldn't get to start out as an art teacher, and would have to wait for a position like that to open up. I'm okay with teaching some other subject for a while until then. Just so long as it's not math. XD The only way I passed Math in college was taking the newly offered math for liberal arts majors, which was essentially a graphing calculator how-to class. Somehow managed to ace it. Yay go me.

[Ges]

I've got 24K in student loans. Should be fun.

[Karsh]

I've got 24K in student loans. Should be fun.

Doesn't even hold a candle to a big fat mortgage.

[Mark]

But yeah. What the hell am I supposed to do with a Bachelor of Fine Arts anyway? At least it's better than a degree in Philosophy...lol.


I am actually thinking about taking classes for Philosophy. :p

[LadyAkuma]

You could always produce and promote your art while looking for a steady art-related job or preparing yourself for further education.

I have a degree in Fine Arts, and while I don't make a lot of money, I am getting more exposure and more scattered jobs and sales here and there. You CAN make it as an artist. It's just a lot of work.

[Less Than Liz]

I'd say Fine Arts and philosophy are at least even, if not philosophy being the better choice of the two. You're not going to become a professional philosopher but being able to write cogently, think logically/mathematically, and develop an argument is going to be a more flexible job skill than sculpting shit. And, not to hammer the point home but it's what I'm most familiar with, philosophy majors tend to do well on post-graduate exams such as the LSAT because they are used to forming isolated problems.

[TheBlatantKatana]

I'd say Fine Arts and philosophy are at least even, if not philosophy being the better choice of the two. You're not going to become a professional philosopher but being able to write cogently, think logically/mathematically, and develop an argument is going to be a more flexible job skill than sculpting shit. And, not to hammer the point home but it's what I'm most familiar with, philosophy majors tend to do well on post-graduate exams such as the LSAT because they are used to forming isolated problems.

...you forgot to mention how artists also can't write of spell worth shit... :D

Well. That settles it. I will either win the lottery, marry a person of considerable wealth,
.....or wind up a train tagging hobo with impeccable design and composition sense...

...yeah. Probably the latter :D
Maybe I can at least be homeless somewhere really cool. Like Prague. Yeah, there's glass there, right? I can always sneak in a glass studio and learn to make marbles or something. I better get laser hair removal done now, so I don't have to worry about being the homeless hairy legs lady. And I guess I'd better start collecting cats too. They're an essential to any eccentric homeless person's resources. Built in emergency rations and all...

[Data]

If you're interested in teaching, I have several friends who pick an asian country each year and teach conversational English for the year. A bachelor's in any field will qualify you, and they've told me that housing is paid for in Korea.

[charolastra00]

If you're interested in teaching, I have several friends who pick an asian country each year and teach conversational English for the year. A bachelor's in any field will qualify you, and they've told me that housing is paid for in Korea.

I'm looking into that, but you have to be really careful. I'd venture to guess that as many as half of the Korean schools are just plain bad. I've had friends who studied abroad in really underdeveloped countries (Mongolia, Uganda, Laos, etc) who are used to less than ideal scenarios and are adaptable who ended up flying home after a month because of lack of support and not getting paid. Also, schools that take people who are not TEFL/CELTA certified are just by virtue not as good because they're not as selective with their staff.

That said, good schools are excellent. I'm looking into getting CELTA certified now so I can teach at legit schools rather than the slightly sketchy ones that would take just anyone off the street. You often can't save much, but you can at least live well abroad.

[TheBlatantKatana]

If you're interested in teaching, I have several friends who pick an asian country each year and teach conversational English for the year. A bachelor's in any field will qualify you, and they've told me that housing is paid for in Korea.

Man, it would be so AWESOME if I could find one in Japan. I don't even care if they stick me in a crap school (do they even HAVE crap schools in Japan?), just so long as I can live there. :D

[Atlas]

When I get my English MA (and eventually my PhD), I hope I don't have this problem. Something tells me I won't, considering the higher degree level. And high school? Jesus. I really hope I don't end up teaching high school. Teaching college is my dream.

Christ. Thinking about all of this makes me sick.

[Serge]

I'm kinda in the same position. I just got my degree in CAD, which has actually left me not wanting to do any CAD ever again. I've only been officially graduated since April, but I took my last class last summer. Its a long story of bullshit, about how my university gave me the run around, got rid of my program, but didn't tell me, grandfathered me in, but let me scrounge for classes. Anywho, I'm actually going toward something I originally wanted to do. Information Technology, I'm working on getting my A+ certification, I figure its easy to get and I will be able to land a help desk job pretty easily. I'll work on getting make certifications and will apply to move up as I gain experience. The main thing is, you have a degree, that shows that you did the work, you worked "hard" and you busted through, you graduated.

[Less Than Liz]

Something tells me I won't, considering the higher degree level.
Be careful. Everyone has higher degrees now. Even a PhD is no guarantee, especially an English one. Academia is a huge pain in the ass to enter and stay in. Once you get tenure, you're golden, but it really, reeeeally requires a lot of networking and simply having solid numbers to get you into a good program (which, in turn, garners that network.)

[Inari]

Not to mention, more and more people are going back to school for higher degrees because of the difficulty finding work in the current economy. Not only are programs getting impacted right now, but imagine how saturated the job market is going to be in a few years.

[charolastra00]

Be careful. Everyone has higher degrees now. Even a PhD is no guarantee, especially an English one. Academia is a huge pain in the ass to enter and stay in. Once you get tenure, you're golden, but it really, reeeeally requires a lot of networking and simply having solid numbers to get you into a good program (which, in turn, garners that network.)

This. Also, many grad programs have cut funding so you actually have to pay to go.

I never thought that a month after college graduation, I would not have any job offers. I've had multiple people in my field tell me that with my resume, I should have several offers, not be fighting to just get a phone screen.

I got a call today that I passed a phone screen and that the company wants me to come to Charleston, SC next week to interview in person. A few years ago when I was a freshman in college and my senior friends were applying for jobs, they were flown all over the country to interviews. This company, while THE company for nonprofit software services, is not offering any compensation to offset my interview costs. I haven't been able to even find a fast food or grocery store job so it's going to scrape the bottom of my available savings (trying not to touch my "moving and car" fund) to get to this interview. I don't even have high hopes for it.

[Atlas]

This is depressing.

[Mark]

yeah thats what I was thinking. *sigh*
maybe one of these days I will start some classes. we'll see.

[Less Than Liz]

This is depressing.
I am absolutely livid at older generations for creating retarded policies while simultaneously ramming the economy into the ground. I feel pretty good about my future and think I'm in a better position than most, but contrasting post-grad experiences today with what they used to be is eye opening.

[charolastra00]

I am absolutely livid at older generations for creating retarded policies while simultaneously ramming the economy into the ground. I feel pretty good about my future and think I'm in a better position than most, but contrasting post-grad experiences today with what they used to be is eye opening.

I keep hearing shit like "it's always been hard for new grads to get jobs". That's true. However, in past recessions there were always at least retail and fast food jobs- that's not open to us because many stores won't hire grads. At least in my area.

The career center statistics for my college are astounding. The year I was accepted, the vast majority of students had at least one job offer. This year, the vast majority of students are going to law school. It's really depressing. My career counselors all recommended law or grad school because the job market is just so dismal. I went to my college specifically because of it's reputation and high job placement rates. At our last job fair, we had 5 employers offering jobs. 5. The rest were unpaid internships, volunteer positions, or grad school.

I honestly have never been so depressed or had such low self esteem in my life. A $200,000 education and 16 years of working hard to get myself into and through one of the most competitive schools in the country and it feels like it's all for nothing.

[Less Than Liz]

The lawyer market is already saturated and it will be terrible by the time I graduate. There are many reasons to join the military but the thing that makes me consider the JAG program the most is the possibility of having a job guarantee out of law school. The acceptance rate used to be ~7% but ever since the economy went to pot it has hovered around 4%.

[Atlas]

My God.

I'm going to bust my ass as hard as I can, but if things are as dismal as they seem, I might just end up in the military. Fuck it. I'll shoot whomever and whatever to get my school paid for.

And yes, I'm drunk as fuck.

[LadyAkuma]

Before the recession I thought I would never find work being an artist. Now it's all the work I can find. It's not much but I feel more productive doing that than applying and getting turned down to work in a retail job that would make me want to shoot myself anyways.

It's kind of depressing but I have this stupid attitude like "hey Jessica you can do anything now go find some work!" Then I get happy...not sure if that's a bad thing.