What Did It Get You?

[burbuja0512]

My comments are a little different and I think that none of us is going to provide the right answer, so I would add some questions for the OP.

I didn't study what I love. I like people, not business theory, but in order to advance my career where I get to work with lots of cool people, I had to study something.

I dropped out of college at 19, moved out of the country and learned a foreign language. Somewhere along the line, I went from teaching English to sales and found that I was actually good at it. Came back to the states, worked my way up and then got the degree.


I guess the question is: How do you know what you love until you learn more? How do you know what is fulfilling until you try it? There are professions out there that you've never even heard of. Many people find their perfect job only because they get an entry-level position in a company and discover something within their organization that excites them. I did not know about B2B sales nor would I have considered it when I was younger. I would have never gotten into it if someone at the English school I was teaching at hadn't thought that it would be a fun experiment to give the young blonde American girl a sales job, one that was almost entirely men in their 40's-50's.

So then the second question is Would you love your job more or less if it wouldn't pay the bills and support a family? I complain about sales sometimes even though I like it. It's extremely stressful and numbers-driven. There is lots of travel, long hours and I am attached to my email and cell phone. When a major client needs something, I don't care if they are on the other side of the world, I have to be ready and able to assist. However, I can pay my bills. I would be willing to take a lower paying job if it was something I really loved, but I like what I do, so why struggle needlessly? No I don't have to drink champagne and eat caviar, but I don't want to worry about my water getting shut off because I chose to buy food instead of pay the water bill.

Finally: How likely is it that a degree in "what you love" will give you a job that relates to your beloved area of study? Well, that depends on your area of studies. Go to pharmacy school? Yes you will get a job immediately doing exactly what you studied. Brand new degree in Liberal Arts? What are you going to do? Be a liberal artist? As much as you may love liberal arts, and learning a broad range of different areas, you have to do something different for work unless you want to go the academic route.


I don't think it's bad to post a lot of questions as a rant. Education is frustrating and expensive and there aren't a lot of people out there that give good advice. My guidance counselor in high school told everyone that you had to go to a four year university right off the bat. It didn't matter what you study, just go to the four year school and remember that community college is for losers. Well... that's not exactly what he said, but almost. I didn't get the best advice and had to figure it out on my own. Even on the forum, we're typically split among different biases that may not provide advice that applies to your particular situation.

I will be very curious to see if the OP comes back to respond or just wants to get us all going. Ha ha ha... not difficult to do that