Career path

[n8236]

I just turned 27 and just recently started at a job which provides satisfactory, but feel somewhat personally lost.

So I finished my undergrad in May of last year and started a job a few months back as an Information Analyst at a table wine marketing firm. The pay is avg for a n00b, no benefits, no 401k, etc because I was hired by a headhunting firm.

These few months at the job have felt like years and I personally don't feel the work I do is very useful or helpful. Seems like just tedious work which doesn't get noticed. But i've grown to like the people there and it is convenient from where I live. Not to mention the firm is located in a very nice area (San Francisco).

I know what I want to be, but feel like that road ahead is very difficult and requires a lot of effort. I am working towards it, but the job I currently hold doesn't provide any relevant experience into the field I want to be in (finance).

Just last week my folks networked me with a job offering at a small investment firm who is looking to hire a financial advisor/analyst. I am going in for an interview this coming Thursday to find out more.

My problem is, I'm somewhat attached to my current job because my boss just started to give me more responsibilities exposing me to new things and I'm somewhat settled in. And the firm is somewhat large. But this new job is with a very small firm which I know for sure won't be as much fun on a social basis. Also, I'm quite certain the new job will be more stressful, but will probably pay more and place me in a permanent position.

I'm having a bit of mixed feelings.

 

[ezzie]

my take on this, as someone relatively young (24) with experience...

i spent a year and a half working as a temp doing graphic arts work. i had no benefits, 401k, vacation...nothing. i was working full time, and i made friends with the other graphic artist. work sucked, really, but it was nice to spend all day with a friend, who shared in the suckiness. it was relatively stable and safe, but not really helpful to me in any way. on a whim, i put in for a job at a smaller company, with much better pay, benefits, insurance, and a bunch of older people. i decided that i might not be able to move up (the next step up is VP of Sales & Marketing ) but it would be great experience for myself and for my resume. i went for an interview, got the job, and here i am, almost two years later. i'm perfecting my design and photography skills, i'm getting experience, saving for retirement, and i actually don't mind working with the old folks.

life is too short to stay in a position that doesn't make you happy and doesn't help you out. you have to decide if the time you will spend in this current job will help you in the long run. if you stay, do you have a chance to move up or get promoted?

it may be a bit more stressful, but that's what happens when you're a permanent fixture somewhere. you're given more responsibility on a daily basis, and you're counted on. as long as it doesn't keep you awake at night, or make you a bear around your friends, then it's not so bad.

and if this other job offers experience that will help you in a career, forge ahead and don't look back. go after it with everything you have.

best of luck to you on your interview.

 

[ToddW]

don' feel too bad. i turn thirty in april and feel my career going straight into the crapper. i've been working my behind off tyring to get a promotion only for my mangement to tell me i don't have enought time with company or department. what kind of crap is that!

 

[MSM Hobbes]

As a person that very much takes the well-worn saying to heart ["you only live once"], and also as an engineer that has moved 5 times [], can offer the following advice, which is somewhat similar to what has been mentioned above...

Use your head, while following your heart, keeping a goal in sight. However, life is very dynamic, and therefore that goal should not be static. Needs of industry changes [and the days of retiring from a company that really cares about YOU is sadly quite rare], your heart may twitch for a different location and/or path, etc...

Educate yourself immensely into that which interests you, yet also tinker in peripheral knowledge - learn, if at least the bare basics, of other trades - doing such will make you a more valuable employee.

Likewise, make yourself a valuable employee - to both your current employer, and to any potential firms in later years. Have a resume that standouts from others - get a Six Sigma Green Belt, attend conferences, write peer-reviewed articles/papers, whatever... just get yourself some extra knowledge and stars on your shoulder that make a recruiter and interviewer take notice.

Keep your feet on the ground, be humble but yet confident, w/o being an arse-kisser. Be respectful to those around ya, be they customers, suppliers, coworkers, whomever - never know that one day they may have a positive word to say about you.

And,,, enjoy life!!!


PS: only one beer was consumed during the writing of this post.