Tuesday 19 November 2013

Preparing for the Future

It's been about a week since I got laid off from my job. My last paycheque has come in, essentially being the last reminder that I ever worked as a dispatcher. But I'm not one to idle if I can help it. And after a few well deserved days of sleeping in, immediately I started job hunting again.

What I found was not promising.

Going to need a few drinks for this.

Many of the jobs I found I immediately didn't qualify for, requiring experience that I simply did not have and/or not enough of. What remained were often jobs requiring physical labour. There is one thing I will not do (out of preference and physical capability) and that's physical labour. No heavy lifting, no working outdoors, nothing that will get me dirty.

So what did we have left? A lot of temporary work, a few weeks, maybe a month or two at a time. And worst of all, they paid considerably poorly. Maybe a slight bump above minimum wage. My friends tell me that it's generally not a good time to job hunt now, something about budgets not being rewritten until Spring.

And after much mulling, I decided to head back to school in January.

I wish.

Yep. Back to school. I realize that as it is, just having a degree in Psychology isn't enough. I need a way to supplement it, and what better way to do that but by going back to school? I had a similar conversation back in this post. I could go get a Master's in Psychology, but again, situation at my University, not looking so great. And that left me with one remaining viable option.

A second degree in Business.

It makes the most sense with my previous degree in Psychology. If I get a Bachelors of Commerce (or BCOM for short) this opens up things such as Marketing or Human Resources. This would be a two year program with the option for a co-op program or internship thing.


And so I jump to register for the  courses that I still need before I qualify for the BCOM, Economics 101, 102, and a course of my choice so that I qualify for a full-courseload. Econ 102 I get through with no problem, it's the other two that have issues.

For starters, I am completely unable to sign up for Econ 101. Apparently it's reserved for a group of students who have English as a second language. I'm going to have to have a talk an academic adviser or something, because I am literally 2 courses away from applying for a BCOM.

Also, because I'm extremely fluent in English (at least, I'd like to think so) I'd have a massive advantage over my classmates.


As for the course of my choice, I was hoping to take something in Psychology. Though I shouldn't have been surprised when I discovered that there weren't that many Psych courses left. And those remaining I had already taken.

Damn those budget cuts.

So now I'm left floundering, wondering what to take for the remaining course. I want something easy because I'm lazy but something that will still be relatively interesting. Feel free to suggest something in the comments below.

22 comments:

  1. Creative writing perhaps? Glad that you started to make plans..Good luck Damien :)

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  2. I hope you don't mind some unsolicited advice but as a college admissions counselor I feel compelled to interject. A Master's is MUCH more marketable than a second Bachelor's. In fact it's not even close. Just something to think about. Email me (link is on my profile) and we can talk more about it if you wish.

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  3. A bachelor's degree in psychology isn't all that useful on its own if you want to be in the field (that takes a Ph.D.). So a business degree would probably serve you better if it's business you want to go into.

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  4. Heh!! Its recession time dude...jobs are hard to find..good ones I mean!!
    Good luck with your school thing!

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  5. Been through the whole business thing, HATED economics, boring as hell. Rather beat my head against the wall.

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  6. I hope your course selections do work out, I think going for the BCOM is a great idea in the long run.

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  7. If they give marketing-related courses that may be interesting, since it works with psychology (under the hood) and it's in the direction you're heading.. sort of? I don't know what they have available though, so go find a list and pick a fun one. (Or just pick one blindly if you really can't find anything.)
    Going back to school seems like a clever option though. Best of luck in getting it all sorted out and working!

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  8. good that you are thinking of studies
    something regarding accounts writing or related with that
    organization of commerce etc

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  9. I actually don't see an issue with the whole going back to school thing man, but ideally if it was possible I honestly think it'd be the best option to go and complete your masters in psychology, either that or to wait until next year where more courses are available and do the courses you can't do now then.Temporary work to bridge the gap between that would be an even better idea, feel really bummed still that they let go off you in your job because you put so much effort and time into it.

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  10. Nope, I've got no recommendations for you. You'll be fine with the other comments, I'm sure. Hopefully.

    Why not do some manual labor? You were, or maybe still are, training for it. Eh? Keep up with that muscly goodness, no?

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  11. Have you thought about what you *wanted* to do?

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  12. funnily, you say it all. :D
    You know, whatever you've wanted to do, you'll just figure it out by following your heart. Keep the love for what you love alive :)

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  13. Why don't you like doing anything physical? Good luck going back to school :)

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  14. Just make sure more school is what you truly want. FYI, in my experience, getting a job is all about who you know. My wife just got yet another great, high paying IT job while having no college degree whatsoever. Against people who had masters degrees, mind you. Even my last job I got while having no relevant experience in the field (they wanted 5 years experience, I had zero). But I had met the hiring manager while doing some networking and spent some time talking to him.

    If you know the right people and you can prove you're not a total retard schooling is irrelevant. Unless, of course, you want to be a doctor. In that case, training is kind of required...

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  15. Going back to school sounds a good idea. You can do school and job hunting at the same time

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  16. Is some sort of trade school (nothing that would train you for manual labor, maybe something like IT...?) an option?
    In any event, good luck to you!

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  17. You got laid off??? So sorry. But hoping it' all for good...motivating you to get another degree. Good luck with your course choices!

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  18. I remember those days. There are so many options and finding the right one can be tricky. I wish you much luck.

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  19. Even if you don't meet the requirements for a job, there's nothing bad into applying for them. You never know what kind of person they might be looking for. Good luck with the courses.

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  20. You are totally the most unlaziest blogger I know! You work so hard and do so much! Oh dear - I'm sorry about the job. Good luck with your courses. I think you should totally do something that's fun and light hearted! Something creative! :-) Take care
    x

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