Experiencing Career Purgatory

I never thought I would be trying to find a new industry at such a young age. But When you work full time and go to college part time you accumulate a lot of customer service experience that you cant escape from. my resume looks like I should be an amazing salesman. Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty good if I do say so myself, but that is not what I want to do with my life. I am sure most of you can say that they had this feeling at least once in your lives.

I have been going on interview left and right. Either every thing is a sales job or is only a few steps up from "would you like fries with that." I am surrounded by people that feel the same but for whatever reason have to stay where they are and are just making the best of it. Not me! I need to be free, free of the oppression of being at the beckon call of the customer. Who is not always right by the way, but you didn’t here that from me.

I have tried my hand at big box retail, commissioned consultant work, technical support, warehouse work, banking, it is all the same and I am tired of it. I am going to have a degree in Psychology and I am barely qualified to make change for a twenty.

I took a horribly simplified personality training class. Seeing as I have taken more personality test than is probably healthy for one person to take. I just sat back and watched the rest of my coworkers ooed and awed as things about themselves were becoming reviled to them. The woman who lead the class was trying to dumb it down I could tell. Nevertheless, I could tell that she was getting the same joy form telling people the little things about them selves that they apparently could not pick out on their own.

I thought to my self that I would like to do something like that some day. Not be a trainer in some company but use psychology and personality analysis to help place people in positions and put bosses in charge of the tight people. The possibilities are endless. You could tailor your every action as a manager to properly manage each employee under you in a unique way that is best for them.

However, I will have to work my way up the food chain in some company before I can work my way into such a position. Or continue with my education and get my PhD in psychology so some big company can hire me to just do their hiring. I know that no employer cares how many big screen TVs I sold or how may Brides I dressed. It's all about experience and I have all the wrong kinds for what I want to do.

A bunch of my friends form high school are graduating from college this spring and are also experiencing problems with experience. Their problem is that they have none. They have never really had a full time job, had to punch in and out, worry about how many sick days they have, or enroll in the companies insurance and 401k programs. They have been living in a dorm for the last 4 years and have studied, hung out and partied their time away. How are they supposed to get into the work force when every job position requires 2-4 years of related experience?

Employers are only asking for that experience now that it is the norm for people to have at least some kind of degree. It used to be that the norm was only a high school education and that the college education was the exception. Now experience is the new golden ticket and it can lead you into job heaven, job hell, or in my case career purgatory.