Confused and don't know what to do

[OutOfOptions]

Hey guys. I'm new to this forum but I'm looking for some serious career guidance. Here is a little bit of my background:

I'm 27 years old. I completed a masters degree in Medieval History in 2010. Before graduating, I joined the co-op program my school offers in hopes of getting some on the job experience. The jobs posted were pathetic. Paying the university $700 to compete with 100 other people for a job as a camp counsellor (work I've done when I was a teenager!) seemed a little off the mark. I was definitely lucky in the sense that I was able to get full funding for my masters degree through scholarships, which is the only reason why I could do it, but it has not helped me find sufficient employment at all. As it stands now, my OSAP debt is about $25,000ish in spite of living rather inexpensively during my time in university.

Now, before anybody criticizes me for not looking for work while I was in school, I just want to confirm that I did. I spent about 6 months before I graduated trying to find a permanent position somewhere. Here are some examples of what I found:

-working in hospitality for minimum wage plus tips: a job I've been doing for the past 10+ years, yet I was competing with people way, way, overqualified for the job.
-20 hours a week working as an office secretary for $10 an hour. No benefits, 6 month contract.
-unpaid internship. Not really possible when you are paying off that much debt.

Not exactly what was promised to my generation when we were encouraged to get post secondary educations. In spite of sending out thousands and thousands of applications, the only interview I got, outside of hospitality work, had 50 other applicants - for the $10 an hour office job.

During this time, I've been working in the hospitality industry as a waiter. At this point in time, I'm strongly considering teaching English overseas to pay off some of the debt or work in a foreign country like Australia where I might stand a better chance of finding permanent work.

Here lies the problem: Ideally, I'd love to be able to stay in Canada, be near my family, find a decent job and use my skills in this country, but based on my current success rate I don't see that happening anytime soon. Does anybody have any advice on the next step I should take? Life really doesn't need to be this difficult for 20 somethings.

[flight878]

In the typical RFD style, expect to get the usual badgering about the "usefulness" of the education you got and deranged posters pathetically trying to prop themselves up at your expense.

With that out of the way, better advice would be given if you stated what are your career goals. What do you want to do with your life, career-wise? What are your skills? If the framework for your career search will be merely job-hopping to make money (maybe in the hopes of landing some sort of "break"), you will remain in your situation, irrespective of your educational background and personal circumstances. What kind of work do you want to do? Take into account, be realistic and reasonable about your qualifications as well.

Yes, you, like most Gen-Y, received a massive dose of indoctrination when you were told that a [university] post-secondary education would lead to "better" (or insert your favorite related buzzword) employment. Today, some of these are also casting you off as Entitled with a straight face. Some are stuck on stupid, still believing that you can become an executive or big shot by starting out in the mail room. Times have changed.

You need to provide your long-term career goals, and work and create the strategies to attain them (e.g., market yourself accordingly with your skills, networking and working jobs that can weave you in, etc.). But we don't know them. Elaborate.

[Syne]

In the typical RFD style, expect to get the usual badgering about the "usefulness" of the education you got and deranged posters pathetically trying to prop themselves up at your expense.

Yep, this is definitely coming.. My prediction is JK400, divx, Bananahunter and a few others pile on the OP for not taking engineering or finance, someone throws out the word "entitled" a few times and everyone ignores the shrinking job market because they themselves are employed.

[quickinferno]

Hey guys. I'm new to this forum but I'm looking for some serious career guidance. Here is a little bit of my background:

I'm 27 years old. I completed a masters degree in Medieval History in 2010. Before graduating, I joined the co-op program my school offers in hopes of getting some on the job experience. The jobs posted were pathetic. Paying the university $700 to compete with 100 other people for a job as a camp counsellor (work I've done when I was a teenager!) seemed a little off the mark. I was definitely lucky in the sense that I was able to get full funding for my masters degree through scholarships, which is the only reason why I could do it, but it has not helped me find sufficient employment at all. As it stands now, my OSAP debt is about $25,000ish in spite of living rather inexpensively during my time in university.

Now, before anybody criticizes me for not looking for work while I was in school, I just want to confirm that I did. I spent about 6 months before I graduated trying to find a permanent position somewhere. Here are some examples of what I found:

-working in hospitality for minimum wage plus tips: a job I've been doing for the past 10+ years, yet I was competing with people way, way, overqualified for the job.
-20 hours a week working as an office secretary for $10 an hour. No benefits, 6 month contract.
-unpaid internship. Not really possible when you are paying off that much debt.

Not exactly what was promised to my generation when we were encouraged to get post secondary educations. In spite of sending out thousands and thousands of applications, the only interview I got, outside of hospitality work, had 50 other applicants - for the $10 an hour office job.

During this time, I've been working in the hospitality industry as a waiter. At this point in time, I'm strongly considering teaching English overseas to pay off some of the debt or work in a foreign country like Australia where I might stand a better chance of finding permanent work.

Here lies the problem: Ideally, I'd love to be able to stay in Canada, be near my family, find a decent job and use my skills in this country, but based on my current success rate I don't see that happening anytime soon. Does anybody have any advice on the next step I should take? Life really doesn't need to be this difficult for 20 somethings.

What are your skills?

[Justin]

What are your skills?

OP is skilled in Medieval History.

[spike1128]

In before JK400 start pounding on the Op.

Seriously, i not interested in criticizing the op on his choice of education. If op was on here rfd for awhile, we already know education is worthless in our generation. Whar worked for the gen x wouldnt work for the gen y.

Op hope to do with medival history is how to become a king in modern age. Or dig up some long lost gold lefted behind in England somewhere.

[sirex]

You can always try medieval times.

[alpharius]

Okay - I'm going to give you some advice that you can actually use. You need to move to the USA.

Why? For one thing, the percentage of the population with a post secondary education is lower than it is canada. Up here, university / college is now so common, that it's practically considered a finishing school for high school students. Secondly, students up here are continually fed the line about transferrable skills. Companies dont say "Look - he's got a university degree, that shows he's intelligent and has transferrable skills". If you try that in a job interview, they'll just laugh at ya. Companies want hard skills - plain and simple. Moreover, canadian companies are notoriously risk averse, and so they won't even look at your resume

So essentially - you need to move to a place where your degree has some meaning and where companies are less risk averse. On the bright side, keep your history skills sharp as they do come in handy when it comes to making investment decisions in the stock market.

You might have noticed that I didnt say to go back to school. The reason for that is simple - there are too many white collar graduates for the number of positions - so unless you're going to go to a trade school - its not worth it. There recently was a study about the GTA area and that for every single white collar profession there was a surplus of 2-3 bodies per field, with some fields reaching the double digits. Meaning that even if you graduate in nursing or engineering, you face tough competition to find work. IT does have some openings, but it is very cyclical meaning that by the time you graduate, it could dry up and be gone.

[underjeep]

just move to the USA huh?

he needs a green card first, and to get that he needs to be sponsored by a U.S company. Companies are only allowed to sponsor so many people because the U.S has limited green cards, and you expect a green card is go medieval history major instead of I.T?

[damnos]

I'm 27 years old. I completed a masters degree in Medieval History in 2010.

What do you expect with that degree?
I meant it as a real question, what kind of job or career path are you thinking to go with?



find a decent job and use my skills.

Again what kind of job are you aiming for? seems like you are a bit everywhere right now.
And what are your skills?

[niroopg]

What do you expect with that degree?
I meant it as a real question, what kind of job or career path are you thinking to go with?


+1. If the OP could clarify what career path he is attempting to go down.

And in what fields does a Master in Medievil History give you a competitive advantage. Other than academia, I mean.

[alpharius]

just move to the USA huh?

he needs a green card first, and to get that he needs to be sponsored by a U.S company. Companies are only allowed to sponsor so many people because the U.S has limited green cards, and you expect a green card is go medieval history major instead of I.T?

First of all - the op doesn't get a green card - but instead gets a TN visa. The only required condition is that the person be a canadian citizen and that he/she has an accepted job offer. If you see the categories listed in the link below under general professions - research assistant and librarian are possible job streams.

http://www.tnvisabulletin.com/tn-visas-general-professions/

The large number of educational and social science institutions plus lower rates of post secondary education will make the OP's job of finding work easier. Versus the alternative of staying up here and rotting away in dead end jobs. Hmmm....tough choice.

P.S - getting a masters degree will cost the OP more money and does little to increase the promise of a job.

[Firebot]

Not exactly what was promised to my generation when we were encouraged to get post secondary educations. In spite of sending out thousands and thousands of applications, the only interview I got, outside of hospitality work, had 50 other applicants - for the $10 an hour office job.

I'm sorry, but that line is the biggest load of bull ever. You were promised a golden age of job opportunities by studying medieval history? Who ever promised you that? Syne?

What are your job prospects and expected career path? Be honest now. Medieval historian? The very first link when googling medieval historian jobs is about the huge overproduction of medieval historians versus jobs available. Generic teacher? Possibly. Other then that, what is your goal?

What skills do you bring to the table to your typical employer and jobs out there, as a medieval historian?

Moving to Australia is also incredibly short sighted, as in they are very nationalistic and have a much higher cost of living then Canada. Moving countries does not magically change your employ-ability.

Serious career advise is to be strongly aware of the limitations of your current career path, and to act accordingly either by working within those limitations, or increasing your options. Teaching English overseas, while enriching, does not resolve your immediate and future employ-ability problems. Have you spoken to your past professors and asked for advice? Have you reached out to other universities? Why not pick up a trade while searching for what you are looking for? You graduated 2 years ago, your options are slowly dwindling and connections you had in university are fading away; you have to face the music eventually.

[Syne]

I'm sorry, but that line is the biggest load of bull ever. You were promised a golden age of job opportunities by studying medieval history? Who ever promised you that? Syne?

What are your job prospects and expected career path? Be honest now. Medieval historian? The very first link when googling medieval historian jobs is about the huge overproduction of medieval historians versus jobs available. Generic teacher? Possibly. Other then that, what is your goal?

What skills do you bring to the table to your typical employer and jobs out there, as a medieval historian?

Moving to Australia is also incredibly short sighted, as in they are very nationalistic and have a much higher cost of living then Canada. Moving countries does not magically change your employ-ability.

Serious career advise is to be strongly aware of the limitations of your current career path, and to act accordingly either by working within those limitations, or increasing your options. Teaching English overseas, while enriching, does not resolve your immediate and future employ-ability problems. Have you spoken to your past professors and asked for advice? Have you reached out to other universities? Why not pick up a trade while searching for what you are looking for? You graduated 2 years ago, your options are slowly dwindling and connections you had in university are fading away; you have to face the music eventually.

You make it sound like he should be punished for getting a Master's degree. Also with advice like "act accordingly" how exactly is this helpful? This is basically a toned down version of what the first three posts predicted this thread would be about - crapping all over the OP.

[alpharius]

Puzzled by the statement that moving overseas does not increase your employability. Quite a few spanish, irish, and dutch workers have fled europe for canada precisely because they knew it would increase their chances of getting a job due to differences in supply and demand.

Picking up a trade is perhaps the best advice, but that takes years, and in any case, the OP will have to leave ontario to get past the restricted numbers of available apprentice spots.

Was medieval history the best choice - probably not - but once again - I bet the poster was thinking about how he/she could use those transferable skills. As I stated above, millions of kids are told that crap and its a disservice to them.

[dsg512]

I genuinely want to know what compelled you to do a masters in Medieval History? What was your end goal? I'm trying not to be judgmental but I was scratching my head when I read that.

[WannaBe]

Hey guys. I'm new to this forum but I'm looking for some serious career guidance. Here is a little bit of my background:

I completed a masters degree in Medieval History in 2010.
....
Not exactly what was promised to my generation when we were encouraged to get post secondary educations.


Not just ANY post secondary education. Like any other market, the job market is a function of demand versus supply. The businesses that value your degree are few and far between. It was unwise of you not to do your research before sinking time and money in such a worthless degree.

But what's done is done. Why don't you apply for a government job where your degree will not hinder you? Try a border officer, or one of the contract workers in Service Canada.


.

[underjeep]

I genuinely want to know what compelled you to do a masters in Medieval History? What was your end goal? I'm trying not to be judgmental but I was scratching my head when I read that.

you assume that he was thinking when he was 18 and chose his major, and chose it again at 23 when he went for his masters.

what we are going through right now is a market correction, too many useless majors will create all these threads warning people about obtaining useless degrees thus reducing demand for these. The government could have done it for us by reducing all this wastage many years ago by eliminating subsidies for these programs but that would have created an public uproar (save the arts!), so we have to do it the inefficient way which is this thread. this thread is part of the market correction and the OP is a casualty.

[spike1128]

I forgot to mention. Do people with history degrees usually work for either in a school and/or in a museum? He might have a shot in the states, more population more jobs.

[kuhai2001]

Maybe OP should consider teaching job in asia, like china korea japan. I'm sure your education will pay off. And you will be amazed by the hospitality especially if you are caucasian

[sirex]

I am not sure why people think his degree/masters is useless.

First, anyone that has made it that far is probably an outstanding writer and can churn out papers like it is nobody's business.
Second, I bet he can read pretty fast.
Third, I bet he can follow instructions really well.

So, these 3 skills are the only real skills that you need in any job out there, you just need to speak and carry yourself in such a way to portray this.

You can easily work at a bank, or any firm doing something office related. You just need to get some networking under your belt.

I think one of the biggest limiting factors of these Arts degrees is not that they are useless because they are pure academia, but they are useless in regards to networking. The only people you truly network with are other Arts students, and most of them being the hippies that they are don't have any business connections.

Anyway, I think you stuck through it and probably did a decent job, now you just need to put in the time to get the job. Treating applying for a job, LIKE A JOB. Spend 8 hours a day, go meet some people and I think you'll do well for yourself.

Good luck.

[bomba]

OP work at the oilsands doesn't care what your degree is in... just an idea.

[Le Loon]

I think one of the biggest limiting factors of these Arts degrees is not that they are useless because they are pure academia, but they are useless in regards to networking. The only people you truly network with are other Arts students, and most of them being the hippies that they are don't have any business connections.


Unless you got your Arts degree from Yale or Harvard, instead of a public university.

[sirex]

Unless you got your Arts degree from Yale or Harvard, instead of a public university.

Yes, very good point.

[Wilmega]

Masters Degree in Medieval History?. . . and OP is wondering why he/she can't find a job with that Major... what was your goal before deciding to do your Masters. Oh and 1 post . . . OP can't be srs

[goodguy90]

Invest in a college education man. It is much more practical.

College has been demonized over the past few years, with people exaggerating the utility of a university education in the job market.

Truth is, a university education is near useless unless you plan on pursuing professional or graduate studies (pursue a PhD and research in an area that is high in demand - unfortunately your area of study does not fulfill this criteria, and the life of a grad student is truly a poor life to live).

Arts majors in general are pretty useless. Most science degrees are useless too. Same with the social sciences.

Engineering and business degrees are really the only ones that increase your chances of landing a job after the 4 years.

Go to college and enroll in something that compliments your masters degree yet has a promising outlook in the job market. You won't regret it.

[dealseeker2011]

You are still young. you still have a long way. Competition is really hard specially if you are thinking that there are many people who's more qualified than you are. You have to believe yourself. It's how you look at yourself. If you look at them better than you then people will see that way too. You attract what you feel. You have to feel good about yourself. I suggest read books. Read positive books. This will really help you change the way you look at yourself. Do that first before going elsewhere.

[sleepyguy]

Firebot is just being realistic and not sugar coating it.

That being said... teaching is a career path that comes to mind. That is oversaturated though. You can always go a different path since I assume with this much academia you can read/write/speak pretty well. RE agent, financial advisors (freedom 55 or something)... you get the point. Those types of careers you just do pretty simplistic test and get the license in a year or so. It's not rocket science... but you are your own boss pretty much and have to get your clients obviously.


You make it sound like he should be punished for getting a Master's degree. Also with advice like "act accordingly" how exactly is this helpful? This is basically a toned down version of what the first three posts predicted this thread would be about - crapping all over the OP.

[DarkMasterMX]

I'll be honest I was starting into university with a similar concept wanting to do my histories because I enjoyed them. When I sat down and thought it over I struggled to seriously find something I could apply that to easily as a job that would land me a modest/average salary and I couldn't really come up with much.

My primary goal was to take that information and become a teacher. If you have the other attributes to become a decent teacher you could like apply your knowledge to a more focused course in senior high school years or become a professor at a university/college.

As mentioned above teaching is over-saturated currently so it wont be that easy to get a job right away in that field either.

Other things that come to mind would be working at a Museum, expanding into Archaeology or perhaps a Librarian. I did a quick google skim and this article was ok along with a few other things: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/jan/16/history-degree-careers

It seems like there is actually a wide array of things you could apply your skills too though you may have to expand your actual education a bit more for politics and such.

[tsat]

OP Can you build me a trebuchet?

[Tonberry]

It's never to late to "bounce back" by studying a graduate diploma/certificate (part-time) in a more "useful" field. They aren't expensive at all, $2800 in Quebec - 10 graduate level night classes at McGill.

A friend of mine studied that useless fine art program (at a ****** university too) during undergrad, and then she started studying Finance and she got hired by a large consultant company thanks to her reference from her classmates before graduation.

[sirex]

trollllll post??? OP never came back to thread.

[Elfer]

How to initiate an argument on Careers:

1) Make any mention of any degree in liberal arts.
2) Done.

[divx]

Yep, this is definitely coming.. My prediction is JK400, divx, Bananahunter and a few others pile on the OP for not taking engineering or finance, someone throws out the word "entitled" a few times and everyone ignores the shrinking job market because they themselves are employed.

Syne kept confusing me with Mark77, the difference is that I don't view engineering/engineers as godlike and superior than the rest. I simply view it as one amongst MANY more job worthy degrees.

[divx]

OP is skilled in Medieval History.

Shakespeare confused me for years back in K12, if you gotta teach it, translate into proper english first.

[divx]

Okay - I'm going to give you some advice that you can actually use. You need to move to the USA.

Why? For one thing, the percentage of the population with a post secondary education is lower than it is canada. Up here, university / college is now so common, that it's practically considered a finishing school for high school students. Secondly, students up here are continually fed the line about transferrable skills. Companies dont say "Look - he's got a university degree, that shows he's intelligent and has transferrable skills". If you try that in a job interview, they'll just laugh at ya. Companies want hard skills - plain and simple. Moreover, canadian companies are notoriously risk averse, and so they won't even look at your resume

So essentially - you need to move to a place where your degree has some meaning and where companies are less risk averse. On the bright side, keep your history skills sharp as they do come in handy when it comes to making investment decisions in the stock market.

You might have noticed that I didnt say to go back to school. The reason for that is simple - there are too many white collar graduates for the number of positions - so unless you're going to go to a trade school - its not worth it. There recently was a study about the GTA area and that for every single white collar profession there was a surplus of 2-3 bodies per field, with some fields reaching the double digits. Meaning that even if you graduate in nursing or engineering, you face tough competition to find work. IT does have some openings, but it is very cyclical meaning that by the time you graduate, it could dry up and be gone.

It's true, I couldn't find work in GTA when I graduated.

[divx]

Unless you got your Arts degree from Yale or Harvard, instead of a public university.

people that awesome won't be asking these questions on a forum