what job would it be and how would you go about looking?
i am employed (thank goodness) and i LOVE my customers. i am NOT happy with the company i work for. i work in customer service for a cell phone company. in the past 6 months, we have been made responsible for more (as in different and more complex) types of calls that we take. our call volume has increased about 25%. and the expectation is that we will do all that we were doing and everything new in LESS time than we have ever accomplished before.
i do well (ranking in top 12% of people in my center and about 15% nationwide). but i feel like a failure EVERYDAY. i can NOT do what i do any faster. and if i can; i dont know how. i dont feel i have time to learn and process the new material so i can implement it well. and i know i can not cut 60 seconds off my current call time.
my customers LOVE me (even the angry ones) and i love them.
but this job is killing my self esteem daily. and i am on a team with a coach that is just not good at their job. they are not hateful or mean; just ineffectual.
so i am looking. i have a BA in psychology and years of customer service. i am open to any kind of work. worked in a deli, marketing company, with the mentally ******ed.....i dont care.
money is important. i get paid very well now. but i am at the point where i am afraid i will eventually lose my job because i can NOT do it faster.
i think teaching would be a awesome job. but it must be frustrating to deal with the administration. always a fly in the ointment,huh?
I think that teaching public school or younger kids would be harder.... but as a University Professor I have a great deal of autonomy..... I teach what I want and conduct my class how I want.... and in the end they do review my student evaluations but I have very little contact with the admin.
I think the politics in a public school or dealing with parents of younger kids would be much more difficult than what I do.
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Honestly if I were looking for a new career, I'd start off with some kind of employment company. I'd look into contracting (as opposed to being a temp - contractors get paid better and get better bennies! ) especially and let my recruiter know that I was interested in exploring different industries that could make use of my skills.
During the off seasons and when business is slow, I often do contracting work - I'm registered with 3 national firms, although one of them keeps me busier than the others. I work closely with my recruiter (in fact we've become friends and I wound up photographing her wedding) and she knows what I'm capable of and always looks out for things that would work for me.
A few years ago I thought about taking a full time job again and it was because of a contract I worked that put me with a company that I felt I oculd have settled into full time. As things worked out, I decided not to take the job, but I would never have even thought about working in that industry except that I was placed there as a contractor.
I could go for any job right now... currently unemployed because I moved out of state. In Texas I was a hairstylist. I really miss doing that. It's hard transferring a cosmetology license state to state...
My dream job is to become a ms or hs teacher or to be one of these three letter jobs, CIA/CSI/FBI. Unfortunately my college education is on hold because of my move. Right now I've only got an associates degree in liberal arts.
but photochick....contract is not permanent, is it?
i do need something long term. and do you have to pay a employment agency?
Contract isn't permanent, no, but it can be long term and it can go perm. I've been offered plenty of contract-to-perm positions. But my point there is that if you want to explore new industries, you can be kept fairly busy and work steadily as a contractor and still try a few new industries before settling on one.
Also most contract firms charge the *hiring company* for their fees, not the contractor. If a company charges you, then I'd find another company.
There are "placement agencies" that are similar to temp agencies, except they find you permanant jobs and charge a one time fee to the hiring company. They do all the negotiating for you, so you can sometimes get more pay than if you were looking on your own.
As far as job security goes, I'd look into government jobs on either a city, county, state, or federal level. Check out usajobs.gov for postings on the federal level. Honestly the way the economy is looking, that maybe the only way to have real job security.
Although, if I were your employer, I wouldn't fire anyone in the top 15% of the country just because they are already at full capacity. That's just biting off your nose to spite your face.
stellar~I'm in the same boat as you. Dh and I just relocated for his job, but I'm having a hard time finding work. I had my first interview today after sending out nearly 20 copies of my resume. The job market sucks right now. I'm trying hard to be hopeful.
if you were looking for a new job......
) especially and let my recruiter know that I was interested in exploring different industries that could make use of my skills.
