[at-l] re: jobs, life and such

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

A while back I told about an evening course I once took in Life & Career 
Choices. I worked for the Dept of Labor at the time and it was primarily 
about career counseling with emphasis on matching personalities with work 
they would enjoy. One of the things I learned was that statistically only 
30% of the available jobs match 70% the personalities of the people in this 
country and of course the remaining 70% of the available jobs match the 
other 30% of the personalities. That means if the maximum number of people 
are in the right job for them 40% are stuck with what they could get. In 
reality the number of mismatches is more in the neighborhood of 60-75% 
(some claim as high as 90%) depending on the job opportunities in the area 
you live. That higher percentage of mismatch comes in part from some of the 
complicating factors that Kelly mentions and also in part from poor choices 
that people make that they are then stuck with. I.E. What an occupation is 
really like versus what a teen planning his/her life thought it would be 
like. It can be tough finding yourself in a job that pays enough to cover 
your college loans but that you find is not as 'fulfilling' as you thought 
it would be and realize that you can't afford to quit. Say what you want 
but it happens all the time.

All I ever wanted to do was be an artist and  photographer. I thought I 
would subsidize my work with teaching but graduated in the "teacher crunch" 
of 1971. There were 1200 art grads in NY that year and 2 openings listed 
for art teachers at the college placement office. I spent the next 3 years 
plus raking leaves next to a guy with a Masters in English each Spring, 
painting houses/doing carpentry/teaching 2 week summer art classes in 
Summer and running the cider press in a cider mill each fall while I 
hammered every school district around for a teaching job. Finally after 
taking every civil service test I qualified for the DOL called me for a job 
as an Unemployment Insurance Claims Examiner. I hated and despised the job 
but it meant that I could pay the bills and feed my family so I did it. 
Could I have gone into business for myself? Yes, but frankly all 
photographers I knew then and have known since are either married to 
someone who brings in the majority of the income or they have a full time 
job doing something else and run the photo business on the side. It's easy 
to say that this is a free country and you can do anything you want but if 
you aren't either rich or lucky enough to enjoy work where the 
opportunities exist, it ain't always that simple.

At 06:22 PM 2/6/2004 -0500, GoVolsKelly@aol.com wrote:
>I'm going to say it again:  Tell that to someone who has been laid off after
>years of putting in the hours because his/her job was moved overseas.  The
>person who has bills to pay and kids to feed and ridiculous health 
>insurance to
>keep up.  Tell that to the mother with six kids with a deadbeat ex who won't
>pay child support and has to take a bus two hours to and from her job at the
>McDonald's and then another two hour bus ride to her OTHER job in some
>Godforsaken place where she's overworked and underpaid and she STILL has a 
>problem
>putting food on the table.  Educate yourself and get something better, you 
>say?
>WITH WHAT TIME, I ask you? Tell that to every actor/writer/artist/ 
>musician who
>can't seem to win people over with their talents and has to wait on 
>tables.  I
>mean, I could go on and on.  In a perfect world, we'd all do what we love.  I
>arrived in Fort Lauderdale with $300 and stayed in a crack infested roach
>motel and had a hard time paying the paltry $20 nightly rates.  I ended up 
>as an
>exotic dancer, sent myself to college, got a job, and realized I didn't like
>it.  THAT was a $40,000 mistake. What about the people who want to be
>doctors/lawyers/rocket scientists who can't afford the education to 
>achieve that goal?
>The fact of the matter is, we all have bills to pay, and they ain't gonna pay
>themselves, nor is there a money tree in the backyard, and not everyone is
>born rich.  America.  Land of opportunity.  For very few people. Let's be
>realistic, folks!  In the meantime, my suggestion is work that crummy-ass 
>job to pay
>the bills and in your spare time, if there is any, do what you like.  THAT is
>realistic.
>
>Sorry for the rant.
>
>GoVols
>
>In a message dated 2/6/2004 5:48:49 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>rcli4@comcast.net writes:
>
>
> > If you work just to pay bills you are wasting a great deal of your 
> life.  I
> > can't imagine working 49 - 50 weeks a year for that little bit of time to
> > live my life.  If you work 45 years you have only enjoyed your life a 
> couple of
> > years in tiny pieces.  If you work in a cubical and hate it, it is your
> > fault.  I enjoy hiking more that planting trees but not by a lot.  Sure 
> there are
> > days when it is not fun, but I have hiked days that were not fun.  My good
> > days at work are better than a bad day of hiking.  Sorry if this don't 
> follow
> > the company line but if you don't like your life thank God you live in a
> > country where you can change it.