Associate degree. job needed. ideas?

[runningweird]

So i am working on a BS but have an AA right now and need a job. most of my classes have been biology based and I have plenty of math in my past but I can't think of any kind of job to look for that i might be able to enjoy or at least not want to kill myself working at, if there are even any jobs out there.

I have a two year old and a 4 month old , as well as three eleven year olds from my wife's previous marriage. My wife and I are both students.

so my time is pretty important to me. I love my family and enjoy being with them as much as possible. Any job would have to be worth giving up that time. I don't NEED a job right now but I will before the year is out. I don't it can't be a full time job because of family and school but I just have no ideas of what direction to look in.

help me with your beer fueled ideas.

Past experience: 4 years as a butcher, cooked in a 4 star restaurant in Denali National park, Worked at an in home care business caring for individuals with mental retardation, worked at target warehouse for two years. a few other odds and ends but nothing else substantial.

 

[Nateo]

You haven't mentioned what skills/experience you have. A degree is meaningless (as someone who has a degree but has a completely unrelated job can attest to).

 

[350_Malibu]

You haven't mentioned what skills/experience you have. A degree is meaningless (as someone who has a degree but has a completely unrelated job can attest to).

I agree, for example I have no degree, (but only because I have 4 years of school, but keep changing my damned mind), I have extensive schooling in computer science, etc. However I work as a database admin and manufacturing technician because of my work experience. I think it really depends on what you know. I could have a bachelors in basket weaving, but as long as I know how to admin an Oracle or MS DB, that's what I'll be getting paid for!

 

[runningweird]

edited above to add experience

 

[gregger]

but how in the hell do you have 3 eleven year olds? Are they triplets?

 

[jbrookeiv]

So i am working on a BS but have an AA right now and need a job. most of my classes have been biology based and I have plenty of math in my past but I can't think of any kind of job to look for that i might be able to enjoy or at least not want to kill myself working at, if there are even any jobs out there.

How about trying to get a job at a local brewpub? Your biology and math courses will definitely be a plus. That's what I'd shoot for. Even if you start out washing kegs, you could quickly move up to assistant brewer, etc.

 

[runningweird]

The three eleven year olds are triplets, from my wife's first marriage.

 

[mullenite]

Have you talked to your school Career Counselor?

 

[McGarnigle]

As much as people talk about the degree not mattering, I think in many instances it does. I work at a small business where no one cares about where you went to school. But larger businesses and the government have a reputation for "credentialism." They want you to have a degree even if it really doesn't affect your ability to do the job.

 

[TxBrew]

Do you like food service? I know there are jobs in research for the lab end of things.

 

[runningweird]

as for the brewpub idea its a great one, the problem being the lack of brew pubs in my area.

 

[runningweird]

I have spoken tto them but their advice was as dire as I had feared, I know an associate's degree is basically meaningless unless you have vocational training, they pretty much said I could get a desk job at citibank or something or work in the food service industry. yay waiting tables.


my main point here was to perhaps ferret out some ideas that wouldn't have me working a minimum wage job. TxBrew your idea about food research is great but finding openings is the challenge. it has given me something to look for though. thanks for that.

 

[BendBrewer]

I hear that executive recruiting firms have started hiring warm bodies again. You might find yourself making some good coin if you worked in Bioinformatics or Cheminformatics. Sounds like you might already know the lingo. Just need to like being on the phone.

 

[friday]

If you don't have a brew pub in your area then it's a no brainier, quit school and start one.

Have you considered UPS? It's not glamorous but it's part time work, it pays ok, and they have some night shift/ swing shift work. They're a decent outfit.

Another thing you might look into being a repo man. From what I here they're a little overwhelmed.

 

[Bobby_M]

I can't think of any kind of job to look for that i might be able to enjoy or at least not want to kill myself working at, if there are even any jobs out there.

Sorry man, all real jobs make you want to kill yourself. It's kind of the big secret no one tells you until you figure it out yourself.

 

[Dunerunner]

I would stick with what you know. You have experience as a butcher and as a cook in a five star restaurant. As a cook, were you a line cook, a sous chef, what training (OJT) did you receive and what work did you do. There have to be some fine dining restaurants where you could work in your area. Can you get recommendations from your Executive Chef in Denali? That would go a long way to ward a prospective employer wanting to hire you.

Again, I'd stick with your strengths to begin with; until something else opens up. But for God's sake, don't tell them that!!

 

[runningweird]

Repo man! I want to be jude law.

 

[runningweird]

Great advice, I have checked the local restaurants and there are some openings , I was a sous chef in the restaurant I worked in, he problem being i would have to devote at least 40 hours a week to that kind of job. perhaps this is all a pipe dream to think I would be able to do school, have a good family life, and work.

my end goal is a bs in natural resources management or environmental conservation, then a masters in environmental engineering. I have been doing some networking hoping to find a paying internship in something similar but I guess I will bide my time, keep talking to those in the field I can get in contact with and try to get something that will work for me.

 

[BendBrewer]

Yeah, getting back into a kitchen isn't good for the family life. Been there. Done that. At Deschutes Brewery. For WAY too long.

 

[runningweird]

If i didn't like my family I would be all about an 80 hour work week.

 

[BendBrewer]

Agreed, but if you like them at all, running a kitchen is not the right gig.

 

[friday]

You could start your own jerky business. That could be a pretty lucrative part time gig. Get a good product line together and market it to bars and small retailers. The start up cost shouldn't be to bad.