Sometimes life doesn't work out how you plan it to. For me, I planned on finishing my MBA in December, and then start working right away in January. But that didn't happen. During the degree, I worked part-time retail. I had just just finished my courses, was high on confidence and the prospects of a future with the MBA letters at the end of my name, but the phone wasn't ringing. I must have applied to at least 5 jobs per week, with very little feedback or response. My leads were thin, and I was losing motivation. So now I had 2 options: be unemployed and go into full job-hunt mode for who knows how long, or put my pride aside and work part-time retail whilst looking for jobs on the side. I chose the latter.
One day I was working a few classmates came into the store. One of them asked: "So how does it feel having an MBA and still work here?" I don't think it was meant to come across as snarky as it did, but it was a disheartening realization. I had finished courses roughly 4 months prior, and I was still working part-time retail. However, I had to look at it from a different perspective. Even though the income was small, it was still income. Bills don't stop coming. Even though my education dictated I shouldn't work in the role I was in, I had to put pride aside and do what I had to in order to pay living expenses and at least break even.
By working this job, I had a reason to get up in the morning and make an impression. This job made me interact with people. It helped keep my interpersonal skills high, and gave me an extra motivation to do better, and not get stuck in the part-time world.
I would like to claim now that I have a professional full-time job lined up, which I think will turn into a long-lasting career. Although it took longer than I would have liked it to, I finally feel like I'm on track with where I want to be heading. Even though it wasn't fun, putting my side and working part-time retail was a vital component for me to maintain some income, to prevent taking out loans, and to prevent myself from perpetual boredom. Although I don't see myself going back into the retail world any time soon, I am glad that I put my pride aside, and did what I had to so that I stay above water.
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Elizabeth (Wednesday, 09 May 2018 19:24)
It would be great if you could recognize that not everyone can afford to work part-time to keep their head above water.
Thomas (Wednesday, 09 May 2018 19:36)
Thanks for the comment. The point I was trying to make was not that working part-time is a solution to keep above water. It was that, for me, my options were either have no income and sit around thinking that I should wait until the perfect opportunity came around, or that I work a part-time gig, which my education dictated I should not be working, to have some sort of income as well as job hunt for a more solidified career path.
But to your point about not everyone being able to be afloat working part-time, it is hard to argue that no income is worse than some income.