Career advice, for what it's worth

[MichiganJFrog]

I have no idea when this piece actually came out, since there's no date on it, but I just came across it. "Medical records technician" actually sounds pretty good to me.

 

[snafupants]

I love that scene in National Lampoon's Las Vegas Vacation in which Clark Griswold is down to his last ten dollars at the Blackjack table, and the dealer advices Clark to buy a bullet and rent a gun. Then the dealer snorts a little guffaw. In this job market that's what career counseling feels like. Shuffle up and deal. Good luck sir.

 

[MichiganJFrog]

I love that scene in National Lampoon's Las Vegas Vacation in which Clark Griswold is down to his last ten dollars at the Blackjack table, and the dealer advices Clark to buy a bullet and rent a gun. Then the dealer snorts a little guffaw. In this job market that's what career counseling feels like. Shuffle up and deal. Good luck sir.

It's true. Even though I'm currently employed, every time I open up the want ads, I feel a profound sense of trepidation, based on not feeling qualified for anything I see. Perhaps the greatest oxymoron in the English language is "job fair."

 

[snafupants]

It's true. Even though I'm currently employed, every time I open up the want ads, I feel a profound sense of trepidation, based on not feeling qualified for anything I see. Perhaps the greatest oxymoron in the English language is "job fair."

That bit about the job fair is clever. I know, most jobs seem to require, perhaps, five years of experience in a rather specialized field or skill set. The situation is almost illogical when each job builds on the next and one needs experience to land any job at all. I suppose the two options, at least initially, are lying or winning the lottery. That, or nepotism, which might be the latter along with inheritance.

 

[MichiganJFrog]

That bit about the job fair is clever.

Thanks. I find that its oxymoronic nature holds true whether one uses "fair" as an adjective, meaning "just" or "equitable," or if one uses "fair" as a noun, meaning "celebration, usually held outdoors, accompanied by games of chance and music."

Also for what it's worth: One thing that has helped me adjust to the day-to-day reality of work is abandoning the notion of some meteoric rise to fame, fortune, and being universally admired. That is a pack of lies that probably took root in my mind beginning with grade-school biographies of Benjamin Franklin and his ilk. I try to avoid quoting Donald Rumsfeld whenever possible, but the idea of a "long, hard slog" pretty much rings true when it comes to holding down a job.