Depressing post about my future. AKA me looking for career advice

[Liam O]

It is hard to say without really seeing what you are doing, but I think you are getting in over your head if you are not willing to devote a lot of time into it. I understand your thoughts about investing in something tangible, and I generally agree, but with regulation possibly getting tighter and tighter in the energy sector, you might strangle a lot of earnings. On one hand you have half of your portfolio in very safe things and the other half very risky business. When you get into the "trading" game, which is what you are playing here it is going to take a lot more of your time (and resources) than you think. Don't forget trading and investing is not the same thing at all. If investing is what you are doing you are overcomplicating things already. If you are trading remember, don't trade with any money you cannot easily afford to lose.

You seem to be confirming what I'm worried about. My money manager said she didn't think I was doing anything risky, but frankly I don't trust her, I prefer to just use her as a mechanism through which I can buy the stocks I want, not the ones she's paid to push. A lot of my customers engage in what I'd call hobbyist day trading, and I thought they were pretty with it until I started following their tips on google finance. As far as I can tell, the ones who used to be traders FOR A LIVING are lucky if they net zero over a six month period... Not that they ever tell you about their ass-shattering losses.

I don't mind putting time in, what I want to avoid is sitting in class, or at work, and spending 4 of 8 working hours hitting "refresh" on google stock quotes that are already 15 minutes old anyway. I realize my sell orders don't do dick after 4pm if after hours trading drops the price 50% but I feel like with most of my long term investments, either the dividend doesn't make up for decreases in stock price, in which case why wouldn't I dump it, or the growth is so slow its barely keeping pace with inflation... I'd wanted to get involved in commodities, which I have a better handle on and better resources of knowledge about (my mother and favorite customer were long time commodities corp. employees) but it seems like its impossible to trade commodities without A) a ****-ton of capital or B) dealing with shady ass outfits that hold everything in offshore accounts, and enter you into a sort of hedged mutual fund where you don't really get any options on what's being bought.

Metaphorical penny for your thoughts?

 

[patrickBOOTH]

There are tons of commodity mutual funds out there if that is something you are interested in. Ultimately I think you are better off with low fee mutual funds in your portfolio than trying to do what you are doing.

 

[Liam O]

There are tons of commodity mutual funds out there if that is something you are interested in. Ultimately I think you are better off with low fee mutual funds in your portfolio than trying to do what you are doing.

Its amazing how many people will avoid suggesting mutual funds. I'll look into that, as well as the commodity funds. Its just all the commodity fund managers I've met give me a case of the Gore and casually talk about how they hired themselves on as an outside consultant, took the fees out of the profits before reporting earnings to shareholders or investors or whatever. Kinda put me off them.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Millions of people do very well with them.

 

[Liam O]

Yeah, just most people I talk to seem to think you'll do better with a money market account, you have more control over it, lower fees, etc.

I'll probably make the Vanguard REIT my second quarter buy for 2011 then. As mutual funds go I like it.

 

[Stu]



You could do the assistant job and then network like crazy in hopes of getting something better. Job market is turning around a bit (hopefully) so you might be able to get something better in a few months.
Some side gigs such as freelance writing / graphic design, blogs/affiliate ads (like Amazon) or something of that like can bring in a bit of rent/food money.

This. I have my dream job right now, and while I am a lot older than you, and at a different stage, my path to this job might be illustrative. You know how i got this job? It started with a freaking paper route. I moved back to the states from Latin America with my wife's job transfer and I needed a job. Desperately. I worked hard, thenewspaper publisher liked me, we started talking, turns out his ad saleswoman was married to a guy at a my dream company, I met him and networked like a mo' fo' and 2 years later I got in the door. You are a young kid, you can take big risks. get anything and work your ass off and impress people with your thoroughness, work ethic and prepration and see where it leads. And have fun, you are in a great position.

 

[Matt]

Since various people throughout this thread have proposed PR as a field you could enter, I thought I would weigh in.

OP - I run a PR firm, and am probably two degrees of Kevin Bacon from pretty much anyone in the industry. Make of that what you will. I know lots of ad people as well, so you can probably sub in the word 'PR' for ad industry on a lot of the below, but I won't profess to be an expert on their field.

Harsh reality number 1: You have a useless degree that would have gotten you a PR job in the late 80s, and not much since.

Harsh reality number 2: Two zillion other people graduated with the same degree as you last year, and they're all looking for PR jobs now. One point eight zillion more have been working in retail since they graduated with the same degree as you the year before, and are still looking for PR jobs.

Harsh reality number 3: You are just starting to contemplate things you should have been thinking about three years ago, when you should have been working out how to tweak your course load for the realities of the working world.

Hint to others: Drop interpretive dance, pick up accounting 101. You are better off employed and doing night classes in dance than unemployed and wishing you knew more about business.

Harsh reality 4: If studying finance "stresses you out too much" you are not equipped to leave the house. Life will never be less stressful than when you were a student of anything, and that's just the way it is.

Ironically enough, if I was a grad looking for work in PR now, I would rather have the finance degree and be applying to either big finance companies' marcomms departments, or to niche finance agencies/finance practices of big agencies that can never find people with the understanding of the industry to be able to hang in the field. The comms grads aren't equipped and the finance grads aren't interested.

Harsh reality 5: In light of harsh realities 1 through 4; you are currently overvaluing your skills.

Real world suggestion 1: beat down the doors of every charity, NGO, service organisation, hospital, church welfare group or whatever, and offer to be their unpaid part time PR manager/executive/assistant/***** worker for as long as they will have you. If you can't afford to eat, go work at McDonalds to pay the bills and don't tell anyone about it.

Real world suggestion 2: Go to every speech, seminar, luncheon, drinks night, wanky gallery opening and store launch that will have you. You need to be the sort of person who will show up at the opening of a window.

Meet everyone you can, and describe yourself as 'having just started in a role as Communications Manager at Street Kids International where we.....' - and then crank the hell out of any measly little skill you picked up this week. Ask lots of questions about how they would address your challenges, get them talking, people like feeling wise, remember what it's like to be a grad, and are typically happy to mentor where they can. You'll be surprised at how helpful we grumpy-ol-jaded-bastards really are.

Remember, the nature of the job is that you have to make Coke sound fundamentally different to Pepsi, and if you can't make yourself sound different to the aforementioned three point eight zillion graduates, then what do they want with you anyhow? Eventually one of those people will take a 'kid works hard, reminds me of me when I was his age' interest in you, and that is the best shot you've got.

edit - that was weird...tweaked it on my phone and it turned into one hulking block of text....fixed.

 

[bringusingoodale]

^
Gawd.

Where were you when I was in undergrad

 

[Piobaire]

Matt makes he return by bringing the heat. Nice.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Note that we have not heard from the OP at all. I think he killed himself. It would be nice to hear his thoughts.

 

[Liam O]

Note that we have not heard from the OP at all. I think he killed himself. It would be nice to hear his thoughts.

not to disparage the guy, but I'm learning a lot more from you OG's than his post... Some good has come of this thread.

BTW Vanguard REIT it is. You sold me. There's your good deed for the decade.

 

[mikeman]

Hey guys, sorry I have been MIA, I forgot about this thread. I have learned lots through reading all these posts. Many of them make me feel like a *************. However, lots just showed me that Im not going to make load of money right away. Also, that I need to just work ****** off.
I have been applying to advertising jobs, and had a couple of interviews. This definitely seems like something Id enjoy doing. So I'll see where that goes.
And to Clarify- its not that I have expensive taste, but spend lots more than the average kid my age on things like jeans.

Thanks again for the encouraging, and not so encouraging words.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



not to disparage the guy, but I'm learning a lot more from you OG's than his post... Some good has come of this thread.

BTW Vanguard REIT it is. You sold me. There's your good deed for the decade.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



Hey guys, sorry I have been MIA, I forgot about this thread. I have learned lots through reading all these posts. Many of them make me feel like a *************. However, lots just showed me that Im not going to make load of money right away. Also, that I need to just work ****** off.
I have been applying to advertising jobs, and had a couple of interviews. This definitely seems like something Id enjoy doing. So I'll see where that goes.
And to Clarify- its not that I have expensive taste, but spend lots more than the average kid my age on things like jeans.
Thanks again for the encouraging, and not so encouraging words.

With hard work, you will make it all work. Don't forget that.

"With great power, comes great responsibility" - Spiderman's aunt

 

[Texasmade]



With hard work, you will make it all work. Don't forget that.
"With great power, comes great responsibility" - Spiderman's aunt

Incorrect. It was his uncle.