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I have a B.S. Political Science degree and MPA degree and no JOB!!!? |
I have an B.S. Political Science degree and a MPA degree and I cannot find a job. I am currently working for my local police department but I am making pennies. Every job that I apply for turns me down so I am left at a non-progressive department. I am thinking about changing fields but I have no idea what field. I am also thinking about going to law school but I need a break from school. If anyone can help me out and give me some directions it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. I'm going to suggest a career path for you that will let you use your skill set. But first, I'll chastise you a little. I don't know you, so this is clearly out of line--I can only go on the single paragraph you wrote above: Your degrees will not get you a job. You wrote that paragraph in a way that implies, "Hey, I've done my schooling, now it is someone else's obligation to hire me." NOT THE CASE. You need to do two very important things: First, work like it is a full-time job in getting a job. That means work at getting a job from 8:AM until 5:PM Monday through Friday. If you can't send out 60 resumes-a-day, you aren't a very good worker! Your degrees only help show that you have some specific qualifications for some specific types of jobs. A degree doesn't make it anyone else's responsibility to hire you. Second, to hire at a Master's Degree level candidate often takes years to get employed. YEARS! My son applied for a job with the Department of Defense, as a civilian, in 2003, right after he got his Bachelor's degree. He was offered a position that started in June of 2007 (just a few days ago) and after he had completed his Masters of Public Policy. The background and security checks, and getting the opening took that long. (He's very happy now, and loves his job.) The last link below shows that the DoD is still hiring, and they love folks with Master's degrees. Apply with them, but make those applications just one in the 60 or so a-day you should be filling out. Nothing is more important than getting out the 60 or so resume's-a-day. THAT IS YOUR FULL TIME JOB! Finally, don't change career paths now. Let your new employer guide you. If your new employer needs you to get a JD, he'll pay for it. Now, the real way to use your Masters of Public Administration is to get a job with the Federal Government. And the best way to do that is to attach yourself to whichever political candidate you really believe will win the Presidential election in 2008. They will reward those who work on their campaign. The problem here is that no one knows who will win even the party election, let alone the general election. Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney have the best chances to win their respective party races. They have active, professionally run campaigns, and will win their nomination. If you choose wrong though, your work for them is essentially lost for four years and you close a door. If you choose right, you open a door. I can't tell you which (if either) will win. I've included both of their web sites. But you need to work for a campaign as a volunteer for six months, and work up to a paid position. This you can do from wherever you now live. They need local people in every State, in every county, and in every town in America if they're going to win. Forget the hype--choose one of these two. This is a LONG road though. Hillary's campaign workers have to raise $150,000.00 to get "noticed." Mitt's have to raise $100,000.00, before the convention. Both campaigns have hundreds of openings though for doing things like "advance" work (getting the area ready for the candidates arrival); "press" work (making sure the all the local media cover every event); and "community" work (getting local elected officials to the events, and committed to the candidate.) These positions start as "volunteer" positions, but become paid (poorly paid) after you've proven your ability to work 80-hours a week as a volunteer. They'll keep you fed, and clothed, but nothing more. But if your candidate is elected--you've got a job in the new administration. My final word of advice is to WORK at getting a job. This can't be a casual thing. Every city in the nation needs a city manager. Your degree says you'll work for the government. That's good--because they are steady jobs that you'll have a great career path in. But you'll move every two or three years from city to city throughout your career. If you don't like the DoD (which is doing a LOT of hiring now--link included) then go into city management. Start with small cities (Ottawa, Kansas; Rantoul, Illinois; LaGrange, Georgia; Idaho Falls, Idaho; any town with 25,000-50,000 people.) Go to their websites, and look for positions that REQUIRE an MPA. Then, after you've worked for a small city for a year or two, look for a city with a population of 100,000 or so. Work up the ladder. No one is going to let you run the city of Chicago now--until you've "mastered" the skill set to handle smaller city budgets. Your job now is to send out sixty resume's-a-day to every city in the US to become a city manager (or similiar) position. There are more than 10,000 cities with populations of less than 100,000 people in it. They should all have a chance to tell you 'no'. Start each morning with a search of which cities qualify. Start locally, and begin spreading out from there. You won't have heard of most of these towns--but that's okay, they still need a city manager. (Cities under 25,000 people usually can't afford a "manager.") Good luck. The final link is to the census bureau. It can provide you a list of cities with pertinent populations. In summary, my career guidance to you is to get a job with a small US city. Accept any reasonable offer, and use it as a stepping stone to your next position. Source(s): http://www.hillaryclinton.com/splash/... http://www.mittromney.com/ http://www.defenselink.mil/sites/c.html#... http://www.census.gov/acs/www/products/i... Be your own boss. Get a franchise or two http://franchise-g.com Great job on getting your education in place. That's the first step to being successful! Unfortunately, you're going to find out that the jobs you most likely want are going to also come with an experience requirement. Now, I don't know anything about your situation, so if I'm off base please excuse me. But, it sounds like you've got the education matched with no experience. What your degrees will do is get you in the door for the interview. Where you go from there is up to you. Are you willing to start in a position which is "beneath" your level of education until you catch up on the experience? Those that do will find that they'll get the valuable experience necessary to take the next step. Those that don't will be complaining about how educated they are without having a job. As a law school graduate, let me tell you that getting that degree will put you in the same spot you're in now...except you'll have an additional degree. At some point, you're going to have to take that first job, and it's going to pay less than you expect and you're not going to have the prestige you want. However, you'll get more pay and more prestige the longer you work, and that will vault you ahead of the folks without your educational background. Good Luck! |
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