Volunteer – What do you guys think?

[LBJ10]

I am currently in panic mode. I have been checking job listings every day for the last few months. There is just nothing. I am not exaggerating, there really is nothing related to my field. I really don’t know what to do. I will have my masters in less than a year and I feel like it will have all been for nothing. I just don’t understand what I am doing wrong.

I don’t have a lot of experience. It’s not like I didn’t try, it’s just that somehow things always ended up being a complete disaster. I tried to do a practicum at the zoo while I was in undergrad. Instead of letting me work with the animals (which was the original plan), they had me “watching” the animals. I was then accepted to work in a research program, but then it turned out to be completely not what I thought it would be. I found myself working in a lab for the summer looking at bacteria in petri dishes. Oh my gosh, and then the grassroots advocacy thing was awful. I applied to be an intern, thinking I would be working on projects and coordinating events. Instead, I was forced to “telemarket” people and ask them to call their local senator. Ugh!

These are just some examples.

I’m not sure what I’m asking from all of you. I just feel like such a failure and I’m hoping for some suggestions. My BA is in biology/environmetal studies, my MS will be in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources. A lot of the time, people don’t understand what that is.

I need some relevant experience. I would like to be paid, but it looks like that won’t happen any time soon. Does anyone have experience volunteering? I just don’t want it to blow up in my face again.

I thought maybe the local sierra club or nature conservancy. I don’t want to be digging stumps or collecting fish samples though. LOL

Any suggestions? I know there are a few nature-y people on here.

[KytKattin]

Honestly, I thought that was what you did with a biology degree. That is what I wanted to do anyways when I was going for my BS in Biology; collect fish samples, samples of anything, watching nature, etc. For me, that kind of science is very “hands off”. Human interference gives false results. But what do I really know about it anyways? lol. I guess I viewed the hands on part was for either the park rangers or veterinarians and vet techs. Obviously some hands on, particularly in dissection, and again with collecting samples. But again, I don’t really know either. I changed my major and don’t remember much from school before the cancer treatments… lol.

As for volunteer stuff blowing up in your face… Try not to look at it that way. I have done some stuff for my degree that I didn’t love, but it does help round you out, if at the very least so that you know that is NOT what you want to do. I am taking a museum class right now, and I realized that I detest the idea of doing much in the museum world, but hey, I know that now. I still have 2-3 more classes that involve me working as an intern in a museum despite the fact that I want to be a teacher. Maybe it will change my mind, or maybe it will at least get me in contact with someone else that might have the job I do want.

[LBJ10]

I love animals. I love collecting samples, trapping/tagging, and all that stuff. Those were some fun times in undergrad. I realized though that it wasn’t something I would want to do forever. Plus now I question if it would be something I could physically keep up with. I have looked for jobs like that as something to fall back on, but even those are few and far between. I can’t relocate anywhere at the moment, so finding something local like that has proved difficult anyway.

I chose to pursue HD because I realized that all of the stuff listed above is only half of the equation. There are people in there too. Conservation efforts are meaningless if you don’t take people into account. I am very interested in wildlife values and that is what my thesis is on. My field is very interdisciplinary though and my peers have a wide variety of research interests.

Haha! Your statement about learning what you don’t want to do. Yes, I know exactly what you’re talking about! Bacteria and petri dishes, I can safely say that is not what I want to do.

[Monkeybun]

Sometimes, you need to do what you don’t want to do, in order to get to what you do want to do. Maybe they had been watching, to see if you’d do the menial work in order to work up to what you REALLY want to do. Stick with some stuff longer, you never know where it will end up. The ladder starts at the bottom, after all

[Morgan Bun]

I don’t know anything about your field specifically, but volunteering positions can definitely turn to paid positions. I sat on the board of directors for two years on an all-volunteer-no-paid-positions Humane Society. Happens another member of the board is married to a local vet. She and I became very good friends. After 10 years of being a stay at home mom and housewife, I was offered an assistant position at their practice. I wasn’t even looking for a job. Volunteering is a great thing, and it can definitely open up opportunities for you.

[RabbitPam]

I understand your frustration with the job hunt, and first let me say that this is the worst 3 years in the history of the country since the Great Depression for finding work of all kinds, much less in your own field. It really is not you at all. Your competition out there is fierce, and people are hanging onto their own jobs for dear life, so the rate of job changing is slower.

What did gradually happen with massive layoffs and budget cuts and less funding for non-profits of all kinds is that the remaining staffs became hugely overburdened doing it all. So what they needed first with a bit of fresh funding or a loosening of budgets to allow for the occasional new hire is to get the excess tasks off their plates. That’s where your mundane jobs came in. You are an inexperienced worker, regardless of your degree, and these folks hiring you have “paid their dues” and think you need to pay yours first, also. I have also worked for bosses who didn’t have my degree or education (I have a bachelors, but they got lucky in the 80s and 90s when jobs were plentiful and fewer credentials where required) and they don’t always respect you for it. Some even resent you or are afraid you are after their job since you may be more qualified.

Volunteering can help you make an attitude adjustment about your initial expectations. If you look at it as pitching in and helping, you will get to know how an organization really works, what the exact job descriptions are (by observation) and meet the people there. If they like you, you can identify which job you’d have if you could, and even let that be known to HR or the management staff (as in, if you expand to create a new job of such-and-such, I would love to do that here.) Volunteering never guarantees a job. But it does give you a network of contacts within the field. It puts you in the grapevine for hearing about unadvertised openings. It gives you more colleagues to keep their ears open for your search. And it looks good on your resume.

Spending your time for 6 months doing a good job at a mundane task that is paid puts you on hand for a promotion. Someone once told me that if an employee can’t do a simple job well, they would never trust them with a more important one. You have an opportunity to prove that you’re a good person to have around who’s willing to work. That will stand you in good stead. View it as an extra year of school where you are learning your field from the inside on-site this time.

p.s. I just got laid off from a museum last year, after 13 years. It wasn’t my chosen career – I fell into it – but talk about frustrating! I am trying to transition OUT of that field, and the phrase “transferable skills” isn’t getting me a job in a new field. I dread starting at the bottom elsewhere after many years of work experience. (And can’t afford a cut in pay, either.) So I know how you feel about that. I wish us both luck. This too shall pass.

[Elrohwen]

I just want to offer hugs, because I know how hard it is out there. You’d think an engineer within 90min of NYC wouldn’t have a problem finding some kind of relevant job postings, but I spent 10 months finding almost none. There just isn’t much out there. It’s especially hard since everybody seems to want super relevant experience – for example, I had worked in food, and a combined food/consumer products company wouldn’t even interview me for making facial care products, even though it was minutes from my house, but they would interview me for the food stuff (food products I had no experience in, at a site 90min from my house). I think some employers (or their recruiters) are just way too specific, but there’s not much you can do about it other than call and pester them.

I would definitely try to volunteer anywhere you can. Even if it’s not very relevant to what you eventually want to do, if it’s for a relevant organization, you can always spin that on your resume. Just because you’re collecting water samples for the Sierra Club, for example, doesn’t mean you can’t put a spin on it for a future interview. Knowing people is also 75% of getting a job, in my experience. I wouldn’t have the job I have now if I didn’t know people at the company who told managers they should absolutely hire me. (in the case of the job I got, the manager didn’t even get my resume through the online system, he only got it because someone emailed it to him – don’t underestimate getting your resume to a real person because those systems filter good people out).

Why can’t you relocate after you get your degree? Jobs are few and far between and it will vastly open up your options if you’re willing to move after graduation.

[Beka27]

I have no advice to offer, but I can definitely relate. I’ve been an RDH (on paper) for nearly 8 months, and I’ve had a grand total of 2 job interviews. It’s very frustrating still being at my crap job almost a year after graduating, especially when former co-workers come in and say, “Oh Beka, you’re STILL here?!” If they’re not on FB, they are probably thinking I failed out of school or something, when no, in fact I DID successfully graduate, but the job market is SOOO saturated.

[LBJ10]

My post disappeared. Hopefully I can remember what I said.

Thank you all for your replies, I really appreciate it. Things have been so difficult for me, especially since I don’t have anyone to talk to about this that really understands. To answer Elrohwen’s question, we can’t relocate because of my husband. We just aren’t in a position right now where it would be possible.

Wow, a lot has happened since I started this thread. I thought I would let you guys know what’s been happening, just in case you were wondering. I spotted a job listing for an internship. It was absolutely perfect as far as transferable experience goes. Basically, it was a lot of the stuff I was lacking when I had applied for (real) jobs in the past. I was so excited. I called them up, sent them my resume, and got an interview. There seemed to be a great connection and I thought the interview went well. Long story short, I didn’t get the job. They were afraid to hire me because I was a masters student. I cannot even begin to express how disappointed I was. This felt like my last chance, you know?

Anyway, I am feeling really lost right now and I don’t know where to go from here.

[LBJ10]

It looks like I’m going to have to forget about getting any relevant experience. I can’t get a paid position and I don’t think I will have time to volunteer anywhere. I need money really bad and I’m afraid I will be forced to spend my time working some meaningless job somewhere just so I can get caught up on bills. This is just awful.

[Elrohwen]

LBJ, the economy is so tough right now – lots of people are getting jobs below their experience and education level to pay bills, so it’s not the end of the world.

Is there any time in the future that you would be able to move? At some point you and your husband might have to agree that you need to find a new location that works for both of your careers.

[LBJ10]

I’m just frustrated because I can’t win either way. I have (or will have) the education, but not the experience. If I try to get experience, then they think I’m overqualified. What am I supposed to do? I don’t see us being able to move any time soon. If he stays on track, then probably the soonest would be 3 years.

My idea to maybe volunteer somewhere is going to have to be put on hold though. I need to find a job, any job. I have been trying. I’ve already gotten responses back saying I’m not what they are looking for or (for jobs at school) they can’t offer the job to a graduate student.

 I’m sorry, I feel so awful for being such a downer. This has been a very bad past couple of weeks.

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