Job. vs. career. vs. fulltime student... PLEASE someone help me, coz my parents are a little biased!?

Question

So I was recently offered a career in Life annuity and Insurance sales, at a pretty prominent company in my area, It goes along with my business major. I'm 20, and I'm in college, bored out of my mind with it, tired of being broke, and tired of being dependent so much on my parents, because no regular job seems to pay enough and give enough hours to allow me to do this. I can easily graduate in 2009 with no real work experience, hopefully making 35,000 a year. My parents are against me having a career right now because they think i'm really into school, but i'm not! I loathe it, and only continue to go so that they will support me until I can support myself, they just want me to work a regular job at the mall or something which I DON'T WANT! any real advice? Oh and let me mention, my grades are less than great... actually mediocre at best!

Answer 1

Well obviously I have a pro-education bias, but...
In all good conscience I could not urge you to stay in school. If you don't want to be there that is in my books a convincing reason not to be there. I would give a caution to you though. If you find after a few years selling life insurance that you are bored, frustrated, not advancing in your career then not having a full education is going to be a huge handicap and going back to school a really, really, tough road.

Answer 2

If your grades are mediocre, you feel you're not getting much from school at this point, you're not enjoying yourself there, and you have a decent paying (preferably with benefits) professional-type job offer in hand, then I think you should take the job. Ideally, see if the job can hold the position open until the semester is done, so you don't lose those credits.

Then you have another decision to make. You could continue going to school part time, which is actually what I recommend you do. Or you could stop going to school, work full time for a couple of years, then start going to school part time. But no matter what, make sure that you do go back to school, and soon, to complete your degree. You will have more job opportunities available to you - in sales and otherwise - if you have your degree in hand.

You may be surprised how well you do in school, and how much more you value it, when you're working full time. Often, the things you learn in class can be applied on the job, and vice versa, which makes the whole experience much more interesting and valuable.

It's probably best if you can simply keep going to school part time, starting in the summer - starting right away. That way, you'll get your degree done more quickly. But if you feel a bit burnt out by school, you may need to take the summer off, or even a year or two off. But again, keep the focus - make sure you get yourself back to school. In the long run, it will end up being very important. That degree will help you advance in your current organisation or get a new job. Without it, you may get passed over for someone who has a degree. So no matter what choice you make, make sure the degree is somehow part of your plans.

Answer 3

WEll, I understand that school is not for everyone, but the other answerer is correct...going back to school later is harder than toughing it out now. Could you maybe go to school and work at this company at the same time? It would give you some great experience before you are completely on your own. Maybe you are just plain bored and need something else to fill your time. I worked somewhere between 50 and 60 hours a week while I was in school (and I graduated with a 3.7) and it was because I would have been bored out of my mind at a mall job or by not working. However, if you can not do both at the same time, try finding something productive to occupy your time with (try finding another part time office position within that company or a similar company)...school, job and careers are all tough and take some degree of coping to get through...none of those choices are easy, they will all require some hard work. Just don't give up on your education now and have to regret it later...besides you have the rest of your life to have a career or a job.

Answer 4

Yes, college takes time, but it is really worth it. My husband and I did everything backwards. It didn't pay off. Now we're both 33, and trying to juggle college, jobs, and three kids. If I were you, I would stick it out. College only lasts a few years, and then you'll have the rest of your life to work (And probably make more money in the long run). Just the opinion of someone who did it all backwards.