I need a job

[tamdrin]

Hi,
I recently graduated from University with a degree in Religion and Philosophy. Not much I can do with that I know, but I did it because it was my area of interest. Now I am faced with the "real world" and the necessity of making a living for myself. I am having trouble finding work and want to find the best job I can or make one up (gotta be creative sometimes) without settling for something totally crappy. Do you have any ideas what is a good way to make a living for a Buddhist?

Thanks.

[kirtu]

Hi,
I recently graduated from University with a degree in Religion and Philosophy. Not much I can do with that I know, but I did it because it was my area of interest. Now I am faced with the "real world" and the necessity of making a living for myself. I am having trouble finding work and want to find the best job I can or make one up (gotta be creative sometimes) without settling for something totally crappy. Do you have any ideas what is a good way to make a living for a Buddhist?

Well I got older and got fired, unjustly IMV, and am looking for work and trying to create employment myself.

Where do you live and what do you want to do? You could teach mathematics in many places.

You will need to move to a first world country in many cases (so in North America - Canada) to really safeguard your life. If you are in the UK you will need to move to Europe. But moves can usually wait a few years. If you have no debt you can move to various Asian counties and teach English tomorrow (provided you are a native English speaker).

There are many options for younger people even in the current Depression. But the main thing is that you have to network and be somewhat extroverted.

Kirt

[David N. Snyder]

My kids are in university and they have been searching different options and so I have been checking some too to help them decide.

Believe it or not, philosophy majors are one of the highest scorers on the LSAT exam, which is the U.S. equivalent to a Law School entrance exam. I think it is all the logic that is used and mastered from philosophy classes. So law school could be one option.

Another option is some type of government service jobs. In many fields they just want to see a degree and they don't care much about what the degree was in, just that you had the discipline to complete a degree program.

Another option is going to graduate school and there you could have the option to choose a different major. For example, you could decide to enter a M.A. program in social sciences or get an M.S. in psychology, etc., something that will accept the background you have with the B.A. you possess.

[kirtu]

Another option is going to graduate school and there you could have the option to choose a different major. For example, you could decide to enter a M.A. program in social sciences or get an M.S. in psychology, etc., something that will accept the background you have with the B.A. you possess.

A liberal arts undergrad degree, and esp. philosophy, does not constrain one to a liberal arts graduate degree. You might have to take some upper level undergrad courses before full admission to a program but you can apply (and will be accepted somewhere) for any degree program you like (assuming that GRE scores are high enough). Graduate level mathematics would be about the only exception (and you could do that too if you wanted but you'd have two or three full semesters to make up).

For grad school you have to ask yourself: what major problem or problems are you interested in solving (in the past this has been the hallmark of a PhD question but this is true at the masters level also and you shouldn't do grad school unless you have a question/problem like this). In the work world it is the same: how can you bring goodness into the world through work? What do you intend to change?

Kirt

[tamdrin]

Thanks for your responses guys. I live in America right now and was not planning on moving anywhere but maybe teaching English in a foreign country like China or Japan would be cool for me. I have traveled to India twice and also Nepal so I have some experience with Asian countries. I really do not want to go back for more school as that will not necessarily get me a better job. I know people with Master's degrees that do not even use them. Right now it seems the Bachelors is not even much use, except for those jobs that just require some sort of degree. I'm sorry to hear you were laid off, unjustly Kirtu. I am sure things will turn around for you in the future and that you will have what you need. One of the reasons that I am hesitant to go back to travel in Asia is that my kind Lama advised me to stay in America saying that traveling over to Nepal (etc what I had in mind to study more Tibetan) would not be good for my health. He also advised to focus on my job for now but I don't know what my job is! Anyway I hope that we will find a way that is beneficial for us and others. Perhaps I will reconnect with some well to do friends in NYC, they definitely have connections, I on the other hand do not.

Best Wishes..

[Luke]

If you have no debt you can move to various Asian counties and teach English tomorrow (provided you are a native English speaker).

True, but you will have more options if you get a TEFL or CELTA certificate (which takes one month full-time or three months part-time).

Another option is to get a CELTA certificate in the country where you want to work. This way the people who run the course will have local connections to help you find jobs (or at least this is what the websites say; I don't know from experience whether it's true or not).

I teach English in Hungary, but got my TEFL certificate in the US after I got my bachelor's degree in a different field. I'm glad I tried teaching English to foreigners because now I don't want to do anything else.

It is possible to pay back student loans while teaching in poor countries if your monthly payment for your loans is small enough (say, less than 200 USD).

I've heard that ESL teachers make the most money in South Korea. I don't know if that's still true. You might make lots of money in Arab countries, too.

[tamdrin]

Thanks for posting Luke. Fortunately I did not accumulate any debts in the course of my college days. So i'm not in debt but I also don't have a lot of money to invest or work with (especially being without a job right now and having moved into a place by myself recently). So I will see what I can do. One of the problems is that I am a lazy Buddhist who sees little point in putting much effort into the things of the world in many ways. So that belief alone, that those things are ultimately meaningless or useless hinders me from becoming a person that will probably ever be rich. Oh well, I will have to make the best of it. Wish you all well...

[tamdrin]

I still have no job... LOL.. I just start meditating instead of engaging in the world and forget about it...

[LastLegend]

Do some volunteer work now

[Malcolm]

Hi,
I recently graduated from University with a degree in Religion and Philosophy. Not much I can do with that I know, but I did it because it was my area of interest. Now I am faced with the "real world" and the necessity of making a living for myself. I am having trouble finding work and want to find the best job I can or make one up (gotta be creative sometimes) without settling for something totally crappy. Do you have any ideas what is a good way to make a living for a Buddhist?

Thanks.

Wait tables, serve meat and alcohol?

[ball-of-string]

Did you have a relationship with any of your professors? I suggest starting with some "information interviews" with professors, asking them what a person of your training could do for a living. During those interviews, be sure to ask for an introduction to colleague working in the private sector, and arrange a similar interview with these folks. There is a potential that these interviews might lead directly to a job opportunity, or it is possible that these interviews will broaden your awareness of options.

[tamdrin]

Hi,
I recently graduated from University with a degree in Religion and Philosophy. Not much I can do with that I know, but I did it because it was my area of interest. Now I am faced with the "real world" and the necessity of making a living for myself. I am having trouble finding work and want to find the best job I can or make one up (gotta be creative sometimes) without settling for something totally crappy. Do you have any ideas what is a good way to make a living for a Buddhist?

Thanks.

Wait tables, serve meat and alcohol?

Yeah that wouldn't be so good right...

[kirtu]

Wait tables, serve meat and alcohol?

Yeah that wouldn't be so good right...

There isn't a problem serving meat or alcohol. This is also not an appeal to mahasiddha living but think of Virupa, Naropa and Tilopa.

Kirt

[Ngawang Drolma]

My kids are in university and they have been searching different options and so I have been checking some too to help them decide.

Believe it or not, philosophy majors are one of the highest scorers on the LSAT exam, which is the U.S. equivalent to a Law School entrance exam. I think it is all the logic that is used and mastered from philosophy classes. So law school could be one option.

Another option is some type of government service jobs. In many fields they just want to see a degree and they don't care much about what the degree was in, just that you had the discipline to complete a degree program.

Another option is going to graduate school and there you could have the option to choose a different major. For example, you could decide to enter a M.A. program in social sciences or get an M.S. in psychology, etc., something that will accept the background you have with the B.A. you possess.

Fantastic advice all around

[tamdrin]

Wait tables, serve meat and alcohol?

Yeah that wouldn't be so good right...

There isn't a problem serving meat or alcohol. This is also not an appeal to mahasiddha living but think of Virupa, Naropa and Tilopa.

Kirt

hehe yeah I should try and be more like those guys...

[gregkavarnos]

Wait tables, serve meat and alcohol?

Yeah that wouldn't be so good right...

Dude I have post grad qualifications in social sciences and was flipping burgers and pouring beers up 'til my mid thirties for some extra cash to make ends meet (and I am a vegetarian and teetotaller)! In the meantime the rest of the advice (post grad and volunteer work) is actually quite sound.

How 'bout (paid) work for organisations like Red Cross or Medecins Sans Frontiers? They always need general staff. These are good options as you will be working in countries and environs that will let you see how the other 90% of the world population lives.

[Tilopa]

Hi,
I recently graduated from University with a degree in Religion and Philosophy. Not much I can do with that I know, but I did it because it was my area of interest. Now I am faced with the "real world" and the necessity of making a living for myself. I am having trouble finding work and want to find the best job I can or make one up (gotta be creative sometimes) without settling for something totally crappy. Do you have any ideas what is a good way to make a living for a Buddhist?

Thanks.

Become a monk.

[tamdrin]

Wait tables, serve meat and alcohol?

Yeah that wouldn't be so good right...

Dude I have post grad qualifications in social sciences and was flipping burgers and pouring beers up 'til my mid thirties for some extra cash to make ends meet (and I am a vegetarian and teetotaller)! In the meantime the rest of the advice (post grad and volunteer work) is actually quite sound.

How 'bout (paid) work for organisations like Red Cross or Medecins Sans Frontiers? They always need general staff. These are good options as you will be working in countries and environs that will let you see how the other 90% of the world population lives.

Hi Greg,
Thanks for the advice. More school is OUT OF THE QUESTION for me right now. I love studying dharma on my own (just got through the treasury of philosophical instructions from the omniscient Longchen Rabjam) but I have no interest in academia. Why? Because it seems to be pretty useless in my experience. My degree in religion is getting me no jobs (although i didn't really expect that it would) and I don't think that a masters would do much more. You are not the only one I have heard of getting a masters and having to work jobs that have nothing to do with the field in which one obtained a degree. It was my desire to go back to India, Nepal, or Tibet at some point and continue becoming fluent in Tibetan, as I am semi fluent now but would need more time to perfect it, but my Lama advised me to stay in America, saying that going over there wouldn't be good for my health in general...although I may eventually go to the east again anyway... So yeah I have had two 4 month stints one in Sikkim and one in Kathmandu, as well as having travelled around in India a couple times so I have seen to some extent how the other 90% of the world lives... It is quite amazing.

Tilopa: Yeah I was seriously considering becoming a monk for a while but then it seems that aspiration has kind of faded away, in light of a few rational considerations such as it is very difficult to maintain the vows and really be a monk while living in America..

[palchi]

What have you done so far to find a job?

[tamdrin]

What have you done so far to find a job?

looked in the papers,
looked at the different website advertisings
walked around town
asked friends