Jack of all trades, looking for one to master...

[Psyborg]

And no, I'm not joking. If I just counted careers since undergrad (from which I received a BA in International Studies with a focus on East Asia):

Contracting/Construction
Construction and Road Safety
Pilot Car Driver/Trucker
Retail Sales
Wholesale Warehousing and Remanufacturing
Fast Food
Short Order
Gourmet Pizza
Substitute Teaching
Technical Support (two jobs)
Graduate Research Assistant
Graduate Research Technician
High School Science Teacher (two jobs)
Unemployed...

At this point I'm flat broke, with a wife, have a partly finished MA in Microbial Ecology, am 38, and all but the last two positions I was in I quit from, usually screaming. Truth be told, I'm so fed up with the human race I'd feel better off never married and living in some antarctic outpost alone or in deep space and I've felt that way for two decades, yet I loved teaching. I get along best with the kids rather than people my own age. No politics. Just innocent curiosity.

But now I find myself at yet another crossroads, two schools having told me I don't know how to teach. Didn't stop many of my students from deciding to go into science, but I apparently can't teach. Or at least can't teach "correctly". Now there's irony. If anyone in this country taught "correctly"... *sigh*

So anyone have any ideas for a new direction to take?

[Opti]

How about youth career guidance? You seem to be an influential teacher.

Have you probed into why they have deemed you as 'teaching incorrectly'?

[Max T]

I feel for you Psyborg- in a similar position myself (see introduction post To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.).

This is the best career-oriented site I've come across:
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

How I've gone about finding a career for the next decade is using a research "triangulation" approach- i.e. examining the situation from multiple perspectives rather than the static, non-personal, homogenous INTJ perspective.
It consists of this:

1. create a mission statement- what you want to achieve befroe retirement/ how you'd like to be remembered at your funeral.
2. identify the "games" you play at work- refer to Lore's "The Pathfinder" p.266 on this.
3. write a career 'story' of a couple of pages starting from 20yrs old to now. What jobs you did and why.
4. identify patterns to your career-e.g. what you did after leaving a frustrating job (shows your 'rebound' desire after that bad job), what all your jobs entail, your job dislikes...
5. examine what you do in spare time- build a job round your passion or a job at least affiliated to your passion?
6. ....and then the INTJ perspective: For us N is dominant and T is auxiliary, F third and S last (read "Do what you are" book re. this)- identify what in your past career matches these areas. Surprising how we can fool ourselves- with T being extroverted people thought analysis is my strong point and passion, but with N introverted actually my creativity and ability to improve things is the real passion. I note that your career initially appears to not engage creativity... but perhaps your teaching allowed your creativity to flourish (e.g. ad libbing, querying pupils, creating analogies, structuring the course etc.) which your school (establishment) disliked.
Six angles to examine your career.

Also, INTJ's may dislike consulting others, but consider a career counsellor's advice.
And also think broad- it is all too easy to develop a narrow perspective of what constitutes a 'job' based only on your past experience.

What is critical is to fully leverage your MA:
1. state to potential employers that you took the MA to change career
2. gain a job with intellectual challenge (and therefore commensurate pay)- all too easy to slip into 'pre- MA' job after graduating.
3. fully use the university's career services
4. talk with people in your field of study at uni about Microbial Ecology-related jobs.

Generally INTJ's dislike bureacracy/ rules and for you that could be translating into your deviation away from syllabus/ school teaching style ("can't teach "correctly"). Surely there are more liberal schools around?

[INTJohn]

Socrates is attributed to saying; "every man should have a wife - if he finds a good one he'll become happy; if he finds a bad one he'll become a Philosopher"..........

............or you can get an MBTI Certification; become self employed doing corporate consultant work - gravy train. Them stupid MBA execs eat that dumbass seminar shit up.

No charge..........INTJohn

[Max T]

Them stupid MBA execs eat that dumbass seminar shit up.

INTJohn

Ouch! I felt that one John.
I try to help someone and you follow with a cynical swipe at both of us. :-?
Chill.

[Elalyr]

That's some really good advice, Max. I'm not in the exact situation as Psyborg, but I'm in a job that doesn't mean a lot to me. Every job I've ever had has been more or less the first thing I could get on short notice that would give me a paycheck. This is because I've never been able to pick something that I was really good at, or really cared about. I'm going to try working through the steps you suggest and see if it points me in a direction.

[deicruxified]

almost same situation...

here's a list of my previous jobs:

1. paralegal volunteer (interrogate detainnees/inmates, update them on updates regarding their cases)
2. professor's assistant (doing research etc... most of the time teaching stuff he doesn't want to teach lol)
3. claims adjuster/processor/analyst (had em all in one employment... fuck bpo)
4. events organizer (from racing to 'coming of age' birthday parties... contractual basis)
5. web designer (contractual basis)
6. ad design (contractual basis)

my work now? csr/events manager/account exec/hr... boss is happy coz i can do a lot without speding more on employment... duh it sucks!!... but i'm into environmental (got our very own hiking/environmental club) jobby... what i'm into now is finding a way to make our clubby stable to that i can work full time... and if that happens, i can continue with my masters... probably in japan.

i do believe we do good in a lot of fields but there has to be one we love...

[Psyborg]

How about youth career guidance? You seem to be an influential teacher.

Have you probed into why they have deemed you as 'teaching incorrectly'?

Just got an email back from the dean there, actually. Get this: High school students aren't "ready" to be taught abstract thinking.

I quote from the Colorado Science Standards (Colorado Department of Education):

"As students in grades 9-12 extend their knowledge, what they know and are able to do includes
• asking questions and stating hypotheses, using prior scientific knowledge to help guide their
development;
• creating and defending a written plan of action for a scientific investigation;
• selecting and using appropriate technologies to gather, process, and analyze data and to report
information related to an investigation;
• identifying major sources of error or uncertainty within an investigation (for example,
particular measuring devices and experimental procedures);
• constructing and revising scientific explanations and models, using evidence, logic, and
experiments that include identifying and controlling variables;
• communicating and evaluating scientific thinking that leads to particular conclusions;
• recognizing and analyzing alternative explanations and models; and
• explaining the difference between a scientific theory and a scientific hypothesis."

To me this sounds like abstract thinking. "Being able to apply abstract concepts to new situations and surroundings." That's what science is all about. Am I wrong?

So if that's what they fired me for, and it appears that that's the case... Whatever. Would I really want to work for a school that assumed all students needed was textbook learning and that was it?

As for the future, I really have no money for retraining or I'd go back to graduate school and finish my masters or PhD. So I'm stuck. Back to fast food or some dipstick thing like that, being underling to what could definitely be defined as a "lesser mortal". Been there, done that, not looking forward to it. And it won't pay the house payments.

I love life.

[terencec]

Truth be told, I'm so fed up with the human race I'd feel better off never married and living in some antarctic outpost alone or in deep space and I've felt that way for two decades, yet I loved teaching. I get along best with the kids rather than people my own age. No politics. Just innocent curiosity.

Interesting, I have the same feelings as you. I wish I lived in some antarctic outpost alone or in deep space because I am so fed up with my coworkers and bosses. Everyday, I have to wear my mask to go to work. Someday, I may not know who I am because the mask becomes part of my face.

I am lucky (or unlucky) that I have no relationship!

[Zilal]

A lot of people get quite close to what they should be doing, but not quite there, and then veer off into a side track. You say you liked teaching... I'd go back to that, but you might have to be a bit more creative about it. Maybe not a traditional school setting. I worked for years at an aquarium that had a reasonably well-developed education department and the teachers there got to do some pretty cool stuff. There are a number of opportunities for science education that don't involve working in a school... it might be the way to go.

[Hypomanic]

I feel for you Psyborg- in a similar position myself (see introduction post To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.).

This is the best career-oriented site I've come across:
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Oh my gosh that type-career site rocks! Know any others by chance?