Job or Education

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I'm facing hard times. I'm alread facing academic probation on the second account. Not the third account just yet, where I have to talk to the dean of the school and stuff. As long as I bump my grades and my credits up this year than my academic probation will disappear without having to talk to any dean or counselor.

But now I am facing my own little dilemna getting my path back paved in the job market or my education. I already missed a day of class for my classes on a Saturday for an unforseen emergency that I wasn't and didn't even prepare for. And now I have to miss another day a Wednesday because a job interview overlays with my class time.

This is a really difficult decision for me. Do I go to class that day and miss my oppurutnity in a career? Or do I miss a day of school and face the consequences of my grades slipping to get into a job?

What's more important job or education?

I do not want to live within the means of my father. I want to have my own money and my own success. I want my own home and my own money. That would of course mean getting a job.

But I also have to get my associates degree, just general associates degree.

But then I also hate college. There have only been three classes I have really enjoyed Natural Science, Anthropology, and Philosophy. I hate Geography, I hate HCD, and I had some bad experiences in my journalism courses.

I just hate college. I feel like I'm slogging through it. And forcing myself to continue. But I don't have the kind of luck of being successful without the college degree.

Well not true my father runs an IT department for a college and when I say run he is the manager of the whole IT program at a college and he doesn't have a college education. Of course my father wants to see me go further than him. But I just.

I can't do this college thing any more. I just...it just feels....like I'm being chained down like some prisoner.

But even still I go to the classes I paid for. But I feel like I'm being forced to make a difficult decision.

Career or Education?

What's more important?

On an important scale (1-100)

School = 100
Job = 95

Just in my opinion. First what you should do is call your prospective employer and explain to him your school situation and ask to reschedule the interview for another time/date that does not conflict with your schooling. School > Job always, if the schooling will lead to a better paying position that allows you to work within your means. Any reasonable hiring manager will respect your desire to not miss a class and should gladly reschedule. Missing a class for an interview, while it may show great interest in the job, can be a double edged sword because the hiring manager might view it as a lack of commitment.

This is a once in a lifetime oppurtunity kind of thing. A job I have been dreaming about in a long while.

Option C - tell the teacher you have a job interview, a really good opportunity, and ask to either get the class notes ahead of time or arrange make up work.

School is supposed to prepare you for life, not interfere with it. Teachers know this. If you show the initiative to prepare for the conflict in advance, odds are good your teachers will accomodate you.

If you get the job then its time to talk specific courses and schedules and see what you can do to have both, education and the job. That will be more difficult, but if this is your dream job, you've got to take it.

Sure, the employer will want to see you stick to your education commitment, but he'll want to see you show excitement about the job more. Asking to reschedule a job interview without having tried to work around the conflict first makes the employer think school will always be first, when he will be looking for you to place the job first. In career jobs the job is always first, second only to family emergencies. In non-career jobs, they know you won't be there forever and, thus, let school come first. Depends on how the employer views what he is offering. In all events given a choice between various good candidates, the employer is going to hire the one showing the most commitment to the job, the one most willing and able to put employer requests first.

Funny how my answer is almost the perfect opposite of the other, but with similar underlying themes. Here is the thing: these decisions are facts and circumstances. We're all using our life experience to guess what applies, but only you know all the facts and circumstances. I earned my masters degree while working full time. In my world, a good job doesn't have to end education. In my world, education is a flexible thing that is always out there, while jobs require timing and luck. Most of my jobs have required extreme commitment to the job, that is what makes careers in my field. And ... You are inspired by the job, but not by your schooling. Inspiration is important.

We've got boards here full of well educated people with no jobs, and lots of frustration. You can't guarantee the investment will pay, and lucking into interviews for dream jobs is a rare thing.

So many factors involved ... kind of thinking in type ....but no way would I tell an employer I had to reschedule an interview for a class. For a fianl, yes - THAT you can't miss, and employers know it. But a class? People miss classes all the time, and schools usually have ways to help you fill it in.

TAKE THE JOB!

Pandora Box, what did you do and how did it turn out?

OP, are you in the US? If so, take the job. Degrees are worthless here in the Idiocracy.

It depends what you want out of life. You said you want to live beyond your father's means. Well there aren't many jobs that offer good pay without a college education. (There definitely are some, but they can include dangerous or stressful jobs, inconsistent work..etc. or they can be highly competitive like postal workers and other government jobs).

I think if you currently have help from your family it would be good to get a degree. It might be more difficult to return to college to get a degree when you're older.

I'm working and going to school, but I'm only taking 1 or 2 classes per term. Working in a job that doesn't require a college education is actually motivating me to get a degree more because the pay isn't very good, and I have a lot of bosses who .. boss me around. hah

I find it so strange that some parents that did just fine with no degree are hellbent on the idea their kids must go to college which is often way over priced.

I'd say go for the interview for the job.

As for school maybe you can make adjustments later on or switch to Online Courses if it fits your schedule better.

Also please don't worry about journalism or even consider dropping it. I worked in television and it's a silly career IMO and doesn't pay nearly what you would think. I wasn't sure if you want to be a writer or reporter but working in broadcast media is way over rated. Unless you think you can break into a major market like Chicago or New York.