Need some advice.

[Pony]

Ok I normally don't do this, but I would like some feedback.......

For those who don't know, I am a product process supervisor at Best Buy. I recently got offered an opportunity at work that would last up until about Thanksgiving. The deal is I would join what is called a "projects team". Essentially they travel around and help at stores, whether it is helping set a store up, move it, or re-arrange parts of it. The first 3 weeks I would get to go to Los Angeles to help out there, then come back here to help two stores move to different buildings (one being 10 minutes away, the other being a little over an hour). It would be 40hrs a week plus overtime at my normal pay plus $35 a day........plus travel expenses etc. It would be a great opportunity to go places, plus a possible job opportunity as the team will be spliting at the start of next year, and then they will need more projects managers etc.

The problem is that I start school in 3 weeks, and if I did this I would have to take a semester off (and lose full time student status and have to get health insurance through work). Also my girlfriend of almost 2 years probably wont be happy at all about me being gone for awhile, despite the fact it might be good for me. I would hate to be away from her for that long, but in my mind its not like I would be gone to LA very long, and then I would be back in the area again. IDK..................gots lots on my mind. :%

 

[QC]

Re: Need some advice.

Tough call. May be good for the girlfriend too though . . . Tough to lose the full time deal and the semester, but you sound dedicated to school, so in the long run it's probably just the six months. Fall is a great time of year here. Beaches are still nice and we start to get our awesome offshore winds, clear skies etc.

Dodgers are probably in the playoffs, no Football except USC and UCLA. I guess you could go south for the Chargers . . .

Well, if you choose to "go West young man", I'll buy you a beer when you get here. I even need some stuff at Best Buy d 8)

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: Need some advice.

Pony not knowing what your long term goals are or what your taking in college I would still suggest staying in school and finishing your education. This semester LA, next semester may be somewhere else ? ? ? This may start a trend you can't get out of without loosing your job. From what you have previously told us about your job I would think this opportunity would came around again at a more desirable time. Just my .02.

 

[Fishin' Jeff]

Re: Need some advice.

I have to agree with Reel Poor, Pony, I was gonna take a semester off to work full time and it turned into 4 years! I ended up with only an Associate's degree in drafting. But, on the other hand, I did get to see the Dead 7 times including their last 4 shows with Jerry 8)
I'd say stay in school and travel when you graduate...or go now while you're young and have the opportunity. Sorry, I'm kinda flip-floppy on this one.

 

[JB]

Re: Need some advice.

I think it depends on your long-term goals and how your education is related to them, Pony.

Will your degree include marketable skills in your chosen field, or will it just be a degree? A degree that is closely related to your career plan is worth sacrificing for. One that simply makes you a "College Graduate" will get you started in jobs that you might be denied otherwise, but is worth little after you accumulate a track record.

If your major is aimed exactly at your career plan I say stay the course. If it is generic, take the Semester off. Maybe you will learn stuff that will better focus your future for you.

Good luck.

 

[bamspringtx]

Re: Need some advice.

Stay in school. There will be other opportunities. You have the rest of your life to work a 40 hr week.

 

[QC]

Re: Need some advice.

I agree with all said here. I still think you are a guy who will finish what you started which is why I leaned toward coming out and hanging with me for a while

And I still think if that girlfriend is shortening your boating days she may need some absence training

BTW, I took most of high school off and never got a degree or a diploma, so don't listen to me!!

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: Need some advice.

No offence to anyone, but stay away from jobs in the retail industry. Not a lot of money (unless you own) and lots of long hours.

If your temp job could turn into a lifetime career, I would say take the job.

Finish school ASAP.

Also, dont let a GF slow you down. Either marry her and then let her control you like a good wife should, or ignore her and do as you like.

In other words, is she your GF or your future wife?

Ken

 

[roscoe]

Re: Need some advice.

Taking a semester off may also mean you miss out on prerequisites that will actually put you a year behind in school.

Also, if you would take a project manager position come January, then what?
No more school and work for BB forever.

Forget it, stay in school.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Need some advice.

I agree with Ken.....
L.A. ain't all that anyway & it will still be there when you are out of school....
Save your money & take a real vacation there if you really want to go that bad....
I have a first hand, (well maybe second), experience of this scenario.....
Being in the construction industry, I have seen many new malls go up, & lots of the chain stores have a crew that travels town to town to build stores....
Most of the time they worked like dogs & really had no time or energy to check out the area anyway.....
Except for the inevitible Denny's, Mc D's, et. al....
Most I saw were unhappy with their situation & couldn't wait to get "home"....
So, a waste of time, IMHO...
Stay in school, snuggle with the GF & call it good!
You will have plenty of time to travel when you are done with school.....JK

 

[Pony]

Re: Need some advice.

Right now I am in my Sr year in college..............I probably have at least 2 years left. My major is architecture, so this little adventure will have very little to do with it. The big thing is that at UWM the architecture program is split into two levels...........entry into the final one is based on grades and a design portfolio. These are reviewed every summer. I did not get into it and took a year to finish up the general education requirements so that if I get in when I reaply in May of next year I can concentrate soley on the architecture design studios. So for the past few semesters I have been just taking the general classes that you need anyways. I took a Minor in Art History so I had something to "work towards" while waiting to reapply for the architecture program. If I don't get in again I will change my major to probably business or economics.......................... to gear up for that change if need be, a lot of the general education classes I am taking are geared towards that (i.e statistics, micro/macro economics)

In the meantime I am keeping my options open at BB as well.......though I am not sure I want a career in retail, I am keeping that option open. As a manager you can make a fair amount of money, and the only time you work a lot more than normal is Christmas. I already work full time and go to school, so the full time hours of this opportunity isnt what attracts me to it. As has been suggested above, I am sure this type of opportunity will come up at a better time, as right now I am in charge of all the functionality of the store I am at (fixing all the displays, alarms, and the audio and video feeds for the store.......which makes me dispise coax cable )

I agree with the GF thing...........my gut tells me that if we are meant to be, 3 weeks will mean nothing anyways.

Right now, and I always was, I am leaning towards not taking time off from school. I know I would go back if I did stop for a semester though. I am a dedicated person....................or so I like to think.

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: Need some advice.

You cant go wrong with a business degree. Get into banking or commecial sales. Get a full time job selling commercial stuff now. The pay will be terrible starting out, but if you are good, you can make really big bucks.

Architecture is a VERY demanding degree as I am sure you know.

Wish I had me giving myself advice when I was young. Oh well, turned out doing pretty good for myself, dispite no college degree.

Ken

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Need some advice.

Staying put dedicating yourself to your architectural studies seems to be the best option IMHO.

Now if an opportunity came along that was specifically dedicated to architecture, I'm jump at it in a heart beat. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to see if you could get on with a firm right now. On the job experience is everything. I'm not knocking your current job, but it sure would be a step in the right direction to hook up with the type of firm you want to be with down the road.

When I worked for a Civil Engineering firm we hired students all the time, many of which became permenant employees.

Good luck to ya whatever you do.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Need some advice.

Sounds like you have your act together their pony..........Its a gamble to take the new job.....you could hate it or the new people you will work with..........Could you get your old job back or one that was comparable if you didnt like the job?.......I also think if your GF is gonna end up a wife her opinion does matter, if not well???????????

 

[rottenray6402]

Re: Need some advice.

When I got out of the Navy way back when I moved back to my home state and started college. For various reasons I left after 1 1/2 years saying I will go back when I'm able. Well, I got involved with work, wife, kid, and all of that and never returned. How stupid is that? I vote for staying in school but on your final decision do what your gut tells you to do.

 

[tommays]

Re: Need some advice.

I tell my Sr year son do what ever youi want in life right after you get that skin in the spring


Tommays

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Need some advice.

Stay the course; keep moving on your education. This advice from someone who would have done the other at your age.

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: Need some advice.

LF gives excellent advice. Thats kinda what I did and found out the degree wasnt worth my time, and went to work full time.

Dont regret it a day, and would never go back to school.

Ken

 

[CJY]

Re: Need some advice.

Pony, we can give thoughts and ideas, but you are the only person that knows what makes you happy.

My 2 cents;

Let's say you take the job, and completely hate it and kick yourself every chance you get. Well, you wind up getting behind in school which only slows you down in obtaining you goal. Will you have second thoughts for quitting school?

Let's say you stay in school, graduate and become hired as an architect, and you love it. Will you have any second thoughts of skipping this opportunity?


The real question to be answered by you Pony, and only you is; If you take this job and really enjoy it and it ends up being a career, can you see any potential way it would cause you to stop your architect goals? If this is not something that could potentially cause you to change your goal of becoming an architect, stay in school. If not, you will have second thoughts, and forever feel as though you made the wrong choice. You cannot get back lost time, and it is often as difficult to get back lost GF's, especially if they are worth hanging on to.

Good luck, and do what makes you happy, job, school and GF.

 

[POINTER94]

Re: Need some advice.

$35 a day extra to work in LA wouldn't do it for me. Regardless of what they tell you they are not sending you there to hang out with QC or sightsee. You will bust arse and be exhausted. I had a buddy who traveled around the country setting up new Sears stores. I caught him in a bar one night and asked him how he liked it.

His response "It sucks"

It sounds more like punishment than an opportunity to me. But I left Wisconsin yesterday and won't be home for 12 days. Fun? No, its work. But doing it might show you what you don't want to do, and there is something to be said for that. Trust me, when you complete your degree, your ability to move and be flexible will be key to your sucess. You will see the world, and someone will pay you to do it on your terms.