I remember when I was graduating that there was a lot of talk about whether a PhD would help or hurt careers. The general consensus in the School of Business was that Bachelors and Masters were okay, but that employers wouldn't hire PhDs. Get the PhD stay in academia. You'd be doomed. If I ever go back to expand on my business education, I just plan on getting a Masters in Business Admin rather than narrowing into Accounting. I'll probably focus more on Accounting, but I don't want that as my masters degree. It would limit my potential too much. Stupid, huh?
BTW... the arguments for not pursuing higher level degrees in Accounting were numerous. Some of the engineers I met getting their MBAs said the same thing. If they went further than a bachelors before going into the "real" world, they had extreme difficulty in finding employers that were willing to give them a chance. Too much education and not enough practical experience. Employers had that to keep in mind and the likely high debt that these employees would be saddled with. It's cheaper to high a person with their bachelors than a masters. It cuts the salary significantly and those with less education are more "pliable". This leads to the next problem. Too much experience and too little education. Or too much education and experience. The experience can at times be a deterent. Hiring a person straight from college is cheaper than hiring someone who has the experience. The problem with that though is that these newly graduated students normally only stay a maximum of 3 years with their first employer. So the cycle starts again. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Just stick with it, Chris. Something will happen. It always does. I don't quite understand how, but it does. Rich got his job based on my connections and hitting it off with the right people. He still doesn't quite understand how he got the job.
How many interviews have you been on and have you practiced your interview skills with the career center at WSU? I had a friend who was highly intelligient and I thought personable, but he interviewed horribly. He actually interviewed with my first boss at the bank and it went poorly. When I got her job and interviewed him again with the HR director, she said it was like he was an entirely person. Having a friendly face helped him. After working for me for 2 years, he built up more self-confidence and was able to demonstrate it by getting a job at Bombardier. I was pissed off because I was losing him, but glad to see the progress. I guess what I'm trying to say is that practice really helps some people. If you would like and think it might help, we could probably set up a interview workshop for you and several of the friends on here could take turns with you. Just a thought. :)
I'm pretty sure I interview horribly, but that's a problem that runs deeper than interview anxiety; I'm just not good face-to-face with people I don't know, and never have been. In fact, during the exit interview of my last job, the only complaint my manager had was that I was shy and interviewed poorly; beyond that, he loved my work.
Oh, incidentally, during the interview for that job, I got to talking with my future manager about education. He said pretty close to what you'd heard--that he wouldn't hire a Ph.D. for anything other than a research job, since he believed that was the whole point of getting a Ph.D. He also mentioned that the Ph.D.s he'd interviewed in the past tended to demand too much money for what they'd be doing.
Being a naturally shy person, you've got a battle ahead of you. But you can do it! We just need to get you socializing and torture you with conversation. I always get really nervous and try to turn it back in on myself and use it. I try to take the "fear" and push myself to stretch past that fear and use it to my advantage. It works for me, but that just may be a fluke. Rich is nervous around people he doesn't know too. I think he's getting a little better since he started working an "office" job.
You'll just have to push yourself harder to relax. Bass aackwards? I know. :)
We're here to support you and Andi and the family you've started. It'll all work out. It sometimes just takes time. Anytime you need to vent or just get those thoughts out that are suffocating your brain, that's what we're here for. :)
Well, the anxiety tends to go away after the first few minutes. My problem is more an utter lack of charisma, combined with difficulty expressing my thoughts in speech. Honestly, though, if I had those two things, I could probably make a heck of a lot more money as a salesman, and the work would be way easier, to boot!
BTW... the arguments for not pursuing higher level degrees in Accounting were numerous. Some of the engineers I met getting their MBAs said the same thing. If they went further than a bachelors before going into the "real" world, they had extreme difficulty in finding employers that were willing to give them a chance. Too much education and not enough practical experience. Employers had that to keep in mind and the likely high debt that these employees would be saddled with. It's cheaper to high a person with their bachelors than a masters. It cuts the salary significantly and those with less education are more "pliable". This leads to the next problem. Too much experience and too little education. Or too much education and experience. The experience can at times be a deterent. Hiring a person straight from college is cheaper than hiring someone who has the experience. The problem with that though is that these newly graduated students normally only stay a maximum of 3 years with their first employer. So the cycle starts again. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Just stick with it, Chris. Something will happen. It always does. I don't quite understand how, but it does. Rich got his job based on my connections and hitting it off with the right people. He still doesn't quite understand how he got the job.
How many interviews have you been on and have you practiced your interview skills with the career center at WSU? I had a friend who was highly intelligient and I thought personable, but he interviewed horribly. He actually interviewed with my first boss at the bank and it went poorly. When I got her job and interviewed him again with the HR director, she said it was like he was an entirely person. Having a friendly face helped him. After working for me for 2 years, he built up more self-confidence and was able to demonstrate it by getting a job at Bombardier. I was pissed off because I was losing him, but glad to see the progress. I guess what I'm trying to say is that practice really helps some people. If you would like and think it might help, we could probably set up a interview workshop for you and several of the friends on here could take turns with you. Just a thought. :)
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Oh, incidentally, during the interview for that job, I got to talking with my future manager about education. He said pretty close to what you'd heard--that he wouldn't hire a Ph.D. for anything other than a research job, since he believed that was the whole point of getting a Ph.D. He also mentioned that the Ph.D.s he'd interviewed in the past tended to demand too much money for what they'd be doing.
Anyway, thanks for the kind words.
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You'll just have to push yourself harder to relax. Bass aackwards? I know. :)
We're here to support you and Andi and the family you've started. It'll all work out. It sometimes just takes time. Anytime you need to vent or just get those thoughts out that are suffocating your brain, that's what we're here for. :)
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