Next?
OK, so here I am. Open...
I'm 29 years old. Interestingly, I was always seen as intelligent yet still 'not the best candidate for whatever job', I have already reached the top of my current occupation. Partly, that is because I'm in Russia. The other part would be, as a friend pointed out Friday, that I'm good at helping and leading others as well as being a good resource for information. He said that these are signs of good managers...as well as leadership, organization, etc., which he says I generally display as a good manager. [That's very nice of him to say...as he's an upper-level manager himself within his branch of an American software company here. Then, maybe he's just my friend. :-) ]
He made another joke which I've heard before and find funny and even sometimes agree with. "If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, manage."
Anyway...the only step farther that I could go is to own my own private educational institution. Possible to move to a public educational sphere where I would be asked to attend a university so that I could learn to do what I already do in my current institution.
[This seems ignorant, and it is, but that's just how the world outside of Russia works. Without paying some school for a piece of paper, you can never know anything. --Reality would tell us that a mix of education and experience is probably appropriate...but universities don't make so much money that way. Regardless, the next job you get will still have to train you to do their required tasks...thus, companies prefer experience to education because they don't have to train you. It's that simple and it's very realistic.]
So, here I am.
The question is, where do I go from here. Do I want to own my own institution? I was already told that I should open one in congruence with another entity and that I could make a lot of money doing things that way.
I can't completely agree. I could do it, do it right and effectively. I don't think the margins will look as good as I would want. I know the losses and what losses are required within the startup period--as I just did the same and we were able to minimize the loss for the period. However, I don't feel like dealing with it. I don't want more educational anything really...even if I do know how to plan and budget and succeed.
My other job, albeit part volunteer and part beneficial, is editor-in-chief of TimesRussia.com.
I really like this job. I can't devote full time to it as I am still the Director of Studies elsewhere and have plenty to do there as well as editing and checking and teaching alongside that. [This is where I've been thinking a PDA/Phone, aka mobile communicator, would come in handy. Alas, models always seem to be missing one or another thing that I want.]
So, I'm looking into editing elsewhere also. It seems that writing and editing, as I've been doing or helping to do since high school (and a lot in university and as a teacher), would be my best bet at the moment anyway. However, I need to see just what opportunities I have.
I'm happy with where I'm at, but with the 'fam' around, I find myself looking at my options and where I can take my life in the future. [This coming from the same guy that had more opportunities than he could handle as a kid.]
Where the hell can I go today? It's not too difficult to figure out where or what, just how. How, as the g/f says, is simple: "you just have to be willing to start at the bottom again."
Another bit of irony in her saying this is that she hasn't really wanted to go anywhere. After traveling to Europe, she still liked and preferred living in Russia. I agreed, we have near no unemployment in Saint Petersburg and unqualified people are often hired because there aren't enough skilled workers. Still, after our last trip for some weeks to Sweden...and after her family staying with us for the last 2 months..., she has decided that she is also be ready to leave.
I have her a task for that:
If that's what she wants, she'll have to pay for it. She'll need to find how she will go, find the money to pay for it, and get everything she can take together. She will have to make her own way at least until she gets there.
Doesn't sound like a 'responsible man' to some of you maybe. However, my parents always told us that we would never really appreciate what we had until we had to pay for it ourselves. After I had to start paying for my life and my things, I truly started to appreciate and take care of them. Of course, I never believed that fully until I was really responsible for myself.
I had said the same thing about buying her a laptop. She insisted that she would take care of it...or that if I buy a new one, she'll take this one. I said, "I don't think so...," along with the above advice. I've seen how it is now used as a coaster or moved around on my coffee table--and as I paid for it, I don't like it at all.
After such statements and the fact that she can't spend any money (according to her) because she is paying for her mother and sister's new apartment, she went out yesterday and bought a lot of clothes.
Thus, if she can do that, she'll be paying her own way from here on out.
Gotta learn sometime.
I'm 29 years old. Interestingly, I was always seen as intelligent yet still 'not the best candidate for whatever job', I have already reached the top of my current occupation. Partly, that is because I'm in Russia. The other part would be, as a friend pointed out Friday, that I'm good at helping and leading others as well as being a good resource for information. He said that these are signs of good managers...as well as leadership, organization, etc., which he says I generally display as a good manager. [That's very nice of him to say...as he's an upper-level manager himself within his branch of an American software company here. Then, maybe he's just my friend. :-) ]
He made another joke which I've heard before and find funny and even sometimes agree with. "If you can't do, teach. If you can't teach, manage."
Anyway...the only step farther that I could go is to own my own private educational institution. Possible to move to a public educational sphere where I would be asked to attend a university so that I could learn to do what I already do in my current institution.
[This seems ignorant, and it is, but that's just how the world outside of Russia works. Without paying some school for a piece of paper, you can never know anything. --Reality would tell us that a mix of education and experience is probably appropriate...but universities don't make so much money that way. Regardless, the next job you get will still have to train you to do their required tasks...thus, companies prefer experience to education because they don't have to train you. It's that simple and it's very realistic.]
So, here I am.
The question is, where do I go from here. Do I want to own my own institution? I was already told that I should open one in congruence with another entity and that I could make a lot of money doing things that way.
I can't completely agree. I could do it, do it right and effectively. I don't think the margins will look as good as I would want. I know the losses and what losses are required within the startup period--as I just did the same and we were able to minimize the loss for the period. However, I don't feel like dealing with it. I don't want more educational anything really...even if I do know how to plan and budget and succeed.
My other job, albeit part volunteer and part beneficial, is editor-in-chief of TimesRussia.com.
I really like this job. I can't devote full time to it as I am still the Director of Studies elsewhere and have plenty to do there as well as editing and checking and teaching alongside that. [This is where I've been thinking a PDA/Phone, aka mobile communicator, would come in handy. Alas, models always seem to be missing one or another thing that I want.]
So, I'm looking into editing elsewhere also. It seems that writing and editing, as I've been doing or helping to do since high school (and a lot in university and as a teacher), would be my best bet at the moment anyway. However, I need to see just what opportunities I have.
I'm happy with where I'm at, but with the 'fam' around, I find myself looking at my options and where I can take my life in the future. [This coming from the same guy that had more opportunities than he could handle as a kid.]
Where the hell can I go today? It's not too difficult to figure out where or what, just how. How, as the g/f says, is simple: "you just have to be willing to start at the bottom again."
Another bit of irony in her saying this is that she hasn't really wanted to go anywhere. After traveling to Europe, she still liked and preferred living in Russia. I agreed, we have near no unemployment in Saint Petersburg and unqualified people are often hired because there aren't enough skilled workers. Still, after our last trip for some weeks to Sweden...and after her family staying with us for the last 2 months..., she has decided that she is also be ready to leave.
I have her a task for that:
If that's what she wants, she'll have to pay for it. She'll need to find how she will go, find the money to pay for it, and get everything she can take together. She will have to make her own way at least until she gets there.
Doesn't sound like a 'responsible man' to some of you maybe. However, my parents always told us that we would never really appreciate what we had until we had to pay for it ourselves. After I had to start paying for my life and my things, I truly started to appreciate and take care of them. Of course, I never believed that fully until I was really responsible for myself.
I had said the same thing about buying her a laptop. She insisted that she would take care of it...or that if I buy a new one, she'll take this one. I said, "I don't think so...," along with the above advice. I've seen how it is now used as a coaster or moved around on my coffee table--and as I paid for it, I don't like it at all.
After such statements and the fact that she can't spend any money (according to her) because she is paying for her mother and sister's new apartment, she went out yesterday and bought a lot of clothes.
Thus, if she can do that, she'll be paying her own way from here on out.
Gotta learn sometime.