Comments | bellatrys: Quick RL question, serious tho' it sounds snarky--

bellatrys

Quick RL question, serious tho' it sounds snarky--

Feb 15, 2009 11:58

Does anyone know of/has anyone had experience with, any career counseling outfits that aren't designed to help well-set bourgoisie through their mid-life crises, thereby making their advice completely irrelevant and, indeed, insultingly useless for us paycheck-to-paycheck sorts who depend on (hollow laughter) public transit and Shanks' Mare, and ( Read more... )

economy, meta, work, rl

Comments 50

sajia February 15 2009, 17:19:51 UTC

Well, as I live with bipolar disorder I've been referred to local employment counseling that's geared towards people with mental illnesses. My complaints against them were not that they were impractical, but that they were TOO practical; I was under a lot of pressure to give up my dreams of becoming a performer, so I was discouraged for the greater part of my twenties from going to music school, which would have given my aspirations a sure footing.
At least with my illness I was eligible for grants when I did enter music school.

Canada, eh? bellatrys February 15 2009, 18:03:06 UTC

There may be some specialized outfits here and there that do such work, but not formal or official that I know of, even in the better-off and "bluer" states like Cali. (q.v. Reagan, Ronald, and treatment of the mentally ill, sigh ( ... )

nenya_kanadka February 15 2009, 18:04:41 UTC

I've never found any--but then, I gave up looking after the fifth book or so on the topic.

oh, argh, the books bellatrys February 15 2009, 18:18:52 UTC

I - yeah. Back when I first got out of college I got given a bunch of those "how to start your own freelance graphics business" ones - and they were completely useless, only of course I had no idea *how* useless or specifically how, but all the "keep your reciepts organized in little $% folders!" chirpiness isn't very helpful when, you know, you're not making any *money* because it's costing you more to drum up clients than anyone is willing to spend on your services ( ... )

sola February 15 2009, 19:18:17 UTC

Ugh, i know exactly how you feel. Trying to find support as an absolutely tiny business, with no loans or dedicated space, is laughable; i read a "women's business" rag which i thought would be helpful, but is really all about your "work/life balance" when you're already turning over a couple mil a year. Thanks, guys.

And sadly, no, i have no help but commiseration on career counseling for the non-yuppie. There are some nonprofits in NYC that offer such a service, but they're primarily geared for non-working people who have little experience and no damn sense. If someone is trained to and spends their days reminding applicants to bathe before, turn off their phones in, and don't bring children to an interview, they're rarely fonts of helpful advice.

LOL-ouch! bellatrys February 15 2009, 23:09:33 UTC

They should just rename it "Cake" magazine, or maybe "Versailles"...

but they're primarily geared for non-working people who have little experience and no damn sense

Hmm, maybe I could start a service for the *working* people who don't know that they should bathe regularly, not take personal phone calls in the middle of business meetings with subcontractors, and not answer their business phones with a screeching child or barking dog in their lap - then again, if they have businesses/managerial jobs and haven't got these down yet (yes all of these are real examples) they're probably past hope...

voxwoman February 15 2009, 20:55:58 UTC

SOL seems to be the SOP for that sort of thing. I paid a friend for some career counseling stuff (as in "help me figure out what I should be doing becuase the work I am doing now is unfulfilling, blah blah"), and she had just gotten her MSW and I was trying to help her out. She didn't tell me anything I didn't know, and she still (after 5 or 6 years of this) can't afford to quit gogo dancing which is what she was trying to get out of when she went back to school for the MSW ( ... )

I couldn't afford to freelance when I had a car and gas money bellatrys February 15 2009, 21:28:31 UTC

and without either it's simply impossible because you can't meet with clients/go to the printers/pick up proofs etc. I don't know a single person, in fact, in this town, who can make ends meet on freelance art: every single one has an SO who is paying the utilities and other overhead. With a fulltime job, I couldn't go meet with clients etc (even when I had a car), without one I can't afford to pay the bills, let alone the additional taxes that self-employment costs ( ... )

Re: I couldn't afford to freelance when I had a car and gas money rozasharn February 15 2009, 23:55:04 UTC

The only person I know of who makes a living from freelance artwork is UrsulaV, the creator of the LolWut pear. She can do a couple of paintings a week, has a serious color printer and scanner, and sells mostly prints (not logos or graphic design), plus has a deal for calendars and similar, and sells at cons. And the reason it all works is that her style is very popular. Her art-sales site is http://www.metalandmagic.com/index.php.

Yeah, I looked into selling art at a local con once-- bellatrys February 16 2009, 00:48:47 UTC

I would have had to have had at a minimum, $2000 to gamble on, quite possibly, no return at all. To cover the cost not only of registration and booth space, but also of buying enough art materials to make enough stuff to *fill* a booth. And PR materials. Not to mention all the time I would have had to be able to devote singlemindedly. Plus the cost of transporting it all 50 miles away. And staying at the con. And etc--

If I were the sort of person who had a spare couple of thou to risk on a venture without ending up on the street (and that kind of free time to go off and run an art show for three days) I wouldn't be trying to find another job...

Thread 6

(The comment has been removed)

I actually did apply to a certain big name sff house bellatrys February 15 2009, 21:32:41 UTC

couple years back when they were looking for editorial assistants - I was desperate enough that I would have been willing to move halfway across the country, nevermind that I'm like a limpet when it comes to relocating - and got told quite bluntly that they wanted people who didn't need this job to live off of, that it was basically an exploitation position (my words) where you got the glory of basking in the presence and they got essentially free labor, indeed.

I was also told this when I applied for a position at the local Public Radio station, which went to an internal candidate anyway even though I was completely qualified. A LOT of businesses depend on staff who have SOs/parents to subsidize them, but hey, that's how capitalism works! Screw the workers so the top 10% can nick the lion's share and hope they never figure it out - if they do, blame the janitors and other people even lower down on the ladder...