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First, a bit of backstory: I graduated in December 2008 with an MA in Media & Communication and a certificate in Digital Video Production. While in school, I tried to take as many practical classes as possible (Digital Video, Multicam Production, Narrative Production, and a hybrid internship/summer program in LA with a trailer house) along with my academic interests (specifically educational/core programming). I had professors as mentors who had worked for Nickelodeon as researchers helping improve children's programming, so I thought that I would have a pretty good chance of landing something there when I got out... unfortunately, 08/09 brought about a pretty bad economic downturn that resulted in hiring freezes. In order to build upon my skills while living at home and waiting for the economy to get better, I took a freelance editing/producing job at a commercial production house and cut commercials for about a year and a half... then in the summer of 2010, in order to support my partner who was working toward their MLIS, I took an administrative position at a university. The idea was that I would delay my career for a bit (2 1/1ish years) until she graduated and we could get out of the town. After graduating and applying for jobs, she was able to land a library job in a small market about a year ago. Unfortunately, there really was nothing for me in the town she was living in and since it was only about two hours away, we decided to live separately and see each other on weekends while she built up enough experience to apply for librarian jobs in larger markets. In the interim, I also began looking for jobs in educational production, documentary, media units within universities, etc. As luck would have it, a Media Specialist position opened up at the university I was already employed at. The job entailed producing and editing educational videos for online courses, which seemed ideally suited for me (2 years teaching experience, 3 years production experience). I was interviewed, interview went quite well, and yet I did not receive the job. About a month later (November/December 2013) I was contacted by the director of the same office in regards to my resume. Their communications person was retiring and they felt that I would be an ideal candidate for the position. There was no formal interview, I just came into the directors office, she talked to me a little bit about the office and what they do, and then she let me know that she felt that my skills and education (BA English/Creative Writing, MA Media & Communication) would fit in well with the position. I said that I would entertain an offer and within a few weeks I was made an offer of 25% more than I had been making and a much more impressive title (Communications Administrator) I've now been "working" in the position for about 7 months and am absolutely hating the job... so far these are the things I have done: - Created communication plan, materials, and nomination portal (with webmaster) for the office's online teaching award ceremony - Oversaw the production of a new promotional video for university's office of distance education (the only task I have truly enjoyed) - Designed new Powerpoint templates with fresh look-and-feel for the office (am not a graphical designer, have no training) - Organized a safety training session for the office staff (am not an event planner, have no training) - Designed a print advertisement for our alumni magazine (again, not a designer) - Worked with assistant directors to create video scripts for a new employee orientation course (at least something I feel qualified to do) - Proofread documents related to online education; presentation materials, web pages, promotional items, reports, policies (once again, at least something I feel qualified to do) What truly drives me crazy is that all three people who work as Media Specialists have no prior training or formal education in video production, editing, or education... they are all recent graduates from History, Family Science, and Urban Planning. Right now, I'm basically at my whits end... today I was asked if I could design a Certificate of Achievement for some of our IT guys who recently completed a project. It's something I'm neither trained in nor have the slightest desire to do. I honestly have no loving clue why I was hired for this job which seems to be a crazy catch-all for whatever random creative-ish things need to be done with an emphasis on fostering collegiate relations internally. Is it the worst idea in the world to tell my boss that I am unhappy in my position? If there's no way for me to transition into a Media Specialist position within the organization, would it be terrible for me to quit and focus my efforts on landing a job that I would be satisfied with? Should I just keep waking up, going to work, and hating the fact that I feel like I'm accomplishing and contributing nothing (I pretty much feel useless and a fraud)? Help me guys, I'm kind of losing my mind.
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Aug 19, 2014 03:47
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Stay employed, but start looking for other jobs. If you have any spare time at work during the day, use it to learn new skills in your field, especially stuff you can put on your resume. There are plenty of free courses online these days, I'm sure you can find something to immerse yourself in. Basically your mindset needs to be, "how can I use this job as a stepping stone/springboard to get a better job?" If you don't have three to six months of living expenses saved up, it's a good idea to take care of that during this time too.
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Aug 19, 2014 05:26
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No and no. Not the ideas, but the phrasing. Instead of quitting, look around at what's out there and use your current position to get in a better place to apply. Instead of telling your boss you're unhappy, figure out a fun or interesting or challenging task that would help her and volunteer to do it.
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Aug 19, 2014 05:40
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How does your satisfaction and pay currently relate to when you were cutting commercials? This seems to be the only work experience you have in your desired industry. I think you gut it out. Most positions you don't get your dream job or dream duties within the first couple years in the work force. Although you may be trained and qualified for better work doesn't mean you will get a position in a highly desired field like film editing. My brother in law worked at post production houses (and subsidiaries of large film studios) for over 12 years. He built contacts worked in the mail room, did digital remastering and anything he could to network. He finally got hired on at a movie studio in an awesome position through a contact he made over 8 years prior. In highly desired industries (like film) expect a long line of doing work you don't enjoy for low pay before you get an excellent opportunity.
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Aug 19, 2014 20:12
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Agreed that you should stick with it; it's easier to find a job if you're already employed. I get that you don't want to do a ton of random poo poo, but part of any job is going to be learning new things. If you don't have other, more important projects to work on, then is it really such a hassle to be developing new skills, even if they are tangentially related to your work? It sounds like it's a few in between side projects that are making you upset. I mean, it takes like two seconds to make a certificate thing in Word, just don't spend a ton of time on it if you don't care. Also ask the Media Specialists what jobs they really want (if they're as unqualified as you say they are) and help them to get a new job so you can take their job.
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Aug 19, 2014 22:34
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