Monday, October 08, 2012

Secretary

The other day I was talking to a friend who had mentioned that she had a superior at her company encourage her to finish school because
No one goes to college to be a secretary.
We were discussing her career, so I know that it was nothing meant towards me that she brought it up. And it's probably true, no one really goes to college to be a secretary. You don't often have to. A lot of secretary and receptionist positions require little more than a high school degree.

That being said, when I have been job hunting in the past, there are plenty of "Office Manager" positions, "Executive Assistants", etc. that require, or prefer, applicants to have four-year degrees. But, regardless of desired education level, they all offer about the same amount of money when you are starting out.
No one goes to college to be a secretary.
I certainly didn't. Granted, I don't know what exactly I went to college to "be". I didn't want to be anything. I just really liked my classes. I had been told that as long as I had a degree, I could make money. And now I have a degree, and I have a steady paycheck, but I wouldn't exactly classify it as "money".

I didn't go to college to be a secretary. But that's where I have found work. That's where all my experience is. So if I tried to find another position, it would likely be as an administrative something. Technically, I am much more than a secretary at my job, but try telling that to anyone else. And it really isn't what I want to do with the rest of my life. I don't want to be 65 and a secretary. I don't want to be 35 and a secretary.

So now what?

That statement has negatively resonated in my head for nearly a week, and I'm no closer to deciding what I should do about it. Apparently, I went to college to be a secretary.





1 comment:

  1. I've had the same negative feelings toward it since I told you about the conversation. The funny thing is, the guy who gave me the advice is the one that offered me the promotion to support him. I still don't know what I want to do with my life, but as I've thought about it, I've learned so much along the way.

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