I have been working at my library for over a year now in an hourly capacity. The money is more than my other part time job, and I have been getting a fluctuating amount of hours. I love working at my library, so my overall work life tends to fluctuate with my hours. The more library hours, the better I feel about my career.
The problem (and I say this loosely, because it's all relative) is that due to recent events in my personal life, I am becoming less satisfied with my other part time "pay the bills" job. I recently got engaged to to my wonderful partner J, and we have been making plans for the future. We've been discussing the path of our careers, the possibility of the traditional house with 2.5 kids and a dog scenario. Knowing us, we may end up in a condo with one kid, a Delorean and a muppet, but that is beside the point.
Neither of us is in a financial place to roll the dice on a mortgage right now. He is freelance, and I am part-time hourly in two jobs, so while we could reasonably afford payments on an older or foreclosure home, down-payments and closing costs may be a problem. We also really like the apartment that we are in at the moment. So the house can wait.
As far as the one to two point five kids go, I am very committed to not having any until I can financially support them. Our work situations being what they are, neither J or I get benefits. Without a stable healthcare plan, I cannot justify having kids just yet.
My career conundrum comes down to this. I have been interviewing for full time positions in my library for about as long as I have been working there. Having got my foot in the door, I've been trying to wedge my whole body in. But at the moment, the job market is such that a lot of older more experienced candidates are getting the jobs I apply for. I cannot begrudge them this. The library deserves the best, most qualified people in each position. However, it is hard to gain the experience to be competitive if all the jobs go to more experienced candidates. It's an old story.
My career situation is by no means dire in comparison to unemployed and much more underemployed Americans, many of them with families to support. Nonetheless, I am faced with the choice of seeking full-time employment outside my library, that may not be as fulfilling but pays benefits, or waiting it out. I do not want to abandon the dream that I've spent years of my life and thousands of dollars in student loans pursuing. It is just hard not to get discouraged when my interviewers and co-workers tell me that I am an ideal candidate for the library, but they keep finding others that are more ideal. I've just gotta decide whether to keep trucking or veer off the road.
