Career crisis! Where's the bin?!

A job. Making a living. Having a career.

When I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up and become a bin lady.

Seriously.

Not your usual 'vet' or 'teacher', I wanted to spend my adult life collecting people's rubbish and work at the tip.



No offence to actual bin men (and women, if there are any) but I am not sure why I wanted to be a bin lady. My mum told me that in year 2 at Primary School we were learning about recycling and reading 'Stig of the Dump' and we took a class trip to the local tip. The outing fell on my birthday. Mum said that all the Barbies/My Little Ponies/Pogs in the world could not overtake the excitement I had for visiting the tip on my birthday. My mum could of saved a fortune!

What a weird kid.

Weird, but determined. At least I knew at 6 years old what interested me and what I wanted to do.

But 20 years on, and my determination to be a bin lady has passed (thankfully!). But now I am more confused than ever before.

I went to university at 18 years old, mainly to check out boys and drink beer before lectures. I didn't have a specific idea of what I wanted to study before I went, but I knew Uni was something I was supposed to do. I spoke to my tutor at college, and at 16 years old, we decided I should apply for an Events Management degree.

My graduation day!

Who knows what they want to do at 16 years old? Really?


4 uni years, several hundred hangovers and thousands of pounds worth of student debt later and I still don't have a specific idea of what it is that I should be doing.

Having left University with a respectable (but 'could try harder') 2:2 in Marketing (having decided after first year that a broader degree would stand me in better stead getting a job than a very narrow-focused Event career) I feel that if I had waited a couple of years before starting University, I would of definitely been more focused on my studies and shied away from that 17th Jagerbomb...


Jagerbomb: ouch.



I spoke about this with Gra recently (probably after another payment to the Student Loans Company) and he said I shouldn't regret my uni years, and that he wishes he would of took the opportunity to go to university. I see him with a trade, a skill, a qualification that has brought him to Australia (without having to fruit-pick...unlike myself....more on that another time) and brought him his awesome job, and it's hard not to think having a trade or skill like his wouldn't of been the sensible (and debt-free) way to go.

But OF COURSE I don't regret it. I had the best 4 years of my life at Uni. I made some life-long friends there (including my very best bestie, Kirst. My 1 avid reader.) University also taught me some very solid life lessons (such as how to work a washing machine) and some skills I would never had learnt at home (such as beating a rugby player at a 'Strawpeedo' challenge)



University also gave me the courage and ambition to travel. My final-year housemate and other bestie Rachael and I travelled around South-East Asia for a few months the year after University and I think I grew up and learnt more about myself and the world around me in those 3 months than I think I will ever realise.

Cambodia: Land of smiles.

But I digress.

I read an article in 'Cosmopolitan' recently that a lot of Australian women are heading back to study later on in life after discovering a new passion, or wanting a completely different change to what they set about doing earlier on in their careers.



But with financial responsibility (even without a mortgage and children - hey, rent is expensive in Manly!) the chances of completely starting from scratch become slimmer and slimmer the longer you leave it. It's just not as easy to start all over when you're not 18 anymore.

If I was to go back to uni to study for a completely new career, I would be 30 or 31 before I even graduated. Still a baby? Not quite...I can't handle my alcohol quite like I did at University and I am not sure that I would even know what I wanted to study if given the chance.



Drunken times at Uni
with my bestie, Kirst.

So what if taking yourself out of the workforce to study full time just isn't a possibility?

Figure out what works for you with the skills you already have? Can anyone help me with this??! I am very modest!

Ok, since being with my current role as and Events coordinator for a Learning and Development Company in the heart of Sydney's CBD, the most rewarding part of my role is organising all the logistics for the events I run from start to finish, and seeing the finished product go well and our clients enjoying and getting the most from the event. I think this is something I do pretty well, and I am organised to the point of annoyance at work (think Monica from 'Friends'!)

But I want BIGGER. Much bigger.

After those of you who have been to a Halloween/Birthday/Random Saturday party at our place, one of my big passions is parties! To organise a fun, happy, (slightly) drunken party, even in our small apartment gives me so much joy (and a very big hangover!)

Halloween: Anyone for a champers?!

To do that on a larger scale (for something like the BRITs, ARIAs...or even the Golden Globes!) would be a dream come true.

Of course I have a lot of work ahead. Behind the scenes at something like the BRITs would be a logistical nightmare....but just imaging the sense of pride seeing something like that unfold??

Music events, sporting events, weddings, birthdays, Bah Mitzvah's....ANYTHING that brings people together to share an event that is run with minimal stress, minimal fuss, and a whole heap of fun would be A. Maze. Ing.



Work the red carpet like Beyonce.



So how do I go about this? Well, I should really start by whoring out my Resume to anyone who will read it. Next: Experience. I need to get my networking butt into gear and volunteer for as many event staff positions as possible, and chat to as many contacts my avid reader(s) have for me to see who and what's out there and what I can do to get started.

Is everyone ready to help me out (I promise seats next to Beyonce at the GRAMMYs if you do!)

And if all else fails....I better start practising my shot drinking before I enrol at Macquarie University next January...

K xx