| Tuesday, August 16, 2005 |
| Get A Job |
I have a Master's degree.
I'm not really bragging or anything [I mean it IS from the Cincinnati Christian University, so draw your own conclusions], but I wanted to make sure you knew that as I start telling you this.
I used the morning of my day-off to put in some job applications this morning at business establishments in the area where we'll be moving. In order to start Echo Church with a minimum of overhead, I won't be a full-time employee at first. We've figured out that the church will pay me a little at first, and I'll have a few other jobs on the side in order to make a living. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a church to preach at on Sunday mornings [since our church will meet on Sunday evenings] and that will bring in some income. But I'm still going to have to get a part time job to make ends meet. I really need a place where I can come in early in the morning, so I can have afternoon and evenings open to do church stuff. Pretty much, this limits me to coffee-shop type places.
First, I went up to Mount Adams because I could walk to work if I got a job up there. Unfortunately, there are only two possible places up there: a coffee shop that apparently isn't hiring now and United Dairy Farmers. I think I'd love working at a UDF, since I go there at least once a day. I'm not too sure that they're hiring right now either.
Then I headed up to Joseph-Beth Bookstore in the Rookwood Commons area where I've already applied on-line, to see what they'd say. They said they're going to start doing some interviews at the end of the week, so I left my business card with a manager. This would be my pick of the litter: a job where I'm around books all day long would rock. I stopped by the nearby Starbucks where they said they were hiring but they were out of applications and would be getting some in by Thursday. I'll go back there [and the 2145 other Starbucks on that street] a little later. Finally, I ended up at the Panera Bread in Hyde Park before calling it a morning.
So the most tedious part of this process was filling out the applications. They all asked the exact same questions from previous employer info to educational background. It was with a smug expression on my face that I would fill out the educational part of the application. "I have a Masters Degree," I thought to myself. "I'm the type of highly educated person this company would love to have." But the more I thought about, the worse I felt. If I were in an employers chair and came across and application like mine, I'd probably be skeptical. "I wonder if this guy's ever done a day of hard work in his life," they could question. Sure, higher education gets you a leg up in many professions, but it doesn't mean squat when it comes down to making a latte or cleaning a toilet.
Plus, all my expertise is in the ministry field. Unless a bagel tragically hits the floor and they need a funeral conducted for it, or a self-help book is in desperate need of some counseling, I'm not sure that my background will be that useful. I now find myself at the bottom looking up, hoping that someone is willing to take a chance on me. I'll admit, it's an intimidating and humbling process. And that's exactly why I need to do it.
Everyday people in this world wake up and go to jobs that they despise. How many people really get the opportunity to work at a job that they're passionate about? In ways I've never truly appreciated before, I've been blessed these past seven years. I've been paid to teach Scripture and tell people about Jesus. It's been a good gig. So now I'll get a chance to see how well I do in another setting. And no one will care about my experience or my educational background; it'll all boil down to how hard of a worker I am.
It almost makes me want to hide those degrees, so people don't judge me. I won't hide it, but I don't want people to judge me by it. It's a really good lesson for me. And I'm excited to see what else God teaches me. We'll see what happens. |
yet another musing of steve-o @ 12:54:00 PM  |
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