Going back to school....?

I had an interview at a paper where the previous sports editor left for the stable job of being a corrections officer at a local prison.

 

Another rejection e-mail today. The more of these I get, the more I consider heading back for business or something. At least an associates. You can get a job with one of those, right?

 

Thanks for shopping at Wal-Mart, did you find everything alright?

 

If you don't have a college degree, get one. If you already do, an associates in "business" won't make a difference.

 

You can "get" a job in a lot of ways. A degree helps, but so does experience. And so does attitude. And so does networking. And so does timing. And so does luck, and a host of other intangible factors that you can't ever plan for.

Such as, for instance, the economy. If you've got good credentials, you're not getting rejection letters right now because you don't have a business degree, I can assure you. It's because nobody's hiring, in any industry.

There are no guarantees -- not a degree (bachelor's or higher) or anything else. So don't assume that because you majored in this or that, you're going to have an easier time finding a job. There are a lot of educated people out of work right now.

Too many people think a degree is a guarantee. Those don't exist.

But it can't hurt.

 

What he said. I got paid to get a master's degree (not by my employer, by the university).
Then I went back to this depressing business.
I should have stayed in school. Professional student-hood = not so bad.

 

I'm shocked at how many people on this thread have shown their interest to get a degree in sports management. An important factor to remember about degrees like this, and the jobs your persuing with obtaining a degree like this is that internships are vital for success.

Like Buck said, there are zero guarantees right now. Even then so, there were never any guarantees in the "working world," and there will be no guarantees in a world filled with people vying for jobs just like you - especially when the economy rebounds.

Just because you have a piece of paper that says you completed the requirements of school "X" to complete what is needed to obtain such and such a degree means nothing if Joe Smith has been working for a sports marketing magazine for five years and has practical, real-world experience while you hold nothing but a piece of paper that says you've been sitting in a classroom but have no idea what it means to have a deadline, work under pressure or have no knowledge of the requirments needed to complete your everyday tasks in your desired field.

If you're looking for work in a new field, get your feet wet. Contact the alumni relations office of your alma mater. Most go to great lengths to provide alumnus with a vast array of networking tools to find those who are working in fields in which you'd like to get into.

Get internships, get contacts and get your degree, if you so desire.

 

Maybe I'm cynical, but these "sports management" programs popping up like weeds seem like a scam to me. Wouldn't an MBA make more sense? Or a JD? Or, best yet, a JD/MBA? And not from Joe's Law and Business School, but somewhere with some cachet?

Look at Theo Epstein's backstory. Guy went to law school full-time while sleeping about two hours a night while working part-time for the Padres. Should he have just gotten a "sports management" degree? I'm guessing not.

 

If anyone is young enough and unencumbered enough, I would also look at being an intern in an SID office where the payback is free grad school.

Two years and you have your master's, plus, hopefully the job market will have leveled out by then.

 

STLIrish and Buckweaver,

I've got a bachelor's degree in media and public communication. My minor was journalism and I took like 5-6 classes on journalism my entire college life. The communication stuff prepared me a lot for working with people, understanding how messages work, etc, etc. I was thinking associate's in business because could help me with the Xs and Os of business - accounting, law, economics, etc.

EDIT: If I do go back for associate's, I'll likely head to the same college. Many ( I think all) of the elective and gen. ed. classes they require for the associate's are ones that I've already passed during my undergrad days. I'm wondering if credits will transfer to degrees. If so, then I'll only have about 22 credit hours to take of real business.

But, yeah, I'm hoping an associate's in business will teach me the Xs and Os, so I'm not clueless when applying for some jobs.

 

On the sports management thing: Since applying I've talked to a lot of front office types in the area and they all say "Yeah, we've hired a lot of people from there." I realize that I'd still need to have internships, but hopefully I'll have an easier time getting an internship than a normal student since I already know a lot of the people.

My thinking was just that if I have to get a "Dilbert Job" I'd rather work in PR or marketing or sales for a sports team than a car dealership. This seemed to be a good way to go because the program gives you a little bit of a whole lot of areas within sports management.

That said, hopefully I get a real job first and don't even go.

 

Hmmmm ... maybe I'm wrong then. Probably depends on the school. And, of course, the person.