Finally Found My Ambition!
I might be an invisible low wage worker right now but that’s not the same story I’m interested in telling my newborn daughter when she old enough to ask me what I do for a living. My job doesn’t offer much in pay, benefits, or access to better work relationships that can help me get ahead but the opportunities are there if I learn how to seek them out and take advantage. How can improve the financial circumstances for my family when a traditional college to career plan is no longer an option for me?
Look for training and skill development opportunities in and out of work then share your new skills with supervisor or manager. Identifying yourself as someone who can take ownership of new responsibilities and lessen the load on managers is a good way to stand out.
Try a vocational school. I'm a certified sterile processor and it took 3 months for me to complete the schooling going 1 Saturday a week from 8am to 4pm. Granted you have to study yoir butt off because you have to take the board exams. It's worth it for me since it's fast. In San Francisco where I live, they pay $30 an hour. Probably the highest in the country but it's a great job of you like working with your hands and don't mind learning how to sterilize medical instruments for surgeries. If you still want a bachelor's degree, find a college that offers CLEPS. They are exams that you can take to get college credit for if you don't have time to sit in classes. Where Iive, CLEP testing center is available. 2900 colleges accept CLEPS. Assuming you can pay $75 for each test and pass, you can have a bachelor's degree in a year assuming you take 4 tests a month. Total cost around 12 months at $4500 vs 4 years and $60000. I just decided to get my bachelor's as soon as I found put about CLEP
While the traditional college then work doesn't do well for all, you can always take courses online at night while working during the day. Almost every major university/college has an online program. It took me years to get mine while I was active duty as I could only take one or two classes at a time. Patience and determination will get you there.
You may not realize it now but managers are always looking to identify good employees they can count on and mentor. Keep doing good work, ask questions, and find out about company benefits like tuition reimbursement you're eligible for then find a way to take full advantage of those benefits.
Just because your job is "invisible low wage" doesn't mean you don't have something to be proud of and that you add value. Identify what you can do and learn in your current position. With a newborn, it will be difficult. You will probably need to try a few things before you find what works for you. But you have good motivation. I'm not an expert. I suggest you look for job training programs or jobs that provide training. Contact local unemployment and free vocational services programs. They can help you identify skills you already have and strengths you can use. They may be able to help you find a better job. They may also provide free classes or help you connect to programs that can help you. Best wishes!
Be friendly and cooperative with everybody at work but always focus on building stronger working relationships with managers and department leaders. Stay true to the concept of who you know because those are the references that are going to take you into the next level.