career, torn between 2 decisions

zig

Hi, I guess this is one of the "better" problems on this forum but still its wrecking my head.

Basically I have been offered a traineeship(not an apprenticeship) with fas for 2 and half years which on the long run will give me a very highly paid job that I will really enjoy. The problem is I am 25 and am broke as it is, ill be only earning 200euro/week for that whole time. This wage wont increase, i am living at home and would love to move out and sort myself out with my own car instead of driving my parents. This job however is something I would love to do.

But right at this time I have the opportunity to go teaching people in disadvantaged areas, it will be about 20 hours a week with very high pay(VEC rates, approx 48e/hour). Although I love what Ill be teaching I dont have any interest in actually teaching it if you get me! Also it wont be targetting people that are really really eager to learn this field which could be more frustrating. This job will also be a good long term job. The other thing is if I dont do this Ill be letting a friend down who has been working hard on getting me this job . Ill be throwing it back in his face almost.

So basically :
terrible money in my mid to late 20s with great career prospects for the future doing a job id love

VS

excellent wage , cushy hours right now teaching something i like, but no real interest in doing the job .

If anyone has any other suggestions on how I could even top up that 200euro it would be great.

Sorry Im not more specific about what the jobs entail but I just wanna keep it private for now, however Im sure one or two people I know involved are reading this...hello!

zig

Id also like to mention that I HATE being broke and in my mid to late 20s this will be very very tough to put up with

Glowing

Oh god! That's a tough one.

Could you put off the traineeship for a year perhaps? Would FAS let you do that? That way you could teach for the year, build up some funds, and then take the job with prospects afterwards?

I don't envy your position - but money aside, that VEC position sounds interesting. You might find you thoroughly enjoy teaching and decide to do that long term.

4Xcut

casual promotions work would top that 200 euro up a bit as would bar work. Other than that choose the fas thing as its more beneficial for your future.

RedXIV

Go with the FAS course and get a second job. could be anything, promo work, security, even one of those call centre jobs i heard about in dub. you may not like the working hours but in 2 years you'll be delighted with yourself

AngryBadger

I'm of the opinion that wherever your career takes you is largely down to yourself and not the qualifications you have.

Don't misunderstand me, I think education is important, people should get their leaving, go to college or do an apprenticeship, or whatever in order to equip themselves witha marketable skillset (and one that they'll enjoy!).

However I feel in this case that your perspective is slightly skewed.

You're talking about the Fás course as if it's GUARANTEED to get you the job you'd like to spend your life doing. Maybe this is the case, but equally so maybe it's not. maybe you take the Fás ciourse and find you hate it, in addition to having no money, and being tied to it for 2 years.

The onyl significant difference in the two positions seems to be that you'd be able to move out/buy a car/have a life with one, and not the other.

My advice would be go for the VEC position, and explore alternative options to get qualifications similar to those you could get with Fás. In the longer term this allows you to get into the job you want, without sacrificing your quality of life right now.

zig

cheers for the advice, i dont think I could put it off but I guess I could always re apply next year, whether the company would like that or not Im not sure. They might not want to hear from me if I turned down their last offer.
Its a decision Ill have to take very very seriosuly as its the rest of my life im talking about, what were the chances of both opportunities arriving almost literally on the same day!!! My friend really needs to know asap.

Angrybadger , i see what you mean but I have done alot of research into the job, the career prospects, whether Id enjoy it or not etc. I know Ill never know for sure but Im very hopefull anyway, the more I found out about it the more excited I got about going ahead and starting the job!!

But I also feel that turning down the VEC thing is throwing away a great opportunity with instant comfort living also because Im sick and tired of not having money.
I really am split down the middle lol,

Sherifu

This one is more suited to work problems I think but still really hard to advise. If it was me I wouldn't like to be doing something i've no interest in.

Glowing

Could you do evening and weekend work with the VEC instead - to suppliment the FAS job?

zig

Glowing wrote: »

Could you do evening and weekend work with the VEC instead - to suppliment the FAS job?

unfortunately not, that would be unbelievably ideal. I thought thats how it was going to be and thats how I left the whole thing build up to this because I just found out today that the hours will be based around other projects and will be during the weekdays, mornings etc. The very same day I get the official offer for the other job, having done aptitude tests, practical tests, interview and a medical.

thanks again im taking all advice on board, i think Ill look into trying to supplement my 200e/week.

Gordon

Moved from PI.

LegacyUser

would you listen to yourself you are being handed two different jobs and u are complaining? stop whining and jsut pick one god dammit there are ppl like me that cant even get a job they way things are going atm!