Work? Study? Other?

I'm having a major duvet day today, because it is absolutely foul outside. The local news stations are breathless with excitement, because there are tornado watches out. "Severe weather" is central Florida TV station crack - people, it's just raining quite hard, and anyway, your weather forecasts are rubbish!


In the absence of any outdoor activities to do I am watching a marathon of The Tudors on BBC America (starting to get quite hard going, given they have cut out all the good bits - in fact, I'm surprised there is anything left to show at all) and trying to figure out what to do with my life. That bit is quite hard going too.


I always knew I would have at least 4 months where I would be unemployed and chose to look at this as an opportunity to decide what to do with my life. I will have been here 3 months this Wednesday and I still haven't figured it out - not even close!


The American job market is very much a different animal to me.  Given the level of unemployment in the US (and especially Florida), it is an employer's market - entry level management positions are demanding 5+ years of experience and a related degree. With 2 years at management level under my belt, I am in employment limbo - I am over-qualified for non-management positions and under-qualified for management positions. Couple all this with the fact my degree is not strictly 'related' to any position, and that a Bachelor's degree is nowhere near as valued here as in the UK, and I have my work cut out for me.


On top of the, I-need-any-job-just-to-pay-the-bills situation, I am also trying to figure out my calling in life. I've considered teaching, nursing, project management, personal banking, and public relations - I think this tells you if nothing else that I still have no idea. Oh to be one of those people with a true vocation - fewer decisions to be made! But maybe it's OK I don't have an exact path to follow. My main goals are: be regarded as a leader in my area, have a job that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning, and be successful enough to not struggle. But I still have to figure out what that is.


On the side I've been looking at ways to combat the annoying bachelors-is-the-new-high-school-diploma situation. A Masters is almost considered standard in the US now and I've been considering the possibility of going back to school - part-time, of course, given the cost of such things. Online MBAs are easy to find - I could even do my MBA at Warwick Business School all the way from Orlando if I so chose! - but the main problem is once again money. $25,000 minimum - would such an investment, though, lead me to earn over $25,000 more over time?


Many decisions to be made, that I am failing to make. Sigh. And still at least 30 days until I get my work card. Still, one can't be serious all the time, so the rest of the time I have been dreaming about me and Jason getting our own place, and puppies. I want one of these:

All I need is a good job so I can get a big enough apartment to put a Golden Retriever in....simple, non? :)