A but unusual but...career advice?

[PJTheGreat]

Alright, there is a bit of a lengthy backstory, but I've made a summary at the end that you can skip to. If there is too much info, I apologize in advance.

I'm a 21 year old male in New York City with lofty ambitions to work in the tech or office field of any kind. While I was living with my father, money problems led me to stop college and work in check cashing for a little over a year. I was forced out of my home, and now live with my friend and his family, who owns the apartment, but I still pay rent to stay there. However, now that I stopped working in check cashing (left, was not fired), without any college degree, it's hard for me to get into entry-level anything that's above food-related work (and I've done my share of that. It's not bad, but it's not for me).

Now my friend's father works for the city, and trying to be my surrogate father of sorts, is trying his damnedest to push me into working for the city. For the first few months after I stopped working, I was admittedly lazy and just wanted to enjoy the not-working-life for a little bit, but now I'm trying to find something for me to get into. However, he will not stop pressing me to work for traffic, school safety, or corrections officer.

Here's the problem: I'm a tech guy, a computer guy. I even managed to get an A+ certification and I am definitely planning on getting mroe. I'm not a genius but I'm trying to learn or get into the field. I have nothing against the jobs offered but most are physical in the sense of either having to restrain someone or being imposing enough to deter problems, so I assume (please correct me if I'm wrong). As incentive, he just keeps telling me that those jobs are "bulletproof", ie: cannot get fired due to bad economy, or that they get good raises every year, but I just feel it's so...irrelevant to me and what I want to do. That brings him to his "You gotta crawl before you can walk" jargon about having to go through the lowest positions before I can climb the ladder.

That is the point: It's not about being a high position or a well paying job, it's about something that'll help me in the future. Even if I do well as a corrections officer, I'm pretty sure I won't put the rest of my life into keeping that job just because.

Maybe it is foolish of me to think that way, that's why I want to ask a cop or anyone in the NYPD about these things. If there is anything office/secretary/clerical/tech related, I certainly haven't heard of it through the job sites I go through, and I'm certainly not against a little bit of labor, but I don't want to have a job where I have to work 5 years just to see a payoff.

Summary I'm a 21 year old living with a friend, who's father works for the city and wants me to work for the city in traffic, corrections officer, etc, like all of his children. It seems hard to get the message across that I want to do my own thing, though my "own thing" doesn't seem to be hiring right now.

So my questions are this: Is there anything in the NYPD even relevant to what can help me? Even a year or two of office or clerical work will do wonders for my resume, but I'm not a physical, or visually imposing enough person I think, to do well in school safety or corrections, which is all I'm getting thrown at me. Is it not as bad as I think? Will just working a bit, and networking with others in the NYPD get me what I might be hoping for?

Again, I'm very sorry for this lengthy post, but this is obviously I want to put a LOT of thought into. I appreciate all of the help.

[SgtCHP]

Alright, there is a bit of a lengthy backstory, but I've made a summary at the end that you can skip to. If there is too much info, I apologize in advance.

I'm a 21 year old male in New York City with lofty ambitions to work in the tech or office field of any kind. While I was living with my father, money problems led me to stop college and work in check cashing for a little over a year. I was forced out of my home, and now live with my friend and his family, who owns the apartment, but I still pay rent to stay there. However, now that I stopped working in check cashing (left, was not fired), without any college degree, it's hard for me to get into entry-level anything that's above food-related work (and I've done my share of that. It's not bad, but it's not for me).

Now my friend's father works for the city, and trying to be my surrogate father of sorts, is trying his damnedest to push me into working for the city. For the first few months after I stopped working, I was admittedly lazy and just wanted to enjoy the not-working-life for a little bit, but now I'm trying to find something for me to get into. However, he will not stop pressing me to work for traffic, school safety, or corrections officer.

Here's the problem: I'm a tech guy, a computer guy. I even managed to get an A+ certification and I am definitely planning on getting mroe. I'm not a genius but I'm trying to learn or get into the field. I have nothing against the jobs offered but most are physical in the sense of either having to restrain someone or being imposing enough to deter problems, so I assume (please correct me if I'm wrong). As incentive, he just keeps telling me that those jobs are "bulletproof", ie: cannot get fired due to bad economy, or that they get good raises every year, but I just feel it's so...irrelevant to me and what I want to do. That brings him to his "You gotta crawl before you can walk" jargon about having to go through the lowest positions before I can climb the ladder.

That is the point: It's not about being a high position or a well paying job, it's about something that'll help me in the future. Even if I do well as a corrections officer, I'm pretty sure I won't put the rest of my life into keeping that job just because.

Maybe it is foolish of me to think that way, that's why I want to ask a cop or anyone in the NYPD about these things. If there is anything office/secretary/clerical/tech related, I certainly haven't heard of it through the job sites I go through, and I'm certainly not against a little bit of labor, but I don't want to have a job where I have to work 5 years just to see a payoff.

Summary I'm a 21 year old living with a friend, who's father works for the city and wants me to work for the city in traffic, corrections officer, etc, like all of his children. It seems hard to get the message across that I want to do my own thing, though my "own thing" doesn't seem to be hiring right now.

So my questions are this: Is there anything in the NYPD even relevant to what can help me? Even a year or two of office or clerical work will do wonders for my resume, but I'm not a physical, or visually imposing enough person I think, to do well in school safety or corrections, which is all I'm getting thrown at me. Is it not as bad as I think? Will just working a bit, and networking with others in the NYPD get me what I might be hoping for?

Again, I'm very sorry for this lengthy post, but this is obviously I want to put a LOT of thought into. I appreciate all of the help.

You are an adult! It is time that you choose to work in the field where you will feel most comfortable, contributory, successful and self satisfying. As long as your work is honorable, steady, supporting and with benefits to help you, your parents should be happy with your choice. If not, then they are not open minded to your desires and they need to understand your needs. Go for whatever it is that will make YOU happy.

Good luck!!!

[PJTheGreat]

You are an adult! It is time that you choose to work in the field where you will feel most comfortable, contributory, successful and self satisfying. As long as your work is honorable, steady, supporting and with benefits to help you, your parents should be happy with your choice. If not, then they are not open minded to your desires and they need to understand your needs. Go for whatever it is that will make YOU happy.

Good luck!!!

I really appreciate that, but it's just that there is a growing urgency to find *A* job soon, rather than an IDEAL job for me, no matter how long the wait.

I'm not in contact with my parents. At best, if I completely run out of money, I can move with family in the midwest, but I don't want to give up. Since officer/NYPD jobs are the ones being shoved in my face, I want to ask from officers who have worked the field or know about it if I'm accurate or not before I completely discount it as an option. As well, I'm not aware of all positions in a police department but I know there are more people than the men in blue walking the streets. If there are "paper pushers" and opportunities to sit behind a desk, I would rather do that, but I'm uninformed on the matter.

Thank you for your kind words though!

[L-1]

A couple of things to think about:

Yes, civil service is just about bullet proof and it pays enormously well. I started in 1969 at $472 per month and was making $8,950 per month when I retired in 2005. On top of that, my retirement paid me 3% of my highest years salary for every year of service. Considering I went into the job with nothing more than a GED and picked up college classes along the way, I did a lot better than I would have in the private sector.

Once you achieve permanent civil service status in any position, it is often very easy to move to other civil service jobs that are more in keeping with your career goals, Filling a vacant position with someone who is already in the system is often a lot easier than waiting to fill it with an outsider who must go through a lengthy testing process. In the government agency I worked for, you could transfer to any job without testing (assuming they wanted you) provided the top step in the new position did not pay more than 10% more than top step in your old job. I knew cops who later moved on to become building managers, government program analysts, logistics coordinators, etc.

In short, it's worth taking the job, just to get your foot in the door so you can move elsewhere later.

[PhilipCal]

At the end of the day, and this has been mentioned, you do what works for you. My personal belief is that, unless you intend to be dedicated to being a Police Officer/Corrections Officer, you shouldn't apply. You should read L-1's reply once more, as it would apply to non LE positions within a given Civil Service System. While I agree in general, that we respect our parent's thoughts regarding our ambitions, I would suggest to you that it's your life.You do what you feel is the most satisfying and fullfilling work for you.

[L-1]

Thanks Phil. I re-read my message and realized I was not clear enough.

Yes, there are tons of non-sworn positions in civil service and they are a lot easier to obtain than that of an officer. If you don't want to be a cop, do not apply for a sworn position. Odds are, you will not make it through the academy and probation if your heart is not in it and there is no point in wasting the department's time and money in training you for something you do not want.

However, grab the first non-sworn civil service job you can reasonably stomach, just to get your foot in the door. It will put decent money in your pocket and food on the table until you complete probation. Then you can start looking top move into something you really like.

I have seen many civilians work their way up the ladder this way and a few cops do well when they discovered they just weren't cut out for law enforcement after all.

[NYCTNT]

Plenty of opportunities in the NYPD for computer guru's.

They are always looking for tech guys. Although please be aware you probably wont be picked up unless you have a real unique skill for a little while... maybe 3-5 years at the least.