Very Underemployed and Underpaid
by AnonymousLink to article
I am a full-time Ph. D. student, in my very late thirties. I am presently very underemployed and underpaid as a part-time private music instructor. As a result I am having to rely on my mother for nearly half of my financial support, which is extremely hard for me to cope with — I feel at this point in our lives the situation should be reversed.
She has chosen not to retire in order to help support me. I cannot get health insurance through my current employer due to a “pre-existing condition.” I have student coverage through my university but it is woefully inadequate — I exhausted my limit for prescription drug coverage in the first six weeks of this year. I have been searching for a full-time job with benefits for over a year now but have so far been unsuccessful.
This despite my having had a 4.0 GPA in my master’s program and having a 3.9 GPA to date in my doctoral program, and being a member of national honor societies in both music and education. It’s hard to tell if my lack of success in finding a “real” job is due to being considered “not a good fit” for those positions I have applied for, or if I’m simply “overqualified.”
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
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May 4th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Raise your rates for private lessons.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Shayna, thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. I am employed by a private music school and they set my salary. I requested a raise in January to no avail.
This week will be my last week in this “job.” I’m now going to be doing freelance writing work (have already found clients!) and substitute teaching. I doubt I’m going to fare any better financially and will still have to rely on the university’s health “care” plan, but at least I will have more control, flexibility, and choice with my work schedule.