Age 25. Huge college debt. Can't land a better job. What should I do?

Don't get me wrong - I realize the driving record and misdemeanor were horrible mistakes. They were wrong. Trust me, I know this all too well. No, they're normal mistakes made by teenage boys. Quit beating up on yourself; it's not going to help your situation. If you really feel that despairing about yourself and your past, consider therapy. You have quite a few options:Better paying food service jobs. Is there a Bonefish Grill or an Outback Steakhouse near you? Slightly higher end dinner chains should net you more than twelve dollars an hour in tips, and eventually you can move up to bartending and make even more money. If you have food service experience, there's no reason to settle for twelve dollars an hour. Go today as restaurants are opening and apply to every one you can.Freelancing. Are you still doing that creative stuff? Start looking into sites like elancer. Check metafilter jobs and NYC craigslist telecommuting jobs. Post to your facebook network that you're willing to do freelance projects and work your connections that way. If you feel capable of writing kids' books, write a few sample chapters and apply to work for http://www.workingpartnersltd.co.uk/writing-for-us/.Is your school loan debt federal? If you work in non-profits you can eventually get that debt forgiven. Apply to every non-profit job in your area listed on Craigslist and http://www.idealist.org/.Any interest in teaching? If you teach in low income areas you can likewise eventually get your student loans forgiven. Teach for America is an option, and also programs like http://www.cityyear.org/corpsexperience.aspx. They're taking applications now. Spend a couple days researching similar programs and applying to all that you can.Apply to other police academies that would not cost you money. This will likely entail moving.Mostly, I want to caution you away from listening to old farts who are doom and gloom about your prospects in life and want to tell you what a screw up you were at nineteen, or whatever. You are young. You are able-bodied. And believe it or not, your background means you have plenty of options, even if they're not for professional, management-level jobs. Your situation is completely stock standard for people your age and is nothing to be ashamed of, so don't let boomers who have no idea what it's like to be a millennial get you down.

I told the interviewer I felt a little bit like a victim of the criminology theory called "labeling theory", like I was labeled for my past and wouldn't be able to get away from it, like a criminal. He then said "well you know, we have hired sexual offenders and felons." Oh, also, this is not a good thing to say to an interviewer. You might want to do some practice interviews with friends (google "practice interview questions"). Interviews are bullshit, sure, but you really don't want to be THAT honest with the people who are potentially hiring you. If I had your driving record and someone pointed it out, I'd say something like, "I made a few mistakes when I was young, but those mistakes taught me the importance of committing to a job where I'm employed working for the betterment of others," or something like that. Turn it into a positive. Sell yourself, hard.

With $40,000+ in debt, a bachelors degree in criminal justice, an EMT-B license, a basic computer tech certificate, 4 years of customer service experience as a server, a bad driving history, and one misdemeanor, how can I find a job? Short answer: get the hell out of Michigan. Whatever you're looking for, that's not the place you're going to find it. The economy is bad everywhere, but it's almost non-existent in southeast Michigan. Move some place like Texas or California, or even the Mid-Atlantic, anywhere the economy is actually moving along a little. Texas might be your best bet there, as cost of living is relatively low. Or hell, even just go down the road to Fort Wayne. It's close to home, relatively prosperous, and the living is dirt freaking cheap. Show up, rent a shitty apartment month-to-month, and spend all day every day looking for a job until you find one. The kind of jobs you're going to be able to get aren't the kind that you can apply anything but in person. You don't want to hear that, and that's your prerogative, but really, what have you got to lose? Pack your stuff in your car, apply for forbearance on your loans, and get the hell out. You're working as a banquet server. Those jobs exist elsewhere. You've indicated that you're trying to find a way to "leverage your credentials." Honestly. . . you don't really have any. A degree in criminal justice lets you check the "I have a college degree" box, but that's about it. Even police departments don't actually view such degrees particularly favorably most of the time. You also didn't mention where you went to college. Makes a huge difference. If you went to MSU, that's one thing. But if you went some place like Baker College, that degree isn't necessarily going to help you all that much. Your tech certificate is also likely fairly useless. The EMT license is not likely to help you at all, because such outfits are unlikely to hire people with misdemeanors and bad driving histories. My suggestion? Get a job in the trades. Skilled manual labor. Consider joining some kind of union local as an apprentice. Word on the street is that many such outfits are desperately looking for young applicants, as their workforce is aging. Construction unions are about the one non-public sector of the economy where unionization is still at least somewhat strong, largely because it's not really something you can outsource to China. Someone has to actually show up on site. But again, not in Michigan. The economy is shit, so no one's really doing much in the way of building projects. Union guys are basically unemployed. But some place like Texas, the Mid-Atlantic, or California? Where businesses and governments are actually doing building projects? You might have a shot. Work that restaurant job to keep yourself fed until you can get yourself in with a union local. Or a plumber or something. Skilled manual labor is probably your only route out of underemployment, and I highly doubt you're going to be able to find that anywhere in Michigan.

Just a thought: it seems to me that the combination of your existing education, training, and skills would be a good mix for police dispatcher/911 job, and it might be worth looking into? It's high stress, but so is an EMT job... and your computer proficiency and working-with-people skills should be big pluses. If you're a good, clear communicator and have steady nerves, I'd certainly check it out. It seems that it's the sort of thing that could maybe also open doors to other positions within the department once you're a known quantity.

Also, what police academy are you paying to attend? They pay you. In my experience as a police union lawyer, that is highly unusual.

Even though he led with the debt, I think the OP is most concerned about getting into a better job that actually has a future ... It sounds like the Police Academy at your community college is just another route to the same disappointment you have right now with the EMT. There's no reason to go more in debt for education if you have reason to think that you won't be hired at the end of it. If you already have a Bachelor's degree, have you talked to your college's career office?

How do you feel about joining the military? Other people can probably speak more to the specifics of that choice if it sounds appealing. From my (civilian) point of view, unless you have very strong feelings against joining up, I would at least look into it. Given your interests in law enforcement and trouble getting a career foothold, I think it's probably the most likely path to immediately lucrative work, would provide the most solid career ladder, and would open the most doors to you long-term. However, I'm around a lot of active military who are about 5-10 years older than you are, and they're all vets, so there is that to think about. On the other hand, if you want to stay a civilian...well, I was in a similar situation at the same age, and what I did was work as a building super and wait tables. It was surprisingly great financially, and gave me plenty of time and mental energy for my own (creative/academic) work. If you want to stay a civilian, it's really what I'd recommend, at least until you're financially comfortable, because I don't think that there are any other (near-)entry level positions that pay you enough to live on (and believe me, I looked). In the longer term, those jobs would probably lead to becoming a property manager or a restaurant manager respectively. For waiting tables, I'd try to leverage your banquet server experience into a server job at basically any restaurant, but at the top of your list I'd put: 1. Big chains. The big chains are usually willing to hire even completely inexperienced people (which you aren't) and work them up from a host position, so you can probably get your foot in the door and they've probably got training systems in place to show you the ropes. They tend to be more compliant with things like labor law (because they have more to lose), which is about to get really important with ACA legislation. 2. A place that's as close to a club environment as possible. To be honest, as a man, your best bets for real money are either working as a bartender or working in fine dining. Since fine dining restaurants tend to have few open positions and are snobbier, you're more likely to get bumped to bartender than to becoming a fine dining server in the near future. Plus, you can double as a bouncer. For being building super, I kind of fell into it. When I was leaving, my boss advertised on Craigslist and on the nearby community college's jobs board, so I would check out those places. If you think either of those jobs sounds good but you still have questions, feel free to memail me.

Go join the Coast Guard. Go rescue people for a living.

You've gotten as far as interviews on the EMT side even with that driving record--it might not be the long-term plan you want, but at least for the moment I would start rehearsing a considered answer as to how your driving history does not reflect your current driving skills and habits, start following speed limits exactly and driving defensively in general--taking a defensive driving course might help. It might be true that a lot of places won't hire you, but that doesn't mean nowhere will. In general with interviewing, anyway, if you're going in with what you know is a black mark against you, it's important to go in with the ability to explain it calmly and confidently in a way that makes it clear that it's no longer an issue. You don't need every place to give you a chance, you just need one, you know?