To finish a GG from GIA or not....

[zeytoun]

I worked for GIA as a diamond grader for a little over a year, during which time I got my GIA certs in Diamonds & Colored stones. Last summer I quit and moved to Oregon, and am in the process of finishing my bachelor''s degree. There are only a couple of nice jewelers here in the town where I live. In fact I almost had a job with one of them, but the fact that I didn''t have my full GG was the clincher, and so I''ve been outside the gem market for close to a year.

I would only have 2 things left to get my GG: the Gem Ident course (of which I have the full text book), and a 1 week diamond grading course (which is ironic, since I was a diamond grader for them for over a year). But, as you know, the cost would be several thousand dollars.
As a poor student, this is a bit much for me, especially if I don''t get ever make it into a corresponding position.

What are your opinions? Should I save my nickels and dimes and finish my GG, or should I continue trying to get a gemology related job, and when I have one, finish my GG, knowing that it will probably be useful?

 

[limey]

I finished my masters course work, 31 out of 34 credits and just have an essay to write to get my degree. That's it, that's all.... well, it is more like a Thesis but...

Life: Married, 2 kids... Career: 2 mergers, 2 start-ups, 1 turnaround... Plus: 2 houses, including building one. Oh and it is now 10 years on and I never wrote my essay and probably no longer have eligibility.

Finish your degree before your life gets in the way!

 

[valeria101]

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On 5/24/2004 11:21:20 PM zeytoun wrote:



What are your opinions? Should I save my nickels and dimes and finish my GG, or should I continue trying to get a gemology related job, and when I have one, finish my GG, knowing that it will probably be useful?
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As far as my experience goes US Academia makes a very perky recruiting ground even for a Romanian like me. Does GIA fall short of being one? Would the school's netweork not help with finding employment good enough to offset the cost of the course?

Not much I can say, but there definitely are a few GIA alumni running this forum, surely they know

 

[69gm]

hi zeytoun,

tough decision, i know. if you can afford the time (and can handle forking out the money), i would try to finish up. it's too easy to leave things hanging. 1 year turns into 5 which turns into 10 VERY quickly. seize the moment! it is usually the case where a little investment now will bring more rewards in the future. you'll be more marketable, which allows you to be more picky about what jobs you and want and where you want to work.

at the very least, you'll never go wondering, "what if...".

 

[hoorray]

Initially, I would agree with limey. Do it now before it gets away from you. However, the other question to ask is, do you love it, and is that what you want to do with a career? If you have a passion, follow it.

 

[CaptAubrey]

if you're serious about staying the industry, just bite the bullet and finish it. if you wait, you'll get caught up in other things and may never do it.