Master's Degree???

I'm feeling quite shitty. Back in March I applied for a job at my husband's company. He works in an industry that I have some background in as well. I pretty much nailed the interview, but the big bosses didn't want us working so close together. They promoted someone else in the company and offered me her vacancy. It was a bit more money with benefits and got me out of fast food so I jumped on it.

But now I'm hating it. The job is mind numbingly boring - I don't even get to use a computer. I QA printing jobs all day - if there are any to QA. My boss doesn't talk to me. My co-workers are reprobates who stand around and talk about what drugs they're on and what they'd like to do to certain females. The 2nd shift QA person is supposed to come in at 3:30 when I leave, but she wanders in at noon because she doesn't like staying so late (she also gets paid an hourly differential because she's [supposed to be] second shift). She either does absolutely nothing while I'm still there or undermines me so none of the reprobates respect me. Also, the person who got the job I originally applied for keeps coming into my department and doing things / making decisions on things that are now none of her business. The boss does nothing about any of this, is actually hardly there at all, and lets the place devolve into kindergarten.

I feel very self-conscious being in the middle of all this chaos. I don't fit in with the people I'm expected to work with. I'm way over qualified, bored to tears and starting to have stomach issues from the stress. I promised myself that if this job didn't work out I'd pursue my master's degree. Of course, I'm scared to death of taking on more student loans and amount of work a master's would take. I think I'd enjoy the work the master's would lead to, though, and I would definitely enjoy a better class of coworker.

Am I not giving this place a long enough chance? Do you think I should approach HR about all the bullshit that goes on? I never know what to do in these sorts of situations. I value my job and the chance to make a semi-decent paycheck - I don't want to rock the boat and make a bunch of enemies.

Quitting work to pursue a master's degree is a big step and too often people don't do the research to see whether that will lead them where they want to go. So here's my recommendation: for the next six months, your side job is to interview people who are in the position you want to find out how they got there. Schools will tell you the master's degree will get you where you want to go, but it might not, especially in fields where strong age discrimination exists. Your work experience should be an asset but it might not be.

You could also take an online course in a subject you aren't passionate about but which you think could benefit you (maybe in some area you've always felt you were weak) to see how well you deal with the inevitable classes that won't be your cup of tea, and how you deal with feeling ignorant.

IMHO, unless you can find an employer willing to buy your master's degree for you, don't get it. Degrees are pretty pointless anymore because everybody has them, and employers won't hire you with a master's degree if they don't absolutely need to because they'd have to pay you more for having it. Since employers are such spoiled, cheap bastards anymore, they'll cut corners in every possible way, including turning down a job candidate with fantastic work experience and an advanced degree in that specific field for a schmuck who hardly knows what to do that has an associate's degree in a vaguely similar field... all because less money.

I don't know, maybe my opinion is biased because I'd give my left tit for a boring job right now, and my master's degree has gotten me a whole lot of fuck all as far as any employment, not just in my field. I'd say stick it out at your current job a little longer and see how it goes, and maybe audit classes in the field of study you're looking to get a master's degree in to see how you like it without committing to full enrollment. Find out if you absolutely need a master's degree for the career you're going to pursue, for starters. No sense getting a pointless degree, especially if you get a job that won't allow you to properly pay for it.

Your current job sounds like my old call center job in regard to the employees. I think I was honestly the only person in that whole office who didn't have a criminal record. I was also bored to tears and suffered stress-induced stomach problems, but that was mostly due to management.

Leverage that job into something better.
See if you can't learn about someone else's job in your spare time, this can be listed as crosstraining or on-the-job(OTJ) training on your resume, expanding your options.
It is far easier to get a better job while you have one, even a shitty one.
Consider your job right now to be pursuing a better one, rather than actually doing what you are hired for, cover your ass of course! Getting fired does nothing for your resume!

I disagree about Master's Degrees being useless. But don't quit your job to pursue one because work experience is waaaay more valuable. If you have a computer at work (you said you don't get to use one, but do you have one at all?) take some online courses and do them at work. I literally got an entire Master's degree doing it at work when I had a job I loathed and was surrounded by total idiots who hated me. Ten years later, I'm in a much better place.

Also, it doesn't always matter what your degrees are in, as long as you have one. I'm in an engineering position and I have a BA in Environmental Science and a MS in Administration of Justice and Security (basically how to be a cop but with a Federal slant plus some business shit thrown in). In my field, I need the Master's to prove that I'm not retarded, and the work experience to actually be able to get hired.

And yes, I know that technically you are stealing company time, but fuck 'em. Fuck the lot of them. Just keep the screen minimized and do lessons in an open email. Nobody will know the difference and if anybody tells on you just say they were doing lines in the bathroom or whatever. Seriously, FUCK THEM.

I was never intending to quit my day job. The course I'm considering has Saturday classes and a lot online. It's a master's in mental health counseling, so yeah, I'd pretty much need it to work in the field.

I had a better day today, though. The work is feast or famine, and today was a famine day. I sat and wrote in my little notebook all day and no one bothered me. Writing is another area of my life I'd like to develop more, so maybe this job has some upsides....