Hello everyone,
I will be 40 soon, and my dd will be going off to college herself next year. Up until this point, I have pretty much bouncd around from part time job to part time job that would still allow me to be home with my teen a good portion of the time. I also had a long spurt of time where I took care of both of my parents, both who had chronic health problems. I am now sick of taking the bottom of the barrel jobs. I do have a very old degree in medical office assistance, and I have been updating several courses over the years, but I don’t foresee myself starting out at much more than 10/hr with that…not to mention that some people now want a bachelor’s degree, and I only have an associate’s. We are looking to move to a pricier area after my dd graduates, so it’s really crunchtime now! I am definitely a people person, although more one on one as opposed to large groups. I always wanted to do social work, but I realize in order not to get completely burned out, you need to get a master’s degree. I just don’t have the time or money to go that far in the near future. Certainly there are other jobs out there where you can help people, but not deal with blood, and only need a bachelor’s degree at most? I have an interview at an optometrist’s office for an optician trainee position, but I have a feeling it is going to be more of a sales position than anything else. I was considering taking advantage of it if offered the job, and maybe go for opticianry. However, nowhere in our state is it offered, because you don’t have to be licensed in my state. Therefore, I feel like the job would almost be a waste, because I’m not sure how far I would go with it. I might get to cross train as an optometric asst, but the pay for that is awful! Although money is definitely not the driving factor, I would definitely have to bring home around 15/hr to be able to make this move. I am considering an online degree through Penn State World Campus in Labor and Employee Relations. It would hopefully allow me to get my foot in the door as a human resource specialist. Does anyone else have any ideas on a good degree for someone who is middle aged?
It seems like you enjoy science and more towards a medical field, so possibly epidemiology or psych. Human development also might interest you.
First I want to say, kudos to you! My mom went back to school when she was 40 after being a stay at home mom for 15 years. She got a diploma in nursing to work as an LPN, and she’s been doing that ever since. We were so proud of her and were cheering her on as she did it. Nursing was the first thing I thought of - there are lots of flexible programs and many, many women enter the field after other careers or being stay at home mothers - but obviously you have to deal with blood at least somewhat, so, not a good idea.
There are other allied health positions that deal with it less, though. You could go to be a physical therapist’s assistant or occupational therapist’s assistant - those usually require a two-year program that leads to an associate’s degree, but they pay well (PTAs average $40K a year and OTAs average $49K a year). Another suggestion is a dental hygienist - another job that only requires an associate’s (although some dentists now want people with a bachelor’s) and they average $70K a year. There are also radiation therapists, people who administer radiation treatment mostly to cancer patients; that job only requires an associate’s and they average $77K. Similar allied health jobs with similar salaries are nuclear medicine technicians/technologists, medical sonographers, radiologic and MRI technologists, opticians (as you pointed out), respiratory therapists, and surgical technicians.
I’ve actually checked into several of the allied health programs. Unfortunately, many of them have become oversaturated. Occupational and Physical therapy assts are good, but many OTAs don’t last long because of the physicalness of the job. Also, the nearest school to me is 2 hours away. I’ve never really looked into respiratory therapist, that might be worth checking out. I’ve heard dental hygienists are becoming over saturated as well. Nursing is definitely out! I actually started in that right out of high school and HATED it lol. God bless the people that can do it, but it’s not for me.
Butler, I LOVE the social sciences, but the pay and job opportunities are horrible. It would take me until retirement to pay back the loans!
I am a (admittedly young) social science student now. Is it possible to do community college or online courses for the first two years of the bachelor degree, then transfer the credits somewhere else to cut back on costs?
I think that a social science background can be very useful. Most social science programs train in analytic and research skills–two enviable skills that employers want. Could you see yourself working for a nonprofit? Many want someone who knows how to crunch some numbers/collect data/make decision based off of it, but who also loves to work with people, on committees, etc. That might be a good balance. If you find a cause you like (poverty, housing, access to health care, etc) it could be a very fulfilling pathway.
Another thing you can do is to talk with career services at a school you are accepted into (this is typically free). They may have you take some personality tests, skills tests, and interests tests to get you going. Then, someone will probably consult with you to determine a few specific jobs/paths that really appeal to who you are, what you can do, and what you want to do. From there, you can pick a major that corresponds.