<p>I had a plan on what I wanted to do, but several recent events have caused me to doubt and wonder. I was going to go back to school and get a second bachelor's. I really wanted one in English, but I could not find a school that would allow me to get one at a decent price. I finally settled on corporate communications so that it would allow me to expand my job options, however, I have been having doubts for several reasons.</p>
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<li>My mom died last year and I have no one that can help me out, not even for a place to stay while I go back. I have a roommate now, but I cannnot depend on people forever.</li>
<li>I found out that I have two bulging discs and possibly a degenerative back disease. I will have to go to therapy, but if it is really bad, then I may need surgery. </li>
<li>I took out student loans, and now it is time to pay the piper, the loan payments are expensive, but if I budget right then I can make it. </li>
<li>I got into an altercation with a former roommate of mine resulting in his propery being damaged. He called the cops and I was arrested, I went to court and now I am on deferred adjudication. Even though the crime was a misdemeanor, I feel like I will never get another teaching job besides the one that I have now. </li>
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<p>I really want to go back to school and expand on my career options. The problem that I am having besides the ones mentioned, is that I need to take my certification exam to teach. While I go back to school for the communications degree, the classes are 8 weeks long and it seems to me that it may be a little difficult to study for my certification exam while I am taking classes since online classes have a habit of piling on work, but the classes are cheaper. My buddy says that I should not even go back for a bachelor's but a masters. The only masters that I am truly interested in is in English, but it costs 750 dollars MORE per class and money is an issue, but I would be allowed to take classes at night and study like a regular semester. There is also a masters in education, and I was thinking of getting this one, only to try to get more money and move up in the ranks. The school I am at pays anywhere from 55k-78k and that's more than enough for me. </p>
<p>I am kinda lost. I can go for the bachelor's in corporate communications and I had to work out a deal with the dept. chair and he did approve to count 3 classes I had already taken so instead of 16, I only need 13. I would feel bad if i dropped the program. The master's in education will help me move up the ranks and give me more money. The master's in English, while I would like to have it, it is the most expensive one and I do not know how much money I would make when I am done. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?</p>
<p>I would not pay for a degree (Bachelor or Master’s) in English. It’s not going to expand your employment options and you can get a similar experience much cheaper at your local public library. </p>
<p>If I were you, I would make this decision very pragmatically. First you need to decide where your current teaching job falls in your list of priorities. If you want to keep teaching as a career option, do whatever you need to do to get certified. If that means postponing college/grad school until after you have passed your certification exams, so be it. </p>
<p>Rather than decide on a college major/graduate degree, I would pick a career first. Once you have decided what you want to do, you can draft a plan to get there. Maybe all you need is relevant work experience (which you could gather in the summer or as a part-time volunteer during the school year). Maybe you would benefit from additional coursework. What kind of coursework depends on your goal. Non-degree certificates, a second Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree or some coursework with no formal diploma would all be appropriate for some career goals. </p>
<p>If your current approach to picking a second career is, “let me enroll in the most appealing program offered at the local university,” also take a look at the local community college. They usually offer short certificate courses that can help you jump-start a career in a variety of areas. My local community college offers certificates in business-y subjects like marketing, accounting, hospitality management and event planning, and also completely different career tracks such as personal fitness training, 3D-animation, land-surveying technology, paralegal studies or culinary arts.</p>
<p>That is what I figured about the masters in English. I am basically trying to weigh cost vs time vs interest. I have heard that people with degrees in English go into advertising and marketing. </p>
<p>At this point, I do need to teach, I do like what I do and the benefits of being there are great, but I wanted to prepare myself in case this career did not work it self out considering that I now have no one to depend on. I did check my CC and they do not have programs like that unfortunately and that is ok. My friend told me the same thing as you that since I already have a degree that I should work on trying to get work experience. My interests are marketing, advertising and public relations and those positions usually ask for either a marketing, communications or english degree. How could I get those jobs with a history degree?</p>
<p>You don’t need one of those degrees. I had a friend in college who majored in German and now works in marketing/advertisement. She volunteered for a non-profit and took a number of freelancing jobs in college. When she was ready to apply for full-time jobs, she had job references, a portfolio and a concrete list of things she could do that the average marketing or communications student could not. </p>
<p>What you need is work experience. A second college degree without any relevant work experience is not going to make you any more employable than you are right now. Think of your coursework as supplementing your real-world experience. It can teach you new skills or lend credibility to your work, but at the end of the day employers want to know what you can do for them that the other job applicants cannot. A history of strong performance in relation positions or concrete skills you learned on a previous job will go a long way.</p>
<p>If you think a degree in English will get you a marketing job, you are in for a nasty surprise…</p>
<p>Wow, now this is stuff that I like to see and hear!</p>
<p>I wanted to be a foreign language major in spanish when I was at school, however, the dept. was extremely small(they only had three professors for a campus of 14k). So I ended up taking my second love which was History. I have been wanting to go back and I heard that a language major could do marketing too, but it was not as common. Did she get the job in a major metropolitan area? I live in texas and I have been thinking of going to Austin as I heard that there are alot of non profits there. </p>
<p>I thought about what you said, and I guess if i do tutorials on microsoft office 2010(strong computer skills), learn adobe indesign(for making business cards and publications), and try to volunteer then I might have a chance. I just don’t know where I can volunteer at because I work full time or who could show me how to do these things. I even thought about at my local university where I graduated from. That might help. What do you think?</p>
<p>For your purposes, it really doesn’t matter whether your college degree is in history, English or a foreign language. They all foster critical reading and writing skills and are utterly useless in any other way.</p>
<p>About volunteering: where I live (arguably a metro area), there are many organizations who look for volunteers that can commit to a few hours a week. In the general marketing/advertising/communications area, common volunteering positions include web content management, graphics design (for flyers or newsletters) and fundraising. Any of those would give you a first opportunity to get your hands dirty. The smaller the organization, the more responsibility could you get as a part-time volunteer.</p>
<p>If you are in a metro area, you could try looking for volunteering positions in big databases such as idealist.org. If you are living in a smaller town or in a rural area, I would inquire directly with local organizations if anyone needs help. A local church or animal shelter, for instance. Or maybe there’s a new business in town that would appreciate your help! :)</p>
<p>You could even take that one step further and integrate your “hobby” into your job as a teacher. Could you supervise a marketing student club at your school, train your students and then help them consult for local businesses? I imagine that such a club would appeal to a mix of FBLA students and very creative types. (I just realized that I have no idea how old your students are. This would obviously work better with high school students than 6th graders.)</p>