Sticking with the same career for your entire life is overrated.
That’s not just how I feel either. More and more baby boomers are starting side hustles to find more satisfaction in their professional endeavors (and make extra $$$). But still, starting a career isn’t always a one-time thing.
In fact – studies say you will change careers 7 times in your life, on average.
That’s insane! But not really. It didn’t take me long to realize that I could NOT be an accountant forever. The mandatory month-end close side of it always ran into my birthday and I like to have that day off. So that’s out. NEXT.
Even though my degree could take me in other directions, I always find myself looking into going back to school.
Because you can never be overdressed or over-educated.
Going back to school is great for personal development, but it’s essential for a lot of careers. And with an investment like school, the time and money required ought to be worth it.
I‘ve rated these careers on these factors
TIME: the amount of time it takes to go through the required training before you can start getting paid
FLEX: the flexibility of the field from working your own hours to no way of getting out early on a Friday
SATISFACTION: reported happiness (or depression!)
PAY: the potential earnings, which are subjective based on all of the other factors and my personal opinion
Education
TIME: 8/10
FLEX: 7/10
SATISFACTION: 8/10
PAY: 6/10
Teaching in any capacity is pretty cool. Young or old, the job of molding those minds is critical for society in general. There are so many stereotypes around the profession, and most of them are silly.
Things like low pay and excessive work hours aren’t as true as they once were. Starting salaries might be lower than a lot of professional careers, but experience and a Master’s Degree commands more pay. Getting into it a little later could even be considered wiser than starting fresh out of college.
A teacher’s schedule is AMAZING. Summers? Off. Two weeks at Christmas. Spring Break. You get to enjoy the best park of being a student and get paid for it. Administrators report some of the highest job satisfaction, and they get a pretty decent paycheck too.
A bachelor’s degree and some certifications are all you need to teach, but you can teach English as a second language to kids in China with any bachelor’s degree through VIPkid. It’s an awesome program and many people make a decent income doing this from home in 30 minute classes throughout the day.
You can make your own schedule and work as much or as little as you like. The pay ranges from $14 to $22 an hour based on experience. You can learn more about VIPkid here.
Technology
TIME: 5/10
FLEX: 10/10
SATISFACTION: 9/10
PAY: 10/10
Tech jobs aren’t new per say, but the demand for them increases every year. Right now, Javascript developers are a hot commodity. Almost anything in technology pays very well and is incredibly flexible with alternative work schedules and telecommuting capabilities.
Software developers can expect to see a 30% increase in job growth over the next 8 years and with a median annual salary of $100k, it sounds like a sweet gig.
Getting into this field doesn’t absolutely require a degree, but some certifications are highly recommended. Either way, you can expect to go back for 2 or more years (depending on the learning curve).
Medical
TIME: 5/10
FLEX: 6/10
SATISFACTION: 8/10
PAY: 9/10
Nursing is another awesome field that many people switch to, but it isn’t the only one. If you have the time and don’t mind a frugal lifestyle, then spending the time to go into Pediatrics could be worth it too. Pediatricians have some of the highest job satisfaction rates.
Just think about all the new parents and those delicate new baby days. Even as they age, I imagine parents are always in THE BEST MOOD at the pediatrician’s office. We can’t have our littles getting bad vibes lol.
You might think that you need to go into a medical career straight out of college. After all, it takes a few years to study and train for various roles within the medical industry – best to start early, right? Well, that isn’t the case. In fact, there are courses like the step 2 CS prep that make it easy for adults to make the switch to a medical profession.
Medical assistants are always in demand and pay pretty well too. It’s a great field that’s not going anywhere.
Counseling
TIME: 8/10
FLEX: 7/10
SATISFACTION: 8/10
PAY: 6/10
Another job that is popular with those looking to switch careers is counseling. In fact, many people decide to go into this job after a few years of working because they want to give something back to society and help other people.
Becoming a counselor is a great way to work with those who need help with their mental health or are in a vulnerable position. It will take a couple of years to train to be a fully qualified counselor, and most courses can be taken part-time, giving you a chance to work alongside.
Deciding to go back to school is the easy part
If you’re waiting to know exactly what you want to do before you make the leap and invest in more education, you’ll probably never go. “If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll be waiting forever” is one of the most accurate cliches.
The hard part is deciding what to do, so do you research. Lurking people on linked in and connecting with some people who are already in the field is a great place to start. But if you’re itching for a career change, figure out what you really want in your next career. That will narrow your choices.
When I was in business, I realized that my personality and lifestyle craved the flexibility that my jobs weren’t willing to provide. I stopped studying for the GMAT and threw away my plans to get an MBA.
But I never would have know that an MBA wasn’t for me and my professional goals if I hadn’t started doing some leg work. This should give you some great ideas to start considering so you can narrow down your list and find the career worth going back to school for you.
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