New career--is it worth the cost and effort?

[raccoon]

(Note: this is a hypothetical situation because I am currently happily underemployed. And old.)

People go into other careers all the time. But I'm curious as to how they decide if it's going to be worth the money and effort, assuming that they’ll have to pay for additional formal education.

It’s one thing, if you’re 35, to go back and get another degree. It’s another if you’re 55—due to the unfortunate reality of age discrimination.

I was just thinking about this the other day, thinking, I should’ve been a social worker. I don’t have a Masters in Social Work, don’t know if I’d want to go after one especially if I had to pay for it myself, which is most probable. I’ve already had the experience of acquiring a degree, then couldn’t find a position in the field. Also had the opposite experience, of being trained and having lots of job opportunities--after the early 1980's recession has eased up, that is.


If this had worked for somebody, good for them. I’d like to hear others’ experience in this area.

[Kat45]

1. This is the impression I get:

Whenever I see someone who is enjoying a fabulous new career (or has started a new business that is doing well), I get the impression that it is a person who had a fabulous, and well-paying, first career such that they have the finances to go for it. Either that or the person has a spouse who is doing very well. They have financial security. I don't know how it would work out for someone who doesn't have the financial security. I'm in my fifties and have been un- or under- employed for over two years. At this point, I don't even know what kind of job I could get. I would seem like a perfect candidate for a new career, but financially I don't think it would be worth it.

[AngryOldDem]

2. I worked with a woman who got her MSW when she was in her 50s.

I'm not quite sure of all the details but I do know she was basically a wife and mother whose marriage failed, and she decided to go back to school. I believe she got her degree in the early 1990s, so factor that in as to the feasibility of that working today. She also had a very difficult time being accepted by her coworkers -- from what I heard, it was bordering on a hostile workplace situation -- but she persevered and was doing quite well. So it can be done.

While yours is a hypothetical, I am in the same boat. I'm 50, currently working as a freelancer, and just got turned down for another full-time position yesterday. I've made up my mind that school is out of the question for me. I'm not making neither the financial nor emotional investment in something that most likely will not pan out. I've been told to pursue jobs in fields where I have an interest -- iow, make my avocation my vocation, but right now I'm still pretty depressed and discouraged to do much of anything. I'm trying to look at this as a chance to explore new opportunties or (insert other happy euphenism here), but right now my mindset just isn't in the right place.

[supernova]

3. Probably sound like a heretic

But I think that you can have a second or third... fourth career. :P

But motivations matter, I think. I think you have to go into something because there is an intrinsic pleasure to it. You have to have an affinity for the work and then let the paychecks come. But simply going after a paycheck primarily doesn't work.

The church I used to attend, the minister was in her late 50s by the time I knew her. After spending most of her early adult life as an elementary school teacher, she got her MDiv. in her late 40s early 50s. She divorced, decided to become a minister. She found funding and raised her daughters while she went to grad school at Duke, not a cheap place. She said it was very difficult and at times and she wondered in her worst moments if it was worth it (while at school). But after serving at churches where she was the head of education and the assisstant minister, she finally found a church (us) that wanted her as the primary minister. That was her dream and she achieved it, even in mid-life. She finally retired from our church at around the age of 70. She only stopped then because her health was declining (diabetes related complications.) Otherwise, I think she would have kept going because she enjoyed working with people that much.

I think as we get older the idea of having meaningful work in our lives becomes more important. It gives us a great boost to getting up and getting out the door every morning.

Now, I know that school is a lot more expensive than it used to be and graduating with another degree with tens of thousands of debt can be daunting. I don't have an answer to that, but I will say that maybe more of us should look for alternative forms of training. :shrug:

Full disclosure: I'm in my late 40s and have already experienced some age discrimination (I have worked in IT). I am looking at totally changing careers by becoming a chef and candy maker. I need training and am trying to find cost effective ways to do that. My ultimate goal is run my own business so that I can have some control over what I do.

[raccoon]

4. That's how I'm feeling these days,

"I think as we get older the idea of having meaningful work in our lives becomes more important."

Sometimes I think my job will bore me out of my gourd. Then there are some things about it that are rewarding. And I remember I'm lucky to have a job.

If other people who are 40,50,60, whatever, change careers and are happy, kudos to them.

I only know for myself, I'm not going back for more expensive schooling. Even if someone else paid for it (most unlikely!) I don't know if I'd want to put forth the effort.

"Meaningful work" doesn't have to mean a job. Of course, we all need to pay our bills. What I mean is, if one has SS and some sort of retirement income, they could get into something rewarding to them, even if it isn't paid work.