Thoughts on Education Later in Life

[yellow]

Anyone here decide to go back to college or through what I will call "retraining" while in their mid- to late 40s and beyond?

Why did you do it?

Would you do it again?

What was the hardest part?

What were your biggest "But" thoughts and how did you smack them down? (e.g., "But I don't want to work for another 25 years!" or "But I don't want to go back to only having 2 weeks of vacation!" or "But it would be so easy to stay in this sh!tty job that I hate for another 10 years than to retrain to work for another 20 years!"--you get the idea)

Thanks in advance, from someone who really, really, really needs to move on but is ch!ckensh!t.

[shootingstar]

I'm sure Crankin will offer advice.

My greatest respect for you in considering retraining or full-time (?) studies program! (I think my appetite for full-time college or university studies is abit zapped at this time.)
What do you have in mind?

As for the questions: "But I don't want to work for another 25 years!" or "But I don't want to go back to only having 2 weeks of vacation!"

May I comment: I'm 54, and hope to work until 65. And yes, I did have some jobs where I only had 2 wks. of vacation. This is what happens when there are boomers who did have a varied career with several different employers for full-time jobs, but didn't build up decades of retirement pensionable years for 1 employer. For myself personally, if I hadn't switched employers (in a semi-calculated way) + take several part-time courses, I would have learned a lot less, at a less faster pace.

Whatever it is that you choose to do, be passionate about it.

[Crankin]

Three things:
DH went back to finish his Bachelors degree when a) we had just bought our first home b) we had our first child when he was in his last year, and c) he sold his business and took a 50% pay cut to get a "professional" job. Was it worth it? He would say yes, unqualified, yes. Sure, we suffered financially for awhile, but without it, he never would be where he is now. Our lives would have been totally different.

I went back to school to get a second master's and start a new career when I was 55. I was making in the high five figures as a teacher and only needed to work a couple of more years to retire. I quit, took my pension $ and invested it myself. I had the luxury of not having to work while I went to school full time for 3 years, in a very intense program in clinical mental health counseling that included 2 years of internship. I had no issues with the work/academic part of school, as I have been in school all of my life. But, my first master's did not require the degree of writing and collaborative group work; it was memorize, a little bit of research, and study for comprehensive exams.
You have to learn to prioritize. I made the decision not to give up other things (like cycling) and those were the things that kept me sane. I wanted to quit about half way through, but once I registered for my last year, I knew it was smooth sailing. I am making slave wages, but now, after 5.3 years, I am about to be fully licensed. This will let me continue working on a flexible schedule, on my terms as long as I can talk and write!

My son left college after 1.5 years to join the military. He is super smart, but no one could stop him. He is now, after 9 years, back in school and loving it, and appreciating it so much more. He is very focused. He will be about 30 when he finishes and he feels way more able to deal with the stress of school.

[Blueberry]

So I'm a bit earlier than you are in age, but have chosen a *very* long path. I have a BA, and a JD. I practiced law for almost 9 years. I wasn't happy, and I really didn't think there would be a happy place for me in law after a lot of soul searching. At 34, I started taking pre-medical classes. I'm more than half way done with the pre-med requirements now. I apply to med school next year. I will be 45-46 when I finish residency. I do not have *any* regrets now. I would rather do this and have 15 happy years working than to have the 20-25 years in a career I wasn't passionate about.

I was worried about losing more than 10 years in the workforce, and the impact of that on my retirement. But....I'll be making a higher salary as a doc - so it should all even out. DH and I have also made a lot of decisions (like selling our house) that make the finances work now. We are setting up good spending habits that we intend to keep - and the plan is to live well beneath our means so that we will still be able to save sufficiently for retirement. It's how we want to live anyway (smaller house, not an extravagant life at all).

My biggest concern was that my DH will likely have to hold off on any college-type things until I am done, and the strain that might put on our relationship. We have had several honest talks, and he is OK with the situation. He is also not 100% sure what he wants to do at the moment, so that helps. He also works in academia, so he is involved in research in his field, even if he isn't in school.

I was also worried that I would fail organic chemistry. That didn't happen, thankfully!

[salsabike]

I went through graduate school a second time when I was in my early 40s, having gotten somewhat burned out by school psychology. Since about '94, I have split between the two occupations (school psych and workforce/economic development policy research), and it's saved my sanity by allowing me to have two really diverse kinds of work, both of which I like in quite different ways. I would absolutely do it again.

The hardest part was being a poor grad student again. I didn't have any second thoughts, really, and I really loved learning totally new stuff that I was really interested in (international political economy, labor economics, stuff like that). Did an internship at a UN agency in Geneva and had to take out a bank loan to do it, but loved every minute.

But Chris DOES have standing orders to shoot me if I propose going back to school again. Actually, I love school except for all. those. papers.

What are you thinking about doing?

There's a lot to be said for enjoying what you do at work. Worth the pre-work to get there, for me.

[ACG]

Yellow
Whatever you decide to do, good luck to you.
I got married young, worked and had 2 kids. I sporadically took college classes at night. I have moved up in my 'career', changed employers several times, raised 2 kids, divorced, re-married, become a grandmother and now am the mom again of an 11 year old step daughter. I've been very lucky in my chosen career and am in a pretty great job right now. Most people here think I have a degree by the way. I never volunteer the information to them.

My spouse is very very supportive and encouraging. So I am back at night college, taking algebra! I have many units so it is just a matter of time before I can transfer to a 4year university.

Why did you do it? Well because in my career I was turned down many times for promotions because I didn't have a degree. I have been told this in almost every position I've had, by lawyers, by accountants and by engineers. You don't have a degree, so you can't make more money and can't have this promotion. I had to work my way up to be a manager.

Would you do it again? I'm doing it now, so yes. It is a life goal at this point.

What was the hardest part? There are two answers, one, the time away from my family. Two, having to deal with taking classes that are a pre-requisete to another class, that you really only need to get into yet another class.

I'm 52, by the way.

Again, good luck to you.

[GLC1968]

I think you know my story, so I'll try to be brief.

First degree was a BA in Sociology and I spent 7-8 years in retail management. Quit at 30, started bartending and had no idea what was next. I was single, debt free and had the freedom to decide. I ended up with a BSEE and an MSEE in a highly specialized field (that has been booming in recent years). I worked as an engineer for 8 years and then struggled with my choice. I *almost* went back to school for veterinary medicine (at 43) but landed my current job instead. Currently I am the college program manager for my company. I am a liaison between the technical and the non-technical in a hi-tech industry. I like that I get to combine skill sets from both previous careers into one...for now.

I expected that this job would be short-lived when I took it. I mean, I could stay where I am until I retire, but I don't really have the desire to do that. My plan is to work in this role for another couple of years (to finish creating this program and to make myself obsolete so that I can move on to something else). As I plan for this, getting an MBA is high on my list of possibilities for my next step. I hesitate not because of my age (45 now) or any fear of the academic challenges, but because of finances. When we sold our farm last year, the plan was for us to retire in about 10 years (at 55) and farm again. If I do an MBA that'll shift our finances quite a bit and might require us to delay retirement. I need to decide if it is worth it at this point in my career. Will the MBA do that much for me or not? I'm in the research stage of this decision right now.

Anyway, my advice is to really weigh the options. When it comes to a full on career change (like I did at 30), it was 100% worth it. No question about it. BUT (and it's a pretty big BUT), make absolutely sure you are choosing the new career for the right reasons. I don't think I did and there was a time there where regret was pretty dang high. What are the right reasons? I can't say. The wrong ones are really any reason that stems from your dissatisfaction with your current career/job. Don't let what you don't like now influence your future. Choose your path based on what you truly want to do, not on what you want to avoid.

To answer some of your questions:

Why did I do it? I saw no future in my job at the time and I really wanted a totally different career path.
Would I do it again? Yes - but I might have made some different choices. Timing was right, the impulse was right, but my decision-making algorithm was wrong. No regrets now though as it has all worked out for the best.
What was the hardest part? Living as a broke student after having been fairly 'well-off'. This is the biggest hurdle for me about business school, too.

Sometimes it's important to feel the fear and do it anyway.

[Crankin]

Not to get off topic, but GLC, my DH decided against getting an MBA. He is probably the only living person in Massachusetts without a graduate degree, in the type of position he has. He could be the prof in the management classes. He didn't want to give up the time. I suggested he might do it now, so when he retires, he can teach (he would be awesome), but he said he'd rather work in the hardware store in Concord Center!

[Skippyak]

Not to get off topic, but GLC, my DH decided against getting an MBA. He is probably the only living person in Massachusetts without a graduate degree, in the type of position he has. He could be the prof in the management classes. He didn't want to give up the time. I suggested he might do it now, so when he retires, he can teach (he would be awesome), but he said he'd rather work in the hardware store in Concord Center!

I think MBAs have been seen as a big waste of time for many in the last 10 yrs. It would behoove anyone to do due diligence before laying down cash.

[GLC1968]

I think MBAs have been seen as a big waste of time for many in the last 10 yrs. It would behoove anyone to do due diligence before laying down cash.

I do think that varies greatly by position and industry. In my case, an MBA would be evidence that I have more than just the technical knowledge/background. Every member of higher management in our corporation (and perhaps our industry) has a technical degree AND some type of business degree. It is hard to be taken seriously as a non-engineer without it. (There's a switch, huh?)

That said, its usefulness will somewhat depend on my specific path which is why I still have a lot of research to do. There are roles I could do that I would probably enjoy where an MBA would be unnecessary, so I need to chose my path before I choose my degree (for the first time in my life!!).

[Crankin]

Yeah, for my DH, it's sort of the opposite. He has a BS in Business (Computer Info Systems), and he is in charge of 300 engineers. He does have a lot of technical knowledge, but he's the business guy who keeps the engineers on track with their business skills, which is more of their role because they are customer facing people, who work with sales people. I can see how an MBA would be useful for you, GLC.

[Pax]

Kind of an opposite view. I decided not to go back to school, I'm 53.

My job is very dead end, I don't hate it but it certainly isn't where I thought I'd end up. In my 30's and 40's I was a mental health clinician, in order to move up within my agency I needed a specific masters degree... I gave it long hard thought but in the end decided I really didn't like school so wasn't going that route. Instead I left my career and went civil service at a university library. The job is basically mindless but it pays well, I have excellent benefits, and am up to almost five weeks of vacation. If I was looking at having to stay here until age 65 I'd lose my mind, but I can go at 58 so I'll stick it out.

[shootingstar]

A hubby of friend has a VP position for national financial organization. He doesn't have certification as an accountant which is incredible because I know how competitive that sector can be for moving upward --at least in the big accounting global firms since I worked for one.

So he is like Crankin's hubby --probably with great people skills combined with communication skills for complex, higher business problems. But doesn't have the additional 2nd/3rd degree as expected.

In my personal opinion, there is a difference between engineers and engineers with MBA. I work with several of them that have either combination, plus my partner has engineering degree + MBA. (He took 7 years to complete MBA on a part-time evening course basis). Clearly to move out of engineering technical work, it helps to have at least a non-technical degree. Dearie's complaint has been for pure engineers, they are trained to view business problems and solutions from a technical perspective. At least in Canada, the university programs for mandatory coursework are heavy and demand technical understanding.

Pax, I never worked in university libraries. For anyone in a profession, it can be better to start off as jack of trades in 1 job role that blends customer service, client group training, management, technical design/evaluation and staff supervision. I've had several jobs where like this, and it's kept me hopping and learning (alot) but I've been able to parlay any of those work activities for more specialized roles across different industries.

So making a decision to switch employers, can be significant for some people.

[yellow]

Pax, for the same reason I am thinking about what I will call "vocational" training--that is, not college. I've spent many years just using brain skills. As time goes on (and I tire of the corporate environment and all of its expectations), I am leaning toward something that requires brain AND what I call "hand skills". I think that combination will be better for my soul, which has been sucked dry.

I know I'd take a huge salary hit, and one of my big concerns is how this would affect my hubby, who is the best guy in the world, and our lifestyle. It would take some creative accounting in the beginning, to be sure, but I could certainly adjust. I have a lot to think about, and it's good to hear about others' experiences.

FWIW, I tried to leave my current industry once and it was a dramatic failure (mostly because of finances, but I also did not have a good plan).

[Pax]

Yellow - what sort of retraining are you considering?

If I had it to do over again I'd have followed a trade, I enjoy working with my hands... but now I'm too old and busted up to go that route. So, I'll sit here bored for a while longer.