Continuing Education Advice & Career Thread

[The Huddler]

Become a nurse practitioner like I will be. A BS isn't enough for this stud. Sent from my XT1055 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[Paintballr]

I have 11 years on you and can easily say not going to college and getting a degree is one of my biggest regrets.

They just open so many doors.

Have you ran into a situation where you are applying for a job you want or pormotion potential and you felt because of the lack of a degree kept you from it?

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[Jackofalltrades]

Become a nurse practitioner like I will be. A BS isn't enough for this stud. Sent from my XT1055 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

My wife was a RN with a full ride to Wake for the PA program and came up one semester (clinicals) short due to a complicated pregnancy.

[Jackofalltrades]

Have you ran into a situation where you are applying for a job you want or pormotion potential and you felt because of the lack of a degree kept you from it?

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Without a doubt, on more than one occasion.

[The Saltman]

My wife has been an RN for 10 years now. If you can do a job like that then more power to you. It's an easy field to get into if you have the degree and the money is really good.

My wife makes double my hourly rate. I work 5 days a week and she works the weekends. She makes $20000 more than I do a year. It's not an easy job at all but if you want to make good money in any field you have to bust your ass and this is one of those fields that if you do, you can go far salary wise.

[Jackofalltrades]

If you want to make a ton of money in nursing get your BSN and then become a CRNA, Nurse Anesthetist.

[The Saltman]

That's true. If I was younger and wanted to be in the medical field I would have been an anesthesiologist. That's where the money is at, although it's very difficult to get in those schools.

[PandaPancake]

I'm going on information about twenty years old. I was looking to become a programmer way back before there were women on the internet. When asking around trying to focus on what I should take in school I was always told they prefer math degrees over programming degrees. Any truth to that?

 

And become an Engineer and you can do almost anything you want except heart surgery.

[The Saltman]

Not true. But math is a big part to computer science.

[Jeff L]

I have a CIS degree and could not find a job after retiring from the Air Force. Decided to follow my lifelong dream if being a teacher and am in my last semester of school. I student teach in the fall and wi graduate I'm December. Will I ever make a lot of money? Nope. But I will be doing something I have always wanted to do! I will be 45 and starting a new career and am scared to death!

[Chimera]

My wife was a RN with a full ride to Wake for the PA program and came up one semester (clinicals) short due to a complicated pregnancy.

there are still accredited associates and bachelors degree PA schools around.

[MadHatter]

That's true. If I was younger and wanted to be in the medical field I would have been an anesthesiologist. That's where the money is at, although it's very difficult to get in those schools.

 

Not to mention that the liability insurance for an anesthesiologist is ridiculously high.

 

Anyone going into the medical field should look into being a radiologist.  They made serious coin, have much less stress than most doctors, and technology has made it possible to work remotely from the hospital during the graveyard shift. 

[MadHatter]

I have a CIS degree and could not find a job after retiring from the Air Force. Decided to follow my lifelong dream if being a teacher and am in my last semester of school. I student teach in the fall and wi graduate I'm December. Will I ever make a lot of money? Nope. But I will be doing something I have always wanted to do! I will be 45 and starting a new career and am scared to death!

 

Good luck to you my friend....you will have our future in your hands.

[Anybodyhome]

I have 3 undergrad degrees and none of them have ever been mentioned in a job search/interview process. The experience of 20 years in the Navy, leading divisions of anywhere from 30-120 people and spending nearly my entire career at sea are all that I needed to get my face in front of someone. What does this mean to most? The fact is at some point your practical experience becomes the primary factor in the hiring process while the degree(s) means dick.

 

The second point I'd like to mention is once an individual decides on a career path, has the education and degree, the job hunt/hiring process starts. And one of the biggest mistakes I see when people start this entire process is they do not want to move where the jobs are. I lived for 13 years in a small Virginia town where the unemployment rate has been the highest in the state for over a decade (20+%). Do you have any idea how many families and kids I knew who went off to school at Va Tech, Radford, James Madison, UVA, etc. only to come back to Martinsville after school and end up living with Mom & Dad because they can't find work? If you're going to make the sacrifice and effort to get the necessary education for your chosen career path, don't you think planning to move to where the jobs are should be part of that process as well?

 

When I retired from the Navy, I knew I could not afford to live in San Diego any longer if I opted not to go back to work immediately following my Navy career. It was getting very crowded and expensive and I was single. I almost literally threw a dart at a map and had the Navy move me across the country to NC a year before I retired. Here I could easily afford to take my time and regroup as I learned how to live as a civilian at the age of 38. Try doing that sometime... 38 years old and literally start looking for a job for the first time in my adult life. 

 

1. Education/experience

2. Be willing to move to where the jobs are