Project: Phase II

[Moxie]

If you've been keeping a speadsheet of my life, you'll know that I'm at an intersection. In one year, all my kids will be in school and I'll be 40ish. I haven't worked in 15 years and I have no idea what to do with myself. I vacillate between euphoric with the opportunities, mourning my youth and terrified of failure. I'm feeling good right now so I'm going with it!!

 

I know from many threads that I am not alone.

 

So, I'm starting Project: Phase II and I'm inviting you to join me.

 

As I said, I have no idea what direction I'll go but I know I need more computer skills. I'm going to work on Excel, Photoshop, some coding. Maybe Quicken? What else?

 

I also need to finish a massive declutter of my house that is about half finished. I have some projects around the house I want to finish as well.

 

So, who will join me in this year long journey??

[Tita Gidge]

If you've been keeping a speadsheet of my life, you'll know that I'm at an intersection. In one year, all my kids will be in school and I'll be 40ish. I haven't worked in 15 years and I have no idea what to do with myself. I vacillate between euphoric with the opportunities, mourning my youth and terrified of failure. I'm feeling good right now so I'm going with it!!

 

I know from many threads that I am not alone.

 

So, I'm starting Project: Phase II and I'm inviting you to join me.

 

As I said, I have no idea what direction I'll go but I know I need more computer skills. I'm going to work on Excel, Photoshop, some coding. Maybe Quicken? What else?

 

I also need to finish a massive declutter of my house that is about half finished. I have some projects around the house I want to finish as well.

 

So, who will join me in this year long journey??

 

What an exciting time for you!

 

I haven't worked in a few years, but at the time we were still looking for skills with PowerPoint, too. I don't know if that's still relevant? Excel was the other biggie. Being familiar with social media platforms was also valued.

 

I'm rounding the corner on 40, too, but we're adding two babies to the family this fall. If it were a game of Chutes & Ladders, you'd be at the top of that really high ladder waving your hands in excitement about this new chapter in your life. If you look down, you'll see me; I'm the kid crying at the bottom of the very long slide, having to unexpectedly start all over again.

 

What projects are you working on around the house?

[Rosie_0801]

I'm developing a product that I'll have to learn to sell. This is a really weird and foreign idea for me.

[bettyandbob]

 

I haven't worked in a few years, but at the time we were still looking for skills with PowerPoint, too. I don't know if that's still relevant? Excel was the other biggie. Being familiar with social media platforms was also valued.

 

i

My review if a variety of entry level jobs shows familiarity with a variety of Microsoft applications (Windows, PowerPoint, Access, and Word) valued and skill with Excel important. I'm about to begin a review of all applications and push myself to be a master of Excel. I found a few online sites that will give me accessto the programs for a limited time so I don't have to buy them, some library systems also do this, and my district adult ed has classes in these skills fairly inexpensively.

 

So, yes having these skills is still relevant.

 

Social media management is another this. I might tackle that after feel good about Excel.

[DawnM]

Best wishes to you.

 

I am not the computer person, so I will just cheer you on.

 

But I am returning to work after being out 11 years.  I worked in 2007 for 6 months, but it was clear my Aspie needed me home, so I came back home at that time.  

[Jenny in Florida]

So, who will join me in this year long journey??

 

I'm a little farther along the path, having brushed up my computer skills and returned to paid work about two years ago. (I was also older than you by almost a decade when I made that move.)

 

After flailing a bit, I found myself in a job I really like with an institution at which I think I can happily stay until retirement. However, having been there several months, I've pretty much found my feet and am already feeling a bit restless (a life-long pattern of mine). So, I'm launching my own "project" of intentionally enriching my educational and professional life. I don't know yet how -- or whether -- any of this will eventually pay off in terms of career advancement, but I just feel like I "need" it, and I have the hazy idea that taking these steps may help me be ready if/when a new opportunity presents.

 

So, I'm starting with a specific plan for just the next couple of months and a somewhat fuzzier idea of where to go from there.

 

For August, I'm joining my daughter's 30 for 30 Career Challenge (http://broketastic.blogspot.com/2016/07/30-for-30-career-challenge.html), using that to encourage myself to finally finish up the self-study I'm doing for a CLEP exam I've been theoretically preparing for for several months. The plan is to schedule the exam for the end of August.

 

Once that's done, I plan to register for a continuing education course offered through a local community college. The course is six weeks long and doesn't offer academic credit, but the cost is affordable, and the topic relates to my new-ish job and is of interest to me.

 

If that goes well, there are at least two more courses through the same provider that I might take to finish off the fall semester.

 

On an entirely separate track, I'm trying to negotiate a way to get my very old student loans out of default so that I can pry my official transcripts out of the university from which I graduated. If I can accomplish that, I hope to enroll in a certificate program at the same community college that would sort of formalize and expand on some skills I already have in an area that interests me.

 

If the student loan/transcript thing turns out to be impossible or too long-term to make college enrollment feasible this year, I may look seriously at some other kind of formal, but not "academic," certification program.

[Denisemomof4]

I am not a computer person At All, but I always thought I'd volunteer when I was done with kids, take my dogs on long walks and hikes, take them to the beach, spoil all the animals on my rescue farm, etc.  I also had a dream of sharing my rescue farm with Downs Syndrome people and allowing those who wanted to to help with barn chores and care of the animals to do so.  Then one evening I was looking for something on Craigslist, who knows what I searched for, but a job description came up for a respite provider for a woman in her 30's.  I ended up calling on the job out of curiosity, never really intending to work, and have been providing respite in my home for the special needs population for 3.5 years now, with the focus being that people come to my home for animal therapy.  This turned in to me having someone live with us full time, someone with a panic disorder among other diagnosis, who finds GREAT therapeutic comfort in my animals.   I still provide respite services, too.  The original woman I read about on Craigslist has been coming to my home for 3.5 years now!  This all just kind of fell in my lap.  I went from a woman without a college degree, a stay at home mom for 22.5 years, to making more money than I ever dreamed possible - doing what I love to do!  My two biggest passions in life are animals and the special needs population.  I first started to work with SN kids at the age of 16.

 

So for me, everything just kind of fell into my lap.  I couldn't be happier!

 

 

 

[JumpyTheFrog]

I am taking some classes at the community college this fall. The classes I am taking are being offered in 8 week formats, so by mid-December I will have completed a four course certificate in different field than my bachelor's degree. I plan to continue and complete an associate's degree (the first four courses will all apply), but we'll see how I like the courses first and how my schedule works out. I am already stuck at the gym for 12.5 hours per week, so at least I will be able to use the time to study.

 

I am also starting a side hustle selling used goods online. I hope to have enough inventory in the next few weeks to begin listing and shipping items.

 

I am glad you are posting about this again. These threads are the kick-in-the-pants I need.