What do I want to be when I grow up?

[Jackie]

I had figured I had a few years yet to decide this, but life circumstances change and this may need to happen more now-ish.

I haven’t worked in a good few years, so I’m basically starting over. I have a BA in psychology. College grades were not particularly good, so further education programs would be a challenge, plus while I like to learn I have really disliked formal schooling. My job history includes social services (managing a group home for at-risk teens and as a case manager and supervisor for CPS) and part-time massage therapy. I could return to either of these careers, but they don’t particularly appeal long term, and they don’t pay well. Really, my past education and work have little relationship to doing things I actually enjoy.

I’m good at analytical stuff. I like puzzling things out. I’m good with numbers but have no math education beyond calculus. I love statistics and probability. I work well with people, and generally prefer to have people around me in some way (when not in a pandemic, working from home has no appeal and sounds isolating). I can write decently enough for most careers, though I don’t love writing. I like science, but again, my education ends at a year of college bio and chemistry. Super high stress environments are not a great fit, though I work fine pressure when needed. Not sure what other information would be helpful.

Are there fields that are easier to get into that would be likely to appeal to me?

[Katy]

Look into data science. You need to know a little computer programming, a lot of analytics and statistics. It pays really well. Harvard University’s extension program has an open admission grad school.You just take a few classes with at least a B first.  You do typically have to spend a few weekends in Boston to do in-person seminars but I think they’ve waived on campus requirements for the remainder of this pandemic. 

[PeterPan]

You might google for career testing sites. There are some private and some run by states and they can be EXCELLENT. I did one with my dd where it gave you options like what the suggestions were for careers if you had a high school diploma, bachelors, masters, and so on. Ironically, dd's BEST paying job? Prison warden supervisor. I kid you not, lol. And 2nd place was high school english teacher. 

[PeterPan]

1 hour ago, Jackie said:

I could return to either of these careers, but they don’t particularly appeal long term, and they don’t pay well.

https://www.amazon.com/Do-What-You-Are-Personality/dp/031623673X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=do+what+you+are&qid=1610825743&s=books&sr=1-1  This book uses personality testing to help you understand yourself better. For some of the profiles, they say not mixing your love and work, that for those people they'll be more into their hobby and work will be more perfunctory, to earn money.

Is there any possibility you have ADHD?

I have at least two mid-40s friends now who have completely retrained after 20 some years in their fields using MAs in humanities, education, etc. One did a certificate program in a medical program to work in hospitals and the other was considering getting certified as an RBT (doing ABA in home). If you're open to certificate programs, that might open doors. You could then have the technical college do career testing for you to see what turns up. 

Me? My options would be work chik fil a (yum), get a grad degree and work as a BCBA or interventionist (good $$), or move to Orlando and work for Disney. (oh yeah)

But you, it doesn't sound like you really want to work. I mean, do you? If you don't and you just need money, why the career? Our Targets start at $15 an hour right now. High risk pay or something, lol. If you need more, then some kind of certificate so you could bump up a bit. Medical transcriptionist maybe? Would you enjoy working in an office? Maybe you'd like to hire yourself out as a tutor?

[Jackie]

58 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

 

But you, it doesn't sound like you really want to work. I mean, do you? If you don't and you just need money, why the career? Our Targets start at $15 an hour right now. High risk pay or something, lol. If you need more, then some kind of certificate so you could bump up a bit. Medical transcriptionist maybe? Would you enjoy working in an office? Maybe you'd like to hire yourself out as a tutor?

The personal circumstances changing my work timeline are not happy. They are probably shading my attitude, as is a lack of excitement about returning to my previous careers long term. It will be a long term need for employment, so I would honestly like to find something that fits better for me. I do not have ADHD, or at least I don’t think I do. I do have chronic depression and some anxiety, fairly well managed but which can sometimes present similarly to ADHD especially in regards to focus.

[wintermom]

Program evaluation might be a good fit. It's a combo of social science research and practical application of quantitative and qualitative research methods. You can use your people skills and math skills. There are on-line training programs through national associations (American Evaluation Association) or you can probably do a grad diploma at a college. This is the Grad Diploma I'm currently taking, and it's through my university's School of Psychology and Faculty of Education. 

[PeterPan]

2 minutes ago, Jackie said:

I do have chronic depression

How does that factor in? And are you getting treatment? I assume you are but I was asking anyway. 

If you do the career testing, at least the one they do at the colleges, it shows some breakdowns in ways I wouldn't have thought of. The name is so slipping my mind of the test. But it looked at categories like tech (working with your hands, hands on), artistic, mathematical, etc. So if you could even narrow it that far (I want to work with my hands, I want to push paper, I want to create), that could narrow it a bit. It seems like some kind of care giving could work for you. It's something I'm sure is in high demand right now and I think people who are well liked will be in high demand. 

Found it, it was the Strong Interest Inventory.

[Alicia64]

I apologize in advance if this doesn't interest you, but you only need to do a 2-year degree in college -- at a tech school -- to then sit for the certification for the Registered Nurse exam.

Just thought I'd toss out the idea.

Wendy

[Storygirl]

Check your local community college to see what training they offer for medical jobs. Phlebotomist, sonogram or ultrasound operator, PT or OT assistant, etc. They are jobs that would allow you to work with people and usually take only a year and a half or two years to complete the schooling, at a fairly low cost.

I'm sorry you are having a tough time. I hope you find something that you will end up enjoying.

[klmama]

54 minutes ago, Storygirl said:

Check your local community college to see what training they offer for medical jobs. Phlebotomist, sonogram or ultrasound operator, PT or OT assistant, etc. They are jobs that would allow you to work with people and usually take only a year and a half or two years to complete the schooling, at a fairly low cost.

If you go this route, be sure to find out if you have the prerequisites and if there is a waiting list for the program you want. I know someone who thought she'd get an LPN degree in two years, but it took a year to take all the prerequisites and then she had a two year wait before being accepted into the program.  

[Miss Tick]

The College Motherlode thread pinned at the top of the College board has a number of threads and resources linked under career exploration. That might be a good place to start. I just started the process with my high schoolers, but I'm doing it too to see if anything sparks my interest for post home schooling.

💕 📨 Lori D.!

[domestic_engineer]

4 hours ago, Jackie said:

The personal circumstances changing my work timeline are not happy. They are probably shading my attitude, as is a lack of excitement about returning to my previous careers long term. It will be a long term need for employment, so I would honestly like to find something that fits better for me.

Hugs to you as you go through a tough time.   You have a college degree, which only 30-ish percent of people in our nation have. So I think that’s an advantage for you!  Also from your posts in the past, I see you as a problem solver and one who is willing to research for solutions, and I think those traits would make you stand out from others.  

Something else to consider to help narrow down job ideas would be if you like doing repetitive, follow-a-process work or if you want each encounter/project to be different than the last. 

What about Pharmaceutical sales?  If you’re close to a college campus, maybe look at manager or assistant jobs of research clinics. Informatics used to be an up-and-coming field, but I don’t know if it still is.