Looking to draw on your knowledge and experience in regards to schooling and careers

Hello!

So, I'll give you my situation to make this a bit better. I'm a mining engineering student who is going to graduate at the end of april. At least that's how things look right now. The economy sucks. Really bad. It's a bit worse for me for finding a job because a lot of companies spread themselves too thin during the boom time and are fighting hard to rid themselves of the debt they've incurred from multiple acquisitions and increased costs. Long story short there are not a lot of opportunities for me for jobs and so far I haven't succeeded in any of the interviews I've had (like 3 or 4).

It's beginning to look like I won't get the job I was planning on having at the end of this year. I am considering going back to school for either a masters (unlikely as I'm not too interested in this) or for a second undergrad degree which is a bit more towards what I want to do with my life.

Sorry if this gets long, I feel I need to explain where I'm coming from!

My plan is/was to be an engineer for a few years, like 5-10 or something and to continue my education in regards to child psychology and development. I wanted to look into music therapy and animal therapy as well in relation to children with developmental disabilities. My end goal is to run a foster home/orphanage of some sort and care for kids with developmental disabilities and help them.

What the heck do I take to get into this field? Does anyone out there have any suggestions on programs I should consider signing on with? I can probably get a 2nd undergrad pretty easily as I am banking on being able to count my credits in engineering towards further education. Any suggestions. thoughts or criticisms? Lay them on me please!

Also, I quite possibly may have missed appplication deadlines, but that's not something to worry about at the moment as I'll find some way of dealing with that situation.

I'm in Canada by the way. Thanks for your thoughts!

Well, if you're looking at therapy, I'd recommend Psychology, obviously. However, you could get your MA in Music Therapy or something and cut to the chase. There are loads of undergrad psych classes that are going to be unnecessary and in my opinion, you'd just be wasting your time.

PM me though if you're interested in the Music Therapy Master's route. There was a university I went to check out in regards to an Art Therapy program and I'm pretty sure they had Music Therapy as well. Also, Ive worked in the field you're interested in. I'd be more than willing to discuss what my experience was like.

Seems to me that Music Therapy, in this economy, would be the nail in the coffin of your hopes of an even barely lucrative career.  I don't know what's going on in Canada, but in the US all we're hearing about is schools cutting programs left and right, including limiting library hours because they can't afford to staff it. 

Don't get me wrong, I think it's an admirable choice, but not exactly recession-proof.   If you've got a background in engineering, the places to look into are those working in sustainable/renewable energy resources. 

3-4 interviews is a drop in the bucket.  I'd say you shouldn't consider yourself unsuccessful until you've gotten like 20 rejections. 

Down here in the US, at least with civil engineers in my workplace, we pay non-PEs much less as an incentive for them to get their licenses (which then gets them a pay boost higher than other types of jobs...they start off lower, then end up higher once they pass the PE exams).  Not sure how it is with mining engineers.

Why didn't you just go for the child psychology/music therapy stuff from the get-go?  In my experience, it's better to shoot for the dream job from the start, so I'd go that route as soon as possible.  I don't know how things work in Canada, but you may be screwing yourself retirement-wise by putting off your "real" career.

Original Post by echoroc:

Seems to me that Music Therapy, in this economy, would be the nail in the coffin of your hopes of an even barely lucrative career.  I don't know what's going on in Canada, but in the US all we're hearing about is schools cutting programs left and right, including limiting library hours because they can't afford to staff it. 

 

He wouldn't be working at a school as a music therapist. He'd be working with a social services organization (working with troubled youth). 

dave, there are a few different routes you can take that will get you where you want to be (keeping in mind that you may not get specific clinical skills like music therapy, play therapy, during the degree; that's stuff that you can always pick up in week-long intensives once you're working).

uvic has a child and youth worker program that has a great reputation.  i've worked with a few people who've done their bachelor's there and have never heard a complaint.  it's quite hands-on and clinically-based.

psychology sounds great in theory, but an undergrad in psych doesn't really get you into clinical work.  it could probably get you an entry-level support worker position, but your earning potential would be very limited without a masters.

or you could take the route i have and do a two-year master's in social work.  the two-year programs (ubc has one now; i'm at unbc, as you know) are designed for people with bachelor's in other fields, so your engineering background wouldn't be a problem.  programs usually require a minimum of 2 years of related experience (employed, volunteer, or personal).  in my opinion, this is the best bang for your buck in terms of earning potenial.

Sorry I didn't respond sooner but I had my thesis presentation due yesterday and was swamped, and then relaxed.

Well, with Music therapy I'm interested in how it works and such (I've got a good friend who does it now, she did her bachelor's in it) but I wasn't interested in making that my career. I want to do social work, and perhaps even the administration of such things and use music therapy as a tool to improve the lives of the children (and perhaps animal therapy as well). It's something that I imagine I would need to be a lot better at guitar to do.

If I did psychology it would end up being really interesting but I would feel like I was stalling my entry into the working world more than anything else...

I wasn't planning on completely changing career streams, as in I want to get my P Eng designation. I was going to do all of this extra schooling later on as I grew up and further developed my ideas. I appreciate the 3 - 4 interview comment, it makes me happier. The problem right now is finding more places which are hiring to get interviews with!

Dnroth - I didn't really develop the desire until last year. I went out to work for a year and a half and I enjoyed it but found that it wasn't something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So I thought about it and decided that I should go through with my dream of running an orphanage and here I am trying to work my way towards it. I figured, 1 year left in the degree, so I should go through with it.

PGeorgian - I really like the social worker program. Is this something I can find out online? I've got some experience with kids in these situations. I've been volunteering once a week with 2-5 year olds with developmental disabilities and behavioural problems. I've worked with kids in the past for a couple of years of high school to teach them German, 4-6 year olds. I do an hour weekly with Big Brothers in school mentoring with an 11 year old and on weekends I meet with a friend I met through a volunteer organization and just hang out. He's 26 with a developmental disability, but it's barely noticeable. I imagine I can use all but the last one as admission criteria, but what do you think? I'm going to look into this.

Is there anything shorter? 2 years if a lot of time.

Thanks for the responses, I really appreciate your thoughts.

dave, my school is moving more toward on-line delivery (the university's mandate is partly geared toward northern and remote students and communities).  i think they're planning to be ready to deliver the MSW program completely online within a year or two.  i don't think it's ideal, to tell you the truth, but it is convenient.

i'm sure you can find a bachelor's program that you can complete in less than two years, but if you can get a master's, why wouldn't you?

but i should tell you that almost nobody completes the two-year program in two years.  i'm finishing in eight semesters, and i've been faster than anyone in my cohort, and faster than some who started the one-year program at the same time.  it's intensive (66 credits, including a 9-credit practicum and 12-credit thesis.  that's a little lighter than it was for me; the thesis used to be worth only 9 credits, so i had to take one more course).  it's an investment, but worth it if it's what you want.

with your volunteer experience, i have no doubt that you'd get in.  browse around the program site and see if you can find a prof whose interests mesh with yours ;)