Should I spend $$$ to go back to school?

I am really stuck.  I have been working as a glorified secretary for almost 3 years and it's sucking the life out of me.  I graduated from college in 05 with a BA in Psych and have been looking for a career in health/human services ever since, but the only openings offered to me pay so little that I wouldn't be able to pay my mortgage or car payment (and trust me, my expenses are VERY LOW, but if you are familiar with how little these fields pay you understand).

I don't know what to do. I thought about taking up some business classes or even going for a MBA (I do have a lot of experience workng in a small family business) however I just have NO PASSION for the field.  Sure, making a lot of money would be sweet, but the whole job satisfaction would be out the window.  It's fine for others, but I really want to be in a field where I can help someone.

If I continued in Psych and got my master's, the pay would still not out-weigh the debt from school.

I always saw myself working in a hospital or college/university.  I am starting classes in the fall to become certified as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor, but obvisouly, that wont help pay the bills much more. 

After learning about foods and staying healthy for life throughout my weightloss, I have been really interested in becoming a registered dietician, but I would probably have to move to find a career in that field, but I could work in a hospital.  Honestly, I'd love to be a nurse, but blood makes me pass out...

Anyways, I'm just really stuck and I know the economy is bad, so I am sooooo grateful to have a job, but I feel like I'm going backwards and my career is never going to begin.

Has anyone felt this way? What did you do? How did you overcome feeling irrelivent in the working world? I just want to do good and help others, but I can't do that if I can't help myself in the process.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Healthcare is one of the best career areas right now -- so-called recession-proof.

In general, borrowing to pay for school is an investment that will pay off long term.

When i went back to school, I worked full time, went to grad school full time, was a single mom, on the board of a charitable organization, and volunteered in a couple of other local groups.

So, it can be done.

I did burn out, and almost 4 years later, I'm just getting back to normal.  But I did get a better job and a better salary. And better working hours and better benefits.

If you only borrow the absolute minimum that you need to cover costs and don't borrow as much as they offer you, it should be worth it.

I think the field of nutrition is very interesting too! 

good luck making your decision!

I say yes.

I am at almost the exact point in my life but I got a job in my field and have been so jaded by design and print (dying industry) and the pay. I have no passion for what I thought I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It is a horrible feeling. I am at the point where the prospect of making more money outweighs absolute job satisfaction.

I recently decided to apply for grad school to get either my MBA with an emphasis in HR Management or simply a Masters in HR Management. I researched the job market through the government's occupational outlook handbook and landed on HR. Job prospects look nearly as great as the healthcare industry. Have you considered HR? It may not be exactly what you're looking for but the jobs are there and you'd get to deal with employee grievances, amongst other things. I worked in HR during college and remembered I actually enjoyed it..at least enough. And that's what matters to me right now. Enjoy it enough, make more money.

One thing I have heard in regards to studying nutrition is that the field is very saturated right now. I'm not sure if it has become a recent trend or not but my bestfriend's sister in law got her degree in nutrition and found it really hard to find jobs within hospitals because that seems to be the most desired position. 

www.bls.gov/oco/ocos077.htm there is a link from the government website in regards to jobs in the nutrition field. 

And I hear you about the economy but to be honest I am quite sick of getting beat over the head with "Well, at least you have a job." Well, it's simply not good enough for me anymore. And I have to do what I need to in order to improve my quality of life and I think you should too. I've already got loans out and I know I'll be piling more on top of those but I can't sit idly by in the comfort of what my life is right now. I went to school so I didn't have to live paycheck to paycheck. 

And also, if you do go ahead with the MBA and aren't completely in love with what you do to pay the bills you could always volunteer to help people in your free time, right?

Hope this helps. I know it's a long response!

i also say "yes."

but then, it would cause me a great deal of cognitive dissonance right now if i didn't say "yes."

Original Post by melindastl:

 Have you considered HR? It may not be exactly what you're looking for but the jobs are there and you'd get to deal with employee grievances, amongst other things. I worked in HR during college and remembered I actually enjoyed it..at least enough. And that's what matters to me right now. Enjoy it enough, make more money.

If you went this route, I'd suggest a Master's in I/O Psych. It would be easy to get your PhD later and teach at a uni if that was the route you wanted to go. My ex-roommate got his Master's in I/O and had no problems landing a job.

I also have a degree in Psych. Pretty much a waste. I'm not necessarily interested in going the route I had planned when I chose Psych as my major-- which is why I'm wasting my life away teaching English overseas. haha

of all the people i know who are in grad school, probably half of them have psych undergrad degrees.  guess how many are doing their graduate work in psych?

hahaha probably zero.

I would still like to get my PhD in psych but I have other plans in the meantime. I think I can still make them both work together.  However, several people I know from undegrad got the Master's in psych or counseling... albeit not a large percentage, maybe 25%.

Just a tid bit of information for every two years of professional years of work experience (proven and documented -job reviews) counts as 1 year of college.  I'd say put together a nice resume, first and see where that lands you.  Also get a few letters of recommendation from people who know your work, how you have helped and keep at your finger tips, your job reviews.

I hope this information proves to be useful.

Take care and Good luck.

God Bless.

Working three years as a secretary isn't going to get her a job in some random, unrelated field. In the same field, sure. 

Exactly! I have tons of work experience...IN BUSINESS, but I'm trying to get out of that.
Thanks for your help EVERYONE! :)  I really appreciate it!  I think I'm going to go for nutritionism. I know it's getting harder to land a job...but what other options do I have...

I TOTALLY understand what you are going through. I am the best damn executive assistant in my company but BOY do I want to pull my hair out at the end of the day. If it tells you anything, I am on calorie count all day long. My “executive” the 80 year old owner of the company who works 50% of the time from another office. So I decided to go back to school starting this summer for nursing to reach my long time goal of hospital administration. I would rather be stressing over studying and tests then if my boss will get a discount on the flowers for his house. ACKKKKKKKKKK!!!!! I say go back to school to better yourself!

I am not returning to school, but going for the first time. Entering summer of my freshman year.

Just thought I'd chime in to say, I'm studying nutrition and it's very interesting! The only downside is, you need to take a lot of the high fail rate classes: Chemistry I, Organic Chemistry, and Biology. I wouldn't recommend taking more than one of those 3 classes in one semester... space it out. :)

Thanks for the tip on classes. I have taken those before, and didn't do too well, however, I am older now and find classes much more interesting.  I think I can do it.

I was looking into nutrition and dietitics at NIU and I am going to go for it.  I plan on minoring in health education also...just to boost up my credintials.

Since this is your first time going to school, let me give you some advise:  Make sure you do an internship and work closely with your professors.  That will help you get a career sooner or referrences if you pursue grad school.

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate your support!

Also, if you decide to wait a few years to go back to grad school, keep in touch with profs. I've maintained fairly regular contact with three of my closest professors from undergrad (all from my psych department). They all encouraged me to go straight into a PhD program (at 21 years old) so I figured they'd give me great letters of recommendations when I needed it. It's a great help.

I just want to point out that healthcare is NOT recession proof!  It's hard to get a job in hospitals right now, and they're still laying people off left and right.  If you're looking to get into healthcare, do your research about the institutions in your area as far as jobs, turnover rates, and layoffs.

People keep coming to me saying, "Yo!  Any jobs in that huge hospital you work in?"  And they really don't believe me when I say no, 50 nurses were just laid off and 20 laboratory technicians get their pink slips on Monday.

yep, i definitely say go back to school. 

even with school debt, it's worth it to be doing something that are passionate about (at least that's what i'm trying to tell myself as i accrue lots of debt for an MFA, which will never get me any sort of job!).

i would try to work at a university if you can, in any admin job, like an admissions counsler or whatnot. the pay sucks but you get to go to the school for free!! i did a complete career change and took a paycut but i am now working on getting an MBA.. it will take me a few years but at the same time will save me 3k per course.

What about Healthcare Admin?  I think it is a 1 or 2 year program at some schools.

Original Post by jenny8484:

i would try to work at a university if you can, in any admin job, like an admissions counsler or whatnot. the pay sucks but you get to go to the school for free!! i did a complete career change and took a paycut but i am now working on getting an MBA.. it will take me a few years but at the same time will save me 3k per course.

 Honestly, I would love that, but the recession is awful and can't find another job.  I will try to talk to people once I'm in school to try to get a job there.

And yes, I'm aware that nothing is recession proof, I just want a career I'm PROUD of and where I don't have to sit on my ass all day long.

Thank you again everyone! I am doing it! This fall I start classes!

Original Post by mperic81:

Sure, making a lot of money would be sweet, but the whole job satisfaction would be out the window.  It's fine for others, but I really want to be in a field where I can help someone.

I'm sure not everyone feels this way, but a 6 figure income goes a looooong way to job satisfaction. If you don't hate it, don't discount it. This idea that we have to find our 'calling' and only do something you love IMO is rubbish. It causes people to waste a lot of time chasing dreams that don't pay the bills.

ugh.  don't go back to school.  it's just a lot of work and thousands of dollars and then when it's over you end up with a tonne of debt and a hangover.