Advice needed! Career change. Going back to school. (much length. many words. wow.)

[deevergote]

That's very true about being able to have an ordinary job and being happy doing it. My fiancee has that right now. She works for a company that installs phones and security systems for schools. She's a secretary, and she's fine with that. She's a damn good secretary, and she gets paid well for doing it (especially since her company is just a small local place, and not some big fancy business.) The only downside is that she's not going anywhere. She won't ever find another job as a secretary making what she makes now, doing similar work. She could go into the city and make good money, but she has no desire to make that daily commute, or to relocate to the city (and neither do I!)
I hope to be somewhere in between "chasing the dream" and just working a normal job. I don't much care what I do, as long as I can do it primarily during standard weekday business hours (occasional nights and weekends will work... just not regular.) I still want the opportunity to move up, but as long as I feel I have a goal to work toward, I'll be motivated.

A friend of mine started working as a temp for some fire security company. Just "a job", but she discovered that she loved the company, and found the work interesting. She worked her way up, and ended up making some pretty decent money. She decided to take the company up on their offer of tuition reimbursement, and earned both her Bachelor's and her Master's in Fire Safety, I believe. She worked herself into a very good position, and was able to move from NJ to Portland, OR... while keeping her job and being able to work remotely (or travel to various locations occasionally.) She even got a company car (a brand new Ford Fusion.)
I'm hoping I can find a situation like that. Find a company, discover that I really like the company, and I really like the work... then work my ass off and move up the ladder. Hopefully the MBA will allow me to do it in less time than she did (which was over the course of 8-10 years, I believe.)
I'm not expecting it, but 6 figures by the time I turn 45 would be peachy!



As for my tax records being enough to verify my employment... I wish. That wasn't even good enough for me to refinance my home (and I was looking to LOWER my payment by $200/mo!) Apparently my tax records weren't sufficient proof of income ( ) and the underwriter felt that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the new lower payment, so I had to stick with the current higher payment instead. Never missed a payment in the entire 12 years I've been here...
Maybe it would help more with a prospective employer... but it still doesn't really serve to support the claims made on my resume regarding my job functions. I could claim anything I want and nobody could verify it! It's all true... if anything, I'm underselling myself... but they don't know that (and a hiring manager worth his paycheck SHOULD be skeptical.)

[owequitit]

That's very true about being able to have an ordinary job and being happy doing it. My fiancee has that right now. She works for a company that installs phones and security systems for schools. She's a secretary, and she's fine with that. She's a damn good secretary, and she gets paid well for doing it (especially since her company is just a small local place, and not some big fancy business.) The only downside is that she's not going anywhere. She won't ever find another job as a secretary making what she makes now, doing similar work. She could go into the city and make good money, but she has no desire to make that daily commute, or to relocate to the city (and neither do I!)
I hope to be somewhere in between "chasing the dream" and just working a normal job. I don't much care what I do, as long as I can do it primarily during standard weekday business hours (occasional nights and weekends will work... just not regular.) I still want the opportunity to move up, but as long as I feel I have a goal to work toward, I'll be motivated.

A friend of mine started working as a temp for some fire security company. Just "a job", but she discovered that she loved the company, and found the work interesting. She worked her way up, and ended up making some pretty decent money. She decided to take the company up on their offer of tuition reimbursement, and earned both her Bachelor's and her Master's in Fire Safety, I believe. She worked herself into a very good position, and was able to move from NJ to Portland, OR... while keeping her job and being able to work remotely (or travel to various locations occasionally.) She even got a company car (a brand new Ford Fusion.)
I'm hoping I can find a situation like that. Find a company, discover that I really like the company, and I really like the work... then work my ass off and move up the ladder. Hopefully the MBA will allow me to do it in less time than she did (which was over the course of 8-10 years, I believe.)
I'm not expecting it, but 6 figures by the time I turn 45 would be peachy!



As for my tax records being enough to verify my employment... I wish. That wasn't even good enough for me to refinance my home (and I was looking to LOWER my payment by $200/mo!) Apparently my tax records weren't sufficient proof of income ( ) and the underwriter felt that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the new lower payment, so I had to stick with the current higher payment instead. Never missed a payment in the entire 12 years I've been here...
Maybe it would help more with a prospective employer... but it still doesn't really serve to support the claims made on my resume regarding my job functions. I could claim anything I want and nobody could verify it! It's all true... if anything, I'm underselling myself... but they don't know that (and a hiring manager worth his paycheck SHOULD be skeptical.)

Re-financing your house and trying to explain to an employer your job history are two totally different things. Depending on the lender, they don't necessarily employee the sharpest knives. I know a number of people who have tried to refinance their houses in either my industry, or the trucking industry. The problem is that a lot of these people have absolutely no idea what "per diem" is and why it is un-taxable and that it counts as a significant amount of additional income that is valid to apply toward the house payment.

But being able to explain what you did, and show proof that you were making money doing it is different. Plus, they will be able to determine fairly quickly whether you are lying. If they are worth their salt, they will be able to figure it out in a few short questions. I think that part will be just fine, especially given that there were a lot of "Deverinvestigation" type operations going on in that timeframe with the market.

[deevergote]

That is true.

Honestly, the hard part is simply getting an interview based on my resume. I've never had an interview that didn't result in a job offer.

[luckyflip]

Hope all is well Deev and good luck on finding your dream career.

[deevergote]

Thank you, sir!

In contact with the school now. I'm accepted, awaiting the assessment of my undergrad transcripts to determine what prerequisites I still need to complete. With luck, at least 3 of the 4 will be covered by classes I took while earning my BA and AS. With more luck, I'll be able to begin graduate level classes this Fall, because the one prerequisite that I'm fairly certain I'll need to take isn't offered until the Winter session!
I'm hoping to be able to take 2 classes a session... maybe 3, if I can swing it (I asked the school how often people work full time and shoulder 3 classes...)

If I have to complete all 4 prerequisite classes in addition to the graduate courseload, I'm looking at 48 credit-hours (each class represents 3 credit hours.) If I can swing 3 classes a semester, I'll be done in a little over a year. If I can only do 2 at a time, then it'll take me 2 years. A fair investment of time, but not terrible. Not bad for $12,000!

[owequitit]

Thank you, sir!

In contact with the school now. I'm accepted, awaiting the assessment of my undergrad transcripts to determine what prerequisites I still need to complete. With luck, at least 3 of the 4 will be covered by classes I took while earning my BA and AS. With more luck, I'll be able to begin graduate level classes this Fall, because the one prerequisite that I'm fairly certain I'll need to take isn't offered until the Winter session!
I'm hoping to be able to take 2 classes a session... maybe 3, if I can swing it (I asked the school how often people work full time and shoulder 3 classes...)

If I have to complete all 4 prerequisite classes in addition to the graduate courseload, I'm looking at 48 credit-hours (each class represents 3 credit hours.) If I can swing 3 classes a semester, I'll be done in a little over a year. If I can only do 2 at a time, then it'll take me 2 years. A fair investment of time, but not terrible. Not bad for $12,000!

The only thing I will mention as a caution, is that 6 hours at the graduate level really is full time. You work about twice as hard for each credit hour.

[deevergote]

Yeah, that's what I've read. This school says that anything more than 9 hours requires administrative approval.

I'm expecting that I'll be limited to 2 classes at a time.

[owequitit]

Yeah, that's what I've read. This school says that anything more than 9 hours requires administrative approval.

I'm expecting that I'll be limited to 2 classes at a time.

Well, I was thinking to start at a "normal" full time level and then add if you can handle it. It makes it easier to stick to your plan, vs having to drop within a limited time frame and then adjusting to extend. It isn't the end of the world, but I just remember that 6 hours plus a job was pretty intensive. I didn't have a lot of free time.

[phatdoughnut]

F it, just get a liberal arts degree and live off obama.

[deevergote]

Well, I was thinking to start at a "normal" full time level and then add if you can handle it. It makes it easier to stick to your plan, vs having to drop within a limited time frame and then adjusting to extend. It isn't the end of the world, but I just remember that 6 hours plus a job was pretty intensive. I didn't have a lot of free time.

That's true. And most likely what I'll do. I'm just feeling ambitious. I also don't know what sort of work I'll be doing, as I'm done with my foreclosure work. If I end up getting an unstressful job that leaves a good deal of free time, I may be able to swing 3 classes.

F it, just get a liberal arts degree and live off obama.

I would, but I'm a suburban straight white guy that isn't drowning in student loan debt. I can't check off any of the boxes in order to get gov't handouts. I can't even get a free Obamaphone!

[phatdoughnut]

That's true. And most likely what I'll do. I'm just feeling ambitious. I also don't know what sort of work I'll be doing, as I'm done with my foreclosure work. If I end up getting an unstressful job that leaves a good deal of free time, I may be able to swing 3 classes.


I would, but I'm a suburban straight white guy that isn't drowning in student loan debt. I can't check off any of the boxes in order to get gov't handouts. I can't even get a free Obamaphone!

keep obama in president.......