changing careers in your 30s?

i have been teaching for the past 9 years and was laid off (from teaching) last year due to budget cuts. since the ed jobs are being cut left and right, i don't have much hope of finding another teaching position in ny for a while.

that said, i feel as though i was laid off to find something new to do with my life...question is...what???

when i was younger, i wanted to be a lawyer as well as a teacher, but felt that teaching would be more stable (ha!). i've had my fair share of court/lawyers with the custody case of my stepson and i think that it's a field i'd enjoy BUT i hear jobs are few and far between, it would take many years of long hours (mommy of 2) and i'd have to go back to school to get a JD.

though i never thought of being a nurse, their field is much more stable and the hours could work where i'd still be able to take care of our family. i have a B.A and a Ms.Ed...however i think i'd need a bsn to become an rn - many years and lots of $.

i've considered daycare/prek center but have no clue where to start, areas to scout, etc. - in home won't work as i live in an apt.

any suggestions? i love teaching but i can't just sit around and wait for the next 7 years to pass hoping to be recalled while more teachers are being laid off this year

thansk for reading and hopefully any suggestions :)

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

I don't think you need a BSN before RN. My neighbor just got her LPN and now is going for her RN. You may already have some transferable credits from your BA/BS that you can use. If you are really considering nursing, look into the LPN first (I think she took most of her classes online - maybe Suffolk Community College?)

I've heard day care is a very tough business - lots of requirements, regulations, insurance concerns. Definitely look into that a lot before you decide on it. I've heard it's much harder than it looks.

I am in the same boat as you but a little older. My last day of work was yesterday so I am trying to figure things out also.

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

Have you looked into the specific issue of teachers who change careers and what other fields they go into? Not that a new career has to be teaching related, but maybe you could get ideas about how teachers have used the skills and experience they've developed through teaching and applied them to other areas.

I made a drastic career change in July 2010 when I was 34. I stopped practicing law and went into real estate sales. It was a good move for me -- not without its tradeoffs, but that's life! -- but it wasn't an easy decision. But before I decided to go that route, I read a lot of books about career changes for lawyers, and I spoke to a lot of former law school and law firm colleagues to find out what people had branched out into, whether they liked it, etc. It's good networking.

Honestly, I really wouldn't recommend law right now. Law school is SO expensive, and unless you go to a top-tier school, it's hard to land a job that will pay enough to make the loans manageable. Also, I had one of those top law firm jobs, and while it was tough in my 20s, I couldn't see starting out as a first year associate now at age 36. The hours were LONG and the stress level is high, especially as a junior attorney. When I was younger, I had a work hard/play hard mentality that I just don't have now that I live in the suburbs, have a child, etc.

You could probably find another field -- even if you had to go back to school -- that involves less start up costs than law.

But I have no regrets about my career change and I found it really empowering to make a bold change. Once I made the decision to do it, I felt relieved and I've really embraced all of the new challenges that have come along.

Feel free to FM me if you want to chat more!

ETA - I misread the initial post -- I thought you were expecting to be laid off, but now I see that you have been already, so some of my comments didn't apply.

Message edited 3/1/2012 10:17:51 PM.

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

I am a teacher and plan to leave at the end of this school year, after 16 years in the classroom. I turned 40 in January.

Fortunately, the job situation seems to be improving and having a degree is in your favor.

I have a small freelance writing/editing business and while I would love to do that full-time, it will be a while before I am ready for that. I have been looking at entry-level administrative positions, marketing/sales and corporate training. I do a lot of networking and tell everyone I know (outside of school) I am job hunting. I did speak with a recruiter who also does temporary placements and she told me I need to figure out more clearly what I want to do. There are a lot of hotels and colleges near my home so I will apply there- I am planning to build my writing business and offer more services and if that gets off the ground more in the summer I may even be able to take something part time.

Hope this helps! Feel free to FM me if you want.

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

thanks for the replies...i will look into some career change books and talk to the director at my son's pre-k to get info about opening a site - she was a teacher who then got her JD and now owns her center.

i agree that law might be too late for me (and too costly).

still unsure of the nursing thing b/c i don't know if i really want to be a nurse - and to go into it for the hours is something that i don't think i can do and be happy with.

i know i can sub on a day to day basis but that will only work for about ~175 days a year.

guess it's time to start talking to people to see if there are any other opportunities out there that wouldn't require relocating.

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

Thing about nursing too, is that like any other field these days, you need "experience" to find a job.

I work with a lot of nurses and this is the problem they reportedly run into.

You can post a ? specifically though for RNs on here and see their response.....

I'm a social worker in home care and even there, I believe they ask for at least 2 years of experience doing this for nurses.

I know of some teachers who have gotten positions in human-services related jobs, like day programs and such but bear in mind that you would be taking a HUGE pay cut here on Long Island.

I bet you'd be lucky finding something paying in the 30's or 40's.

What about doing something like tutoring privately? I am sure you could demand a decent penny for this and I am sure there is also great need.

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

I think I may be excessed from my teaching job this year. I really feel like this year (at least by me) there will be no jobs. Everyone is cutting and places that are not cutting will need to hire back people they excessed last year. Because of this I have been looking into different jobs. As of right now, I do not think additional schooling is an option. I am looking at corporate training jobs and education consultation jobs. I am in the process of updating my resume and cover letter, which is taking forever since a career change resume is very different than an educational resume.

Message edited 3/3/2012 11:28:54 AM.

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

I really do not thinking nursing is as secure as people think.
Do NOT go the LPN route. I am a returning student now fufilling nursing pre-reqs and my classes have many LPN's who must get thier RN if they want to continue in the field.

Also an Associates RN is not what it was a few years ago. Most hospitals (if that is where you want to work) will not even look at you without a BS. This is just what i am hearing and I feel like they keep adding more and it is getting much more competitive.

Maybe some nurses/nursing students can chime in or I'll start another thrread.

Btw- there are teachers in my classes as well!!! what is going on with the teaching jobs here on Long Island !?!?

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

sultana, thanks for the feedback...everything i've read about nursing is pointing towards a bsn, and experience as pp stated.

education is in hole right now...it's cyclical - every 20 years or so, massive lay offs occur...happened in the 70s, 90s and now it's our turn. :(

i couldn't imagine myself as anything other than a teacher...but that might have to change as i can't wait for the next 7 yrs to pass. :( i'll be at the library very soon researching my options.

thanks for the feedback! :)

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

I changed careers to teaching at a terrible time.

I just got a permanent job a few months ago - only after years of subbing and leave replacements.

I feel for you. It's so hard out there.

Two thoughts:

Don't be so sure you won't find something. Last August I went on several interviews for jobs I didn't get and the feedback I got indicated that I lost out to people with several years of experience who were excessed. So unless they were feeding me a line to let me down easy, you might be what administrators are looking for in any upcoming openings. It seems they are willing to pay for experience.

I definitely considered other options along the way, including other human services positions and going back to corporate. You have to make some decisions about what kind of work you want to do, what kind of salary you want/need, and how long you are willing to go back to school for (if at all.) Unfortunately, I think a lot of fields are experiencing similar challenges. I would call the career center at your alma mater and see if anyone there can talk to you. They often have free resources for alumni. My school arranged a short phone conversation with a counselor. It was nothing earth shattering; they just gave me some additional ideas about my job search strategy but your question is different than mine so maybe they can help you more.

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

I changed careers at 31. I have a degree in interior design and at 30 I started applying to law school. Got in a night part time program and finished at 35. Most of the people in my program we older and changing careers. We had people in their 50's. It is never too late.

It was expensive I am not going to lie but I am so happy I made a change.

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

I also think a good thing to do when considering a career change is to really look at your finances. Often making a change means taking a step back to ultimately get ahead in the long-term. You usually have to start at or near the bottom in terms of both seniority and pay.

Before I left my law firm, my DH and I really had to look at our finances and figure out whether real estate would be a do-able option. It's a commission based job... basically like starting my own business. I saved up enough to cushion us for the first 6 months of the transition, during which I didn't earn much (or really anything, compared to my previous salary). I know that you are currently laid off, so saving up may not be an option, but you probably have a good sense of whether you and your family can make do with less than before, and how much less. I think it's helpful to really think about this in concrete terms so that once you know the money issue is covered, and hopefully your family is on board, you can think about what you really WANT to do (and not just have money be the sole driver of the decision).

Also, one thing that helped me -- given I wasn't sure of how my career change would progress -- was the thought that I had things I could fall back on if I needed to. For example, if real estate really dries up, I can do temp legal work, on a contract basis. I have connections from law school and my old firm that gave me comfort that I could make that happen if necessary.

For example, maybe you could think about setting up a private tutoring business, or something along those lines, as a pp suggested, to help you bridge the gap as you consider what you want to do and get that career off the ground (even going back to school, if necessary). You may not need to rely on your backup plan that much, but it's good to have one.

Re: changing careers in your 30s?

I am currently going back to school to become a nurse. I left a great paying job with excellent benefits/perks to do this. I am awaiting to hear from BSN programs that I applied to right now to see where I am going in the fall/summer. If you already have a bachelors degree, you can do an accelerated program which is between 12-15 months long. Its intense but you have a BSN in a year. But you have to really WANT to go into this field. I have known people in my pre-req classes that are going in for the wrong reasons... $, job security.. you will never make it if this isn't want you want deep down.