Has anyone here gone back to school after years in your respective industry?

Thoughts?

  • Total voters
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Sorta. I was on furlough and just wondering what to do with my time. I have a degree in administration of justice but I saw that I could take some classes and get Associates degrees in Psychology and English so I thought "why not". I work in a warehouse and the money is good but I had a back injury and now my body is pretty chewed up so I'm trying to find a different path but my options are kinda limited since I'm deaf. So now I'm at a point where I have to decide if I really wanna pursue further education in english or psych.

Be prepared for a massive cultural shift, though. It really is pretty mind blowing how left leaning it's gotten.

But for me the absolute biggest surprise was I remember when it was "no food, drinks, or gum" allowed and now practically half the class and the teacher walk in with starbucks every day.
 
I would say 25 years in an industry would qualify you for several careers similar to that or that require the same type of skillsets. I personally would look into that far before going back to school. Once someone is above 30, I really don't care about their degree or what they did in college. Experience is far more important.
 
No experience with it myself, but I did here about a study on NPR the other day that found the adage “can’t teach an old dog new tricks” was not true. If found that adults have the potential to learn new things just as much as young people. The factors that make it harder for adults to learn new things is actually responsibilities we have; that we generally aren’t free to spend all our energy towards learning. The actual cognitive ability to learn new things doesn’t seem to deteriorate with age like we once thought it did. Of course they were talking about like middle aged people and not the 70+ crowd.

So if you really do want to learn something new, don’t be intimidated by the prospect of going back to school.
 
@Cool Hand Luke you're pretty smart and have applicable knowledge. I've heard that the GED is harder now than 5-10 years ago but I'm willing to bet that you've got it well in hand.

I got a liberal arts degree from a football school in 2001. I'm considering going back for a masters in psych but I know it will be costly, time-consuming, and difficult to reconcile with my erratic work schedule.
 
im currently doibg that. its for the best when i was younget i was too selfish and caught up in chasing highs and lows to really take school and what i was learning seriously.

so coming back after finding genuine interest makes a yuge differnce.
 
rj144 said:
By the way, I've taught people way older than I am. Some in their 60s. They usually do really well.
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I've noticed that the ANTS (Association of Non Traditional Students) crowd has more personal investment in their studies and fewer distractions.
 
Cool Hand Luke said:
I spoke to someone at U of H, here in Houston, who said that I'd definitely need my GED first before enrolling in community college. She'll work with me on the tuition once I get that far, IF I choose a logistics based degree.
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Try to get into renewables here in Houston. There are several large energy companies or even residential companies.
 
Sirwastealot said:
So anecdotal evidence? This one person you knew.. Also using SF and tesla as a benchmark is pretty misleading.

Your point about craigslist list is exactly what i was recommending. Its not about what you can't do or whats impossible, its quite the opposite. You don't always need a degree to build a career or pursue something new, thats old backwards thinking. The market has changed a lot now. If you really want to future proof your career its about skill not degrees.

I don't have an axe to grind here. I have a masters degree and while i don't regret the experience, what my undergrad and masters taught me was less valuable than what i learned on my own. I chose to leave my 9 to 5 and start freelancing in a completely new career, and now im making more than 10X what i was in that job. If i had been stuck in that way of thinking id be making maybe 2X and working a lot harder and def not enjoy it as much. You have to think outside the box nowadays.
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What did you do and what do you do Now? 10x is hard
 
Prefect said:
Try to get into renewables here in Houston. There are several large energy companies or even residential companies.
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we move a lot of dismantled towers for the likes of Vestas, Siemens, Norden and GE
 
Do it. If I could get the motivation and figure out something that would pay $35 an hour or more I’d do it myself. Except I figure it’d be best to focus on things other than career prospects to attain my true inner bliss.
 
Cool Hand Luke said:
we move a lot of dismantled towers for the likes of Vestas, Siemens, Norden and GE
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Honestly, if you can get in as a tech you can make pretty decent money.

Same for if you take a few drafting classes and work up to a designer. An all without tutition loans.

If I were you and it sounds like you are ok with travel, get in on a commissioning job for substations or wind and solar farms. They pay very well and are always in demand.
 
I'd be careful about which BA you get. A lot of BAs just provide you just a general education in many different aspects of a field, but provide you with no specific expertise and no actionable skills. You get prestige, but that's it. It's fine only if you want to go to grad school and have the GPA for it. Each field has so much information that you have no choice but to specialize. A logistics BA is fine, should be fairly actionable. A business BA can probably get away with making decent money despite no specialization, but you'd be way more valuable on the job market if you have something specific like business analytics. But look at the courses included in the degree and don't pick something that doesn't interest you. If you find the courses boring, chances are the tasks you perform on the job market after graduation will bore you as well and by that time you'll be too deep in debt to change paths.
 
Cool Hand Luke said:
I've been in the shipping industry going into my 25th year this May.

I NEARLY finished 11th grade but fell into an apprenticeship at 18 which I decided was more for me.

I'm worried that our industry, or at least the segment i'm in, will not exist in 10 years time.

I've decided that I will get my GED and then follow up and try to get a degree in Logistics or Business thereafter. I'm essentially a geography (and a ground hog) expert, however looking through prep classes for taking the GED, my excellent skills will not help me one iota.

Does anyone here have experience with going back to school later in life?

I'd appreciate any tips or advice.
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Your (current) career is older than me :)

But I’d say go for it. It’s best to be proactive and with newer technology rapidly making the old more obsolete it will be wise to get learn something up to date.
In this case it might be an advantage as you can now pursue a field with knowledge that is updated with what’s in demand rather than someone who got a degree years ago with outdated skills. Also your motivation can be high as you’re basically starting from scratch to learn something new, this opposed to people who change careers paths after committing midway to start over. My dad got his MBA ten years ago in his 40s so it’s been done.
 
Prefect said:
What did you do and what do you do Now? 10x is hard
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It was a junior position in digital marketing. Ii would probably have 3x that if i stayed, but with a lot more painstaking work.

I switched to design and worked my way up to a consultant.
 
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