Going back to school.

[SigSaurP229]

Something I have greatly been considering for a while now that alot of irons in the fire are starting to settle down is going back to college. We all do a great ton of things younger in life that we aren't proud of and my biggest one is not getting my degree (had a full ride academic and music scholarship and let it go).

I am now 27 years old and I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that in the next 20 years in order to have a shot at competing for a decent job I need a degree.
Now I have a decent paying job doing something I greatly enjoy (inside sales) I make fairly decent money but I am never going to make huge sums of money doing this and quite frankly I want to climb the corporate ladder.

It is something that has to be earned and not given. My question is this has anyone here gone back to school as an adult, if so how did it work out for you?

I am also looking into several avenues the most effecient way for me to do it is to go online. I have looked at some of the bigger universities i.e. Kaplan University of Phoenix and such but for the amount of money they want I would do just as well going to the University of Tn and getting an in class degree and it would probably carry alot more clout with it.

One route I am highly considering is the following I am fortunate enough to live within walking distance to a Regent's accredited community college.
Tuition costs are $111 per credit hour+Fees about $200 per semester. Or they have an online degree program at $44 per credit hour plus fees which I can transfer to any state or private university.
Would you as a perspective employer look down on someone who had the same degree from the same college just through the online program while holding a full time job?

Also would you look down on a perspective employee who did the junior college route like this and transfered with a good GPA to a University or state school?

 

[JB]

Re: Going back to school.

Though I collected several degrees over the years, mostly earned by non-traditional means, I have always had an objection to degree worship. I collected education in search of skills and knowledge, not pieces of paper that proclaim my superiority over ordinary humans..

That is what I think is important: skills and knowledge. I collected an awful lot before I had a thought of seeking academic credentials, and did that only because some of the work I wanted to do at that time required credentials by law.

I had already done well as a technician, engineer, technical writer and technical instructor. I got college credit for many of the courses I had attended, courses I had designed and taught and for educational material I had published. I had to complete mandatory courses at each level, ending up with a Ph.D, (Summa Cum Laude) at age 60. In effect, I got a lot of college credit for life accomplishments.

I recommend that you set a particular goal, in terms of what you want to be able to do, and focus on learning exactly the skills and knowledge that work demands. Get yourself an entry level position in that field so that you can apply those skills as you learn them.

Mind you, I have no objection to a degree earned the traditional way so long as you are willing to learn a job after you graduate. Your career success after the first job will depend more and more on your track record of accomplishment and less and less on what degrees you have, or when and where you earned them.

 

[Haffiman]

Re: Going back to school.

Would I employ a 30 something (probably your age when finished) with a fresh graduation?
Probably not as first choice based on the graduation.
At that age I would be more interested in achievements in jobs BEFORE graduation.
Any university grade is to me only an entry ticket into the first job, indicating a certain level of obtained knowledge.
Later on it is all a question of how that knowledge has been put to use.
You may graduate first in class from the most prestigious university, but be totally useless in the real world.
If you just want to obtain more knowledge in a field in order to improve your performance, any university will do that may give you that knowledge.
I have unfortunately seen some example of people 'going back to school' in hopes to climb the ladder and ending up having to take lower paid jobs than what they had before, provided they got a job at all.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Going back to school.

Many of the jobs I've been looking at want a Masters or PhD. I was turned off until I read the "and/or" _____ years or experience.

Seeking knowledge is great! Seeking a piece of paper is meaningless, in my opinion.

 

[eaglejim]

Re: Going back to school.

Just be careful of what building you lean your ladder,one time many moons ago I too had a ladder on someones building and they moved the building so I built my own building and leaned my own ladder against it and the move from the bottom run to the top run has been 30+ years in the making, we have made a lot of money and lost(learned how to make more money)a lot of money that is my school also I do have a PHD Painting Houses Daily Good luck

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Going back to school.

Just my view.
I got kicked out of Teachers College and University in '67, so I am not educated.

I employ horticulture labourers, and they are all good people.
In general, the more education (degree or proper trade), better the worker.

Education is a discipline. Seems to do something to a persons mind.
They comprehend better/quicker; have more constructive input; know how to seek and record information quickly. They seem to present a clear hypothesis on issues, as opposed to an assertion, (unsubstantiated opinion).

The young man i had here with the Physics and Avionics Degree has left, and been replaced by a 30yo F high school teacher (English. PE. Dance.) (awaiting re-registration after 4yrs in London).
Absolute breeze to train, little supervision, works well, not scared to question, will multi-task immediately, punctual, will share knowledge, bring knowledge to me, business benefits from them.

My conclusion.
An education will not do you any harm. You can only benefit from it.
What you get your education in...well that's difficult for me to answer.

Had you done a full Music Degree or Art (Music) Degree it would certainly help you today.
I reckon, not counting some highly specialized and technical areas, the fact you did a degree is more important to employer than what you did it in.

Please, I am not educated, so this is just my opinion.

Cheers
Phillip

 

[angus63]

Re: Going back to school.

There are many fields that have minimum educational requirements even for entry level positions. A B.S. degree is no longer a terminal degree, and advancement often requires a graduate degree. Regardless of the path a degree is earned, possessing any degree will open more potential career paths to follow.
Good Luck!

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: Going back to school.

Thanks for all of your inputs. I am really giving this strong consideration. Keep in mind that I allready have a strong sales resume, and I also have several technical certifications. I am looking at this as another notch in my belt to go on the resume to have a better shot at advancing my career. I allready have about 9 years worth of steady sales experience, several certifications and alot to put on my resume that many people can't claim (especially for my age), but I am looking for a little more.

 

[jtmarten]

Re: Going back to school.

I just went back this Fall. I had 21hrs left on my bachelor's in chem when I got divorced back in '98. I was awarded custody of my 7 & 4 year olds, so I had to drop school to raise them.
My current employer offers a killer tuition reimbursement ($8K/yr), so I'm taking advantage of it. My 21hrs grew to 50+ because of the 12yrs I've been away from school.

The benefit: Moving from chemical technician @ $60K/yr to chemical engineer starting @ $75K. If I look for another job, I'll also have all the experience I've been building by working as an industrial chemist since 2003.

Go get your degree. Most employers require a degree, not because they want that info in your head, but they want to know you can think analytically, and you have the ability to learn.

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Going back to school.

"think analytically".

That's the word I was trying to think of yesterday.
My kid is getting hammered with that word at school, plus he has to learn how to Read Analytically. It is never ending.

Cheers
Phillip

 

[JB]

Re: Going back to school.

I think I agree with Phil that formally educated folk seem to be more disclipined and tend to think more analytically than non-degreed people.

I don't think they are like that because of earning a degree. I think it more likely that those characteristics are the cause, rather than the effect of earning the degree.

 

[Uncivil]

Re: Going back to school.

Going through High School I was more interested in cars, girls and Partys. Part way through Grade 11 I figured I was not suited to physical labour and I really didn't want to take on low level saled or counter work so I Buckled down. Trouble was it was a bit late toget grounded in the fundamentals. So I was not prepared for higher education at the time. I knew I wanted to be involved in engineering/construction but what. So I took a year in college part time to improve my grades and earn some coin. I then spent two years in Tech school learning Civil Engineering at a technical level. I came out of school right at the huge downturn in 80-81. I was fortunate to get a job as an estimator for a construction company. I earned decent money but it wasn't what I wanted to do and I found it limiting. So after a number of years I finally decided to get my engineering degree. I went back at 28 and graduated at 32. I have been working as an engineer for 18 years now and I feel I am fairly successful as I have been promoted into management (nt that that means anything but the pay is pretty good). But looking back I remember thinking "if I go to school now I will be XX years old when I graduate" Trouble was the longer I waited the older I was getting! So go back if it is what you want to do. But you have to know what you want to do and you have to really want it because that will carry you through the tough times when money is tight and you are surrounded by all those carefree yougsters having fun. Motivation and effort will carry you a long ways as I saw at my school. I witnessed a lot of young smart kids bomb out of school because they didn't know why they were there.

So my advice is to go back to school if you know what you want to do and can demonstrate that the program you are taking will benefit you in your quest. ( in my case Engineering School was a necessity). Good luck with your decision.

 

[dlindeblad]

Re: Going back to school.

I went to college at the age of 30. I did classes in between University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University. It was odd being older in College. 30 is by no means old, but I did have 12ish years on the young ones, to which they called me pops. Anyway I am glad I went to college older and Married (read wiser). No partying or distractions and I competed my BS in Mathematics w/ minors in Computer Science and Military science in 2 years vice 4.

My advice. Do it and don't wait. Put your mind to it and push through. Degrees do no necessarily guarantee a job, but they do make the difference in setting you appart from another job prospect.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Going back to school.

Now I have a decent paying job doing something I greatly enjoy (inside sales) I make fairly decent money

You cannot beat success.
But go ahead and try.

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Going back to school.

I've thought about it, and have gone back to school on-line, but eventually, I weighed the cost vs. benefit factor and frankly it didn't add up.

I base this on two things.

1) If you are staying in the same career field and have experience and are making good money. The experience, and past work record will mean more to your employer, or future employer than a piece of paper.

2) Spend your time and money doing in-house training. Most employers offer this, or something similar. Your employer will see this dedication to and interest in your current company and as long as you effectively communicate your wants and needs, they will reward you in the long run.

I am 39 years old and make over 100k a year. I have been in the same career field for 17 years and in that time have only had two employers.

By the way, I am also a high school drop out! I left high school in my junior year, attained my G.E.D. and then worked for one year solid. I then began college, and only went for one year before leaving to begin my career. My first year of employment I only made 19k... I paid more than that in taxes last year.

 

[tommays]

Re: Going back to school.

Well

Do it while your young

I have a reading/writing dyslexia issue and have always done well with my trade school degree BUT my path is very limited as more value is placed on the paper than what i have done and could do for a future employer

My degreed accountant wife always did well but got the urge about 6 years ago to get and MBA to open more jobs options

At 45 years old she worked full time and went to school at night full time for two years and i am not sure who it beat up more her or me

One of the down sides is the jobs it did open up are very demanding and require 10 to 11 hour work days

My children have seen how the lack of a degree held me back for no real reason so my son went after a law degree and works as and assistant district attorney and while he loves the work the cost to get the degree is very out of balance with the pay scale and at some he will be faced with leaving public service work (its a six figure degree)

The daughter has one year left on a MSW degree and enjoys the work and the cost of the training was far more in line with the pay scale

Both of there 4 year degrees had value in the work world but not as much as one would hope for

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Going back to school.

I went back at around your age. Out of HS I originally went to college for engineering. Managed to get an AS degree in there somewhere but eventually all the calculus killed me. I had been doing computer programming for years and was working for a company with excellent tuition reimbursement so I decided to go back and get my BS in Comp Sci. I looked into a couple online programs but I think I lacked to discipline for those. I wanted something classroom based. A local college had a great accelerated degree program. It specifically catered to adults returning to school. The classes were only 5 weeks long. You took one at a time, and up to 3 a semester. Usually 2 nights a week from 6-9. The classes were fast-paced and challenging. I found it to be very rewarding. I finished in 2-3 years. Although I wasn't rewarded financially for graduating from my then job, I do think it may have helped me land my current job. Good luck.

 

[eavega]

Re: Going back to school.

After partying my way out of undergraduate school at the age of 20, I embarked on a fairly successful career doing a lot of traveling, sales, and all the fun stuff you can do as a single guy. When I got married I soon realized that the living out of the suitcase thing wasn't going to fly if my wife and I were going to start a family. A stationary office job in that industry wasn't going to pay nearly well enough to justify staying, so a career change was in order. I decided to go back to the university at age 27, because I believe the easiest path to an entry-level job is with a degree in hand. This is not so much due to the skills you learned, but as other posters have indicated, it demonstrates to a prospective employer that you have the ability to learn. If you think about it, in college you take a subject that you may or may not have any familiarity with and you demonstrate a certain level of competence with it over a period of 9 to 15 weeks.

It wasn't easy, but I can say definitively that I was more mentally prepared to tackle my undergraduate degree at 28 than I was at 18. I attended a traditional 4 year school that had a "soft spot" in it for non-traditional students. It was a little awkward at first being in a class of 18-20 year-olds, but eventually I did find a group of non-traditional peers, and we tended to organize ourselves into study groups and such.

In terms of helping with a new job, I graduated with a BS in Computer Science. I started looking for a job during the recession of 2000, which struck the tech world pretty hard. I was competing for jobs against folks who had loads of experience, but I found that a lot of employers would rather hire new grads and train them to do what THEY wanted them to do instead of hiring someone with oodles of experience who would have their own way of doing things that perhaps would not be in line with the new company's way. I also found that many employers in the technology field would not even consider you without a Bachelors degree. I did eventually land with IBM, which was one of those companies that required not only a bachelors degree, but also a minimum GPA of 3.5 if you didn't have at least 5 years of experience. I should also add that I doubled my income with the entry-level job in the new field as compared to the previous job I had.

For me, it was not only the increase in earning that made it a worthwhile experience. The application of self-discipline and the exercising of my brain made the experience worthwhile in any case. If you can work out the financial and time aspect, I would highly recommend earning your undergraduate degree.

Rgds

 

[rbh]

Re: Going back to school.

I guess I may have sold my dreams of being a geoligist for being a contractor.

Joined the army at 17, stayed for 10 years, got a job as a lineman with the telco, that fizzled out due to politics
(that should have been my retirement job)
jumped from job to job till I said I can do this for myself.

But my passion is geology, so follow your dreams if you can.

 

[Autotech]

Re: Going back to school.

Hey, by todays standards I make chicken feed but I love what I do: Teaching. Made a lot more just pulling wrenches for GM dealers. I, like others played through my first two(2) years of college. When I started teaching requirements stated I had to take 24 hrs. of education courses to be completed within 4 years. After finishing that did not like that much more for a BS. So I took a course when-ever I had the time and money. The big joke in my family was are you going to finish before my oldest daughter. Shoot man beat her by a year. Got a BS in 91 and she graduated in 92. Did it help my pocket book? Nope.... Did it inspire my 3 kids... Yep... All saw how hard it was for me to work 1 and sometimes 2 jobs just to make ends meet. And I believe helped them do better than I did my first time around. As for Community colleges thats where I teach an its a whole lot cheaper than the big Universities. We've had people that started at a CC and gone on to do great things. Nothing to be ashamed of there. Oh, did I mention both of my daughters are NOT working in the Masters Degree field they earned. An son is in the Navy sailing the seven seas I guess. So here it is whatever makes YOU HAPPY. And it was 21 years from the time I took my first college course untill I finished:redface:. Hey I got it ,and nobody can take it away!!!!!