Considering a career change...

[tesu-acct-student]

Hi all,

I really appreciate all the wisdom on these forums and would like some feedback. I finished the BSBA/accounting last fall. Picked that degree because my background has been business/accounting and so it seemed to make the most sense. However, I am having a serious change of heart about that career path. After doing a lot of soul searching, writing a small book about my life, and getting some counseling, I am realizing that I really do not want to do accounting for the rest of my life and that I really like psychology. I would like to gather data for research, and to possibly explore counseling and child advocacy.

So I've been reading through the forums here about psych grad programs that don't require a psych undergrad. Mostly what I've found is that they are online which turns me off but I may be stuck with that. I live in California but am open to moving for the right program. Definitely prefer a butt-in-the-seat program over online.

So two questions:

What is it like to change careers later in life?
Because of these forums, I know about CalSouthern. Other ideas?

Thanks for any help.

[sanantone]

Depending on what you want to do, there are multiple graduate degrees you can get that will lead to a job in counseling: social work, psychology (most masters programs in psychology aren't exactly designed for licensure), mental health counseling, addictions counseling, and marriage and family therapy. I don't know about the job market in California; but, from what I've seen in Texas, the research jobs for those with a masters degree in psychology are limited unless you're willing to work in research outside of psychology.

My experience is that hiring managers do not make it easy for people to change careers. It was difficult for me just to transition from the security and teaching side of the criminal justice field to the social services side of the criminal justice field. I tried getting social service jobs outside of the criminal justice field, but that wasn't happening. So, I had to settle for counseling at a prison and now a social service job involving violations of state laws. I once looked into switching to the IT field, but I cannot live off of the wages being offered for entry-level positions.

Because you'll need to complete an internship, be prepared to be broke for a year or two. The wages will be low. Most child advocates are volunteers. There are, however, jobs with the government that deal with child abuse and neglect. These are normally state jobs; but, in California, child protective services operates at the county level. There are also non-profit organizations that provide counseling services to families through government grants and contracts.

[cookderosa]

Dfrecore gave great advice.

I was 38 when I graduated from TESU, and my mom got sick and died- for probably obvious reasons (to everyone but me at the time) I did a lot of deep thought about changing careers. My TESU degree is in social science, but I considered becoming a nurse or doctor, something I'd always been (still am) interested in. I started taking the sciences that are required, and doing a lot of volunteer work in a medical setting. For 2 years I worked the plan. In addition to my volunteer work, I also got a job in a hospital on the floor that I was most interested in. I earned very good grades and since I finished the nursing school sciences first, I sent out applications to those schools first. I was in the middle of finishing my premed sciences when I realized that I didn't want to be a doctor, (or nurse), but I wanted the satisfaction of knowing that I *could* be if I wanted. For me, once I realized that I could pursue anything I wanted, it kinda spun me off my center. Add to that my mom's passing and I felt an urgency to do it immediately. As soon as I started to realize that these goals were attainable, I kinda lost my enthusiasm for them. That's the opposite of how I usually am, so I knew it was a red flag. In the end, I took my original career (culinary) and merged it with a science-based aspect of the field (nutrition) and it was a perfect fit.

I'm not saying not to go for your dream, I'm saying that what you need might not necessarily be what you think you need. Psychology is fascinating, but there is a difference between studying something and then doing it as a career- my advice is to take your time and see how you can get some exposure to the career first. I volunteered for 2 years while working a part time job in a hospital and volunteering for someone doing the job I wanted. If I'm being honest, I probably knew 6 months in that it wasn't for me, but I wanted to be sure. So, glad I did.

You know how when 2 people are dating and they rush to get married? There is no reason to fear the dating stage if it's really a match- that's kinda how I approached this for me. After 2 years of "dating" this new career, I was sure it wasn't a match- and found an excellent match as a result of allowing myself time to choose wisely.

[dfrecore]

Well, thanks Jennifer, but you haven't even read my advice yet! I guess you knew that I WOULD be giving some great advice, so here goes (I'm feeling the pressure now)!

As someone who started my career in accounting, I can understand not wanting to do it for the rest of your life! I certainly got bored with it after a few years and wanted change.

So, I started working in some other areas near accounting (benefits led to stock plan administration and 401k plan administration, which led to a new area in a new company), and finally ended up in HR as a Compensation Manager. It kind of merged the best parts of accounting for me, personality wise (I'm very detail oriented, like spending my days in front of a computer, etc), but took away the parts I didn't like (month-end close, the tedium, the sameness month after month). I worked with different people (managers in other departments) on bigger projects that weren't based on the same kind of timeline, which I really appreciated.

So, I think what helped me was not necessarily leaving the business world entirely, but opening up my eyes to some new opportunities very close to where I already was, utilizing the skills I already had. Each step was not a leap, but a gentle transition, and it eventually landed me somewhere different enough that I was happy.

So I have 2 pieces of advice. The first is to look around and ask yourself if there's something else you can be doing close to you. I ended up in the department right next to where I was sitting, and made that switch over time to a couple of doors over pretty easily. I already knew the people, they knew me, etc.

The second is to start taking the courses in psychology. You have your degree, so it's not too difficult to look at the psychology degree at TESU and just start taking those courses towards it. Study.com has a bunch, so join and spend a few months really exploring them (rather than trying to pass as quickly as possible). Take everything that you can inexpensively for the next 6 months or a year or whatever. If you are still enjoying it, and still considering switching at that point, I would finish up the Psych degree. At this point, you're still only a few thousand dollars into it, rather than many thousands. You've also then opened up some new possibilities for the grad degree, since you'll have the Psych undergrad. At that point, I think you'll know whether you want the grad degree, plus you'll have been looking into which parts of the degree you want to utilize and what you need towards that career - just a masters, or do you also need the PhD?

I created a quick 2nd BA in Psych degree plan for you, and Study.com has 9 of the required courses. That will certainly give you a good idea of whether or not you want to complete the degree before investing a lot of money into it. I'm not certain if TCC still has History & Systems, or Physiological Psych courses, in which case those are going to get the price up. APU has them for about $810 each, but they also have a course that might be worth taking called Professional Careers and Education in Psychology.

Good luck whatever you choose!

[tesu-acct-student]

Thank you all for this feedback. I appreciate the analogy of dating! Makes sense. It also makes sense about hiring managers making it difficult to change careers. Definitely something to consider.

Dfrecore, thanks for that degree plan. I downloaded it and am looking at it now. I do have Intro to Psych and Psychology of Personality (both transferred from my university days). So I am going to replace one of the electives with the Personality course, probably Educational Psych.

Also, there is a Marriage and Family TECEP. I like marriage and family issues--family systems has a lot of overlap with child issues. I looked at the Psych page at TESU and it is not listed as an elective. Do you know if it works as an elective here?

Next question: I love the InstantCert format for studying and want to use it as much as possible if I decide to get the BA. It shows a few ECE psych exams, such as:

Abnormal Psychology
Ethics:Theory and Practice (not sure if this is psych related)
Foundations of Gerontology
Psychology of Adulthood & Aging
Research Methods in Psychology
Social Psychology
World Population (probably not psych related)

I've never taken an ECE exam. Do I have to be an Excelsior student to take them? If not, will they work in this plan?

Thank you!

[AJ_Atlanta]

One of the key elements for me when changing careers was to make sure I wrote a resume correctly, highlight the transferable skills and measurable successes. Education and experience are also very important and without one (experience) the need for another is greater.

I think looking for a well know/respected school is going to be important, but they all will require internships and some amount of hours before license. Make sure your personal finances are in order for a pay cut and go after your dream. You could also consider keeping your old career alive during the transition for the extra income. Maybe set yourself up on upwork or the like to earn some accounting money while you transition and avoid any resume gaps in the process.

[dfrecore]

Dfrecore, thanks for that degree plan. I downloaded it and am looking at it now. I do have Intro to Psych and Psychology of Personality (both transferred from my university days). So I am going to replace one of the electives with the Personality course, probably Educational Psych.

Also, there is a Marriage and Family TECEP. I like marriage and family issues--family systems has a lot of overlap with child issues. I looked at the Psych page at TESU and it is not listed as an elective. Do you know if it works as an elective here? This is considered a SOC course rather than PSYCH, so no it won't work.

Next question: I love the InstantCert format for studying and want to use it as much as possible if I decide to get the BA. It shows a few ECE psych exams, such as: I'm sure you can still use it for Study.com, but I'm not certain you need to.

Abnormal Psychology
Ethics:Theory and Practice (not sure if this is psych related) It's not, and won't count for the requirement.
Foundations of Gerontology SOC - Won't count as an elective.
Psychology of Adulthood & Aging
Research Methods in Psychology
Social Psychology
World Population (probably not psych related) SOC - Won't count as an elective.

I've never taken an ECE exam. Do I have to be an Excelsior student to take them? No. If not, will they work in this plan? Yes, but it will be more expensive. Taking 2 courses/mo at Study.com is less than the $145/exam through UExcel - and you have to go to a testing center for UExcel, but do Study.com at home. You can also get the $199/mo Study.com cost down by taking additional exams in a month ($70 per course for 3rd+ course in a month).

Thank you!

My responses are in bold red above.

Since you haven't taken any Study.com courses yet, I suggest you do that before you write them off and switch to UExcel. Try it on the courses UExcel doesn't offer, and see how it goes. If you find that you still want to take UExcel for the remaining courses, then you would have a good head-start anyway. IC would probably work well at that point.

[cookderosa]

Well, thanks Jennifer, but you haven't even read my advice yet! I guess you knew that I WOULD be giving some great advice, so here goes (I'm feeling the pressure now)!

!

I've completely lost my mind.:willynilly:

[KayV]

Sanantone had a great response in Post #2, as well as yours and Dfrecore's, Jennifer.

And AJ_Atlanta, too!