What should my next career move be?

October 13, 2016 12:44 AM

I'll be graduating next year with a degree in Psychology with a concentration in Childhood & Adolescent development. I'm looking to find a new job in the meantime, and I'm not sure if I should try to find something in my field or switch fields entirely.

I'm 26. My current job is dead-end, no raises. I'm not making enough money to support myself and my daughter without outside help. I'm looking to get my Masters eventually and I'm hoping to explore some careers and figure out what I really want to do in life.

The most important things to me are:
- Future earning potential (I'd like to make a lot of money)
- Feeling like the work actually means something, like I'm making a difference
- Work/life balance

I'm thinking of either getting my STNA (with an eye toward becoming a pediatric nurse), CompTIA (and finding a help desk job), or just sticking to finding a Psychology job.

STNA - did it for a month before (got fired for calling off) and enjoyed it, but didn't like the human bodily fluid part. Baby bodily fluids are okay, blood is fine, but handling poop/pee/food is not my thing.

Pros: Find out if nursing might be for me and I can overcome the ick factor. Love learning about medicine/health/the human body. Making a difference/helping people. Future earning potential.

Cons: $400 for a class to start in a field I might not want to continue in.

CompTIA - I love working with computers and would love to learn the ins and outs of computers. I've dabbled a little bit and built my own computer way back when, but I'm nowhere near where I'd need to be to work in tech without studying for it.

Pros: Future earning potential, get to learn more about computers
Cons: No idea if I'll actually like doing it for a living, $400 start-up cost for CompTIA, not in my field, not sure how I'd help people in a meaningful way

Psychology/working with children:

Pros: In my field, working with people, making a difference
Cons: Difficult to get a job with just a bachelor's. Also, some of the entry-level jobs (like Head Start jobs) have a starting wage that's less than what I'm making now. I can't afford a pay cut.

I'll note that there are many careers I'm actually interested in, like working with animals, writing, music, transportation, etc. However, these careers seem to fit into my wishes for high earning potential and work/life balance the best. But if there's something I'm overlooking, feel free to suggest it!

posted by Autumn to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Go for computer work. It's going to cost no matter what you train for, and computers rarely poop or throw up on you.
posted by tel3path at 1:26 AM on October 13, 2016

Best answer: Know that as a pediatric nurse you will encounter adolescents, and they have very adult like poop.
posted by pintapicasso at 2:10 AM on October 13, 2016

Have you ever considered consulting? I don't know anything about the specifics of consulting in this field but a friend did it for a few years and made pretty good money with just a BA (not in education or child development) and Teach For America. You might try searching for "education consultant" on Indeed or another job board to get a sense of what's out there.
posted by forkisbetter at 4:21 AM on October 13, 2016

Best answer: I have my degree in psych and after graduating did a 2 year college program in computer programming. Best choice I could have made. I make a very respectable salary with good future income potential, have a good work life balance, no poop.
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 4:40 AM on October 13, 2016

A degree or cert that prepares you for help desk work is nowhere near the same thing as a programming degree/cert, and the salary ranges reflect that. Help desk jobs, especially to start, are barely above minimum wage, and don't always have a very clear advancement path.

There are several CompTIA certs, of varying degrees of usefulness. I would look into their Security+ exam. Fewer courses to take for prep, and anyone with any knowledge of security at all is being gobbled up instantly (at least in my location.) It's a hot area.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:00 AM on October 13, 2016

with your psych degree and wanting to help others, have you considered something like Professional Listener? Apparently they are real and their salaries seem quite good.
posted by Sassyfras at 6:57 AM on October 13, 2016

Best answer: It may be hard to get all three: money, purpose and work/life balance at least initially. But, if you find a well-paying gig, you can pivot your career towards an organization that does good once you get experience and/or volunteer.

Public health may tick some of your boxes. Psychology might be useful for something like UX / UI design. I'd look at something that leverages at least some of your knowledge/skills.

Also look at whether your strengths are more creative or administrative/project management. Finding something you are GOOD at is something more important than finding something you LOVE in the marathon that is a career.
posted by typecloud at 7:53 AM on October 13, 2016

Best answer: I'm curious: you say you're interested in eventually pursuing a Masters degree. Would the type of degree program you eventually pursue depend on which of these three paths you're thinking about now? Or do you already know you want a Masters in Psychology or something similar, and the Masters would be the impetus for a career change?

If it's the first one, I'd say go for Nursing and try to get over the squick factor. A CNA certificate can be earned in like six weeks, and there are a lot of levels of training and certification you can work through that can increase your earning potential in reliable increments as you progress (LPN, RN, etc.). It will also be pretty easy to find jobs in this field, plus you may even be able to put some of your undergrad degree to work if you find a psychiatric position.

If it's the second one, and you have already decided that a Masters in Psychology or something similar is the thing you want to do, I'd try as much as you can to get a job in the psychology, counseling, or social work field now. It'd be tougher to find, but it has the benefit of giving you valuable work experience in the field, which will make you more employable after graduation. Also, some workplaces have tuition assistance that may be able to help you out.

It sounds like helping people in a very hands-on way is very much a career priority for you, so I would probably not suggest going the IT route (although certainly you'll be helping lots of people by fixing their computers or recovering their files!)

The only caveat to this is if you feel like you are able to separate your drive to provide compassionate care for people from your job. Lots of people do jobs they don't feel super passionate about, but because are able to have an outlet for their passions outside of work and are reasonably good at what they do, they can kind of adopt a "this is a job, not who I am" mentality and just take the money and run at the end of the day. If this is something you feel like you'd be able to live with, there are a LOT of opportunities to get more IT training and make progressively more money, if this is something you're genuinely interested in.

Good luck!
posted by helloimjennsco at 9:17 AM on October 13, 2016