What further education do I need to be taken seriously as I re-enter the workforce?

May 19, 2007 12:56 PM

I've been out of work for a number of years, by choice, staying at home to raise my kids. I have a Bachelor's in Education with a minor in English from back in 19mumblemumbleyear, and even if it were up-to-date, my life has taken a different turn, and I don't feel that teaching is for me any more. With this kind of background, if I don't teach, I am pretty much, as one of my English teachers once put it, an "educated un-employable." What further education do I need to be taken seriously as I re-enter the workforce?

I have become proficient with both Windows and Mac applications, not just the wimpy Office suite stuff, but how to illustrate with Photoshop, a little bit of HTML, CSS style sheets and coding, etc. I pick things up quickly and I am constantly trying to learn more. This year, I started blogging and have enjoyed it immensely, and over the last few years I have written short stories and columns that have been published, a couple nationally. I have been looking at my particular skill sets, and feel that writing in some capacity is both my passion and my most marketable skill as I try to re-enter the workforce. I have considered technical writing or copy-writing as a possible career path for me. I recognize that I need to work on making myself more employable. What coursework should I pursue to prepare me for these positions? Should I go for a graduate degree, and if I do, which field would be most relevant? Are there other choices involving writing that I am missing?

posted by misha to education (7 answers total)

why don't you consider editing?
posted by matteo at 1:30 PM on May 19, 2007

(text of course, not images)
posted by matteo at 1:30 PM on May 19, 2007

You could probably get a job as a technical writer.
posted by delmoi at 1:38 PM on May 19, 2007

As a self-taught web developer who earns a living coding websites on a freelance basis, my biased opinion is: keep doing what you're doing. That is, writing short stories and columns. Be a freelance writer. You seem to have proved that you can do it, so keep sending 'em out and don't worry about more edukashun.

But that's advice from me, and I'm a lazy ass.
posted by iguanapolitico at 1:42 PM on May 19, 2007

If you want to go into technical writing, you should probably look into a certificate or graduate program in technical writing. Many technical writers have a bachelor's in English or something along those lines, and then supplement that with a certificate, so you should be fine if you can find a certificate program near you.

Your skill set & the fact that you learn new things easily makes me think you would be a natural at tech writing if the job itself seems interesting to you. IAATW. 8-)
posted by tastybrains at 2:50 PM on May 19, 2007

Another possible direction that leverages your education background: course development (aka instructional design) and/or training.

When combined with expertise in a desirable field (such as using Photoshop, for example), these can be lucrative specialties.

My sense (based on impression rather than research) is that instructional design has held its value better than tech writing, which seems to have bottomed out during the crash and never really recovered.

Check the ASTD, a professional organization for workplace training, for more information and resources.
posted by ottereroticist at 3:27 PM on May 19, 2007

You could be a marketer in a field like construction, engineering, and architecture. It's hard work but it seems those industries are always looking.
posted by DenOfSizer at 8:37 AM on May 20, 2007