Anyone have experience going to school in their 50s?
I'm in my early 50s and have been seriously considering going to school. I have performed manual labor for most of my working career, and though I truly enjoy it, my body cannot keep up anymore. A few years ago I began looking for work in an office environment, and after a a demoralizing year of submitting resumes, I landed a minimum wage job in a small customer support office inside a larger organization. The work was soul suckingly boring. I applied to other departments and received job offers, but management would not let me leave customer service because I have a way of deescalating difficult situations. I was eventually offered the customer support manager role, but I refuse to manage people. Since the company would not let me move out of customer support, I left them and took a long vacation. That is where I am at now.
I am afraid that an educational investment will not pay out the dividends that I am hoping for. I don't have all the time in the world anymore. I guess I am looking for career / school advice, or if not advice, similar journeys.
On an evening shift in my university it's not uncommon to see people in their late 40s that are trying to get a second education or just renew theirs. But since you are also hoping to land a job with your new skills I'd say it is really up to the climate where you live. Here it would be almost impossible for a 50-year old to land an entry level job, and I think that age barrier is your worst enemy right now. Maybe you should try looking for something that would build up on your existing skills or add up to them somehow, so you'll end up with a rare skillset that might be useful.
I have access to the Seattle job market but have no idea how open it is to entry level 50 somethings, hence the fear. I am particularly frustrated in my inability to evaluate my skills in a way to know how to build on them. I have have never not known what to do next! /grumble
Maybe I should pay for some career counselling?
Since you are going to pay for the education any way I think it's pretty rational to get counseling first, yup
I just googled career counselors in my area. Do you know how to tell if one is legit or not?
Go through your State and/or community colleges for counseling.
Also go see your local Career Center (think old JVS). They always have night classes of some sort and instructors who keep in touch with the professional world. Depending on what you did, you might even be able to land a job using your experience to teach for 11/12 grades at the career center. You'll spend four years taking one class a quarter to get your state teaching licensure, but you'll be working while doing so.
Next contact your State's local Job's and Family Services office. They really are good at helping people who want to work, find work or even training for a career change.
First thing you need to do is really think about what kind of work you want to do. Beyond white collar work. Do you like IT? Do you like crunching numbers? Do you like reading or editing? What hours do you want to work? Are you OK with "after-hours", weekends and/or holidays?
IT (my field, I'm 49 but have been in it for 32 years) will be VERY hard for you to get into simply because you have zero professional experience. Where I'm at age doesn't matter, experience does. Not college, experience.
Also look for Computer Based Training (CBT) courses. Look at reviews to make sure you aren't wasting time with them. Use those to train so you can pass certifications. Be wary of the "two weeks and you will pass your whatever" crash courses. They're bullshit. One course over a week? That's good. But it's also expected you'll spend every night for a month or two training on your own so you can pass the cert exam.
Good luck!
Wow, thank you! It didn't occur to me to seek out career counselling at the local college or that there was a local job and family services office. I am going to look into those first thing tomorrow!
I love things that can consume me, things that are varied, and things that require effort. What does the day in the life of an entry level IT worker look like? I guess that is another fear, entering into something and not having the ideal match the reality.
What hours I work don't matter to me as long as start times are more or less consistent.
A day in the life of entry level IT? Hell? Abuse? Low pay? Yea, pretty much all of that in most cases. That said, I had it great, but I started over 30 years ago.
Nowadays, you'll be doing the shit jobs. Which actually are good for you if you want to spend more than a few years in IT. Why? Because it'll either burn you out and you'll make everyone else's life better by quitting, or you'll pay attention, suck it up, learn how to think like you need to for IT and also learn beyond your job so you can advance.
I've lost count of unhappy entry level IT people I've met. 99% "just want to do their job" and go home. Problem is they fail to accept that their job is to not just fix computers and software (and sometimes they really don't even think that is part of their job), but also to be polite, help end users to learn, be professional, not spend hours a day just shooting the shit, meet SLA's, think outside the box, help on stuff not explicitly stated in your job description, etc.
If you have the mindset to be a good or great IT person, most other IT people will frustrate the crap out of you. And you just need to let it go. Either they will accept help to learn new skills and knowledge or they won't and aren't worth your time. Hopefully management will see that and get rid of them, but if they don't it's not your concern after you mention it once.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being in IT. Even though most people I work with and help are ignorant. That's OK, it's better than them being stupid. I am a fixer. My wife hates it :) Hey, if it weren't for those people, I wouldn't be employed.
I'm sorry, I can't help you with that, probably online reviews and google are your best friends here.
My experience has been that the best "bang for the buck" is in IT certifications through a local community college. The time and money commitment wasn't substantial, and the pay was far better than anything I could earn with a chemistry Bachelor's and Public Health Master's.
Depending on the curriculum schedule, you can get through a Cisco CCNA or higher in 12 - 18 months, with full labs. That and a Linux+ certification will get you 50 - 60k starting salaries in most U.S. markets, regardless of your age.
Feel free to reach out with questions - I'm in your age bracket, but taking a career reset period too (again!). Not sure what it's going to be this time...
Addendum: managing networks is far less emotionally taxing than managing people.
I like this idea a lot! I have been perusing the school catalogs with an eye towards IT or cybersecurity certs. Cybersecurity looks more interesting, but maybe IT has a greater chance of employment?
I would also throw out coding bootcamps as an option. The good ones have career services after you complete it. I think the main benefit there is it’s cheaper and faster than most other options.
I never did a bootcamp but I did “teach myself how to code” and got a job. I’d also be happy to answer questions if you have any :)
I've read so many good and bad things about bootcamps. I wonder if there is a way to find out from local employers perspective which ones are good and which ones are not.
You don't get to do good cybersecurity without the basics of networking and operating systems, and you may be content working with those fundamentals. These days, I'd include some programming to handle automation, and at least one certification in VMWare, AWS, or Microsoft Azure.
I started in IT customer service with little formal training, got certificates, then had generalist infrastructure and security roles that led to a corporate management position after about ten years of experience.
My partner is a software developer and over the years I have casually taken some online programming classes. At first I did so in order to understand to some degree what the heck my partner was talking about when they used me as a sound board (which is often), but then because it is extremely interesting and consuming. At the time it didn't have any more practical uses for me, nor did I think I could ever make money at it (and I was happy doing what I was doing), so I stopped learning once it served its initial purpose (not zoning out when my partner needs a sound board). All of that to say, I think programming for automation would not be too difficult (and I live with an amazing resource!)
Additionally we run our home network on a Linux server, which I can use as a small "playground." I've been passively listening to basic networking lectures to get a feel for difficulty, at least on the basic level. What do you think of the CompTIA Network+?
CompTIA Network+ is basic, and a good cert to see if you'd enjoy the more in-depth and rigorous Cisco material. A+ and Network+, as well as ITIL Fundamentals, will get you into a help desk position.
I wonder if becoming a security guard would be a good option for you. You said you have a way of de-escalating difficult situations. Although you are no longer in peak physical shape, my understanding is that security guards tend to fulfill more of an "observe and report" role. Maybe potential employers would appreciate someone with wisdom and life experience who is less likely to fly off the chain and create a liability by physically confronting someone.
I am a small woman, and though I am good at deescalating, I would never be able to use "physical presence" as a tool if it were needed.
I don't think that precludes the possibility being a security guard, if you actually want to become one. I live in Istanbul and I've seen many women, often around 160cm tall, that work as security guards, especially in shopping centres. I'd also guess that deescalating is a task they perform way more often than physical interventions in such places, and in a team there probably are a diverse set of tasks.
You're right, and I should have been more clear. It's a job that scares me. In the year I spent looking for employment, I considered applying as a security guard several times in desperation, but in the end decided it wasn't for me.
I graduated last year and am a 25yo, so my own story is not very useful, but I was in the same class with four "adult" students I know of. First of these was a 40-something that had a decent job, he'd hang out with us and way a very cool man. We studied Italianistics and he stayed for a year just to learn the language. The second was a man apparently on his 60s or 70s, we didn't really interact with him, he joined a few lessons and did not come afterwards. My friends told me he was a professor that was interested in a few lessons of ours. Third, the year we graduated there was a woman that was around his 50s. She was a problem, a rather selfish one. I think she was interested in the thing as a pastime, rather than study, but she was ignorant w.r.t. manners at a classroom, being a cooperative colleague. Lastly, there was one guy in his late 30s or early 40s. He studied with us all along; he had previously studied Spanish lit, and now wanted to expand his horizons to a similar literary tradition. He was cool, friends with everybody.
Social-wise, it is allright if you don't get involved with the younger ones, or if you do and you are a sincere person. You're just another student. In my experience, it was fun to share a classroom with people from a diverse set of generations. I was three years older from most my colleagues, there were many in their late 20s/early 30s. It was all fun and interesting.
P.S.: I am from and studied in Turkey, so I can't comment on how things will be in your part of the world. I've encountered some sad ageism stories in the US especially, and especially in IT.
Your story was useful. I've wondered how classmates might perceive me, and your story gave me some insight. Thank you!
You're welcome! Hope you'll have lots of fun and success studying!