Are you in a career rut? Only you can know that.
You might have a dream that some day you might be able to do something else. But is it worth going back to school and incurring so much debt on the way?
Not everyone has the money set aside to allow them to go back to school with no student debt. But for some, it is worth trying out their dream job, even if that means going back to school to get the training for it, debt or not. But for some people, it just is not worth it. That is why going back to school can be a very personal choice.
The first thing I think people need to think about is, what do you love? If you are doing a job and get "into the zone" while you are working, and the day goes by fast, the job you are doing just may be a good fit for you.
Some other questions you can ask yourself are: Do you enjoy the people you work with? Do you feel like you are doing something worthwhile? Then maybe your job is one that you can continue with your entire life. But you don't have to give up on your dreams. Maybe each thing you dream about can be a hobby for you. You can work at your same job, and explore your other interests on the side.
Will you want to go to school to learn more about your dream? Maybe. Maybe not!
Maybe you can look things up on the internet or at the library to find out more about it in your free time first. Perhaps full-time school is not for you right now. Maybe part-time school (outside of work) just may be. There are so many options today.
Many people just accept what happens to them, and never go past that. I think I myself used to be that way. I think asking myself some questions helped me. One question I asked that you can ask yourself is this: Have you explored what you really want from life? Are you fulfilled in your job?
Do you feel like there might be something different that you would enjoy doing with your life? If you answer yes to any of these questions, the next step might be taking a free aptitude test online.
Here are just a few I have found:
FunEducation has some neat quizzes and tests that you may like. They also have an IQ test there that they say is PhD. certified. This sounds a lot like the old Tickle tests. I had fun with the Tickle tests. Their site is no longer around, I am sad to say.
But the website points to:
TestQ, which also has IQ and interest tests.
The Career Zone is an interesting test page linked to from Columbus State Community College.
Then you can go from there and decide whether or not you want to learn more about your dream job or even your dream hobby.
Do you know of some good and free sites that help people learn more about themselves and what they may love to do with their job or life? I would love it if you would list those sites after this posting.
Have you thought about exploring other options in your work life? Do you think about doing other things in your spare time? Talk about it in your comment. I look forward to reading about it.
Nontraditionally yours,
-Betsyanne
Here are some other postings you may like:
Nontraditional student information from Twitter
The Good Stuff - - the nontraditional student page at the Federal Aid Page
Going back to school - should you?
Some Nontrad links:
The Nontrad site and blog
Join Nontrads on Facebook Nontrads on Yahoo
Nontrads on Twitter
