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Advice on going back for another degree

S

Shadowknight

Diamond Member
After a few years of working, I'm not really interested in my current profession. It doesn't help that I've reached a ceiling in what you can get paid for, and any higher-paying jobs (or even jobs paying the same amount) will respond to my resumes or job applications. I'm looking at going back for another bachelors, and possibly a masters in another field.

After looking around, I've decided I'm interested in physics, engineering, or computer science. I've gone by a couple of schools in the area (twiceE), but no one's available to speak to me, and the works in the departments just tell me to get information off their website.

Can anyone tell me anything about the majors I'm interested? If there are reasonable job opportunities or pay? Or is it impossible to get hired in those fields even with a masters degree?
 
Last I heard (a little over 1 year ago) was that nationwide unemployment in engineering was 1%. I don't know how accurate the number was or is, but things are about the same. There are plenty of engineering jobs available. It's more of a question if you're willing to move to your match if there's nothing in your area.

When I was looking for jobs last fall, there was probably 3 programming requisitions available for every engineering requisition I saw.

I imagine those 2 are still about the same. Physics is about the same as an engineering degree without applications and more science. Depending on the ability of the company to train you, you can get an engineering job with that, too.
 
Cuda1447 said:
What area do you work in now, what is your degree in?
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Accounting. I was easily intimidated in my younger years, and went with what I thought I could handle, but I realize know that I held myself back from doing something more complex that I'm capable of doing.
 
Shadowknight said:
Accounting. I was easily intimidated in my younger years, and went with what I thought I could handle, but I realize know that I held myself back from doing something more complex that I'm capable of doing.
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How have you possibly plateaued in your field of accounting?

I've been doing this for 13yrs and have not peaked. CPA?
 
Fmr12B said:
How have you possibly plateaued in your field of accounting?

I've been doing this for 13yrs and have not peaked. CPA?
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This. OP: look into a professional designation if you don't already have one. Sky's the limit if you have one really. Maybe you just need a change of pace? Try being the CFO for a start-up or something.

I did an undergrad in physics and it was awesome. I would totally do it all over again in a heartbeat. I'm not working in physics and don't recommend you do one if a career is what you are after, but the problem solving and math skills you learn are incredibly valuable.

I ended up doing an MBA and now work on Bay street in Toronto doing very non-physics like things.
 
Fmr12B said:
How have you possibly plateaued in your field of accounting?

I've been doing this for 13yrs and have not peaked. CPA?
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I have my masters; I've been avoiding the CPA due to the current fingerprint requirement with the government, as I see it as an invasion of privacy. I'm planning to sit the test later this year, but without fingerprinting, I don't think I can actually get the license.

As to my experience, I've been an accountant for the last 5.5 years, with two of them as a manager. Trust me, it is currently impossible to even get an interview over the last couple of years for jobs I am far more than qualified for. I got three or four last year, and nothing this year.

Regardless, I'm still looking to go back to school. Even ignoring the salary, I just don't feel that much intrinsic value or satisfaction with my current career, and would rather move over to the sciences.
 
Shadowknight said:
I have my masters; I've been avoiding the CPA due to the current fingerprint requirement with the government, as I see it as an invasion of privacy. I'm planning to sit the test later this year, but without fingerprinting, I don't think I can actually get the license.

As to my experience, I've been an accountant for the last 5.5 years, with two of them as a manager. Trust me, it is currently impossible to even get an interview over the last couple of years for jobs I am far more than qualified for. I got three or four last year, and nothing this year.

Regardless, I'm still looking to go back to school. Even ignoring the salary, I just don't feel that much intrinsic value or satisfaction with my current career, and would rather move over to the sciences.
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have you researched to see if any of your other potential careers require background checks / fingerprinting as well?
 
Shadowknight said:
Accounting. I was easily intimidated in my younger years, and went with what I thought I could handle, but I realize know that I held myself back from doing something more complex that I'm capable of doing.
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heh, I'm the opposite. Got my degree in EE, worked a few years, decided it wasn't for me and went back to get a MS in accounting. Now I have my CPA and a few years of public accounting experience. Should have done accounting from the start.
 
Shadowknight said:
That's why I went to the colleges last week, to know what's involved. In all cases, the faculty was unavailable to answer even basic questions.
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None of my professors would have cared about that. It's probably up to you to figure out the industry you want to go into, and look up the requirements.

My company only hires people that have/will undergo a fingerprinting/background check. My last one only required ~half the company to do it.
 
You are fingerprinted as a CPA because you are not allowed to have a criminal background and hold the license. They use the fingerprints to run you through the database prior to licensure but after passing all 4-parts.

You are fingerprinted to work at child care centers now or volunteer around children.

Have you done public accounting, Big 4? I worked my way up through Snr Mgr before heading to industry as a Director.

4-6yrs of additional college while making no money and acquiring studnt loans - no way, but if your not happy - then you have to do it for yourself.
 
Fmr12B said:
You are fingerprinted as a CPA because you are not allowed to have a criminal background and hold the license. They use the fingerprints to run you through the database prior to licensure but after passing all 4-parts.

You are fingerprinted to work at child care centers now or volunteer around children.

Have you done public accounting, Big 4? I worked my way up through Snr Mgr before heading to industry as a Director.

4-6yrs of additional college while making no money and acquiring studnt loans - no way, but if your not happy - then you have to do it for yourself.
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I had an interview with Pricewater Cooper once, and got dropped after the second interview. Ignorining salary and background checks entirely, I want just want to do something more interesting than accounting, and preferably a field where if my employer doesn't work out, or the company crashes and I lost my job, it won't take me months or years to even get an interview.

Also, I'm planning to go to college part time. I have enough money to cover my normal expenses and the cost of classes so I don't need a loan, though I won't have much money left over.

Does anyone have any experience working in phyics, comp sci and engineering, and give me an idea of what they are like?
 
Part time college for Engineering? This will take you 6+yrs. Very few of your original degree classes will transfer.

Brother is a ME & works for Daimler. Went to a good school, was part of SAE, did multiple project cars and builds.

Sounds like you don't interview well, have a good enough GPA, or have work experience on your resume that no one cares about. No wonder you are stuck.
 
Fmr12B said:
Sounds like you don't interview well, have a good enough GPA, or have work experience on your resume that no one cares about. No wonder you are stuck.
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My GPA's fine, my interviewing skills are fine. When I last interviewed, three of them were over the phone, two of which turned me down for not being a local candidate. One I didnt want, and one refused to take me seriously for the job since it was out-of-state, despite telling them I had no problem moving.

I have the impression you haven't been in on the job market for awhile. If you don't have the exact experience they want (7-10 years industrial experience, CPA, just for starters, multi-state tax experience, etc) a lot of people won't even speak to you. I'm good at my job, I just don't want to work in my field anymore. I can't realistically get much more money, given I cannot even get an interview for not having the EXACT requirements they want, which are often too specific to attract any candidates.
 
Shadowknight said:
I had an interview with Pricewater Cooper once, and got dropped after the second interview. Ignorining salary and background checks entirely, I want just want to do something more interesting than accounting, and preferably a field where if my employer doesn't work out, or the company crashes and I lost my job, it won't take me months or years to even get an interview.

Also, I'm planning to go to college part time. I have enough money to cover my normal expenses and the cost of classes so I don't need a loan, though I won't have much money left over.

Does anyone have any experience working in phyics, comp sci and engineering, and give me an idea of what they are like?
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I may have missed this in the thread, but did you say you had any public accounting experience? If you did, finding another job should be somewhat easy as having experience in that is pretty attractive. Throw on a CPA license and you're pretty much set in terms of always having a job.
 
I've worked as a scientist and am now a patent attorney.

If you want to work in the hard sciences (BIO, Chem, Physics), don't even bother going to school unless you plan to get an advanced degree, preferably a PhD. Why? Because folks with a bachelors in the hard sciences are almost unemployable these days. Even if you managed to find a position, you would be stuck in a lab pipetting 5 mls of liquid into various containers making <30k a year until your employer realizes that a robot can do the same thing.

Engineering is a good option, but you really should considergoing to school full time and delving into it full fledged. Electrical, computer, and mechanical are the most in demand now. Civil engineering market is pretty dead, or so I hear. Work is not terribly exciting, but what desk work is?

If you have even one thought of going to law school, squash it. Squash it hard and make double sure its dead. The law job market is deader than dead. Don't believe anyone at a law school that tells you otherwise, because they are lying. Besides, practicing law is, by and large, no more exciting than accounting.

If you can avoid it, don't go to school part time and work full time during the day. I did that and it SUCKED. Its not impossible, but you will lose 4 years of your life to it.
 
Schfifty Five said:
I may have missed this in the thread, but did you say you had any public accounting experience? If you did, finding another job should be somewhat easy as having experience in that is pretty attractive. Throw on a CPA license and you're pretty much set in terms of always having a job.
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Seriously - I'd like to understand where this guy lives, what his skills & resume look like. I'm guessing no public accounting experience and might be stuck in the GL Level job with low responsibility level.

Accountants have a 0% unemployment rate right now which means there are not enough. CPA's write there own ticket.
 
Fmr12B said:
Seriously - I'd like to understand where this guy lives, what his skills & resume look like. I'm guessing no public accounting experience and might be stuck in the GL Level job with low responsibility level.
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Why are you obsessed with this? I stated in the OP I'm not interested in continuing accounting regardless.
 
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