How many people here are using distance learning to prepare for new careers/career change as well as to improve their expertise in their current field? I ask because I am torn between changing careers and being better at the one in which I am employed. I read one post by someone on this board who is completing more than one course/degree at least two or three different schools. I am intrigued. I think the one thing that has been keeping me from action is having to choose a path. By not choosing, and pursuing two paths at once, I feel I can move ahead. I wonder how foolish such an attempt might be. Thanks for any advice...and to all of you for advice thus far.
Most schools have very strict rules regarding concurrent enrollment, especially at the graduate level. Toss in a full-time job, the fact that many programs have a clock ticking on the time you have to earn the degree, and I think that pursuing multiple degrees at once is a recipe for failure. Even if people have done it or even are doing it, doesn't mean that the vast majority of us can or should. It would probably be better for you to go ahead and decide whether you would prefer staying in your current field or want to move on to your new career. If you hate your job, are you really going to be all that motivated to learn even more about a field you can't stand? And if you did decide to stay where you are, would you be able to leave your thoughts of change behind?
These are good points, but I do not hate my job. In fact, I love it. (I don't play by the rules, necessarily. If I did, I wouldn't have a job in IT in the first place. So what the grad schools want isn't really going to help me survive.) I want to be even better at what I do for a living. However, the offshoring thing is forcing me to think about the "what ifs". I dont think my current job will be offshored, but like any employment situation, I could be laid off. If everyone else is offshoring or inviting very cheap labor, then I'm out of luck in finding a new position. I am in the position of placing bets when given limited information. I don't know if the current trends in IT are permanent or cyclical. There are scholarly articles that predict both with equal vigor and factual support. So....
