Degrees for midlife career changers?

The medical field will continue to thrive with all the baby boomers retiring. I do agree with you, however, about the economy and I foresee a lot more bankruptcies and foreclosures.

 

Maybe there's hope for librarians.

I thought the same thing...after all it seems logical that the digital age will make librarians obsolete. The Dept. of Labor's "Career Voyages" site says that:

Job openings for entry-level librarians are anticipated to be favorable over the next 10 years because of a large number of retirements. Employment for librarians outside traditional settings is projected to grow the fastest, with opportunities for public school librarians, who are often drawn from among the ranks of teachers, also expected to be especially favorable.1

I know that there is a grant in Laura Bush's name that pretty much pays for an MLS degree.2 It does seem counterintuitive to believe that librarians will always be needed. It does seem like a nice job, though, and it would be ashame if it went away.

1. http://www.careervoyages.gov/education-library.cfm
2. http://www.laurabushfoundation.org/

 

To be a successful substance abuse counselor you need to LOVE people and be able to set boundaries in your therapeutic relationship with the chemically-dependent without appearing judgmental. You also need to have an almost inexhaustible wellspring of patience for tracking and analyzing highly-complex excuses for making the wrong choices, so that implies a strong, functional relationship with a higher power that is most often found in the Judeo / Christian heritage, IMHO.

You don't have to have a masters degree in counseling to be a substance abuse counselor. (There are lots of reasons for that and they too complicated to explain here.) The road to substance abuse counseling education is a bit confusing, and there are very few accredited DL degree programs available, but the place to start is to identify the certifying / licensing entity in your state. (The education is readily available through a crazy quilt of continuing education providers and not so readily available from some degree specialty options in counseling programs.) The requirements vary from state to state, depending on how the profession has fared in that state relative to social workers, psychologists, and marriage family therapists. Some states certify counselors. Some states license counselors. A good place to start reading is http://www.naadac.org . In what state do you reside?

All that said, I wouldn't recommend trying to become any kind of counselor solely through DL... There are just too many nuances of human interaction that require education AND practice that comes only hand in hand (literally) with experience.

 

Tony, although reviewing the occupational outlook for myriad professions is not a bad idea in order to understand future employment trends as is reviewing a number of career possibilities suggested by other posters, in the long run this method of seeking an appropriate career change will most probably not be very helpful. The reason being is that regardless of whether any of these career possibilities may have good employment prospects in the future they may not be congruent with your aptitudes or interests and if they are not, you will most probability not be satisfied with your career choice or be able to make a satisfactory career transition and adjustment. Instead, it is advisable to initially assess an understanding of your current work and personal transferable skills, career and educational interests, and priorities of values as they relate to a new career (ie, money, prestige, helping others, etc). In this way you will have a good foundation of understanding to guide your career search.

 

Thanks for the information. I didn't know about NAADAC. I figured it was all under APA and followed the same route as psycologists and counselors. I'm in Georgia.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll research further before I move in any direction. I won't rely soley on this site, but it is interesting to hear from the wide variety of perspectives available here. There are few places with as many helpful people without a common agenda.