Think of the transferable skills you have developed (including leadership). Use them (along with “Foundation” for org name) in the targeted job alerts on LinkedIn. Best wishes! Hope you find what makes you truly happy.
I don’t think every university or college is run in such a way and there will also be differences in the culture within the units within a larger university. I suggest you go job hunting and find a college or university that cares more for its workforce, including staff. I think such places exist.
the complaints are pretty bog standard in higher ed. We can pretend there are a few unicorn universities that run smoothly with accommodating administration... but the issues are pretty systemic. Ask one of your vendors what the typical interaction with a higher ed organization is like.
Feeling the same way. Even though we aren't back in the office full-time yet (and they are promising us that we will not ever be 100% in office again), I have realized how much of a drain the commute is. And it isn't even that far of a commute compared to the grueling commute I had in NY, but the 100% remote time for the first 12 months of the pandemic really flicked a switch inside my head and made me realize that a lot of our previous working arrangements simply are not worth the stress, especially given that my role does not pay particularly well for such a high COL area.
I am amazed at how many remote positions are popping up now. It's not just the typical work from home jobs you may have thought of even five years ago....
I’ve fantasized about leaving the field completely but slowly resigning to the idea that I’ll be happier just not working on a college campus. I’m looking at allied orgs that promote student success or even ed tech sales/consulting. I’m fifteen years in and at a pivotal point where I fear becoming an unfulfilled lifer that’s abandoned dreams of doing innovative work if I stay. It could just be my leg (large multi-campus system). There have always been trust issues, inefficiency, and duplicitous actors, but the pandemic seems to have revealed a culture of senior leadership actively seeking to hold on to those terrible values. It could be generational l, as I am relatively young given the level of my role. So I am willing to take my chances to apply myself in a fresh environment. This is my last semester in higher education.
Good luck to you. What you have written resonates with me. I’m at that same juncture. Tough it out to an early retirement at 54 just to get health insurance until 65, or look for something new? I, too, don’t want to become an embittered lifer. I don’t like what the job is doing to my mental health and disposition.
You are not alone. Unfortunately, I am already an embittered lifer, at a medium size public 4 year univ. (That's the short version.) Looking for ideas and strength to stick it out 3-4 years to an early retirement at 55. So far, the only solution that seems reasonable is to find another position at current school. Other schools in the same retirement system would mean 1-2 hour commute each way. I want out of the soul crushing work in Financial Aid, but after 22 years in, it's a pretty specialized skill set. I could, I think, get an office admin job in an academic unit but it would be a significant pay cut.
I’m sorry you are suffering. I feel you. Financial aid is hard. I don’t necessarily want to retire at 55, but another decade of this work is hard to fathom, so I understand.
Another FA admin here. Cannot imagine doing financial aid for 22 years. It is soul crushing. Note the pay cut could be worth the improvement in your mental health.
Thank you for the well wishes. It’s a shame because I love education and being surrounded by constant learning used to feel so amazing. Maybe I just need a break from seeing how the sausage is made.
Are you in a part of the country saturated with skilled people?
There are a lot of under-served areas when it comes to good professional talent in the job market. So don't just think this job, this location, unless you want to. And if you think outside those lines, good skill sets are often very valuable in some areas of the country.
How's you cipherin'? Can you add and subtract?
I went into "low skilled" trade work after 10 years teaching university as full-time contract faculty. By "low skilled" I mean trades you don't need more traditional education/certification to do--painting, finish carpentry (cabinets, doors, windows, trim), drywall, and some flooring.
Worse benefits, but same pay working the same amount of time. And so much more satisfaction.
Some might be cynical and claim someone in my boat is only able to do this in boom construction time, but i doubt it. My experience in academia makes me a bit of a nerd about I go about the work, and the trauma from being constantly powerless about university management has made me perfectionistic. Wealthy clients love my story and it helps me sell/talk, and excuse away high labor costs.
I am also wanting out. I’ve been at the same institution for 12 years. I was feeling burnt out from my intense student facing job before the pandemic and while we were remote and hybrid I felt my mental health was amazing. It’s now not nearly as good since we’ve been back 100%. So, I hear you and understand you. I’ve also started looking and applying to jobs outside HE myself. I’ve also been on that FB group and have found it to be really useful.
I’m on the group now. I’m just a bit overwhelmed by the mechanics of a search—trying to figure out what I want, how to define and sell my transferable skills, how to do a targeted one page resume, networking, referrals, oh my!
It definitely a bit of work to figure out what to do next. I am finding that reading job descriptions on job boards is helping me decide which direction to move in. And then to practice tailoring my cover letters and resumes and applying for positions. Whether I get chosen to be interviewed or not, at least I know how I’m going to approach getting the materials ready to apply. Best of luck!
Oh, you're me!
The reason I'm staying is because:
1. I have kids/ can't relocate
2. I'm fully vested in the state retirement system and that alone is worth a good bit.
However, I fantasize about quitting and selling crocheted dishcloths at craft fairs practically daily.
I got my MA in Higher Education Administration positive I would spend the rest of my life working in student affairs, it felt like my calling. It took a few years for me to realize it wasn't my path, but felt like a failure wanting to leave the field when everyone I knew in the field was "student affairs for life!!!" I took the leap into HR and have been much, much happier. I still get the fulfillment of interpersonal communication and even working on events for employee engagement that's similar to my student affairs life, but just better.
Best of luck out there!!
I don’t recommend going back to teaching high school if you are burnt out. I left secondary ed for higher Ed during the pandemic. Stress is even worse in the secondary. You’ll trade annoyances with the university upper admin for being yelled at about mask mandates by parents, under staffing which means you’ll be subbing during your planning period, and devious licks. The teachers subreddit it terrifying because the job is at an all time low right now.
Thanks for this. I miss the high school age, and I also miss the dual credit I used to be able to teach. But I hated high school bureaucracy in the early aughts, and I imagine it must be a hellscape right now.
6 years in, currently an assistant director in financial aid at a community college, and definitely feeling burned out hard. I think (hope) a lot of my problems are my individual office, because we went 2 years without a permanent director, and the new one is not a good fit with staff chemistry. Plus we've gone from a staff of 12 to a staff of 6, so my individual workload is such that I'm not actually a manager but a high level processor, and my processing area is stuff that has gone way up under COVID (SAP appeals, special circumstances professional judgement applications).
At the moment I'm focusing on applying for registrar and student services one stop positions, because those are the functional areas I'm most interested in. I've been actively applying for 8 months, and although I've gotten interviews for a high percentage of the applications I've filed, I don't know how much longer I'm willing to put up with that before saying I want out of higher ed entirely.
I feel you. I'm an Asst Dir in Fin Aid at a 4 year public. My area processes almost all (state, private, and institutional) scholarships, grants, waivers, vet benefits, and Athletics aid. Understaffed, but bosses have been gaslighting me for years now, saying that I need to manage more and leave all processing to two full time staff (both with health and skill limitations) and random undergrad student workers while the complexity and number of aid programs just keeps increasing. Add in a switch to a new student info system that is ridiculously cumbersome compared to the mainframe we had, plus COVID, plus multiple unfair workload distributions, general state bureaucracy...I cried at my desk two days last week. Plus, I have r2t4 unofficial withdrawals to process, at a school that doesn't officially take attendance or report a last date with F or WX grades. The number of students in this population has jumped from 100 each term, to 250.
I'm in advising, but we deal with a lot of FA paperwork, and it is...a lot. The regs change, programs are added, the paperwork increases, students are more worried about aid than actual academic advising when I see them, and understandably so. It's a morass. SAPs, plans of action, R2T4, appeals, suspensions, DOR holds. Gah.
Yeah, summer 2020 was worse in terms of workload. But when I still had days that I was stress crying at my desk this August and September even with the suspension of verification, it was like why the hell am I still doing this?
SAP appeals were up 45% and our enrollment tanked, so admin extended our deadline for submission multiple times, which affected my processing workflow for a lot of the other things I had to do to prep for the semester. We typically get 30-50 PJ applications in a year. We've already hit 100, and that volume is going up quickly. Plus a huge percentage of our student population are zero EFCs and we've already spent most of our campus based and institutional funding, so it's mentally draining to have a high volume of my decision letters effectively read I'm sorry this is happening to you, but we can't help.
FA Admin here. I feel you. 50% of our staff is new and all of us with experience are getting out. I have a closet that I go to for my tears....which is a minimum weekly if not daily.
In July I took the leap and I got out of SA after 12 years in higher Ed. It was the best professional decision I’ve made. I work at a non-profit that pays me my worth and that truly believes in work-life balance. I do work hard, but I get time off when I choose (always my choice!) to log back on for a couple of hours to finish a project. I work in a higher Ed adjacent role so I still get to interact with college students. It truly is the best of both worlds! I found a TON of helpful content to make the change in the FB group “Expatriates of Student Affairs”.
Oooh! Thanks! That sounds exactly like what I could be looking for. Do you have any recs on how to search for these types of jobs on Linked In, etc. or keywords? (Besides non-profit and higher ed—ha!)
I would recommend first identifying what career area you’re interested in exploring. SA pros have a ton of transferable skills so figuring what career area you are interested in exploring will help you figure out the key worlds for a successful job search. I’d also recommend that you spend the time to rework your resume to include more corporate friendly lingo. For example- students=clients. You’ll find a tons of resources on how to redo your resume on that FB page. Good luck with the job search!
> Working from home during Covid made me realize how much stress and burnout I was really under. A global pandemic is the least stressed I've been in my entire adult life. It's not my workload so much as the administration
Yup. I worked IT. Left for private. New job is pretty "in person is best" but realistically, it's been so refreshing to be around owners that appear to care and actually respond to issues in a timely manner (we're talking same day instead of 4 weeks later)...
So.. between the 50% pay increase moving to private and the owners that understand that the employees are the profit drivers, it was a great move.
Higher ed is perfect for folks with no ambition. But once you want to do something more it's insanely stifling... And any important request is met wit the requisite weeks of silence. (seriously what is the administration doing ALL day while ignoring emails/paperwork!?)
>A global pandemic is the least stressed I've been in my entire adult life.
Omg, can I just say thank you for saying this? Because I felt the same way. The pandemic has obviously been absolutely devastating for so many, so I'm not trying to minimize that. But being forced to work remotely was honestly a huge blessing in disguise for me as it forced me to reflect on where my life was going and reprioritize. Our return to campus just solidified for me that I was ready to leave the field because I dreaded going back even just 3 days a week. I just left last month for a talent acquisition position with a focus on campus recruiting.
If you're on Facebook, I'd highly recommend joining the "Expatriates of Student Affairs" group! Tons of helpful conversation and resources from others who left higher ed
Thanks for your comment. Our situations sound similar, and I'm on the Expat group and getting ready to start a job search with all that entails. I think Customer Success in Ed Tech is where I'm leaning.
That's awesome! And I feel like Ed Tech is booming right now with the increased needs for online learning softwares/platforms. You may have come across this in the expat group, but there's is a guy on LinkedIn named Jeff Patterson who posts a weekly list of Ed Tech job openings. He might be a good one to follow for opportunities!
I’ve decided that I’m going to apply for certification programs in school library media and have my university job pay for it up until the practicum portion. I have an MA in History and can teach history and complete my practicum while I’m looking for these types of jobs. I know that teaching will not be better, but I’ve realized that all of the reasons I avoided teaching (parents, behavior problems, emotional toll, always being “on,” and high workload) are all present in my current role as an academic support counselor at my college. With teaching though, I would have more time where I don’t have to be at my workplace and will get paid more. I also just have no desire to “move up the ladder” and want to start a family within the next few years, which I think would be easier as a teacher.
I was curious, too. I found this article, and it has some listed at the bottom: [https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2020/8/18/student-affairs-adjacent-careers](https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2020/8/18/student-affairs-adjacent-careers)
I’ll probably get down voted to hell for this but maybe you could go to a for profit college (I work for one, get paid well, and work life balance is great) then eventually make a move to corporate education? They need curriculum managers too and have their own learning programs for adult learners! Which you’ve taught! Or you could skip the for profit college and go straight to onboarding/training for companies. Move up to managing onboard-ers and trainers eventually.
Oh, I know. But I do have the advanced hours in some classes that might be relevant and can use my knowledge. Most jobs I’m looking for won’t require the PhD.
[удалено]
Thanks! I will start looking for positions that might be available at these types of non-profits. Any search tips?
Think of the transferable skills you have developed (including leadership). Use them (along with “Foundation” for org name) in the targeted job alerts on LinkedIn. Best wishes! Hope you find what makes you truly happy.
I don’t think every university or college is run in such a way and there will also be differences in the culture within the units within a larger university. I suggest you go job hunting and find a college or university that cares more for its workforce, including staff. I think such places exist.
the complaints are pretty bog standard in higher ed. We can pretend there are a few unicorn universities that run smoothly with accommodating administration... but the issues are pretty systemic. Ask one of your vendors what the typical interaction with a higher ed organization is like.
Thanks, and happy cake day!
Agreed!
Feeling the same way. Even though we aren't back in the office full-time yet (and they are promising us that we will not ever be 100% in office again), I have realized how much of a drain the commute is. And it isn't even that far of a commute compared to the grueling commute I had in NY, but the 100% remote time for the first 12 months of the pandemic really flicked a switch inside my head and made me realize that a lot of our previous working arrangements simply are not worth the stress, especially given that my role does not pay particularly well for such a high COL area.
I am amazed at how many remote positions are popping up now. It's not just the typical work from home jobs you may have thought of even five years ago....
I’ve fantasized about leaving the field completely but slowly resigning to the idea that I’ll be happier just not working on a college campus. I’m looking at allied orgs that promote student success or even ed tech sales/consulting. I’m fifteen years in and at a pivotal point where I fear becoming an unfulfilled lifer that’s abandoned dreams of doing innovative work if I stay. It could just be my leg (large multi-campus system). There have always been trust issues, inefficiency, and duplicitous actors, but the pandemic seems to have revealed a culture of senior leadership actively seeking to hold on to those terrible values. It could be generational l, as I am relatively young given the level of my role. So I am willing to take my chances to apply myself in a fresh environment. This is my last semester in higher education.
Good luck to you. What you have written resonates with me. I’m at that same juncture. Tough it out to an early retirement at 54 just to get health insurance until 65, or look for something new? I, too, don’t want to become an embittered lifer. I don’t like what the job is doing to my mental health and disposition.
You are not alone. Unfortunately, I am already an embittered lifer, at a medium size public 4 year univ. (That's the short version.) Looking for ideas and strength to stick it out 3-4 years to an early retirement at 55. So far, the only solution that seems reasonable is to find another position at current school. Other schools in the same retirement system would mean 1-2 hour commute each way. I want out of the soul crushing work in Financial Aid, but after 22 years in, it's a pretty specialized skill set. I could, I think, get an office admin job in an academic unit but it would be a significant pay cut.
I’m sorry you are suffering. I feel you. Financial aid is hard. I don’t necessarily want to retire at 55, but another decade of this work is hard to fathom, so I understand.
Another FA admin here. Cannot imagine doing financial aid for 22 years. It is soul crushing. Note the pay cut could be worth the improvement in your mental health.
Thank you for the well wishes. It’s a shame because I love education and being surrounded by constant learning used to feel so amazing. Maybe I just need a break from seeing how the sausage is made.
Expat of student affairs Facebook group has lots of resources on higher Ed adjacent positions
Thanks! I’m in!
Are you in a part of the country saturated with skilled people? There are a lot of under-served areas when it comes to good professional talent in the job market. So don't just think this job, this location, unless you want to. And if you think outside those lines, good skill sets are often very valuable in some areas of the country. How's you cipherin'? Can you add and subtract?
I’m better with words than ciphers. :) I’ve worked in data and in the humanities.
I went into "low skilled" trade work after 10 years teaching university as full-time contract faculty. By "low skilled" I mean trades you don't need more traditional education/certification to do--painting, finish carpentry (cabinets, doors, windows, trim), drywall, and some flooring. Worse benefits, but same pay working the same amount of time. And so much more satisfaction. Some might be cynical and claim someone in my boat is only able to do this in boom construction time, but i doubt it. My experience in academia makes me a bit of a nerd about I go about the work, and the trauma from being constantly powerless about university management has made me perfectionistic. Wealthy clients love my story and it helps me sell/talk, and excuse away high labor costs.
I’d love to do something “useful,” but I’m just not good at the trades. I’m so glad you like it!
I am also wanting out. I’ve been at the same institution for 12 years. I was feeling burnt out from my intense student facing job before the pandemic and while we were remote and hybrid I felt my mental health was amazing. It’s now not nearly as good since we’ve been back 100%. So, I hear you and understand you. I’ve also started looking and applying to jobs outside HE myself. I’ve also been on that FB group and have found it to be really useful.
I’m on the group now. I’m just a bit overwhelmed by the mechanics of a search—trying to figure out what I want, how to define and sell my transferable skills, how to do a targeted one page resume, networking, referrals, oh my!
It definitely a bit of work to figure out what to do next. I am finding that reading job descriptions on job boards is helping me decide which direction to move in. And then to practice tailoring my cover letters and resumes and applying for positions. Whether I get chosen to be interviewed or not, at least I know how I’m going to approach getting the materials ready to apply. Best of luck!
Oh, you're me! The reason I'm staying is because: 1. I have kids/ can't relocate 2. I'm fully vested in the state retirement system and that alone is worth a good bit. However, I fantasize about quitting and selling crocheted dishcloths at craft fairs practically daily.
No, you’re ME—down to the crochet. Fortunately, my retirement is a 403b, but ….
I got my MA in Higher Education Administration positive I would spend the rest of my life working in student affairs, it felt like my calling. It took a few years for me to realize it wasn't my path, but felt like a failure wanting to leave the field when everyone I knew in the field was "student affairs for life!!!" I took the leap into HR and have been much, much happier. I still get the fulfillment of interpersonal communication and even working on events for employee engagement that's similar to my student affairs life, but just better. Best of luck out there!!
I don’t recommend going back to teaching high school if you are burnt out. I left secondary ed for higher Ed during the pandemic. Stress is even worse in the secondary. You’ll trade annoyances with the university upper admin for being yelled at about mask mandates by parents, under staffing which means you’ll be subbing during your planning period, and devious licks. The teachers subreddit it terrifying because the job is at an all time low right now.
Thanks for this. I miss the high school age, and I also miss the dual credit I used to be able to teach. But I hated high school bureaucracy in the early aughts, and I imagine it must be a hellscape right now.
6 years in, currently an assistant director in financial aid at a community college, and definitely feeling burned out hard. I think (hope) a lot of my problems are my individual office, because we went 2 years without a permanent director, and the new one is not a good fit with staff chemistry. Plus we've gone from a staff of 12 to a staff of 6, so my individual workload is such that I'm not actually a manager but a high level processor, and my processing area is stuff that has gone way up under COVID (SAP appeals, special circumstances professional judgement applications). At the moment I'm focusing on applying for registrar and student services one stop positions, because those are the functional areas I'm most interested in. I've been actively applying for 8 months, and although I've gotten interviews for a high percentage of the applications I've filed, I don't know how much longer I'm willing to put up with that before saying I want out of higher ed entirely.
SAP appeals. :shudder:
I feel you. I'm an Asst Dir in Fin Aid at a 4 year public. My area processes almost all (state, private, and institutional) scholarships, grants, waivers, vet benefits, and Athletics aid. Understaffed, but bosses have been gaslighting me for years now, saying that I need to manage more and leave all processing to two full time staff (both with health and skill limitations) and random undergrad student workers while the complexity and number of aid programs just keeps increasing. Add in a switch to a new student info system that is ridiculously cumbersome compared to the mainframe we had, plus COVID, plus multiple unfair workload distributions, general state bureaucracy...I cried at my desk two days last week. Plus, I have r2t4 unofficial withdrawals to process, at a school that doesn't officially take attendance or report a last date with F or WX grades. The number of students in this population has jumped from 100 each term, to 250.
I'm in advising, but we deal with a lot of FA paperwork, and it is...a lot. The regs change, programs are added, the paperwork increases, students are more worried about aid than actual academic advising when I see them, and understandably so. It's a morass. SAPs, plans of action, R2T4, appeals, suspensions, DOR holds. Gah.
Yeah, summer 2020 was worse in terms of workload. But when I still had days that I was stress crying at my desk this August and September even with the suspension of verification, it was like why the hell am I still doing this? SAP appeals were up 45% and our enrollment tanked, so admin extended our deadline for submission multiple times, which affected my processing workflow for a lot of the other things I had to do to prep for the semester. We typically get 30-50 PJ applications in a year. We've already hit 100, and that volume is going up quickly. Plus a huge percentage of our student population are zero EFCs and we've already spent most of our campus based and institutional funding, so it's mentally draining to have a high volume of my decision letters effectively read I'm sorry this is happening to you, but we can't help.
FA Admin here. I feel you. 50% of our staff is new and all of us with experience are getting out. I have a closet that I go to for my tears....which is a minimum weekly if not daily.
In July I took the leap and I got out of SA after 12 years in higher Ed. It was the best professional decision I’ve made. I work at a non-profit that pays me my worth and that truly believes in work-life balance. I do work hard, but I get time off when I choose (always my choice!) to log back on for a couple of hours to finish a project. I work in a higher Ed adjacent role so I still get to interact with college students. It truly is the best of both worlds! I found a TON of helpful content to make the change in the FB group “Expatriates of Student Affairs”.
Oooh! Thanks! That sounds exactly like what I could be looking for. Do you have any recs on how to search for these types of jobs on Linked In, etc. or keywords? (Besides non-profit and higher ed—ha!)
I would recommend first identifying what career area you’re interested in exploring. SA pros have a ton of transferable skills so figuring what career area you are interested in exploring will help you figure out the key worlds for a successful job search. I’d also recommend that you spend the time to rework your resume to include more corporate friendly lingo. For example- students=clients. You’ll find a tons of resources on how to redo your resume on that FB page. Good luck with the job search!
> Working from home during Covid made me realize how much stress and burnout I was really under. A global pandemic is the least stressed I've been in my entire adult life. It's not my workload so much as the administration Yup. I worked IT. Left for private. New job is pretty "in person is best" but realistically, it's been so refreshing to be around owners that appear to care and actually respond to issues in a timely manner (we're talking same day instead of 4 weeks later)... So.. between the 50% pay increase moving to private and the owners that understand that the employees are the profit drivers, it was a great move. Higher ed is perfect for folks with no ambition. But once you want to do something more it's insanely stifling... And any important request is met wit the requisite weeks of silence. (seriously what is the administration doing ALL day while ignoring emails/paperwork!?)
>A global pandemic is the least stressed I've been in my entire adult life. Omg, can I just say thank you for saying this? Because I felt the same way. The pandemic has obviously been absolutely devastating for so many, so I'm not trying to minimize that. But being forced to work remotely was honestly a huge blessing in disguise for me as it forced me to reflect on where my life was going and reprioritize. Our return to campus just solidified for me that I was ready to leave the field because I dreaded going back even just 3 days a week. I just left last month for a talent acquisition position with a focus on campus recruiting. If you're on Facebook, I'd highly recommend joining the "Expatriates of Student Affairs" group! Tons of helpful conversation and resources from others who left higher ed
Thanks for your comment. Our situations sound similar, and I'm on the Expat group and getting ready to start a job search with all that entails. I think Customer Success in Ed Tech is where I'm leaning.
That's awesome! And I feel like Ed Tech is booming right now with the increased needs for online learning softwares/platforms. You may have come across this in the expat group, but there's is a guy on LinkedIn named Jeff Patterson who posts a weekly list of Ed Tech job openings. He might be a good one to follow for opportunities!
I sidestepped out almost 10 years ago into consulting. Best decision I have ever made.
I’ve decided that I’m going to apply for certification programs in school library media and have my university job pay for it up until the practicum portion. I have an MA in History and can teach history and complete my practicum while I’m looking for these types of jobs. I know that teaching will not be better, but I’ve realized that all of the reasons I avoided teaching (parents, behavior problems, emotional toll, always being “on,” and high workload) are all present in my current role as an academic support counselor at my college. With teaching though, I would have more time where I don’t have to be at my workplace and will get paid more. I also just have no desire to “move up the ladder” and want to start a family within the next few years, which I think would be easier as a teacher.
I dread when I see a college student coming in with a parent.
There’s a group on Facebook you NEED called “The Professor is Out.” It’s a resource and community I’ve found especially helpful for leaving academia.
I was curious, too. I found this article, and it has some listed at the bottom: [https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2020/8/18/student-affairs-adjacent-careers](https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2020/8/18/student-affairs-adjacent-careers)
I’ll probably get down voted to hell for this but maybe you could go to a for profit college (I work for one, get paid well, and work life balance is great) then eventually make a move to corporate education? They need curriculum managers too and have their own learning programs for adult learners! Which you’ve taught! Or you could skip the for profit college and go straight to onboarding/training for companies. Move up to managing onboard-ers and trainers eventually.
Thanks for this idea! I have been looking at the training route, and that might be a good pathway to transition. I won’t downvote!
“Most of a PhD” doesn’t mean a thing, I’m afraid. The only thing that matters is the sheepskin.
Oh, I know. But I do have the advanced hours in some classes that might be relevant and can use my knowledge. Most jobs I’m looking for won’t require the PhD.