anyone go back to school?

? and when the shop guys can't deliver an order on time and you company incurs a $250K penalty for delaying a large construction project, who do you talk to?

The shop floor guys just run the furnace. I guess all the coordination of who does what when happens by magic?

It is the "management doesn't do anything except sit in the AC office and drink coffee" trope.
If they can't deliver an order on time, maybe sales oversold their production capabilities.
 
Went back in my 30's and got my business degree. I already had a good paying job, and went at night to classes. It was something I just wanted to do for myself.
 
Doing an online course sounds interesting. Back in my late 20’s I tried going ‘back to school’ and only lasted 2 semesters. It had just been too long. I never enjoyed school or college the first time around. Thought maybe as an older person my ability to sit in a classroom and listen and take notes would be better. Nope. It was worse. I just couldn’t get into it. Plus the amount of time it was taking up kept me from working as much as I would have. Doing school online though intrigues me. I’ll be 50 in a few short years so I’m not sure it’d be worth it honestly. You’re younger so go for it!
 
After many previous failures, I went back to college one more time in my late 20's. Got sober at 33 and things got better (go figure). Graduated from San Jose State at 40 with a degree in High Tech Business Mgt (focus on Finance), minors in Economics and Computer Science.

Mine was paid in large part by the high tech companies and CA promise of low cost education. My education is one of my most prized posessions.
Go for it.
 
The latter. The older guy working the furnace and just getting worn out, would love to stay in the office to manage the division even if it means a pay cut vs. quitting.
What has he done to show he's capable of the position other than just being tired of working on the floor? A proper supervisory position likely entails tasks that workers may not be aware of. Promoting just because someone has been there a while is not a good practice.
 
What has he done to show he's capable of the position other than just being tired of working on the floor? A proper supervisory position likely entails tasks that workers may not be aware of. Promoting just because someone has been there a while is not a good practice.
Yes you are correct. I have worked in places where they promote just because someone has worked there a long time and was bitching about not getting promoted. You end up with someone who is not a manager, but merely an employee with keys.

They end up being a poor manager, and motivate subordinates to be like them, which was just a poor employee who stuck around to ride it out.
 
At 47, I went back, as I knew my career in telecom (finance) was dead-ending when Verizon bought XO Communications. Granted, it's not a master's, but I did totally change my career path by becoming a paralegal. As of this February, my pay has doubled since I left XO in 2017.

Like legal personnel, your expertise is in high demand, and isn't going away....ever. Someone will always have to be there to tame the beast.

Your education will be free....I think you'd be a fool to second-guess it.
 
I got a sheepskin but since I moved, can't find it. Was on a wall in the old house. Oh well.

Somebody asked about this and why. From Wikipedia;


The sheepskin effect is a phenomenon in applied economics observing that people possessing a completed academic degree earn a greater income than people who have an equivalent amount of studying without possessing an academic degree.[1][2] There are many applied economics papers which investigate the signaling effect of possession of such an academic degree.
 
Anybody go back to school later in life? I probably don't have to do it, but it would be a good accompishment for me, and honestly would keep me out of trouble, and give me something additional to keep myself on track.

At 39 I started an online master's degree last year. It took me a while to adjust to the online platform, but I got the hang of it. I think I am getting much more out of it now than I would have if I had gone right into it after my bachelor's degree.

Leading a team takes a different skillset than doing the team's work. I suggest getting your bachelors, and following it with a graduate certificate geared towards building your leadership skills.
 
I would definitely suggest taking advantage of the deal. One question, though: It sounds like you are being groomed for a management position at your current job. Would you quit to study full-time, or go part-time while working? Staying and taking a class or two per term would be ideal if you like the job and want to keep progressing there.

A friend of mine finished his bachelor's and then earned a master's degree while working full-time, in his 40s. I think he took one course per term, mostly in-person with some online classes for the master's. He has a lot of energy and was really motivated, which helped him to balance work, family (two kids), and school.
 
I'll be the one to throw a curve ball here. I just turned 66, have 45 years at my current employer, and am hesitant to retire because my career is beyond description in a good way (I DO accept the benefits of retirement/the ills of married to career). I was in your shoes my entire career - just an Associate degree with workplace free college classes benefit (I took many).

I chose to continue my education my entire career, but not pursue a higher degree. My personal achievement was more important than my "height on the ladder" achievement. I am beyond content and have very few regrets, but I admit to being an oddball. You don't mention family (kids), so I assume classes will not interfere with that priority. It "sounds" like you have good income between you and your wife, and my "oddballness" includes not making wealth accumulation a key life motivator.

You have some hard personal questions to answer:
- Are you doing this to please yourself or to please others (follow the crowd)? You sound excited to pursue classes, but at the same time hint that you feel guilty if you don't take advantage of this opportunity of a lifetime. Your OP sounds like they intend to move you up the ladder regardless of advanced degree. So, if you choose classes, it should be because YOU desire to, not just to please the "system" IMO.

- Do you want to manage a "team of Administrators"? Good lord, that is like trying to herd cats. Probably should take some baby sitting classes. I chose to remain at a certain level of management and purposely stayed under the radar regarding the upper level politics, back stabbing, ego games, and cut throat activities. That suits me just fine. Others enjoy that challenge. Many are miserable at that level.

To sum up, dig deep into what you want out of life. If more education and/or ladder climbing gives you pleasure, then by all means pursue it. If your passions direct you elsewhere, embrace them and don't look back. Follow YOUR heart, not other's. Most here won't understand my idealistic outlook, but it works for me.

LOL, college students hated me - gray hair guy only taking one class - always messing up the grading scale with 90+ scores.
 
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”I chose to remain at a certain level of management and purposely stayed under the radar regarding the upper level politics, back stabbing, ego games, and cut throat activities. That suits me just fine. Others enjoy that challenge. Many are miserable at that level.”




I agree with you 10000000 %
After $___ amount of pay per year I didn’t want / need any more stress to climb the ladder.

I avoid the real life arcade game of Q*bert at my workplace.
 
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for some: often, if it is in something UR excited in - it does not matter the financial pay off. That is the gravy. No guarantee U get the future job. Life takes a turn, etc
Choices R nice (we get them in each and every moment, here U have a punctuated sentence - an exclamation point). Decisions (different) are another thing. Just for coming here as a human U have logics ($) and emotion (happiness). Make the decision on BOTH fronts. Cuz once U decide - it's like a doorway, change is created. U want motivation to carry it out (whatever comes)
Take a piece of paper, draw a line dwn in. On 1 side place all the logical reasons to do this; other side Y not. Crumble up, throw away. Sit back and imagine what it would B like (emotional) to B in school, the life, strain, enjoyment, etc). Same for after (waisted the time, it excelled U in job position, etc). Then decide. U have just gone thru a pretty good decision tree~
HTH, is not too philosophical. If a manager it may get into this sorta ppl stuff rather than sci/tech...
 
I'm 43...have a doctoral degree in dentistry and completed two residencies. I was just admitted to a PT MBA program at UMass Amherst that I should be able to complete in 3 years pretty comfortably. I'm doing it because:

1. I'm bored and always loved school. I'm halfway through the Intro to Accounting text and I don't start until the Fall :)
2. I'm a small business owner and with CV-19 and private equity the savvier you are the better off you'll be.
3. I don't see myself doing clinical dentistry past 60ish and I've always wanted a second act desk job. I'm thinking of a home/Zoom-based financial planner/consulting side-gig to start and then when I'm older transitioning away from clinical dentistry to that on a more FT basis.

The idea is to still make most of my money through dentistry, make a little extra over the next 15 years, but to have something to keep me occupied in my later years that doesn't mean getting up at 5am M-F.
 
PWMDMD,

Did you apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) when CV-19 shut down your business ?

I have a small business and applied for the PPP….

.
 
Never understood why watching over other people work pays more than the people actually doing the work, Especially the hard laborious jobs.
That is already true on many software engineering teams in Silicon Valley. It is common for individual contributors to make more $$ than their team leaders.
 
I say go for it, OP. That 30% raise now is just the start of higher earnings for the next 25-30 years of your life. It will build on itself over time and allow you to be more comfortable, especially in retirement.

I co-owned and managed an auto repair shop in my 30s. Fixed cars every day, A1 and A2 certified tech. I'm not a big guy, my back and shoulders took a real beating. As an indie shop, our service writers were there for the long haul, so there was no place to advance to. I was making less than $40k per year, which was barely making ends meet for my family. I knew my body would be totally destroyed by age 67.

So I started looking around for desk jobs, but with just an undergrad degree I wasn't qualified for much. Long story short, I ended up going back to school at age 40. Took student loans for family living expenses which I am still paying off. Changed the head gaskets in my 1998 Chevy Venture in my driveway in the dead of winter, we could not afford the repair. My wife and kids deserve medals for putting up with three years of misery while I was in school.

I don't regret it one bit. Starting out in my new profession I was only making about 30% more money than I did at the shop. But after 14 years I am making five times more. It really adds up over time. Work has always been a means to an end for me, and although I don't love my job, I certainly don't hate it any more than dropping a rusty, full gas tank to replace rotted fuel lines in the heat of summer. And the pay is waaay better.

Btw, age discrimination is no joke. I've had to work twice as hard as those young whippersnappers to get where I am. Very glad I made my move at age 40, later would have been much harder. And I could not have done it without my wife's support.

I wish you good luck and Godspeed in your decision and your career.
 
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