second career at age 50

[Anonymous]

I'm 45 right now and know I will be leaving my current job at age 50. There is no option for this not to happen. I will have a pension but it isn't enough to live on. I need a second career that will bring in a minimum of $30,000. I have time to go back to school before then, but I don't want to do something that takes tons of effort and motivation. I've already been there, done that.

I took some of those career tests and they all came back with a best match to "librarian". Sounds amazing - I love to read, am very organized, good with technology, etc., but doesn't sound very practical, does it? Any librarians out there who know what the job market is like?

I'm also interested in some sort of editing/proof-reading career. I suspect I could do that on a free-lance basis.

I realize I'm rambling. Anyone want to go out on a limb and make some suggestions for careers I could consider where I would actually get hired at age 50??? My current field does not translate easily to something on a lower rung so I feel like I'm starting from scratch.

[Anonymous]

To work as a librarian you need a master's degree and these days they are heavy on computer skills.

[Anonymous]

I would pick a sure winner. Like plumbing. Honestly. You can find yourself unemployed with all your editing training, and that can always be outsourced to cheap labor. But a burst pipe? You need someone right away. Would you have any interest in going to technical training for something like cable installation, computer repair, plumbing, air conditioning/heating, etc.?

[Anonymous]

I always thought a locksmith would be a good second career...

[Anonymous]

What is your current field? What are you already trained to do?

[Anonymous]

Take a look at the Occupational Outlook Handbook. I am not sure what the future holds for librarians, but as a PP said, an MLS is usually required. Some private research companies have librarians, however, and there are probably other niches too.

[Anonymous]

You could look into indexing. Google the UC Berkeley online indexing class. Lots of former librarians doing this work after retirement.

[Anonymous]

I have an MLS but am employed in a different field. Yes, it sounds seductive to become a librarian. The reality is a little less rosy. There are very few jobs, pay is low (there really are jobs out there requiring an MLS that pay less than $30) and the people who get them tend to already be working in the library in a paraprofessional position.

If you are very good with technology and have programming or systems experience, you will be a stronger candidate. You might try to get a paraprofessional or related job that does not require an MLS.

[Anonymous]

Special Education, science or math teacher.
Occupational/physical therapist assistant-2 yr degree
truck driving/cdl --transportation industry

[Anonymous]

Time to live the dream!

Astronaut
Firefighter
Trash collector
Race car driver
Fighter pilot
Ballerina

[Anonymous]

How about retail? If you are competent, you could move up to management pretty quickly. Plus you won't have to go back to school and spend $ on tuition.

[Anonymous]

Tutor.
Substitute teacher.

[Anonymous]

Teacher

[Anonymous]

How about N adjunct professor or some type of role in the school system.

[Anonymous]

MLIS holder here. I got my degree in 2003, in my late 20s, and at the time was initially surprised to see how many people in their 40s and 50s were in the program as they sought a second career. But as I progressed I better understood why this was and I do think it can be a great option. I ended up not working in a library (although I had a couple of offers in the academic and public realm) but at a higher education non-profit and what I've found is there are actually a lot more options available to a person with a "library degree" - which these days can cover a pretty wide range as many traditional library science programs have morphed to include or even nominally become "information schools." I think that's all to the good as it allows one the opportunity to get a sense for all the vast possibilities out there because most programs offer a wide range of classes in all kinds of different tracks, so you can try a bunch of different ones out in the early stages of your degree to see what you really like and are good at. So many people I meet, and even I myself when I started, vaguely consider a librarian to be the person sitting at a desk in a public library or perhaps in a K-12 environment. Those can be very fulfilling jobs but as a PP mentioned don't necessarily tend to pay very well and it's not surprising to see salaries for those jobs around here in the low $30s, or even $20s when in the case of private schools.

But there are so many more options out there. Colleges/universities, museums/historical societies, government agencies (NOT just the Library of Congress), law firms, hospitals, non-profits (all those political nonprofits downtown - lots of them have in-house libraries), corporations...these are all places where a librarian can find a good job. And these places often look for someone who's in the field as a second career because you'll bring with you all the knowledge you have gained in your particular field. So think about what it is that you do now, what have you learned that people outside your own field wouldn't know that could be really valuable to an organization seeking someone who has that specialized knowledge in addition to the skills you'll have learned through your Masters program? This is where you can really have an edge. It's probably particularly true in fields such as the sciences, business and law because a lot of people in those fields don't even think about becoming librarians...but they need them in their university programs and often in their companies. And if you're willing to take on contract positions, you can find short-term (say a couple years) positions in libraries and museums who have discrete projects where they need people who have specialized knowledge related to a particular collection.

There are two good programs in this area (UMD and CUA) and then also an increasing number of online programs (Drexel, University of Illinois, etc.) so you can pick one that suits your needs/interests. I'd recommend perhaps starting with ALA's list: http://www.ala.org/accreditedprograms/directory.

Yeah, I'm a proselytizer. I have never regretted my library degree.