Drastic Career Change to Student Services?
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Anonymous
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I'm 10 years into my lawyer career --- BigLaw, Capitol Hill then high level government job. I have never been happy about any of the jobs. Never felt like I fit in. I hated law school -- went because everyone told me I should. Did reasonably well and kept shuffling along. That's what my life's been so far -- I've gotten several promotions and I keep moving along. Never too happy.
A few years ago -- I stated taking random classes at a community college and fell in love with the vibe. Really enjoyed the space and just kept taking a few classes here and there just to spend time "in school" again, if you know what I mean. I started explore the idea of teaching at a community college or possibly doing student services work and the like. Last week I took a few days off to do a 2-day career assessment/scientific testing about my strengths and weaknesses (eye-opening; highly recommend). It was a bunch of puzzles, games, tests. At the end of the two days I was given a ton of materials to review. Amon them -- a listing of the ideal careers for me. All of them were in college student services (dean of students, financial aid officer, academic advisor, etc etc). It was amazing to see. Funny, being a lawyer didn't even rank on my list. I highly recommend these tests -- I want my kiddo to do it before he goes to college. It would have saved me so much angst. Lol. In any event ---- How do you break into student services? Do I need to go back to school for this? I'm fairly competent -- but would love to know. I can't afford to go back for an MA or PHD (I have enough debt as it is!). How would I do this? Is it possible? |
Anonymous
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I was looking at something similar. Have an MBA and my dream job is being the admissions director for a top-15 school. Desire is to help students with their plans and thought process with deciding if a school is a good fit.
Originally thought you need an MA in Education but found that a variety of backgrounds are exhibited. Ex-Harvard MBA AD had a degree from there and was a consultant. Another one I looked up had a psychology background. I would contact the schools where you have degrees and talk to the people in those positions. Ask them how they orchestrated moving into those roles. |
Anonymous
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You likely could start in the career center for one of the law schools. They want counsellors but for law, med, mba they want you to have worked in the field. Just know in academia, Ph.D. Is top as you know so may be hard to be a dean but you might be able to be director. One I had wAs Ph.D., one ma counseling. One dean of mba program may have had an mba but can't remember.
Set up informational interviews with dean of student services and career centers. Offer to be a guest speaker at the law schools around here. Good luck. I enjoyed my time at several universities. Pay is not great but you wo t starve! Can you name some of the assessments, tools you used? |
Anonymous
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OP, here is a posting I found. Maybe it will give you some ideas:
http://www.annarborusa.org/work-here/job-seeker-resources/job-portal/program-coordinator-graduate-student-life |
Anonymous
| Look at breaking into student services at a law school. Your JD will be a valuable asset. Office of the Dean of Students, Career Services, Office of Public Interest, Internships, Community Engagement, that sort of thing. Check postings for GW, GULC, AU, Catholic, GM and so on. |
Anonymous
Wanted to add one thing. If you get even an entry level position at one of these places you may be eligible for freee or reduced tuition if going back for a Masters is something you'll need to advance. Lot of people do this. Benefits at most universities are quite good. |
Anonymous
| I would try career services. Be realistic about what the salary will be. I looked at a career-advising job and it was about $50k with master's degrees and experience. Maybe law schools would offer more, I just don't know. Usually universities list pay scales along with job postings. |
Anonymous
Very true. I posted the Michigan job and only the very top of the food chain there get paid anywhere near a corporate salary. I do know there you get something like free tuition for one course a semester. |
Anonymous
| Good luck. Student services pays very little, and many jobs are filled by student workers. It's nearly impossible to get full time without precise previous experience. Some of the jobs mentioned are absurd - Dean? Really? That's like saying, you'd be very happy as CEO of a Fortune 500 Company. Academic Advisors need a degree in counseling. I don't know what Financial Aid people have, but I doubt they are lawyers. Go to the websites of your local schools and see what the job openings are and you'll see what is required. Personally, I think you are foolish to choose a job based on some quizzes and tests, so perhaps you could apply to the Career Services office, where people who have never found a good career and have no idea how to do that give other people quizzes and tests and bad advice. |
Anonymous
Agree with this. Harsh but true. There are actual graduate programs in Student Affairs. I worked a work study job in grad school in the Student Affairs Office (Dean of Students, disability services, res life, and a few other things) and every single professional position was filled with a person with a graduate degree in Student Affairs or a similar discipline. |
Anonymous
It's not true that academic advisors need a counseling degree, especially at the graduate level. In my office, we care about hiring advisors with a degree in the field from a good school and relevant work experience in the field. (No higher ed experience necessary.) No one I work with has a counseling degree, and it isn't a plus when we are hiring, especially if the counseling degree or higher ed admin degree is from a less competitive university. OP, I love working with students, and while the pay isn't amazing, the benefits are great, especially if you have children who can use your tuition benefits. |
Anonymous
| I thought about making s switch like this years ago when I was a pretty junior associate. I was offered something in career services of one of the local law schools. I decided not to take it and keep practicing but this seems like the best route for that kind of switch. |
Anonymous
This is basically true. There are definitely grad programs in SA and anything above entry level is going to look for this degree or the equivalent. It's true that academic advisors don't necessarily need a counseling degree, but, again, any position above entry level is gong to require a MA or MEd in a related discipline, and experience in either teaching or higher ed admin. If you want to work anywhere near the Dean's office, you need both a PhD and experience (research or teaching). This is true for associate provosts, directors, and, often, assistants to the associates. Not an easy office to break into. FA and admissions is a little easier to start in. Many entry level positions only require a BA. That said, these aren't highly paid jobs. Actually, none of the above are highly paid jobs. Think $40-$60k, unless you have the PhD and are on the Dean's office track. Then you're looking at $80-120k out of the gate. |
Anonymous
| Yes, that was my point....to be a dean you would need a Ph.D. Given that she was saying she's done well in her field, I was trying to say WITHOUT a phd you won't be at the top spots if that is what she is used to--- all " career" student affairs staff usually have. However, she might be able to do career advising g. Sorry , if confusing. Never implied she could be a dean! |
Anonymous
| If you have kids, I would suggest applying to a top rated private high school. |