Changing Careers involving big sacrifices (kidtime, income, starting over...)

[Anonymous]

I'm 37, pregnant with #2 and unsatisfied w/my career...Thinking of going back to school for a different career (from Social Worker to Physician Assistant)...Would involve lots of sacrafices including less time w/kids, loss of income, starting school again (ugh), giving up good benefits at current job, etc etc....

Anyone had lots of responsibilities in life & then gone for a midlife career change? (regrets & satisfaction stories both appreciated)...

[Anonymous]

I am in a similar situation - but unlike you have not figured out what I want to be when I grow up.

My thought is that I have 20+ more years working so I might as well find something that I am happy with. If I give up something, I hope that in the long term my satisfaction / happiness is worth it.

[Anonymous]

OP - do you have an MSW?

I feel like social work is a broad enough field that you can move from what you are doing now to something completely different. For example, I have a colleague who has an MSW - totally got burned out on social work at the beginning of her career - and now works for my company, we do health and health care policy. She is a mom so she may even be on DCUM and if so hopefully she will chime in!

Point is, I have an advanced degree in a health related field and have found it to be extremely broad and far reaching. What do you like about the Physician Assistant field? I feel like you can take your MSW and make it work for you since those fields are closely related (it's not like you are trying to get into engineering for example).

[Anonymous]

I also wanted to make a similar change midlife, only mine was leaving sales making 6 figures, to be a PA making less and paying for school ($25-50K) to do it. I would still like to be a PA, but after shadowing a couple and talking to them over lunch, one thing became abundantly clear to me: my flexible schedule in sales, able to flex even for last minute notice of a school function (thanks, DD!) - all but a memory.

I'm not in a position now to afford either the expense of school OR the income lost while in school, so I'm looking for work in my former field as I come out of being a SAHM. Maybe someday when my kids are older or if I scrape together enough $$ to cover school and life expenses, I can go back but I'm still not sure the PA route is for me. I'm also looking at dental hygienist, I hear they pretty much set their own hours and can make as much part time as a PA.

Good luck - it sounds like you're thinking all the right things through in advance - which is what I failed to do when I was starting out at 24.