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Re-employment
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Re-employment
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Atomic-S
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Re-employment
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26/11/2006 02:19:46 »
I, in the United States, have a Bach. Sci in physics, and worked for a few years as a lab technician, mainly reducing data at a university. Then, personal circumstances took me out of the field and into something quite unrelated for quite a few years. That job, however, is now crumbling and I have to change careers again. I have been looking at returning to science, but I am wondering if makes any sense, being now 57 years old. I would not want to return to just the kind of work I had done earlier; there were many problems with that. It has dawned on me that one reason I had problems in my prior science work is that I did not have a high enough degree to reach for anything better, and that in science, a masters and preferably a Ph. D. is standard for anyone actually wishing to get to any worthwhile position. Several questions of course come up. One is, am I capable of such an endeavor? By applying myself, I graduated with good but not spectacular grades from my undergraduate studies. I was adequate but not outstanding in math. But that was quite a few years ago. Could I repeat the feat today? I think I probably could. Assuming, then, that I could, other issues come up. One is that I have found through investigations that studying at the graduate level is not like at the undergraduate -- there are fewer roadmaps and a lot more initiative and related know-how required, and that some of these things are not solvable by formulae that can be looked up in a handbook. Another issue is "institutional discrimination": an important question is whether, if two persons have identical educational background and performance, but one is 28 years old and the other 57, if there exists in some potential employment situations, unwritten rules of the office food chain which preclude the hiring of the one or the other persons. This problem definitely exists in some fields, a fact that has become clear to me in recent times due to what my sister has learned in the workplace, and what I too have experienced when job hunting. It appears that in some industries, a perfectly qualified person becomes ineligible for employment if the applicant is thought to pose a possible threat to the job security of existing management personnel. So, before I would waste my time studying for something that I could not be employed in in any case, I would like to know about these things. Any comments?
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Karen W.
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Re: Re-employment
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26/11/2006 03:22:28 »
I could notgive you much for answers as far as your employment but I am a 46 year old who has gone back to college to get my degree and find the work itself is easier then when I was kid. I don't know if its because I developed a good work ethic as an adult or just understood more as an adult, and so the work seems way easier! I wish you good luck in what ever you decide and hope you enjoy whichever path you choose. How much more would you have to do to get a Masters or ph D . You already hold your Bachelors right? It would be wise if you could get your Masters or PH D if for no other reason other then the simple joy of going back to school and accomplishing it, and meeting new people along the way. Learning new things etc. It will help on any Job regardless of the position! Good luck!
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Last Edit: 02/12/2006 15:53:30 by Karen W.
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Atomic-S
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Re: Re-employment
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02/12/2006 04:00:49 »
Thanx for the advice; I had not thought of the "simple joy" of returning to calculus, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, etc; but an interesting insight. Nonetheless, I am in a position where, owing to finite resources of time and money, I have to be rather practical in my thinking. Also, due to educational budget cuts and institutional changes, it may be harder to get back into my alma mater now than it used to be. Of course there are other universities, but that poses additional problems. Well, thank you anyway for your remarks.
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Karen W.
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Re: Re-employment
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Reply #3 on:
02/12/2006 16:03:08 »
LOL, not a joy eh? Well it was difficult and challenging but once i got my feet wet it was a breeze. Wore me out! I have only been able to take one or two classes a semester due to the fact that I work full time as a teacher and also come home to my family and take care of things here also!
Money is difficult while going to school. It is not so bad one or two classes at a time! I drive a bought 20 or so miles there and 20 back two to three days a week when I am going! So mostly I get real tired as my classes are mainly at night with exceptions for Labs which are about 3:00PMish! I just find myself worn completely out! The campus is a huge campus with lots of uphill walking to get to class.. I am not in the best of shape so that was hard but it helped me feeling better while I lost some weight!
I hope you find a solution to your dilema! I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide.. repost and let us know!
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