<p>So last child will depart for college in August and divorce is in process so need your help in discovering good paying career for 50 something year old stay at home Mom.</p>
<p>I have a BA degree in Bio and psych and 17 year old experience as a medical tech. Any and all suggestions appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>Pharmaceuticals for seniors and baby boomers is predicted to be one of the biggest growth areas. Perhaps consider pharmaceutical sales in this area.</p>
<p>Stitchintime, do they really hire over 50? Seems like the reps I know are 20 somethings? I don’t think I’m aggressive enough to get in the door!! Maybe it is more laid back in the midwest, but where I live the reps are pretty aggressive people.</p>
<p>What do you like to do?</p>
<p>You could try to do some substitute teaching, if you are so inclined. In private schools they usually maintain lists of available subs. It would be a way to earn some money while you are looking for something more permanent, and it would be very flexible. You might just like doing that enough to continue to do it. Sounds like you would be a great math/science sub, and could probably do other things. Most subs don’t teach, just glorified baby sitting, but who knows, a long-term position might open up.</p>
<p>How about medical transcription? I’ve heard that some people do pretty well doing this at home.</p>
<p>Alternative certificate in Teaching perhaps. Many sates allow degrees in other areas to teach while they take classes in education. You can get a temporary certification until certain classes are done. There is a nation wide shortage of science teachers but Biology is not as short as Chemistry, Geology/Earth, or Physics.</p>
<p>Or perhaps a counselor in a school also in short supply with the psych option.</p>
<p>Teaching not a “good” paying career but livable in many areas and rewarding</p>
<p>Most women that age making good money who are not doctors or lawyers do it in real estate. The current slow time is a good time to get in and learn so that when things pick up in a couple years you are established. But it’s a full-time commitment and you have to hustle all the time.</p>
<p>2nd the real estate–I know several women in their 50s who do very, very well w/it. You do need to devote a lot of ‘after hours’ time – weekends, evenings – but maybe in your situation that would be all right?</p>
<p>Also—could you go back to school for masters or certification program in an area of interest? Maybe a good time, since divorce is in process–perhaps get husband to pay for it? You don’t necessarily want to establish good earning ability right in the throes of a divorce, if I’m understanding the process correctly…</p>
<p>Real estate is an excellent option, but you need to know - in addition to what others have said - that there is a ramp up time when you might not make much.</p>
<p>Or, that’s how it used to be. Still can be, but there is an alternative. Find a top-producing agent in your area who has a “team”/assistant(s). Seek a position with him or her. You will have a salary, or a steady income as a % of that agent’s commissions. </p>
<p>You might choose to stay on that team forever. Or you might go out on your own, once you’ve gotten a feel for the business.</p>
<p>What defines ‘good paying’?</p>
<p>Pharmacy tech = $32K …
Patient advocate?
Dorm Mom?</p>
<p>LTS assistant!!??</p>
<p>I’d say pick something you really enjoy and let the pay take the back seat. Because if you enjoy it, it doesn’t seem so much like work. And given your recent shocks, looking forward to something may be better than $$$.</p>
<p>check out salary.com for salaries in general terms.</p>
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<p>This is an “in demand” skill. It might take some training to get up tp speed on current technology, but I suspect that you prospects are allot brighter than you may you think. Good luck.</p>
<p>This is going to sound funny, but go onto Craigslist in our local area and look at the help wanted section as well as the place to put resumes. You can get a good feel for jobs out there and what they pay. I’ll bet there are a million we arent thinking of. When you get your resume together, check monster.com, hotjobs.com and careerbuilder.com for ideas and jobs out there. What part of the country are you in?</p>
<p>Pharmacy tech is very physical, and crappy tech school to have the privilege to pay the state a registration fee (in CA). Pharmaceutical rep - even more companies are merging so security isn’t there, also so many I see could work at Hooters.</p>
<p>Perhaps some classes to continue as a med tech? Do you really want to bring in the big bucks while going through a divorce? If you were a long-time stay at home mom, wouldn’t alimony come in?</p>
<p>Many administrative assistant jobs require a bachelor’s degree these days. They might prefer someone older and stable to a cute young thing who might only last a year or so before moving on.</p>
<p>Ditto on Craigslist. Look under office/admin.</p>
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<p>Are you a registered med tech? I am, and my experience is about 20 years old, so you and I are in the same boat there! From what I have seen, it is not so in demand. I live in a large city, and you do occasionally see open jobs listed in the newspaper, but there certainly aren’t a lot of them. I’ve heard that due to automation, there aren’t as many jobs as there used to be. One thing that’s good is that I am grandfathered in to the old regs so I don’t have to have any continuing ed credits to work again.</p>
<p>However, based on my med tech degree, I’m going to be teaching a chemistry class for home schooled students this fall, so I’m kind of excited about that.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of your thoughts. I had contemplated dabling in real estate before the divorce developed. But at that time I was thinking about staying busy and saving some extra for retirement…Now with the prospect of supporting myself, 2 in college and paying plenty to legal fees, I didn’t think real estate was an option. I need health insurance and a regular paycheck. How common is it to be salaried in real estate? I live on Long Island where the average home costs $500,000. So to live here I have to consider the salary.</p>
<p>To return to healthcare, my credentials would require schooling to update. Probably a year and $25,000. in tuition. Given the physical nature of this kind of work, I’m unsure if this is the way to go.</p>
<p>Anyone know about medical billing/coding? I’m thinking desk job to carry me into the future.</p>
<p>One of you mentioned alimony…By the looks of things I will have to spend every dime we have to get it. </p>
<p>Any additional suggestions welcome! Thank you.</p>
<p>I think I would be tempted to reframe the question - what do you want to do all day, forgetting about money, compensation, benefits etc. for the moment. Pretend for a minute that ALL options are on the table regardless of current economic and geographic reality (and if you think about it, you really do have a lot of doors open here - your time is now your own, more than ever before). </p>
<p>Then start with, do you think that you are going to be happier in a traditional employment environment, with a predictable (if slow to increase) salary?</p>
<p>Or would you be happier in a more entrepreneurial role, where the finances are going to be very risky< but where at least you will have some control (ability to work longer hours and use the time to prospect for more business, for example). </p>
<p>I do not know anything about real estate but it seems to me that at least that job offers more autonomy and greater potential income over time, even of it starts out slow.</p>
<p>It has also been my experience that if you are doing something you really enjoy and believe in, and perhaps even love, the money just flows; you just do the work and the compensation part takes care of itself. So if you think you may really enjoy real estate, as well as the freedom that sort of work allows, go for it, and trust that while it will take some time, the cash will eventually happen.</p>
<p>Plus, it seems as if real estate may open doors to collateral life style issues - meeting new people, professional groups, learning opportunities - etc. - in a way that a traditional employment situation may not…</p>
<p>That’s an important factor, latetoschool (entrepreneurial vs. steady salary).</p>
<p>However, I just started thinking…although real estate does seem like it’s got a number of positives (esp for a woman re-entering the job market)…with the housing market in a rough period, it’s been very hard on the realtors I know.</p>
<p>applicantmum77:</p>
<p>Regarding medical billing/coding, a friend of mine got into this field recently after a year or so of specialized training at a local technical college. The best thing about it is that it seems like she now has a set of skills that are in high demand, and she works on a schedule that she can set, but is not isolated at home. It would also feed nicely off of your past training.</p>
<p>Another suggestion is to go back to the Career Counseling office at your college or university (if it’s in this country - with a name like “mum” I’m wondering if you grew up and went to school in England!). I just learned the other day that my alma mater provides career counseling services for its alumni, with a specific eye to later-in-life career changes. Pretty cool, huh?</p>
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Well, among all licensed active real estate agents, it is NOT common. But that isn’t really the question in a case such as yours. The question is how many prospects there are in your area for salaried/steady commission as assisant/team member positions.</p>
<p>To get an idea you can watch the real estate ads, go to realtor.com and/or websites of the top companies in your area. Get a feeling for how many brokers are operating as teams. These are the brokers that will be hiring assistants or team members where you can start out with a stable income. Some will offer health insurance, some won’t. You can also look at administrative positions in real estate companies, which will be salaried and have health insurance.</p>
<p>You need a license to act as a real estate agent, but you can start out in an administrative position for a company or in a team without it, while you obtain it.</p>
<p>I’m going into a little detail about real estate because you mentioned you had considered it, it has a huge upside potential (no limit, really) and huge personal control over how much/how little you work. Yes, the market is slow and weak right now, which will hurt a lot of realtors, but the top producers will always be steady and, in fact, this type of market can help them because dabblers get out of the market when it is like this.</p>