<p>Have a very good friend with a med tech degree who works for big medical device company. Look at those types of companies…Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott Labs, etc. There are many types of desk jobs, sales, etc. within these large companies. </p>
<p>Not real high paying but easy to start is being a phlebotemist. D has several friends who are premed who do this as summer job. Take a look at hospital job listings, there are always openings and it may help to have a foot in the door!</p>
<p>I’d second the looking at hospitals. You have some background in medical terminology, and being a health unit coordinator (used to be called ward clerk) can be an ok job with benefits while you’re looking for something more fulfilling.</p>
<p>Hi- I also live in L.I. Recently I took a free workshop at my local library, in
Nassau County, on mid-life career issues, which I found helpful. The counselor
was also available for private-free- career counseling- at the library, which I also found helpful.
I agree with the posters about phlebotomy- short training- you get license-
or go work for a hospital and let them pay for your tuition reimbursement.
That’s what I am doing right now. Good luck.</p>
<p>Applicantmum</p>
<p>Also, I’d take care in assuming that you’d be spending every dime to get alimony. The laws in every state are different, of course, but there are processes to allow you time to go to school and get back in the employment game that are pretty standard and should not require much more than a filing of request to the court/judge handling the divorce.</p>
<p>Surely phlebotomy is a really low-paying job, right? It used to be.</p>
<p>I think you can start around $25,000 a year around here and increase with experience. It is a good way to get your foot in the door as I mentioned earlier.</p>
<p>I’ve read that within medical fields, the growing area is geriatrics. It’s the one place where perhaps ageism won’t work against you, pr so I imagine in my optimism. </p>
<p>Teaching, I think less exciting future. At age 50 you can be a substitute teacher if your financial goals are limited on this and you can take charge of a situation with some degree of confidence, very quickly. Not for the timid. Problem is: if you earn $100./day (and some districts are 3/4 or 2/3 of that amount), and there are l80 instructional days yearly, at most you can earn $l8K if you’re called in to work every day. To get your own classroom, you’d need further training. Teachers begin to retire at age 55. Some of the subs you see are people who want this for second income, or retired teachers who are supplementing their pensions with what they do best, namely, teach. The very best substitute teachers are asked to take extended assignments, which bumps the pay up somewhat but nothing close to a certified teacher’s salary. So I don’t see teaching as a good future for someone starting from home right into it at age 50+, except as a very modest income while thinking over other options.</p>
<p>Maybe that’s exactly what OP wants, however, relative to alimony options.</p>
<p>Instinctively I’d say go with what you have some headstart in (medical technology) and take it to the best growing market, older people to see if their are ways to develop your skills. </p>
<p>What about court stenography? That takes a lot of dexterity, and I’m thinking younger people don’t have the patience for it.</p>
<p>Since you have been in healthcare how about Pharmaceutical sales? Another other option is law school - law firms are desperate for individuals with practical knowledge about healthcare.</p>
<p>I know someone who owns a court reporting agency. Most of their hires are young. The administrative staff is older. They told me that court stenographers experience a great deal of muscle stress - particularly the neck and upper back.</p>
<p>Paralegal training with a focus on healthcare? Law school is great because they do take older students, but it’s 3 years. Paralegal training is – I don’t know, but less than 3 years.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your suggestions. I don’t see myself as a teacher. And I’m too old to ever reep the retirement benefits. I’m not aggressive enough for medical sales. That is my soon to be ex’s field and many of the 50+ oldtimers have been replaced with new college grads at a fraction of the salary. Times are changing for med sales. And running into him at local hospitals is not appealing.lol</p>
<p>You all have made me do some soul searching and I’m thinking building on my medical knowledge may be the way to go. What about ultrasound? Anyone have any experience with this? Looks as if a certificate qualifies you to take the registry exam. </p>
<p>Geratrics has possibilities. Does anyone know how long it takes to get an RN for someone who already has a bachelors in Bio?</p>
<p>And my final idea for the day is a masters in library science with a concentration in medical. Any pro or con responses welcome. Thanks!</p>
<p>Keep in mind that being an RN would be pretty physically demanding. I know that it typically takes 2 years, but I’m not sure if your bachelor’s would shorten that. Some nurses work into jobs that are more desk jobs but I wouldn’t think you would get that kind of job initially. Maybe there are nurses here who would know more about that.</p>
<p>Is going back to school an option for you? I had the impression from your post that you needed to find work to support yourself right now. Before you go back even for a certificate program, I’d do some searching for jobs in that field in your area. Make sure there is not a glut in whatever you are looking into (ultrasound tech for example). </p>
<p>Also, don’t sell yourself short. You have a bachelor’s degree. You should be able to do better than a high school graduate with a 1 year certificate!</p>
<p>Oh, and back to Craigslist, go to the site for your city and look under biotech/science. There might be some things that would work for you. Another good place to look for a job would be at a large university near you. Go online and check out their job postings. They often have various kinds of lab technician openings or they might need a secretary at the biology dept. or something like that.</p>
<p>If you are interested in nursing and are in good physical condition, you might consider caregiving for an elderly person. I was involved with helping someone find a caregiver recently, and I was shocked that a good caregiver could make $15-20/hour. I was taking calls from applicants and some of these people were really bottom of the barrel. When someone would call who sounded halfway intelligent, I was immediately very interested.</p>
<p>How about HR certification? It takes less than a year at our local CC. Psychology training fits very well into that. The job pays 50K+ in our area. Same with parelegal studies - three quarters at UW Extension (class is also offered online!), less than $5K. Paralegals are in high demand in our area.</p>
<p>How about medical office management?</p>
<p>You mentioned the high cost of living on Long Island. With your child off to school, have you considered relocating? Are you trying to stay in a house or would you consider a move to a condo? That might give you some breathing room financially and take away the worries of caring for a bigger property.</p>
<p>Why not try something totally new and different? Excellent private investigators are always hard to find, researchers, freelance writers, etc. It seems like there is a real opportunity here - to strike out in some new direction…if financial realities can withstand it of course - but usually there’s always some way to work through these things…</p>
<p>Think about state government. The benefits are quite good here. My lady friend is 53 and just started for the Att. General office in child support collection. She gets paid sick and vacation, dental, vision, medical, etc. Total cost of benefits is about $20 a month, and they are very good coverages. She can retire after 10 years with full medical for life.</p>
<p>If you can write reasonably well, there’s a high demand for technical writers in medical/biomedical fields. They need people who can follow the medical concepts and write up instructions on the gadgets/medicines/research programs. You can typically get a technical writing certificate at local Community college/ state university, and that helps you get started. Usually 3-5 courses.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to think opportunistically - are any of your friends or family working at a place that interests you? If so, ask them to share job listings with you, as a way to find out what kind of jobs there are.</p>
<p>Finding out what kinds of jobs exist is really useful. Helps you to understand how to possibly get some of these jobs.</p>
<p>Some RN programs at CC only take 2 years to get through. Hospitals based programs (used to be full 3 years) now team up with colleges and usually take 4 to 5 years. The big problem here is the wait list for these programs. Some in our area are up to 2 years waiting just to get in. Call around in your area and see what the waiting period is right now. It cost over $5,000 to educate a nursing student per year at CC’s, where as the normal student cost much less, around $2,000. I read that some schools are shutting down some nursing programs due to the high cost of the training. Regarding credit for your degree, I don’t know how much credit you get with a degree in Bio. Nursing is very specific and you have to have physiology anatomy, and chemistry etc. Then you have to take all the medical and clinical classes.</p>
<p>LPN (practical nurse) might be the way to start. It is only one year of very basic classes. You will only have one year of school and cost before you have a job. Also, if you are working at a hospital, they might pay for you to go to school for your RN. Again, I have heard of people having to wait to go to LPN school.</p>
<p>LONG ISLAND RESIDENT TOO:
Some ideas and suggestions after reading most of this thread…</p>
<p>REAL ESTATE- quite a few of my friends took the course and passed. Use it as their “other job”. Both have part or full time jobs that provide the benefits.</p>
<p>SONOGRAPHER- one friend at work has been applying (and rejected twice as she stillneeds more prereq’s). You may qualify as you have the BS in Bio. It’s a two year program with starting salary of $75K!!! Also, I expect the hours will be flexible to fit your schedule as there are day, evening and weekend hours to fill. I think she was hoping to go to Briarcliff College.</p>
<p>NURSING- Call StonyBrook (cheapest as far as tuition for you. If you need prereq’s see if you can take them at Nassau or Suffolk for low cost and an easier way to get back into studying.) If you can come out with the 4 year degree (don’t know what it is, BS RN??? you can do very well. Again, call StonyBrook for details. Malloy has a program, uncertain where else. Friends daughter just graduated- $75 at LIJ. Told salary at StonyBrook was $60K. All pretty great starting point if my info is accurate.</p>
<p>TEACHING- harder to get a job. Call BOCES for info on getting your teaching certificate and where to do it. I think Five Colleges in Dix Hills may have the program.</p>
<p>I think programs like phlebotomy are certificate programs and you can do them pretty rapidly and work while you go back to school or get training in other areas that take more time.</p>
<p>Since you have the BA degrees, you can also go back for 2 years at Touro or elsewhere for OT or PT or speech. Lucrative and flexible. Special ed is also good. Get your masters in any of those as an option. Besides schools, medical offices, hospitals, you can make great money in home based early intervention.</p>
<p>My friend, nurse, now practicing dentist, is going to school for library science in addition to working full time. Just doing it for the love. </p>
<p>How old are your kids? Can you transform the lower portion of your house for a rental? Great way to make $ to pay your real estate taxes or pay for the bills.</p>
<p>Hope some of this helps you out.</p>
<p>Another thought - pharmacy assistant.</p>
<p>What about getting a masters in social work with a geriatric specialization? I understand this is a growing field.</p>