Career change is financially crippling me

MollyCoddle

How is that for a thread title

I am getting to my wits end financially and don't really know what to do. I worked in industry until 2005 when I decided I wanted to change direction and do something more 'worthwhile'. So I've spent the last 4 years getting a BA and MA in the field I'm interested in, living on the proceeds of what was left after I sold my apartment and paid off the mortgage. I've spent the last 9 months or at college and working p/t in an entry level post loosely related to my MA and now that I've graduated there are no full-time jobs around, and believe me I'm looking! I've managed to get a second part-time job so I'm working almost full-time, but even then I'm in such a financial hole from being at college the last 4 years that it's like a drop in the ocean.

Now the option I have beyond robbing Peter to pay Paul and staying in the field I want to work in is to give in and go back to what I used to do. The jobs market in that industry is pretty buoyant where I live and my experience is good. I'm pretty sure I would get something full-time relatively quickly and have had a similar response from a couple of recruiters. At the same time I'd feel in a way like I was giving up or that the last 4 years were for nothing. It'll also make it even harder for me to ever get my foot in the door doing what I really want to do.

I'm not even breaking even right now and servicing my debts that aren't based on my parents' goodwill is crippling me. I didn't particularly enjoy my old career but I am feeling backed into a corner.

microgirl

What's the possibility of getting a job back in your old field for now (like a couple of years, til things start to recover) so's you can have money, but keeping a part-time or volunteer position in your preferred area to keep your hand in?

I don't think you can ever say that your four years has been wasted, and if you can keep your new skills/knowledge as up-to-date as you can, then when the field regains its feet you'll be in as good a position as anyone to get properly involved.

But you have to survive to that point first, and that's where getting a job that pays you enough to live on comes in.

LimeFruitGum

Jeez, sorry to hear that

Have you tried going on LinkedIn and making connections with former colleagues in your old industry and joining related groups in there to help you catch up on any developments in that sector?

Firetrap

I think in the short-term you might consider going back to the sort of work that you used to do but look at in a pragmatic way. That you're doing it to put bread on the table and to make your financial situation better. There's nothing to stop you continuing to look for a job in what you've studied. It's just unfortunate timing - that the ar$e fell out of the economy while you were still studying.