Quitting my job and going back to education?

LegacyUser

I've had the same job for 4 years, a role I really love but huge issues with management as they have come under scrutiny, in turn senior staff have been getting blamed heavily, there are 4 of us senior members getting pushed out, it's affecting the mental health of myself and others.

I want to upskill myself by going to college. I got my job with no qualifications but learnt everything from doing the job itself, I'd like to get an official recognized certification/degree in my area so I can go on to bigger and better, but I'm not sure how to go about it.

I'm 28, living at home (mental health took its toll on changing this) so I was wondering what my options are?

If I quit my job, go back to college full time, I need to find a job on the weekends, right? Could I survive on €600 a month for 1-2 years? I'm by no means a nightlife person, but I have a car and standard household bills to pay. I'm just not sure how any of this works.

C3PO

Would you not consider studying part time? Lots of certificate/degree courses available. I'm currently studying for a degree in Quantity Surveying and working full time. Sligo IT, for example, have great online courses where you attend lectures remotely (on a PC) in the evenings. It takes longer than full time study, usually about twice as long, but it is very flexible and you can continue to work full time.

LegacyUser

C3PO wrote: »

Would you not consider studying part time? Lots of certificate/degree courses available. I'm currently studying for a degree in Quantity Surveying and working full time. Sligo IT, for example, have great online courses where you attend lectures remotely (on a PC) in the evenings. It takes longer than full time study, usually about twice as long, but it is very flexible and you can continue to work full time.

I would! The specific area I'm interested in only has full time courses, if I were to do something else, I'd be doing something else entirely. I have been struggling to find anything else I could have half the passion for or existing background knowledge in.

Thank you for the idea though, didn't know Sligo IT did online courses.

C3PO

dejectedandstressed wrote: »

Thank you for the idea though, didn't know Sligo IT did online courses.

More online than "on the ground" students apparently! They have really invested in the area and it works well! I suppose given the relative remoteness of Sligo they considered it the only realistic way to expand. I'm in class with people based in Australia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi!

CiDeRmAn

Can I suggest finding an employer that might take you in a role and be interested in upskilling you while there.
Might be an offer of paid study time and/or the course paid for.
Just a suggestion.
I work in the HSE as a Nurse Manager and this is a common thing, amongst our staff.

.......

What is the specific area you are interested in?

Lots of distance learning offerings from UK and European universities as well as Irish ones.

It might also be possible to do something smaller than a degree via distance learning, then go to a full time course and have accreditation of prior learning applied and thus do full time for less years.

LegacyUser

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Can I suggest finding an employer that might take you in a role and be interested in upskilling you while there.
Might be an offer of paid study time and/or the course paid for.
Just a suggestion.
I work in the HSE as a Nurse Manager and this is a common thing, amongst our staff.

I'd love that, not sure it would be a thing in the area I'm involved in. My current job is in quite a niche area (which is why I'm not saying what it is), so a large reason I want to upskill is it'll widen the areas I can apply for jobs in. Also kind of in a health related sector but not in the way most would think. I seriously doubt I'd find an employer who would help me through.

I'm just at a loss how to do it because of the financial side of things.

.......

If you can give an indication of what degree (subject, university) you would be interested in doing full time then people can make suggestions to you for part time degrees based on that.

LegacyUser

....... wrote: »

If you can give an indication of what degree (subject, university) you would be interested in doing full time then people can make suggestions to you for part time degrees based on that.

Would be hoping to go down the way of Vet Nursing/Zoology. Depending on which direction I get pulled.

.......

dejectedandstressed wrote: »

Would be hoping to go down the way of Vet Nursing/Zoology. Depending on which direction I get pulled.

A friend of mine is finishing up 4 years vet nursing as a mature student this year - she quit her full time job and was working part time during it - but lived with her partner who has a good job so he has been largely supporting both of them.

The only caveat I would give you on it is that you may go into debt or survive on very little to do that as a career - and its not great pay at the end of it. Its a vocational job IMO and another vet nurse I know supplements her income with a variety of pet sitting/dog walking and grooming jobs - this might be something you could get set up to be doing while studying full time?

wiggle16

You might be eligible for a grant and/or maintenance as a mature dependent student. The details of eligibility are on the SUSI website.

LegacyUser

....... wrote: »

A friend of mine is finishing up 4 years vet nursing as a mature student this year - she quit her full time job and was working part time during it - but lived with her partner who has a good job so he has been largely supporting both of them.

The only caveat I would give you on it is that you may go into debt or survive on very little to do that as a career - and its not great pay at the end of it. Its a vocational job IMO and another vet nurse I know supplements her income with a variety of pet sitting/dog walking and grooming jobs - this might be something you could get set up to be doing while studying full time?

Yeah, I have heard a lot of people saying the pay isn't great, but I'd be going into this more for the love of it, rather than the money (though money helps lol), I just find it very valuable that I do something with myself that I have a love for, I don't want to spend my time doing a job I hate, you know? But I don't want to struggle for years to get there, as I have to be mindful of my mental health in that regard, the feeling of failing takes a toll on me easily.

That's even if I go down the route of vet nursing.

.......

dejectedandstressed wrote: »

Yeah, I have heard a lot of people saying the pay isn't great, but I'd be going into this more for the love of it, rather than the money (though money helps lol), I just find it very valuable that I do something with myself that I have a love for, I don't want to spend my time doing a job I hate, you know? But I don't want to struggle for years to get there, as I have to be mindful of my mental health in that regard, the feeling of failing takes a toll on me easily.

That's even if I go down the route of vet nursing.

Well just in terms of the educational aspect as opposed to the career - no degree is going to be a waste of time, and even if you did the degree and then decided the job wasnt for you, a degree can be used as a stepping stone into another career or further education (conversion masters all the rage these days etc...), so I would definitely say that ANY qualification at third level is better than no qualification at all - especially while you are still young with so many years of career left to you.

I commend you on knowing what you would love to do, I am in my 40s and still dont know what I want to be when I grow up!

Ive several degrees at this stage (mostly done part time in the past 15 years), and I can guarantee you that a degree never looks bad on your CV no matter what job you are going for. 2 of my undergraduate degrees are nothing whatsoever to do with my career but at interviews I am often asked about them and of course, you can find useful bits and pieces in most subject matter to apply to the real world career you are in.

If you decide to go down the route of part time study be very careful about what institution you choose to study with. The internet is FULL of fake institutions selling certificates/diplomas/degrees that are not accredited and are no more use to you than a page from a magazine.

This website:
www.qualifax.ie
will tell you about qualifications offered by Irish institutions and if they are accredited correctly.

If you decide to use an institution from another country for distance learning, post here and people will be able to tell you if they are fake or not.

Distance learning is not for everyone and although most offerings these days have plenty of student-student and student-tutor interaction compared to the past (when they were more like correspondence courses), it can be isolating and difficult to motivate yourself. I got into it doing a short course to begin with, that way if I failed or it didnt suit me I wasnt losing much. As it turned out it did suit me and over time I added to that short course and built up to doing full modules that led to degrees. But it can be time consuming both in terms of the time you dedicate to studying and the time it takes to come out with the final qualification.

If you find a way to afford the full time option, then go for it.