Career Advice and Time Management

Volunteering is a very good way to see if a career is for you. Also, getting to know people who do the work that you are interested in and talking with them (interviewing them) to find out more about the realities of the work.

If you don't know people in the field, there are many resources to find people - through volunteering, through an agency or non-profit, or through a networking website (www.LinkedIn.com has become very highly regarded and used for finding people to network with, and for finding jobs).

www.iSeek.org is a website that was developed for people making career decisions and has information about future demand in a field, education needed, etc. It was developed in MN but would be useful for any person seeking career information.

In our area there is a summer program for deaf children that takes place at one of the larger churches. It is a "camp" of sorts. Something like that may be a great way to either see if you really want to build this work into a career or just to volunteer. Most camps rely on volunteers, but have paid staff earlier in the year to organize the event. This would be a chance to do work with the deaf but gain other skills as well. I'd do a search of this type of thing in your area. My sister in law works with deaf children through the school system as a special ed teacher. I will say that she takes lots of continuing ed classes and I believe has her masters.

You sound like me - to some degree. I think all the suggestions other people have posted below are good. I think when you are in a place of looking to the Next Step, it is important to know yourself first. have you taken any type of personality test or skills/strengths tests? These might help you feel out which of the jobs you talk about really really would play to your strengths. I've taken things like a Myers-Briggs test and some others that have helped me - learn more about myself. I concur with the idea to learn sign language. The teacher in that class might have other resources or organizations to point you towards that would move you closer towards your goal of working with the deaf. Also, some of your job ideas are not mutually exclusive. If you start out working with the deaf and then realize nutrition or physical therapy is more up your alley you will only have gained experience working with a group of a people that will speak well on your resume. Cheers and enjoy the journey.

Being in a place where you are thinking and considering what it is you really want to do and be when your grow up is great, even when you are already a grown up.

Since you are adding to your life, you need to add successful time management skills or you will experience stress beyond measure and perhaps even failure by your own design because you failed at successfully managing your time.

You have given yourself a two year window before the next baby comes to either prepare for a new career while preparing to have another baby.

If I wanted to work with the deaf, the first thing I think I would learn is sign language. This will be give you the ability to communicate more effectively with them. Start there and as you do that the rest will come together for you as your ball of confusion begins to unravel. Success to you in your new endeavour.

Since you already have a bachelors, you coukld get a masters in a related field that would allow you to accomplish those goals. My SIL got a masters in Communication Disorders. She said this field is desperate for dedicated people. She makes OBSCENE money and it's extremely rewarding for her. She does work one on one with deaf children, but not exclusivley. She works with children that have all sorts of trouble communicating like cleft pallets, the autistic, etc. She often is the one to diagnose a child as having heraing problems. So she is right there from the beginning helping the family work through it. She's very happy and she gets great job offers on a regular basis. She makes the kind of money people dream about, to do the kind of job people dream about. Just a thought.

Don't worry about science classes - usually the ones offered for Education-based fiends are much different than those for people wanting to be professional researchers. I have a degree in Biology, so sciences come much easier to me than literature classes did, but a Physiology class for a Bio major is much different from a physiology class for an Education major.

Nutrition is going to be a hot field moving forward as more and more people are diagnosed with Diabetes. 1/3 children born in this generation are expected to have type 2 diabetes and to live longer than we, as their parents, do.

I, too, wonder how to transition my career, and this economy hasn't been great for moving into new fields without being able to go back to school full-time. Like anything, you can find 100 people who love their profession and another 100 who hate it. I think you just have to take the plunge and do it and hope you land in the best possible place.

As for working with the deaf, my best friend in high school was deaf. We had programs in our schools for deaf students from elementary through high school. It was such an incredible experience, and amazing to see how they compensate for the lack of this one sense.

Good luck moving forward.

Not sure about your area but here there are always positions in the paper for teachers of children who are deaf who are proficient in sign language. Not sure who teaches it but the play on this type of position is good. With your elementary education bkground I imagine that would be a plus in this position and you would not have to take as many classes to meet the qualifications of this job. I imagine it would be very rewarding and also think it is more likely you would be teaching a smaller group. Good luck in whatever your choose .