Need suggestions on a career change.

[Vahz]

Long story short, I posted in another thread about starting a new career in finance and investments after being in the IT industry for over 8 years.

Suffice to say, it no longer interests me that much and I find myself to be frequently bored and apathetic about the whole genre. Thus, I've decided to go back to my old college. The only problem is, my college isn't friendly to full time or even part time employees as almost all their classes run smack in the middle of the day and there are only 1-2 late afternoon courses which are filled fairly quickly.

I've been suggested to transfer the credits I have at this college into another less known (no name) college that caters to full time employees since they have classes in the evening or on the weekends.

Only problem is, I fear that these "no name" colleges will make finding a job that much harder. I mean, who's going to look at Blah College and take them over, say, Rutgers University?

So, I have two options:

1.) I can quit my job and go to school full time and get my finance degree in about 2 years since I finished most of the electives and bullshit courses. This obviously means I have no incoming salary, no medical insurance, and no one to pay for my college tuition. Another problem is that I've been looking to be Series 7 certified which requires me to be employed by a registered firm. If I quit, I won't be able to take the exam.

However, money is not that much of a concern for me since I've saved a pretty penny.

2.) I transfer all my existing credits to one of those full time employee colleges and finish a degree at night or on the weekends which means I keep everything and can also take the Series exam.

The thing that concerns me is that the college I'm enrolled in is very well known in NYC and the financial industry and I'm so hung up on the name. Does the name of the college make that much of a difference?


Keep in mind that I'm also 28 so by the time I'm done, I'll be 30 which is pretty "old" when it comes to starting in the financial industry. However, a finance degree can help me multiple areas such as Real Estate and Insurance.

[theme]

Long story short, I posted in another thread about starting a new career in finance and investments after being in the IT industry for over 8 years.

Suffice to say, it no longer interests me that much and I find myself to be frequently bored and apathetic about the whole genre. Thus, I've decided to go back to my old college. The only problem is, my college isn't friendly to full time or even part time employees as almost all their classes run smack in the middle of the day and there are only 1-2 late afternoon courses which are filled fairly quickly.

I've been suggested to transfer the credits I have at this college into another less known (no name) college that caters to full time employees since they have classes in the evening or on the weekends.

Only problem is, I fear that these "no name" colleges will make finding a job that much harder. I mean, who's going to look at Blah College and take them over, say, Rutgers University?

So, I have two options:

1.) I can quit my job and go to school full time and get my finance degree in about 2 years since I finished most of the electives and bullshit courses. This obviously means I have no incoming salary, no medical insurance, and no one to pay for my college tuition. Another problem is that I've been looking to be Series 7 certified which requires me to be employed by a registered firm. If I quit, I won't be able to take the exam.

However, money is not that much of a concern for me since I've saved a pretty penny.

2.) I transfer all my existing credits to one of those full time employee colleges and finish a degree at night or on the weekends which means I keep everything and can also take the Series exam.

The thing that concerns me is that the college I'm enrolled in is very well known in NYC and the financial industry and I'm so hung up on the name. Does the name of the college make that much of a difference?


Keep in mind that I'm also 28 so by the time I'm done, I'll be 30 which is pretty "old" when it comes to starting in the financial industry. However, a finance degree can help me multiple areas such as Real Estate and Insurance.

Long story short...

I don't have anything constructive to add. Just thought it was funny how you began your post and what the actual outcome was.

[kwak76]

I don't know if you actually do need another degree to break into real estate or insurance companies . For the series 7 you need to work for a company that would sponsor you and the series 7 is nothing to laugh at. It's a 7 hour exam with 240 question. The series 63 and other is easier to deal with.
Usually if a company is sponsoring you that company is either a trading company or a brokerage firm.

What are you trying to break into? With 8 years of IT you can't convert any of that for the business world? Were you every a IT manager or project manager?

There is always sales. If you do well in sales and customer service work you could always break into a management type position. Real estate and Insurance involves sales skills more so than a second degree in business.

If I were you I get into sales because if anything that is the purest form of business transaction.

[minbo]

If you are going to a large company with a good HR department, they should be able to recognize a degree from an accredited program. At that point, with a significant amount of work experience, the name of the college, unless it is uncommonly good or stupendously marginal won't matter as much.

You have said why you want to leave your current profession, but why do you want to go to the new profession? Just something to consider so that in 8 years you don't face the same situation, but older...

There are a few good colleges in the NYC area that are very accommodating for adult students. I'm not sure what degree you are going for, but have you looked at NYU, New School or Baruch? Columbia's general studies program is not good for part time students with a regular full time work schedule, same as with your school, not as many classes at night or weekends, so you have to take come courses in the middle of the day during the week.

[Vahz]

Theme: Trust me, that is the short version. Heh.

Kwak: I’m quite aware what the Series 7 exam entails. Our company is registered and they offer preparation classes. What I’ve done for this firm was manage and support new products that the firm has rolled out as well as train our technical support area on these products. Every single piece of technology this firm is maintained and supported by me and my group.

Sales isn’t a bad idea but I’m looking for a meaningful way to combine my technical background with a finance degree. My only concerns are that my age is going to hinder me as I’ll be somewhat “old” at 30 when it comes to finance with no financial experience. Keep in mind that I have many certifications but haven’t finished a major yet at school.

Minbo: My main concern is that name of my school. Since you mentioned Baruch, that’s where I’m actually going and it is certainly not friendly to full time employees at all. Also, they establish new requirement rules which have scrapped some of my old completed credits.

I heard that complete career changes are common. Most Americans change their careers 7 times in their lifetime and this would be my first. The reason for me to leave the IT industry is that it just doesn’t interest me much anymore such as travel and meeting new people. You’re pretty much locked in a department staring at a screen all day.

I’m currently looking for a Finance and Investments degree which Baruch is great for. I’ve heard that NYU has a part time program but I don’t think it’s a full diploma and I can’t vouch for New School.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[kwak76]

Career changes are common for many people but don't let age be a factor. 30 years old is not too old to enter a new career. Since you mentioned that you live in North NJ it is within range to NYC if you decide to go to a school in NYC . Which college did you have in mind?

Now let me get this straight did you finish college at all or is this a second degree?

[minbo]

Hmm, I had a friend who was going to Baruch part time for his MBA, and I didn't think that he had too much of a problem going off hours. Since Baruch is part of the city college system, can you take some of the classes at other city universities like Hunter, who might offer comparable courses in the evening or weekend and have the courses credited at Baruch?

NYU has both certificate and degree courses for non-traditional students, but you are right in that they offer only a very limited subset of degrees for non-traditional students.

Another option is to hold off on the classes that require you to go during the day and take all the other courses. Then quit just for a semester or two and clear out those required courses in succession, so you can stay at work, earn money and take that Series 7 exam?

[LowFrequency]

My suggestion. If you already have a degree, don't bother going back to school full time. Instead, look for some kind of entry level job or something like an internship. Even if you don't get paid, it'll be only a few months. At least you'll get your foot in the door and your feet wet. (Better than going to school for two years, having no income and needing to pay tuition.)

You can always supplement work/internship with night classes. The most important thing is to work and establish some kind of network. You'll never know what comes your way when you do the old networking routine.

[Vahz]

I'm starting to make some contacts now in the financial industry. One of them is at JP Morgan Chase and at my own firm. It's great because both of them are recruiters.

That's the thing, I don't have a degree now but rather many certifications in technology such as the MCSE and CCNA which are due to expire. That's the only reason why I'm considering going back to school full time.

While it sucks not to have an income and pay tuition for 2 years, I've saved enough money in the long wrong to cover that. Also, I already have a place to live rent free.

[Vahz]

minbo, the problem is that I'm being bottlenecked by an accounting course that I must take before I take any higher finance courses.

[atlasien]

Take it at any accredited distance learning university on a nondegree basis then transfer it in. Talk with someone at Baruch about it.

[minbo]

As atlasien said, try to take the accounting course somewhere else and get it transferred with credit to fulfill the requirement. I know that Columbia has 1000 and 2000 level econ courses in the evening, I would not be surprised if NYU has a selection of them also.

[kwak76]

Hmm..yeah you should get a College degree. Perhaps online learning could help. I know NYU has a SCPS credit program and they do offer online classes.

Something you could look into. You could work and just take courses online.

[howstrange]

dude, just quit your job and go to a good college. You got your money saved so no worries. Plus it could be fun as hell versus a big pain in the ass if you do it part time.

[Vahz]

Kwak, I don't really learn well that way as I require information to be explained to me in order to learn.

Howstrange, I actually came to the conclusion that I'm actually going to go part time by going to school at night.

If I go full time, I'll end up finishing school in 2 years. The reason being that I would lose far too much money over those two years.

2 years of salary = 178,000 (gross pay)
2 years of paying college myself = 20,000
Lost medical coverage that I need to pay myself = 9,600
----
Total = 207,600

Sure, it will be a tad more difficult and will tack on one extra year but the sheer loss of money would be too great. Also, I would be able to persue a Series 7 cert while I'm still with the firm.

I have to admit that the reason why I wanted to go full time was only for two superficial reasons.

1.) I dislike my current job.
2.) Looking to meet new people and contacts (networking - but others rationalized that since I'm the one working for a large financial firm, they'll be trying to make me their contact rather than the other way around. My best option is to make contacts on Facebook or Linkedto.)

Only thing, I guess, would be my desire to make new friends since the ones I have now are kinda, well, boring. Heh.

[wuwei]

Kwak, I don't really learn well that way as I require information to be explained to me in order to learn.

Howstrange, I actually came to the conclusion that I'm actually going to go part time by going to school at night.

If I go full time, I'll end up finishing school in 2 years. The reason being that I would lose far too much money over those two years.

2 years of salary = 178,000 (gross pay)
2 years of paying college myself = 20,000
Lost medical coverage that I need to pay myself = 9,600
----
Total = 207,600

Sure, it will be a tad more difficult and will tack on one extra year but the sheer loss of money would be too great. Also, I would be able to persue a Series 7 cert while I'm still with the firm.

I have to admit that the reason why I wanted to go full time was only for two superficial reasons.

1.) I dislike my current job.
2.) Looking to meet new people and contacts (networking - but others rationalized that since I'm the one working for a large financial firm, they'll be trying to make me their contact rather than the other way around. My best option is to make contacts on Facebook or Linkedto.)

Only thing, I guess, would be my desire to make new friends since the ones I have now are kinda, well, boring. Heh.

So you are basically doing what makes sense financially over what you really want to do?

Also, both the IT industry, and now Ibanking/finance or whatever, can be considered flavor of the month industries, and they are very likely to bubble. I would just do something that I enjoy to be honest.

[DijabutiA]

Do they have TV courses there? You can look into that.

[xian]

Don't quit and go to night-school to switch into the area of need that you are most interested in. If you are independent and as brilliant as you seem to be, it won't matter that you don't have a big name school. I did my master's at a crap university after a decent undergrad and it was easy to get a teaching job and once you are a teacher if you kick ass and take names, you move up pretty fast.

That's not to say you should be a teacher--we sure need good people--I mean most community growth and service professions face similar need, especially if you are flexible to work in a community of need.

[CJF]

well while we are talking about night school, what do you guys think about law school at night?

My family's financial situation isn't great so I'm thinking of becoming a teacher by day and go to law school (university of SF okay?) or accounting training by night.

[t-tocs]

Vahz, keep your day job and take courses at night. I have been doing that for the last 3 years and finally got my Masters this summer.