Career change: 2nd Bachelors or Masters in a different field? (computer science, masters degree)

[jd418]

I am contemplating a career change and I am unsure which would help me more. I have a B.S. in Criminal Justice and have been a police officer for 13 years. I started working on a masters in Criminal Justice and I am just not feeling it. I have looked into the Occupational Health and Safety careers and I am intrigued. My question is,would I be better off to get a 2nd bachelors in Health and Safety or go ahead with the masters in the OSH field. I am unsure if a masters will help me with employment because i would have no experience in the field. I was think that I may not fully grasp the issues in the masters program because I have no background in it. Thanks

[TamaraSavannah]

It depends.

I find that being a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_Lady

of knowing A LOT ABOUT A LOT gives me several advantages. If I don't have the background for a particular general task, people ask me what is my background and we don't get 5 second before they say, "WHOA! That's good enough! If there are any problems, we'll just give you the textbook and you'll be up on it in a week.".

I've been granted interviews, offered investigator jobs due to a lot, probably, academic background....but being ex military police helps, too.

But on the other hand, word of warning. Graduate school depends on your grades. If you can't maintain a 3.0, you are in serious trouble. My first pass at a masters degree, in computer science, I took an F and a couple of C's and could never make it up. My undergrad was electronics and while I thought the two would make a good mesh, it didn't work out that way. Of course, at the time, I wasn't a good student, not the one I am now, then either.

Good luck.

[bler144]

In general with a Masters Program in these admin type fields, I would strongly recommend looking at whether there's room in the program for internship/externships in place of a classroom course or two.

They do tend to be unpaid, but you can 'double-dip' by using those work hours to count on a resume and towards degree completion.