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At your age, with your past, I'd say a non-traditional entry level position in government. Especially corrections. They hire psychologists all the time. Decent pay, better-than-most state benefits.
In those positions, take it from me (been there as a state employee), 38 ain't old, at all.
There's nothing wrong with starting a career at 38. Better late than never.
Given your background, I, too, think you should focus on getting a government job. They give veterans preference in hiring and do not discriminate against older people as much as the private sector.
Start taking exams for federal, state, county and city government jobs. Take whatever jobs you can find from these exams.
Scour the websites for entry-level jobs for which you may qualify. Just get your foot in the door somewhere. Once in, work hard so you can get good references. After you've been at your job for two years, look for another job that requires (some of) the skills you learned from the previous job. Make sure the next job pays more so you keep increasing your base salary.
In the beginning, change jobs approximately every two years in order to increase your pay and your skills. After 4 or 5 job promotions, you should be making a good salary. At that point, settle into something and allow yourself to grow there for at least 5 years.
you're gonna be homeless for the rest of your life and end up dead somewhere under a bridge from frost bite because they don't care about homeless men.
Unless you live in Seattle or San Francisco, then you get treated like royalty!
There's nothing wrong with starting a career at 38. Better late than never.
Given your background, I, too, think you should focus on getting a government job. They give veterans preference in hiring and do not discriminate against older people as much as the private sector.
Start taking exams for federal, state, county and city government jobs. Take whatever jobs you can find from these exams.
Scour the websites for entry-level jobs for which you may qualify. Just get your foot in the door somewhere. Once in, work hard so you can get good references. After you've been at your job for two years, look for another job that requires (some of) the skills you learned from the previous job. Make sure the next job pays more so you keep increasing your base salary.
In the beginning, change jobs approximately every two years in order to increase your pay and your skills. After 4 or 5 job promotions, you should be making a good salary. At that point, settle into something and allow yourself to grow there for at least 5 years.
Its a good idea but its hard as hell to get in. Especially these days with more people wanting federal jobs than private sector jobs with no Job security.
Ive been trying for 3 years to get in the fed as a veteran and with a bachelors . No luck at all. One application referred to the hiring manager. The other 100 plus thrown to limbo
If you don't do something using your degree what sort of job will you be doing? Might you find something working with veterans? Having a degree, even if you end up not utilizing it is still a plus. Consider that 10 years from now you will be 48. Do you want to look back and realize you didn't even attempt to find a job in a field you are interested in? Don't give up before you even get started.
Its a good idea but its hard as hell to get in. Especially these days with more people wanting federal jobs than private sector jobs with no Job security.
Ive been trying for 3 years to get in the fed as a veteran and with a bachelors . No luck at all. One application referred to the hiring manager. The other 100 plus thrown to limbo
I agree. I have been trying to get hired by the government as well.
It's a task within itself even if you are 22 or 32 with 10 years of experience.
But they would be less likely to age discriminate.
Age matters because they are going to see that you are 20 years out since graduating high school and if you haven't achieved much in those 20 years, they will see you as an undesirable hire.
You need to put together a story, that shows you in the best possible light, and talking about personal issues, retail and taking almost twice as long to graduate is not good and the type of story you want to be telling.
Make no mistake, HR and hiring managers are going to judge every little detail of your past and since it doesn't add up to that ideal candidate, they will immediately think something negative about you.
Do you have any desire to work with addicts in recovery/rehab in-patient facilities? They need people to work graveyard and it is a very hard position to hire for since very few want to do it. I know someone who was able to get her foot in the door this way. She said most people she works with already have master degrees. Competition is stiff.
Your job is to craft a story and past, to put yourself in the best light, while trying to land that first professional career job.
So if someone asks you why did it take you so long to graduate, you better have a better answer than "personal issues". That isn't going to fly.
Great advice, as well as others here. I'm being very forthright in revealing those things here because I'm here looking for advice of a more personal nature. I do plan to have my story nicely polished for an actual job interview, and such, but that will be for that time.
Great advice, as well as others here. I'm being very forthright in revealing those things here because I'm here looking for advice of a more personal nature. I do plan to have my story nicely polished for an actual job interview, and such, but that will be for that time.
That's good.
I really like the advice from Jobaba, post #36. Jobaba is right on. Professional corporate careers with lots of ladder climbing, do not like to hire older people into entry level roles at all. But skilled positions where they just need to stick a body and fill a spot that doesn't change much, don't care nearly as much.
This is critical information IMO and something that isn't talked about as much, as it should be, to older entry level candidates.
I would also concentrate on companies that hire lots of veterans. They will be more understanding about the length of time, not getting into a career right away, having a harder time making the transition etc....
Also, research information on interviewing and PRACTICE. Write down questions, your answers, your stories etc.... and over time, as you practice, they will be committed to memory, so when you are in that interview it roles right off the tongue as natural as can be.
Lots of employers like to ask situational questions. Answer these questions in the STAR format (google is your friend if you aren't familiar)- Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Write down lots of the common questions and your answers, practice, they will become part of you and when the time comes, they will come right out.
If they ask a situational question you don't know, make the STAR up. The answer does not have to be factual for these situational questions. By this time you will be so good at answering these type of questions, it will be simple to do.
It will make interviewing so much easier, and instead of spending your interviews going through the learning curve, you will be ready right at the start.
And last, network, network, network. Most jobs are filled this way and it is the easiest way to get hired. People who are great at this, never apply to job ads, they don't have to.
Good luck!
Your timing is good, the job market is much better now than in years past, but make no mistake, no matter how tight the market gets, employers are still as picky as ever.
I finished my Bachelors in my mid 30s. At 38 you are a youngin’! I landed my highest income position at 56! Unfortunately at this time in MY life I would like to dial back on the traveling but the income keeps me going...for now. And I still enjoy my work. (Sales)
Get a civil service job where you can use your degree and have a pension and a 401K. I started a new profession at 43 and got a pension and a 401K and retired at 62. The main thing is to do something you really are motivated by. Don't consider the job being meaningful or helping others. That's nonsense. Any job can be meaningful depending on what you put into it, even cleaning toilets. And you can help every person you come in contact with on any job. Take it from me, getting a job with a decent salary and benefits and a pension, a job I was engrossed in, that challenged me, and that I loved doing was the biggest gift I ever got in the world of work. The best advice I ever got was to find a technical niche where I could excel and that is what I did. As a technical person you are paid for your knowledge not your political skills.
Last edited by bobspez; 10-17-2018 at 11:26 AM..
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