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OP as for your choice, if it hasn't been made already. I'd say consider that teaching gig...AND how much that loan forgiveness is worth.
Special ed teachers are in demand. IF you're male, there really aren't that many male Special Ed teachers (compared to female)
Loan forgiveness worth?? I guess the easy calculation would be figure out how much of your loan you'd pay back in 10 years, and whatever the rest of the loan is (principle and interest) -- that's what the loan forgiveness is worth in dollars that don't have to come out of YOUR pocket.
Now, figure how much you'd have to make after taxes to pay off the rest of that loan. Do you want that kind of loan payment for another 10 years. How might that affect you being able to save for buying a house (if you want to) -- or saving for your own retirement, or just having that money in your pocket to do with as you will.
I know a few people who've retired from teaching. THEY were burned out after doing it for 30 years, AND were frustrated by changes in the education system, especially in the major city where they taught.
But you've only been subbing, and don't seem bothered by the thought of a teaching career. (Granted there's a big difference in the exposure to issues and people that would bring on frustration that you'd encounter as a sub vs. full-time.) And teachers' summers off are getting shorter, the longer districts stretch-out the school year. But it's still two months off.
So, I totally second the post that said teaching isn't "difficult" it's frustrating. Kids don't pass: blame the teacher. Kids are disruptive: teacher can't control the classroom. Kid fails test: parent is in your face. But also in special ed you'll likely be a little protected from some of that. AND, special ed may give you a satisfaction that teaching "normal" kids who just want to be hoodlums couldn't provide.
-- Teach in a big, major city, urban district: headaches out the wazoo. (the better salary, although some districts are paying squat. Philly teachers start off now with horrible pay.)
-- Teach in a small suburban district: not quite the same frustrations. Frustrations for different reasons from above. Less pay.
-- Teach in a private school: Could be better behaved -- but also privileged kids, and snooty parents who think they know best. But again, being a SE teacher you could be out of some of that fray. Private school would pay less. Plus also be careful of their pension eligibility, some don't pay into pensions.
If you teach, I'd say chase the best pay and retirement benefits, with the better learning environment. There IS something rewarding about seeing a kid achieve. Seeing the "light bulb" moment where THEY know they get it.
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As for your age, 37 is NOT old. You've got a lot of living and can still start and have several careers after 37.
I might look at teaching just to get the loan forgiveness. (Ten years is long, but isn't THAT long.) You'll also qualify for a small pension. If you keep up with your other interests, you don't know what doors could open or opportunities there might be later on. A person is NOT "washed up" at 47. I'd also keep trying for a federal gig. Try to time getting one of those for after your loans are forgiven.
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Last time I checked, other people besides veterans and minorities get Federal jobs. Hope your false beliefs comfort you.
The OP didn't say they didn't. S/he just said s/he was told s/he was beaten out by a vet (and given that vets get points that's very likely) -- and a minority. That's all that was said. Are you saying vets don't beat out other equality qualified candidates just because of their points? As for the minority part, are you saying diversity isn't a factor in selection?
The OP is just saying what he was told by a recruiter. Which I believe happens. In ALL cases? No. But it happens.
If you teach somewhere with student loan forgiveness that could net you more in the end. Otherwise you need be disciplined to reduce that debt. 100k is a large amount to pay off.
As a teacher, the key to getting into a better financial situation is not taking summers OFF. Instead get a position working as a summer school teacher, or for a private tutoring firm, or a seasonal summers only tourism type job.
As for your age, 37 is NOT old. You've got a lot of living and can still start and have several careers after 37.
When you're as old as I am, 37 years old seems like a youngster. I went back to graduate school at 53 and got a Master's in clinical psychology. Saw clients and did agency administrative work for 6 years and ended up going back to high-tech work, seeing career coaching clients on the side. At this point I'm retired (did so at 70 when my social security was maxed out), though I'm keeping my BCC board certification as a life coach active. My original thought was -- counseling and coaching is something I can do in retirement on a part time basis. The cost and effort involved in getting licensed as a counselor in a new state ended up being more than I wanted to deal with, however, so I'm not pursuing it here in SC. I'm working on a web design practice as well as a coaching practice, and hope in a year or so to supplement my income that way.
The OP didn't say they didn't. S/he just said s/he was told s/he was beaten out by a vet (and given that vets get points that's very likely) -- and a minority. That's all that was said. Are you saying vets don't beat out other equality qualified candidates just because of their points? As for the minority part, are you saying diversity isn't a factor in selection?
The OP is just saying what he was told by a recruiter. Which I believe happens. In ALL cases? No. But it happens.
The OP posted it, so I would assume the OP believes it. It's public knowledge that veterans get 5-10 preference points. Minorities do not. Every Fed application is scored on a scale of 100. Only those with scores of like 97 or higher are passed through from the initial application. Unless one has a high amount of qualifications, they wouldn't score high enough anyway. That's anyone.
I don't know of any Federal job that calls for experience in being a buyer or a school teacher. Even a job in procurement would probably call for a different skillset.
My point is that everyone who applies for a Federal job may not really be top candidates. I've applied for my share and have never made it passed the application. It happens.
Anything with IT security is desirable. Do not teach!!!!
There have been many who have been scammed by the Federal government's loan forgiveness program. Please google it. You have to jump through multiple hoops to qualify and remain compliant for the full 10 years. They will not make it straightforward AT ALL. There is a whole bunch of red tape!!!
Teachers are treated like crap. IT analysts can also be treated like crap. But in ISA they will be a bit more hesitant to fire you over B.S. and politics.
If I had to start over again I would choose 1) IT Security/Cybersecurity 2) Cloud or Blockchain Tech 3) Horticulturalist/Agricultural scientist specializing in Cannabis 4) IT Project Manager 5) B2B focused SaaS developer
My current capacity is most similar to #4 if I had the talent I'd go into 1 or 2.
If you teach somewhere with student loan forgiveness that could net you more in the end. Otherwise you need be disciplined to reduce that debt. 100k is a large amount to pay off.
As a teacher, the key to getting into a better financial situation is not taking summers OFF. Instead get a position working as a summer school teacher, or for a private tutoring firm, or a seasonal summers only tourism type job.
I owe more than that and make enough annually to pay mine off in 5-7 years. Unless a pension is in the works, I would strongly recommend not taking a low paying government job for the point of loan forgiveness. 10 years suffering a thankless job and then you're age 40 and unable to pivot due to age discrimination. The best bet is to bust a** at a career at the youngest age possible and once you start hitting 100k+ then rapidly pay down the loan. So instead of slaving away at a thankless job for 10 years and getting pigeonholed into Education you can go into Education with actual work experience later, potentially get a higher salary as a consultant or PT teacher and be semi-retired at age 55 with that income and all the money you saved at the high paying job after paying down the loan quickly.
Let's say you got loan forgiveness after 10 years best case scenario. You started teaching at 30 and your 25 years is at 55. Well your pension is going to remain the same for life despite the COL. That works if you start young and retire at age 40 and do a second career aside from teaching. It doesn't work living in the USA if you retire from teaching at age 55 and don't have the health or energy or youth to get hired in a second career or launch a business.
When you do the cost comparison analysis for other jobs with a pension (NOT teaching) the outlook looks better. I regularly advise young people to work for the Fed/State/City when possible for any position that offers pension (called Tier 6 for NYC) not as good as it used to be but better than nothing. Start at age 21 (or 18 even better) do 25 clock out at age 45 at 50k minimum USD pension per year before taxes, use your deferred comp investment to buy property in low COL area with moderate job opportunities start a career consulting in a related field or just start fresh. You don't have to worry about rent, food or medicine because that's all covered by your city retirement healthcare + pension + deferred comp savings. For teachers it's a pittance in comparison. Unless you wheeled and dealed and got into administration.
Older people (60+) on this forum always say "You have time"...Let's take a poll on how many of those people who say that are already retired on a boat Because for every one of those posts I see another saying how "50 and underemployed" / "50 and can't change careers"
This is what you're qualified for. Your current background is basically signaling this to be in. You got experience so you are qualified for this path.
Entry level Cybersecurity positions require that you have experience in cybersecurity. If you don't have one, you will not get this job, regardless how many certs you get, how much education you get.
You cannot just take classes, get certs, and bam, you got a job lined up.
Yeah, I guess all I am qualified for is being a buyer or a teacher. Except who would hire a buyer that does not have recent work experience when employers can select those that do. I think I were to go back to being a buyer I might have to go through a temp agency.
With your background as a buyer and your MBA, why not look into Supply Chain Management? Very solid profession that can be lucrative and rewarding.
I think the problem is getting back into the field. When employers have a few people with procurement experience, why would they pick me over someone who is currently a buyer and wants to switch companies. I am not so sure supply chain management can be considered rewarding. To be a supply chain manager you have to first be a supply chain manager, in most cases.
Looking back over my career, I would still rather have been a software developer than a regular, certified teacher. I was paid a lot as a software developer and I liked being a techie. I liked the money too much and the prestige of being a software developer, despite the awfully stressful jobs that I had.
There was also a certain situation in a personal family matter that drove me to succeed. There were certain relatives that claimed when I was a teenager that I would never amount to anything. That prognosis was made simply because I was shy and didn't have many friends. So I proved these relatives wrong by being a success. It wasn't that I had to work any harder to prove it, I just did it. Their merriment at my expected failures turned to surprise, then shock, then anger, and then rage when I surpassed all of their accomplishments and became smug with them myself. It is a source of neverending joy for me to have been a success and never falling on my face in failure in this matter.
However, times are now different. It is harder to get into the IT field nowadays compared to 1980 when I started. IT work is not as glamorous as it used to be since it is now everywhere with casts of thousands. It seems to be evolving from a white collar to a pink collar profession and is increasingly unstable with more outsourcing, more age discrimination, more metrics to adhere to, and more aggressive labor cost containment by many companies.
So if all of a sudden, today, I turned into an 18 year old just entering college, I would go the teaching route. After graduating, I would seek out teaching positions in states that have severe teaching shortages like Arizona and Oklahoma. The pay would be low, but I would have better job security, less stress, less thinking, and less pressure than in an IT job.
Interesting, so you would chose what would be a better lifestyle for you over money. Seems to be a common theme. In teaching, it is VERY hard to find a job unless you want to teach math, special education, physics, earth science, or ELL. I know someone with a social studies credential who has given up his search.
I know many people who teach. The ones who are exceptional at it, say "it was a calling". Do you feel that way about teaching? If you don't, then you would be wise to look elsewhere. No one gets into teaching for the money.
What is your MBA in? When and why did you get it? Your answer might help better define your best options.
As for a ISA, there is more to any certification than just getting the certification. They look for actual work experience in that area and be able to handle a team interview of people asking you questions. You need to have a conversation with a hiring manager who would tell you, based on your resume if you had a ISA cert would you be hired and what is the career path.
I am being completely honest with myself, looking back over life, I have never felt a calling in one direction or another. I do like teaching; the downside is behavior management (subs who sub int he inner city figure this out fast), especially with middle schoolers. High schoolers are great. If you like kids elementary is great, although outside of special ed elementary school teacher jobs are hard to get.
My MBA is a general MBA. I got it because I had little to loose because I left a job paying only $24,000 a year and I felt like the degree would help me get a better job because school's marketing material showed MBA's make a lot of money. In hindsight I regret it because my employer did not pay for it--although I did like the classes.
The more I think about more downsides I think about with ISA. One being that at 37 reaching a management level ISA position seems out of reach because by the time I had the necessary experience I would be rather old.
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I went back to graduate school at 53 and got a Master's in clinical psychology. Saw clients and did agency administrative work for 6 years and ended up going back to high-tech work, seeing career coaching clients on the side. At this point I'm retired (did so at 70 when my social security was maxed out), though I'm keeping my BCC board certification as a life coach active. My original thought was -- counseling and coaching is something I can do in retirement on a part time basis. The cost and effort involved in getting licensed as a counselor in a new state ended up being more than I wanted to deal with, however, so I'm not pursuing it here in SC. I'm working on a web design practice as well as a coaching practice, and hope in a year or so to supplement my income that way.
Because for every one of those posts I see another saying how "50 and underemployed" / "50 and can't change careers"
