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I started taking computer programming courses after I was 30 years old and became a full time computer programmer at age 37 after working in education for a decade plus.
My cousin's wife swapped out a career for business for a teaching career at 40.
Success at a career change depends greatly upon whether or not you can parlay some of the skills you learned in your first career into assets in your second one. Many more people could if they didn't think of their careers with such big blinders on. Good communications skills, good writing skills, good logical thought processes, etc are useful in just about any career a person goes into. Math skills are never useless. Being able to deal with irate customers is a big plus. If you have a good work record in your previous career, you've already demonstrated that you aren't a slacker or low-life.
You think that way because you indeed made a significant switch. Most hiring managers are much more conservative.
Just for the record, I agree with all of your points of transferable soft skills. But most employers like those who have taken the straight line path. Degree at 22, Masters at 24, Senior Project Manager by 32. Etc. If it were a case of an employer looking at your resume and deciding whether to give you the job or not, it'd be different, but there's boatloads of competition for everything.
If I were you, I'd get the associate degree first. A degree always looks better than just 60 credit hours, and you can always continue on with your bachelor's degree when/if you have clearer career goals.
You can get your associate's degree in a variety of subjects on-line at many NYS community colleges, both those in the NYC area and all around the state, so you are not just limited to Empire State College. Many NYS colleges have open admissions policies which means that they admit everybody who applies except for a few selective programs (like nursing). If you are admitted and take at least 6 credit hours, you may be eligible for financial aid, too. The advantage of going to a CC is that you may have a larger choice of majors than at ESC.
You can also check out the SUNY 2 year technical colleges like Alfred, Cobleskill, and Delhi to see what they have in the way of on-line programs. If you like working with animals, you might consider Delhi which, I think, has a veterinary technician program. You may be able to do the bulk of your work on-line and take only your clinical training face-to-face.
In the meantime, one place to look for employment is with NYS, specifically OMRDD. I worked there for several years, and as the state agency that provided services to developmentally disabled individuals, they were very open to hiring individuals with disabilities. When I worked there, we had several computer programmers working for us who had handicaps, including one with Asperger's. NYS has a hiring program for people with disabilities that's called "55-b", probably for the section of the state civil service law. This allows individuals with disabilities (I'm not sure how that's proven) to be hired without having to take civil service exams, and gives them additional protections as well as accommodations.
Thank you for your information I will take this into consideration and do more research on online colleges in NYS and the other disability programs. Much help!
I'm a 23 year old college student currently on break, because I had an emotional breakdown I withdrew for the semester of college earlier this year. Now that I'm back on track, I want to go back to school to ultimately get into a career where I can take care of myself. I suffer from Asperger's, which makes it difficult for me socially (I was made fun of a lot in college by teachers and students). I also suffer from depression, and I find it hard to trust anyone really.
Im debating what my best option is, I'm planning on transferring to an online college through the CUNY or SUNY system to have more free time volunteering at an animal adoption center and I'm also joining a disability program which helps those with disabilities find careers.
I have no interests, I do enjoy writing, but aside from that I don't have many hobbies that translate to well paying careers ( my main goal is finding a career where I'm comfortable and able to financially take care of myself).
Because of this, I'm not too sure, should I just finish my Associate's and move on with my life? Or go for my B.A.? I find it sad I can't complete my degree yet other people my age have.
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