Job Hunt / Career Change Books ??

[chapeau]

I was recently notified that the grant that funds my position at the college where I work has not been extended, and as of July 1, 2015 I won't have a job anymore.
I'm very glad I know now, and have been thinking about making a change for a bit, since there is no room for advancement in my current position and the more I know about the institution, the less I feel that I can support it. (Nothing illegal or even immoral, just distasteful and annoying. Possibly obnoxious, and certainly money-grubbing, but that is not really relevant to the job.)
I work in fund raising and public relations, which is why the above is relevant, and have worked for colleges or university-affiliated research hospitals my entire career. I think I want to change fields, and am willing to go back to school if necessary, but I don't have the foggiest idea what I want to be when I grow up.

I am a trained journalist (never worked as a reporter) and I love to do math, minored in statistics in college. I also have an MBA, although it's a generic one without a concentration in anything.  I have done a lot of technical and science writing, what I used to call translating medical (or engineering or physics) into something real people can understand. I am a good writer, but I don't do business to business technical writing. I write for a non-technical audience.
I'm just not sure what I want to do to earn money anymore. I was in contact with a career counselor, but she is about a 90 minute drive for me, and since I am employed full time, she didn't think it would be very convenient for me to work with her.
She recommended that I visit the library (or purchase her book ), but didn't suggest any other books.

Any book suggestions for someone who is considering a career change? I have a 20-ish year-old copy of What Color is Your Parachute, so I'm thinking I need to update that. Any other suggestions? I'm located about an hour from Pittsburgh, if that's relevant.

Sorry to write the book -- I'm just trying not to panic. I'll have been at this institution for 8 years before the end of this calendar year.

[happyhoix]

Sorry - I was going to suggest What Color is my Parachute - that was the book that kicked my butt in gear and got me hired on the very next job interview after that.

Other than that - I got nothing!

However, I would suggest you network - are there professional organizations you belong to? Are you interested in going to the freelance route - there are lots of books on selling freelance work out there.

[Deleted]

Hi. I'm also a trained journalist. I did work as a reporter for a while. 

Then I moved to Europe (France) and worked as a journalist for school magazines for ESL learners. 

I quit after 23 years because of the commute, and now I'm an adjunct at a university. I have never been happier!

I'm intrigued by your nic (Chapeau) since it is French, and I live in France. 

I think you could still do grant work because I know it exists but I don't know anything about it. 

The other thing I would have to suggest is USA jobs, if you are a US citizen. Some of them are in the field but others are remote, or involve grant-writing. 

Do you speak a foreign language? If you do, that might help. 

I wish you the best!

ETA: You are totally undervaluing your MBA, you have to start putting that forward. I don't know if you are mobile or not, if you have kids or not. If you are mobile I think you could probably get a job as a "reporter" for a humanitarian aid association (that's not a reporter in the traditional sense). Especially if you are bilingual. 

Also, although you have an MBA, it sounds like you do MPA work. You probably need to work on your resume to put that forward. 

[chapeau]

Happy, thanks for the suggestion -- it was your note in Sam's resume thread that actually reminded me of that book.

Debt, thanks for the advice, and I didn't know you were a journalist. I actually envy the job you have. I picked chapeau years ago on a totally different message board (I don't remember why, but several people had hat-related nicknames, and I just went with the flow). I pretty much use it everywhere I want to be "anonymous" these days.

As for my MBA, it feels useless. It's from an unaccredited program and I don't feel like I know anything. But that's probably a lack of self-confidence, not actually that I don't know anything.

Sadly, my position was grant funded, but I'm not the one writing the grants, so I don't have that skill set. I have proofread some grant applications, but that's the extent of my grant-getting knowledge. I'm not mobile in the least, as I have a 2 year old and want to come home to her every day. The thought of a 12+-hour day commuting to the local "big city" kind of horrifies me. I don't want to miss that much of her life right now, especially as each day she changes in some small way.

I suspect part of my desire to find a new career field is how burned out I feel in this one. It doesn't matter what I do, every day brings a new wall to bang my head against. I sometimes think I'd just like to go back to school to be a chemical engineer or something (anything?) totally different from what I do now. The problem is I don't know where to start looking for the What. That is the information I'm hoping to find -- some guidance on where to find information about career changes, or tests/counseling that help to guide career choices. The kind of stuff that some people had in high school or college that helped put them on a track for what kind of jobs they'd be suited for, would be a good fit for them temperament-wise, skills, natural talent, etc.

[Peace77]

I've heard Dave Ramsey recommend the book, "40 Days to the Work You Love" several times.  

It's certainly worth checking out.

[Shooby]

An hour from Pittsburgh? We are practically neighbors.

[Deleted]

Chapeau, I think you need to put your MBA forward, as well as the fact that since you were doing work for a non-profit, you have MPA experience. My DS1 has an MPA and my DS2 has an MBA and they had very similar educations (although they have very different jobs).

I would also look into a course or certification (not a degree) on grant-writing. My guess is you already know how to do it, you just don't know it. It's something I considered when I left my J job, but I went into teaching instead, basically because I couldn't stand working alone on a computer anymore, that was NOT what I expected when I got my MSJ. But I think if you take a class in it you can tailor your resume to include it or put it forward, depending on the job.

One of our posters (Meghan) has a J (or communications?) degree and works in educational testing. She's also in PA, but I don't know where. Maybe that would be something else to consider?

ETA: Continue to offer to proof the grants (I'm guessing wherever you work, people are going to try to get more grants) and study them. 

[chapeau]

Shooby: I thought you were somewhere "nearby." I often think we need to have a PA/Southwest PA meetup (I lurk a lot, but only post irregularly -- I probably know more about some of the posters here than I do about my coworkers).

Peace: I'll have to check that book out. I just placed an Amazon order for 3 books ($36 and change) that my library didn't have, including the brand new Parachute. That sounds like an interesting one. I'll put it on my list now. Thank you!

Debt: Thank you! I once took a 3 week course in grantwriting, and to my surprise I was aware of most of what the course taught, so I'm sure you are right about the MBA/MPA similarities and my grant experience. I have offered to write some grants for an organization my husband is involved with, hopefully I can get some experience with them to put on my resume. They have one person who does some of it, so I'd be helping an experienced person, which would make me feel more confident.

Thanks for the advice everyone -- I'm feeling pretty down at the moment. Doesn't help when one of my father's friends said "But they can't! You have so much experience!!" (I am following the "tell everyone you know" advice about job searching.) All the experience in the world doesn't matter if there's no money to pay you. And I sometimes think I've topped out at my level of experience/job titles. My next job won't have a flat organizational structure, that's for sure!!