Plan my next career move!

[MJ2.0]

Anyone who's been following my posts knows I'm a hot mess career-wise right now.  I went back to school in September but found engineering/engineering tech was not right for me.  Right now I am trying to now find a FT position in my current field (starting month 4 of actively searching) which is logistics, but most places want more qualifications/programs than I have/know: SAP, JD Edwards, APICS cert., project management cert, Six Sigma cert, demand planning experience, procurement experience, broker's license, etc.  

If I could pick any job in the world and money was no object, I would be a travel writer/vlogger.  Getting paid to visit different places, learn about different cultures, and eat local foods is the DREAM!  But I have to be realistic here: I have a kid, so I can't travel like that.  Also, I don't think the pay would be worth the hassle of never being home and arranging for all the home/administrative stuff to get done in my absence.  So back to jobs I can actually do.

What am I looking for in a job/career?  After some soul-searching, I have realized that I just want a job/career that I like/tolerate (at minimum), pays decently ($65k+), is in-demand enough that I won't have a problem finding work again, and that allows me to have a manageable work/life balance.  Given that, I have two options:

a) continue looking for work in my field, getting certifications as needed.  I do have the APICS CPIM study guide and will start looking that over.  
Pros:
won't have to start from scratch
already have 8+ years of industry experience
Cons:
not many job opportunities in my area that meet my needs
need a few certifications as well as SAP experience

b) start training for a new career that may or may not be related to my field, limited to 2 years max  
Pros:
after training I will be in an in-demand field - right now considering basic accounting courses or RN
(basic accounting) can use that to get into procurement or a/p or a/r
(RN) can do a meaningful job with good pay
Cons:
will have to pay for extra schooling
(RN) will eventually need BSN
(RN) need to quickly get over squeamishness


Thoughts?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Nursing is a very physically demanding and emotionally demanding job, at least if you want to go where the really good pay is.    Is this something you want to do and have a passion for or are you convincing yourself you'd like it because people are telling you how much money you can make?

Do hospitals around you have a job shadow opportunity?   The one I work for has a program where you can shadow someone to see if this is something you really want to do.  It's open to high school seniors, people already in the programs and people wanting to explore secondary career options.   You can pick up to three different departments, one of which happens to be nursing.

If that opportunity is available I highly encourage you to take it before you make any decisions about pursuing a program.

[raeoflyte]

I went back to school part time in November, and eventually, hopefully, will have a bachelors in accounting.  My job is in finance, so I needed something related and had to pick a class schedule that would work for me.  I also like spreadsheets more than I like a lot of people, and my dad had a great-low stress- career as a CPA that included a lot of time off in the summer.  

I don't have any degree right now though, and I'm looking at 6 years before I graduate if I never take any time off.  I'm focusing on the accounting classes and will include the "specialty" on my resume once I have all of those done.  

Figure I'll also try to re-learn math and if I manage that may try to study/take the actuarial exams.  I would really like to do nursing and be a lactation consultant/rn or even bsn, but my job is the one that pays the bills, and I can't work part time, or even nights/weekends so I could do all the required clinicals, etc.  I haven't advertised at my job that I'm going back to school, but if they do find out I figure its related enough that they won't look at me as a short timer.  If I went to school for nursing, it would be pretty obvious my plan was to bail.  

So I guess I do have advice--I'd work to get a job in your current field, and then go to school part time to build towards your next goal.  

Good luck!  

[chen35]

Accounting jobs are usually pretty easy to come by, but do you think you would enjoy it? More than what you already have experience in? It seems like, if you basically like logistics, it would be easier to fill in the training gaps there rather than start from scratch?

[MJ2.0]

Mar 1, 2017 11:39:03 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Nursing is a very physically demanding and emotionally demanding job, at least if you want to go where the really good pay is.    Is this something you want to do and have a passion for or are you convincing yourself you'd like it because people are telling you how much money you can make?

Do hospitals around you have a job shadow opportunity?   The one I work for has a program where you can shadow someone to see if this is something you really want to do.  It's open to high school seniors, people already in the programs and people wanting to explore secondary career options.   You can pick up to three different departments, one of which happens to be nursing.

If that opportunity is available I highly encourage you to take it before you make any decisions about pursuing a program.

when I was a kid, I dismissed any sort of medical career because of three things:
1) I'm "bad" at math and science. Took a long time to get over that dialogue.
2) I don't want to have to tell someone that they have a terminal illness.
3) I am squeamish about seeing blood/insides. All Quentin Tarantino movies and The Saw series was totally out of the question.

I've since realized that although math and science aren't my favorite, I'm not bad at them. Also, nurses don't have to tell anyone they're going to die... they do have to comfort them and their loved ones though. I am fine with the physical aspect, but I don't know how I'd handle the emotional part. It must be really hard to lose a patient - especially one you get to know and care about. I guess you end up caring about all of them in a way.

Yeah, there are a lot of variables to consider for sure.

I'll have to look into the shadowing part.  I live near two huge hospital systems, both have universities connected.

[MJ2.0]

Mar 1, 2017 11:48:09 GMT -5 chen35 said:

Accounting jobs are usually pretty easy to come by, but do you think you would enjoy it? More than what you already have experience in? It seems like, if you basically like logistics, it would be easier to fill in the training gaps there rather than start from scratch?

there is actually a lot of collaboration and cross-over between what I do and accounting. A lot of procurement jobs I've been seeing are kind of a mash-up of logistics experience and accounting knowledge, or vice versa. So I wouldn't look at being an accountant per se - I'd be trying to transition into procurement or deductions or costing.

[Deleted]

i have been involved with Production Planning/Procurement/Logistics pretty much my entire career. In my experience APICS was a waste of time and it never held candidates back from getting a job or was really even considered a plus.

Any lack of systems experience can be a deal breaker, I actually just hired someone and SAP experience was the tiebreaker.

Have you considered Demand Planning? Those can start at 65k plus. Otherwise I would try to get into a large company where there is room to be promoted as a production planner or logistics/inventory analyst.

[justme]

I'd look into what accountants pay with the education you're looking at where you are. Almost all of the accountants at my company have cpas. I did some basic a/r type stuff at a law firm in high school and college and wasn't paid much.

I'm biased, but I'd say consider finance instead. There's a demand for it and it can't be automated as easily as accounting. In fact, our new accounting hire was picked because she has a background in financial analysis and the accounting stuff is getting more automated. The logistics background would help in any company that does that, and knowledge in both probably can open project management jobs. I've dealt with network optimization in my job.

Considering it's NJ entry level jobs in financial analysis might be close to what you're looking at.

[giramomma]

My one regret in life is that I wasn't an accounting major for my undergrad.

I'm super jealous of Dh's cousin. She has an accounting background. Quit to be a SAHM, and then went into book keeping for small businesses. She's been doing booking for I dunno, 5 or 6 years now, max. She's got so much work that she hires other moms to work for her Jan-April.

Otherwise, working for herself has proven to be very flexible.

She lives in a small city of 10K.

That's what I wished I could have done. Of course, it would have meant DH would have had to get a full time job. But, I could have followed him since booking keeping/entry level accounting is fairly portable.

That said, I think you'll have to find your niche as an accountant if you aren't going to go on for your CPA. And, that could hinder your long term career growth as well.

That said, my technical college offers a two year accounting program completely online. You could use that as a starting point..

The private college in my town also offers an online masters degree in accounting for those with no accounting background. That is something I looked into for a while.

I'm not so sold on nursing. But, for things like burn out and work/life balance. As a newly minted nurse, you aren't going to get M-F shifts in the OB department. You are going to get 3 12's that dance between 2nd and 3rd shift. If your DS was older or younger...I could get behind nursing more. Not so much right now.

However, hospitals with university affiliation is good though. Last fall, I was in a study that monitored stress, eating habits, weight gain before the holidays in fat people. The nurses that were assigned the the study had it pretty easy. They followed study protocol and dealt with limited bodily fluids. (In 10 or so visits, my blood was drawn twice, otherwise, it was dumping out urine samples.) IMVHO, that's pretty easy work.

I'm with raeoflyte beef up some of your other skills...I would start with ones that will cut across any career, like Six Sigma or project management. then I'd really try to narrow down where I was going next.

[MJ2.0]

Mar 1, 2017 12:20:01 GMT -5 @aj said:

i have been involved with Production Planning/Procurement/Logistics pretty much my entire career. In my experience APICS was a waste of time and it never held candidates back from getting a job or was really even considered a plus.

Any lack of systems experience can be a deal breaker, I actually just hired someone and SAP experience was the tiebreaker.

Have you considered Demand Planning? Those can start at 65k plus. Otherwise I would try to get into a large company where there is room to be promoted as a production planner or logistics/inventory analyst.

thank you for chiming in!  I didn't know there were other logistics professionals on here.

Since I already have the book, I might as well study for the CPIM.  But yeah, I figured the lack of experience with SAP would get me - like 90% of the job postings mention SAP use.  Funny, the cost accountants use SAP but we are still using AS400.  Actually we use a bunch of systems - AS400, PMKS/WM, GTNexus, DTS - but no one seems to care about those, lol!

I was very seriously looking at demand planning a few years ago... how do you break into that?  I can't really find entry level demand planning jobs and it doesn't look like there is a demand planning track regarding classes.  I do work for a very large company and am always looking for new opportunities, but again they want someone with experience. 

[giramomma]

From LinkedIn (FWIW)
www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-companies-looking-when-hiring-demand-planning-bronwen-hann

Also, have you considered using a head hunter/recruiter? I don't know how these things work, because I'm in the public sector.

[Deleted]

Mar 1, 2017 12:30:26 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

Mar 1, 2017 12:20:01 GMT -5 @aj said:

i have been involved with Production Planning/Procurement/Logistics pretty much my entire career. In my experience APICS was a waste of time and it never held candidates back from getting a job or was really even considered a plus.

Any lack of systems experience can be a deal breaker, I actually just hired someone and SAP experience was the tiebreaker.

Have you considered Demand Planning? Those can start at 65k plus. Otherwise I would try to get into a large company where there is room to be promoted as a production planner or logistics/inventory analyst.

thank you for chiming in!  I didn't know there were other logistics professionals on here.

Since I already have the book, I might as well study for the CPIM.  But yeah, I figured the lack of experience with SAP would get me - like 90% of the job postings mention SAP use.  Funny, the cost accountants use SAP but we are still using AS400.  Actually we use a bunch of systems - AS400, PMKS/WM, GTNexus, DTS - but no one seems to care about those, lol!

I was very seriously looking at demand planning a few years ago... how do you break into that?  I can't really find entry level demand planning jobs and it doesn't look like there is a demand planning track regarding classes.  I do work for a very large company and am always looking for new opportunities, but again they want someone with experience. 

I got into Demand Planning through being a Production Planner. We attended a lot of the same meetings and worked together extensively so it really was a natural job movement, I know a lot of people that have went that route. Inventory Analyst-Production Planner-Demand Planner.

Once you are a Demand Planner it unlocks the kingdom of Sales Support/Marketing Operations since those are the groups you work with a lot. This is especially true if your company has a strong Sales and Operations Planning process.

Apply for the roles that want SAP and in an interview hammer home how you have used AS400 and how it can translate to using SAP. Most people have had to make the transition between those systems and most interviewers realize you have to start somewhere. I have hired several people with no SAP experience that I thought could learn quickly.

[MJ2.0]

Mar 1, 2017 12:39:53 GMT -5 @aj said:

Mar 1, 2017 12:30:26 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

thank you for chiming in!  I didn't know there were other logistics professionals on here.

Since I already have the book, I might as well study for the CPIM.  But yeah, I figured the lack of experience with SAP would get me - like 90% of the job postings mention SAP use.  Funny, the cost accountants use SAP but we are still using AS400.  Actually we use a bunch of systems - AS400, PMKS/WM, GTNexus, DTS - but no one seems to care about those, lol!

I was very seriously looking at demand planning a few years ago... how do you break into that?  I can't really find entry level demand planning jobs and it doesn't look like there is a demand planning track regarding classes.  I do work for a very large company and am always looking for new opportunities, but again they want someone with experience. 

I got into Demand Planning through being a Production Planner. We attended a lot of the same meetings and worked together extensively so it really was a natural job movement, I know a lot of people that have went that route. Inventory Analyst-Production Planner-Demand Planner.

Once you are a Demand Planner it unlocks the kingdom of Sales Support/Marketing Operations since those are the groups you work with a lot. This is especially true if your company has a strong Sales and Operations Planning process.

Apply for the roles that want SAP and in an interview hammer home how you have used AS400 and how it can translate to using SAP. Most people have had to make the transition between those systems and most interviewers realize you have to start somewhere. I have hired several people with no SAP experience that I thought could learn quickly.

I have had a few interviews and phone calls for positions wanting SAP experience. I've always said to them and it's on my resume that I am able to quickly learn new programs, and it's true. But some applications ask point blank: do you have experience with SAP? And the options are only "yes/no", so no way to fudge that.

So it seems like a good place to start is Inventory Analyst. I'll have to add that to the job search.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Mar 1, 2017 12:24:47 GMT -5 giramomma said:

I'm not so sold on nursing. But, for things like burn out and work/life balance. As a newly minted nurse, you aren't going to get M-F shifts in the OB department. You are going to get 3 12's that dance between 2nd and 3rd shift. If your DS was older or younger...I could get behind nursing more. Not so much right now.

However, hospitals with university affiliation is good though. Last fall, I was in a study that monitored stress, eating habits, weight gain before the holidays in fat people. The nurses that were assigned the the study had it pretty easy. They followed study protocol and dealt with limited bodily fluids. (In 10 or so visits, my blood was drawn twice, otherwise, it was dumping out urine samples.) IMVHO, that's pretty easy work.

This was all you SAW them do.  Clinical nursing is far more involved than what you would expect, and there are special classes with certifications on top of nursing that are required to go into clinical nursing.  Most studies require that the clinical personnel involved in sample collection have these certifications before they will approve a study.  You did not see the hours of paperwork that are involved in clinical nursing.  I always felt miserable for the clinical personnel in our studies.  They had waaaay more hoops to jump though than we did.

Finally, like with research, if you have funding for a research study - you are golden.  But when the study ends (or your part of it - sample collection is only part of a study like this and the vast majority of the work goes on behind the scenes), you are out on your butt unless you can pick up another study or move back over into a nursing position.  The other thing is that it is not always a 9-5 job.  

[Lizard Queen]

My $.02 on nursing.  I have a very good friend who has been a nurse for about 15 years.  She started as an LPN, then got her RN.  She makes very good money, but she still works 3 12's/week, variable schedule.  She works nights.  This is a result of having to move departments and jockeying for positions to escape cuts.  In recent years, the hospital got rid of all their LPN positions and went to only CNA's & RN's.  (I guess the hospital qualifies for some kind of special status with this move.)  The hospital is also moving to require BSN's instead of RN's.   My friend also tells me that the hospital tries to push out the older nurses in order to get the younger, cheaper nurses in their place.

My take, nursing isn't quite the hot field it used to be.  Of course, YMMV, especially depending on location.

[Deleted]

I went to nursing school for a year, then decided it was definitely NOT for me. (I knew that going in, but was chasing the "sure thing" good job). 

I also think the huge nursing shortage push in the 90's has created a bit of an oversupply and I live in a medical mecca area.  Yes, you can always get a job as a nurse, but for a long time you'll probably have shit hours and a lot of them.  Especially if you don't have your BSN. 

My cousin has been an LPN for 15 years and she's been working home health care for the longest time.  She loves it, but she gets nothing for benefits at all and the work is very sporadic.  She was caring for a young girl that had a near drowning incident for over a year and that was pretty steady, then the girl either died or was put into more intensive care and cousin was out of work for 6 weeks waiting for reassignment.

[Deleted]

I've been real tempted to do one of those 2 year online accounting degrees.  I almost went back to school for it instead of nursing back in 2005.  I really wish I would have done that.  The school in our area has a special program where you just go one night a week to get your accounting degree.

Now at this point I feel like I'd rather just retire. 

[tskeeter]

Mar 1, 2017 11:47:58 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I went back to school part time in November, and eventually, hopefully, will have a bachelors in accounting.  My job is in finance, so I needed something related and had to pick a class schedule that would work for me.  I also like spreadsheets more than I like a lot of people, and my dad had a great-low stress- career as a CPA that included a lot of time off in the summer.  

I don't have any degree right now though, and I'm looking at 6 years before I graduate if I never take any time off.  I'm focusing on the accounting classes and will include the "specialty" on my resume once I have all of those done.  

Figure I'll also try to re-learn math and if I manage that may try to study/take the actuarial exams.  I would really like to do nursing and be a lactation consultant/rn or even bsn, but my job is the one that pays the bills, and I can't work part time, or even nights/weekends so I could do all the required clinicals, etc.  I haven't advertised at my job that I'm going back to school, but if they do find out I figure its related enough that they won't look at me as a short timer.  If I went to school for nursing, it would be pretty obvious my plan was to bail.  

So I guess I do have advice--I'd work to get a job in your current field, and then go to school part time to build towards your next goal.  

Good luck!  

While raeoflyte's Dad may have had a low stress, well paying accounting job, times have changed and that's not really true of many accounting jobs any more.  Clerical level jobs, such as a/p or a/r do not pay well.  Those are $30K jobs.  Other accounting jobs are stressful due to heavy workloads (shrinking staff doing more work), constant deadlines, regular weekend work (month end close), unscheduled fire drill projects, explaining and justifying when other functions under perform or over spend budgets, and the like.  In general, accounting is often at the bottom of the hill down which unpleasant things roll.  But, if you love fire drills, deadlines, uncompensated overtime, and working during the Christmas holidays, accounting might be a good fit.

[giramomma]

Mar 1, 2017 13:30:42 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I've been real tempted to do one of those 2 year online accounting degrees.  I almost went back to school for it instead of nursing back in 2005.  I really wish I would have done that.  The school in our area has a special program where you just go one night a week to get your accounting degree.

Now at this point I feel like I'd rather just retire. 

I struggle with this a lot, too.

Depending on how long it takes me to get my degree, I could be finished 8-10 years before retiring. Part of me is like "what is the point?" and I think all of this is for waste.

Then I wonder what happened to me. I used to be very pro education for education's sake.

[gooddecisions]

If you are good at writing and have a background in corporate America, you could look into technical writing, instructional design or communications. Take an online class or one at your local college and see what you think. Good luck!

[raeoflyte]

Mar 1, 2017 14:26:11 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Mar 1, 2017 11:47:58 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I went back to school part time in November, and eventually, hopefully, will have a bachelors in accounting.  My job is in finance, so I needed something related and had to pick a class schedule that would work for me.  I also like spreadsheets more than I like a lot of people, and my dad had a great-low stress- career as a CPA that included a lot of time off in the summer.  

I don't have any degree right now though, and I'm looking at 6 years before I graduate if I never take any time off.  I'm focusing on the accounting classes and will include the "specialty" on my resume once I have all of those done.  

Figure I'll also try to re-learn math and if I manage that may try to study/take the actuarial exams.  I would really like to do nursing and be a lactation consultant/rn or even bsn, but my job is the one that pays the bills, and I can't work part time, or even nights/weekends so I could do all the required clinicals, etc.  I haven't advertised at my job that I'm going back to school, but if they do find out I figure its related enough that they won't look at me as a short timer.  If I went to school for nursing, it would be pretty obvious my plan was to bail.  

So I guess I do have advice--I'd work to get a job in your current field, and then go to school part time to build towards your next goal.  

Good luck!  

While raeoflyte's Dad may have had a low stress, well paying accounting job, times have changed and that's not really true of many accounting jobs any more.  Clerical level jobs, such as a/p or a/r do not pay well.  Those are $30K jobs.  Other accounting jobs are stressful due to heavy workloads (shrinking staff doing more work), constant deadlines, regular weekend work (month end close), unscheduled fire drill projects, explaining and justifying when other functions under perform or over spend budgets, and the like.  In general, accounting is often at the bottom of the hill down which unpleasant things roll.  But, if you love fire drills, deadlines, uncompensated overtime, and working during the Christmas holidays, accounting might be a good fit.

How recently do you mean on times changing?  My dad only retired 7 years ago, and if he had been chasing big paying jobs would have had all of those issues, but managed to carve out jobs that paid well enough with work/life balance.  

[Angel!]

Mar 1, 2017 12:20:01 GMT -5 @aj said:

i have been involved with Production Planning/Procurement/Logistics pretty much my entire career. In my experience APICS was a waste of time and it never held candidates back from getting a job or was really even considered a plus.

Any lack of systems experience can be a deal breaker, I actually just hired someone and SAP experience was the tiebreaker.

Have you considered Demand Planning? Those can start at 65k plus. Otherwise I would try to get into a large company where there is room to be promoted as a production planner or logistics/inventory analyst.

Can you explain what you actually do or what you are talking about?  All these words sound interesting: logistics/procurement/inventory.  I am wondering if there is a whole field out there that I would enjoy that I never knew even existed.

[Rob Base 2.0]

Stripper.....err, I mean "exotic dancer" 😀

[Deleted]

Mar 1, 2017 15:03:59 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Mar 1, 2017 12:20:01 GMT -5 @aj said:

i have been involved with Production Planning/Procurement/Logistics pretty much my entire career. In my experience APICS was a waste of time and it never held candidates back from getting a job or was really even considered a plus.

Any lack of systems experience can be a deal breaker, I actually just hired someone and SAP experience was the tiebreaker.

Have you considered Demand Planning? Those can start at 65k plus. Otherwise I would try to get into a large company where there is room to be promoted as a production planner or logistics/inventory analyst.

Can you explain what you actually do or what you are talking about?  All these words sound interesting: logistics/procurement/inventory.  I am wondering if there is a whole field out there that I would enjoy that I never knew even existed.

Production Planner: decides how much of a product to make based off of inventory targets and a demand forecast.

Demand Planner: creates a forecast for how much of an item you anticipate selling.

Procurement Analyst: develops a purchase plan to outside vendors for components or finished goods based off of the production and demand plan.

Inventory Analyst: For larger companies you have multiple warehouses that serve customers based on their location, the inventory analyst decides what to send where. This role can also be called a Logistics Analyst.

Logistics Analyst: can perform the role of inventory Analyst along with working with shipping providers to ship goods at the lowest cost.

These roles can be slightly different things at different companies, the above has been my experience.

[Angel!]

Mar 1, 2017 15:12:47 GMT -5 @aj said:

Mar 1, 2017 15:03:59 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Can you explain what you actually do or what you are talking about?  All these words sound interesting: logistics/procurement/inventory.  I am wondering if there is a whole field out there that I would enjoy that I never knew even existed.

Production Planner: decides how much of a product to make based off of inventory targets and a demand forecast.

Demand Planner: creates a forecast for how much of an item you anticipate selling.

Procurement Analyst: develops a purchase plan to outside vendors for components or finished goods based off of the production and demand plan.

Inventory Analyst: For larger companies you have multiple warehouses that serve customers based on their location, the inventory analyst decides what to send where. This role can also be called a Logistics Analyst.

Logistics Analyst: can perform the role of inventory Analyst along with working with shipping providers to ship goods at the lowest cost.

These roles can be slightly different things at different companies, the above has been my experience.

That is so cool.  It makes sense that these jobs would exist.  I just never knew it was a whole field of work with titles and certifications.  Do you get a specific degree for this work?  Sometimes I dream about switching fields because it would be fun to try something new.  I could add this to my list of someday, maybe I will try something different (although in reality I won't because I hate change & would hate to take a pay cut that would likely happen if I changed fields).

[tskeeter]

Mar 1, 2017 14:53:50 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Mar 1, 2017 14:26:11 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

While raeoflyte's Dad may have had a low stress, well paying accounting job, times have changed and that's not really true of many accounting jobs any more.  Clerical level jobs, such as a/p or a/r do not pay well.  Those are $30K jobs.  Other accounting jobs are stressful due to heavy workloads (shrinking staff doing more work), constant deadlines, regular weekend work (month end close), unscheduled fire drill projects, explaining and justifying when other functions under perform or over spend budgets, and the like.  In general, accounting is often at the bottom of the hill down which unpleasant things roll.  But, if you love fire drills, deadlines, uncompensated overtime, and working during the Christmas holidays, accounting might be a good fit.

How recently do you mean on times changing?  My dad only retired 7 years ago, and if he had been chasing big paying jobs would have had all of those issues, but managed to carve out jobs that paid well enough with work/life balance.  

Accounting has changed dramatically over the last 20 years.  Even more so over the last 10.  As an example, when I took a manufacturing financial analyst job 10 years ago, the plant accounting/finance department was 5 people.  When I left, the department was 1 person.  Me.  The final straw was when they layed off my boss and expected me to do a 5 manday month end close in 24 hours.  Over the last 20 years I have worked for 3 Fortune 500 companies.  All three were significantly ratcheting up the demands on their accounting/finance personnel.

It sounds like your Dad might have been at a partner level in a public accounting firm.  A role that is not representative of the majority of accounting jobs.  Your Dad obviously placed a significant priority on jobs that met his work/life balance expectations.  Kudos to him.  Unfortunately, his experience isn't consistent with the direction that the field has been heading more recently.  To gauge the satisfaction of accountants with their employer's expectations and work life balance, over the past 15 years I have asked a couple of dozen colleagues with more than a decade of experience if they would choose accounting if they were starting a career today.  Only 1 said they would choose accounting again.  All the others would pursue a different career path.

[Rob Base 2.0]

If you're not to fond of current career and considering a "restart", how about working for the government?

Once the hiring freeze is lifted, if you are willing to start lower there are lots of "entry" level careers in various fields especially if you have a degree / just got a degree (Pathways program, intern program (even if you may not be the "typical" intern age), etc.)

Most have pretty much guaranteed promotions (up to a certain level)

For example- I retired military after 22 years and I took a GS9 "developmental" position (way beneath me, but location was my main draw, money is not that important).....but at each 12 month period for the next 2 years I pretty much get promoted unless my boss totally hates me or I do something real stupid

so in 12 months go to GS11 and then another 12 months to GS 12

Of course you usually gots to be able to get a security clearance, so it depends if you and your ex didn't have too messy a divorce and your debt levels and hopefully no bankruptcies, or other things (drugs, etc.)

[steph08]

Mar 1, 2017 14:51:08 GMT -5 gooddecisions said:

If you are good at writing and have a background in corporate America, you could look into technical writing, instructional design or communications. Take an online class or one at your local college and see what you think. Good luck!

I agree. I have a BA in English/Editing and MA in Technical Communications (online degree through Minnesota State University - if you were interested). 

I was a Corporate and Technical Writer for 9.5 years and recently moved to a new company to become a Marketing Communications Manager. 

I write stuff, and it's fun! 

 

[whoisjohngalt]

Mar 1, 2017 14:26:11 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Mar 1, 2017 11:47:58 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I went back to school part time in November, and eventually, hopefully, will have a bachelors in accounting.  My job is in finance, so I needed something related and had to pick a class schedule that would work for me.  I also like spreadsheets more than I like a lot of people, and my dad had a great-low stress- career as a CPA that included a lot of time off in the summer.  

I don't have any degree right now though, and I'm looking at 6 years before I graduate if I never take any time off.  I'm focusing on the accounting classes and will include the "specialty" on my resume once I have all of those done.  

Figure I'll also try to re-learn math and if I manage that may try to study/take the actuarial exams.  I would really like to do nursing and be a lactation consultant/rn or even bsn, but my job is the one that pays the bills, and I can't work part time, or even nights/weekends so I could do all the required clinicals, etc.  I haven't advertised at my job that I'm going back to school, but if they do find out I figure its related enough that they won't look at me as a short timer.  If I went to school for nursing, it would be pretty obvious my plan was to bail.  

So I guess I do have advice--I'd work to get a job in your current field, and then go to school part time to build towards your next goal.  

Good luck!  

While raeoflyte's Dad may have had a low stress, well paying accounting job, times have changed and that's not really true of many accounting jobs any more.  Clerical level jobs, such as a/p or a/r do not pay well.  Those are $30K jobs.  Other accounting jobs are stressful due to heavy workloads (shrinking staff doing more work), constant deadlines, regular weekend work (month end close), unscheduled fire drill projects, explaining and justifying when other functions under perform or over spend budgets, and the like.  In general, accounting is often at the bottom of the hill down which unpleasant things roll.  But, if you love fire drills, deadlines, uncompensated overtime, and working during the Christmas holidays, and every.single 4th of July  accounting might be a good fit.

I left work at 10pm yesterday and my boss was still there and she gets in at 7am

She owns a small CPA firm. 

I did corporate accounting and finance for a long time before I had kids  and my vacations were ALWAYS around month end, qtr end, year end, SEC reporting, etc etc.

I pretty much had 2.5 wks to choose from

But I truly liked my jobs, found them interesting and challenging and money was great.   I was making almost 6 figures before I stopped working and I don't have CPA and back then didn't even have a master's degree, just BS in accounting.

[MJ2.0]

Mar 1, 2017 15:44:23 GMT -5 Angel! said:

Mar 1, 2017 15:12:47 GMT -5 @aj said:

Production Planner: decides how much of a product to make based off of inventory targets and a demand forecast.

Demand Planner: creates a forecast for how much of an item you anticipate selling.

Procurement Analyst: develops a purchase plan to outside vendors for components or finished goods based off of the production and demand plan.

Inventory Analyst: For larger companies you have multiple warehouses that serve customers based on their location, the inventory analyst decides what to send where. This role can also be called a Logistics Analyst.

Logistics Analyst: can perform the role of inventory Analyst along with working with shipping providers to ship goods at the lowest cost.

These roles can be slightly different things at different companies, the above has been my experience.

That is so cool.  It makes sense that these jobs would exist.  I just never knew it was a whole field of work with titles and certifications.  Do you get a specific degree for this work?  Sometimes I dream about switching fields because it would be fun to try something new.  I could add this to my list of someday, maybe I will try something different (although in reality I won't because I hate change & would hate to take a pay cut that would likely happen if I changed fields).

there are actually lots of engineering jobs within manufacturing/logistics