So recently I've been recognizing that in my field, my next job is going to require a lot more from me in terms of technical skills and training/education than it has in the past. I'm in journalism, and while being a great writer and editor and researcher has cut it up until now, it's not exactly the highest-growth industry. I'm also recognizing that while I love the work I do, the products I produce (I'm the editor-in-chief on a trade publication), and the people I work with, there's no longer any room for advancement at my company, nor is there anywhere I want to go beyond my current position. It's not that I'm lazy, but I'd rather focus on my work and the creative aspects than the administration-heavy responsibilities of the next logical position up from mine.
So with all that background out of the way - I've been seriously considering going back to school to earn at least my associate's in digital media/interactive web design. I have a really good eye for layout and graphics and good ideas for multimedia projects and the like, but I simply don't have the technical skills, and my current employer centralizes all of that stuff, so there's not even an opportunity for me to learn on the job - another department handles all that in corporate, and it's frowned upon to take things on (yet another reason why I want to skeddadle out of there).
My sticking poinst are:
- My position is not really one where I can reduce my working hours to part-time while I pursue a degree. If I stayed at my current job while going back to school, it would still have to be the roughly 50 hours per week I'm working now. I also have commitments five nights of the week, so it seems impossible to do school plus all that and not cry every night.
- I also can't afford to just can work and focus on school - while I'll soon have another income in the house, with what BF is making, there's no way we could live single income at the moment with our rent and other bills.
- I would be open to switching to a part-time job in the hopes there would be a payoff - but I'm on sure if I should just look for anything (receptionist, whatever) or if I should try to stay in my field.
I know the payoff would be worth it, and I am excited about the idea. Paying for school aside, it's the scheduling aspect that worries me. And of course this is something I'd need to discuss thoroughly with BF before diving in, but I wanted to see here if anybody has similar experience with returning to school on a part-time or full-time basis, and how you made it work.