Help 47 yr old man decide on degree?

It takes a skill set . Despite the new-age pop mantras, "networking" isn't the end all panacea. Once you have a skill set to sell, then using the people you have worked with up to that point, other acquaintances and their knowledge of who is needing help, etc., etc., etc., is a good way to start exploring. But, the old hard work of "treating getting a job as a job" is still the key. You're in an engineering environment of some sort now. Start there looking at what their needs are/will be. Expand to who they do their business for with, who supplies them. Expand that circle...

Point well taken on my end

I realize my age is really gonna work against me

But the way I'm thinking abt it is..... better to be 52 and HAVE a degree and be age discriminated... then to be 52 and NO degree and be age discriminated.

Is that good logic? Or flawed

I agree with this

And that's why even tho I want to go back to college that I'm also entertaining the idea that I should develop and acquire income entertaining assets such as business or rental property or storage units.... whatever

I've got my work cut out for me the next 5 yrs and I KNOW it! But what other alternative do I have?

I don't wanna be 53 and in same boot I'm in now

And the only way I can see out of this "rut".... is tow do BOTH things simultaneously....college and business development

But please remember...when I'm talking business....I'm talking something very modest and on small scale. Cleaning business, window washing, hot dog stand. Who knows. But it will be small scale.

Well with an engineering degree it also opens up other non engineering type jobs as well. No?

Example.... the safety man here at local plant.

Wouldn't having an engineering degree open up some jobs such as in safety field?

Thanks.... those are some good links

Cause I'm also trying to decide what low key small business to start

It would have to be something I can do in the evenings. So I'm thinking a cleaning business of some sort

Of course having an engineering degree doesn't mean you can't do something besides designing bridges...what you get from degree is (hopefully) a basis for cogent thought and the application of logic to problem-solving w/ a selective set of specific skills. Engineering (and the "hard" sciences/math in general) provide a set of tools applicable to a wide range of problems. It's up to you to use them as you see fit.

Depends on what you intend to use it for...a large number of very successful people have never gotten a degree (the obvious over-used example is Mr Bill somewhere up there in the Pacific Northwest). If you're doing this w/ the intent of simply going to work for a major corporation as a flunky, you probably find a near dead-end as there are so many new graduates as well as the yet-to-be-reabsorbed older, but experienced engineers competing for the same positions you will be. That's why concentrating on what you could do to add value to yourself in your present position or how you could take what you already know and make that into something more than it is are probably the more fruitful directions to pursue.

Get yourself a 4-year Civil Engineering degree. That would be a good compliment to your background in CAD.

On 2005-07-10 21:06:53 -0400, snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net said: Well, I am 49, Recieved my masters in accounting 20 yrs ago. Never used it. I made a living playing the piano. Now I am starting an accounting business have a few clients. I am so glad I choose accounting for my degrees.. It is a great trade for a middle age to older person. Good Luck Rich

a) for the 47 year old, i recommend an all purpose business degree. it's give you some practical advice about how to run your cleaning business better.

b) for the 49 year old accountant, what exactly do you do for your clients?