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Career development by going back to school

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Plonkee Money recently asked whether a having a career plan matters.

Aaah, a topic that I always struggle with in my career section. I make a good living doing what I do and to be honest, I’m way over qualified and I’m often bored at work.  However, I don’t seek out new opportunities because I’m not exactly that motivated.  I also feel like but my career progression is stalled because I didn’t go to grad school when so much was expected of me as a child.  I do have quite an ego and I also feel a pressure that you’re supposed to change jobs every 5 years so you don’t get stale. I’d hate to have someone say to me, “you’re still there“?

So why am I going through this self reflection?  Someone I went to school with at uni I found out is an IT director at where I work.  WTF?  If you ask him, he’d freely admit I kicked his ass in the courses we took together.  Oh well.  I can’t remember what his background is but he is a few years older than me so more experienced in the work force.  And he’s more “organized and institutionalized”.

So, I waffle back and forth whether I should go back to school to get some sort of accreditation or grad degree.   Maybe a project management professional but to me it’s only a title as a lot of PMPs I’ve worked with were totally incompetent.

In the end, I believe that my extra earning potential won’t be worth the time and tuition spent. Although I can afford the tuition without taking a loan, I’d rather keep my money invested.

As for the time factor, I project that the extra hours spent at school would only continue in a higher paying job with greater responsibilities and pressures. This is not always the case but regardless, I don’t need this type of invasion in my private life. Also, by getting better at investing, I can make up this difference in salary through a passive income source.

The only reason why I’d go back to school would be to network but I feel that this is an extension of your personality especially as a mature student. Your social skills have already been developed. If you are gregarious by nature, it will always be easy to network. If you’re a wallflower, it will be difficult to maintain these new contacts.

Given my reasoning, I still question myself whether I’m making excuses and if my arguments are really justified. I just feel that at this point in my life, I believe that climbing the corporate ladder would only placate my ego.

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