Another career change question

Post date: 2020-05-21 07:42:03
Views: 100
Where do I go from here, career wise? Career change, grad school, something else? Nonprofit background.

2019 found me increasingly frustrated with work and seeking change... and then 2020 happened. I'm still employed, but I expect to be laid off soon. It seems like a good time to regroup and take stock of where I want to be career-wise.

My background: I'm in my early 30s, I have a BA in Sociology. Since college, I've worked in nonprofits. For the last 5 or so years I have worked in project/program management, primarily in the areas of education and mental health. The main skills I use day-to-day are project management, program development and evaluation, writing, and light data analysis. I like my job alright, particularly the problem solving and listening to people and getting shit done and creating things (programs, surveys, referral systems, whatever) that actually work well. I also like the data part.

The problem: Aside from the fact that my job may not be long for this world, I also feel like it's become a dead end and I'm nervous about where to go from here-- I feel like my skills are broad and shallow. In a larger sense, I'm becoming disillusioned with the nonprofit sector for Reasons I don't need to get into here.

What I'm looking for:
- I want a job that is at least somewhat interesting and challenging.
- I want flexibility in changing jobs, moving, etc-- so I want skills that are reasonably in demand.
- I want to feel ethically at peace with the work I'm doing. I'm definitely motivated by feeling like my work is adding something of value to the world-- doesn't necessarily need to be a nonprofit though.
- I want good work-life balance in my schedule.
- I want to be paid a living wage but I don't need to make oodles of money-- the above criteria are more important.

Possibilities I'm thinking about:
- Grad school, either a Masters or a certificate program. I feel like this could be a good springboard into a totally new career, or staying in my general field but using the experiences and networking opportunities to finagle my way into something more research or policy based, which I think I would like. I've been looking at Masters in Public Health and Masters in Public Admin degrees, but I'm also trying to look a little further afield-- something like UX research seems really interesting, and I've also toyed with the idea of getting deeper skills in data science, though I'm not sure my math skills are strong enough.

- Staying in the nonprofit field, but building up some more specialized skills, either to apply to jobs with or to freelance with. I've considered Salesforce certifications and grant writing. I think I'd like nonprofit communications, but I feel like the skills leap would be further for that.

- Try to transition into the private sector, maybe by getting a PMP certification? Not sure what this would look like or whether it's something I would want from a lifestyle perspective-- I kind of suspect not.

- Stay the course. Rather than sinking time and money into new skills, think about the skills I already have and redouble my efforts to find a job in my current field that's a better fit.

I know this question covers a lot of ground. I'm looking for specific feedback and ideas about new careers and paths to explore, and I'm also looking for suggestions or resources on how to approach the process of making this type of decision. Whatever you got, I'm happy to consider! Thanks!
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