The first step has been taken to my new future...

...and it’s not quite the one I’d been working towards.

I have spent the past couple of weeks feeling like I was stood at a crossroads with one foot in the air ready to place it on one of the roads to a new career. Quite a heady place to be, with all those possibilities ahead of me including the one I had spent a good twelve months working towards.

However... as part of getting on the Second Career program for retraining you have to research the career you wish to follow and show as that there is a reasonable chance of the training leading to a job. This is the most telling of what I found out...

Length of course:
Museum Technician - 16 months
Office/Administrative Assistant - 12 months
Computer Graphics and Web Design - 6 months

Wages (hourly average):
Museum Technician - $15.97
Graphic Design - $19.00
Web - $23.00
Graphic and Web Design - $25.50

Unemployment:
Museum Technician - 5%
Graphic Design - 3%
Web - 3%

Where the jobs are:
Museum Technician - Low in Ontario, High in Alberta and Saskatchewan
Graphic Design - High in Ontario and BC
Web - High in Ontario and BC

(I did drop some of the Office Admin research as I had come to the conclusion that I was not going to be following that option.)

Looking at this information; much as I might wish it showed otherwise (and trust me people, I looked); the museum training would not give me the kind of job that is likely to lead to a solid retirement in around twenty years. I would be living simply, on a tight budget (so what else is new), and would not be able to put much aside for the future. Also, I would probably end up having to start over in a new town (b’n there, done that...) A few other logistic issues were also tilting the scales. Things along the lines of probably having to move three time just to settle down into a first job! (Once to train, once for the internship, once to a job.) Looking at all the information and weighing all my options, I have decided to go for the graphics and web. I find myself surprisingly pleased with the decision and that any regret I feel at giving up my chance at my “dream job” is more than compensated for by the anticipation I feel at the thought of starting the graphics/web course.

I saw my Employment Counsellor on Friday and he is baking me up in my choice 100%. Going so far as to urging my Employment Consultant to getting me into the Second Career Workshop next Friday. This means I’ll be able to get the application for funding in as soon as possible and should be able to start the course July 20th. Wish me luck with the application!

It has been an interesting month...

...and sometimes life can surprise you.

Having mostly given up on getting onto the Museum course. I decided that I really needed to start focussing on some other area of second career training. It didn’t take my long to find a few options to follow up on. The long and short of it is that after a couple of weeks, a bunch of research, and some interviews, I had two offers of places at two different colleges.

One on a office admin/office assistant type course. I suspect that this one would also allow me to tap into the “hidden job market” at the end of it. The big question mark is whether I really want to spend the rest of my work life as the new version of a secretary. I could do it, and do it well. But would I really enjoy it? The second option is a graphics design course that includes web design. This later option was very, very, tempting and research shows a reasonable chance at employment afterwards. It would also be something that I feel I would enjoy doing.

Of course, as dictated by Murphy’s law, no sooner did I have both offers organised than Fleming came through with an offer of a place on the museum course. So now I have three choices. They come under: Museum Technician - I’d really love this (shame about the rate of pay and the job market); Graphics and web design - I’d like this (reasonable pay and job prospects); Office work - it’s a job (livable pay and excellent job prospects).

There are a lot of other logistic and financial considerations as well. It is good however, to have the choice of my future in my own hands, rather than being constrained by not having got onto the course I wanted.

I have some further job market research and thinking to do...