Decisions, decisions ...

[Pixilated]

Okay, here's my dilemma ... and basically I have a week left to make a decision. Not cutting it close or anything, eh?

I signed up for a training program for older workers earlier this summer. My emphasis at the time was on retail work. It's an extensive and (IMO) well-run program. So far we've gone through about a month of computer training, resume writing and interview prep; next comes cash handling, then we get into certificates for First Aid, Smart Serve, a national Food Safety certificate and (whee!) I get to learn to drive a forklift. (RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!) This is a fairly generalized program, and the staff are hooked into the business world in this region and will try to "market" you to employers upon completion of the program.

I have also been accepted into a two-year legal office assistant (translation: legal secretary) program at the college. Just waiting to see if I'm OK'd for student loans, but I don't anticipate any problems there. This is obviously a much more specifically focused program, although it doesn't automatically mean you will end up working in a lawyer's office. In my second year I will work (during the school year) at two different placements. The college does offer some help in job finding, although I doubt it's as much as the above-mentioned program ... but I'm not positive about that.

Neither program, obviously, is any guarantee of a job.

I have to say that while I do like retail, I don't know if I want to depend on it for my living -- the hours are too erratic and undependable, and of course the wages are basic. The law office assistant program would offer me a chance to make better money. The downside to that is my age; it might be that I go through two years of college for nothing. (Of course, I could always sign up for the older worker training program again ... assuming it's still in operation.)

At the start of the summer, after my debacle in pharmacy tech., I had no doubts about returning to school. Now I don't know what to do; sometimes I think I should stick out the training program and see where that takes me, other times I think I should stay with my original idea of returning to college.

All opinions and advice gratefully received ...

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I could tell you what I would do, but that gets you no closer to knowing what you should do. When you wake up in ten years, you don't want to hate the thought of going to your job every day.

Choose the path that will give you the best chance of being satisfied. There are days I want to scream at everyone around me, but most of the time, I love my job, I'm proud of the work we do, I think it's a good and useful contribution I'm making to society, and while we could all be paid more, I don't have to worry about not being able to afford food, housing and other necessities.

Aim for the job that will give you the most satisfaction every day. Even though we shouldn't live for work, we do spend more collective time there then we do anywhere else in our lives, so it should be fulfilling.

Good luck!

[csquared]

There are a lot of variables playing into this, so there is no clear cut answers. My take on it is, you won't know if you like something until you try it. So if you have the finances to do it, then do it. Stick out the training program, then go back to college. You might get a job driving a forklift to help pay for college. Give yourself options.

I need to see if there is an older workers program like that around here.

[Pixilated]

Okay, guys, both of you have given me much to think about. Thank you.

[Der Cute]

Check out your state job search website for statistics. Mine has stuff broken down by county and industry. So let's say you want to be a lumberjack. In this county, it would have Lumberjack -10% (from last count's) and possibly Other County Lumberjack + 2%. You can also go look at jobs by job name (I'm talking federal dewey decimal system thing for jobs. Vet tech#. Vet Tech Supervisor #+1..shit like that. Once you get the job name/number/definition you can go look around the city/county/state for the stats of it. Or even look at your county and see what's growing.

And you still might end up doing retail. No guarantees.

[Pixilated]

Nope, there's no guarantees of anything these days ... you basically roll the dice and hope for the best.

I live in Canada but I'm sure there's something similar here in terms of stats breakdowns. Thanks.