Newbie here, thanks for having me (I need career advice) LONG READ

offsafety

Thank you all for having me on this site. I found this place after some serious self searching. But enough dramatics, I need help, period.

OK guys so I feel I should give a little bit of a backstory into who I am, and yes I'm putting myself out there. I'm a 29 yr old hispanic male living in New York City. The highest education I have is a high school diploma. I have about 1yr and a half of college where I majored in MIS, back in the early 2000's (2001-2003).

Without going too much into details, I pretty much ended my studies there and before long I landed an entry level food service position at a prestigious hospital here. Since then I've moved up the financial bracket by moving to different departments (a clerk in the medical records department, scheduler for pediatric surgery, and now a patient financial advisor, ie registering clinic patients and discharging them with their proper appts). Along the way I've also acquired a family (wife, two kids and a dog). It's all lead up to this, 8 years of moving within a union knowing that I could do more. My friends... I have been procrastinating, to put it most gently.

I don't want to continue living like this, but I always felt like since I have an 8:30-5 job with an 8yr old and a 4yr old, it'd be impossible to pursue what I love to do, which is work with computers. But there must be a way, and I have recently begun to look into online courses; which led me to what I'm thinking now: Is it possible to pick up where I left off a decade ago? Should I revisit the MIS field. At first I thought "Great!" but then I gave it another thought... what is MIS? Did I have any idea what I was getting myself into back in college. After doing a few google searches online, I'm positive I had no clue. I mean with so many variations and and such, even now I have no idea what I would do, which ultimately led me to this forum, and now I'm at the behest of you guys... I really need help I feel like this is my last shot at school and I don't know where to start. I feel like MIS needs something more, like I should have majored in computer science or something before that (I'm obviously fully aware of my current ignorance).

I just want to add my experience with computers is mostly software based. I've done some sort of data entry, fiddling with game software, editing files, (light) hex editing. I also clean peoples systems as far as viruses and such (although to be honest with the assistance of elaborate step by step instructions). I've done a little bit of everything I guess you can say. I also have a Medical Coding and Billing Certificate, when I was working for the records department, which worked under the Health Informations Management department (maybe that's a route I could take?).

I mean I really don't know where I should begin. After writing all of this I feel like I have quite the long road ahead of me, maybe I missed the boat. Should I just start fresh? I know I made terrible choices, I'm just wondering if there's a way I can turn it around. I'm prepared to hear the worst.

Thanks for the time and the help. My future kind of depends on this. No pressure.

Oh and sorry for my writing style it's very funky and rushed, I know.

phantasm

I'll let someone else respond in regards to the MIS option you're considering. One thing I'd like to bring up for you to consider though is that switching to a career in IT will land you at the bottom of the pay scale 9 out of 10 times. No experience, no certs, no degree, all equals low pay. You have a wife and 2 kids, you really need to think this through. When I started in IT I made about $28k a year. That was a bit ago and my pay has gone up, but it is all commensurate with experience, education and certifications. I wish you the best and if you decide to take the leap, then I hope you stick around. This is a good place to be.

Iristheangel

Hey there, offsafety. I'm a little bit like you in the sense that I started late with my IT career. I started professionally in IT at the age of 26 (I'm 29 now). My first job was pretty much desktop support for a small company at 12/hr and while I was doing that, I was spending every free minute studying for my CompTIA certifications. After a year, I got through A+, Network+, Linux+, and halfway through my MCSE and I decided to go for a new job. I was able to double my salary at my next position and picked up better benefits including tuition reimbursement. From there, I worked my tail off standing out at that job, gained attention of and was assigned special projects from the CSO that advanced my career, almost completed my B.S. IT-Security from WGU, almost ready to take the CISSP, and have picked up half a dozen other certifications. On top of that, I'll be starting my M.S. degree in the next two months and will probably be looking for a new job with hopes of a six-figure income.

Looking back, there are some things I would have done differently. I would have skipped the whole CompTIA bit except for Network+. Instead of slaving away at a job making 12/hr, I would have signed up with WGU to start and then looked for a paid networking internship to put some solid networking experience under my belt. I know with a wife and kids, this all seems harder but if you're union and job mobility between several departments in your hospital, I would recommend taking a night shift if you could and during the day you could always work on a degree online and/or get a networking/IT/helpdesk/whatever internship. You also don't have to go for WGU like I did. Someone mentioned in another thread that Penn state offered online degrees @$6000 a semester or you could go with WGU which will pick you up certifications along the way with the experience that you're getting from internships.

I know it would be hard with a family to do this. It depends on how passionate you are about IT. If you love the work and you want to move ahead in your career, it's definitely doable. It'll take sacrifices but you can do it!

Psoasman

I also started late in my IT career (32). I had previously been in healthcare. Good advice already given here, so it looks like you just need to decide what school to attend. I recently started at WGU and am very glad I made the choice to do so. Getting my B.S. in IT will allow me to apply for higher level positions to better provide for my family.

If you do decide to go the WGU route, I'd recommend the regular IT degree, with no emphasis. Some of those new Microsoft exams are quite difficult and time consuming. Healthcare IT is a solid option, especially with the new requirements for medical records. And since you are already in the hospital, that should hopefully give you an advantage.

ptilsen

I do feel that MIS is an academic term. It really doesn't have specific meaning in the real world. MIS degrees will help in all sorts of IT and IT management capacities, but they really don't qualify you do do anything in particular, nor do they often give you even the foundation to do so. Suffice it to say, I'm not a fan of most of the MIS programs I've looked at.

Computer science is the way to go, IMO, for degrees. That said, balancing CS studies with RL would be difficult at best. If computers are what you want to work with, you might do better to consider an IT infrastructure-specific degree, in which you'll actually learn skills that apply to real jobs. Most of us on this site work in what you would call IT infrastructure, which is to say we support, configure, administer, implement, and/or design the hardware, software, and/or networks on which organizations rely. To get into this field, you'll need to find a way to break into an entry level job. That's generally easiest with either a degree or IT certifications, or both.

For the infrastructure-specific degree, you might consider WGU, which a lot of TE members attend or attended. It's all online, relatively affordable, and as a part of several WGU IT degrees you will earn IT certifications.

Personally, I'll be attending a mixture of online and night/weekend classes at a local B&M to pursue a CS degree, but I don't have any children or pets and I'm fairly stable working in the field. It took me years of working to decide that CS degree really made the most sense for me. For you, I would say really look at WGU and look at what some of the top of jobs you'll do in infrastructure are all about. IT helpdesk, systems administration, network engineer, systems analyst -- titles like this. If it seems up your alley based on your experiences, think about it. It's not something to rush into.

Think also about designing software, writing programs, things more of that nature. Being a programmer -- a software engineer, if you will, is a totally different line of work. I think it would be more work to break into with where you are in life, but only if you don't have a passion for it. Don't worry about your age, because I don't think that's even an issue; much older people have broken into both areas of IT. The time and financial commitment you have to make while supporting a family is where things get tough.

Ultimately, if working in a computer-related field is your passion, don't let anything stop you. The money's good, and all you need is the aptitude and the drive, and you will get there.

Valsacar

I'm going to agree with Iristheangel here, WGU is really the best option and most cost effective. The problem you'll have is it's all self-paced and self motivation is going to be the key.

To get you started I'd suggest trying out Online Courses - Distance Learning Courses - Online Classes for College Credit - StraighterLine as you can do individual courses there pretty cheap (39 bucks a class and 99 bucks a month, so if you finish a class in a month it was 138 bucks, oh plus the 30 buck proctoring fee that WGU requires you use to get credit). It's also self-paced, WGU is a partner and ACE approved for college credits. On this page you can see each degree program and which SL courses will transfer into the program: Western Governors University Degree Completion Pathways - StraighterLine so you don't risk doing one that won't transfer.

If you do one or two SL courses without a problem, then go a head and sign up for WGU. Since the programs are similar in concept (self-paced, self motivation being the key) SL is a great resource to judge your own ability to work in WGU's model without paying for an entire semester up front.

On the money side, once you move over you may or may not have to take a pay cut until you have experience... keep that in mind and see if the new salary (plus anything you wife can make) is enough to sustain your family. Once you have more experience the pay will come, just need to get in the door.G

Good luck.

techdudehere

Seems to me the most logical path is Healthcare IT and asking your current employer to pay for it by explaining that you would stay with the company and simply switch roles. Another possibility would be reading books, taking a few courses, and doing volunteer work as a programmer. If you can't risk a career change, that will provide you with mental challenges while contributing to the greater good.

NOC-Ninja

Moving to a different career will be tough.

1. You will take a pay cut. Im sure you are getting paid alright since youre within the union. If you are new in IT, corporations/companies will pay you less since you dont have much experience. Are you willing to do that when you have 2 kids and a wife depending on you?

2. Its going to be a long road since you need certs and a degree. Its not impossible to do what you want but understand that it will eat a lot of your personal free time and the time for your kids.

For healthcare experience, this is the closest that I can find:
Health Informatics Degree | Online Bachelor
Online DBA Degree | Online Degree Database Management | WGU College of Information Technology

offsafety

I want to thank everyone for all the suggestions. They've really helped me to get my gears grinding, so to speak. I think I am going to give the IT field a shot. I know it's a pay cut, but I make 40 a year and if I want any more than that I'd have to leave the union and get schooling for something health related, which kinda puts a hamper on the whole "make a living doing what you love" deal. I know it'll be a difficult road, and I might not even make it, but I think I owe it to myself as a person to sacrifice just enough to see if I've got the chops for it. After all I've ever considered doing; something, anything computer related.

Seriously I want to thank you all again for your insight. I really went out on a limb for advice and you guys came through in spades. Hopefully this is the beginning of an awesome success story, but even if it isn't, I want to say thanks for giving me the spark again.