Do any of you mamas out there have a Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Studies (Arts)? If so, what is your job/career? I received my degree for the purpose of teaching k-8 children. I was dismissed from my job, and teaching jobs are few and far between where I live. My husband has a good and stable job and our familes are near, so relocation is not an option. Thus, I am considering a career change, but I'm not sure what I can do with my degree. The University from which I graduated does not provide career counseling for graduates past the 2 year mark and the Liberal Studies department does not provide career services. So I'm networking with friends, family and acquaintances. Now I'd like to hear what you mamas have to say. What are you doing with your degree and/or do you have any ideas of what I can do with mine besides teaching?
If there is a community college near you, see what classes they offer and take something that interests you. Many community colleges offer services to students - career, counseling, etc., for free. So the money you pay to take a class that you find useful or enjoy may also help you figure you what your path is.
Good luck!
Our community has a "work source" center with resources for job seekers. It is free to residents and includes career counseling, aptitude tests, classes in keyboarding and MS office as well as help creating a resume with transferable skills for those of us changing careers. Our local library also has a program to help job hunters.
How about an office manager? Admin jobs. Good luck!
I think that you might consider just sitting down in the career counselors office at the local college and look through their books at the degree plans and possible jobs under your degree heading. It might even be in the colleges library.
I remember doing that once or twice when I was researching what I wanted to do with my life. Under Psychology there are tons of jobs one can do. Social Science jobs plus a lot of others like being the director of a community agency, a social worker, I can't tell you how many of them I read that day and said "No way I would want to do that". There were a lot that sounded like a wonderful job to wake up and get to go to each day. I was able to fine tune my desires a little bit after reading those lists. I knew I had a "calling" on my heart for people who have a developmental disability and wanted to see institutions closed down so the people can live in a more home like atmosphere. So I wanted to be a lobbyist for the rights of people with developmental disabilities. I ended up working over 13 years in the field instead though. I did make changes. Good changes. I helped a lot of people who worked in this career to make attitude adjustments so they could see these people were not going to be "fixed" by training or sheltered workshops, they were going to have their disabilities for their entire lives. BUT we could make their lives much more enjoyable and happy. They didn't have to live a miserable life. I made a difference.
I think that if you look deep inside and see what you like, then you can go from there. If you love being in the classroom and want to teach next year then go today, decide that you are going to fill out applications at every school district in the county. Private schools, public schools, all sorts of Head Start programs, child care, etc...you could own your own child care center in Oklahoma and it could have 50 kids or 200 kids depending on the size of the building and play ground you would have. My friend is the executive director of a local child care center and her board bought an old school building that was no longer needed. They remodeled it some and they have 150 kids enrolled every day there. They are almost a million dollar a year business. I averaged it out one day.
I would have no less that a top rated facility.
If I had 1 teacher for each age group and all age groups are filled up I would bring in over $350,000 per year. Of course about half of that would go instantly to teacher pay but then depending on how I managed the money end of it I could make well over $80K per year just owning and managing a child care center.
I didn't want to do that though and got out of that business. You like being around noisy kids all day. It might be a good fit for you.
My Ex had worked with his local school system for as long as he was going to with my second grandson. He found a retired teacher that was running a home school program through her home. She had operated a private school at one time so she knew the loop holes in the laws so she could sort of call it a home based private school or something. They did one curriculum and all worked like they were in school but were at her home. She did very well doing this.
These are just some examples of things you could choose to do. I still suggest you go look at some career choices booklets/files in the career counselors office at the local college so you can get a spark going about where to go next.
Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that a Liberal Arts education is a dead-end degree unless you teach. People with a Liberal Arts degree can be among the most well-rounded, well-educated people around, with excellent communications and problem-solving skills. Companies NEED people with these skills, especially in administrative, organizational or Human Resources areas.
I was an English major and somehow wound up in accounting with special strength in computers. Go figure. You never know where you may wind up.
Have you looked into the possibility of working at one of the larger daycare centers? Teaching in one of those is not as well paying as a teacher's job in elementary school, but if they have an administrative job opening that you could fill, it might work out well for you.
