It no longer amazes me, though it still pisses me off, at every attempt I make to try and improve myself, a door is slammed in my face. Every step I make is calculated to improve myself not only for my own well-being, but to make myself a more valuable employee to my current employer as well as those in the future.
Yet, despite me taking these initiatives, I am continually thwarted in my attempts to progress. The most recent incident involved what would have been a time and money-consuming step to get another degree. In this case, it would have been for IT Project Management.
A little background is in order. When I first started my educational endeavors, I did a dual major in Photography and Business Administration. While I pursued my degrees, I worked 40 hours a week and paid for every dime of my education out of my own pocket. No scholarships, no loans, no grants, no nothing. The entire burden was on me.
When I pursued my Bachelor's degree in Paralegal Studies, again, the money came out of my pocket though in this case, my parents and I split the tuition/room/board 50/50. However, anything else, books, transportation, entertainment, that all came out of my pocket. Again, no scholarships, no loans and no grants though I did, finally, get a student loan in my final semester.
I worked on weekends during school and when I came home during break, I worked as many hours as I could so I could pay for the next semesters schooling. As some professor said to me back in my original schooling, "You're burning the candle at both ends."
So now, after moving about in my career, I find myself in a position where I am completely bored without any chance of promotion in the immediate or near future. Yes, getting a paycheck is nice, but at what cost?
So, earlier this year, I decided I would get (another) degree but in a more concentrated field for which I know I would enjoy. Specifically, project management.
I say this because it's quite obvious to anyone who works with me or who I support that this line of work is perfectly suited to me. When I am in charge of small-scale projects, they ALWAYS come off without a hitch so long as people follow my directions. There is no confusion as to what is to take place, when it is to take place, what equipment is needed at the location, etc. I take care of everything and, apparently miraculously to everyone involved, the work gets done on time, on budget and without problems.
So I met with a local university who offered a degree in IT Project Management and went through the process of submitting the required paperwork, getting my transcripts sent (at my cost of course) and waiting on the results of how many courses I could transfer in.
Mind you, I have 3 degrees already and have taken several IT-related courses which helped me get to this point, all of which were paid out of my own pocket.
As the orientation was fast approaching, I finally received the final notification of what courses I would need to take to complete this degree.
69 credit hours is what I would need. 69. Yeah, go ahead, laugh. It's not funny.
If I take two courses a semester, it would take me four (more) years to complete this degree while again working a full-time job.
If that wasn't bad enough, there were four courses for which I was refused prior credit. Two were programming courses (intro 1 and 2) and two others dealt with network security and communication networks.
Now, having already taken two programming classes way back when, I figured there had to be a mistake. So the counselor appealed the decision and was told that programming had changed too much between I took those courses (roughly ten years ago) and now.
Huh? Maybe I'm missing something but programming still involves creating functions and loops, correct? The only thing that has changed are the languages.
Further, since I'm already working in the IT field and dealing with network security and communications network, I should have been able to get credit for those courses as well.
Nope, I had to take 6 credit hours and then petition the Chancellor with written evidence that I could bypass those courses.
Did I mention that despite all the courses I have previously taken, I would have had to take a literature course as well as U.S./World history course?
When I called the admissions counselor I told her there was no way I could pursue this degree and be able to finish it in anything resembling a reasonable time without getting credit for previous courses taken as well as life experience. The only way I could do so would be to quit my job and go full-time to complete the degree.
Further, I told her, quoting General George Patton, "I don't like paying for the same real estate twice."
So there you have it. Another door slammed in my face when I try to improve myself. I looked around at the few other colleges and universities in my area and see the same pattern. One of them even requires a foreign language class as part of their IT program which begs the question, "How many of you need to know a foreign language to do your job?"
I've read the various articles posted here about changing careers later in life (of which I am technically part of) and while it all sounds good, the huge (and ridiculous) barriers that are placed in ones path to get somewhere makes one realize it's probably easier to be a loan shark than it is to further ones education or career goals.
So the question is, do stay at my current job, though it holds no interest for me and I have to delete emails for one of the higher ups so he can send email*, or do I quit my job, take time off, maybe write about what I've experienced and go from there?
As I said in a previous posting, I am literally a jack-of-all-trades. You can put me in just about any IT position and I can do the work. Not as well as you but give me a day or two to get up to speed and I'll be shoulder-to-shoulder with you. I pick up on things so quickly that trial-by-fire has lost all meaning to me.
I was counting on this ability and my broad experiences to leapfrog me to a better position. Sure, I don't know everything, nor will I claim to. If I can't do a job, I'll tell you but I'll still give it my best shot if you want me to do it anyway.
The biggest issue is that everyone wants to see some piece of paper claiming you have the educational background to do a job OR some outlandish years of experience. I have literally seen job postings for junior PMs that require either a B.S. and 7-10 years of experience or a Masters. For a junior PM!! What, are they designing, starships?
So, the floor is open. Opinions wanted and solicited. Let's see what those of you in the ether of the Net have to say about this conundrum.
*No, I'm not kidding when I say I have to delete emails for one of the higher ups. He is either too lazy, too stupid or too incompetent to delete emails he no longer needs. He has his secretary, who has access to email, call our helpdesk to have one of us delete enough emails so he can send messages.
Did I mention he's an attorney?