Getting a second degree?

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Anyone here done this? I am strongly considering it. I have a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science/Government, but they are completely useless as I've looked for work for a year and can't find anything. I am thinking of going back and getting a degree in accounting, since that is an in-demand field. Math isn't my strong suit, but I think I could do accounting based on what I know about it.

I WOULD go to law school, but I'm worried I'm just gonna rack up debt and still not be able to find a job.

Thoughts? Comments? Experiences to share?

My undergrad degree is in Psych, and after a few years of low-paying jobs, I decided to go back to school for an MS in Computer Science. In the long run, it has been a great decision.

Having said that, I should add that I chose Comp Sci because I love programming. It was not just a financial decision, but a career change to something that suited me very well. Being practical in your career choice is good, but ideally it should also be a career that you would actually like to pursue. If you decide to do it, your chances of success are better if you're studying something you like and are good at.

And of course going back to school takes a commitment of both time and money. Loans are available to almost all college students, but they are just that - loans. You have to pay back every cent, plus fees and interest.

I don't know what part of the USA you're in, but does your area have a community college or adult ed/extended learning program where you can take courses relatively cheaply? Something you could try, before committing to a degree program, is to take a basic Accounting course and see if you really would enjoy it or be good at it. Unfortunately, I don't know of an equivalent strategy to find out about Law.

JSB

Law school = unemployment these days. I would highly recommend against it.

You have to have a lot of personal initiative, but it doesn't have to end up as unemployment.

I ended up with a master's degree in music composition. In terms of job qualifications, let's compare our degrees and see whether I'm the biggest loser here.

I know a little bit about lawyering. If you want to get a good solid start, go it alone. Move out to rural America. Find a run-down store or house in a commercial zone with just enough space for a bathroom, a desk, and a file room. The get a copy of the local newspaper and search the legal ads. Look for foreclosure notices of sale. Make up a quick letterhead and get to writing. Mail your letters out to these soon-to-be foreclosure victims. They'll be along soon--most don't even really know they're facing foreclosure until after their property has been sold, so you're doing them a favor. When they come in, give them a free consultation and offer to represent them in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in federal court--make sure your fees are included in their plan. Your first client will pay your rent for the month. The second client will pay your student loans. Take the rest and fix up your office real nice. Buy a computer, mobile broadband, and a separate cell phone for clients. Hire a pretty young thing to handle phone calls, correspondence, and any routine paperwork such as intake, matrix list of creditors, means test, and any other crap you can't do while you're in court. If you train her well, you'll find you don't really have very much to do and you can spend time on the golf course while you dig up dirt on the local population, find out when the next Freemason meeting is, who's in charge of the Rotary, and so forth. You'll want to take time out to volunteer as a tutor or mentor at local schools, get to know parents, find out when prayer meeting/worship services are at the local church, and so on to extend your network (that's not the ONLY reason to go to church, but it does put you at an advantage).

After you've successfully filed some 13's and maybe even completed a few Chapter 7's, advertise for Social Security representation. It could take up to a year before you see any fruit of your SSA labors, but trust me, the money is GOOD.

After 5 or 10 years of this, put your name in the hat for county prosecutor or even justice of the peace. Be careful, though. I think you're only allowed to serve in 2 branches of government. If you have an eye towards the BIG job, the Prez of the US, you may not want to head for the judicial system early on. If you want to go from lawyering to politics, you can get some good hang time in your state legislature before heading to Washington. When you start reaching a little bit higher that way, the pay is GOOD.

Meanwhile, exercise common sense. When you're working through bankruptcies, divorces, property sales, guardian ad litem, etc., save every penny while you live in your 2-room roach-infested apartment. Buy a trailer and an acre lot on the edge of town--easy to do when you have $50,000 to spare. Save up another $200,000 and buy a NICE place, cash-in-hand, and rent out your trailer.

Anyway... I'm a broke, unemployed composer, but I've managed to pick up a church gig, parties, fundraisers, gigs with bands, and teaching private piano lessons at two different schools. I can easily pull in $12,000 in a year, and I could possibly do a lot better once I get enough material worked up that I can start applying for grants through local arts councils. You just have to figure out what your goals are and go for it.

Now is a GREAT time to be in school, btw. The jobs out there, especially for me, are all suck. My little cousin graduated from a university business department with her MBA, and she's in COMMUNITY COLLEGE right now working on her nursing degree. Basically, I think her problem was that she was too eager to get married and live on her own to make her degree work for her. Whatever her reasons, she feels the need to start over. On the other hand, I have another cousin who has made a killing (not literally) as a nurse, but he just decided it was "too much work." So now he's back in school training to be a truck driver.

Seriously, if you want to go back to school, go for it. It's crazy out there and you might just be doing yourself a favor.

I don't know how things work in the USA, but in the UK I understand it's quite common for people with Bachelors degrees to take so-called conversion courses, which are (vocational type) Masters Degrees for people whose first degree is in a different subject. There are conversion courses in law, computing and journalism for instance. I am not sure about accountancy, but I know there are Masters degrees in finance that require no previous knowledge of the subject (and possibly provide exemptions from professional exams).
One good thing about these is they take only one year (or two years part-time) as opposed to three years (which is how long a bachelors degree in the UK takes).

im currently facing this situation as well and im undecided if i should and/or could i go back to school.
i already have a b.a in communications and that got me nowhere.
i have gone back to school before to pursue my then chosen field of audio/video production but left for a lot of reasons including that i finally figured out i couldnt handle the networking skills needed in that field.
im currently reading a book called "what color is your parachute?" - 2011 edition
it has definitely opened my eyes to the realities of the real working world.
common logic in the u.s.a is that society values and respects and hires college graduates and that it is really no problem to go out and find a good paying, secure job in your field or in any professional adult career.
but with the economy that has made a lot of people experience the same challenges at the same time.

it is certainly a challenge and there are a lot people who are in the wrong careers for no fault of their own and are struggling to make ends meet. you can get a lot of inspiration from all those yahoo! articles about the latest and greatest career fields to get into and how much money you make, but you have to read between the lines on articles like that. they are essentially just selling you the idea that going to school is the greatest most perfect option available. employers and the economy and the competition will tell you otherwise. there are a wide variety of answers people will give you and honestly i dont know who to believe either, so good luck in your decision.

I hear you musicprophets. Social science/humanities degrees aren't good fit for Aspies because we typically don't have the networking skills to get those jobs. I graduated with my B.A. in Political Science in '05 back when unemployment was fairly low, and I while I eventually got a job, it wasn't in the field, so I went back to get my master's and finished it a year ago. Now, there's nothing.

I will check out that book you suggested.

Guy I know - and if he is not an Aspie I will eat any hat you choose -

Did through doctorate in an esoteric offshoot of Lit. Knew he would never survive if he DID get a job.

Signed on and got a degree in Library Science and parlayed it into a specialized librarian gig at a majnor Universityh where he can hide out in the stacks as needed to be overwhelmed and depressed [gooxd guy, good friend, lucked out in his wife].

He's still doing it.

Mainline academia can be murder [I KNOW] and especiall in many fields academic women with the least hint of sensitivity are eaten up and the bones spat out.

Diversification is not such a bad idea.

I have a BS in Elementary Education. That didn't work out so well...teaching school. I was so nervous that I couldn't even remember the kids' names. After teaching for a couple of years, I went back to school and got a BS in Nursing. Much better. The time spent with each patient is short and I can spend a lot of my time concentrating on the task at hand rather than socializing. Most recently, I was a supervisor.

I was also also a paramedic for 27 years and got a touch of PTSD following a murder of a child call that I was on. I retired from EMS and took some time off from nursing to recover. Unfortunately, as soon as I was ready to go back to work, the economy tanked and no one is hiring experienced nursing supervisors (or patient care nurses). So here I sit...wallowing in boredom and fighting self worth issues.

Wow, this topic is a real bummer. I just wanna teach Western Civ at some sleepy, little community college... near a beach!

On topic, I have heard that forensic accounting is a good fit for people coming from a social science background.