Need some advice about my future career

Last Updated:
Jul 18th, 2021 11:24 am

Tags:

SCORE

Reply to ThreadReply

Search this thread

Search this thread

Jul 15th, 2021 11:18 pm

SeyitA35523 [OP]: Member; Jul 24, 2018; 369 posts; 173 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 15th, 2021 11:18 pm

Need some advice about my future career

Hi guys, I need your experience and advice to be able to start a career.

I am a 27 years old male who has a degree in business administration out of North America. Unfortunately, I do not have too much experience in my field. And it's almost impossible to find a job in my field if you have not graduated from a recognized school.

So I decided to get an education. I dunno what will be but I believe I should do something about my future. Here I need your help. I didn't post this thread in the student forum because I need people who have experience in life.

I have 3 options about education to start a career.

Option 1: 2 years college program. As you know I have business administration and could be better to get advice, what 2 years program would be great with a business admin. degree? I know you don't know me, I can just say about myself, I'm super creative and love to work. That's all.

Option 2: If you say, forget about what you have because you need a degree in Canada to have a good career. I would probably go for a health program to get an easy job after 4 years because I will be 31-32 years old. I believe people understand what I mean who's at these ages.

Option 3: I would like to do masters. However, my gpa is 2.5 and last year 2.8 over 4.00 and I don't think I am qualified for master programs at universities. If you know something more about it, I'd like to learn. I know master would be best but not possible in my view.

Thanks for reading. All the best.

14 replies

Jul 16th, 2021 7:03 am

fogetmylogin: Deal Addict; Nov 13, 2013; 4373 posts; 2969 upvotes; Ottawa

Jul 16th, 2021 7:03 am

2 year college in Canada could set you up for a job. It won't put you on a track to be an executive but you could do an MBA later or work your way up. There are a few good programs that have good hiring rates.

Health Program? These vary from very difficult to nearly impossible to get admission to. Guaranteed pay but yes you will be older when you finish. If you can get into MD for sure go for that.

Master's could be doable. Most don't lead to much employment but in your case they could give you that Canadian credential that opens more doors for entry level business jobs.

Jul 16th, 2021 9:56 am

FirstGear: Deal Fanatic; Nov 2, 2013; 5629 posts; 1493 upvotes; Edmonton, AB

Jul 16th, 2021 9:56 am

SeyitA35523 wrote: ↑ And it's almost impossible to find a job in my field if you have not graduated from a recognized school.

Even if you did, you will still have a very hard time. Business is one of the most popular post-secondary degrees. It was the 2nd most popular at one point next to Psychology - which may or may not still be true. Canada has too many post-secondary-educated people willing to work for little money.

Many of the desirable, worthwhile jobs require not only a Business degree, but also other post-graduate degrees or credentials on top.
e.g.,

Accountants, analysts, controllers, etc.: CPA + specialized tax courses if going into tax.
Investment analysts, asset managers, etc.: CFA + specialized investment industry courses.
HR: CPHR
Financial planner: CFP
Insurance: specialized insurance courses.
Insolvency: Preferred undergrad accounting background or CPA, + CIRP + Special course and exam to become a insolvency trustee.
Engineering: P.Eng
Project manager: PMP

Most jobs will also require extensive specific experience in addition to these credential(s). Most of these credentials or programs have specific job experience requirements as well. Everyone has to start somewhere. Getting in is the hardest part.

Option 2: If you say, forget about what you have because you need a degree in Canada to have a good career. I would probably go for a health program to get an easy job after 4 years because I will be 31-32 years old. I believe people understand what I mean who's at these ages.

Those jobs are far from easy. You are dealing with people who are often negative. You are facing negative scenarios all the time. Not to mention, many, many people have thought the same thing as you. Unless you see yourself liking the work, getting into something in healthcare is not a good idea.

Accountant (Public Practice)

Oilfield & Industrial Services, Environmental Services
Road Construction
Transportation & Logistics
Tax & Financial Analysis
In the Western Canadian Oilfield since 2013

+1

Jul 16th, 2021 2:14 pm

TodayHello: Deal Fanatic; Dec 8, 2007; 5465 posts; 2054 upvotes

Jul 16th, 2021 2:14 pm

OP sounds like you have a trash gpa in a generic program from a no-name-brand school.

Mid-20s ... you're not old .. and you want to go back to school.

You need to figure out what you want to do and why. "Make a lot of money" is an acceptable answer, but not a very good one. "Make a lot of money doing something I enjoy 80% of the time that gives me opportunities to grow and advance my professional career" is a bit better.

No one on here can tell you what to do. No one has skin in your game except you. You need to do the work to figure that all out. What path you want to pursue and why. People can share how they approached similar problems ... and you can learn from them. My advice? Talk to as many people as possible from different walks of life. Learn about different paths and careers - how to get in, what you'll do, and where they could take you. You'll be surprised at what you learn.

Hydropwnics wrote:"TodayHello is a certified hustler and original gangster."

Jul 16th, 2021 5:22 pm

amz155: Deal Fanatic; May 14, 2009; 6723 posts; 1457 upvotes

Jul 16th, 2021 5:22 pm

Do you have a non-Canadian degree, by chance? If so, you could attend either of these two 2 year programs and get a soul sucking job with the government

Jul 16th, 2021 6:25 pm

robard: Newbie; Jul 14, 2021; 4 posts; 1 upvote

Jul 16th, 2021 6:25 pm

Are doing internships an option for you? Even if they're voluntary while you're working a 9 - 5 day job? Sometimes hands on work experience speaks louder than a degree would and I can't imagine that a degree would get you much further than a diploma is currently doing.

Do you have an area of work you're interested in? What did you want to do with the business diploma?

Jul 16th, 2021 6:36 pm

aeba7: Deal Fanatic; Nov 4, 2008; 7357 posts; 9726 upvotes; Scarbs

Jul 16th, 2021 6:36 pm

SeyitA35523 wrote: ↑ Option 1: 2 years college program. As you know I have business administration and could be better to get advice, what 2 years program would be great with a business admin. degree? I know you don't know me, I can just say about myself, I'm super creative and love to work. That's all.

A post graduate certificate with coop is a good way to get started with a career:

SeyitA35523 wrote: ↑ Option 2: If you say, forget about what you have because you need a degree in Canada to have a good career. I would probably go for a health program to get an easy job after 4 years because I will be 31-32 years old. I believe people understand what I mean who's at these ages.

Healthcare is a very broad umbrella. Do you want to work in bedside care? Lab work? Technical? Administrative? Health information management?

Also, healthcare isn't easy. The work can be rough, and usually very competitive.

SeyitA35523 wrote: ↑ Option 3: I would like to do masters. However, my gpa is 2.5 and last year 2.8 over 4.00 and I don't think I am qualified for master programs at universities. If you know something more about it, I'd like to learn. I know master would be best but not possible in my view.

I got into a master's program with a 2.7 GPA (cutoff for consideration was 3.0). I backed it up with work experience, good references and a strong letter of intent. You don't go into a graduate program hoping for any job. You go into a graduate program with a few goals/career streams already in mind.

I'd recommend taking some time to figure out what you want to do, before committing years of your life to school.

When given enough time, all threads on RFD can and will go off on a tangent.

+1

Jul 16th, 2021 11:26 pm

raichu1: Deal Addict; Oct 16, 2013; 2408 posts; 764 upvotes; New Brunswick

Jul 16th, 2021 11:26 pm

Why don't you go into the trades and get paid to go to school? Business is saturated.

+5

Jul 17th, 2021 9:44 am

bhrm: Deal Fanatic; Jul 13, 2009; 5134 posts; 3372 upvotes

Jul 17th, 2021 9:44 am

raichu1 wrote: ↑ Why don't you go into the trades and get paid to go to school? Business is saturated.

Or open up job search outside of the GTA.

+2

Jul 17th, 2021 10:49 am

SW20 MR2: Sr. Member; Jun 3, 2006; 961 posts; 350 upvotes; Markham

Jul 17th, 2021 10:49 am

IMO, this is less about education and more about doing some soul searching. When someone says that they can't find something in their field, I typically think about people that have very specialized educations (ie. engineering, healthcare, etc). Frankly, to say that you can't find something in "business" makes no sense. Every single job is business. I have a business degree, and I've done jobs in analytics, marketing, and product management. Honestly, my education did almost nothing for my career. It's a piece of paper that I have that qualifies me to get through a filter for HR.

Unless you do an education program in a field where you must have the education (ie. trades), doing another program is not going to help. Hence, this is why I say that this is more about you figuring out what you want to do. You need to educate yourself (non-school) about what you want to do. Learn about the industry, key players, types of roles that you want to do. Once you do some of that, try to make some connections to people and continue to learn even more. This may provide some leads to job openings.

IMO, you need to bear down, grind, and hustle.

Jul 17th, 2021 6:22 pm

windforcexx28: Deal Addict; Jun 11, 2008; 3373 posts; 151 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 17th, 2021 6:22 pm

I think there is a logic flaw here - you have a university degree, so doing a second one (or any additional education in general) in Canada does not necessarily put you ahead of your current situation. Masters should not be done unless it has added value to your career.

You mentioned you have limited work experience - Is this experience from working in Canada or working abroad? If your experience is from working abroad, your goal should be getting a job in Canada first (be open with your options) and specialize from there. If your experience is earned within Canada, maybe what's putting you back is your resume instead.

Also, as someone mentioned business is extremely broad. Which area did you study? Depending on the specialization and your current work experience, you may get better feedback here with that info available.

+1

Jul 17th, 2021 8:01 pm

sleepyguy: Deal Fanatic; Jun 11, 2001; 9475 posts; 1608 upvotes

Jul 17th, 2021 8:01 pm

I agree with what a lot of people have said here... you really need to figure out what you want to do and not just get "more schooling" to solve that problem.

I know PLENTY of people with no education beyond high school education that have done very well for themselves... Hell I pretty much just have HS diploma and am doing ok myself. If schooling is the stepping stone for the career or field you want to get (or need) to get a foot into then ok go for it... but if you're just going to school for the sake of it... you're gonna just end up in the same place 3-4 yrs down the road with just more debt.

And 27 is still quite young if you look at the big picture on how long your career is.

...zzz...zzz...zzz...

www.heatware.com

Jul 18th, 2021 9:33 am

comp_freak: Deal Addict; Jan 8, 2006; 1648 posts; 918 upvotes

Jul 18th, 2021 9:33 am

who has a degree in business administration out of North America. Unfortunately, I do not have too much experience in my field. And it's almost impossible to find a job in my field if you have not graduated from a recognized school.

FInding job as a new grade without experience is always hard. I wouldn't get further education without starting some sort of job in the field. You have to do the leg work. Many people just apply for a posting and hope to get a call back the truth is you need to follow up via call or email after a week or so. Due to LinkedIn and social media, it's not that hard to find HR manager information, you can follow up polite email or call up. "Hey I applied for blah blah position, and I was expecting a quick chat or phone interview about this position".. I got my first engineering job this way - it was an 8+ months-long job hunt but landed an interview via phone call.

I would also spend 1hour or so updating skills for example you can take a course on advance excel (still used a lot in accounting), communication skills, etc. Complete those courses post on your linked in and resume. LinkedIn Learning is free via many public libraries if you have $15 to $20 spare check out Udemy.

Also, tailor a resume and cv for each posting, if you see a virtual event attend it make a connection there. Sign up for the local meetup group- you need to get your foot in the door. To me, finding a job in the field is a job on its own.

+1

Jul 18th, 2021 10:37 am

mattnew: Sr. Member; Aug 15, 2018; 953 posts; 981 upvotes

Jul 18th, 2021 10:37 am

I was in your shoes recently, except that I went back to school at 30. Initially graduated from Masters in a field that didn't really help what I wanted to achieve. The main problem when you want to go back to school is: can you afford to study full time with no income? If you can, by any means you can start by a 2 years college program or go for the masters directly. I opted for a 1 year college program on a continuing education basis (evening and week-end classes), accepted an internship in the new industry I wanted to go and started gaining experience which is the most important. You can always continue your education in the future, but personally I would start gaining experience ASAP. Your degree in Business Administration will always be an asset, no matter what.

Moving forward you might have to justify why you are doing it and by that I mean, when you apply for a job/internship, why they should hire you instead of a "new grad". I would suggest going to interviews with a solid story and showing you have a clear path of what you want to achieve in the next few years if you get the job.

Good luck in your project!

Jul 18th, 2021 11:24 am

FirstGear: Deal Fanatic; Nov 2, 2013; 5629 posts; 1493 upvotes; Edmonton, AB

Jul 18th, 2021 11:24 am

raichu1 wrote: ↑ Why don't you go into the trades and get paid to go to school? Business is saturated.

Some trades, like Electrician and Welder, are also saturated. Many people thought it was easy and/or clean money.

Accountant (Public Practice)

Oilfield & Industrial Services, Environmental Services
Road Construction
Transportation & Logistics
Tax & Financial Analysis
In the Western Canadian Oilfield since 2013

Reply to Thread

Top

Thread Information

There is currently 1 user viewing this thread. (0 members and 1 guest)