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I've been dependent on my husband as a stay at home wife and mother. Since the day I found out about his betrayals I've felt the need to look out for myself. This means I need to step up and make my own income. Whether I stay or leave I want to be fiercely independent.

I'll probably need to go back to school, because the career path I chose early in my marriage isn't going to support myself and children if I end up divorced.

I'm open to suggestions. What careers pay well and take little time to achieve? I like the health care industry, but can't spend spend too much time or money education. I'm in my mid 40's. At this point, I'm looking at any and all options.

Are you organized and good at multi-tasking? Can you manage resources and vendors to get things done? Are you deadline conscious? Can you assume a leadership role? If you like all of these things, I would get a Project Management Professional certification and find work as a project manager. If you have a healthcare background, there are a lot of opportunities for a good PM to make a difference in hospitals and facilities.

I stumbled in to project management, and I love it.

Cat

There are plenty of work from home opportunities on various sites like indeed.

If you want healthcare you have lots of options.

1. RN you enroll in school and get a few classes under your belt and get a job at a hospital or medical center, and you will get reimbursement for school. You can also go for your LPN/LVN first and then RN, this also gives you the opportunity to work while in school.

2. Paramedic - Warrior Princess is choosing this route, and she can share what it's like but this is a route that takes about 2 semesters and if you get your EMT first (one semester) again you can work and help pay for school.

3. EMT alone - you can get a job as an ambulance driver for transportation, or work as a 911 dispatcher my son does this.

I am a nurse by training, but I am also a dean of a community college overseeing many health care programs. There is high demand in health care right now and a variety of programs.

There are some short programs such as certified nurse aid, medical office assistant, medical coding and billing which are well under a year.

Others are longer, one to three years such as surgical technology, diagnostic medical sonography, radiology technology, respiratory therapy and nursing. These types of programs usually require a year of basic pre-requisites before admission. Some colleges have ranked competitive admission while others have basic admission with wait lists.

Do you have a community college nearby? See the counseling department first.

I would also say that whatever you decide, in community college, we see many non-traditional (older) students who are often very dedicated students and bring rich life experience into the classroom and clinical. They are some of my very favorite students.

What was the career path you chose and do you have a degree?

Sometimes having a degree will carry more weight than having experience.

I don't know where you live but the people making the most money in my state right now ..... Realtors. The market is wild and houses selling within a few days of listing. It's crazy!

Second highest (pun intended) money making jobs are marijuana grow farms and dispensaries. That is why I'm getting notes from realtors in my mailbox and knocking on my door -- they have buyers for my property because I have 8 secluded acres backing up to a small lake. Perfect for a grow farm, they say.

Seriously, the people I'm admiring the most? Anyone in the medical field. They are all having to work so hard. I just hope their pay reflects their hard work and compassion.

Thank you for the suggestions. There is a community College near me. I've been thinking of going that route. I just find some of the competitive programs a bit intimidating mainly because I don't have time to wait around if I'm not accepted the first go around. I've definitely got a lot to think about and some big decisions ahead.

I was a teacher, then a stay at home mom for many years. Divorce at age 58. Went back to school for LPN then RN at a community college. Working as an RN now and loving it. I am so grateful for this late life opportunity. Next step may be a BSN.

You could also look into becoming a medical assistant. What ever you choose to do, love the process of getting there. Nursing school was amazing.

Thank you HCSV, that is inspiring to hear.

There is really a shortage of health care professionals in the midwest, at least. I don't know if it is the same nationally. But there are good opportunities.

EMT is a 6 month certificate program. Once you get that, you can work in the field as a Emergency Medical Technician-Basic. Tushnurse, I am FAR more than an ambulance driver! As an EMT I deliver basic interventions such as Oxygen therapy, nebulizer treatments, certain medications, and CPR. Depending on where you work, the work can be boring and repetitious, or it can be exciting and fun. The more boring the job, generally the better the pay. You can also get into an ED with an EMT licence, which I love. The great thing is that the hours are usually flexible and there is a lot of opportunity for overtime.

Paramedic can be a year or two years depending of the state and the program. They frequently want the applicants to have a year or so of experience, but this varies between programs. The one I am in is a year to 15 months, depending on how fast you get your all the required calls. It is, however, a full time job in itself. My EMS coordinator wants our program to be the best in the state, so he is extremely demanding. If you are single with small children, I would not recommend it. But there are 2 other programs nearby which are not so intense. The best thing to do is ask everyone you can about the program they went to. Find out how many classroom and clinical hours are required. (Mine has nearly a thousand required hours.) Ask all the questions you can.

If you ever want more information or to talk about it, please feel free to PM me.

I am in the same situation. I thought long and hard and decided to go with a career i enjoy that brings joy and beauty to the world. Ive been sad too long.

Healthcare is huge now- i know an attorney who went back to nursing school after working for a few years because theres so much more money and more jobs than in the saturated legal field.

I'd like to add another vote for healthcare.

I work in Career Resources at a local college. Some of my most favourite students are my "seasoned" ones...the ones that bring some valuable life experience with them. I recently graduated from a 2 yr college program myself - it took me 2 years of studying online but it was worth it to get some fancy letters behind my name - I've been in my industry for 20yrs but never had the opportunity to further my education due to the actions of my ex. I just turned 44. My dad went back to school at 54 yrs of age due to a work related injury - he was in school for a 1yr IT certificate and now he's celebrating 10yrs with his IT employer.

There are many doors open to you - like another poster said, enjoy the process! You still have many years to give in your career.

First, ask your atty of you need to wait to go back to school or to work full-time. Mine told me to wait so my child support would be higher as I transitioned after the D to work.

Do you have any college? If so you could add on to those hours and become a teacher and have summers off with your children!

I’ve noticed in my school district there are TONS of office openings, and no degree required.

[This message edited by homewrecked2011 at 5:44 AM, Sunday, August 29th]

First, ask your atty of you need to wait to go back to school or to work full-time. Mine told me to wait so my child support would be higher as I transitioned after the D to work.

this^^^
have you talked with a D atty? If you're not sure if you want to D or R, that's something you need to really think about when planning your next step. You don't want to spend the next few years getting started in a new career, then get divorced and not receive the financial assistance you could have had you timed things differently.

Good call to those who suggested running this by the divorce atty first.

I wonder, if the D atty says its compatible with getting your optimal child support and alimony, if you could just take a class, to dip your toe in the waters? Also, a class might boost your self esteem (i love taking classes and seeing a good grade, its silly but it used to make me feel so good, even in my mid 20s!

Some states have displaced homemaker programs. They may be able to help out.

I’ll back up Warrior Princess on the shortage in the Midwest. I am not sure which state you are in, but here in Iowa, even the dental side of healthcare is in need and dental assistants have a short program through community college or even apprenticeship programs through certain dentists. A friend of my daughter became one through the apprenticeship route after deciding teaching was not her favorite job.