Read This Before You Quit Your Job And Go Back To School
Quitting your job seems to have become a new fad. Just open LinkedIn or Facebook and there will be someone you know, who quit their job to either start their own company or go back to school. Open Youtube, and you will find thousands of videos of people talking about why they quit their job. It makes you feel like you should be doing that too. In this post, I will focus on the second choice of going back to school and give you tips on how to make the right decision.
Why This Post?
There was a time when I considered quitting my job as a Software Engineer and going to graduate school and pursuing a masters degree (I have a Bachelors in Computer Science & Engineering). I even started preparing for the GRE exams. But, spending some time and looking closely at why I wanted to do that made me change my mind.
Now, 3 years later, I still work as a Software Engineer and I couldn’t be more happier with my decision. So, I decided I will publish an article about everything I considered and what influenced my decision, which I think could be useful to anyone considering quitting their job to pursue a higher education.
Why Do You Want To Quit?
This question seems like a waste of time but its actually super important to think about it. You have to make sure why exactly you are planning to quit your job and go back to school.
In my case, the reason I was looking to quit my job and going back to school had very little to do with actually studying. I had just started working and everything was new to me. Till that point in my life, I had spent all my life studying something or the other. Suddenly I found myself at a job, where I am expected to do stuff and not learn something. So, it took me a while to get adjusted to this sudden change. During this period was when I was thinking a lot about going back to school and pursuing a masters.
But, once I got used to the workflow and started getting comfortable and good at my job, I started liking it and going back to school didn’t seem so lucrative anymore. So, its really important to know why you are feeling the need to quit your job and pursue higher education.
Please don’t mistake me for advocating against quitting your job or going back to school. All I am saying is, if you are considering to quit, do it only if you are confident that you want to study.
The Academic Rigour
Working a job is a completely different world when compared to being a student. In a job, you are given tasks to complete, sometimes a deadline, and you have to work and complete those tasks. It can get tedious at times, but for the most part, you should be able to complete the given tasks at the pace you are comfortable with, go back home and relax.
This is not the case when you are studying as you should already be aware. When you go back to school, you will have to work twice as hard. You will have to attend classes, study for tests, do assignments, work on projects, look for proper internships, apply for scholarships, etc. Its a much more rigorous environment to be in.
So, if you have worked for a while, lets say 2–3 years, and you are looking to quit and go back to school, you might have forgotten how tough your life was as a student. Your memory might be failing you and you shouldn’t fall for it.
Studying is hard work. Remember that.
Taking this into consideration, think if you are ready to take on this challenge and only then decide if you should quit your job.
Money
If being harder than a job wasn’t enough, going back to school hits you hard in your wallet. Along with all the extra work you will be putting in, you won’t be earning any money. In fact you will be paying a substantial amount every year out of pocket (not everyone gets a scholarship).
Education in the US is so costly that no one can complete their education without incurring a debt. The Federal Reserve estimates that in Q3 of 2020, Americans owed $1.7 trillion in student debt. That’s like the total valuation of Google and Facebook combined. The situation for international students isn’t any better either.
So, if you are quitting your job and going back to school, you should be aware of what you are getting into:
- You should know how much you have in savings that you are willing to spend for your education.
- You should know how much you will be in debt when you complete your education.
- You should know about the Job Market for your major and how easy/hard it is to get a job.
- You should know about how much a typical job with your major earns, so that you can calculate how long it’ll take for you to repay your debt.
Opportunity
As I mentioned above, you should be aware of the Job market in your industry and the opportunities that will be available to you once you complete your studies. If your idea is to once again get a job after completing your studies, think if going back to school is actually necessary. You could also continue with your job and grow your career that way as well.
If you have watched The Dave Ramsey Show, you will be aware of the vast majority of American students who regret taking a particular major that doesn’t have a good job market or pays well. So, spend some time and do your research. Find out what sort of opportunities will open up for you once you have completed your studies. Find out how much an average job in your industry pays for someone with your qualifications and academic background.
Only after you capture all this information and realise that it is worthwhile pursuing a higher education, should you make the jump.
Academia
Once you complete your studies, getting a job isn’t the only option. You can continue your studies and pursue a PhD in your field and get into academia. This offers a great opportunity for you to do cutting edge research in your field and the same time, teach the next generation of students and earn for yourself along the way.
If getting into Academia is why you are choosing to quit your job and going back to school, then there isn’t much of an option. Getting into research programs or teaching at a University requires you to have a proper graduate degree or a PhD of sorts. But, you should be aware of the limitations before you make this decision.
Although pursuing a PhD and continuing with research seems like a dream, it doesn’t work out for everyone. Almost 90% of researchers end up taking a job in their industry within several years of completing their studies.
Does this mean you shouldn’t go for academia? That is not the point I am trying to get across. You should make a well thought out and conscious decision, so that you don’t end up regretting your choices later on. If you feel Academia is the right choice for you, then you should absolutely go for it.
Ask For Advice
Finally, what a lot of people don’t do is ask for advice.
Experience is the best teacher
Find communities online or offline, where people have already done something that you are looking to do and ask for their advice. Ask them what they think about their decision now. Ask them how they would make a decision if they had to do it again with all their experience.
Reddit is good place to start. You can find Subreddits for almost anything you can think of. Relevant Subreddits to look out would be:
These are some of the Subreddits that I am aware of. You could find other forums and communities online as well. Also, don’t forget about the offline world :) Ask colleagues whom you trust, ask friends and family for guidance. They will be more than happy to help you make the right decision.
Conclusion
Quitting you job and going back to school is a life changing decision. Ultimately it is up to you and what you believe the right choice for you is. I hope this article was helpful for you in your journey to make the right decision. This is what helped me make my decision. Although I ended not quitting my job, you might go through the same kind of decision making process that I went through and decide that going back to school is the right decision for you.
I hope you make the right choice, irrespective of what choice it is, and wish you all the best!
Originally published at https://benlearns.com on January 12, 2021.
