Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A First Step

Warning: This Is A Totally Non-Knitting Post

Today I took the first step in hopefully educating myself into a more secure job, or at least one that can not be easily outsourced to India.

I have mentioned before that my company has gone through some downsizing at the site I work at. At the end of September the number was downsized by 5. At the end of October it was downsized by 13 more. Now we are quickly approaching the end of November and talks of another round of downsizing have begun.


Currently we offer assistance to bankers on 3 floors inside one building (it was 4 floors up until a couple of weeks ago when we closed one floor down). We have been told that by December 1st we will able occupying 1 floor. With this moving of bodies into 1 center, it is inevitable more people will no longer call our site home.


While I would like to think that my 10 years of service with my company would guarantee me a position, one never knows anymore. I've been running the numbers through my head of how many people we have on first shift and know that those who hold my job title on the shift will be downsized. The question is who.


So what did I do today? I enrolled myself into a course through an online school that will hopefully lead me to obtaining a Paralegal Certificate. For a few months now I have been contemplating this. Yes I graduated in May 2007 with a BA in Graphic Communication, but unfortunately the competition for graphic jobs is too great for me when I am going up against the 20 somethings with absolutely fantastic portfolios. So I asked myself what else interests me. The answer was the law.


There was lots and lots (months and months) of research into finding the right online school for myself. I needed to find one that was good (accredited), had a payment plan and would work with my time frame. So today, I bit the bullet and signed up for 1 course at a reduced rate to see if it was truly the right fit for me. If it is, I will then sign up for the certificate program and, because I could take 2 courses at a time, will hopefully have completed the certificate in 7 months.


You should have seen me hovering over the submit button today wondering if I was making the right choice (and because I was handing out a chunk of money for testing things out). I was definitely feeling more at ease when one of the counselors from the school called me within 2 hours of signing up for the course. She was a delight to speak with and answered all of my questions. Now let's just see how the course goes. It's an intensive 4 week course that starts December 8th.

11 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your big step of additional education!!!!! Hopefully, also a step in reducing a bit of the job-related stress you probably have been feeling. Yeah for you!

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  2. Good luck. I wish you all the best with your new career plans.

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  3. I want to commend you on your courage to follow your dreams, and do what you feel is right in your heart. No matter where you work, or how long we are at our current employer, just remember that I see you not as a coworker, but as a sister who is near and dear and close to my heart. You will always be. I wish you all the best in the intense program. The only constant in life is change.

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  4. You are so TOGETHER! What an excellent plan. Once you have your certificate let me know and I will talk to some lawyers I am friends with and get your resume shopped around. Be warned that the field your are entering is an a-hole intensive field.

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  5. Congratulations! What a smart move! I hope you enjoy it!

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  6. Congratulations on taking that first step! You'll be fine...I can feel it! And frankly, we live in such a litigious society, lawyers will always be around and need paralegals (because they won't do their own work)(Kim being the exception).

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  7. Good move. Our world isn't anything like it was 20 yrs. ago. What even felt permanent 5yrs. ago is now very unsure. Change is ever present & happiness is in the ability to go with the flow. Trust me on that. :)

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  8. Awesome! I look forward to reading more about this new adventure of yours! :)

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  9. Good for you! You can never be too sure about a company taking care of you no matter what you put into it. Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy it!

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  10. That's fantastic! Congrats! I finished a certificate program here in BC that is called Legal Administrative Assistant. That was back in 2004. None of the law firms here will hire you if you don't have that certificate. If I move back to the states it's useless though. LOL
    I can't wait to hear how you like the first class. What is the first class you enrolled in called?

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  11. Good luck! More education can only be a good investment, and it sounds like you've really thought it through, so I'm sure it's a good choice. I know how stressful company downsizing feels and taking charge of your own choices is the best thing to do.

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