How now, brown cow?

Alcohol is your friend.

[spoiler](Sorry, at work, I'll post some better advice later.)[/spoiler]

Why not do the job you have now and do the study you want to do... just look at it as an expensive hobby.

You are very much focussing on the destination (certification after a long 6 year road). Why not enjoy the journey. You can probably do it in 10 years as well...

Hey, I've heard that argument before and I don't understand it very well. It's everything or nothing?
Why not try? Why not stop halfway? Perhaps get the Bachelor. Or less, and then you'll get certificates or whatever. But at least you can say you tried.

It is different of course when you're thinking of switching job / career completely, then a couple of certificated get you nowhere. But to try, or to see if it is as much fun as you thought it would be, why not.


Maybe find out first if that's really the case. Sometimes it looks nice on the CV but you could get the job without it as well? It makes sense it would increase chances. Of course I don't know anything about your professional field. I'm not even sure you like your work much? Or should I say "enough' , to do the rest of your life?

Well, like I said, it's advice from someone who can't even decide for herself. The blind helping the... what's the expression? I'm very much considering the same kind of decisions and I've decided to go for the most practical option in this phase of my life. The other one I can still do when I'm 35. Or 70.

Well, I'm finishing my training right now, so I'll be bachelor of education (tweedegraadsdocent: vmbo, mbo, onderbouw havo/vwo). I would really like to continue for a master of education (eerstegraadsdocent: bovenbouw havo/vwo, hbo). But, there's also my all time dream, to study philosophy. With the bachelor I could do a premaster and master philosophy, but it's far more expensive than the master of education and far more complex when it comes to week planning and kids and everything.

So, I will probably go for the master of education, which is going to be a lot of fun. But it is a training for teachers and I'm not sure I will be a teacher the rest of my life. As most of the time with me, I enjoy the study or training more than the profession you're being trained for... I like the theoretical side of it all more than the practice of teaching. Still, I see it as a nice road to go. Plus, teaching is a job you need to grow in. It takes 5 years at least to find out if you really like it or not.

And philosophy, well, if I make money teaching, and my children are older, then perhaps later on I can find the time and money to do something like that. Or, perhaps the need will be gone when I like my job a lot.

Funny, it really IS the same dilemma.
The great thing though is that a Master's in education really seems something you'll enjoy, so at least the lack of pleasure isn't something that would hinder you.

I, too, would be a student all my life if I could: the continued (structured) pursuit of knowledge is something I love dearly!
But yeah, it isn't very practical.

Perhaps I should think about a similar scenario: go for the MSc, and THEN go for History... except knowing myself, I'd probably want a PhD first.

What was your major for the BSc?
A Masters in Business Administration is not going to be an extension of the BSc degree, right? It's a focus on business, which, I am presuming is different from your bachelors degree. In that sense, if the technical part of your current job is what you find boring then it will perhaps be different if you're in a managerial position (not doing much tech). Then an MBA seems like a good option. Btw is MSc in Business Administration different from MBA?

Can you take some of the History courses while you're doing the MBA? Sort of get your feet wet so you'll know if it's worth taking the plunge.

If you can talk to students currently in the programs that you're interested in, you'll have a better picture to help decide.

Whatever the case, it's admirable that you want to continue with a higher degree. All the best and more power to you!

Yes, I also believe the answer is already there: meaning that you'll probably already have a feeling inside of what to do.

Very fair questions, Bregt.
Here's the thing: much like Bregje sees philosophy, I really don't see history as a "career" choice. It's deep, pure personal interest, with a view towards understanding the present. I can see cycles repeating, and I do not fully grasp why, mainly due to a lack of formal academic knowledge. I am currently incapable of using and fully understanding theories to help me understand.

And while I've tried, it goes beyond what I am capable to achieve on a pure hobby basis: all the material is out there, but I have no structure. No beginning or end to help me on my way (and I am -amazingly- quite poor at creating structure out of nothing. )

That said, I just realized that that is something I have actually learned very well in my BSc.
Hm.


Yes and yes.



Business ICT, or business informatics (there's no comprehensive English translation to do it full justice).
Basically it involves the application of information technology and business administration to solve business problems. It focuses on IT solutions to business problems, but is solution and process oriented rather than technically.



It could be, as would any other Masters in Business.
There would have to be an intermediate pre-masters year to make sure the curriculum for the University's masters is met. Which is annoying. But hey-ho.



Apparently...but I'll be damned if I know what the exact differences are! The curriculum sure looks similar. (But somehow an MBA is about ten times more expensive, and -at least in Europe- companies are slowly starting to recognize that an MBA degree has been sorely overrated for years...




It would be a grand idea...but NOT next to a 40+ hour work week.
I wouldn't last six months before major meltdown.



As per usual an excellent suggestion, Tom.
I sometimes forget how useful a simple list can be. Rather than keeping things inside and mulling them over and over and over again, listing them creates a very good basis for analysis.

I really should have thought of that before.
I'm way too cerebral at times.



Hm. That's a good idea as well.
Right now I only have a rather abstract, theoretical view.
To be honest though, I would see a Business Masters right now not as a career change, but rather a vehicle to elevate my current career (which already involves many of the skills and tasks ingrained in such a degree) to a higher level.

That said, I should probably have a chat with some History masters, though.
While I have a very clear idea of what I want from a Masters like that, I don't actually know if the current curriculums can facilitate that! University is not really a "pick'n'choose" environment (more's the pity).

---

Well, thanks for all your suggestions and insights so far, guys.
It's really helping me in steering this minefield.

You'll be glad to know that in the meantime I have reached one definite decision anyway: FIRST I'm getting my driver's license.

Yeah. I know.
For that very reason I've held off for as long as I did (and well, I didn't really need it )

On your own dilemma: isn't there a University Of Applied Sciences (HBO in Dutch) that teaches a Philosophy masters? Guess there's not much of a chance of that, is there?

If I understood you correctly, Martijn, I think I can relate very much to your present conundrum.

I was 11 years in the university and went through ALL the levels. First bachelor, then master, then a degree which is somewhere between current master and Ph.D. (this was in 2004, before they converted into international standard), then lecturer and finally assistant professor. Suddenly, I realized that I was 30 years old and hadn't even TRIED to realize the dreams I had of working more creatively in a media institution. I had just chugged along in an environment I was relatively comfortable in. So I quit academia and started from scratch as a caster in various TV programs (this was 2008). Far too late, of course, and I soon realized that I should have started orienting myself towards the media industry WHILE I was studying, and not only be a full-time student. I'm now caught between a rock and a hard place, as I have trouble landing more TV gigs and I seem to have lost most of my connection to academia.

So what's the moral of the story? Perhaps to think longterm and begin orienting yourself towards whatever profession you WANT to work with as early as possible.

Then again, you may fare better as your education seems very hands-on, extrovert and easily applied to concrete environments (the business world), whereas a pure aesthetician like myself is left with hopeless recruiting possibilities in relevant industries.

Good luck!