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Torn apart between future careers


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I have a hard time deciding whether I want to do medical technician job , special needs career , medical billing and coding , and entertainment. I do like helping others which is why I chose special needs career as a backup. Medical billing and coding is only a stable job for me just to pay the bills . I’d like to know what’s everyone’s opinions . I’m also thinking it over myself . Thanks

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I've always heard the book What Color is My Parachute is very helpful in this regard. What do you like about helping others? Are you ok with the downsides of the helping professions (to me those include often not being able to telework, having to be "on" all the time, can be very heavy in paperwork especially when working with children with special needs, and often requires phone calls/interacting outside of regular business hours. Also often lower pay (unless for example you have a phd or MD and a lucrative therapy practice.

 

As far as entertainment that is a very broad category. What specifically in entertainment?

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In the entertainment industry, I was thinking of acting or behind the scenes jobs. I've been told that I have a hilarious sense of humor. I like helping others. What I do like about helping others is seeing them be happy and the fact that I have made a difference in their life. With paperwork, I work in the medical billing industry. I've dealt with having to type over a 100 pages. I've been recommended by a friend to do medical technician jobs. I'm currently confused about what to do with my life. I searched into special needs kids because of wanting to do something more fun and fulfilling in my life.

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In the entertainment industry, I was thinking of acting or behind the scenes jobs. I've been told that I have a hilarious sense of humor. I like helping others. What I do like about helping others is seeing them be happy and the fact that I have made a difference in their life. With paperwork, I work in the medical billing industry. I've dealt with having to type over a 100 pages. I've been recommended by a friend to do medical technician jobs. I'm currently confused about what to do with my life. I searched into special needs kids because of wanting to do something more fun and fulfilling in my life.

 

What experience do you have with acting or behind the scenes jobs? It's a positive to have a great sense of humor and as you know acting and behind the scenes jobs are very competitive. Have you considered volunteering behind the scenes in a community theater for example? Working with children with special needs can be fun at times. Most of it is very hard work.

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1.) Medical technician job is recommended by a friend to me. 2.) medical billing and coding-the only kind of job to do just for stability, 3.) special needs- to help the students out more and to seek more fulfillment in life 4.) entertainment like acting- is to bring out my humorous side more.

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I don’t have much experience with acting other than a student film back in college. No I haven’t considered volunteering behind the scenes in the theater community.. aww have you worked with special needs ?

 

I think you should get the parachute book I mentioned. I think that what you wrote about why is a good start but a minimal start- since acting is a very competitive career/pursuit and since working with people with special needs is extremely demanding and low paying most likely I would get much more specific than "I love to help people" or "I have a good sense of humor". I was a regular ed teacher for a few years after college and some of the children I taught, and nannied for, and later volunteered with, children and people who have special needs. Several of my peers work with people with special needs (to me children are just like "people" -so you have to like working with people with special needs as well as 'children").

 

I would do some backstage theater volunteering, take an improv class, and volunteer with children with special needs over the next year (and yes read that book). See if you like helping out students in reality, see if you feel rewarded in reality that you are bringing fulfillment to their lives through the help you give. See if you are very good at budgeting financially and if living on low pay long term will work for you/your lifestyle and the benefits of helping others and fulfillment will outweigh the low salary.

 

I don't think acting will bring out your humorous side more in that sense - maybe after years of studying your profession, your craft, if you get roles that involve humor - then it may be a perk of going into that profession - your job will be to show people who might hire you that you can bring out that side on stage and in the right way for the particular role you are auditioning for (yes I did some acting, yes I know people in the profession).

 

For example, one of my jobs is mother. I wanted to be one starting at 19. I do love kids, being around kids, and it was one of my life goals. I am glad I had years of experience with kids before I became a mom and many years working a non-children related job where the hours were intense, unpredictable and my wonderful mentor could get very cranky at times. It prepared me for the following downsides of the job of parenting: unpredictability, sleep deprivation, stress, a lot of mundane tasks -cleaning (including a lot of intimate contact with many different bodily fluids on a regular basis), prepping, cooking, planning, organizing, being an advocate for my child (which can be very stressful), increased risk of illness, very little me time/alone time/social time. I have no regrets. Being a mom is like winning the lottery. I love it, I am blessed, I am appreciative and grateful. And one of the reasons is that I planned for this for many years both through experience and financial planning. Including taking the blinders off and not just going with "I want to be a mom because I like to help people and add fulfillment to their lives". That's one of my points.

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You can do some of these as an avocation such as theater, etc or volunteering for good causes, helping people. If you do not have a very specific degree/training/license for "helping people", then that's a long road expensive ahead to obtain. Check with your state's department of professional licences to see what you need for whatever profession.

 

This all depends on what your passion is, what your training/education is, what your innate talents are, what is practical in terms of making a living/ demand for a profession, etc.

 

I have a hard time deciding whether I want to do medical technician job , special needs career , medical billing and coding , and entertainment. I do like helping others which is why I chose special needs career as a backup. Medical billing and coding is only a stable job for me just to pay the bills . I’d like to know what’s everyone’s opinions . I’m also thinking it over myself . Thanks
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  • 2 weeks later...

"Being patient" is a good trait to have in any realm of life but it is not a marketable skill, per se. You need to get your LinkedIn profile and resume together including your current and past positions, experience etc, where you went to college and what your degree is in, etc. What organizations you belong to professionally or other charitable ones, etc.

 

Once you set up a LinkedIn profile with a well written summary of your education, experience and a professional looking head-shot photo, you can upload/sync contacts from your phone/email accounts and see who's on there that you already know and start making connections. You can also follow various companies and organizations, etc both personal and professional and review your settings to allow recruiters and companies to contact you with job offers.

My passion is helping others and making a difference. My education level is bachelors level. My innate talents are being patient.
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My passion is helping others and making a difference. My education level is bachelors level. My innate talents are being patient.

 

So get very specific about how you help others or want to - and how you want to make a difference. The other day my husband untangled impossible knots in my jacket strings that had wrapped themselves around our bedsheets, and 10 years ago he helped me by recognizing I was having a stroke and every day in his job he has to help people with a variety of situations (me too). If you asked him what his passion is he'd be a lot more specific than "helping others". And he's not looking for a job, neither am I but i was as of 3 years ago.

 

Patience is great and depends what you are best at being patient at - handling the stress of a work deadline when your secretary is working verrrryyy slowly? A child having a meltdown? An older person acting out from dementia? A person ahead of you in line at the market while you're about to miss your bus and they want to chat up the cashier?

 

Making a difference -what kind of difference? Do you want to help someone decorate their home and make it different? Do you want to change laws that exist? Do you want to potty train a 2 year old who is struggling with it? Find a way to help parents making difficult decisions about their children with special needs? Figure out how to improve a company's bottom line?

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  • 1 month later...

I will keep in mind as to what you are telling me. Right now i'm in the medical billing and coding field. As far as making a difference, I'd like to help a child overcome his or her difficulties. Before thinking of diving into this field, I'd like to do volunteering. As I volunteer and help out, I'd like to reflect on what I like or don't like. My friend and I had this talk. She mentioned that jobs would look at how you do you job vs how you are as a person. You are absolutely correct. Since I'm single and have the time and energy on my hands, I'd like to volunteer and learn about these fields. Did you enjoy working with special needs kids?

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I will keep in mind as to what you are telling me. Right now i'm in the medical billing and coding field. As far as making a difference, I'd like to help a child overcome his or her difficulties. Before thinking of diving into this field, I'd like to do volunteering. As I volunteer and help out, I'd like to reflect on what I like or don't like. My friend and I had this talk. She mentioned that jobs would look at how you do you job vs how you are as a person. You are absolutely correct. Since I'm single and have the time and energy on my hands, I'd like to volunteer and learn about these fields. Did you enjoy working with special needs kids?

 

I enjoy working with and being around kids and try very hard not to think of a child as a "special needs child" or a "disabled child" - she is a child WITH a special need or WITH a disability. It does not define her - just like you're not a "directionless adult" -you're an adult with some current challenges in what path to take. Volunteering is a great idea -will give you a taste of it for sure! I like your friend's advice. I understand people use that as shorthand but as a person just starting out see them as individual people first is my suggestion. I mostly worked with typically developing children and was not certified in special ed when I had a teaching license. I volunteered for about 7 years weekly after I left teaching with children who lived in a homeless shelter - we read to them - I think in a number of cases we made a contribution. One of the volunteers ended up starting a girl scout troop at the shelter!

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I would keep your medical billing job and take classes on the side to become qualified in something that involves more contact with who you want to work with - the elderly, the disabled, etc. and explore what you can make a career out of. It might be medical billing plus volunteering. it might be teaching. Who knows. But you need to make money. I get "wanting to make a difference" but there is no way to quantify that

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I am late to the party as I needed a very long break. I work in the mental health field with adolescents. My upmost advice:

 

It is very challenging, grueling work and it is not for everyone. If you are only looking at it for job stability, I guarantee you will end up leaving the field after or under a year. Your first year will be hell until you’ve built that strong rapport with your clients and their families. The burnout is real if you are not prepared... which is why most mental health places always seem to be hiring. And unfortunately, college classes will not prepare you for it.

 

To survive in the field you have to have the following:

1. a real compassion or feel a true calling to work with individuals with disabilities.

 

2. A clear understanding of how disabilities can impact a person’s perception, reasoning, triggers, etc. It helps immensely if you have a disability.

 

3. An unlimited amount of patience. Not just for your students/clients, but also for families who may not agree with you, an administration that may/may not support you and other servicing agencies. Remember: you might have to be that child’s ONLY advocate and your feelings of loneliness do occur.

 

 

What keeps me going are the clients and allowing my creativity to service them. Everyday is a new day and I am always doing different things with them. It keeps me always anticipating going into work! But I am the kind of person who cannot handle being in an office environment or stay on the same routine day in and day out- I am usually out in the field keeping data records.

 

If you want to make good money and deal with far less stress, go into a medical tech field.

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I agree with everything Snny wrote and wanted to emphasize "grueling" because you will find that the "wanting to make a difference" can struggle against "grueling" -bears some similarity to parenting in that regard. Reminding myself of my reasons for wanting to parent a child, remembering the blessing/winning the lottery aspects of it for me, personally don't always make the cut in long solo parenting stints especially when he is sick/getting sick (or is he/do I need to call in to work yet, etc) or trying my last nerve. And he is typically developing. I have worked with adults and children with disabilities but not full time and I know it is not for me no matter how much patience I can muster as a former teacher, or when I worked with kids in various capacities. So it's great you want to contribute in this way -we need more people like you!!! -and do not discount the grueling/grunt work aspect.

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I am only 18 years old and just starting out in University. I am also the first in my immediate family to attend college so this is very special to me and also my family. In my country women are taking a much more prominent role in their education now going for jobs in Education, Nursing(like myself), and even Business. So a lot of women here are attending University now which is about time. I am going into Nursing because like you I have also been into helping others. I have always also been told to follow your passions and not to get stuck with what is going to be the most stable job. I have been told longevity in career equals a happy career. So that is really something to think about. You don't want to get stuck in a career you hate and it be too late to do something about it later on in life.

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Congratulations to you!! I don't agree that if you don't choose early you're stuck. I know so many people who switched careers later in life including my friend who has 3 kids, is in her 30s, and switched to law school which she is now in the middle of. I switched earlier on -my mid 20s, my sister switched in her 40s. For certain careers like competitive sports or ballet maybe you do have to choose early I agree. Congratulation again.

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I enjoy working with and being around kids and try very hard not to think of a child as a "special needs child" or a "disabled child" - she is a child WITH a special need or WITH a disability. It does not define her - just like you're not a "directionless adult" -you're an adult with some current challenges in what path to take. Volunteering is a great idea -will give you a taste of it for sure! I like your friend's advice. I understand people use that as shorthand but as a person just starting out see them as individual people first is my suggestion. I mostly worked with typically developing children and was not certified in special ed when I had a teaching license. I volunteered for about 7 years weekly after I left teaching with children who lived in a homeless shelter - we read to them - I think in a number of cases we made a contribution. One of the volunteers ended up starting a girl scout troop at the shelter!

Actually adult Autistics don’t say they are a person WITH Autism. They use identity first language Autistic person, because their neurology DOES define them. You ARE your neurology and it affects every part of you . I belong to many adult Autistic groups and that is actually part of the rules . You MUST use identity first language and anything else is ableist.

 

I don’t know if it works that way for other disabilities.

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Actually adult Autistics don’t say they are a person WITH Autism. They use identity first language Autistic person, because their neurology DOES define them. You ARE your neurology and it affects every part of you . I belong to many adult Autistic groups and that is actually part of the rules . You MUST use identity first language and anything else is ableist.

 

I don’t know if it works that way for other disabilities.

 

Thanks for sharing your opinion on how it works in that group. Interesting!

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Not just that group many many many adult Autistics believe in identity first. The link is from a pro Autistic organization . It is autistics advocating for autistics. Asan.org

 

Yes I saw and thanks again for sharing your opinion and about that group.

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