Do you currently feel less than enthused about your career? Perhaps it’s not all you thought it would be and it’s beginning to become monotonous. If you’ve been thinking a career change may be in order, you aren’t alone. According to many experts, people change their careers anywhere from three to seven times in their lifetime. This means the career you start off in typically isn’t the one you finish in.
Maybe you’ve been thinking about a rewarding career, such as a career in counseling, but you’re not sure if you’ve got the time and energy to put into it. You may be surprised to learn that you can become a counselor relatively fast.
Already Have Your Bachelor’s Degree?
For those who already have their bachelor’s degree in something such as social work, sociology, psychology, health administration, nursing, humanities, public health, or another similar discipline, then you can easily head back to school for your master of arts in counseling.
Because you already have a job, and likely don’t want to give up that source of income while you’re studying to become a counselor, it may be best to look into an online masters in counseling. Studying online gives you total flexibility to keep up with your job, study from home, and basically set your own pace. There are a number of top-rated schools that offer the MAC degree online, which means you won’t have any problem getting into the program.
How Fast Will You Earn Your Masters?
So just how fast will you earn your masters? That’s really up to you and how driven you are. When you enroll online, you can earn your masters in as little as 32 months. That’s just over 2.5 years, which really isn’t much at all. At that point, you can make a career change and head down a whole new path.
What Can You Do with Your New Degree?
As far as what you’ll be able to do with your new degree, there are a number of options for you. Counselors may work in the private or public practices, the school board, in hospitals, rehabilitations centers, government agencies, or you may even want to start your own business.
As a counselor, you can work with individuals, couples, kids, or families, whichever you prefer. It will be your responsibility to identify psychological, behavioral, and emotional problems and then provide the coping mechanisms to help that person deal with their issues in a better manner.
The job outlook for this field looks particularly promising – it is projected to grow by 19% from 2014-2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a much faster rate than most occupations are currently reporting.
Get on a New Career Path
While it can certainly seem scary and intimidating to change careers, you may just be surprised with how quickly you can make can a new job possible. By earning your masters in counseling, you’ll be able to start a whole new chapter in your life and feel challenged and rewarded by your work.