Career Change Advice

Exdeus

Distinguished
Jul 29, 2012
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18,545
Greetings all.

I appreciate any advice or insight you may be able to share with me in advance. I currently am employed in a large retail operation in the management team. I have been employed by them for about three years now and graduated college prior to that with a BS in Finance. To further this, I also have the opportunity to pursue a graduate degree related to my position that would be funded by the company (MBA). Unfortunately, technology based degrees would not be applicable. I, however, do not see myself remaining in this field of work for more than a few additional years. During college I unfortunately did not make the best life decision with my major. I feel that I would have been much happier with a degree based around technology and computers. On the other hand, the current job pays very well and has great benefits which makes this decision that much more difficult, but ultimately retail sucks the life out of you. I honestly fear having to take a substantial pay cut and/or start anew with a new career field - what I believe is a very legitimate concern.

My questions to you consist of the following with the ultimate goal of myself getting into network or system security or a related field. Should I take my credits and go back to square one, achieving a bachelors degree in the aforementioned field? Should I get my MBA then take certification courses? Or, my third option, join the military as an officer and utilize this phenomenal career field to learn the skills and have the military fund further education opportunities for me. My last thought - is there a way to bridge my current degree into the network or system security field without having to start fresh and without the undergraduate background?

Thank you again for taking the time to provide me with your thoughts and insight on this. I really do appreciate your advice.