Career help!
Hi all,
I’m a 26-year-old active duty military officer preparing to leave the service. My background is in project and operations management, and I have a bachelor’s degree in business.
To be honest, one of the main reasons I’m leaving is burnout. My current role has been extremely high stress, to the point my physical and mental health has suffered greatly. I have incredible financial stability and benefits in this job, but I’ve realized it means nothing to me unless my career is meaningful and aligned with my interests. After a lot of reflection and speaking to other SLPs, SLP has stood out to me. I’ve always loved working with children, enjoy helping people, and highly respect the work that this field does.
My dilemma is figuring out whether it’s wise to pursue such a major career change right away, especially since I don’t currently have any experience in the SLP world. Part of me wonders if I should take a management-related job first, related to my current experience, for stability and then revisit SLP in a few years. The other part of me feels like if I’m serious about it, I should start taking prerequisites and work toward grad school while I’m still relatively young.
My tentative plan would be to shadow local SLPs during my military-funded internship period (SkillBridge), separate from the military, complete prerequisite coursework at a community college/online course, and then apply to graduate programs.
For those who entered SLP as a second career or came from a completely different background:
- How realistic does this plan sound?
- Did you feel confident pursuing SLP after experiencing burnout in a previous career?
- Is there anything you wish you had known before committing to prerequisites and grad school?
- If you were in my position, would you pursue SLP now or take time to work in another field first?
I genuinely appreciate any advice. I’ve spent a lot of time going back and forth on this decision and would love to hear from people who have been through something similar or willing to share any advice. Thanks in advance!