Hi all,
I’m a 30 year old who has no degree/experience in either nursing or CS. I’m currently about half way through my BS in CS, while also working full time. As of right now, I’d say that I somewhat enjoy CS and programming, but I am definitely not passionate about it. Also, as many know, the job market for entry level tech/software workers is very bad right now. You’d be lucky to get hired if you just have a degree and no experience. The interview process is also very grueling and I just don’t have time to practice leetcode and work on interesting side projects while also keeping up with my coursework, working full time, and maintaining my physical health and relationships. Even if I’m lucky enough to get hired after graduating, chances are I’d only be making 50-75k (in HCOL area). I’m also very concerned about a lot of CS jobs being automated and/or outsourced in the near future, particularly at the entry level.
I’ve recently been looking at switching to nursing as a career move. But I’m not sure if its the right move for me. I guess the pros of it for me would be: high pay (even at the entry level where I live), easy to get a job once licensed, very good job security, schedule flexibility, constant learning, being able to help people in need.
The cons seem to be that it can be hard to get into a nursing program. The long hours/physical work will be hard. Having to sometimes deal with difficult patients.
I’m honestly lost as to what I should do. If I loved programming and working with computers I’d have an easy choice, but truthfully I don’t love it, and I feel like I’ll never be truly good at programming/CS because I started so much later in life than all the actual programming/CS wizards out there. Also, the vast majority of CS jobs (web dev, game dev, IT support etc.) sound terribly boring and unfulfilling to me. But given that I have no experience in the hospital, I’m not sure how much I’d enjoy that either.
Should I stick out my CS degree and pray to land a decent job in tech? Should I finish my CS degree and then look for an accelerated BSN program? Should I try to transfer into an Associate of Nursing program?
What would you do in my shoes? Thanks!