Re-training...your opinion please..

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My employer will pay for me to do any one of the following courses. I am in my early thirties and need to skill up. I don't have any real world skills right now - although i do hold a B.Sc. Hons in Land Management (something i never made use of ...its of little value to me now).


I would be grateful if people could comment on the courses below with the following in mind;

1. Which area would offer the best in terms of pay?
2. Demand/healthy jobs market
3. Its a medium/long term goal of mine to move to S.E.Asia ....to do so and still be employed, i would need specific skills..which of the career choices below would be most likely to put me in a position to achieve this?

Courses:

BE Manufacturing Engineering
B.Sc. Applied Biopharmaceuticals & Healthcare Sciences
B.Sc. Behavioural Science
B.Sc. Fine Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
B.Sc. Information Technology for Business
B.Sc. Manufacturing Technology
B.Sc. Pharmaceutical Science
B.Sc. Physics & Instrumentation

Diplomas:

Applied Biopharmaceuticals & Healthcare Sciences
Applied Project Management
Business Computing
Fine Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
Management of Quality Control
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology
Physics & Instrumentation
Production Engineering
Project Management
Public Relations
Quality Assurance
Supply Chain Management

Certs:
Applied Microbiology & Biochemistry
Chemical & Pharmaceutical Science
Engineering in Medical Device Manufacturing
Manufacturing Engineers
Physics & Instrumentation
Supervisory Management
Supply Chain Management
Management of Quality Control
Certified Quality Engineer
 
What is your current job/role and what do you want to do going foward? It seems like a very disparate list of courses. What one would match your current role and your plans for the future best. And, of course, which would you enjoy doing most?
 
If your employer pays for the course, he'd probably insist you continue to work with him for a year or two.
 
I see you already hold a degree. Why not try and further yourself by trying to get a Masters Degree, instead of a Cert or Diploma.

BB
 
@Clubman: Assembly line worker ie. unskilled.
@sluice44: Yes your right...unless something good came up..i could bail out but would have to pickup the course fees myself.
@Breffni Boy: If i do a masters, can it be in a totally different area of interest? Does it not have to relate to my Bachelors?
 
A masters can be done in most subjects regardless of degree. I have a science degree and am thinking of doing (and quailfy to do) an MBA Masters in Business Administration.

BB
 
As I said it's a very disparate list of courses. Could you at least rank some of them by your initial preference for studying them and working in that sort of area?
 
Having mulled it over a bit, I am tending to narrow it down to the following:


B.Sc Pharmaceutical Science
B.Sc Fine Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals
B.Sc Applied Biopharmaceuticals & Healthcare Sciences


Any views on these based on my original query gratefully received.
 
The Sunday Times, I think, had a story recently about high staff turnover in the Irish Pharma industry and how difficult it was to get replacement staff. This might imply that it's easy to get into the industry but the work is too boring/hard/repetitive that people leave asap.

Ive no evidence for this but I would think you'd have a hard time getting into the Pharma industry considering your age and non-science background. The Pharma industry, esp the regulated side, can be very boring. I knew one guy with a MSc in chemistry and his job was doing 'dissolution tests' on tablets. Basically, he'd drop a tablet into 'water' and time long it took to dissolve. Repeat. Repeat for the rest of your life.

Have you thought about 'supply chain management' or the logistics side of things. It's not industry-specific and you could sell yourself to an employer as someone who worked their way up from the ground floor.

And there's bound to be a need for English-speaking logistics people in SE Asia?
 
Thanks for that sluice44. I will give the supply chain management some thought.
I made a bad decision the last time in subject choice and want to educate myself as much as possible in deciding what I should run with;

As i see it, theres a few different angles - and I need to find the right option. Have to get a balance between
a. whats in demand ..which option offers the most job opps.
b. which option offers employment that commands a good salary
c. which option am I REALLY suited to/would i enjoy.

For anyone who has any experience related to the courses in my initial posting...I would be grateful for your comments.
 
I think you're getting a good steer so far. I especially like the advice about non industry specific training. Certainly the Pharma / biopharma industry in Ireland is very very healthy right now and for the short/medium term. The question is do you like this industry can you see yourself in it for a long haul. As was posted earlier it is regulated and is certainly not the place for the free spirit. Have you tried to analyse your personality and try to match up your interests. Try www.personalitycompass.com or a better one
there are other sites around aswell and its well worth thinking about.

Back to the non-industry specific training this is worth a thought too. Every production company needs things like



  • Purchasing
  • Planning
  • Quality
  • Finance
  • Production management
  • Facilities management
  • New Product Introduction
  • HR
  • Shipping Warehouse Logistics
The courses you mention are interesting but seem a bit specific
"Applied Biopharmaceuticals & Healthcare Sciences" is fine but what if you find you don't like the "science bit" you're a bit snookered.
At the risk of being over-balanced I would also say that if you do intend to stay in the industry long term then a science degree is nearly essential.


QP
 
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Thanks for the input Queenspawn. I have thought it over and will go with the supply chain management diploma. I also looked at other courses which I could do via distance learning but the price tag for all of them is crazy money.

I was looking at the pharma/science related courses because they are the hot jobs at the moment. Took me a while to realise that. I know it would be rough going - and i really have no idea whether i would like it or not.
 
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