8 months in.....thinking about what's next.

I don't have any personal experience, but my former clinical instructor (whom I know work with) finished up her NP about 6 months ago. She interviewed for a lot of jobs, mostly in doctor's offices. Bottom line, between working 5 days/week and the added long hours of charting, reading labs, etc, etc, she said she would actually make far less than she does now. She is still working the same job she was before, and loving her free time (she works 3 12s). I'm sure she got a pay increase for having the NP, but I often wonder if it was all worth it for her.

I'm sure others will have far more words of wisdom for you than I, but I thought I'd throw that info in for you :)

Good luck with whatever you decide to pursue! :heartbeat

If you're good with where you're at, then no need to rush onto something else. I'd suggest taking your time to explore different options and to reflect upon what about your current job you enjoy and what you don't and how that might inform any next career moves.

Two years was the longest I had stayed at any one job for a long time. Once I got a job down, I'd start to feel bored and stagnant and like I *should* be doing something that equated to professional growth. But I didn't really know what direction I wanted to go. So I'd take another job. The first year would keep me engaged and challenged, but then as things got more comfortable, I'd start worrying about 'what next?' It was so tempting to consider grad school. I'd look at different options and imagine how great this or that would be. But since I had no clear desire for a particular direction, I held off (I already have two bachelor's degrees and don't want to return to school without a clear reason).

So when I got comfortable with my last job and determined it wouldn't drive me nuts even if it wasn't my dream job, I made a decision to stay even though the job itself was a professional dead-end. I used my free time and freed mental energy (since my job was now on auto-pilot) to explore different facets of my personality, to take non-credit courses, to reflect on what I truly enjoyed and found challenging versus what I thought I *should* want to do professionally. I went on interviews for jobs that I wasn't sure about, but were great learning experinces about the kinds of jobs out there and about how I felt about that kind of job. I went to job fairs and interrogated the representatives about their work. And then I interviewed for a clinical data job. The interview went well. I felt like it was a position I could do well in. And was lucky enough to be offered the job. I love it and hope to do more with clinical data management and information systems. It feels good to have a focus in my professional life that is based on experience and not just musings about what I think I would or wouldn't like.

If I had been impatient and put all my efforts into getting into some other grad program, I imagine that I'd have just another degree and still no idea what kind of work I *really* enjoyed.

But that's just one person's experience. I wish you the best in your life and experience!!