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[brook]

edumacatedchik,

I guess I wrongly assummed from your post that you were doing student counseling on the college level, which is why I suggested serving on a committee.  I don't know how things work in a public school / middle school setting, but I would think there would be committess within the school system that faculty and staff serve on to make sure the school is moving in the right direction.  I could be wrong about this - so maybe its not an option for you at your current employer.  I know from working at my CC and knowing people in other college settings that there are a number of committees that faculty and staff are encourgaed to serve on.  My CC is unionized, and serving on commitees is one way to get promotions within the system. 

As for volunteering, there probobly isn't a whole lot that you can do on the Pre-K level except maybe to help organize fundraisers if they have them.  As your child gets older you will probobly find that the school will look for parent volunteers for a number of activites, including the PTA.  I agree that those volunteer efforts can be a resume builder, particularly if you are in charge of organizing a big event or fundraiser.

As for a resume service, I used ResumePower.com.  They are a PA based company (which is were I live), but they service anyone in the United States.  Even though they are within reasonable driving distance, I did all my work with them over the phone and over email.  They gave me a fantastic resume - I have told all of my friends about them and the ones who have used ResumePower have been very happy with their work.  Using a resume service requires work on your part - the questionaire they gave me required a lot of time and thought to complete it. My old resume (that I wrote and designed myself) did not come close to highlighting all the skills that I have.  The founder and owner of ResumePower is the Resume expert that Monster.com uses - so that should tell you a bit about their reputation.  Check them out, but do expect to pay a couple of hunderd bucks. 

[brook]

OP, one more question:

Why are you so embarrassed about your MA?  Did it come from a for-profit school /or/ online school like Walden, Capella or U of Phoenix?  Or is your MA from a regional school that may not be the greatest, but still a bricks & mortar, non-profit school?  If your degree is from a for-profit institution, then your fears of finding a good job in Higher Ed may be for good reason.  There have been a number of threads on this board about for-profit schools, and consensus is that those degree are not valued as highly in Higher Ed as degrees from non-profit B&M institutions. 

Just one last point: jobs in SA don't generally pay very well.  Even if you graduated with a new degree, you will probobly still need to begin in entry level for SA to work your way up to a director level position.  As I and another poster mentioned, directors usually have 10-15 years experience in their field.  Entry level jobs in counseling, advising, residence life, etc, will start on the low end.  I really can't say what the range would be given your geographic area, but in my area $32k is an average starting salary for entry level SA job depending on the school.  My CC actually pays more than that, but that is typical of a public school who gets funding from the school districts and the state. 

[zharkov]

I have applied to numerous positions at the local university and cc, but no one is wanting to give me a job.

Part of the problem is that it sounds like you have only been applying to a couple of places.  In higher ed, it really helps if you can apply to many, many more places.  In fact, if you have been applying to "numerous" jobs, you may have the rep in HR as the person who applies for everything, which isn't good.

[edumacatedchik]

OP, one more question:

Why are you so embarrassed about your MA?  Did it come from a for-profit school /or/ online school like Walden, Capella or U of Phoenix?  Or is your MA from a regional school that may not be the greatest, but still a bricks & mortar, non-profit school?  If your degree is from a for-profit institution, then your fears of finding a good job in Higher Ed may be for good reason.  There have been a number of threads on this board about for-profit schools, and consensus is that those degree are not valued as highly in Higher Ed as degrees from non-profit B&M institutions. 

Just one last point: jobs in SA don't generally pay very well.  Even if you graduated with a new degree, you will probobly still need to begin in entry level for SA to work your way up to a director level position.  As I and another poster mentioned, directors usually have 10-15 years experience in their field.  Entry level jobs in counseling, advising, residence life, etc, will start on the low end.  I really can't say what the range would be given your geographic area, but in my area $32k is an average starting salary for entry level SA job depending on the school.  My CC actually pays more than that, but that is typical of a public school who gets funding from the school districts and the state. 

want4year,

Thank you for the resume builder recommendation. I will check them out and see if they service my area.

My MA is actually from a for-profit school (Argosy University). I took it online, rushing trying to get into a school that would accept my low GRE scores. Hindsight truly is 20/20...

I have researched the threads (On CHE and other boards) on these type of schools and they further developed my fears. This is probably 70% of the reason I want to go back to school. I realize that I will have to put in about 10-15 years to be in a director position. Right now, I really want to get in...anywhere.. and am wondering with my "degree" do I have what it takes to even break in or even.

I go back in forth with the decision and researching many SA jobs and realizing that I have to either 1) work 5-10 years in a RELATED university setting or 2) Go Back and get a MS from a "credible" university. Both of them has given me obstacles ;Low GPA/GRE and no one is letting me in.

I forgot to mention I have a BA in Psychology. I believe that this hinders me as well.

[edumacatedchik]

I have applied to numerous positions at the local university and cc, but no one is wanting to give me a job.

Part of the problem is that it sounds like you have only been applying to a couple of places.  In higher ed, it really helps if you can apply to many, many more places.  In fact, if you have been applying to "numerous" jobs, you may have the rep in HR as the person who applies for everything, which isn't good.

Thank you for your respone zharkov

I believe that THAT is part of my problem. I need to look in other places besides where I have been looking.