Personal Finance: Ask the Experts: I want to change careers; what's a better path: a bachelor's or vocational degree?

Q: I am dissatisfied with my job skills and am thinking about going back to school for something completely different than what I'm experienced in. I've been doing research and visiting local vocational schools. So far, I've narrowed my programs of interest to: pharmacy tech, medical assisting, medical billing and coding, and paralegal.

I have found many factors must be considered: level of interest in doing this as a career, the ability to be accepted into and complete the program, cost/benefit, the college's location and accreditation, professionalism and honesty of the admissions staff, on-time graduation/placement rates, salary/ability to pay back school loans, etc.

I have an AA from ARC in liberal arts and over 10 years of sales/customer service/marketing experience. I am somewhat overwhelmed with this process of finding a different career path.

Of the programs I've mentioned above, do you recommend one over another as far as growth, salary, job satisfaction and the like? Or is there a program that maybe I'm not considering in the Sacramento area? Do you think I should consider going back to get my bachelor's degree instead of the vocational school route?

I have looked at www.bls.gov and www.careerinfonet.org for info but wonder if you can shed any additional insight on my personal situation. Thank you.
Raja - Sacramento

A: As far as comparing your programs of interest (pharmacy tech, medical assisting, medical billing/coding and paralegal) for occupation growth, salary forecast and training programs available in this region, you should visit www.careergps.com.

You will find all of this information on one site. Career GPS also has the Interest Profiler, a tool you can use to find out which occupations are best suited for you based on your areas of interest. The Interest Profiler results could provide information needed to make a more informed decision on which career path to pursue.