I tried searching for threads on this but I didn't find what I was looking for. Sorry if this has been asked before.
I realize a big part of the MMM philosophy is to spend less and increase your savings rate. However, I feel like the other side of the coin is that increasing your earnings helps accelerate this process. I'm wondering what kinds of careers I should be looking at that would help me increase my earnings without having to go back to school.
I'm currently a teacher in China. I've been here for two years and plan on staying a third. This has so far been a great choice for me, as I've accomplished a lot of personal goals and grown as a person. I've lost and kept off over 40lbs, paid off all but $5K of student loans (which should be gone by summer!) and am working on my Mandarin. My main reasons for staying another year are that I like my job, I can save a decent amount, and I would like to improve my Mandarin to an acceptable professional level. That being said, I'm already nearing the top of my potential career growth here without getting a US teaching degree, and I don't want to be a teacher the rest of my life or if/when I return to the US.
My plan is to work this year, focus on studying Chinese, and save as much as I can to "buffer" against career uncertainty. I plan to take the Foreign Service Officer's Test this fall, but that's a 2 year total application process and only something like 1.5% of people make it through the entire process. It's basically my dream job despite medium pay, but I know my chances of getting in are very slim. I have however decided that I'm tired of living in China and am ready for a change of scenery, I'm thinking of returning home to Colorado next summer (July 2016). I've also considered moving back to Germany or Spain, but I'd like to spend some time at home first. If I do need to pursue a masters degree, I'd probably try to do it in Germany where it's much cheaper than the US.
Basic stats:
25 years old (will be 26, almost 27 when I come back) female.
Bachelor of Arts from a top 30 liberal arts college in International Political Economy
English native speaker, fluent in German (lived there 1 year in high school), passable in Spanish (studied ~10 years, studied in Spain and Mexico, rusty but could get back up to professional level quickly), passable in Chinese (hoping to pass the HSK5 fluency exam next year).
5 years experience as a Computer Lab technician (in college)
1 year as an English teacher, plus some time teaching and tutoring in the US
1 year teaching AP Microeconomics and IGCSE Business Studies (will be 2 years after next year, adding AP Macroeconomics)
I worked in the computer labs in college so I have decent computer skills, specifically in GIS (a mapping program, commonly used by the US government) but no actual certifications. No huge desire to end back up in a computer lab or to learn programming, but if that seems the best option I would consider it. I'd much rather a career focused on something else (finance? policy? international business?) in which I could use my computer skills as a bonus to my work, rather than the main focus.
I've considered consulting. I don't think I have a strong enough background to get in with a top firm, but maybe I could get in with a small boutique firm or start my own group. My career counselor in college advised this when I decided not to try for law school, and a few of my classmates went directly into consulting after undergrad. I know it's a TON of work, but it pays well and seems exciting, at least while I'm still young and energetic. I would think there would be some demand for advice on working with companies from China, Mexico, and Germany.
I've also considered something banking related but I'm not really sure what my options would be. Not really interested in investment banking or anything incredibly high stress. I was pretty young but aware when my dad's day trading company imploded and it left a pretty bad taste in my mouth, even though now that I'm older I realize there was a lot of other stuff going on.
My uncle owns a company in Nogales, Mexico and my cousin is in Guadalajara, so I've debated either going to Jalisco to visit my cousin or asking my uncle about an unpaid internship so I could help him out in exchange for learning more about his business and improving/remembering my Spanish. His company makes fishhooks and feathers for arrows, so not really an exciting field, but maybe valuable to learn about international trade from the business perspective?
Basically I know I have a lot of options but I'm pretty clueless as to what they might be or where to begin looking. I miss home so I'd prefer to go back to Denver/Boulder but I know they're pretty expensive right now and maybe not the best place for someone with a very international focused skillset. I'd be willing to consider almost anywhere along the West Coast and mayyyyybe Washington DC. I would also consider Europe, but right now might not be the best time. ;)
It's probably obvious I'm really unsure what route to take here. Teaching abroad and the State Department are the two jobs that have truly resonated with me, but I'm pretty burnt out on teaching and I know I need a backup plan to the Foreign Service.
This group seems to be full of experienced high earners from a variety of fields, so any advice as to where to start looking would be appreciated. What careers should I look into? What skills might I work on this year to improve my chances?