Thinking about a new career

dwinterfield · Post by **dwinterfield** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:58 pm

Just curious, what do you want to do, as opposed to what you think you should do?

I realiize money matters, but at this point in your life, you really don't want to working just for the money.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:02 pm

jim stone wrote:The fact is that the average middle ager can vastly outperfrom
the average college grad--more stable, work harder,
and a good deal less likely to be illiterate. Unless
you're going to climb trees for a living or mine coal,
there's no contest.

Valid points, however the fact is that age discrimination is a very real thing for the over 35 crowd. It's very wise to track down stats regarding age group hiring within the field you choose, otherwise you may find yourself with lots of school loans to pay back, and very few job opportunities.

Hey, why not become a whistle maker, everyone else seems to be doing it?

Loren

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:20 pm

My sister has found nursing to be a good career but she has mentioned that it is getting physically very tiring to work the 12 hour shifts where she works as a substitute----she's 54 and in fairly good shape. I imagine there are all sorts of nursing jobs and time arrangements one could investigate, so I don't mention this to discourage you from nursing but just to add something to look into.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:23 pm

Cynth wrote:My sister has found nursing to be a good career but she has mentioned that it is getting physically very tiring to work the 12 hour shifts where she works as a substitute----she's 54 and in fairly good shape. I imagine there are all sorts of nursing jobs and time arrangements one could investigate, so I don't mention this to discourage you from nursing but just to add something to look into.

I've got a buddy who's been a nurse forever, he tells me that if he were to do it again (assuming he didn't have such a cush job at a VA hospital) he'd go the route of home health care nursing. Says he feels it's much more relaxed type of Nursing gig than the typical hospital rotations, and the pay is apparently good as well.

Loren

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:34 pm

dwinterfield wrote:Just curious, what do you want to do, as opposed to what you think you should do?

I realiize money matters, but at this point in your life, you really don't want to working just for the money.

Well, that's not something I'm sure of either. I've never really thought of it...at least not since I was a college student. That's kind of why I'm playing around with different ideas now (and would welcome suggestions). Unfortunately, I can't think of any way to make money out of any of my passions (not much work out there for an Irish language translator -- at least not in California! -- or for a very low alto who can hold her own in a choral setting!) I like working with animals, but there's not much of a future in that either...'bout the only thing I can think of in that line that might offer employment is vet tech, and they're a dime a dozen hereabouts.

In school I was strong in the sciences, particularly biology (but very weak in math, which is what kept me from pursuing a veterinary degree...when science and math came together in the form of chemistry, I caved) and in language (including foreign languages). I'm what you might call "mind hungry"...I love learning about stuff...but I've never been very good at putting that drive to practical use. I don't like being the one "in charge"...I much prefer working for someone to being the boss (or to being my own boss) -- in fact, I'm a pretty good "girl Friday."

It doesn't help that jobs are a bit thin on the ground here in Santa Cruz...there's not much here other than the University, Cabrillo College, and the service industry (restaurants, hotels, etc.). I hate the thought of joining the throng clogging Highway 17 to San Jose every day...at today's gas prices, a 60-mile round-trip commute isn't appealing.

Redwolf

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:51 pm

I'm reading this with great interest!

If you want to nurse, by all means jump on that bandwagon! You are NOT too old. There is enormous need for nurses in every field. There will be the need for one more very soon, as Tyghre has 'done his time' and is about to take a leave of absence and re-evaluate careers.

I was a techie type (programmer, systems analyst, tech writer, help desk) but got burned out on the corporate world and won't go back there unless my birds are starving. Vet techs may be 'a dime a dozen' if you're talking about untrained but willing help. But they're in very high demand if they're trained and licensed. (In fact, you may look at ALL the allied health fields, from cytology to x-ray tech...very hot field!)

I take it that -- like me -- you've discarded the idea of being an entrepreneur. I have had a great desire to open a knitting store, or a folk music store, or an animal grooming parlor, or a candy shop, or a landscaping business or. . .well anything that sounds like fun rather than the work it really is (and the investment it would take).

Open the career pages of your newspaper and read each and every ad. Circle the ones that sound interesting whether you're qualified or not. Any sound REALLY interesting? Research what it would take to do it. Make a career of finding your new career.

And when you find it....please let me know? I'm still trying to figure out what to do when I grow up.

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:15 pm

Tyghress wrote:
Open the career pages of your newspaper and read each and every ad. Circle the ones that sound interesting whether you're qualified or not. Any sound REALLY interesting? Research what it would take to do it. Make a career of finding your new career.

That's a good idea! I hadn't thought of that!

I have found myself wondering, as I watched various programs on TV, whether I would like working in this or that field, which is one reason nursing kept popping up in my mind.

Redwolf

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:31 pm

Tyghress wrote:Open the career pages of your newspaper and read each and every ad. Circle the ones that sound interesting whether you're qualified or not. Any sound REALLY interesting? Research what it would take to do it. Make a career of finding your new career.

That is indeed great advice, and it's something I've done all my working life, regardless of whether I was looking for a new job (or a new career). You learn a lot about yourself by paying attention to the job listings that make you sit up and say, "oh, I'd love to do that." This approach has worked a lot better for me than the self-help books (What Color is Your Parachute, etc.).

It's funny, I spent 5 or 6 years working for Earthwatch, an organization near Boston that funds field research projects by providing volunteers who work on-site and pay a share of the project costs. A lot of the volunteers were people who had dreamed of being an archeologist or wildlife biologist but ended up being accountants or lawyers etc. instead. Earthwatch gave them an opportunity to experience, for two weeks, what it would have been like if they'd chosen that other career. For many it was a life-changing experience -- lots of people quit their jobs and went back to school after going on an Earthwatch project. For others, it was an affirmation that in fact they had chosen the right path -- that they were RIGHT to have abandoned the dream of being an archeologist. I've often wished there was an organization similar to Earthwatch for other kinds of careers. Wouldn't it be great if you could spend two weeks working at some job you're interested in just to see what it's really like and whether you're cut out for it? Someone with an entrepreneurial spirit should start something like that; I think it would be popular.

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:50 pm

My wife started LPN (LVN) school at the age of 51. It was a one-year program and hard, as nursing school usually is. She is now 59 and has 7 years of experience behind her. You don't see many patient care nurses in their late fifties but she is a very young 59. When I have asked, she says she would do it again.

If that is your dream, I say go for it.

Mike

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:11 pm

The Weekenders wrote: Don't go into journalism, writing pay sucks.

No kidding. I was half way through a master's in journalism before I found out that I was making more working three days a week as an office wonk at the university than I would make full-time as a starting copy editor at the local paper. And this wasn't back during the Depression when I was in my twenties and could have afforded to endure a little penury for my aspirations; this was just a few years ago when I was in my late forties after I had given hostages to fortune (2 kids).

So I'll probably never get to work in newspaper, which is something I've wanted to do ever since I got my first whiff of newsprint and rubber cement back in 1972.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:07 pm

gonzo914 wrote:So I'll probably never get to work in newspaper, which is something I've wanted to do ever since I got my first whiff of newsprint and rubber cement back in 1972.

That's just sad.

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:21 pm

emmline wrote:
gonzo914 wrote:So I'll probably never get to work in newspaper, which is something I've wanted to do ever since I got my first whiff of newsprint and rubber cement back in 1972.
That's just sad.

Oh, I'll be OK. They don't use that rubber cement any more, anyway.

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:38 pm

bradhurley wrote: I've often wished there was an organization similar to Earthwatch for other kinds of careers. Wouldn't it be great if you could spend two weeks working at some job you're interested in just to see what it's really like and whether you're cut out for it? Someone with an entrepreneurial spirit should start something like that; I think it would be popular.

Okay folks, step right up. Anyone who would like to try out a career in educational publishing can do so right away! All you have to do is write 10 simulations for an 12th grade economics class by Friday and 20 vocabulary workshops for a middle school struggling readers program by next Wednesday. And you you can do all of this for only the trifling sum of $100 (money orders only). This is the opportunity of a lifetime! Don't let it slip away!

Seriously, good luck to you, Redwolf. I really wouldn't consider another profession for myself (except of course as a writer of best-selling and certain-to-become-classic novels instead of textbooks), but I can really see how much fun it could be to take a turn in a new direction and I hope you find what you are looking for.

Gonzo, speaking of work, shouldn't you be doing some?

Carol

scottielvr · Post by **scottielvr** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:55 pm

Tyghress wrote:.... (In fact, you may look at ALL the allied health fields, from cytology to x-ray tech...very hot field!)

I emphatically second that. Hmm...you enjoy and are good at languages... mulled that over for a minute. I work for a hospital; immigrant dynamics are changing rapidly in my area, and so they're always looking for qualified translators. A quick google later, here's this... just a passing thought.

herbivore12 · Post by **herbivore12** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:59 pm

bradhurley wrote:
Wouldn't it be great if you could spend two weeks working at some job you're interested in just to see what it's really like and whether you're cut out for it? Someone with an entrepreneurial spirit should start something like that; I think it would be popular.

Hey, sounds like a new business! Got the seed money, Brad?

I'd like to spend two weeks as a heartthrob celebrity, thanks, if it comes with the appropriate housing and entourage.

I'm not sure I'd want a dilettante doing my knee surgery, though.