Career changes

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:17 am

How many times have you changed your career?

I'm growing increasingly disillusioned with mine and am thinking of changing.

I would like to make the world a better place and be outside more. But I'm not sure if I should start all over again or if I should just tough it out for a while more and hope I'm not asked to attend a lot of training for something I'm losing interest in.

Any thoughts?

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:45 am

I suppose it's never too late to change the course of your career.
Earlier this year I went back to school for a second degree (this time in Computer Science) because I want out of where I'm at right now. That was, of course, before my promotion to a mid-level management position, so my course could still go either way, but at the very least I'll have one more option open to me if I ever get tired of where I'm at.
The company I'm with now offered to transfer me to their IT/Development department in PA after I get my degree done, but I think I'll be back in Canada by then.

djm · Post by **djm** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:51 am

I keep thinking about getting outside, and moving around instead of sitting at a desk all day. But who would pay me as much or more than I'm making now for doing something I might actually like to do? It seems to me that manual labour is paid low wages because it's preferable to a desk job. I guess the higher pay is supposed to compensate me for sitting on my butt all day.

djm

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:55 am

mmmmmm....butt-pay......

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:07 am

I do not believe in money as the source of happiness. I witness too much every day where sacrificing for money gets you.

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:18 am

sbfluter wrote:I do not believe in money as the source of happiness. I witness too much every day where sacrificing for money gets you.

But paying your bills is a pretty big motivator.

As djm alluded to, it may be difficult to make a living wage off work that one would find enjoyable - at least without a great deal of education or experience in that field.

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:24 am

I volunteered at a local job center for two years. A good percentage of folks that I worked with decided on a career change. Most had a hard time doing so, though a few exceptional folks made it through without major setbacks.

A couple of stats I remember are that the average job last three to four years, the average career, seven years. Yes, a few exceptional individuals still do the 30 years in one career, one or two companies, but that percentage dwindles each year.

One factor to keep in mind is that being outdoors is fine and dandy when a person is young and healthy, but becomes more of a strain as a person ages.

One of my friends decided on enrolling in an accelerated nursing program (2 1/2 years instead of 4 years). The dropout rate in that program was about 80%. Another friend enrolled in a prestigious interior design certificate program (4 years part-time, 2 years full time). In that less rigorous program the dropout rate is about 50%.

As I have written before, a person can make the world a better place, no matter what their paid job is. A person that volunteers 10% of their time, gives 10% of their income can make a huge difference and experience many rewards.

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:27 am

I used to work outdoors a long time ago. I really miss feeling and smelling the changing of the seasons. I was so grateful when I finally came indoors.

Now I am tired of sitting in front of a space heater all day even in the summer time. I curse the invention of air conditioning. Office politics are not too endearing, either.

In any case, it's possible a career change could result in more money. But it's so much work to start over. I've been doing my current career for about 8 years now. I'm very conflicted. I used to have a measure of "guru" status at it. Now I feel uninspired by what I do.

djm · Post by **djm** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:56 am

BillChin wrote:gives 10% of their income

Only rich people can afford to think like this.

sbfluter wrote:Now I feel uninspired by what I do.

Who ever said you should be inspired by what you do wasn't actually working for a living, more working as a hobby. You do what you can to get by. The rest is all pie in the sky. If you do well enough to not only get by, but have a little extra to enjoy life sometimes, you are doing better than 90% of the human race. Enjoy it while you can.

djm

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:38 am

djm wrote:
BillChin wrote:gives 10% of their income
Only rich people can afford to think like this.

...

djm

I used to think like you, but have I have changed my ways. I see a good many folks sometimes spending more than 20% on their musical instruments, tech toys, vacations, and/or other hobbies. It is a choice. Giving may not bring as much of a short term fun buzz as buying a new flute, or Ipod, or expensive vacation, or whatever, however, long term, I believe it can be more nourishing and fulfilling. I'm not asking folks to devote their entire life to service, though that can be the path for a few. Almost everyone can find a way to give. If not 10%, then 2%, or 3% or 5%.

Many of the very rich give a much higher percentage (though there are some that are like the proverbial Scrooge and try to keep it all). I meet many middle class Scrooges as well, and perhaps a visit from the three Christmas spirits this winter can open their hearts.

I believe that no matter how poor a person is, they can find a way to give. If a person has very little money, 10% of that very little isn't much at all. If they have zero money, then time, which has a monetary equivalence value. Those that believe they are too poor to give, remain poor in spirit as well as poor in the pocketbook. That kind of poverty of spirit can actually be worse than monetary poverty in first world countries (not so much for the $1 a day third worlders).

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:52 am

I have vet-teched,
attempted to sell real-estate (so have the wrong personality for that,)
mixed paint, made keys, and sold fasteners in the family hardware business,
gotten half-way through nursing school, (again, wrong personality,)
raised children full-time,
managed rental properties and investments,
and now,
thanks to a reasonable amount of success with the last two (not to mention the children, who are pretty cool,)
I'm able to finagle time for what has always been my avocation anyway--writing middle-grade fiction.
Someday it will pay. Or not.

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:05 pm

BillChin wrote:A couple of stats I remember are that the average job last three to four years, the average career, seven years.
...

One factor to keep in mind is that being outdoors is fine and dandy when a person is young and healthy, but becomes more of a strain as a person ages.

...

A person that volunteers 10% of their time, gives 10% of their income can make a huge difference and experience many rewards.

Wow, so maybe wanting to try something new after 8 years doesn't make me a freak.

As far as the outdoors goes, I live in a pleasant climate. The variation is only a few degrees north or south of 70 on any given day.

I really really disagree that volunteering and giving is only a "luxury" for the rich. I live somewhere full of very rich people. You don't see them out planting trees or working at the hospital or teaching people to read. You see the ordinary folks doing those things.

This weekend on a volunteer project I met a man who plants trees for the city as his job. What was the volunteer project? Planting trees! He loves it!

What I would LOVE to do is just quit without a job lined up and spend all my time volunteering. Seems like a great way to learn new things and get opened up to possibilities you don't know you have when you're locked in the 9-5 all the time.

I'd also love to just quit and hike the Pacific Crest Trail. I'm still young enough (I think so anyway) to do it.

I have the money saved up to do either one. But do I have the guts?

djm · Post by **djm** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:29 pm

sbfluter wrote:What I would LOVE to do is just quit without a job lined up and spend all my time volunteering. Seems like a great way to learn new things and get opened up to possibilities you don't know you have when you're locked in the 9-5 all the time.

I'd also love to just quit and hike the Pacific Crest Trail. I'm still young enough (I think so anyway) to do it.

I have the money saved up to do either one. But do I have the guts?

That is a whole nuther ball o' wax from your initial post about a career change. If you have the luxury of not having to work for a living you are in a very rare position.

I would say go for it, for sure. You obviously have no constraints as to family, debts, need for heating or clothing, so what's to hold you back? Fear of the unkown, perhaps?

djm

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:32 pm

Might as well work through the winter...by the time ya get up here the PCT will be hard to find.

It's not that bad except for crossing the major highways, or going through the really big passes...same thing, innit

crookedtune · Post by **crookedtune** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:32 pm

I converted from newpaper/magazine/technical-writing jobs to 'information-technology' positions about 27 years ago. Money was the motivator then, and money is what has kept me in it. It's not my dream-job.

About all anyone can do is attempt to find their own balance of what's rewarding (or at least tolerable), and what's practical. It ain't easy.