Career change

[Harmon]

There was a thread recently about the education levels of those on EN World, it got me to thinking about a few things, one of them being employment and the position your life have taken.

I have been a carpenter sense the late eighties. Injured in ’99 I took nearly a year off, went back to soon and within a year I had re-injured myself. They retrained me to be a Project Manager/Estimator.

For the last seven or so years I have gone to the local JC off and on, gaining some skills in AutoCAD, Architecture, and such.

Presently my wife is trying to get me to complete my General so that I can get into the Nursing program. I have a real problem with math, reading comprehension and writing skills, and in HS I got a D in Biology (the only one I got). Am I ready for this?

All in all I was happy with my employment, until about the time of my injury. When I came back it was for two reasons- to prove to myself that I could do it and to pay the bills. I am at the top of my construction game right now and I am looking forward more and more each day to getting out, though its not out of boredom, its about living.

Construction is reeaaalllly dangerous, I have had more then a few close calls, and my wife gets to nervous when I say “got hired onto a Tilt Up,” which scares me too.

How do the rest of you feel? Are you looking to change? Do you love what you do enough to stick with it forever? Do you think you would ever change careers? Do you think you would feel like you were so far into your career that you couldn’t change now?

 

[DaveStebbins]

Lots of good questions here, Harmon.

I am pretty tied to my income at the moment, and it would be difficult to change fields and keep the same income level. I don't dislike what I do, and I am well suited for my job and I work with dozens of truly excellent people, which all helps. Still, I'm not particularly thrilled with my job and I work to live more than I live to work.

I don't feel a particular pull towards doing anything else instead, so I get up every day and go in and do the best I can at my current job, enthused or not. Really, I generally enjoy my job somewhere between a little and a lot. Lately it has only been a little because because I am in the middle of implementing a process policy I don't entirely agree with. Once this phase passes, my enjoyment will go up again.

In the end, I don't have any plans to change careers. I've found that in my job, as in life, I'm generally about as happy as I decide to be. So overall, life is good and my job follows.

-Dave
(through rambling now)

 

[Abstraction]

I have been in the same occupation nearly twenty years now, and I'm damn good if I say so myself. Still, I get no satisfaction whatsoever from my job. I do it for money. My real ambition is to be a stay at home dad. Seriously. Why does everyone look at me funny when I say that?

 

[Rel]

My real ambition is to be a stay at home dad. Seriously. Why does everyone look at me funny when I say that?

I don't.

Today somebody asked me about my job and I told her, "What I do lets me make a lot of money for a brief amount of time a few times a week if I'm lucky." I get to spend a lot of time at home and it allows me to spend a lot of time with my little girl. I love it.

We're not rich by a long shot and we probably never will be (not at this rate anyway) but I take a lot of pride in knowing that when my daughter thinks back on her youth, she'll remember that mommy and daddy were both there.

In conjunction that I learn lots of new things and generally work with nice people this means that I really enjoy my job. I understand the mindset of those who do what they must to earn the money and then try and spend it in ways that provide them enjoyment outside of work. But if you get the chance to grab a job that you actually like then I recommend it.

 

[WayneLigon]

I hate what I do but I can't think of what else I could do that would keep the same income level. Not much that I look at would let me do that since I'd be starting over again at the bottom at 43.

The main real problem is that I can't imagine what I would like doing for a living. All of the stuff I could possibly qualifiy for sounds equally unpalatable to me.

 

[der_kluge]

What I hate is when someone on TV, like an actor, journalist, or radio personality has the gall to say, "find what you love to do, and do that, and you'll be happy." You know, if everyone followed that motto, there would be no janitors in the world, nor people working at McDonald's.

I don't know what you make in construction, but nurses don't make a whole heckuva lot of money. Sure, there's a huge demand, but you might be better off going into physical therapy. There is an equally huge demand, and they can make really good money.

Sometimes I think that people with nothing to lose in life have more opportunities to score big and become successful. How many times have you heard stories about people with no college education who are very successful because they own all the storage units, or car washes, or duplexes, or whatever, and they just "sit back and make money hand over fist". It's because they had nothing to lose. They did it without knowing they could fail, and tried something, and got lucky, and successful at it. And they did it young, without a family, and without a mortgage, and all the other things that make older people more risk averse.

Sometimes I look at where I live and think, damn I should start my own housing development company. With a lack of housing, and a huge demand, it seems like it'd be a cinch to make a lot of money building houses. I don't know the first thing about doing that, though, so I don't. And as the sole breadwinner, I can't just stop and decide to go do something new, because we wouldn't be able to eat anymore, or afford to buy a house.

 

[Harmon]

I don't know what you make in construction, but nurses don't make a whole heckuva lot of money. Sure, there's a huge demand, but you might be better off going into physical therapy. There is an equally huge demand, and they can make really good money.

Carpenters in Monterey County make just over $28/hr

Nurses at the hospital where my wife works start at $25/hr, with per deum making just over $45/hr. Traveling nurses take in $63.

All these numbers are pre Tax.

Unfortunately the going rent around here is about $2000/mo + utilities.

I am fairly happy at what I do, but the threat of seriouls injury, and death are a daily thing and it bothers the wife. Work is getting harder to come by in todays economy, and after so much time off, with a kid on the way I need to find something more stable that will work a little better then construction.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

My wife made the change from a laboratory supervisor in the biotech industry, which she despised after 10 years, and is now a 4th grade teacher. She had always wanted to go into teaching, but in college, facing student loans, she decided to go for a career that paid better. After the birth of our second child she did not want to go back to the lab, but she did because we needed the $$$- and got laid off in a company buyout four weeks later. After talking about options, she entered a program to get her Master's in elementary education in 15 (very painful for both of us) months. She now loves her job overall and is much happier than she had been in several years. It was a big pay cut, but the reward of her improved attitude has been worth it.

I on the other hand have not loved my job, but I also have no idea what job I could do that I would love, and I don't feel it is worth giving up more financial security to try and find out. I endure my job most days and I am working on a Master's degree that I hope will allow me to shift my focus within the same industry to something I enjoy more than what I currently do.

 

[Ghostwind]

I am fortunate in that I made a massive career change about 5 years ago. I went from a 20-year career in management to becoming a stay-at-home dad of two. We were paying almost a grand a month in childcare (it is very expensive where I live) and I was working 6-7 days a week averaging 80-90 hours on a salaried income (in addition to an 80 mile round trip drive). We sat down and had a discussion, ran the numbers and discovered that if I chose to stay at home and just work a part-time job, we'd actually save money. So I did it. Within a couple of months of doing that, a door opened to a professional RPG design career and the rest is history.

It hasn't been easy, and I won't lie about that. We went from having some spendable capital to now living on a shoestring budget. But at least we don't have to worry about whether or not our kids are getting the right care and what to do should one of them get sick and can't go to school. But I wouldn't change it either. It's a rare thing to be able to do this and being able to watch your kids grow (without viewing it through snapshots) is truly memorable.

 

[Abstraction]

$1000 for daycare for two kids? That isn't expensive, actually. I pay $450 a month for one. Back in Michigan, I was paying $800 a month for one. Of course, these are actual learning places, not just babysitting.