Need a different career

Hi All,

Has any-one on this forum changed careers succesfully?

I work in IT at the moment, Business Intelligence to be exact, so spend my days writing code, mappings and queries to keep a datawarehouse up and running, writing reports etc..... and I am sooooo bored.

I'd really like to have a career that isn't so dependant on computers, well PC's i suppose to be exact.

Everything I look at requires a long expensive training period, and/or doesn't pay as much as my current job. With a family and a mortgage that is important.

Sorry if this sounds like a moaning post, its not meant to be, i'd just like to find out about other peoples experience of changing careers, what they started out doing and what they do now.

I can't give you any personal advice on changing careers, as I have never really done so purposefully, however, I think the key to unlocking your answer is in the quote in your signature. Knowledge is the only thing that will really be able to help you switch careers, well, knowledge and courage really. So, I guess you have to figure out how motivated you really are to making the change and perhaps give that new training a second look. If you really want it, you will find a way to make it so.

Join the military. They could always use the help.

I'd be thankful that you have a job in this current climate.

However I do empathise with your situation. I too am in IT and know for a fact I will not be able to change careers without loosing a big chunk of my salary.

I suppose you need to make a choice, money, or new career.

well, here's my plan.. because I too work in technology (dev side, not IT) and loathe it on a daily basis. My wifes finishing up her advanced degree and will be getting her CPA.. once that's complete I'm going to go back to school so that I can go play with rocks.

All it really takes is a plan, and perhaps some preparation

My career has been Landscaper > LEO > Landscaper > UNIX > ??? Guess Landscaper is in my future again at some point. I like playing with rocks too!

I'm just tired of being inside, and not really SEEING the results of my labor. I think I preferred being a carpenter to be honest

But I love checking out the local geology... which, since I live in between the top and bottom of an ancient volcano.. lots of that to check out

i've seen plenty of people changing careers successfully before. but i suppose your current job is pretty decent i wouldnt have an idea why you would want to switch

Just be thankful for what you have. If you really want to change then you need to go back to school. Full time job plus night school just screams of fun.

kalevine102 said:

i've seen plenty of people changing careers successfully before. but i suppose your current job is pretty decent i wouldnt have an idea why you would want to switch

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there is far more to fulfillment in work, as well as in life, than money

I don't know how much money you guys make but in the U.S. if you make below 250,000 dollars a year you are considered below middle class.

Even so you can still live comfortably.

An idea from me:

If the wife is working, then you could enter the trades. Apprentice then get qualified. The only catch would be what trade to pick and would it be enough cash to support your current lifestyle.

For me I'm in a trade. Hospitality as a chef. And I like it. But it;s up to you. As you'd be learning and earning at the same time. ANd very different from your old IT job.

I left my old job and went to grad school for a new career path. I have a mountain of student loan debt, but that's ok with me. Even if I ended up with some other job and a pay cut, it would have been worth it to get out of that work. Of course, I didn't have a family or mortgage to worry about. If that were my situation I probably have just dealt with it.

I think I would have to agree that you should probably try to look on the birght side that you have a job, and what seems to sound like a well-paying one. Maybe you just need something else in your life to make it more enjoyable in general like getting more involved in your hobbies or making some other changes for the better.

Things are definitely different than a few decades ago. People used to generally stay in the same job, or company, for years regardless of how they felt about it. Work was work, and that's all there was to it. Now people change companies and careers all the time. I think there's a time to change when you can and a time to settle in and make the best of it, focusing on more important matters. Are we all becoming too self0indulgent and unwilling to make any personal compromises?

I completely agree with you, fleurya.

Peter Gibbons: "What if we're still doing this when we're fifty?"
Samir: "It would be nice to have that kind of job security."

-Office Space

Had to throw that one in there, love that quote.

fleurya said:

Things are definitely different than a few decades ago. People used to generally stay in the same job, or company, for years regardless of how they felt about it. Work was work, and that's all there was to it.

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There used to be some stability in staying with a company for a long term. Now that's no longer true. In fact, often in my experience the person that's been there long term is more expensive and will be more likely to be laid off to be replaced by someone more junior, who is in turn replaced by a comparatively unskilled recent college grad. At least this is how the technology industry pretty much runs. I've seen too many 25-30 year PLUS employees laid off to not be jaded

"You are irreplaceable. Your position, however, can be restaffed..."

My favorite ones are when they get rid of a position, so they can call it a layoff, then create a new position title.. or same title in a different organization internally and hire someone at 1/3rd the cost.

Dysfunction said:

I'm just tired of being inside, and not really SEEING the results of my labor. I think I preferred being a carpenter to be honest

But I love checking out the local geology... which, since I live in between the top and bottom of an ancient volcano.. lots of that to check out

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You probably live in the most interesting area in the country to be a geologist!