Career change; advice needed

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I’m sitting here at work and I realize I’ve spent about four hours today surfing the web. I’M BORED.

The problem is that I think I’ve hit my ceiling here. But I don’t want to do what I do here, only elsewhere. I want to move on to a different line of work.

Yes, this place I work at is very nice. They leave me alone and have only a vague idea of what I do.

But I can’t just quit, I have a mortgage and a 2-year-old son (and can barely afford both–I’m taking bids), so my margin for irresponsibility is quite low.

So without mentioning what I do or where, let me throw this out to those Dopers who have managed a midlife career change: How did you swing it? What resources did you consult? Was it a radical change, or more of an evolution into a related field? Did you feel that you had to take a chance or make a sacrifice, like quitting your job and going back to school? Why did you feel you had to do what you did–i.e., when did you know you’d reached a point that you had to take action?

2

The first thing to do is figure out what you want to do. Everything else falls out of that, what resources to consult, whether it’s radical or evolutionary, etc. Figure out what you want, make a plan of how to get there, then execute.

Change is almost always difficult, but if it’s the right change, it’ll be worth it. So make sure it’s the right change in advance.

3

Gee, I don’t know … if you are leaving just because you are bored, that might be a bad decision. I have worked at over 20 companies, seems like every place gets boring after a couple years (btw I worked as a contractor, so I knew I was eventually leaving, maybe this helped me to cope?). The few places I left before they asked me to, I was working under horrible conditions with assholes-r-us.

If you are unhappy, you should certainly look around and play out your options though.

4

I’m in a similar position to the OP, although without the responsibilities. I’ve spent 10 years in office jobs & would love to get out of them, but am “trapped” by my resume. The jobs I’ve done have been mostly non-challenging and repetitive, but since I went into an entry level job straight out of highschool and moved around a lot, I never advanced in a company or got very far out of that initial rut. At this point, since I need a full time job, my best bet is to stick in the field I’m in, take classes and/or self-eductate to learn more about what I’d like to do, and have a solid knowledge base before I try to change careers.

It seems, based on my experience and the experience of the people I know, that it is absolutely necessary to have some working knowledge of a field you’re interested in switching to. I know a couple people who worked their way into a computer tech position; both wanted to work in tech, one took classes & talked a local business into hiring him, the other worked his way through sales into a computer company’s tech department. Both got what they wanted, but not without a time investment.

Airblairxxx, you are in a very good position to make changes to your life, but it will require sacrifice and time . . . start taking some classes, and use those 4 hours of boredom to learn / study. Most community colleges offer classes online, with very few occassions where you’d need to visit the classroom in person. Based on your life situation, you’d also have a good shot at getting financial assistance if your company doesn’t have a tuition reimbursement program. Take advantage of those programs, and take advantage of your downtime. If you’re not positive of what field you’d like to move into, pick some classes that sound interesting and go for it. There is no better time to learn something new and plan for a career change than when you’re in a position which allows you the luxury of doing so. :slight_smile:

5

The job situation is really bad right now too. It seems nearly impossible to get an interview (or even some kind of response to your resume) without knowing someone on the “inside”. So I guess my point would be, if you have friends or relatives that work somewhere you think you might want to work, that would be the best place to start.

6

I’ll second that, and add a general advisory to anyone thinking of switching jobs right now: unless you’re in a sweatshop, don’t quit a current job without having a new job guaranteed. I moved cross-country last summer and have been job hunting for quite a while. Two+ months of sending out my resume (2-5 per week) has resulted in exactly two companies calling me for an interview. Neither resulted in a job, and I was one of 100+ people who submitted resumes for the position. My resume might not be one to knock a recruiter’s socks off, but I am very well qualified for the positions I’ve applied for. Competition is stiff right now for pretty much any job (whoever said the economy has gotten better is full of it!).

The upside to having to get educated in one’s chosen field: hopefully by the time you’ve finished schooling, the job market really will be better. :wink:

7

Well the first thing you need to do is find out what you WANT to do. I suggest going to sites like www.vault.com and your local book store or library and read up on possible careers that you might be interested in. If you went to college, see what materials your career services dept has.

You want to know what kind of TASKS you will perform - phone, spreadsheets, number crunching, programming, public speaking, whatever. ie, what does a ‘buyer’ actually do, or a banking analyst, or a lawyer? There is more to these jobs than trying on clothes, rolling like Gordon Gecko or making wild speeches in from of a jury. A lot of their work is extremely tedius and may involve extensive travel or long hours.

Of those careers you pick, what salary range are you qualified for and how will it affect your lifestyle. ie, if you wanted to be a consultant, are you willing to travel 4 days a week? Would you be able to survive as a stockbroker or real estate agent until you build up a sufficient clientelle? Sites like salary.com, monster.com, careerbuilder, and hot jobs can give you an idea of salaries and and job requirements.

Of those careers that meet your lifestyle and salary requirements, what would be required to enter those careers. Would you need to go back to school or get certifications? Is that something you are able or willing to do?

Finally, once your ready to make your move, you’ll need a resume tailored for the career(s) you are seeking. It should be general enough to not pidgeonhole you into a particular role, yet focused enough to show a steady progression of skills, expertise and responsibility. Long resumes are better for online applications (so as to be picked up by keyword searches), short, concise resumes are better for hu-mons.

8

Many thanks for your responses so far. Sionach, good call on the online courses thing. ccwaterback, good points, too. I’ll disclose this much about myself: I work in IT in Silicon Valley, so I know about the bad job situation out there. I’m NOT about to just up and quit, I’ve had jobs where I’ve wanted to but this isn’t one of them, and like I said I have a low irresponsibility margin.

So I appreciate where I’m at. But I do want to move forward in my career.

Let me tell you about where I’m coming from: a year or so ago, I took an interest inventory test, which gauged my personality type and recommended careers that might interest me.

It said I’d be well-suited to computer programming.

Like I said: I work in IT.

It’s like that Monty Python sketch, whereby Arthur Putey, the banker, seeking adventure, is told that he should segue into lion training via something like . . . chartered accountancy.

So my two fears now are: A) That I am in fact timid, meek, boring, unassertive, and dull (and that in computer programming those qualities are a positive boon!), or B) That my life is a Monty Python sketch.

I’ll save those fears for my therapist. He’ll get a kick out of them.

But another question at hand: Anybody know any websites that they can recommend that specialize in this sort of thing? I never did the career preparation thing right when I got my bachelor’s degree (in English, not the slickest move), so I’m wondering whether I can expect to massively uproot my career path and how difficult it would be. I’d love to hear anyone’s experiences.

9

I’d suggest the sites I listed in my last post.

First of all, I wouldn’t worry too much about “personality type”. You are much more likely to be successful at a career you LIKE versus one that fits your Meyers Briggs profile.

Second, as an IT person, you can segue pretty much into any business as part of their IT or operations group. You can try and do sales for a technology-based product company (perhaps not the best fit if you are shy or timid).
Sionach - 2-5 resumes a week over 2 months is nothing and 2 interviews out of 10-50 resumes is actually pretty good. The rule of thumb is that it takes a month per $10,000. I was layed off twice this past year. The first time it took me six months and ended up in a job with some…unpleasentness. The second time, I was laid off on Holloween and had a job after the New Year. I was sending probably on average 10 resumes a DAY. There’s no reason not to when it’s so easy to send them over the Internet. It’s not enough though. I was also calling every name in my schools (business and undergrad) alumni directory as well as my previous Big-5 employer’s alumni network who had anything to do with any field I might be interested in working in.

The market is improving but if you are an IT professional who was spoiled by the 90s and thinks that you will land a job by trolling Monster for a few hours, you are mistaken.

10

Well, seeing how I have been a computer programmer for about 30 years, I guess you have me pegged. :smiley:

I don’t know if I would recommend going into programming these days. Seems like there are plenty of eager 20-somethings out there willing to work for a meager wage just to be able to write programs. I know the graphics artist part of web design is real hot, not sure how much they pay those people, but they are in high demand. Another area that seems to be fairly hot is GIS (Geographic Information Systems).

I don’t know if I would trust those online “tell me what I want to be” sites. I think I have done a few of those and they suggest either pilot or proctologist. Um, LOL, no thanks.

But anyway, keep your options open. I poke around on monster.com and hotjobs.com sometimes, just to see what’s out there.

11

I am a mid life career changer and parent as well. My change was from logistics into IT/telecom. I talked to lots of smart friends in telecom to see if it was in fact something I’d like and took some classes on my old employer’s dime. I volunteered for projects that would give me exposure and experience in what I wanted to do (it’s better than sitting around bored; oh how do I know that feeling!). When I finally quit the old employer, I took a pay cut to go to a new job that would give me good experience, and was able to move quickly into something I really enjoyed and paid decently.
Do your friends have jobs that interest you? Knowing someone in the field you want to move into is very helpful; at the least they can give you info on the career mistakes they made, and they might just know someone who’s looking for a new employee. That’s worked twice for me.
Since you are an IT person already, you might want to consider areas that will allow you to use your skills, but also develop new ones (such as project management, marketing, training, etc…) that interest you. This way you’re bringing something to the table so to speak.

just my experience; and yes it was a struggle every step of the way. But if you know you’re not happy now, what do you have to lose?