I started as a computer programmer. Good money, intellectually satisfying at first. But it became a routine.
So after 14 years I applied for (and got) a position in chess administration.
That collapsed within 3 months :eek: (not my fault), so I went into teaching computing.
After a year I was headhunted into my present job, teaching chess, roleplaying and computer games.
Although I think Ianzin has a great attitude and has made himself successful, I would point out that many small businesses fail within a year. if you are planning to be self-employed (with all the benefits), make sure you take professional advice, have a business plan and enough savings to cope while the business grows.
I am on my third job, but same career. I taught at a school for 5 years looked for greener pastures so I then taught at a school in Bedfordshire. A few months later I got a phone call from my previous boss saying they needed a new teacher at my old school school and he asked if I didn’t want to go back there, which I did.
20 years in the back offcie of various banks. Really enjoyed the daily challenge of shuffling all the various papers into the right places and making everything balance at the end of the day. Always enjoyed teaching new people how things worked. Helped to phase in computers and phase out ledger cards. Then all the banks in my area failed and the remains were bought by out of state mega banks that did their work out of state.
3 years as a salesman. Horrible job and I had a horrible attitude towards it. Tried to help some people with financial planning but it fell on deaf ears. Couldn’t make a living and unhappy - a tough combination.
Last 10 years with a software compnay. Done pretty much everything except write code. Train customers, train employees, work in internal Accounting, etc. Virtually identical to what I had been doing in the banking world. Should last long enough to retire from here.
ianzin said “3. The company says it cares about you and values you. It doesn’t. The company is a machine designed to create wealth for the people who own it. If they could replace you with a machine, they would. In a heartbeat.” That is a world class truth that many people take a lifetime to learn.
Remember folks, it’s only a job. They don’t love you, they are using you (for labor), as you are using them (for food). At the end of the day it’s only a job. Go home.
Yes, but on the other hand, my parents pointed out to me you’re going to spend more time working that anything else except possibly sleeping. That being the case, you may as well do something you enjoy, or at least something you don’t hate. Having had a boss I hated and worked with people who hated their jobs, I couldn’t agree more. I have done and will do whatever I have to to keep a roof over my head and food on the table (thus the bad boss), but, if at all possible, I’ll choose a job and a field I like.
I just want to pick up on this, but I don’t want to derail or hijack this thread - which I think could be a really interesting one.
Obviously, everything glee is saying makes sense. However, I’m concerned that the first part (about lots of self-start businesses failing within a year) could put some people off. Here’s my two cents. This statistic is often bandied around, but I think it’s a bit too glib to be useful.
There are really two kinds of people who try to start working for themselves.
Group (1) take things slowly, proceed with optimism but a degree of sensible caution, don’t sink their life’s savings into things that might not work, don’t take a huge gamble with money they can’t afford to lose, and start small with very modest outlay. They look for small ways to ‘test the water’ and ease themselves into the fresh challenge of working for themselves. They think ahead on the basis of ‘this idea might work, but if it doesn’t, I can always try this other idea…’. They work hard and teach themselves new skills rather than paying other people to do stuff, and they minimise their outlay. They take ‘baby steps’ and focus on offering a product or service that people actually want or need.
Group (2) do the opposite. They scrape together all the money they can, including money they can’t afford to lose, and sink it all recklessly into untried ideas, with no research or sure knowledge that there’s any demand for their product or service, and hope to ‘get by’ on gutsy determination and a ‘think big’ mentality that is actually reckless and founded on nothing but their own gullibility. They spend money like water, on hiring other people to do stuff they could do themselves, and on premises, plant and staff that they don’t need (or don’t need just yet).
95% of businesses started by Group 1 people will easily survive beyond their first year. 99% of businesses started by Group 2 people will fail within the first 6 months.
Another thing. glee refers to ‘taking professional advice’. Again, you have to be careful. For sure, you need a good accountant. That’s a must-have, and if he’s good, he’ll pay for himself. If you are venturing into an area where relevant professional advice is needed, then okay, pursue the advice you need. However, be very wary of so-called ‘professional advice’ that is really just people trying to sell you stuff. Evey bank in the land will happily set up a meeting with their ‘professional small business advisor’ or someone with a similar title. This person will not know their backside from their arm-joint (if they know so damn much about working for yourself, how come they work for the bank?), and their SOLE function will be to sell you the bank’s services, 99% of which will be hyper-priced crap with very nasty small print. The bank’s main loyalty is to its owners and its shareholders, all of whom see the bank as a device for augmenting their own wealth.
When it comes to looking for advice, professional guidance or similar help, here’s my golden rule. Work out specifically what it is you want to know how to do. Find someone who has done it in real life, who has already gone through the learning curve. Go and see them and ask for help (‘go and see them’ doesn’t have to be taken literally these days: an internet chat can be just as useful). Be polite, don’t take up more of their time than you have to. They will give you all the help in the world, for nothing. Say ‘thank you’ and remember to help that person any way you can further down the line, when you’ve got somewhere.
Sallie Mae is a major providor of education loans in the U.S. - both government and private. With the undergrad, MBA and Law degree that Flipshod has, chances are that he or she took out a significant amount in student loan debt to finance those degrees.
The reality is that federal student loans (Stafford, Perkins) no longer require repayment if the borrower dies before repayment is complete, but private loans can be taken to the estate of the borrower.
Huh. My story is extremely similar except I was 35. I was in retail for 15 years when I bought a computer with a nice bonus from Service Merchandise. It had Basic on it, and I started messing around. I was entranced by the way I had to think, the style in which I had to think, to make a program hang together, and, not being totally thrilled about staying in retail, I said to myself, “Hmmm, Frank, I wonder if you could make a living doing this?” I poked around a bit; turns out, I could. I went to a technical college for a bit to learn the rudiments, and a couple of the common languages, then got a job and haven’t looked back. It suits me. I’m never able to express just how happy I am to have found a career that fits my personality and my mind so well. So many people never have that happen to them. I’m very lucky.
I’m 41 and currently a college student. I am far from the oldest person at my university; there are actually a surprising number of older people changing careers late in life.
What I have learned: No amount of money is worth it if you hate your job. Life is to short to waste time doing stuff you hate.
Amen. I did IT at an insurance company for about a year and hated it, hated it, hated it! I liked working with computers, but the people on my team were awful. That guy who had to work with the monkeys in that Monster.com commercial had it easy. Monkeys can’t talk.
Got out of that rut and into library school. I now work at an academic library doing what I love (and I still get to work with computers in my spare time).
I’m not really sure what I would do as a third career. Library school gave me a passion for tracking information down, so perhaps I could see myself going back to school someday to be a paralegal if only to add to my research skills on the job. I’m a bit old to start law school, and as people have pointed out above, Sallie is an expensive girl.
But all of that is Christmas Probably-Never-Going-To-Happen. I love libraries too much to ever leave.
I’ve actually had three, two of which are running simultaneously right now.
I was in law enforcement for several years, was going back to college to finish a degree in Police Science when I saw the degree plan for Management Information Systems. I made the career change then.
About 10 years later, I got into Taekwondo and became an instructor. Now I get to play with computers during the day and teach at night.
Friday is my last day at the company I currently work for. I’m an analytical chemist for a pharmaceutical company. There are things I like, things I hate, and it’s a good job for now (forgetting the bad management and such, I assume not every company is quite this screwed up) but it’s not something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. I look at my supervisor, at my managers, and I’d HATE to be in their shoes!
So we are moving back to Quebec, and I will spend some time thinking and researching. I might end up back in pharmaceuticals, but right now, the thought of that almost makes me sick. I have considered other jobs, other careers, but I can’t seem to really feel passoinately about anything. I hope the time away from the job will help me focus (you know how it is, when you always do one thing, it’s hard to imagine there’s anything else out there).
So, wish me luck, and maybe one day i’ll be the one posting about how much I love my job!
I’ve changed careers several times, and I usually have more than one thing going at a time. I hate being bored
Started out in software development (operating system design and coding). Did a lot of CAD work. Started a company with a group of partners that were electrical engineers. Learned how to design integrated circuits and did that for several years.
Sold that company, started another one back in the software business. Got a teaching credential and taught some college computer classes. Did a bunch of tech writing and ad copy. Put on a lot of product training seminars. Wrote a couple of books and a pile of magazine articles.
Sold that company, took a job designing training curricula for a big company in high tech. Wasn’t happy working for a big company.
So, finally, I moved to Montana, bought a bookstore, and went to work at becoming a full-time writer. Writing is now my primary source of income (my 20th book will be out in the next year), and the bookstore’s almost a hobby. While waiting for the royalties to start coming in, I taught some more college courses.
So, let’s see. That makes six careers, not counting the various consulting gigs:
Software engineer
Chip designer
Entrepreneur/general management
Teacher
Writer
Bookseller
My last career change happened when I was in my 40’s, and I’m very happy with it.
I can only assume you must be in a branch of engineering. I feel your pain. It is an expensive ticket for a train on a dead-end track. So much of engineering is a lost cause. The EEs have the best shot of making it into a profession rather than a string of one-night stands.
