OK, time for a career change??? (a bit long, and kind of serious)

In My Humble Opinion
1

(before I go any farther, please forgive me in advance for getting silly and emotional, which I’m apt to do right now.)

I really, really hate what I do for a living right now.

I work in the TV industry. Specifically, I run the engineering department for a local television station (well, TWO stations, actually - we bought a second one this summer and we’re running the two of them from one building now) and I used to love it.

I loved the challenge of taking on new projects all the time. I love designing and building systems and making them actually work. I love to innovate and solve problems.

But as of late, I’ve become more and more of a manger and less and less of an engineer. I guess it goes with the territory - I worked myself in to a senior management job, so I have to be able to deal with the stuff that goes along with that. That said, however, I’m sick of laying people off, cutting budgets beyond the bone and living with this constant feeling that not only am I hurting people that I work with (or used to…) but that I’m really helping to contribute to a medium that has become increasingly vapid, stale, irresponsible and concerned only with the price of the stock today.

I’m in the mood for a career change I think. And this time, I mean a BIG career change. You see, I’ve been doing this basic kind of job (radio & TV broadcast engineering) for almost 25 years in various capacities. I spent some time early on in computer manufacturing, but that was short term. I’m a broadcast engineer and that’s what I do. I hold various certifications and memberships in various professional organizations. In other words, I’ve invested a fair amount of time and personal “stuff” in my career. I’m actually proud of my accomplishments and what I’ve created over the years.

That said, however, I’m sick of it.

The problem though is that I’m not sure how to even start thinking about a change. Part of the reason, I’ll admit, is the “golden handcuffs” syndrome - I have a nice mortgage, a nice motorcycle payment and several other nice bills and I have to admit that I like the money I make. Part of the reason, however, is just plain fear. Fear of making a change as large as I’m thinking about.

(Oh, and before you ask, I’ve not actually put a specific “what” to this big change yet - I’ve run everything from going back to school to driving a cab to making donuts to becoming an airline pilot though my skull…)

I’ve also tended over the years to be one of those people who “live to work” and I define an awful lot of myself in terms of my profession. I think of myself as a broadcast engineer (and a damned good one, I might add) first and everything else second - not too healthy, I realize, and I’ve been trying to shift focus in that area lately.

Like most people, I have a lot of interests. Photography, drawing, motorcycling, sailing, building Jeeps, etc. It would be great to make a change of career that would allow me to make use of some of my other interests and lay off the techie stuff for a while.

I don’t know, maybe it’s just plain stress and being pissed off with current situations at work (we’re going through some more mandated cuts and we’re already working 16 hour days) and I’m being grumpy. I told my boss, in private, today that if I wasn’t leaving for two weeks vacation in three days, I would have resigned.

So, exactly why did I start this post? I guess I’m looking for ideas?? I think I’m looking to see who among you amazing Dopers out there has overcome the fear and uncertainty of this kind of thing and made a major life change like this?? Where did you start? How did you figure out where you were going?

… sigh. I don’t know whether I feel better or not, but at least that’s all out.

2

. . . As I am sort of in the same position: burned out on my career; afraid to give up my paycheck. How old are you? Do yoiu have anyone you’re supporting?

I’d say, at least investigate changing careers . . . Save up some money, make sure you COBRA your insurance plan and give it a go!

3

Babe - while I don’t have advice for you right now, I didn’t want this to fall off the page - I bet there are a lot of folks going through this type of thing right now given the economy (not that you are - just because the job market can really stink right now and people are getting laid off everywhere, etc. etc. sorry to ramble) - and is it ok with you if I email you personally?

4

Simul-pity posts!

5

I’m not sure I have advice, but I’m at least chiming in to offer support – not pity, mind you. You have nothing to need sympathy about; you’re just confused about what next step you want to take in life. First, I recommend you e-mail ** Manda Jo ** 'cause she’s really good at this sort of thing and is starting a column in Teemings.

Point being: I’m going through the same thing. I hate management, which is what I do, because it’s taking me away from why I got into publishing in the first place: I haven’t written a decent thing since I took this job nearly six years ago. (And I’m not counting my corny Teemings submission which you will all see in December. I was just trying to get the rust off my writing muscles.)

My approach – as it usually is – is to put things down on paper. First, list all your interests outside of work. Then brainstorm ways to make a living from those interests. Then research and figure out what steps you’d have to take to change your life in that direction. This process helped me narrow down my list quite a bit. Example: I love gardening and grow a lot of herbs for cooking. My brainstorm idea was to open an apothecary here and grow my own herbs, make and sell medicinal herbal remedies. As I researched what it would take to get there, I realized it isn’t very feasible for my life. That is, I’m not willing to go to that complicated extreme just to make a change. So I backed off that idea and came up with a good idea for an herb book. Then I came up with a couple other ideas that turn out to be ways to pay the bills while I pursue writing as a career.

I have to put myself in a financial position to be able to work fewer hours or take a job with lower pay in order to free up enough time to get all these fun little projects cooking. So I can quit my job and be free of the rat race once and for all.

I saw this on the boards, but I can’t remember who the quote is attributed to, “The problem with the rat race is that, even if you win, you’re still just a rat.”

So I encourage you to explore ideas and support your efforts to do so. Just remember, change doesn’t happen overnight. It took you a long time to get to the position you’re in, so it will probably take a long time to put yourself in some other circumstance. Be patient, have faith and remember to make changes in teeny baby steps. Gradual change is less traumatic and stressful than sudden overnight, “I have a whole new life” change.

6

I’m thinking about a change as well. And the change I’m pondering (naturally) would put me at a much lower salary than what I’m at now, and pretty unreliable benefits.

I’m considering it a multi-year plan for now.

My first step is to reduce my spending and obligations. Try to live as simply as I can. I don’t need decadence, I just need the basics. It also helps that in a little less than 2 years I will no longer have a car payment, and will (with any luck) be able to keep the car for several years beyond that. All part of the lowering of expenses.

I’m trying to think about this objectively, and less emotionally. What good is a decent paying job that I have now, when it’s not really what I want to do? Sure the alternative is to be making less money, but I will enjoy what I’m doing. And considering I’m just about to turn 29, I’ve got lots of working years ahead of me.

But it’s tough not to be scared about how to make ends meet. Or how to prepare for retirement? And I’m normally such a cautious individual, that this is really tough.

I doubt that helps you, but it makes me feel better to know someone else is as worried about this kind of stuff as I am. Good luck to you.

7

Well, I have a different take on it. You say that you’re “in the mood for a career change I think. And this time, I mean a BIG career change.” Well… why? Why a BIG career change? Why not a smaller career change? Think about what you like, or used to like, about your job. Can you use you experience to leverage yourself into a position where you’re doing more of the things you like, and less, of the things you don’t?

Now, I know crap about broadcast engineering, so I don’t have any idea what alternatives there are, realistically. But, just to blindly brainstorm, what do you think about: A college teaching position? Working for the FCC or some other regulatory agency? Working for a company that makes TV equipment? Working for a broadcast engineer professional organization? Shifting to a slightly different medium: movies? ad agency? recording studio? Where can you go where at least some of your skills will still be valuable?

It just seems to me that it would be easier on you to drop into a position where you’re using at least some of the skills you’ve built up over the years. Especially when there are things about the profession that you still enjoy.

O’ course, my advice is probably worth what you paid for it… Good luck nonetheless.

8

A few suggestions:

  1. Have you thought about Public Television? Less money, but way fewer issues of layoffs in evonomically troubled times.
  2. This is a radio thing, and I’m not sure whether the same rules apply to TV, but; some years ago the FCC dumped the requirement that stations have a First Class engineer on the payroll. So an engineer can now work independently and perform services for numerous stations. See if you can set yourself up as a hired-gun engineer-only guy.
  3. Look into media departments in other business sectors; primarily education (colleges and universities), medical, and hispitality. Every Tom, Dick and Herry now has (or wants) a media center, distance education, videoconferencing facilities, etc. You might find employment here, or maybe you could set yourself up as a hired gun system designer.
9

Read this book:

Making a Living without a Job, by Barbara Winter.

I already pretty much knew what I wanted to do to go freelance, but this book really lit my fire. It’s not so much a “how-to” book from the practical side as it is from the inspirational side. She gives lots of examples of people whose play is their work. Some of my favorites:

The guy who loved to build sandcastles and founded a multimillion-dollar company that does sand sculptures for special events.

Pablo Picasso: you could hardly tell when he was working and when he was playing, because they were all wrapped up in one.

The nurse with the beautiful garden who was tired of nursing and couldn’t think of anything to do. Barbara told her she would easily get landscape clients who wanted yards that were as gorgeous as hers. She now runs her own landscaping biz.

Barbara Winter: Among other things, she loves to give traditional English tea parties; now she caters them.

Barbara is also a proponent of keeping your eggs in several baskets. My main work is copyediting and proofreading (which are as natural to me as breathing, and I love it); I also make jewelry and have done occasional beginner computer tutoring.

Debt is hard to deal with. We’re carrying a big load now, and we’re working on getting rid of it. But other than that, we’ve found that when you truly enjoy what you do, you can be happier with less money. YMMV, of course. And you might not even have to be: I just tallied my projected gross for the year and I’m about $10K ahead of when I quit my “real job” in 1995. Got to be my own boss and no commute. That’s pretty sweet.

Good luck with whatever path you follow!

10

Come down to Corvallis and be my lapdancer and kept boy.

:smiley:

11

Every once in a while I get the urge to change careers, but only out of occasional boredom, not because I hate my job. I’ve actually avoided going into management because I think I’d hate it. I’m able to keep doing the hands-on stuff I like to do and I make enough money doing that and while I have responsibility for the projects I work on, I don’t have to hire and fire and mind budgets and all that.

I’ve never had too hard a time finding work (I’m a clinical trials data manager), but over the last year or so all those annoying recruiting calls I used to get have pretty much dried up. Maybe they gave up on me or the job market’s changed. It’s probably a little of both.

When things get crappy at work I tend to count my blessings. I have a good job in the first place, and secondly I used to be under twice as much stress making half as much money so things aren’t all that bad. The crappiness never lasts long, though.

You don’t sound like you’re exactly ready to sever your ties to your career right now, since you don’t really seem to have an alternative in mind and you need to pay some pretty hefty bills by the sound of it.

Since you’re into motorcycles the first thing that popped into my head (I’m sure it popped into yours as well) is a nice long motorcycle trip. You can’t make a career out of that (well, maybe you can) but it would definitely get you out of your rut and maybe give you a little perspective or maybe even some inspiration.

12

While you’re following everyone’s good adivce, also take a look at what your local community college or extended/adult education program (or whatever it’s called where you’re at) and see what looks interesting. Take a course, or two, and see what happens. Ever wanted to try underwater basket weaving? Go for it! Learn a foreign language! Take programming courses! Ballroom dance!Worst case, taking the classes will give you something challenging to do until you’re in a better position to make a radical change.

<< Tea. No tea. >>

13

Thanks for the thoughts, folks. Things are a little better this evening than they were last night, that’s for sure. A lot of this has been brought on by huge changes we’ve been going through at work this year and the fact that just when we thought it was all done, along come more layoffs and cutbacks. Gotta keep the profit margin up …

Just a couple of notes - I don’t want this post to be as long a tome as my OP :slight_smile:

The reason I’m looking for a “big” change of career direction, not just a new type of job within my industry, is that I’m basically tired of my industry. There was a time when we as engineers were appreciated at least (I’m not old enough to have worked in the industry when we were worshipped as Gods - that was a looong time ago) and could be proud of the contribution we were making to the technology, the industry and the profession.

Nowadays, however, the broadcasting business has simply become mercinary - OK, what industry hasn’t, I suppose. I now spend more time justifying my staffing and budgets to people who want to eek out 0.01 cents more per share by eliminating people - people who give their best to the work and don’t get squat for it in return.

Just this evening, I had an after-work beer with one of my engineers, also a friend, who told me that he’s going to be starting to look for work himself. He busted his butt all summer to get this recent merger off the ground in the face of odds that most in the industry said were insurmountable.

Anyway, I’m looking at various directions I could go that would make use of some of my talents but wouldn’t have anything at all to do with broadcasting.

Funny thing, last night it hadn’t even occurred to me that this would take some time - just the frame of mind I was in at the time.

And Hastur, tempting offer darling, but I can’t be a kept boy, I have to be the daddy. :smiley:

14

Oh, yeah, one more thing - the two week vacation to Florida that I’m leaving on Saturday may help some. At least to clear out some cobwebs, if nothing else.

15

It sounds to me like you used to like your job doing technical stuff, but that’s not what you are doing anymore, and that’s the problem. You are now a manager rather than a tech, it happens all the time. My IT manager started as a programmer, but now she may write code for 10 minutes a week if she’s lucky.

My advice would be to go back to your roots. Avoid management like the plague. Stick to your guns and if necessary, turn down that promotion. Sometimes it worth it to make less, but like what you do.