Howdy all!
I’m seriously considering changing my career - for the past 10+ years I have worked in defense contracting, specifically as a writer/editor/illustrator for government technical manuals. I make pretty good pay, around $50k a year.
The problem is, the work is SO unstable, and the stress of that is killing me. I have worked for 7 different companies in the past ten years, with a few periods of brief layoffs. In a month’s time, my current contract expires and is being moved under a different contrat vehicle that my current company is ineligible to bid on, and there is rumor that a lot of the positions will be cut when the next company takes over.
The problem is, as always, is that switching companies means throwing my life into chaos. New insurance, new 401k, new rules, new procedures. This is incredibly hard when one has kids with very expensive, ongoing medical needs. And I hate, hate, HATE the fact that every year, I have to go into panic mode worrying about whether or not there is going to be any money left to support my job.
So I’m thinking of a change. I don’t know what direction I want to go, but I know that I do want something far more stable, if that’s even possible these days. I’d love to make as much as I do now, but that’s completely unrealistic - but at the same time, I need to make withing $12k-15k of it to be able to survive.
I’m willing to pursue education/training. I have some college now, but no degree - all I currently have is a high school diploma. In about a year and a half, I could have a Bachelor’s degree, if all my credits transferred. I just haven’t been actively enrolled any where since my divorce 4 years ago.
So…thoughts? My particular talents are in art and writing, but I am reasonably good with my hands and not opposed to trade skill careers.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!