My soulmate!
My other career choice was to play second base for the Baltimore Orioles.
Eventually, I realized that I couldn’t hit, run, field OR sing.
I felt the exact same way when I left astronomy! I think I might even have used those words.
I still kind of feel that way. In academia, there’s a well-defined pipeline: undergrad->grad student->postdoc->assistant professor (without tenure)->full professor (with tenure). (There might be a few more steps in between assistant professor and full professor, but I always thought the key distinction was between tenured and not tenured). In my current job, there isn’t any such pipeline, at least not that I’ve figured out.
I grew up a car freak, so I thought the best job for me would be automotive engineer/designer. So I worked my ass off getting there, but once I was there (cool job in a cool company), I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I thought I would. So after much deliberation, I quit - before I got too far into it to get out.
My decision has set me back a few years, career-wise, but I’m happier for it. I think. My current job (project co-ordinator) has allowed me to work in various departments, and I know now what I’m good at. Unfortunately, without a degree and more work experience, I’m finding it not easy to find another job at the same level of entry.
So, Anne, the panick-y freaked-out-ness never quite goes away? Man, that sucks. I was hoping I’d have a second helpful epiphany where there’d be bright lights, angelic choirs, and a Voice telling me what the hell I’m supposed to do with my life, and then I’d feel all secure and happy again. Oh well.
I didn’t think I wanted to be a professor, exactly (the idea of scrounging for grants always horrified me), but I did figure that I’d sell my soul in exchange for a comfortable living in Big Pharma’s labs.
It gets less over time, but it hasn’t gone away entirely for me, at least . I only really feel it these days when I’m having an “I should be doing more with my life than I am” moment, which isn’t that often.
I haven’t gotten that yet. Sure would be nice, wouldn’t it?
Common knowledge that a minute of Googling will reveal.
The Demonic Ape
Wired for War: Killer Chimps
Chimpanzee Cannibalism and Infanticide
More
Tell that to Jane Goodall
Bartender. I love bartending, although it has always been in a situation where I am just helping out and can accept drinks as tips. Eventually I realize that I am “done” helping, and then I just drink.
Shouldn’t have tried to take the One Ring from him, eh? 
I thought I wanted to be a Director at the tutoring chain I work at. The job I worked at through college made me feel like this mindless worker bee; most of my coworkers were still in High School and here I was working this crap job for barely over minimum wage, with hours so short I had to work 2 other part-time jobs just to make a decent amount of money. But I kept doing it, because I wanted to be the bossman someday, and I felt that all my years of perserverence would pay off if I got hired as a director and was in a position where I wouldn’t have to cave when my manager was being egotistical and making me do something solely to make them look good.
So while my parents kept telling me I should be a teacher instead, to stay in school a bit longer and get my Teacher’s credential, I opted to pursue the Director position. The starting pay was higher than a teacher, it had lots of benefits, and I could get hired with just a Bachelor’s degree. I had already worked there for 3 years, making me foolishly believe that I was the ‘perfect candidate’ for the job. I liked the concept of being able to claw my way to the top in the job I was working at.
After I graduated, I applied as a Director. I got quite far in the interview process, making it to the 3rd interview out of 3. In the end, I was devastated when I didn’t get hired. Normally they only hire people who graduated with a 3.0 GPA or better, mine was only 2.6 and since I didn’t have any super-duper amazing ability to compensate for that, I guess they thought I was too stupid to be a manager. I felt really bitter, and I was so fixated on the fact that I had spent so much time working for them to get squat in the end that it hindered my ability to find a real job.
However, as some months passed, I came to the realization that I didn’t even really want the job. I guess most of my ambition towards getting the position was geared toward the fact that I had several hurdles (grades, limited sales experience, etc) to overcome, and in spite of that came rather close to getting hired. Once common sense kicked in, I realized how many washouts the company had- people that got hired, only to quit 3-6 months later because the workload was too much, and the pressure of having to deliver sales, customer service, and the myriad of things that need to get done every day was overwhelming to many. It made me realize that even if I did get hired, I would have hated that job with the fire of a thousand suns.
Right now I am planning on working as a substitute teacher this fall, to see if I like teaching better. If I do, I will find some way of getting a credential. I am really kicking myself for missing opportunities in college, but the upshot in the end is that when I go back I know I can try much harder and get much more out of the effort.
I so hear you. I’ve been with this company for seven years, this very day.
Though I haven’t reached the point of daily gripping dread, I see that my situation has been gradually deteriorating over the years. Over the years I’ve gone from glowing reviews and, on one occasion a nice raise that showed up in my check before anyone even had a chance to tell me about it, to lukewarm evals and a verbal reprimand. Over the past four months or so, I’d been trying to address the issues of that reprimand, and mistakenly assumed that if the boss wasn’t bugging me, I must be doing OK. Not very true, as it turns out, based on the review I got yesterday. Though the overall rating was satisfactory, I was dinged on two key areas. Things had happened, people had complained about things I’d done. What sort of complaints? What sort of things? The bastard couldn’t tell me. He didn’t have time to draw my attention to them when they happened, and now he doesn’t remember what they were. And by the way, all this has happened after being involuntarily switched to Operations, which, at the time I tried to take with the spirit of a good soldier.
I’ve tried to blow my horn here, where appropriate. Volunteered to take on tasks, come up with neat little tools here and there, and told people I did that…but nothing. I’m so far out of the development loop these days the best I can hope for is just to hang on here until I figure out what to do next.